In real estate, it’s the little things that make the difference! We are all a product of our experiences and we haven’t all experienced the same things. There are little tricks of the trade that separate the great real estate agents from the mediocre or down right bad agents.
Let me give you a non-real estate example. Have your ever fought with a roll of aluminum foil? Pulling out too much or too little, the roll flopping out of the box, down the kitchen counter and on to the floor. How many of you knew that the end of the box has little tabs that you can punch into the end of the roll which will hold it in the box and prevent this from happening! I know I had to run and look when I first heard about this and I will pause for two minutes while those of you who have never heard of this go and look! Now that we have verified that they are there, let me give you some other examples both within and outside of real estate!
One of the tricks that we have mastered is the number of pictures required to get optimum placement on many of the real estate websites. Too few or too many or redundant picture and you move down in your placement. I would love to share the number with you but then I would lose the advantage. I will just tell you that I obtained the information, on accident, from a tech from one of the biggest real estate websites.
How many of you have ever had your garage door opener malfunction because the eyes on the anti reverse are misaligned. Pro tip! You can override that by simply holding down the button while the door is closing. Not a long term solution but it will let you close the garage door for the night and you can fix it tomorrow!
Did you know that you can take the chill out of the house and use less energy in the winter time by reversing your ceiling fans? There is a little switch on most fans that will make them run in reverse, which is clockwise, which pushes all the warm air back down to where you live and off the vaulted ceilings.
In sales, it’s the little things. Like answering your phone and returning phone calls. Whether its another agent or a client, we try to respond to all of our calls within an hour and most of the time we actually answer the phone when you call. This may sound odd to you but you would be surprised by how many agents are “Just to Busy” to answer their phones. We sold 217% of the average of our top ten competitors in 2018 but we still find the time to answer the phone.
Over the years, one of the common problems we encounter on a home inspection is the dishwasher will not start after the home has sat vacant or the dishwasher hasn't been used. There is usually nothing wrong with the dishwasher. The motor is just stuck because of our hard water. If you take the lower cover off and spin that motor it will work 9 times out of 10.
One of the best tricks that we use isn't really even a trick. When an agent calls and says they might be writing an offer on one of our properties, we don’t give away the farm. We thank them and generally welcome their offer. We don’t gush with excitement about the fact they are writing an offer. This conveys to them non-verbally that they may have to write a little better offer to get it accepted. Selling homes is a lot like playing poker. Many, many agents give away information or tells to their fellow agents without even realizing they are doing it.
Every industry has these same kinds of little tricks. I remember a plumber laughing so hard, while he was apologizing to me for charging me, that it kind of hurt. I had installed my own brand new garbage disposal and was proud of my work but the dishwasher just would not drain. Who knew there was a seal in there for the disposal to be used without a dishwasher, that had to be knocked out before the drain line was attached.
One of our best tricks is not leaving our homes in active status trying to get back up offers. Back up offers sound good in principle, but they rarely materialize. Your days on the market continue to add up making the home prematurely stale if you should have to put it back on the market.
If you want an agent that barely knows the ropes or is possibly not a good poker player, then call someone you googled on line. I have been working and been the most successful agent in your area for almost 20 years or since these homes were built. You need a savvy, honest and straightforward agent!
Call Al Gage at 623.536.8200 or email us at al@algage.com