...and the story continues.
Agent Jones walked calmly into his office and sat down at his desk. After filing a few papers in their respective folders, he heard the familiar 'You've Got Mail" alert from his AOL account. He turned and clicked on the email title "New Listing from IaHomesForSale.com." Well, Agent Jones had been trying to capture the Cedar Rapids For Sale By Owner market for sometime now and so this new email notification system was sure to help him capture the "lion's share" of the FSBO market.
He opened his email and a beautiful new property unfolded before his very eyes. The property address at the top of the email teased him ever so slightly. "123 Forsalebyower Street" along with the homeowner information and information about the home followed. Agent Jones could feel his heart rate starting to elevate slightly. Then he remembered what his cardiologist had told him, "Agent Jones, you must start practicing patience and not become so anxiety ridden that your heart starts to beat irregularly."
Well, Agent Jones tried his new breathing method designed to calm him down, but at the very tip of his brain, he couldn't help but get excited at the prospect of "bagging a new listing" that he could brag about with his fellow agents. He knew that For Sale By Owners were inferior to his amazing presence on the real estate scene so he immediately forgot everything his doctors told him and went into Agent Jones Overdrive Mode.
Agent Jones immediately printed out the For Sale By Owner listing and typed up a brief letter explaining his vastly superior marketing techniques and presence that would sell the For Sale By Owner home in less than twenty four hours. He placed his award winning correspondence in a red firecracker mailing tube, complete with the "Lighting Fuse" Lid. He wasn't going to be out-marketed by the dozens of other mailings, phone calls, email campaigns, etc. Yes, his firecracker mailing tube made him stand out above the rest of the pack!
Agent Jones couldn't contain his excitement. Instead of taking this firecracker mailing tube to the Post Office, he decided he would go one step further. He got into his black Lexus 470 GXL turbo SUV with license plate: RLEST8GRT. He punched the numbers into his Garmin "123 Forsalebyower Street" and off he went. Upon pulling into the driveway of the victim's house, Agent Jones noticed a familiar car parked next to the garage. No, it wasn't the owner's car (not that he knew what the owner's car looked like). No, it was Agent Smith's 2001 Saturn LW300 Station Wagon, with the familiar www.SoldYourHomeFast.com URL on the back.
As Agent Jones passed along a few expletives we cannot say here, he pounded his fist on the dashboard in frustration. He wondered what Agent Smith had that he didn't(other than a black Lexus 470 GXL turbo SUV). "Hmmmm, I must figure out Agent Smith's secret to getting in the door of these For Sale By Owners and quickly overtake him in the market place." Agent Jones backed his vehicle out of the driveway and parked down the street waiting for Agent Smith's car to leave. Agent Smith's vehicle left a few minutes later and Agent Jones barreled his big luxury SUV up the driveway and hopped out to knock at the door.
Raising his closed fist to knock on the front door, Agent Jones was greeted by the owner Jim Anderson. "Mr. Anderson, I'm Agent Jones with Stalker Realty and I'd like to have a discussion with you about the error of your ways. You see by listing your home by yourself..." Agent Jones was interupted by Mr. Anderson, "Excuse me sir, you can save your speech for another time, I've decided to finally list my house with Agent Smith." Agent Jones replied, "I don't understand, I've got the best marketing techniques, the best plans for success, the best blah blah blah." Agent Jones words fell on deaf ears. Mr. Anderson retorted, "We've decided that after exhausting our efforts by ourself to market and sell our house, we're using Agent Smith, and here's why:
Agent Smith sent us an email and unlike any other email from every other Realtor, Agent Smith's email actually offered us (The For Sale By Owner) something of value.
There were Ebooks and other resources on how to successfully market and sell your house by yourself. There was a very important document that listed the top twenty-five websites to list and market your own home for free!
Agent Smith actually has a "For Sale By Owner" tab on his website; something no other Realtor in town has. It offers FREE information, and FREE consultations with him in order to sell our house by ourselves.
Agent Smith's real estate company Traditions Real Estate is one of the only real estate brokerages in town offering flexible commission rates starting at 5% with FULL SERVICE guaranteed!
"We simply felt that Agent Smith offered his SERVICES, stepped back and let us go through the process of trying to market and sell our own home. He made himself available to us to offer FREE advice and continued to send us emails with other FREE services, but never once, did we feel like he was invading our space. My wife and I discussed what we would do in the event we could not sell our house by ourselves and we concluded that we would go with a Realtor who was empathetic to our efforts to sell our own house, but offered his services to us. We could tell that Agent Smith wasn't in real estate to make the "almighty dollar." He was actually offering his services in a genuine and honest fashion."
By then, Agent Jones had heard all he needed to hear. With his deflated ego barely in tow, he climbed into his black Lexus 470 GXL turbo SUV, started the engine, only to see the flashing Gas Pump Light on his dash, reminding him that he would have to fill up his vehicle again.
While preparing for bed that night, Agent Jones said his prayers, cleaned up, and pondered on the day's events. As he was about to toggle off the switch on his nightstand lamp, he uttered in a tired, yet confident voice, "I will live to fight another day."
Service is something that is sorely missing, not only from real estate agents, but from a lot of so called "Service Related" industries. How many times have you walked away from a transaction feeling like you had been treated "less than professionally?'" Real estate is all about RELATIONSHIPS. When you are ready to begin one with me, I would be honored to sit down with you and start the process. Thank you!
Christopher Smith
Traditions Real Estate
www.christophersmithrealtor.com
christopher.smith.realtor@gmail.com
319-329-5988
Licensed Realtor in the state of Iowa
"Success in real estate at the SERVICE of others."