February 9, 2013
Ahhhhhhh. The weekend. A time for relaxing, sleeping late, running errands, getting in touch with your feelings, the plants, animals and humans in your life...or perhaps even your laundry, your vacuum cleaner....
Except for Realtors. Saturday morning, especially, becomes the time of hurried phone calls from agents who have spur-o-moment clients.
It is an issue with time management and client management. It is also, I believe, an issue of Spring Fever.
I have issues with time, clients, too, so it ain't just you. Really. Truly. I get it. I. Get. It.
If the seller is still living there, you can't just drop in on them. It is rude. And Realtor's really hate it. We can't not show it but if we are in the seller's seat, we can help the buyer's agent by setting some boundaries.
"Sure, you can take your buyers over in about an hour and half." ((the unspoken part: After my sellers get up, get dressed, get their kids up and dressed, run a vac or Swiffer around the table, crate the dog, scoop the litterbox, build tons of resentment, high hopes for a sale... and then get out of the house...and you'd better have an offer for us, ya Maroon))
That statement is null and void if this is a SECOND SHOWING!! Which is almost as exciting as a gift from Kay's or Godiva.
Weekends from April to September -- the major league real estate season of SoIL -- are the major work-week of real estate. Those are the magic, frantic, frenzied two days, filled with appointments, showings, questions, answers, decisions, meetings, driving expeditions into the unknown with buyers looking for the unattainable. Then offers, counters, counters to counters, bidding wars, rejections, acceptances, disclosures, plats, expectations, promises, pledges, letters of pre-approval, contracts and condition of premises.
I love summer weekends. Really. I love the busy. I love forging blindly into the unknown, thinking on my feet and, finally, making the find....yeeeesssssssssssssssssssss......when the big horn sounds, the lights flash and the siren screams....Hockey analogy. (That strike!! Gary Bettman!! Another topic for another blog -- seriously!). Seriously? Preseason real estate weekends suck like NHL strikes.
Those are the weekends of January/February where home sales are down and the industry is just about ground to a halt.
Those are the weekends of pre-season prep and sweat and waiting for spring. Almost like the last month or so of a pregnacy; where time is short yet seems an eternity of waiting still to be endured.
This time before the season, before the madness, before the need for speed, can be very productive and it can produce some great deals. Sellers listing now in the pre-season take a risk, a bet, a gamble: that their house can sell before the season gets fired up. They are saying: "Hey!! Look now and offer now before you, the buyer, could be treated to bidding wars and competition for my house." ((And believe me -- here in SoIL inventory is down and we had several bidding wars last summer.))
These early pre-season sellers are placing their hearts on their sleeves instead of their lives on hold waiting for spring. They are offering an invitation ahead of the rush. They are saying take this now even though, by waiting, I'd probably get more.
They are pushing forward to their dream on their own terms. Building their own timetable and saying, "This is my time. I'm going to take it."
See it for what it is and you'll be in on the secret: You build your own life by managing, planning, developing... your own dreams. And when you own your dreams? That's when you'll start seeing them as reality.
Everyone dreams of home.
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