Following up on Buyer Leads Before a Listing Hits MLS

You can bet one of my priorities for a new listing is following up on buyer leads. Just because I refuse to work directly with a buyer in dual agency doesn’t mean I won’t follow up or talk to buyers. Of course, buyers are free to choose any agent they want, and hopefully they will pick a professional agent with many closings under her or his belt. But I will also work with Uncle Joe’s cousin if that’s what it takes, knowing I’ll end up doing that agent’s job as well as mine, and it’s OK. Whatever it takes to sell a house is my method of operation. No prima donna here. I take more of a pragmatic view that as long as it leads to closing . . .

Yesterday was no exception. The ink isn’t inked yet on a new listing, yet I already had 2 different sets of buyers. Wasn’t planning on following up on buyer leads yesterday, but they were there in my face. One buyer was a neighbor next door. She approached me when I was attaching the lockbox to say how deeply disheartened she is that her friends are moving away. It was 11 AM and she was in her robe and slippers, but so what.

Since I wasn’t wearing a jacket — because I raced out of the house like we live in Hawaii — I shivered. Let her know if there was any trouble of any sort or questions arose, she could call me. My cell would be embedded on the sign rider in the yard. Then I dashed back inside to warm up as the photographer shot photos. A few minutes later, the neighbor knocked on the front door. Still in robe and slippers. Wanted to know how she could get a loan. Best guy in the business is Dan Tharp at Guild Mortgage. I brought up his contact info and got ready to hit “share contact.”

I’ll get a paper and pencil, the neighbor says. Just give me your cell number, I say, and I’ll forward you Dan’s contact information. A few minutes later, my cell phone rang. It was the neighbor. Hello, may I speak to Dan Tharp? she asked. I explain she can tap the contact icon in my text message to her, and it will download the contact information to her phone. Hey, not everybody knows these things.

Later, Dan tells me they had a good talk, and she seems to qualify for a loan. Although, an hour later, she decided against the loan process. But that’s OK. I go with the flow. It was a day to be following up on buyer leads. The sellers had another friend on the cul-de-sac who knew of an interested relative. Actually, I had tracked down and texted, emailed and called that relative’s agent the day before. However, the agent could not get around to calling me until the following day. Will it work out? I have no idea, but I follow up on buyer leads because it’s my job.

Leave no stone unturned. That’s what a Sacramento listing agent does. It wouldn’t be the first time I sold a listing to a neighbor, and it won’t be the last.