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Listening Skills for Real Estate Agents Begin by Answering the Phone
When a potential client calls me, I try to listen very carefully before offering solutions. Most agents talk too much, I find. They don’t always listen. And listening is key to finding out what our clients want from us. Listening and asking questions. Often, a phone call will begin because a person is looking for information and believes there is one agenda at hand when what the client really wants is something else. I try to figure out how I can help.
Sometimes, I end up referring the client to a different real estate agent in another state because they live outside of California and need to buy or sell a piece of real estate that is outside of my Sacramento Valley jurisdiction. There are also times that a person might not have thought about selling a home in Sacramento until they have talked to me. That might be the best idea for them, and if it’s not they can count on me to say it. Because I don’t need that business right now today, and I’m happy to wait a few years if that’s what it takes and is best for the client. The key is what is best for the client.
I’m not going anywhere that I know about anytime soon. I will be here in Sacramento, answering my phone, taking care of real estate and talking with people. Conversing with people is what I do best, so that’s what I do. There are other people who call, real estate agents, for example, who begin the conversation by telling me they do not want to do what needs to be done for their buyer to buy a home. I wonder at that point why I am talking to the agent when the agent is stuck inside a square box and can’t seem to get out.
If I see my phone is ringing with another buyer or seller question, the best use of my time is to answer that call and listen to those buyers and sellers. I like to talk to real estate agents, but I am not their broker nor their manager. I can give them the information they seek about a home, but if they want to argue with me how they want to operate differently than other agents, I don’t have time for that. So it’s nothing personal when I say I have to go and take another call, because I do.
It’s generally a seller or a buyer calling on the other line who needs my help. They need me to listen to them, analyze their situation and offer solutions. Sometimes these conversations lead to a sale, and sometimes not. These phone discussions lead to enough sales, though, that I don’t have to worry about whether I am doing the right thing by listening, because I am.
Not every real estate agent has developed listening skills, I have noticed. Charles Chatham would rollover in his grave today.
Jealousy Can Lead Real Estate Agents to Badmouth Other Agents
Real estate agents who badmouth often feel the need to discredit another Sacramento real estate agent and can end up sabotaging their own career without realizing it. Before you can ask: how stupid are they, let me remind you that badmouthing another agent is stupid to begin with. There’s just no upside potential to it. It makes the agent who is doing it look horrible, not to mention small, petty, jealous and well, stupid.
I am often called to a listing presentation in which a seller who is hoping to choose a Sacramento listing agent has interviewed 2 other agents. I say, hey, good agents you called. But you would be amazed at some of the stuff I hear other agents tell the seller. Because the sellers tell me what they say when the agents learn that Elizabeth Weintraub is the competition to their presentation. First, I imagine the agents feel a bit intimidated when they look at my sales production and how much I sell. It can be 10 times the number of homes they sell, or more. This is intimidating because these agents can’t fathom how in the world I do it and remain competitive, because they can’t do it.
So they say stuff like, oh, Elizabeth Weintraub is too busy for you and won’t give you personal service. These agents should be shot and stuffed with mouse poop for allowing lies like that to leave their lips. You want something done right, you give it to a busy person, that’s what I have to say. Clients tell me that I treat them like they are my only client. I respond immediately to their concerns and address all of their questions, sometimes before the questions are even asked. I make them feel special because they are. Nothing should lead a real estate agent to badmouth. They should be better than that.
In my world, every client is important. Every situation is different. Another agent told a seller that I don’t negotiate my own transactions because, how could I? Yet, I do. It’s a fat lie to say I don’t. I personally handle every single listing myself. I shoot professional photography; I write copy and prepare the paperwork; I tweak my photos in Photoshop; I manage all of my listings; I collect feedback and deliver, provide suggestions, negotiate multiple offers, and there is no pawning off — I do it myself. Just because another agent can’t do what I do is no reason to make up crap about my real estate practice. You know what they call that? They call that attitude sour grapes. The Code of Ethics calls it unethical. I call it idiot real estate agents who badmouth.
A new client I’m meeting with this weekend asked me why none of the other agents she talked to didn’t tell her the things I suggested she do to get started. Well, I don’t know why. It makes sense to me that I bring up potential problems and solve them before we go on the market. I have no idea why other agents do what they do; I know only what I do, and that is I perform to high standards built on my decades of experience. When the only bad thing another agent can makeup is I must be too busy or I must not do the work myself, well, that tells you more about those agents than about me.
I’m not too busy. I do the work myself. If you expect excellence, you will get it. That’s how an ethical Sacramento real estate agent stays in business and gets referrals year after year after year. Sellers can hire a not-so-successful agent for the same amount of money, but why?
Sacramento Homes Take Longer to Sell This Spring
Are Sacramento homes taking longer to sell this spring? You betcha. The trouble with making predictions in Sacramento real estate is sometimes those forecasts don’t materialize because the market shifts. Real estate agents who make predictions tend to look at the direction the market is moving and figure it will keep going in that direction. I tend to look for odd things that appear out of place. You know, I ask: what does not belong here? What one thing is not like the others? I look at the market somewhat differently, but then my approach is not an average approach, which is probably partly why I am successful at what I do.
Sellers always want to know how quickly a home might sell. I can identify the drop-dead gorgeous homes that should fly into escrow but I will still suggest at least a 2-week period for those sales, when last year it would have been 24 hours. This means I might need to remind a seller whose home has been on the market for 9 days that she has at least another 5 days to go, and maybe more. We can’t always accurately pinpoint that moment of sale. It depends on the buyer. These are just ballpark estimates.
It seems to this Sacramento real estate agent that homes are taking much longer to sell this spring, ever since January. So, I went on a hunt for facts to back up this assessment.
I can tell you that days on market — the average cumulative days on market — are 49 for February in Sacramento County. In April of 2013, that number was about cut in half at 26. This means the average cumulative days on market has pretty much doubled this year. Which goes to show when I tell a seller that what used to take 1 to 2 days is now taking 1 to 2 weeks, and what used to take 1 to 2 weeks might take 1 to 2 months, is absolutely accurate. Buyers are moving more slowly.
Home are definitely selling. They’re just selling at a more normal pace than over past decade of screwball-ness. You remember what normal is, right? No? Well, try to take it easy and slow down a little bit. At my age, the world moves much too quickly as it is. Savor a few precious moments. Pet your dog, hug your kids. Your home will sell.
April is a Time to Plan a Real Estate Agent Winter Holiday
You might find it difficult to believe that this Sacramento real estate agent ever has any downtime to screw around and contemplate a winter holiday, but I just had four dental implants shoved into my jaw on Friday, so I’ve been taking it easy. ?By taking it easy, I mean working solely on my existing business and not really focusing on new business. This free time gave me a few hours yesterday to visualize a winter holiday, among all the offers and phone calls rolling in. It’s tough to find time to slow down and take it easy when you sell real estate for a living. But the key is to make sure you have WiFi wherever you are. WiFi and satellite internet rules the world.
For example, a few years ago, I listed a home and sold it while dangling my toes off a dock attached to a thatched roof hut on an atoll in the middle of the South Pacific. People might wonder why would I do it? Why would I work when I’m on vacation? Because they wouldn’t. I do it because I like it. I’m just a weird duck. No client ever has to worry that I will go away and forget about her or him because I won’t. I love what I do, and I love the fact it gives me the financial opportunity to explore new places.
I like to take a real estate agent winter holiday in early December and return early January, because business is about as slow as business can get during any given year. So it’s not a constant pace nor consistent pressure that means I can’t enjoy a vacation. I can do both. So this year I’m thinking about spending about 10 days to unwind at a resort near Hobart, Tasmania. I’ve always wanted to see a Tasmanian Devil. Then jumping on a 16-day cruise aboard a small cruise ship from Sydney to Melbourne and around New Zealand. I’ve watched an excellent murder mystery series lately about New Zealand, and the Flight of the Conchords doesn’t count.
The series that resonated was Top of the Lake, starring Elisabeth Moss and Holly Hunter. I could see myself in that Holly Hunter character. She made me laugh out loud. The scenery was gorgeous and breathtaking. You can get kinda sick of watching the underside of LA freeways on TV.
Of course, there is also The Hobbit, if you need another reason to see New Zealand. But I think that show previously mentioned, which you can get from Netflix, is enough of a reason. The Hobbit is too computer generated and imaginary. See, this is a reason to excel at selling real estate. You can watch a movie with beautiful scenery, say to yourself Hey, I’d like to go there and then go off on your real estate agent winter holiday. Of course, I would also like to find a traveling companion because even a small luxury ship requires double occupancy or you’re penalized. My husband will probably be unable to go as he’s actively searching for a new career. Being a veteran newspaper reporter isn’t the best occupation these days.
On a side note, I also see in the Sacramento Bee this morning an article from Lyon Real Estate on the front page that says I am #1 in the downtown midtown office for last year (as I’ve ranked the last few years) and ranked #4 in the company. I wonder how that #4 ranking happened when I sold more homes and produced a higher dollar volume than the #3 proclaimed agent. I looked at the numbers in MLS and in Trendgraphix, and both of those reporting sources indicated I rank #3. But you know what, I am not as riled about it as #3 was, I suspect. And I guess that’s why Lyon shows this level-headed agent at #4.
Politics. Schmolatics. I don’t waste time on petty crap I can’t control.
Is anybody interested in Australia and New Zealand this winter? I realize many people want to stay home for Christmas and New Years, but I prefer to travel. Maybe I should call a few other top producers to see if they would like to take a fun trip and go on a real estate agent winter holiday?
The Lost Art of Pie in the Face
The movie studios don’t really make slapstick comedies anymore and I miss that kind of humor, unless you count the world of Sacramento real estate — in which one can almost always find a highly amusing moment as there are so many to choose from. I kinda like slapstick because I grew up with it, not to mention, it gave me a good excuse to whack my brother’s face for no reason. I laugh at pie in the face from the old Soupy Sales skits. Don’t get me started on the Marx Brothers or the Three Stooges. But today so much is PC you don’t get that kind of humor from Hollywood or media.
Not that I’m against being PC because I’m not. As an enlightened human beings of the 22nd Century (Is that right? Are we in the 22nd Century now? How did that happen?), we don’t need to reinforce stereotypical issues that harm people or encourage discriminatory opinions, but what’s a pie in the face gonna harm?
I wish I could carry whipped cream pies in my briefcase for spur of the moment chuckles. I mean, maybe for health and safety purposes they could be stored frozen in the freezer like Cool Whip and removed to thaw just before I needed them. I could find many uses for this product.
Thank you for this lowball offer, whoosh, pie in the face. Thank you for never intending to close escrow, whoosh, pie in the face. Thank you for that Request for Repair on this AS IS sale, whoosh, pie in the face. Thank you for listing with your husband’s cousin, whoosh pie in the face. Thank you for picking my brain about all the fine nuances to sell and then sticking a FSBO sign in the yard, whoosh, pie in the face. Thank you for failing to deliver loan docs, whoosh pie in the face.
See, just thinking about this makes me laugh. But maybe that’s why I’m a Sacramento real estate agent who has survived and thrived all of these decades. If you gravitate toward goofy stuff, you’ll probably enjoy Anchorman 2.
