Courtesy Definitely Counts

When you're interviewing a Realtor to list your home or working with an agent to help you buy a home.....see if courtesy counts for them.

Let me tell you why.....

I just put a new listing on the market. It's a nice 4 bedroom home in Frazier Park. Great value, lovely small town. But, that's only part of this story.

The MLS showing instructions say to text agent and wait for confirmation. Text Agent & Wait For Confirmation.

I get a phone call from an unknown number so I don't answer it. Sooooo many scam phone calls these days. Then I get a few text messages from same number to show the home in FP. I immediately respond that is should be fine, let me reconfirm with Sellers....stay tuned.

Within 15 minutes I tell her Good to Go. No thank you, no acknowledgement. Just blank.

Regardless, according to our electronic lockbox I see she was there but it shows only for 4 minutes. Thinking it's a glitch or some other reason, I shoot her a message asking how it went. ZERO reply, no smiley face, no unhappy face, no high-five, zilch.

Thursday she calls me says she wants to show it this evening. I immediately call her back, get her voicemail, to let her know that would be double booked with another agent that confirmed the day before, can their schedule be adjusted so as not to be there at the same time?

Guess what? Zero response. Yup.....nothing! So late last night I message her about it. And, IMHO, quite snottily she responds in a manner that her world is more important than everyone elses' and she can only come at that time.

With a sweet smiley face I say okay then & remind her that they will likely overlap.

Common courtesy? Of course I immediately let the polite agent know about the situation. Super nice guy, he understood the 'difficult' other agent.

Now, why does courtesy count so much?

(This is inside a bus!)

Because, if this is the way the agent behaves just during the showing part of the home buying process? Imagine what she'll be like in the escrow part of the process! Everyone needs to be courteous, on the same page of kindness. It helps the process go better for our Buyers & Sellers, the people we represent. Nothing worse than a poopy agent working for you that is annoying the other parties.....particularly if both sets of buyers like the home and want to write an offer. If the offers are identical, qualifications are the same....who do you think the Seller of mine will prefer going through escrow with?

So, long story short? Don't work with a Realtor that doesn't follow common courtesy. Make sure he/she returns calls to you in a timely manner, doesn't make excuses, and certainly makes you the most important person in the transaction....not themselves.