Taking Charge With The Right Agent

Guest contributor Jose Perez of PCMS Consulting says:

We left Justin and Kelly after a disappointing first showing with an out-of-touch real estate agent. Frustrated, the young couple decided to hit the pavement and explore their desired neighborhood on their own. They ran into a local agent at the neighborhood park, and their luck took a good turn. The local agent they met was named Angie. She had been living in the neighborhood for about ten years. Not only did she know about the zoning issue Justin was concerned about, but also she was aware of a couple of houses that were about to come on the market. They agreed to talk again the next day.

As Justin and Kelly made their way home, they compared their agent experiences between Susan and Angie.

They felt pretty bad but decided they needed to give Angie a shot – especially given the fact she might be able to show them two properties she was about to list. The following day was Friday. They both had lots of work things to get done so they told Angie they would check in late in the day.

They weren't too surprised when Susan failed to get back with them about scheduling showings on the two properties they were really interested in.

They were pleased and astonished when Angie, even before lunch, had times set up with both listing agents for Saturday. She also sent them video tours of the two homes she had mentioned the night before. Whatever guilt they felt about blowing off Susan quickly dissipated. They planned to meet Angie at their favorite Starbucks for coffee at 10 the next morning.

They walked in and saw Angie had grabbed a table in the back and had her iPad set up. The agent gave them a $5 Starbucks gift card with a smile and told them coffee was on her.

Angie had mapped out all four properties they were going to see. She showed them where they all were located in relation to the other, and covered all the things that she knew mattered to them: schools, restaurants, crime stats, and walk scores.

Before they got ready to go see properties, she asked if they had already been approved for a mortgage. They said they had a pre-qualification letter from their bank and were approved for a $250,000 mortgage.

After they finished their coffee, Angie asked if they wanted to walk to each of the properties since they were all within walking distance. They agreed it would be good way to further familiarize themselves with the neighborhood and thanked Angie for making the suggestion.

After a few hours together, Justin, Kelly, and Angie returned to Starbucks to go over things. They agreed to make an offer on one of the properties Angie had told them about.

They made an offer on a property that their new real estate agent had show them. She pulled up the contract form on her iPad and started filling in information. Justin used his phone to email the pre-qualification letter to Angie to she could attach it to the offer.

Justin and Kelly were excited and so happy they ran into Angie at the food trucks a few nights earlier. They had a really good feeling about Angie, one they unfortunately, never got from Susan.

Now they really felt the service they were getting from their agent matched the dollars involved. They wondered if more agents were like Angie or if more were like Susan.

Read Chapter 1 or Chapter 2 in our Tale of the Modern Real Estate Transaction.

To view the original article, visit the PCMS Consulting blog.