My buyer just closed on her house last week. It’s her first place, so she is thrilled. It’s a paycheck, so I should be elated (cha-ching). Another satisfied customer, right? Well, what ought to be a joyous moment for me often ends up being bittersweet.
This always happens, especially with clients I adore beaucoup. We get keys, we do the happy dance. Once the giddiness subsides, we exchange handshakes, a pat on the back (maybe a hug), trade cliched farewell pleasantries and finally part ways. For the next week, a familiar feeling of void undoubtedly creeps up on me. It’s what I call client withdrawal. No, not the kind where they back out of a transaction. It’s the kind where we miss them.
Us real estate agents are in a funny business. We spend massive amounts of time with clients and get to know everything about them. We know what turns them on, what turns them off, their work schedule , their days off. We are privy to information even their own families don’t know about, from intimate financial details, FICOs, to their private lives.
We educate them about the market. We hold their hand through the emotional roller coaster. We are therapist, confidant, protector, chauffeur, real estate agent (usually in that order!). We become so deeply entrenched in their lives… Then one day, POOF! It’s over. They move in and we move on. That flurry of activity, that sense of closeness suddenly gone. There is no weaning off period. Keys get exchanged, and in an instant these people who we have tended to almost daily vanish from our lives. I wonder if this is reciprocally felt?
I got my answer this morning. The aforementioned buyer popped me a text “this is the 1st wkd in months I have not seen you. I need my Herman fix! :-)” If we truly have done our job right, they miss us too.
