Is deth a word?
You know what I mean, right? “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but…” Ah, yeah, that’s exactly what you want to do.
On Sunday, I was a course monitor at a 10k. The little police cadets – they were so cute – kept saying, “I don’t care if people get mad ‘cuz we’re blocking the parking lot.” Yeah, okay. I heard you the first 46 times you said that. You care, all right. A lot.
Client Management
Today on agent tour, the seller happens to be home. He wants to show me around – fine. When he opened the stairs to the attic, he gave himself away.
“Go up there and turn the light on.” Huh?
“Well, it’s not exactly the thing for someone in heels to do.” Duh.
Now he’s talking. I don’t want him to stop, so I climb these rickety stairs in stilettos. “Look at all that space up there!” Yeah, whatever.
“I thought I was staying here forever. We tore the house down to the studs and replaced the wiring and the plumbing. Look, there’s a built-in vacuum. We have two heater controls, one upstairs and one down. Look at this storage I built. It’s waterproof.”
This goes on for 20 minutes. I’m heading out the front door.
“Oh, I’m motivated.”
“Thanks. Good to know.”
People! People!
Manage your clients and their assets.
As a lifelong resident and local Realtor, Vicki has established herself as a respected member of the San Mateo County real estate community. She’s known for her wit, sarcasm, and her personality that shows through in her posts. You can find her spouting off at Twitter, here at ag, and her personal blog, San Mateo Real Estate Blog.com.

Ginger Wilcox
September 23, 2008 at 10:51 pm
There really isn’t much worse than having a seller give you a guided tour of the property. They almost always stick their foot in their mouth. I recently showed a property listed by another agent. The seller had my phone number because I had to call them directly to make the appointment to show. He called me three times after the showing to tell me how motivated he was. I finally had to call the agent and tell him to leave me alone, my client wasn’t interested. If you are that motivated, drop the price.
Rich Jacobson
September 24, 2008 at 2:17 am
I bet this guy was an engineer? Obviously very proud of his home improvements. Rarely does a Sellers presence help facilitate a good showing. List and Leave!
Steve Simon
September 24, 2008 at 6:34 am
Pride of Authorship exists a little in us all, and a lot in some of us:)
When the Seller starts talking about the paneling they installed (of course the Buyer is wondering what it will look like when they rip that crap off the wall?). it is with pride and love. They are thinking that worm hole pecan look is perfect for the living room and Michaelangelo wouldn’t have done anything different…
Vicki Moore
September 24, 2008 at 10:59 am
Ginger – Oh my! I’ve actually been in a similar situation where I’ve called the other agent to say Hey! Your client is cheating on you!
Rich – He was extremely proud of the home. And a really nice guy. You know how it is on tour, run through there real quick to get to the next house.
Steve – You are so right. They raised their family there and they want to share the love they have for the home.
Unfortunately now I know they’re getting a divorce because his wife has a new boyfriend; that the listing agent wants the price to come down….
ines
September 24, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Wasn’t it Hubris that brought down Julius Caesar? – “manage your clients and their assets”….well said