Sam-I-Am Your Agent…

Good clients are priceless.  I’ve been blessed to have more good clients than bad clients in my real estate endeavors.  Trust me, the good ones are worth their weight in gold! 
Here are some qualities that make good clients and invite a pleasurable transaction: reasonable, teachable, decisive, yielding, respectful, willing to negotiate, kind, clean, willing, financially wise, truthful, humane, ethical, legal, etc.  Clients who think they know more than the expert can grate after a very short while (and the ‘know-it-all ism’ always leaves me wondering why THEY don’t have a RE license…if they know more?).  Sooo, my 1st point…

I currently have a delightful couple who are about to list their beautiful home with me.  They contacted me several months ago, but wanted to make some improvements before we listed in order to fetch top dollar.  In early December they called me and asked if they could leave me a key and if I would walk through their house while they were gone and note any/all advice I would give to improve on staging etc.  ?!?!?!?!  A dream come true….someone actually asking the agent BEFORE they do major changes!?!?!?!  I dutifully and gleefully did it.  I emailed them my long list that included jobs like de-wallpaper and re-paint, replace X,Y,Z fixtures, omit A,B,C furniture.  They called me a couple weeks later and asked me to come back over wherein they showed me 90% of it completed!!!!!  And skillfully completed!!!!!  I was so impressed and so thankful!  Their home looks great and I hope a buyer can see themselves in the home and that we’ll have a quick sale! 

My 2nd point…I was just thoroughly impressed with the sellers willingness to take advice from someone, find it valuable and to not take it personally.  It’s the sign of a truly great client: valuing the expert’s advice.  Through the course of the follow up visit, Mrs. Seller said something that I thought was terrific (and I wish we were all this open).  She said (paraphrased), ‘You know, this process has been really hard to do all at once.  It’s made me wish that I had a good friend who would come over about every 6 months and walk through my house and tell me what needs to change.  We just get used to it and we don’t see the clutter or see what you’re seeing (or the buyer).  It would just be nice to have a good friend to come over and I woudl go to their house to do the same thing and where we could help each other in that way’    What a great, teachable, and humble perspective.  While I am ALWAYS in favor of less ’stuff’ around the house and in our lives, I am even more in favor the humble spirit behind it. 

I’m pretty sure we’re going to have a GREAT transaction.  I’ll keep you posted!