Sacramento Sellers, Service Isn’t Dead!

I know times are tough and people are stressed, busy, broke and in some cases, in big financial trouble. We’ve all taken a hit in this economy, and my family sure hasn’t been immune to it. But I say, in times of trouble, we’ve got to worked harder, better, smarter and be of greater service, because there are always those we can help.

In my real estate class I tell students about the National Association of Realtors’ survey that says the number one reason homeowners across the country (and of course, that includes Sacramento home sellers) said they were dissatisfied with their real estate agents was because….(drum role, please)…lack of communication on the agent’s part.

Now having been someone who’s had agents not return my call, I know how frustrated I get. Don’t get me wrong…I know some of us agents are so busy that we barely have time to breathe, but for Pete’s Sake, hire more agents or take on fewer clients! If you can’t return calls to other agents or update your sellers each week, then you’re really not doing anyone any service. In fact, nothing makes me more mad then when I’m working with perfectly qualified buyers, who I show a home to, we write an offer, and then I get no response from the other agent. Hello? Being left hanging makes everyone mad, and is certainly unfair to the buyers.

And when it comes to sellers, let’s face facts. We are in a serious time of seller-crises. This is NOT the time to take a seller on who is in a distressed-selling situation, and then just ignore them. Even if you have to hire an assistant to call your sellers each week with an update and a pep-talk, DO IT! Our Sacramento sellers who are facing foreclosure and trying to avoid it through a short sale need more counseling than ever. Today on facebook, I get this message: “Tamara, my agent hasn’t called me in 2 months and I have no idea what’s going on…can you please help us.” Really?!?!?

I was humbled last week to receive a nice letter from a new client who had this to say: “….I have been scammed to the tune of $3,000 for a supposed loan modification that just never happened…, I’ve received 50+ solicitations for short selling but only yours stood out. Your credentials speak for them selves and your follow up shows me that I have picked the right agent.”

Now THAT’S what wakes me up each morning…..I may not save the world (although I do have Wonder Woman illusions), but I’ll do everything I can to save as many Sacramento sellers as possible…oh, and I”ll help Sacramento buyers get the best deal too….’scuse me….my cape is waiting.

Ta ta for now,

Tamara