Everyone Walks on Water

If you've ever interviewed realtors, you know that all of them leap tall buildings, walk on water, and heal the sick.

The vast majority of realtors are competent which, for what you pay in commission, you have a right to expect.  I would suggest, however, that you ought to get more than "competent".  When I got into this business 25 years ago, not having been happy with my realtor, I began with a clean slate:  if I were the client (which I just had been) what would I ideally want in a realtor?  Not bare minimum, not "what do other agents do", but rather what would be my wildest dream in an agent.  I resolved then and there to be that kind of agent.

As a result, a lot of the things I do for my clients have other agents' jaws on the ground; things such as getting up on a roof and repairing it when no one would spend the money, crawling under a house to repair a leaky copper pipe when the walk thru was the next day and no plumber was available, climbing on a 20' ladder to remove a satellite dish for an 88-year-old seller, selling the car of my clients' deceased mother because they lived out of town, re-grouting the kitchen tile so the house would show better, or painting extensive termite work so the house would be move-in ready.  I routinely do things like minor plumbing repairs, making doors close correctly, patching walls, sprinkler repair, shampooing carpets, painting, clearing drains, driving an elderly seller to her doctor appointment or to escrow to sign papers, etc.  These are all the types of things I do myself free of charge.  I don't just arrange to have someone else do it and you then have to pay, tho I do have people to make repairs and schedule the work when necessary. 

My favorite "Above and Beyond" was 1986 when my buyers were going to back out of a purchase, leaving the seller in desperate straits -- I bought the house for what my buyers were going to pay.  I can't guarantee that sort of thing, but it's indicative of my approach to the business:  I am not always trying to do the minimum so I can be off looking for new clients; I am appreciative of the clients I have, and want to do the things that, in their wildest dreams, they would want their agent to do.

I do the above kinds of things, of course, in addition to intimate knowledge of the market (I'm not off chasing deals in Long Beach -- I concentrate here), knowing which lenders are making the best loans for certains types of buyers, understanding enough about construction that buyers aren't needlessly alarmed over minor issues, and broad experience with real estate transactions:  how to avoid foreseeable problems and how to solve the others.

My wife and sister (2 different people, thank you very much) remind me that I get so used to doing things no other agent would think of doing (let alone know how to do), and I get so used to my clients raving about me, that I forget how unusual my services are.  So you can thank them for this reminder.