How Similar to Client’s Situation?

A good, newer Realtor can provide the names of three recent, (very) satisfied customers as references.

A successful, established Realtor can provide the names of three recent, very satisfied customers, whose situation closely mirrors the prospective client’s.

How many variations can there be?

Actually, lots.

Not Reinventing the Wheel

Besides all the different parts of town in a 13-county metropolitan area with almost 3 million people, there is a broad range of housing styles and price points — not to mention types of Buyers and Sellers.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of categories that a veteran agent (I qualify) will typically have had experience handling (note:  categories are non-exclusive — that is, some overlap):

–Relocation Buyers and Sellers**
–Estate Sales**
–Upper Bracket
–Lower Bracket (preferred name:  “First-time Buyer/Seller,” or simply “Entry-Level”)
–Urban condo’s/townhomes
–Suburban Single-Family built > 2000
–Classic Craftsman built < 1930
–Rehab/Remodel candidates
–Teardown’s
–Foreclosures
–Demographic groups:  “Baby Boomer,” “Millennial,” etc.

No prospective client wants to be a guinea pig for an inexperienced professional, especially when the financial stakes are so high.

The best way for a Realtor to prove that that’s not the case is by providing three enthusiastic, well-chosen references.

**Such clients often leave behind vacant homes, which are perfect candidates for virtual staging, one of my specialties.

See also, Mpls St Paul Magazine Announces 2016 Super Real Estate Agents“; “Realtor Job Description, Circa 2017“; and “Things Consumers Should Be Price-Insensitive About:  Brain Surgeons, Defense Attorneys . . . Realtors.

And:  “Realtor to Prospective Client:  ‘I Don’t Know What I’m Doing. Is That OK With You?”; “Realtor Interview Question #7:  ‘How Many Other Clients Do You Have?” ; and “Realtor True Confessions:  Top 4 Things Your Agent DOESN’T Know . . . & Isn’t Likely to Volunteer.”

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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