Realtors can’t ever go wrong buying champagne as a closing gift, right? Wrong. That’s the case if, unbeknownst to the agent, their client just finished a 12-step program (now presumably on Zoom, thanks to the Pandemic). Or hates the restaurant you bought them a gift certificate to. Or already has four kitchen knife sets (albeit,...Read More
MLS: “$10,000 Agent Selling Bonus!” My gut tells me that Realtor sales incentives generally don’t work, based on the following, three-step logic: 1) Anything effective tends to be copied in the marketplace; 2) Empirically, home sellers (and their agents) seldom offer sales incentives to Buyers’ agents (above and beyond the payout commission, that is); 3) Ergo,...Read More
“Wasn’t That House Interesting!” — Compliment or Dis? At least outside of Minnesota, “interesting” actually can mean . . . “interesting.” As in, “unique” (in a good way), “provocative,” or “stimulating.” By contrast, when Minnesotans say it ” especially in the context of house-hunting, and they enunciate the word slowing (“i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g”) ” they invariably mean “unique” (in a...Read More
Ironically, the better Realtors get at helping clients buy and sell real estate . . . the worse they can get at certain related tasks. Here are three areas where it’s easy for agents to let their skills atrophy ” or never acquire expertise in the first place: One. Market reports/updates. Show me a listing...Read More
All Part of the (Ongoing) Job If you went to your estate attorney for a will in 2016, then needed an update now, you’d expect to be invoiced for the new work, right? Similarly, if your dentist put in a crown four years ago, then you needed a cavity filled today, you’d expect the dentist...Read More
“The Home Showing Honor System” COVID-19: Due to nationwide concerns about COVID-19 and as a courtesy to home sellers, please do not schedule showings if the buyer’s agent or buyer exhibits cold/flu-like symptoms or meets any of the criteria for self-quarantine mandated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By proceeding with scheduling a showing,...Read More
