We need to have an honest discussion. It’s rare, in any business involving sales, to have such a conversation, but converse we must. This is about me, sure, but it’s about you. It’s about people you don’t know and people I don’t know. It’s about regular, good people. People we’d go to church with or go to fish fry with. People we’d do both with. It’s about the sorts of people we all are at points in our life. It’s about the weekend real estate caller.
In real estate, it’s a generally understood concept that Realtors work on weekends. We do. We all do. There are some Realtors who take days off for religious reasons, and I applaud them for their conviction. There are other Realtors who take certain hours off- no calls after 6 pm- that sort of thing. But the vast majority of Realtors will show you a house Sunday morning at 8 am and they’ll show you one Friday night at 9 pm. There are no bounds for most agents, no time when they aren’t hungry to sell you something. Would it surprise you now that I tell you this is a bad thing?
Last weekend I had several real estate calls at my office line (262-245-9000). That’s not abnormal. But this was a Holiday weekend and you’ll be somewhat shocked to find out that Realtors also like Holidays. These days were not created purely for bankers and school teachers and financial analysts. These are the holidays for the people, and while there is some testing that has not been entirely vetted, Realtors are also people. The business expects Realtors to be available at all times, at the drop of a hat, because shouldn’t these blood-sucking sales people be available whenever the job calls. Can I say no?
Of course I can, but it’s taboo to admit it. Could you imagine that on Memorial Day weekend I, too, like the idea of a cookout? I was momentarily undertaking the world’s greatest physical transformation earlier this year, but it didn’t stick so I’m back to preferring my protein to be wrapped in carbs. Soft, pillowy, deliciously doughy carbs. And so I like the cook brats and burgers and steaks, just like every other red blooded American. I was in my office Saturday morning for a couple of hours, which felt like a nice effort on a Holiday, and that was that.
I stopped back on Sunday evening, after having spent the day Sunday out tiling at the never-ending cabin project I’m embroiled in. Last weekend, calls came for me to my office number. Voicemails were left. The weekend calls had left a couple of messages, and I was too late in my reply. Both buyers had moved on without me, which is both slightly understandable and also disappointing. And that comes back to the concept of this business and what it is different agents can offer.
Let’s say you’re looking to have some estate work done and you were told by a friend that their attorney is the absolute best. He does estate work all of the time, and he’s without rival. So you call the attorney, let’s just say on a Sunday morning of Memorial Day Weekend. If the attorney didn’t call you back within a few hours would you have called another attorney? Or similarly, if you call this attorney on a Monday but he hasn’t called you back by Monday evening, would you waltz into the closest lawyer’s office, the one in the strip mall next to the Cinnabon, and have the junior attorney from Middle Appalachia Technical College draft your docs? Of course you wouldn’t. Why then is real estate so different?
I love phone calls from clients and would-be clients. I crave them. So please, if you’re calling me on a weekend, call my cell phone (262-245-1993). Text me. Email me (dave@genevalakefrontrealty.com). Do all of these things, but I’m begging you not to leave a voicemail at my office for me if you’re expecting a Sunday morning return call. While real estate is a game built around endless availability, I’d prefer it be built around the concept that some agents are more valuable than others, and if you’d like a Sunday morning agent with an hour notice I’m pretty sure I know you’re not going to get the agent who can guide you towards the right property at the right price.
Here’s to the weekend, and to cell phone calls. Above, a pier shot from Thursday. It’s summer. Be here.