I want to cut to the chase here. The world of real estate is as different around the country as any other trade. The expectations of services provided and knowledge base vary wildly and like most things, the local customs of a given area set the paradigm. I think these anecdotes speak volumes:
This year I had a listing for a couple moving to the east coast. As I was prepping their Oakland home it became clear in our conversations that they were having a profoundly different experience with their NY purchase compared to their experience with me. The level of assurance, involvement and answers given to my clients was radically different from how I worked with them. My clients, comparing the two experiences they were having were really noticing how informed they felt working with me and how in the dark they felt with the representation back east. I don’t believe anything was wrong with the care they received back east, I believe that the pressure and intensity simply isn’t as profound in rural communities. Here in the Inner East Bay the standard of care involves collaboration, articulated solutions for anticipated problems and a clear strategy presented and implemented in advance.
The other anecdote was from an agent in Kansas who called me asking if I could help her client who owned an investment property in El Cerrito. She and I had a wonderful conversation swapping stories about how our markets worked. On her end it was important to understand the issues that come up in many rural communities; water rights, bridge condition, private vs public roads and responsibility for maintenance. She also knew who was who on each little road and helped her clients understand where they wanted to live and why, noting what potential conflicts could come up between neighbors. We had the same reaction listening to each other, “I could never work in your market, my knowledge would be useless there!”
Our market is competitive and our limited inventory comprises very old homes. The onus is on me to present homes beautifully with inspection reports that are trusted by the top agents in the market. I know exactly what that expectation looks like, the cost to get there, the contractors to do the work, the timing to come on the market, the best and most compelling way to answer the questions agents ask and how to negotiate to bring offers up to match the seller’s expectations. For my buying clients, I know who to call for special inspections, how to recognize problems in a home that the inspector may or may not have alluded to, which homes will hold value, which won’t and why, who all the other top agents are and how they tend to advise their clients and how to win without overshooting it. My job involves contract law, negotiations, liens, easements, appraisals and lenders (and all the surprises and problems that arise there), construction, codes, permits, and rental laws, design, color theory, how to get the most out a home with a remodel or addition, neighbors and rules, fences and trees, the economy, the political climate, interpersonal dynamics and how to sooth them.
In our Inner East Bay market, realtors who sell homes at the level that I do are some of the most multi-dimensional, talented and hard working people I know. I am proud to be one of them.
