The Power of Local KnowledgeWith the market being like it is, more and more realtors are attempting to sell real estate in market's that they are not familiar with. Even though it is most likely in their clients' best interests to refer them to a local agent who can make better informed decisions on market conditions and actually be able to show up for things like home inspections. They are so desperate for a sale that they will drive up here from two hours away and make offers and take listings in an area they know nothing about. In my opinion, they are doing their client's a grave disservice.To illustrate my point, I am going to relate my experience yesterday with a home I put into escrow. I received an email inquiry from a couple who saw one of my listings on the Internet. Within a few moments I was able to ascertain that my listing, in fact, was not what they were looking for. They wanted a home that they could rent out in the winter time and my area was not in the best area for rentals. Which brings up my first point, due to my intimate knowledge of our market I know exactly which areas have the best rental potential and desirability. This is something a realtor with only limited knowledge could have no way of knowing. The couple had sent me a list of around eight houses they saw on the Internet that they thought they would like. "Great," I told them. "How about we look at the one's you like best and then we can look at the five homes I feel are the best for your needs". Guess what? They narrowed their choices down to three favorites and all three were ones that I had picked to show them. Again, without having seen, in person, all the houses on our MLS, there is no way an out of area agent would have the ability to show them exactly what would fit their needs. The agent would be guessing just as much as the client, because we all know the pictures never tell the whole story. When we were getting close to writing an offer, my clients told me that they wanted to wait until Monday to speak once more with their lender. Due to my local knowledge, once again, I knew that the one they liked the best out of the three wasn't likely to last until Monday. I knew enough about recent sales in Big Bear to know that the area they liked was highly desirable and most good properties sell very quickly there. I told them that if they decided on either of the other two, they could most likely wait until Monday. While they believed me, they still decided to wait until Monday. As soon as they left my office, I called the other agent on the phone and asked him to please let me know if anyone else was getting close to writing an offer. Guess what? Fifteen minutes later, he called me and said another agent had asked for the disclosure's. I called my client's and told them "It's now or never." They came in and wrote a full price offer that was strong in every facet. We didn't ask for anything out of the ordinary and put down a good deposit. An agent without my local experience wouldn't have known that homes in that area are flying off the shelves if they are priced well. I did. In short, due to my watching the market every day and keeping track of every sale and new listing, I am able to be of enormous benefit to my clients. I would be nowhere near as effective in a market I didn't watch like a hawk. I almost feel bad for folks who use out of area agents. More often than not, they are costing themselves a pretty penny. |
