I’ve been taught from Day 1 in real estate that it is really best to meet a potential client, for the first time, in the office.  The concept is that we can talk about the needs and desires of the potential home buyer or home seller in a comfortable environment and get a feel for whether we would be a good fit for one another. Another good reason is to establish the  client’s ability to realize their dreams.

This is true of home buyers as well as home sellers.

For the buyer, it is important to know a lot about where they want to live, what type of home they would prefer, what is really important to the home buyer about what will, most likely, be the biggest commitment of time, energy and money they will ever make. It also gives the Realtor (that would be me) an opportunity to talk about the person’s financial ability to make a home purchase.  It doesn’t do anyone any good to look in Bethesda, MD when they may not be able to afford College Park, MD (and to the people in the MD Suburbs of DC — you know the difference).

Meeting for the First Time at the House

I recently broke my own rule.  I met a potential client at a house they had found on the Internet.  I had spoken to this potential home buyer a few days earlier and tried to set up an “in office” appointment.  No.  He just wanted some listings e-mailed to him.  OK, I thought.  Easy enough.  A few days later he called and asked to see a house that was decidedly not on the list. Hmmm.

I went to meet the guy and his wife and they had picked out this nice foreclosed home in Columbia, MD.  Cheap.  As is.  OK part of town.  I didn’t have anything else on the calendar so I made the appointment.  The place was trashed (like quite a few foreclosed homes). Holes in the wall.  Destroyed appliances. Destroyed carpet.  On and on.  They looked at it and looked at me and said (and this is a quote) “This isn’t what we expected.”

Well, I could have saved them the time they took to look at the place if I had talked with them at some length first.  I could have also found out that they aren’t really ready to buy for about four months and that they really don’t have a set place on where they want to live.  They are also guessing at the price range for the house they are looking for.  They haven’t talked to a mortgage professional and they really have no clue about the costs of buying a house.

A Good Reminder for Me

So we talked a bit and I referred them to a mortgage professional to get an idea if they are a) financially qualified to buy a house and b) what price range they can purchase in.  You see, I’m not into the tour guide thing. I’m not interested in “just looking around”.  I know that sometimes it takes a lot longer than people think.  There’s lots of good reasons to lay the ground work for making a home purchase far in advance of the actual purchase.  I am happy to help guide anyone through the process from beginning to end whether it takes a few months or many months.  The respect needs to go in both directions.

That’s why this experience was a good reminder to me that it’s important to sit down with a potential client to see if we will be a good fit.  I want to know about my client’s needs and desires.  If we talk and get on the same page it can be a beautiful thing.  If not, it’s a drain on both of us.

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