Florida Treasure Coast Real Estate Resource

Customer service is paramount to generating trust and sales in real estate. In this third of three posts I discuss a recent experience with an absentee landlord:

The Absentee Landlord...

This post is not just a customer service experience but also illustrates the dark side of serving the client.  In this case the culprit was a rental agent who managed to neglect his client's listing for six months after it became vacant.

I was referred to the client, an investor from California.  He had assigned the task of finding a tenant to a well known broker who rented it. But after the tenant left he never bothered to find another tenant or even check on the unit's condition. I picked up the rental listing and discovered the refrigerator had leaked water onto the kitchen floor. The water was absorbed by an adjacent cabinet that was quickly ruined. There was also a myriad of wear and tear items needing repair along with painting, cleaning and landscaping. With the owners permission I brought in a painter, cleaning service and handyman to get the unit "rent ready".  I also discovered the A/C unit had not been serviced in two years and contacted a local HVAC company. As the work neared completion I began advertising the unit and quickly found a tenant, who moved in just as the contractors were finishing up. Even though it cost the absentee landlord almost $10,000 in lost rent and repairs, he was pleased to have his rental brought back up to speed with a tenant in place just weeks after listing the property with me.

First post: Mature Moves
Second Post: The Out of Town Buyer

Customer service is paramount to generating trust and sales in real estate. In this second of three posts I discuss a recent experience with an out of town buyer:

The Out of Town Buyer...
They were a professional couple from Boston seeking a club community offering both golf and boating who surfed into my Web site one evening. Their Email asked if such properties existed in our section of the Treasure Coast and could I show them listings the next day - the only time they had left before heading home. "Express" showings are a specialty of mine and I showed them a half dozen properties while introducing them to Palm City.  They fell in love with a beautiful club community and a property with a terrific waterfront location.  Three weeks later they were back for another look and we submitted an offer that was several hundred thousand below asking price. Needless to say the counter was laughable and they resigned themselves to not getting their dream home. But I encouraged them to stick with it and after months of on and off negotiating, a change of listing agents and a dearth of other buyers an offer was accepted just $50,000 above the original. With the buyers back home and unable to return during the settlement process I handled all the details including inspections, post-closing repairs and finding a tenant (they decided to rent it out the first year). All these activities were transparent to my clients, who tended to their busy schedules. They were truly amazed how easy I made the transaction for them and recently referred another client who is interested in a similar property.

Next post: The Absentee Landlord

First post: Mature Moves

Customer service is paramount to generating trust and sales in real estate. Nearly every agent Web site you encounter references "customer service" and how great we are at delivering it. Other than client testimonials, little anecdotal evidence accompanies the claim of giving great customer service. That said, here are several instances of customer service I have been privileged to deliver over the last several years (first of three posts):

Mature Moves...
This senior client needed to sell her home and buy another quickly, which sounds simple enough. But other than the equity in her home she had limited funds, no family and just a few friends who helped as best they could.  The mission was to sell her home and perform a simultaneous closing on another without providing a good faith deposit.  Also, she wanted to find a place to retire on the water for under $250,000!

Several weeks later we found a buyer. We now had 30 days to find another home - on the water. We began researching waterfront communities all over Florida and my client found a new condo in the Panhandle, which is a five hour drive from the Treasure Coast. I arranged for her to meet with the builder and was to receive a referral fee for my efforts but her 20 year old car decided to quit. So off we went in my car.  The condo was in a tiny hamlet just steps from the gulf and she decided to purchase it. After some negotiating the builder agreed to go to contract with just her signature and the promise of wiring funds for the all cash transaction on the day of closing.

Now all we had to do was get her packed and moved. Flash forward to moving day. The movers were a free lance operation and were nowhere to be found on closing day, so I rented a van and drove my client and her belongings to her new home, arriving after midnight. My colleagues thought I was certifiable but helping my client achieve her goal was its own reward.

Next Post - The Out of Town Buyer