How We're Different
A Decidedly Different Approach To Real Estate
Most people don’t grow up planning to practice real estate, so most agents come into the business from other industries. As a result, it’s become a follow-the-leader type of industry, where new agents usually copy what successful established agents are doing — good habits, bad habits and all.
Our approach has been decidedly different, partially because we came into the industry with experience in other facets of real estate including title, escrow and new homes marketing advertising and public relations.
So we got to see what the most successful agents were doing right as well as what they were doing wrong before we launched our careers. When we entered the business back in the mid-1990’s, we pledged to do things Our way rather than simply following the leader and unknowingly developing bad habits.
'But one of the biggest differences in the way we run our business comes back to our previous experience in the title and escrow industry'
While most agents detest continuing education and seminars, we embrace it. We’re always trying to expand our knowledge and skills by taking classes, seminars and webinars. Staying abreast of the latest trends, information and resources not only keeps us sharp, but it helps us serve our clients better, too. There’s no better feeling than using that knowledge to come up with a viable solution to a complicated issue that keeps a deal on track which might otherwise have fallen apart.
We also believe in keeping our clients informed and aware of what’s happening in their transaction every step of the way. Many agents are delighted to deliver good news but shy away from sharing the bad news. We believe that our clients have the right to know everything we know and that bad news will only get worse if it’s not addressed right away. So while we much prefer giving news that will make our clients smile, when something occurs that might jeopardize the sale, we share that, too, along with sensible options for eliminating the problem altogether or minimizing the impact. Our clients hire us to advise and represent their interests and a big part of that is anticipating problems before they become problems and keeping them informed so they’re not blindsided when a festering problem comes to light.
Technology is also a big part of our business. We were one of the first agents in our local market to utilize the internet…and that was back when nobody really knew what this new-fangled world wide web was really all about. Today, technology is changing every facet of our lives and we embrace those changes. We always try to stay abreast of the newest technological advances in our industry. In fact many of our colleagues come to us for advice on how to implement some of these technologies into their own businesses.
'Playing follow-the-leader may make sense on the school yard but it’s not the best way to run a real estate business'
But one of the biggest differences in the way we run our business comes back to our previous experience in the title and escrow industry. Because of our title knowledge, we’re often able to head off potential title problems early-on. Most agents rely on their escrow officer to read the title report and advise them if any potential problems need to be addressed.
But that’s usually a conversation that takes place well into the escrow period, when contractual deadlines, interest rate locks and moving plans are often already set in stone. And any delay at that point can easily cause major headaches and potential financial impacts for buyers and sellers.
Sadly, though, many title issues that cause such delays are matters that easily could’ve been tackled much earlier, if only the listing agent would have obtained a title report up-front and taken steps to clear up any issues.
Checking the title history up-front has always been a way of life for the two of us, but maybe it’s only because we worked in title and escrow before becoming agents.
As you can see, we take our jobs and the responsibilities our clients place in us very seriously. Playing follow-the-leader may make sense on the school yard but it’s not the best way to run a real estate business.
So yes, we’re different than most other agents. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.