I received my real estate license in 1994. Time sure has changed as I look back. There was the internet but not really used as a tool. The multiple was just coming online and we were still receiving those huge “books”. The MLS took our pictures for us - digital cameras were not on “our scene” yet. To prepare a CMA you would run around taking pictures of the comps and then run them over to the 1 hour photo so you could prepare your report to present that evening. Wow, has the listing presentation changed over the years.
Today, I was thinking about the other side of the coin, the presenting of the offer. Today with fax machines and scanners and email we have lost the art of “presenting the offer”. In doing so have we lost a commitment to our buyers? Our sellers get a huge presentation on what we will do for them - but what about our buyers? Aren’t buyers the commodity at the moment? Aren’t we all saying that it is a “buyer’s market”? So why have we stopped providing the buyer with their due presentation. I thought again…back in the day.
The steps we would take back then was to carefully write up the contract - perfect and neat because with some sellers neatness counts! We carefully prepared a seller net proceeds to the best of our ability highlighting the information that we didn’t know. We then would prepare a “mini” CMA for the property with the latest comparables of closed sales. We would make sure we provided this information with the assumption that it was to substantiate the offer we had written. The last item we would prepare was THE LETTER. The letter about the buyers - no this wasn’t the official pre-approved by a lender letter. This was a personal letter sort of like a “Buyer Resume”. I remember seeing some wild drama filled letters, “back in the day”. These letters told the story of the perfect family, to include how many kids, ages and gender to include how many pets and their names. I have seen letters that spoke to the seller as if it were a fairytale. Of course your letter fit your purchase and your client - not all were families and not all were about the perfect home.
But, even though some of these letters were so dang corny and if we saw them today we would be laughing until our sides hurt, I still think we should be PRESENTING the offer. No faxes, no emails - let’s all gather at the office and have a meeting!!! This is business after all!! Let me tell you why my clients offer is the best, why you are ok taking a lower price, why you can close in 15 days. Let me tell you how prepared my clients are, let me see you face to face, let me shake your hand. So what do you think of this? I am going to start asking my buyers if they will allow me to write their offer with a contingency - a contingency for me. This offer is contingent upon our agent Jo Soss presenting this offer in person to Mr. /Ms. Seller.
If you have any questions about real estate in Bremerton Washington, contact Jo Soss with Skyline Properties, Inc. at (360) 990-1433 or visit her personal website Puget Sound Real Estate Today
where you will be able to search for homes and find more Bremerton Real Estate information.Filed under: 1st Time HomeBuyer | Tagged: bremerton real estate, bremerton wa military relocation, bremerton wa real estate, bremerton wa relocation, buyers, Naval Base Kitsap, real estate ifnormation, seller
