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Used Car Salesmen vs Real Estate Agents in Bonita Springs Florida
There is a bit of a psychological equivalency between buying and selling car and buying and selling a home. How is that, you’re thinking?
- It’s one of those things that you don’t do very often so it can be foreign.
- The car and real estate market fluctuates with supply and demand. There is no fixed price.
- You may feel out of the loop because you’re at a loss for information and how the procedure works.
- There is a perception of slick wheeling and dealing and lack of transparency.
I’ll preface this conversation by offering that I have been a real estate agent for twenty-five years and have only sold cars recreationally. That doesn’t necessarily make me better than all of the other agents, it just means that I do have longevity … or I am just too stubborn to quit. I’d like to think I also have a great reputation. So imagine worlds colliding when I volunteer to deliver a leased truck to a car dealership for a past client who is no longer able to drive due to illness. I was doing this to help as the family lives up north.
When I arrived at the Fort Myers dealership, twenty miles from where I live, I asked for “Mike” or “Chip” as I was instructed to do, at the kiosk. It turns out I was talking to both of them. They instantly didn’t know what I was talking about. Perfect, I thought. I gave the elevator pitch of what I was doing and was met with “don’t know what you’re talking about and don’t how to help you”. I explained the man was incapable of driving again and that they family wanted the lease turned it. Still nothing. I had another appointment to get to and said I’d be back in touch in a few hours when I worked through whatever the matter was. There are a dozen buildings on the campus of this dealership and I wasn’t going door to door to try to find someone who wanted to help. After I left, the family placed some calls and lo and behold the details were magically worked out.
I’d be the first to admit that I hate when people hide behind blaming it on “because I was a woman” but I just knew it was that. These old guys didn’t care and they didn’t look at me as a potential way to make money so they basically blew me off instead of asking a few basic qualifying questions about what was going on and how they could eventually help. When I later returned with the key fobs for the vehicle there were a few clean up attempts at the sloppy interactions we had had hours before. Honestly, I really didn’t care and I cared even less when “Mike” started dribbling his car dealership jargon about “grounding” vehicles, final inspections, and corporate blah blah blah. (I am just a consumer and I don’t care to know how the sausage is made) What he had to say doesn’t matter because I was done respecting the man, what he had to contribute what he had to offer.
When I left I knew there was a component of the vehicle that I still needed to return and I did that part this morning. Job complete. Relationship ended.
The long story short of this awkward story is that every person is a potential sale. (Nobody ever asked me what I drove or if I was interested in their year end specials) Maybe I didn’t need a car that day but eventually I could need a car. That whole experience just rubbed me the wrong way. There was one bright part of the whole experience and was a sales person that worked on the lot and every time of the three times I drove up he walked over to say hello and ask how my day was and walked me to the manager. He acted professional even though he knew I was there turning in a lease for someone else and not buying that day.
That’s is what got me to thinking about the equivalency of real estate to car sales. I feel I have always done a good job of helping home buyers and home sellers but I am going to be conscious of whether I am breaking it down into bit size pieces and also spending enough time with people who may not be immediately buying or selling a home in Bonita Springs.
That is one of the reasons we offer complimentary real estate strategy sessions for buying and selling property in Bonita Springs before we even begin the process. Even if it’s on zoom we will walk a buyer or seller from point A to point B in the process so there are no surprises. It’s such a time saver for consumers and I feel it sets us, as realtors, apart from all of the other real estate agents who came in on the forty-four dollar Groupon special when the market was all low-hanging-fruit. This is actually what we do for a living for decades. We live in the communities we work in and we are also community organizers. Service. Value. Experience.
Listen, I can’t help you buy a car and have it be a great experience but I can help you with real estate and there are a few things you can do as a consumer to help yourself.
- Be transparent about everything and engage. Let us as your Bonita Springs realtor know how long it has been since you’ve bought or sold real estate so we can help you understand some of the changes in procedure. If you’ve had a bad experience let us know what that was so we learn, too.
- Find out what the supply and demand is for the real estate you are about to buy or sell. It’s crucial to your success. How do you know what to list your home at or what price to offer if you don’t understand the real estate inventory and the competition in Bonita Springs, Florida.
- Get more information. Talk through the entire process from start through closing so there are no questions or a clear path for what is expected from you. This will remove the majority of the stress and anxiety that happens during the real estate transaction. I promise.
- Real estate isn’t about slick wheeling and dealing. If you are using an experienced real estate agent, with a great reputation, who walks you through the process it will be a win for you. Your real estate agent will also be able to prove, with stats and data, the condition of your real estate market and has an entire team of great inspectors, attorneys, title companies, vendors and contractors it is about as transparent as it is going to get. There are often unexpected things that happen but they shouldn’t be life altering surprises.
- Last, if there is something in particular that worries or troubles you about a real estate transaction, get it out up front. Let’s talk about that and strategize how to get you the information that will keep you comfortable.
We really do pride ourselves on helping home buyers and sellers have great real estate experiences. If you’d like to talk about how to get started buying or selling and not have it feel like a car dealership experience, give us a call 239-273-7430 We can sit down at a time that is convenient for you and walk through the process from A to Z.
Read also:
Hiring a listing agent in Bonita Springs
Hiring a buyers agent in Bonita Springs