Jacksonville FL Real Estate Update

Our parent company, CENTURY 21, has standards of service that we, as agents, must adhere to. And as members of the National Association of Realtors, we promise to adhere to very strict standards of ethical conduct as well. But, in addition to those standards, Susan and I have our own personal standards of service. We provide this list to customers but have not posted them on our website or anywhere else so now's as good a time and place to put them out on the internet as any.

CLIENT-AGENT RELATIONSHIPS

At the beginning of our client relationship, we will explain our client-agent obligations, noting that our client is our employer and pays our fee.

STRUCTURING THE OFFERING

We will advise our clients on the most advantageous way to offer their home for sale, reflecting varying terms and conditions of sale.  This "structuring" may include a conventional sales approach, mortgage takeover or assumption, second mortgage purchase, money mortgage lease-purchase or other methods of sale.

MAXIMUM MARKET EXPOSURE

Our client's home shall be fully exposed to the largest number of potential buyers possible.  Normal marketing channels shall include all personnel in our office, local cooperating offices, regional and national brokerages and relocation contacts.

PREPARING THE HOME

We will advise our clients on how to prepare their home to show it in the most positive manner.  We will not gloss over glaring physical defects and will make recommendations as to how they may be corrected.

APPOINTMENTS AND NEGOTIATIONS

We will ensure that all negotiations by interested parties and other agents are coordinated through us, the listing agents.

INFORM ON THE MARKET

We shall advise our clients weekly on buyer activity and interest, local market conditions and other factors that may affect the sale of their property.  We will provide an updated Market Value Analysis, if warranted by increased or decreased market activity.

QUALIFIED LISTINGS

We recognize that only a "qualified listing" provides our clients with the basis for the most comprehensive and effective marketing plan possible.  This can be defined as a home listed with the following:

      Complete and accurate details

      Well-motivated clients

      Competitive price by a market analysis

      Competitive structure

      A term sufficient to market the home

OVERPRICED HOMES

We will advise our clients that we cannot properly represent nor professionally service listings that are overpriced, as we must be able to substantiate and defend our client's "BEST PRICE."

THE MARKETING AND CLOSING PROCESS

We will explain to our clients every step in the marketing and closing process, including the amount of "earnest money" that should be secured as a deposit and what contingencies may be considered unreasonable.

COMMUNICATION

We will establish consistent communication with our clients, either in person, on the telephone or via e-mail, and will commit all understanding to writing.  We will advise on prospective buyer reaction and the merits of all offers.

SPECIAL RELOCATION ASSISTANCE

We will provide our clients with special relocation assistance if moving out of the area.  This shall include vital community facts on the area into which they are moving and setting up a competent service-oriented real estate agent in the area.

I haven't had time in the last couple of weeks to write anything new. But then again, I don't think I've had anything in mind worth recording. Why? Well, it's not because we've been slammed with new business - oh, I'm not complaining, business is good. And, it's not because we have so many other things occupying our time either. Just the usual stuff with the kids and general "life maintenance".

I think it boils down to not taking any time to get away and just relax. As any productive REALTOR can attest, our's is a fun business and pretty much consumes us 24/7 if we allow it to. And we have definitely been allowing it... haven't had a vacation in nearly 2 years and we used to get away, at the very least for a weekend, every other month.

So what is happening now is that we are not utilizing our time to an optimal level of production. The end result is that we feel very tired at the end of the day but can't look back on the day and figure out "why" we're so tired. That can't be good for us... or our customers.

The bottom line is that we have gotten too much of a good thing... it's time to turn off the cell phones, set the email on auto-pilot and get away for a few days. How about you? Anyone else ready for a little R&R?