Secret Agent Man

When you measure your career in decades vs. months, or weeks, there's a certain history that you carry into your daily work experience, and a level of expectation that frankly, colors your perception. While it's important to evolve with the times, there are some traditions that probably shouldn't have been left behind so casually. And, given the speed and technology of today's current marketplace, they'll likely remain a lost art forever.
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Too bad.

When I first began selling homes more than two decades ago, Agents made appointments to present in person, not only to the Listing Agent, but to the Sellers as well. With signed purchase offers in hand, we'd meet around a conference table, introduce ourselves, ask questions, and then speak glowingly about our clients, their qualifications, and their love for the house. It was a professional and polished presentation that played out over and over again, and an opportunity for Agents to meet one another. "Secret Agents" didn't exist. Either you made an appointment to present or you were left out of the process. Full stop.

Docusign hadn't yet come into existence (that was still years in the future). Instead, the contracts were printed on paper, formally presented, signed in person, and then ultimately acknowledged by the other party, all with "wet" signatures. This often resulted in late nights, and weekends at the office, meeting our clients AFTER their work day had ended. For better or worse, that was the nature of the beast.

Then along came Docusign - single handedly the biggest technology shift in our profession - which literally meant that we could draft and send contracts from anywhere in the world. In other words, I could vacation in France, and still present an offer in Oakland come the offer date. (That's both good and bad.) But an arm's length negotiation, often with out-of-area Agents, also came at a cost: we lost that personal touch.

Earlier this week, Sarah and I took offers on a sweet house in Piedmont that had proven more popular than we'd anticipated. (That's always a good thing.) So when I sent out an inquiry to 42 Agents (all of whom had requested disclosure packages) asking for a head count, and received only three responses in return, it made it impossible to give clear direction to the Buyer's Agents, or to their prospective clients, or to our Sellers. In spite of the fact that we are all walking around with smart phones, there seems to be a generation of Agents that prefer to keep their intentions a complete mystery; aka: "secret agents."

Why?

I can only assume, they're playing Texas hold 'em when the game is more like "Go Fish." But here's the thing, real estate benefits from collaboration and transparency; it should never be an adversarial process, so leave the cloak and daggers to Bond, James Bond. We expect to hear from you, AND we prefer to work with Realtors that are above board and committed to the process.

The irony is that it's never been easier to stay in touch, and yet too few Agents actually make an attempt to do so. In my experience, lack of communication puts us all at a disadvantage and sets up an inherent distrust. The sound of silence means we're working on gut instinct, and while I like to believe that Sarah and I have a pretty good handle on things, we'd much prefer accurate information in lieu of "hunches." (I'm sure you would as well.)

And for those of us who prefer a straight-forward approach (moi), failure to reach out or to respond signals that communication isn't their long suit, and we should probably expect the same M.O. throughout the transaction. (Certainly, that wasn't the intention, right?)

At the risk of sounding like my mother (guilty as charged), manners still matter, so Realtors®, take a quick minute to respond, and leave the covert actions to professional operatives. In other words, send a text, an email, or pick up the phone (old school). You'll be doing your Buyers a big, BIG favor.

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