I LOVE me some First Time Home Buyers

by Jay Myers on January 22, 2009

in Affordable Housing,Home Buyers,Texas Real Estate

Cash Down-payment on a Home

Through this little blog, in the past few weeks, many hopeful first-time home buyers have reached out to me for advice, or with questions about whether home or property ownership is in their near future. The Affordable Housing Series has addressed many questions that are on the minds of would be homeowners, and Texas Veterans looking for assistance or programs for them call Denton County home.

I wanted to point out just a few reasons why I believe it is so great to work with first-timers:

Appreciation

Some that have been through the home buying or selling process before, may take for granted what a Full Service REALTOR® actually provides. Or perhaps their past experience with real estate agents was less than stellar, and they approach with a bit more reluctance. The experience, honesty, and patience I give to each and every client is appreciated, but, sometimes a first time home buyer appreciates it even more because they had trouble finding an agent that would give them the same attention an agent would give those move-up, or higher price buyers.

Loyalty

Another strike for a lot of other agents here. It is a popular phrase in real estate the “Buyers are liars.” Since I first started in this business I have always believed that if you did not provide better service than the next person, and operate with complete honesty, and acted as nothing more than a door opener then expected a commission check anywhere from $2,000 – $20,000; get out of the business! These were usually the same agents I would hear complaining

I took those people out and showed them 10 houses and they bought a FSBO or with another agent

My response to them is almost always to the effect of:

Did you provide all the services you could?
Did you know what they expected from you?
Did they know what you expected of them?

If there is a No to any of those questions, how can you even expect loyalty? I make it very clear before I start working with anyone that everyone involved knows what is expected of them. With this business model or philosophy if you will, I find first-time home buyers are just as loyal as the half-million dollar listing clients. If I screw up or miss out on a sale by not doing any of these things, it is totally on me.

Referrals

This business is primarily all about word of mouth and referrals after a certain point. All the advertising in the world is not going to help the longevity of any company if they have the reputation of being lazy, a shyster, crooked, or greedy…should I go on? Texas Veterans, property virgins, first-time home buyers are going to know others just like them who will eventually be buying or selling a home. I want to be the one they refer to those friends, neighbors and family members. Not to mention they have parents, grand-parents who may be down-sizing in the future and will need to sell their home and perhaps relocate elsewhere, I want to be the go-to REALTOR® for all of those needs. By providing exceptional service now, it should pay off well into future.

OK, I better start wrapping this up, I am starting to sound a little too much like a commercial…

My ego

Yep I said it! Let’s face it, I say the things other agents may not, so commercial time is over, now let’s talk about my ego. I am pretty confident about how I handle business when I have it, some may call me cocky, I am starting to say “assertive, and confident” — It sounds a little less abrasive, or cocky Anyway, it feels good to help people find their dream home, and to make it as stress-free as possible. It makes anyone feel good to be called “Awesome!” or to be told “I didn’t think it would be this easy” or “I can’t believe how much you negotiated the price down” shall I go on…? But the purpose of this article was to say why I LOVE me some First-timers, and to be completely honest, or what seems to be real buzzword this week, “total transparency” this has to make the list. Not to mention the commission checks are appreciated too.

I could go on, but I have already been criticized for writing too long of articles; Which I will address in a future post on what blogging means to me. Needless to say, the views in this article may not be shared by other real estate agents, to those I say thank you, and please continue to refuse or not have the patience to work with those buyers looking for down-payment assistance, or first-time buyers. My ego, and wallet thank you. REALTORS who share these views, why not share referrals. Readers who agree and are in need of real estate services may contact me here.