don't forget your Supra key

So, I was away last week with my wife, and we had a great time. We had a couple of those things called long conversations that married people have from time to time...not necessarily the smoothest parts of the week away (:) ), but certainly among the most necessary. In the end, it was just a relaxing time, even as I worked several hours a day (yea for e-mail and cell phone).

When I got back on Saturday, I felt like I put my cell phone to my ear and didn't put it down until this morning. Real estate investor clients looking to go round 2, a new investor client exploring an option in College Park, a classmate of my wife's and her husband looking to maybe buy in Baltimore, etc...

Monday, I had a meeting with a new client in Canton, and then I headed straight up to Harford County to tour 12 properties. I meet my clients at LNF (Long and Foster for those that might be scratching their heads) White Marsh, and we drive the next twenty minutes to the first showing at a house in Bel Air. As I get out of the car, that horrible feeling came. You know the horrible feeling that I am talking about. When you get to class and remember that you forgot your paper that you worked on all night back at your dorm room. When you leave the store and remember that you went in with a child and now have come out alone. When you pull up for you date and you suddenly aren't sure if you remembered to brush your teeth. Anyway...

Well, I realized that sitting in it's cradle next to my computer was my Supra key. Funny thing about Supra keys...they don't work from 30 miles away. (If you are wondering what a Supra key is, you probably haven't purchased a house in the last 2 years. Basically, it is a little key pad that is used in conjunction with key-boxes placed on or near the front doors of houses that makes it more "convenient" for agents to show properties. Instead of needed 12 combos like I used to or having to go pick up 12 keys from listing agents or having to set up 12 precisely timed appointments, I can set up generally-timed appointments and take my 1 Supra key to get into 12 houses as we go. Of course, the "convenience" is lost when you forget this nifty little contraption when you leave your house.) The frustrating thing about the Supra key is that it is sort of like a baby, in that it needs to be in its cradle every night to "update," otherwise it is rendered useless without "manually" updating during the day, which can be a long, involved process annoying enough to make you want to pluck out your eye lashes while you do it. So, the auto-update in the cradle is the way to go. However, when you've got a lot on your mind (like, say when you just got back from vacation and are trying to simultaneously serve the needs of a half dozen clients/potential clients and need to remember you directions, buyer presentation, listings, cell phone, planner, pens, etc., before you walk out the door), grabbing the Supra key out of the cradle can be easy to forget.

Okay...enough rambling. Yes, I forgot the stupid key. Fortunately, God was kind enough to have the owner of this first showing be home, so my clients got to see this house, while I frantically tried to figure out how the heck they were going to see the next 11 homes. There are so many parts to this story, but here's the reader's digest version, which leaves out at least a dozen phone calls. I went to the local LNF office near this first showing, and they would not allow me to borrow their key. Now, I knew that lending your key out was frowned upon, but it turns out that it actually can get you a $500 fine!! I was like, "Oh...that's wonderful. I understand why you will not lend me your key." So, I called my office manager, as I drove my clients to the next part of our tour (we did have one appt. set up and one "combo" property that we could see, as I figured out how to get a key for the other 9). Dean pretty much told me that I was pretty out of luck, especially as the local Realtor board had really cracked down on this, fining a Long and Foster agent in Harford County just the week before.

In the midst of all of this, I had been calling my wife, whose cell phone conveniently doesn't work when she's at the "pods" (the study area of her school). Seeing my other options as bleak, I called a friend named Erik and was like, "Erik, get on IM, IM my wife, and tell her to call me...NOW!" This, Erik did, and my wife calls. Fortunately, since she is at the beginning of her new section at school, and far from a test (well, as far as you can get in med. school), so the prospect of me making a month and a half of expenses with one deal was enough to get her to take her bike home, get my Supra key, and drive up to meet us in Harford County.

An hour of good, but unproductive, agent-client time later, Sara shows up. Of course, by this point it is 4pm, and all the homes that were to be "vacant" when I showed them now had the sellers back home from work and school, so I ended up actually only needed the key for one showing. Figures.

In the end, my clients found a great home, a contract has been submitted, and it all worked out. But, seriously, don't forget the Supra key...it's a bad idea. :)

Peace,
Greg

killin some time

Well, I'm sitting in the Odenton office waiting for some minutes to pass before I go to a poker game tonight. Yes...my bankroll was robbed. Fortunately, I have friends who trust my play enough to spot me and I turned $150 into over $700 in a few hours the other day, so I now have a bit of play money again. :) Tonight is another low limit game that should afford me the opportunity to kick back with some good people and enjoy myself.

As far as business, it's been a busy-good, busy-bad few days. From a run-away client (can't really explain more out of respect for agency law), to an offer rejected in a competing situation (most likely because of a listing agent who wasn't comfortable with VA financing), to another client who is no longer sure if they are buying in Maryland, to a minor point of contention that threatens to derail a transaction of mine...well, as Realtor trainer Darryl Davis says, "Real estate can be frustrating from time to time." :) So, that's the busy-bad.

The busy-good is a half dozen new buyer leads, 3 new seller leads, and a business system that has become more automatic than ever when it comes to contact relationship cultivation and follow-up.

I looked at my sent items box (which I need to clear out periodically before I get the angry "your mailbox exceeds...blah...blah...blah" e-mail from Long and Foster), and I sent out well over 1,000 e-mails last month. Sick. As for my cell phone minute usage...well, Sara and I can be glad that we have enough rollover minutes from a slow winter to carry us through (yea, Cingular).

Alright, I actually thought of a couple of things I need to do, so my "killing time" has turned into "racing time" (a little bit). Thanks for reading!

Peace,
Greg

Orioles game: May 4th

So, with the help of 3 sponsors, I got 65 tickets to an Orioles game that I am inviting all my clients, business contacts, and friends to. Should be a great time, and I expect to have to get a few more tickets with where the current response is at.

In between now and then, it's just the craziness of the Spring market. I had one client go AWOL on her co-buyer and me this past weekend, which is making for an interesting (albeit, not unworkable) situation. I'm working with my sellers to get their listings ready for the market ("No, lavender ceilings won't help your home sell for top dollar..."), hopefully by the end of this month. And I'm helping a couple of my clients find a couple of rentals, while they take the next year as preparation to buy next year at this time.

This is on top of trying to stay on top of the dozen or so strong leads for this season, and a few more that are a bit less-than-strong. It's always a delicate balance between making sure that you are as busy as you can be, but not too busy that your quality of service starts to take a hit. Correspondingly, I need to give my potential clients enough space to take as much time as they need to make the decisions that are right for them, but also try to communicate to them that, in some way, it is in their best interests to make a decision sooner rather than later to ensure that I can commit to them 100%.

Well, with the lack of anything I feel like ranting about, coupled with a couple very long e-mails I have written today and a fair amount of hunger, now seems like as good an ending point as any.

Peace,
Greg