(CHEROKEE LAKE REALTY WRITES A WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE GRAINGER COUNTY JOURNAL NEWSPAPER. THIS WAS A RECENT QUESTION ASKED BY A READER.)
Yes, that is correct. We don’t take calls from a potential buyer and/or their real estate agent and simply direct them to your home to look around on their own. What is common in our industry is that a combination lockbox, with your home’s key inside it, is placed on your door, so that any of the hundreds of real estate agents in our area can enter your home with the key. This type of access will permit an agent to enter your property with clients, clients that they may have just met, and to look around your home. Yes, this is normally how it is done in the real estate industry. I have had situations where there was a large family looking at the home and they spread out all over the house looking at separate rooms. Their agent and I had to manage this gathering. Very difficult to do with two agents, let alone with only one. With all due respect to our fellow agents, there are documented cases, countrywide, of theft and/or vandalizing having been done by rogue agents and/or their clients. You don’t believe us, google it. This is harsh, we realize, but it is the dark nature of our society that we are living through now. Our promise to you is that we will never allow ANYONE to have access to your home, and your personal belongings, without us being present for that showing. The safety of your home and belongings is our responsibility, not another agent’s.
Another important advantage of always being present during a showing is that we can SELL your home. No one knows your home better than you. And, as part of the Cherokee Lake Realty system, we ask that you share that knowledge with us, so that during a showing we can educate a potential buyer. To send a possible buyer to your home, without providing the knowledge of what makes your home special is a mistake. Without us being present, how can the features and benefits of your home be explained to a likely buyer? Will they know the little things that make your home different, special? Of course not. Lastly, to go along with this philosophy, we ask real estate agents for 24-hour notice on scheduling a showing appointment. We will contact you to make sure this is convenient and give you some time to prepare the home for a showing. As an example, if you had a family gathering the night before, I’m sure you would not want someone to pop in on short notice, not giving you the opportunity to tidy up a bit and make your home sparkle. A lot of times we only have one chance to make a favorable impression, so one must plan accordingly.
I hope this answers your question and explains why we do things a bit differently than other real estate firms. Why don’t all real estate firms do it this way? Time. Being present at every showing is time-consuming and most large firms prefer that their agents spend their time looking for new listings. We limit the number of listings we take on, and this allows us to spend more time and effort in selling the listings we do represent. But that is a conversation for another day.
