(CHEROKEE LAKE REALTY WRITES A WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE GRAINGER COUNTY JOURNAL NEWSPAPER. THIS WAS A RECENT QUESTION ASKED BY A READER.)
That is somewhat correct. We limit our listings to no more than five homes at one time. So, in your situation for example, if we had 5 active home listings, we could not service your home sale until we sell one of those. In other words, one real estate agent to 5 listings. We also limit the land listings we take on. I have made exceptions for an extra land listing, but not a home listing. Home listings are much more time consuming because of how involved touring the inside of a home will be. Whereas with land, it’s more about the property lines, the views, and location. Since there is less time involved in showing a parcel of land, I have made exceptions to the five-rule with land.
There are only so many hours in the day. You can’t be available for all the steps that lead to successfully selling a property, if you have too many listings. Showing a property and explaining the features and benefits of a home can take some time. Being present for inspections, appraisals, surveyors, follow-up visits, closings, for dozens of clients at one time is not possible. Inevitably short cuts are made with some of these steps, or even worse, not done. I understand that the bottom line is important to the success of a company. I realize that the philosophy of most real estate firms is to get dozens of listings, stick a sign in the ground, put a lock box on the door of the home, run a thumb size description about the home somewhere and hope that a real estate agent from another firm by chance gets you a buyer. It is a numbers game for them. The listing real estate firm still gets the commission if another agency sells the home, their franchise gets a percentage, and their company profits. But not all homes sell that easily. Some need more than a real estate sign in front of their home and a lockbox on the door to allow other agents, and their clients, to come and view the home at any time. We don’t do lockboxes granting access to your home without us being present. I do not believe in that philosophy, and I have explained why in a previous column.
My definition of a successful bottom line at Cherokee Lake Realty is a bit different. We give the client the utmost time and attention to detail. Being available all the time for the client’s needs and questions. Consummating the relationship with a successfully completed sale. Or the knowledge that we have done everything possible to sell that home, if it did not sell. I would rather walk away from taking on a new listing, than not sell the home, because we could not give the client our all, all the time. By limiting the number of clients we take on, we can do this. I believe that you can’t do a client justice, and give your client your all, when you have too many clients. As the saying goes, you get can get really good at doing one thing a thousand times. Not by doing a thousand things one time.
