Honesty is The Best Medicine

Have had a few showings lately from which I’ve gotten the auto-feedback request and decided to throw caution to the wind. Previously I tried to be diplomatic: “Not the right fit for my clients.” or “My clients have opted to continue their search.” Granted, sometimes those things were true. But many times I just couldn’t say, “You cannot expect my clients to pay $12, much less $250,000, for a house that has lime green carpet, drapes, walls and furnishings and smells like an ashtray.” It’s funny, but I think my mom’s training – to always be polite - was probably overriding my better sense as a business person. “Not the right fit for my clients.”

Now I’m looking at things differently. I had a client over the summer who kept saying, “The feedback says we’re o.k., right?” And it was true. The feedback said we were o.k. But the agents, I knew, had more to say. The listing was overpriced and needed some work. But I had nothing to back me up. Then it occurred to me that I’d never been as forthcoming as I could have been with my fellow agents after I’d seen their listings.

So I switched gears. The results have been great, at least as far as I can tell. I’ve gotten thank-you notes, phone calls and positive responses from agents who were grateful to use my feedback to help their sellers. I always lead with something positive, for instance “the house is clearly well-cared for,” and then give actionable advice: “the first-floor bath would benefit from a fresh coat of paint.” I always comment on the basics - price, location, footprint, layout and amenities. I end with well-wishes for the agent and his/her seller. I had to laugh recently when I saw a listing come back on the market with all the fixes I’d recommended in my feedback!

You may wonder what good this does me. Well, a win for any one of us in this economy (or any time) is a win for all of us. The more inventory we move, the more we work positively to make things happen and reinvigorate our industry. A healthy market is what we’re looking for, and it is up to us to make it happen. At the end of the day, we are in this together. Honesty is the best medicine.

Carmen V. Rodriguez - Broker Associate

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage