The other day I met with a woman who will be moving out of the area, starting an exciting job in another state. She’s ambivalent about the change. She’s thrilled at the chance to sink her teeth into what will surely be a challenging and high profile job, but she likes Greensboro and has many friends here.
And she likes her home. She’ll be listing it for sale, and she’s paid me the compliment of allowing me to be her agent.
When I met with her to start the process – it’ll be a few weeks before we put the place on the market since now she’s dividing her time between cities – she gave me her keys. They were in a medicine bottle with my name on it.
Of course, this is because the woman is very organized as well as a recycling fiend.
But as we talked about the circumstances of the listing it occurred to me that the curious way she made the keys ready for me was a bit of a metaphor for how she feels about the idea of turning her home over to someone not only for marketing, but for safe keeping.
She told me in a matter of fact way that the idea of being away from her home, and in this case away from most of her possessions (she’s leaving the bulk of her furniture for time being) was pretty hard for her and that she felt she’s putting them in my hands. The very great compliment was when she told me that knowing I’d be keeping an eye on things put her mind at ease. Kind of like taking a anti-anxiety pill.
I had not looked at the roll of a real estate agent in quite that way before. The overriding goal of listing one’s house is to sell it. But in the interim, you’re opening it to the eyes an opinions of strangers. And, particularly if a home will be quasi-vacant, having someone stop by regularly to make sure all is well is a service that comes with the job.
At least, it should. And most professional agents approach it that way.
Selling a home is a very, very stressful thing. Frankly, it’s a big drag. And there are aspects of the process that can be borne only by the seller. But if I can relieve stress or alleviate concerns or bring clarity to a confusing situation, I’m thrilled to do so.
Frankly, it’s my job to do so. It’s what makes the difference between a nameless entity who enters a property into the MLS from five area codes away and an agent with a fiduciary, ethical and even personal responsibility to the client.
It humbled me that this very accomplished, intelligent and independent woman looked to me to help make her transition easier.
And, for the record, those are indeed jars of M&Ms in the background of the photo above, sorted by color. We all have or own unique medicinal tools, right?
