WHEN I GOT MY REAL ESTATE LICENSE over 20 years ago  I jokingly told my family that I was going to sell million dollar houses, drive a Jaguar, and pop bonbons. 

Jaguar Convertible or Jeep

I never got the Jaguar although I drove a Jeep for years, and since they both start with a “J” it seemed that I was almost there. I did end up selling million dollar houses, but that was after the market had tanked in 1989 and 1990, and I was selling them for $400,000 instead.  I didn’t develop a taste for bonbons though, but two out of three isn’t bad. 

I also discovered that there is a lot more to being a Realtor than just driving around in a pretty car and popping bonbons.  Some days my family doesn’t even have an idea of how I spent the day.  So…. I decided to start this diary to explain what a realtor does all day and to review how I spent the day.  I hope for you, the reader, it will be interesting and informative. For me, it should be a kind of accountability.  

With that sense of optimism, here it goes!

TODAY, October 27, 2009, is probably not a representative day to start a diary.  This morning I took my dog to the vet at Friendship Animal Hospital for a monthly shot because he has Addison’s Disease.  Who knew that standard poodles are predisposed to Addison’s? Fortunately the vet at Friendship over a year ago knew that.  Now we go to the vet every month which he loves because he gets treats there non-stop so he doesn’t misbehave, bark, or lunge at other dogs.

Poirot and my daughter, Lise Courtney

After the trip to the vet, I stopped at my office at Coldwell Banker on Wisconsin Avenue.  We are remodeling our office, which promises to be a new and incredibly exciting space. No more cubicles! They have been replaced with a lounge, zebra striped chairs, sofas, a coffee bar, and communal work tables.  Our manager, Darrin Friedman, promises that this will be Kinko’s meets Starbucks.  Since we have been living in chaos for the last two weeks, we will be happy to see the end results. 

I wanted to check my office, which was being painted “Hawaiian Blue” this morning.  Thanks to a suggestion by Bronwyn Mathis, my assistant, the two end walls were painted with white board or dry erase so that we can keep track of listings and sales in progress, make sure we are in contact with our clients on a regular basis, and monitor all appointments on a massive calendar.  Happily, the color is exactly what I wanted and the white board paint works.  (The outer office has a big blackboard for writing notes to each other, but I really prefer our white board! No chalk dust and it is so much brighter!)

My office is childishly signficant to me. Even though I was consistently a significant contributor to the bottom line of my previous real estate company- always in the top five in production and sales- I never had my own office.  Now that I am at Coldwell Banker, I have my own office, an assistant and a buyer’s agent.  As a team we are so much more productive – exponentially so – than I was as a single agent in my old company.  The happy Hawaiian blue walls and white board establish the style that I want the office and my team to project – warm, comfortable, welcoming, peaceful, and very productive.  With the white board, we will always be able to monitor productivity and the  positive direction in which we are moving.

Once I was wowed by how great my office was looking, I went to Herndon, Virginia with my buyer’s agent, Janet Rushford, to attend part of the REBarCampDC.   It is hard to explain exactly what REBarCamps are - a collection of realtors and vendors who believe that technology can make a signficant contribution to the real estate industry.  Janet and I attended a presentation on the use of video tours in real estate.  The consensus of the group was that video tours should be no longer than 3 minutes, although a second  and longer video tour can be posted along side the shorter one for anyone who is very interested in the listing or neighborhood.

Several people there reminded me of some tax attorneys I have known because of their delight in debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.  The people at REBarCamp sidetracked the presentation to a discussion of whether agents can post videos on line of other agents’ listings. I think that the end conclusion was that it depends on state law, and the NAR code.  It seemed to me that it is inappropriate for an agent to post another agent’s listing on the Internet without getting the listing agent’s consent.  Generally an agent is delighted to have another agent include photos and information about the listing on that agent’s website or blog, as long as the listing agent is clearly identified.  I still am not sure why we wasted five minutes in such a non-issue.

After this angels on the head of a pin discussion, Janet and I decided that the office was looking even better than before as a destination, so we left before the next presentation on the use of statistics in marketing. After a quick stop by the office to watch the paint dry, I pulled my laptop out of my bag to settle in for some real work.

Much of my day is spent in responding to emails and reaching out to new clients.  Today we received several inquiries from Homegain buyers and sellers which had to be answered with offers of our services, including a set of properties available that match the buyer’s criteria or a description of our marketing plan for the seller’s property.  Inquiries from buyers visiting my website www.homesinchevychasebethesda.com require that we set up a search for those buyers with daily notifications of new listings. 

A current client needed the name of a handyman, while a new contact that I hope will turn into a client needed a painter.  I shared the name of my handyman, Mike Sanepour, with first client, and called my painter, Pete, to make sure he was taking new business. 

In the meantime, Bronwyn  scheduled a house inspection for tomorrow and tried to track down a missing electrical permit.

Now it is 10 oclock  and I have finished studying high school chemistry for a test tomorrow that I fortunately will not be taking. I am going to end this first day’s effort so that I can respond to some more buyers on HomeGain. Hopefully there will be more business for me tomorrow!

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