S.E.C. Real Estate Observer

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An S.E.C. guest requested counsel with regard to an aging couple/prospective client, who had a gaggle of properties in a remote town. He wanted help on valuing so as to take a salable listing – a standard MLS broker’s approach.

He really liked the couple, and was stymied on how to proceed and was newly open to foreign “geographics” since attending a few S.E.C. meetings, but the whole concept of such dealing was very strange from his past experience.

We suggested he get involved deeply in the client’s thought process and plans, and forget worrying about how to get paid in a hurry. We urged him to get in the middle of their circumstances and see if there was help he could provide to further their objectives. “Focus on everyone coming to a clear understanding of where they were trying to get to with the menagerie of properties.”

He had never heard of an unpriced listing, so we introduced him to a standard form available from the California Association of Realtors.

We haven’t heard how that situation is going, but a week later he called for help with another much older prospective client who had apartments with bad results because a prodigal son was in management, and nothing good was happening. He related the long story of the situation, convinced himself while telling it that he would violate his personal preference and take on the management to bring the project around in order to make it ready for market. While dealing with the owner on the details, he ended up having to help him with some serious personal problems. What would a Red Carpet realtor have done?

What a transformation of attitude, client approach, and focus! This guest is becoming a counselor instead of a merchandiser simply by changing his pursuit to solving instead of selling.

His client’s trust in him cannot be broken by the next agent who comes along, because of the difference in his focus. When he proposes a transaction that he feels is the best thing for the client to do for themselves, he likely will have little resistance from them because they see he is focused on their objectives.

Many years of practicing that style of dealing with clients (along with numerous required workshops) will give him the basis to become an S.E.C. candidate. If you have been to meetings with him, you will watch the transformation. He is delighted with his new self.