(E)mailbox Buster

Realtor Bad Etiquette

In the non-realtor world, it would be the equivalent of butting in line, or cutting someone off in traffic.

For Realtors, a common example of bad etiquette is blitzing several thousand Realtors' mailboxes with a 17 megabyte electronic flyer like the one I received yesterday -- an anvil of an email if there ever was one.

For non-geeks, that's equivalent to several hundred regular emails.

The peak for such emails is usually Monday, when over-zealous Realtors hosting Broker Opens the next day try to stir up as much interest as they can.

To stand out, it's natural to want to include as many high-end photos as possible.

However, that can be done less obnoxiously simply by adding (hypertext) links.

When I get email whoppers that overload my email box, like most recipients, I just hit "delete."

Social Work Wisdom & Real Estate

Keeping Negotiations Positive

"I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at your behavior."

Anyone who's ever been a social worker -- or the offspring of one (me) -- can relate to the above (although when you hear it at age 7, it does seem a tad bit, shall we say, "conceptual").

Still, the comment can be useful to keep in mind during real estate negotiations, on two levels: 1) both sides are playing roles -- either that of Buyer or Seller -- and that it's important to keep the identity of the individuals separate; and 2) Buyers and Sellers themselves are distinct from the agents representing them.

That last distinction can be particularly helpful in a tense negotiation: often times, what appears to be Realtor "bad behavior" -- like an especially "aggressive" offer, or digging in on what seem like petty issues -- is actually attributable to their client (and therefore more condonable).

As a result, it's easier not to (over)react, and keep the negotiation positive.