Real Estate From the Mind of the Consumer

My business partners and I have been looking for office space for a month or so now.  Our lease is up at the end of July, and the owners want to collect almost double our current rent starting in August, so we are leaving our company "home" of almost four years.  We got a phenomenal deal on our sublease in 2004, and the master tenant threw in all of the cubicles, desks, and chairs for ONE DOLLAR!  Hard to beat. 

Today, we were scheduled to meet our agent at one building, then tour about four or five after that.  He called me about an hour before we were slated to meet, and he was unable to make it because he had a huge deal that was falling apart and there was an emergency conference call to try to salvage things. 

Since I have been in real estate for over a decade, I know that this kind of thing happens.  He made the arrangements with the listing agents, and everything went smoothly.

My partner had found a few other places online, so we decided to drive around and look at those, or at least check out the locations.  Does any of this behavior ring a bell with you? 

Here's where it got interesting for me:

I was considering simply callling the listing agents to see if any of them could show us properties, since our agent was out-of-pocket.  To explain why this is a significant revelation, this is the SAME THING that I have been irritated by with my own clients for years.  Why can't they just be patient and go when I am ready?  I now see that truly motivated buyers just want to see as many possibilities as possible, and it doesn't always have to be convenient for me as the agent. 

We didn't actually call any of the listing agents today, because there was no need.  It looks like we found the right place already.  However, it did make me think about how flexible we are required to be if we want to capture the business. 

Believe me, it truly isn't personal, it's business - buyers who are ready to go will do what is to their advantage, with or without your help.