I've only been in real estate for 5 years, but I have found a theme in my transactions and in fact my life.
The reoccuring theme is crossing an invisible line. It's about passion and purpose and decisions too.
Some of you know right now what I am talking about and some of you will understand in a few sentences, because you live your life too crossing this invisible line. Others may not know what I am talking about and if you don't, at some point you will have to decide if you will cross it or not.
What I am talking about is that point in every business relationship or Real Estate transaction. The point where you have to decide are you going to do you job and just your job and do it well and leave the rest alone, or will you step over the line and do something that others may question, that you may regret or that simply is really not your job. The point at which it stops just being a transaction and it becomes personal.
By nature I walk close to this line all day every day. I have never been good in the role of uninterested observer. People draw me in. I am addicted and frankly seduced by humanity in general. I know many have very negative feelings about people in general, but my experiences while I certainly cannot say they are all positve ( I'm Anna, not Pollyanna!) I feel that in general people are good. People are interesting and worthwhile when you get to know them not matter who they are. I also feel that when I have been slighted or treated badly I might have done the same in their shoes.
But here lies my dilima. I have found that I cannot work with people with out becoming involved. I cannot work with a client with out coming to really care for them and I cannot remain detached. I also can't seem to come to a place in business where I am not crossing the line.
I am not here talking about some lines that I have vowed NOT to ever cross. Those lines involve clients asking me to be dishonest or to do something that is no ethical. I also have never had an issue with crossing a line with a client in any moral sense, nor have I ever been tempted by that or the ethical question. However.......well let me explain the line.
The line is that place where you know you are doing or are about to do something for a client, other realtor or business person something that well, really, is not your job. It is outside not of your scope of practice ( I get help for that from another Realtor who knows more than me about what ever it may be) but it is outside your scope of well....I guess the scope of things that keep you neatly removed from the client. Some times it is subtle and some times it isn't let me give you some examples and I think you will recognize some of the times when you too cross the line.
*Meeting a client @ 2am in the morning since they have a flight that leaves @ 5 am and no access to fax on their trip and that is the only time they can sign off this counter offer.
*Inviting a client who is losing their home to foreclosure over for dinner, since you know they have nothing to eat.
*loaning a client money
*Answering the phone late at night
*Meeting clients @ my home
*Going from door to door in the rain to promote your listing ( some times with a baby on your hip)
*Calling the bank that is about to foreclose on your client even though you are on the only "real" family vacation your family has ever taken. ( and getting up before 5am since they are on another time zone)
*Staging a home for a client who does not have the money to do so since you know this home will not sell at all with out the staging.
*Agreeing to be a client's power of atty since they have no one else they trust as much while they are out to sea.
*checking on a client's home you sold them when they are out of town.
* driving by a client's rental homes even though they have a property manager to be sure nothing looks out of place.
*Securing a loan for some one so they do not lose their home.
*Staying up well past 1am to be sure a client's ads get on line when your assistant was sick and it didn't get done so you are doing it ( did I mention you are sick too?)
These are just a few of the times when I know I have crossed that line with a client. Some other examples I know of with Realtors that have crossed the line.....
* painting the weather side of a house so that it will pass inspection and be able to close since the sellers do not have the money and are not physically capible of doing it.
*paying to have a lawn mown since the out of state seller can't and the fire department is calling.
* labeling every plant in a huge over acre garden with the type so that the home could be marketed as a " secret garden" and appeal to gardeners who are looking in the area.
*Helping an elderly client sort through all of their belongings before they moved.
*Taking care of a fellow realtor's business when she was in a coma in the hospital and never taking her clients, just caring for them and giving the injured comatose realtor ALL of the profits.
*Taking a fellow realtor who's disability into their home to live
...........
I could go on.
I will keep crossing the line I am sure. I think some days I do it several times in one day. I cross the line for my team too. I will not say that I will repeat every decision I have made in the past or repeat some of the ways that I have, ( hind sight is 20-20 and I don't like to learn from more than one lump on my head from the same thing) However I know I could not live my life personally or professionally in a dispassonate way.
Many people have crossed the line for me you see....some fellow realtors, some simply the people in my life and some, yes some of them are clients.
*Standing up for me when I was being criticized for working with my children in tow
*Taking the time and patience required to teach me when I was brand new and even though there was training available on this very thing, I could not come for lack of childcare.
* For generously giving me gifts like , giving our family the deck off of their house. ( se recent post)
* For taking the time to teach me about what they know about investing, even though I am their realtor.
* Offering my family a 1 week paid vacation ( we just need airfair) as a thank you gift ( no we did not take it)
*bringing my children gifts
* putting up with my children being along for the ride at the time.
*throwing me a baby shower.
*Helping me refinish a space for my new office
*encouraging me when I am down
* referring great people to me
* being willing to meet me @ my house to sign papers since it means less time away from my children
And so much more.......
Now I am not saying everyone should cross the line and there are times I would ( knowing the outcome) make a different choice the next time. For a long time however I beat myself up, saying other realtors were more professional than me, that I should be all business and so on, and yes, I have had to learn to set boundaries, but I have come to the conclusion it is just as important to know when to cross them. To help simply because you can and it is the right thing to do, even if it means doing the right thing means you will not get a paycheck for work you have done, even if it is inconvenient or difficult.
I admit it alot of what seduces me about humanity is the fact that we are really all very very vulnerable and we need eachother. This can be terrifying...until you realize that means everyone else is too and they may need you. Then you can set the fear aside and focus on others and simply ask how can I step over the line, offer your hand and help more than what was expected, care more than was expected and make a difference more than expected.
It is a frightening, exhilarating and wonderful way to do business, and instead of fighting it like I have for so long, I have finally decided to embrace it.
So if you need a realtor who does not do the exact same thing for every client. Who you want to see long after your first Real Estate transaction is over, who will step over the line if it is called for, then my team and I may be right for you.
If you want someone with perfect professional bearings, the type of back ground noise you would expect in an office and who always has an answer for you, well we are not going to keep you happy. Stay inside the lines and choose a Realtor who does too. If this is how you operate you will be happiest with an agent who has a very well segmented life.
However I submit, to potential clients and to Realtors and other business people as well,
The business person who does not burn out, who grows personally while growing professionally and who you feel like coming back to over and over usually is the person you know DID step over the line for you, isn't it?
Realtors, if you hesitate to step over the invisible line, but feel yourself pulled there, go ahead, step over. Do set boundaries, but be sure they are simply to protect you and your clients, not just out of fear or discomfort. Be willing to think outside the box, but be sure you also color inside the lines.
Anna Matsunaga is with Team Momentum, Keller Williams Realty, a company that is known in the industry for thinking outside the box & stepping over the line. Feel free to contact our team for Real Estate questions or for other ways we can help @ 253 212 1252
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98 Comments on Crossing the invisible line......
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Anna Matsunaga
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I loved your comments, just be carefull not to cross the line one too many times and either the buyer or the seller will take legal action....