Real Estate 101 - Communication

Old-commThe National Association of Realtors for years has reported that the number one point of client dissatisfaction with their real estate agent is communication.

Clients' dissatisfaction with communication is usually lack of communication or communication that is not timely.

Realtors often feel caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to communication. More and more people expect an immediate call back. Some Realtors set specific hours for call back so they aren’t always interrupting other things that need to get done to answer the phone.

Cell-proMany people think Realtors spend too much time on the phone. A difficult thing to get away from when clients, like so many people today seem addicted to incessant cell phone activity.

But, these days communication isn’t just about the phone. It’s about text messaging, instant messaging and email as well. More and more clients buying and selling real estate are communication multi-taskers who expect their agents to communicate via their communication channel of choice – an expectation that creates difficulties for some technologically challenged Realtors.

This is one of the strengths of working the real estate business with a team. Each of us can rely on our other team members to fill an immediate communication need if we are busy.

What_goes_aroundKeeping the communication flowing is not only important, it is a necessity these days with all of the challenges in getting transaction through the escrow process. The escrow process, which use to be a fairly smooth process, is now fraught with daily hiccups due to all the changes happening in the mortgage and real estate industries.

Great communication is one of our primary goals and continual challenges.