Getting Our Ducks In A Row
I have to be honest, I’ve never felt particularly positively toward anyone suggesting I need to get my ducks in a row, or that I’m potentially making a mistake, but usually when I heed their advice I’ll admit they were doing me a service. That’s how I hope you feel after reading this article. Ultimately our goal is always to help you achieve your real estate goals and one of the obstacles to that we’ve observed over the years is for clients not being adequately prepared. Sometimes clients are shocked when we insist upon an initial consult of around an hour and a half, but one of the express purposes of that consult is to do our part in ensuring you are prepared for the journey we’re about to embark on together. In that meeting we’ll often layout very clearly the next steps for the client, which we’ll follow up on to make sure we try to avoid this biggest mistake – not being prepared.
Going Slow To Go Fast
One of our clients recently identified that there are moments during the real estate process that feel like sprints, and others that feel like jogs. From the outset we try to break into a slow jog, securing things like media & measurements for your sale, or ensuring you’re properly preapproved with a mortgage broker. These initial steps can take up to a couple of weeks and can frustrate our most enthusiastic clients, but what we explain is that this is us going slow to go fast when the time comes. Once we’ve got all our ducks in a row, once we’re prepared to execute on your goals, that’s when we break into our sprint. We go fast! We build our property research folders, we schedule showings, we collect all the paperwork, etc. and it all happens at quite the velocity.
Leading The Horse To Water
Not to mix too many metaphors (do ducks sprint?), but let’s bring horses into the mix now. Another phrase I’ve never liked hearing about my own behaviour would be ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.’ That’s unfortunately what happens with our clients. We do all we can to encourage and motivate them to do the preliminary work we have suggested but we can’t ultimately make them do it. When that happens too often is we see their dream property come up and they’re not in a position to move safely to secure it. On the other hand, when we have had clients well prepared we’ve been able to immediately kick into gear, securing them their new home and/or selling their current one, in record time and at the right prices. That’s our goal for all of our clients.
Conclusion
So ultimately what we’re advising here is to listen to our counsel on next steps. Our goal is never to rush anyone, merely to put them in the best position possible to achieve their own stated goals. Let’s get our ducks in a row; know when we’re to jog and know when we’re to sprint; and be that horse that when led to water, actually drinks.
If you’re interested in discussing with us how to achieve your real estate goals in as controlled and stress-free a fashion as possible, reach out to us today so we can build a manageable plan of action together.