It's Not Me, It's You

It is common knowledge in real estate that friends and family can either be the absolute best clients (and you three readers know who you are) or the absolute worst clients. I came to the conclusion last week John would not fall into the "best clients" category. He'd already shown me that he wasn't going to take me seriously. He'd mentioned in so many words that I was being hired as a, "favor" to my brother. There were many red flags and experience being the best educator told me there might not be enough in this commission to cover the extensive therapy that was probably going to be necessary if I took John on. 

"What do you normally do when you are faced with quirky clients?" my brother asked when I brought him my dilemma. This was his friend, after all. My brother referred me. I didn't want bad blood and I really, REALLY wanted access to my awesome nephew after the sale was done. If things went South with John I wasn't sure what my or their relationship would look like. 

"Well, early on, I'd take someone like John on and regret every moment. Now I don't mess with these situations. I know better. I refer them to other agents." I replied, solving my own problem. Sometimes it helps to say the obvious. 

When I called John to tell him, I just don't handle Sun City and I wanted to make sure he was in the very best of hands, therefore my ultra-capable (and no-nonsense) colleague, Luke would be happy to take over, John did not take it well. It took 40 minutes of diplomatically explaining how much better he will be under Luke's representation--an agent I know who handles Sun City and has many contacts in the area. John shot back about all the things wrong with Luke--even though he knew nothing about the guy, including Luke's last name. I countered with, "I only want the very best for you. My brother thinks of you as a brother, therefore you are family and as your bonus sister, I have a lot invested in what agent handles your affairs." 

Apparently I'm not the first person in John's life to have pulled this tactic with John, which is the only reason I can figure out that the Almighty didn't shoot a lightening bolt out that moment and strike me dead. To be fair, I really do want him to have a good experience, which neither John nor I would have found if we worked together. 

When I had approached Luke, I gave him the true picture of what he's in for--he would have found out sooner or later. For his part, if he sells John's house, Luke is going to give me a referral fee. Luke has already set up an appointment for later this week and hopefully he will be able to get John going in the right direction.