It’s not really quite as simple as it sounds, but . . .
A nice lady called me yesterday and told me that she was interested in selling her house and buying another, but she was having a problem with the agent with whom she was working . . . and she needed to ask me if I could help her.
Once we determined that she and the other agent had not actually “worked together” yet and did not have an agency relationship formalized, I assured her that I could help her because that’s what I do . . . help people sell and buy houses.
Then came the loaded question: “What do you know about chickens and flood plains?”
My mind began swirling . . . I know chickens lay eggs, and I eat chicken regularly . . . and I know how to determine if a property is in the flood plain, but what could be the connection?
So I couldn’t think of anything to do but to ask her a question: “Why do you ask?”
She said she has chickens . . . 4 of them . . . and she wants to move and bring her egg-laying chickens to which she has become emotionally attached to her next house, so she needs to know that the zoning of every house I show her will allow her 4 chickens . . . and she also wants to be sure of NO FLOOD PLAIN because a flood would surely kill her chickens.
AHA! I told her that I didn’t know much about the chicken Law here in Nashville but that I could certainly learn it and she could rest assured that her chickens would be able to move with her to her next high and dry house.
With the chicken conversation behind us, we settled into learning her goals associated with this move and developed a strategy for getting it all done by the end of the year.
That phone call ended with the possibility of $700,000+ in closed sales within the next 3 months . . . simply because I expressed a willingness to do whatever it would take for her to be comfortable with me guiding her through the process . . . even if it required some research on the chicken law.
2 hours of research, and I now am a “chicken Law Expert” here in Nashville . . .
At the end of the conversation, I asked my new client why she had been frustrated with the first agent . . . She simply replied: “I really liked him, but he just told e he didn’t know how to find out whether chickens would be allowed at every house he shows . . . and then he sent me some listings to consider, and 1/2 of them were noted as being in the flood plain.
Hmm . . . Don’t be THAT agent . . . unwilling to make the extra effort and failing to pay due attention to detail.
Do the math . . . I figure my willingness to research chickens could very well have been critical link to earning an additional $20K in commissions before year end 🙂
No bad eggs here . . .