Nobody Reads This.

I created a piece on what an ECHO buyer’s agent does. It’s titled,” “Nobody Reads This.”  I’ll explain but first let me give you some context of why I wrote this piece and why the title.

This weekend we are celebrating my son, Sam’s birthday at a Japanese Steakhouse. My Mom introduced me to Ron of Japan (actual play by play) in downtown Chicago, when I was 7 and as she said, she created a monster.  So much so, that I go to a Hibachi joint every year for my birthday. Benihana, Hokkaido, Saito, and the newest one, Akiyo Hibachi Japanese Restaurant in Jupiter. (Our restaurant guide btw has all the restaurants by category.) Sam follows in the tradition and every one of his birthdays is at a Hibachi restaurant. I love the onion volcano. You know, that onion which is sliced from larger segments at the bottom to small pieces at the top. Pour in the oil and light it on fire and you have the onion volcano. Japanese Steak House chefs have lots of other tricks.  Juggling the eggs. There’s the choo-choo extension of the onion.  The miniature little man who squirts out water. They even toss shrimp at you like you were an ECHO dolphin. Because the Hibachi Chef is cooking in front of us we know how much work and skill goes into it.

Now, Hibachi Tricks gives you the 101 tips.  Starts with the Spatula Spin. Who knew what brand of spatula to buy and the weight differential, spin and catch, timing and tempo.  If I tried this, I don’t think my wife, kids, cats, and dog would ever set foot in the same room as me again. The 101 video tips made me realize that even though I could see step by step how much work went into the job, it is much much harder that it looks.

Most jobs we know are much harder than they appear. At least with the Japanese Hibachi Chef, we can see it right in front of us as they are an extension of the dinner table.

Next week, Buyers of Real Estate across all 50 states are going to have to sign buyer agreements in order to see a home. Really, these are no different than listing agent agreements. It’s for the protection of both the buyers and agents as it outlines what everyone does and what the obligations are.

There has been a perception issue with Buyer Real Estate agents – in that all they do is “open the door”. The perception comes from 3 sources. The first was bad Realtor commercials. It shows a happy couple walking through the door and the Realtor holding the keys. While it shows the end emotional goal, it never showed the work that went into it.  And while the buyer sees some of the work in the field and communication like the hibachi chef, it’s a fraction of the work that actually takes place in the kitchen.

The second factor is reality TV shows and social media. I was once on one of those shows and my buyer didn’t want to go on. They told me to just get someone else and fake it. Reality TV is all glamour and a tiny segment looking like all they do is party and rack in the moola. It’s utterly ridiculous as by the time we have had to pay for our time, expenses, and purchase our own private health insurance, margins are razor thin.

The third reason is that it looks easier than it is. I’ve had a number of agents start with us with a perception that when they last purchased, all the work in finding the house was done by them and the agent didn’t do diddly. After 6 months of work, they all have a changed opinion and PTRSD (Post Traumatic Realtor Stress Disorder) set in. And that’s if they survived the shell shock of how much there is to do.  87% actually drop out!

Of the hundreds of tasks our ECHO real estate agents do, opening the door is most polite one and the easiest. Taking your call on a Saturday night at 8:15 p.m. while out with friends can be the hardest one. The rest of a real estate agent’s task involve skill, strategy, a deep knowledge of the inventory, and contracts, reading people, negotiating, handling extreme stress, project management, juggling tasks, having a degree in psychotherapy, and putting in a ridiculous number of working hours that are rarely seen or appreciated. In short, an agent is in your court to protect you if things go bad. And agents provide all of that without being guaranteed they’ll be paid a single cent.

Agents at ECHO are vetted to make sure they can handle all of the above – but the most important quality ECHO agents have is that we truly enjoy opening the door. We still find that the easiest skill our agents possess should be the most fulfilling one. Opening the door and witnessing our clients smile as they enter their forever home is why we take the job in the first place.

All ECHO agents are full-time professionals and hand selected. What does this mean for you? When you work with an ECHO agent, you know that our agents have gone through strenuous ongoing training to be able to see a home from the perspective of someone purchasing. We have a team of client concierge support to assist you and them in working together in a team environment. This ensures that you receive constant follow up, service, closing coordination, and essential specialist backup throughout the transaction.

In advance of this transition, I started to write down what we do and specifically, what ECHO agents do (our agents are all full time and vetted). It was the most exhausting piece.  I put it in a timeline of 18 steps from start to finish with 151 sections. We call it our Home ECHOnomics Buyer Guarantee.  The problem I realized is because it’s exhausting, that nobody would read this in entirety.  So, the title I came up with was….

Nobody

Reads

This.

Nobody reads what follows.

It’s all just too much.

Unless you’re buying a home. Then some of these pages are

CRITICAL.

The Realtor you hire can make the difference between success and epic failure.

So, if it’s all too much….

Just skip to the last page

Tell me what you think? Send me your thoughts. I’ll send you a surprise bonus if you read through all 151 steps. I promise it won’t be a piece of shrimp thrown at your mouth.

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Jeff Lichtenstein, originally from Chicago, got his start in the home furnishings textile business where he traveled over 35 weeks a year selling fabrics. After the family business was sold, Jeff moved to Florida and became a real estate agent. Today he is the owner and broker of Echo Fine Properties, a luxury residential brokerage voted best brokerage of the year. Jeff manages a non-traditional model of real estate that mimics a traditional business model. Echo has 80 agents, an average of one million dollars per transaction and over 500 million in annual sales. Between traveling for work and annual family trips to national parks with his wife and 2 now adult children, Jeff has visited 49 states. He is also one of the few Chicago White Sox fans you’ll ever meet.  Some publications he has been quoted in.

Author of business & leadership book How Making a Sandwich Can Change Your World –  The Amazing Success of the PB&J Strategy – Available to Buy Now!

Feel free to ask him a question directly at jeff@EchoFineProperties.com including a complementary  valuation of your home.