Excuse me, are you a property agent? (15)

Suddenly I heard the client screaming in the master bedroom. "Oh God! Please help!" I muttered to myself, as I thought that probably her son had climbed the windows and had fallen 25 storeys below.!

The little boy's father and I ran into the room to find that the chest of drawers had fallen down. Thank God that the boy was safe with never a scratch. He was crying and visibly shaken. Though it is a luxurious condominium, thank God that my somewhat frugal owner has only supplied furniture that is not made of hard wood.
I had recently read of how a television had fallen onto a little three year old girl, and she died as the gadget was three times her weight.

The buyers' agent did not have time to show his clients as he had to attend church service, and asked if I could just show them. Though I already had a keen buyer who was coming back for a second viewing, I thought it might be better to show just in case they did not keep their appointment. Thank God for answering my prayers because every morning, I will pray for God's protection for myself, my family members, my friends and relatives. Now that I am an agent, my prayer also includes all my clients whom I would be meeting in the course of the day. There is nothing so beautiful and joyous as a day filled with peace and safety!

From this experience I learnt two things:-

1) As an agent, I must never use the excuse of going to church for not fulfilling my service to my clients. Churches usually have many services on Saturdays and Sundays. I prefer to attend the 8.00a.m. service so that I can be free the rest of the day to show my clients' apartments. Sometimes if I were busy in the morning, then I could always attend the Tamil service in the evenings.

2) I must be extra alert when buyers come with young children in tow. Children, especially little boys, are hyperactive and like to explore. Of course in the above situation, it should have been the agent who should have come personally with his
clients. Then he could have helped to look after the clients' little boy while I
showed his clients around and focused on the salient points on the property.

Frankly, I was extremely exhausted yesterday evening, but I was duty-bound to show
my client's apartment even though, her son could entertain the buyers when they came.
I rushed for the viewing by taxi arriving 5 minutes early, but only to find that the agent would be late by 35 minutes.! I took the opportunity to watch my favourite Korean serial while waiting.

After the viewing, I went to the wake of Amu's elder brother who had just passed away. The agent confirmed his client's offer to purchase the unit, and at midnight we were still talking on the phone! When I returned home, I scanned the option to purchase for another property and emailed it to the bank officer as I had promised to do so earlier.

It is amazing that so many people want to be an agent. If I had not lost my voice when I was a teacher, I would love to remain in the teaching profession. However, since I had entered the real estate market, I told myself I would immerse myself in the job, and be a blessing to my clients. An agent who co-broke with me on a unit recently told me that as agents we work for the money, and for the sake of earning a full one per cent commission as a cobroking agent, he had no qualms to push the price up, even though his clients had fully trusted him for his advice! I told him that if it is just for the money, I would not have lasted 15 years in the market!

To be a really good agent one has to be on his toes. Despite his exhaustion, a good agent must always try to keep his words. He must always remember that he is dealing with his client's hard-earned money, and hence must try his utmost to provide the best possible service. It is also important to keep up-to-date with the latest changes and development, and the trend in the market.

Like doctors, agents feel the pulse and heart-beat of the property market, and agents must always try to understand their clients' needs, so that they can give the
best possible advice to their clients.

When an agent truly works with committment and passion, his earnings will be well taken care of!

Gan Cao