Hi everybody. Cheryl Knowlton, CEO of Dynamite Productions, coming at you with your Dynamite tip of the day. Today’s tip is on safety. I’m curious, and I’d actually love to have you comment below, whether or not you take buyers, you personally, take buyers in your car when you’re out showing them property or if you have a different protocol, to have them either meet you at the property or follow you.
Taking buyers in your car was the norm
I remember 20 years ago when I got into the real estate industry, it was very, very common, and especially back when my grandfather was a real estate professional back in the ’70s, it was very common for the real estate agent to put the buyers in the car, take them out, create the tour, and show them properties and be able to converse with them in the car. Did you like that house? What did you think? Rate it on a scale of one to five, get their feedback right when it is fresh on their minds, and to be able to build that rapport.
Some agents feel very strongly about that, that they’ve been doing it for years and they love it. Other agents feel very strongly, and sometimes their brokers will actually have a policy about this, that they do not drive buyers around in their car, that they either meet at the property or that they have them follow them.
We live in a litigious society
Interesting, the world in which we live today, so highly litigious and what a mess, that if you were driving, heaven forbid, and you were distracted and you were texting and driving and had buyers in your backseat, and you were responsible for a car accident, especially a severely damaging one to the other party, to the people in your backseat.
Unfortunately, in other states that have occurred, and we actually have case law regarding hot messes, I refer to those situations as rolling dumpster fires. We want to prevent situations like that from happening to you and/or your broker because that is not going to end well.
I’d love to start a dialogue with you, so please feel free to comment your thoughts and let’s have a very respectful, but open and candid conversation about the pros and cons of taking buyers with you in your car. In terms of safety protocol, it is much safer and better to have them either follow you or meet you at the property. But again, I’d love to hear from you.