Going Above and Beyond—What Good Service Really Is

In my book, extraordinary service is doing what needs to be done to help resolve a situation, even when it is a long shot or falls into the “not-my-job” category. As a REALTOR® in the Minneapolis/St Paul metro area, I always try to provide extraordinary service to my home buyer and sellers but last week a New York garbage man has me beat in the exceptional service department hands down. Gary Gaddist, a parks department worker in Manhattan, dug through trash to find the wedding ring of a park patron when he found her handwritten plea left on his truck. I would guess that trying to find a ring in a truck full of New York City trash is like the smelly version of looking for a needle in a haystack. Gary didn’t have to do anything. No one would have known if he tossed the note…but he didn’t. He was able to be a hero to someone he didn’t even know by providing a bit of kindness and exceptional service.

Working in real estate, I don’t have to dig through trash to provide good service. I try to do what is right to get the job done. Last week, at a closing for my first time buyer’s new home, the sellers never arrived at the Maplewood title company office. While my buyer was wrapping up his final signatures, my closer received a call from the seller’s closing agent asking why we weren’t at the Fridley office. Our closer works in Fridley but since the house, buyer and sellers were closer to Maplewood, the closing had been arranged for the most central office, Maplewood from the get go. Unfortunately, this mistake meant the seller’s proceeds check was in one place and my buyer’s new house keys were in another. Even though the sellers were directed to go to the wrong place by their closer, their agent demanded we immediately drive to the other office or there would be no sale because her clients weren’t moving.  It was a ridiculous stand-off but I didn’t want either my buyer or the sellers to be further inconvenienced so we completed the final HUD signatures via email. I drove the sellers’ check across town and picked up the keys and dropped them at my buyer’s house. I don’t know if it is exceptional service, but it needed to be done.

 

This was the second time last week I had to run around with checks to keep everything working smoothly. Earlier this month a closing date was moved up a week to a time when my selling clients were scheduled to be on vacation. They pre-signed their documents and I delivered their proceeds check to them as soon as they arrived home. Easy-peasey!

Many situations come up in buying a home. Some can be planned for and others just happen. When you purchase or sell your next home, find a REALTOR® that will work hard to find the solution to even the most unexpected problem. Extraordinary service isn’t difficult it just takes a little “extra”!

Copyright 2012 www.terieckholm.com

Home Selling 101--Did the Color Look Better on the Paint Chip?

About a decade ago now, some close friends built a new home in an Oakdale development. Our own home was just on the other side of Silver Lake in North St. Paul so we drove through the development several times during the construction. We monitored the new community as the first dozen or so homes were constructed in the new neighborhood. This development didn’t have extremely restrictive covenants regarding the exterior of the home. The resulting neighborhood was very eclectic with assorted styles of homes. The sidings were of differing colors and materials so each home was truly unique. One night we passed by a home that really was starting to take shape and we noticed the very bright PURPLE front door! The siding on the house itself was a totally different color palette as it was slate blue, but the door was a striking shade of purple. The PURPLE door had to be a mistake!

As it turned out, we discovered we had a friend in common with the homeowner of the house with the purple door. So I asked if that was the color they wanted or was it a mistake. Turns out, it was no mistake, the owners LOVE purple! Okay we live in Minnesota--Home to Prince and the  Purple and Gold Vikings...so the people like purple. But from that day on, whenever we drove by the house, we remarked, “It must have looked better on the paint chip”.

And over the years, this saying has become code between my husband and I when we see someone with a love for flamboyant or unusual colors in their decorating.

As a REALTOR® I have to view many homes. Every once in awhile I come across a “better on the paint chip” room, door or house. When marketing your home, it is essential to make certain your own personality does not prevent the buyer from seeing the details of your home. If a bright orange kitchen counter, hot pink bathroom or lime green playroom is the way you have made your home your own, I do think that is an awesome way to personalize your space. But, you are going to be moving and if your favorite colors choices are too wild, it could hamper your sale. Bold colors in internet photos could knock your home out of the running with many potential buyers. And in this slowly recovering real estate market, you don’t want to lose any potential buyers over something as inexpensive to update as paint.

Stage your home with neutrals to bring out the details and style of your home. You want the buyers to feel your home is welcoming and warm. That can be difficult as people are quickly often turned off a home by colors they view as a mistake.

Copyright 2012 www.terieckholm.com