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A preferred vehicle would likely have several characteristics when considering both functionality and image/branding:
Functionality:
1) The car should be large enough to accomodate a family in addition to yourself (the realtor). Assuming the likely largest family you may have to cart around has 5-6 members (two adults + 3-4 kids), you should get something with seating for 7. The sedan path will be hard to fit the mold. If you go with an SUV, the third row seat accomodates that occasional family that wants to pile into your car (i.e., families on a relocation visit without a car).
2) The vehicle should allow you to stow away a bunch of work related items such as open house signs, marketing brochures, etc. without distracting the customers on the inside (that is, you should try to have a large trunk or, if it's an SUV, a cargo space with the privacy flap).
3) Your car should make your customers feel comfortable (no head or leg room issues for a variety of client sizes).
4) While a lesser point, ideally, your auto should be decent on gas mileage (as much as possible for its class) since you may have to go across town depending on how your clients or listings stack up.
Image/Branding:
1) Your customers want to feel "special" (who doesn't?) when looking for homes. In this case, "special" means pampered in the way that having a Lincoln Town Car "limo service" carting you around NYC might make you feel. Thus, you want to get something that conveys luxury but without being overly obnoxious or ostentatious. Also, you want to position yourself as aggressive in the sense of working for your clients and not aggressive in a steroid/testosterone sense.
2) Further, you want something that supports the image of you being a successful realtor BUT maybe not too financially successful. I would think the image of the professional with a family to feed plays better to most customers and makes them want to give you referral business in the future vs. "this guy doesn't need help."
3) Your car should be kept in clean/neat/tidy condition and regularly washed. This conveys attention to detail and professionalism.
4) Ideally, the car is a newer model (doesn't have to be brand new but should be current or current minus one generation). The newer models says you're current and relevant (to loosely paraphrase Randy from American Idol). This has the secondary benefit of reliability - you certainly wouldn't want to be stuck on the side of the road with your clients!
5) This last one isn't technically car related per se, but I've always been more impressed with realtors who show homes and have pre-planned all destinations without relying on mapping tools. This conveys an intimate knowledge of the neighborhood and areas. The last thing you want is a realtor who has to rely on a GPS and gets lost... Just drive the route ahead of time to make sure you know where things are!
With these points in mind, if I were a realtor, I'd probably choose a luxury SUV like the Acura MDX, Audi Q7, or Lexus GX. If getting a non-luxury SUV, I'd consider a Chevy Tahoe or Mazda CX-9. If the third row is not important, it's probably hard to go wrong with a Lexus RX350.
If you have your heart set on a sedan (which can certainly work), go with a pre-owned Audi A8, Lexus LS, or Mercedes S-Class. I still think bigger is better here!
Last, there may be some financial related advantage with how cars (and the use of them) may be expensed/reimbursed/tax treated that you may consider. I'm not familiar with any rules of thumb here but others may know.
Aside: RCH99, I had a good laugh when I read your last post. I hope my post doesn't make it a love triangle...
Last edited by TXDungeonMaster; 03-02-2010 at 01:39 AM..
Here's an observation: When I got into real estate years ago, I assumed I would be constantly driving clients around in my car. The reality is different.
The real life scenarios are:
The search will continue over a broad area that day and they prefer to keep their car with them.
They have an infant or toddler and prefer to use their own car because of the seat - and they don't want to move it.
Most people have limited time to look at houses - and find that keeping their car with them saves time at the end of the home-looking period ends.
If it is someone that is from out of town, it is preferable that they ride with me, but Houstonians prefer to keep their cars 90% of the time.
Do you ever simply feel like a tour guide? I would think that the shared time riding inside the car in between showings would offer a good opportunity to talk with your clients about houses, schools, traffic, life, etc...something beyond just showing them house after house with no downtime in between for effective communication. Maybe it is better, maybe allowing the clients to look at the houses with you, then digest the information on their own in private is another perspective on showing real estate. I just would like to be able to provide greater input in person when I can, and since time is always pressing, the driving in between seemed like a great chance to get to know your clients better. E-mails, while a necessity for any business always have such an informal feel about them. The more I feel I can talk about face to face, the better I would think that people would understand my attitude, opinion, or concerns about an area or property.
90% is a huge number though, so I think I will just plan for a vehicle that presents itself professionally just in case, but I think I will steer clear of buying a Suburban basically to drive around a family of 6. I would think a standard 5 seat SUV/Sedan would suffice for most people. I have an 06 Sienna for my family if I needed to use it to haul 7 people plus myself around town. I do agree that I should err on the larger side when looking at cars. A 7 series over a 3 series. An S class over a C class. But I still may go with the middle sized cars like a 5 series, E class, or comparable. I like the Infiniti M35/45 for sedans and I like the Audi Q7 for SUV. That is where I am leaning. MB can be such a pain with all their electrical gremlins...and I am just not a BMW fan.
Thanks for the input on the cars, it was just something else I was thinking about.
Here's an observation: When I got into real estate years ago, I assumed I would be constantly driving clients around in my car. The reality is different.
The real life scenarios are:
The search will continue over a broad area that day and they prefer to keep their car with them.
They have an infant or toddler and prefer to use their own car because of the seat - and they don't want to move it.
Most people have limited time to look at houses - and find that keeping their car with them saves time at the end of the home-looking period ends.
If it is someone that is from out of town, it is preferable that they ride with me, but Houstonians prefer to keep their cars 90% of the time.
Cheryjohns brings up a good point. From my last experience working with a realtor, many of the opportunities to preview homes together occurred during lunch hours or right after work. In these situations, the realtor would just meet us at the target property. After we looked at it together (which was the face-to-face time), we promptly left in separate cars and would then schedule time to discuss via phone/email our thoughts on the property after some time to "digest" what we saw.
On cars, another one to ponder is the Audi Q5 which is a 5 person SUV and is less expensive than the Q7. On the Infiniti M sedans, you might wait a little bit there as they just released the redesigned version of that car (for 2011) - you can search for pics on the net (pretty nice). Even if you don't like the Infiniti's redesign, you could wait and get a great deal on the outgoing design.
Do you ever simply feel like a tour guide? I would think that the shared time riding inside the car in between showings would offer a good opportunity to talk with your clients about houses, schools, traffic, life, etc...something beyond just showing them house after house with no downtime in between for effective communication. Maybe it is better, maybe allowing the clients to look at the houses with you, then digest the information on their own in private is another perspective on showing real estate. I just would like to be able to provide greater input in person when I can, and since time is always pressing, the driving in between seemed like a great chance to get to know your clients better. E-mails, while a necessity for any business always have such an informal feel about them. The more I feel I can talk about face to face, the better I would think that people would understand my attitude, opinion, or concerns about an area or property.
Yes, you are a tour guide. That's part of the service. People come here, often with misconceptions of the city, and you have a chance to physically show them the real city.
Here is a "trick" I use. IF they have a vehicle (we are talking about out-of-towners here), I have them drive, and I navigate. The reason for this is it gives them something to do. Otherwise, I am driving in Houston traffic, I am navigating, AND I am attempting to answer rapid-fire questions about Houston from BOTH of them AT THE SAME TIME (oddly, they don't seem to be able to hear each other, so they don't realize they are talking at the same time). I attribute this to boredom - I am doing everything and have left them nothing to do. So one drives, one back-seat drives and I navigate and answer questions in a slowed-down manner (they are a little busier).
Here is how you handle little ones - give the from-4-to-11 year old your business cards in advance and tell them how important it is that one be left at every address. They take it very seriously and it calms them down. On the older side of that group, you can give them the bottom of the supra lock and ask them to keep it on them at all times. Even the most rambunctious child becomes your "partner" and behaves well. I actually like it when children are included - I know a lot of Realtors hate it.
I am a big fan of kids as well, but I am not looking to go house shopping with the Duggards. 1-3 kids would be fun to go house shopping with, because they look at homes from a different perspective than the adult counterparts, so it looks like fun to have kids run around a house, yard, etc...to get a feel for how much they like/dislike a property. If they like it, they can help me sell it, if they don't, then maybe mom/dad need to pay attention to that. My biggest fear would be going with a family w/ kids and having the parents be extremely uptight and authoritative basically making house hunting feel like a chore for their kids (in which case they should not have brought them personally). But who knows. I have no experience with any of this, but that would be my take. Kids must have fun, because it could become very boring to sit in a car and listen to grown-up talk all day.
I don't know if anyone talke dbaout offices to work for, but here is my experience. I started in Myrtle Beach, SC after moving there from New Olreans after Katrina. I went to school there, and worked for a Mom and Pop real estate firm. I liked it because they gave you everything, signs, advertising, mailouts, little out of pocket. Although, when my broker got front page in the paper for fraud, that all didnt matter. My wife got a job in Katy, and we moved out here to Texas, I had to do the schooling again because Texas does not accept anything from other states. but, it was alright i did it on-line through a school out of Texas A&M. I decided to work for a major real estate firm, and i picked REMAX. This has been a great decision, the firm I work for has great brokers. I can run my business like i want to(promotions, ads, etc.) The only problem I had starting out here was that getting started education. REMAX has opportunities online, but there isn't much small group or face to face. Although one of the agents who has been in the business for a long time, helped us out, and taught a Powerstart class to us this fall, in which I increased my business. Some agencies take 50% of your commission, at REMAX they take 25%, plus I pay a monthly fee, agents that pay a higher monthly fee get 95% of their commissions. When you start taking classes, and then get your license and join HAR. You get ads for companies charging you nothing on your commissions, just on actual sales. I would recommend you research any company very thouroughly, you don't want to end up on the front page for the wrong reason. Hope I helped in this facet. PM me if you want to learn more about the company I work for.
Lane_change, Some considerations:
If you show an empty home, it is much better to arrive 20mn early. Make sure you can open the key-safe. Sweep the dry leaves at the entrance. Open the windows, drapes or turn the A/C on. Get rid of the 2 dead coakroaches on the stairs.... A mini check up, "no big surprise" kind of deal.
If you show a home inhabited, by the seller or a renter, it is also good to arrive 20mn ahead. Inquire about the neighbors. The "story" of the house..... the reason it is on sale... That there is a 9 yo across the road playing volleyball vs a retired couple is relevant info. That the house is presentable...
If you show several homes on a row to the same couple, you might want to do all this the day before. Like a short phone interview with the seller,
or physically inspect an empty home.
When a couple look at a house, they make a few remarks in front of the agents. But they can't wait to be alone and discuss it. If they like the house, they will for sure want to inspect the neighborhood, closest stores and schools...ect.
If they have young kids, they need carseats or booster seats, and it won't be easy to have an interesting conversation while you are driving....
All this to say that the "typical" model of taxiing people around to show them homes is not always the most desirable, or the most appropriate. It is kind of old fashion. So much info is available on the Internet nowadays.... I doubt they will count on you to divulge Houston's secrets. If they decided to look for a home in an area, for sure they already made their homework about it. They would like a few tips, like a good sushi bar, or the best handyman around.
I do not see anything wrong at all to tell people "Meet me there at x time", allowing you to greet them as they arrive in a place that you are confident is showable. Then they can follow you to the next home...
With cells, nowadays, they can still ask you questions while you are driving. Oh by the way, do you know how old is the roof in the Main st house?
My point is that you are not going to sell a home because of your "perfect" real Estate car. It does not matter too much. Get the car that fits YOU, and your budget (might not be your dream car). People are very sensitive at anything that is remotely "phony". It is like a "staged" homes with new-age music ect ... often it makes people uncomfortable. The more you are you, the best it is.
Last edited by SpeedLane; 03-03-2010 at 12:17 PM..
I understand that the car won't sell a house, just looking to make sure that I don't over or under buy is all. Again, cars that "fit" me generally have 2 seats, loud exhausts, and fat tires. I have to compromise a bit and find a car that is not over or under dressed for the party.
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1-3 kids would be fun to go house shopping with, because they look at homes from a different perspective than the adult counterparts, so it looks like fun to have kids run around a house, yard, etc...to get a feel for how much they like/dislike a property. If they like it, they can help me sell it, if they don't, then maybe mom/dad need to pay attention to that. My biggest fear would be going with a family w/ kids and having the parents be extremely uptight and authoritative basically making house hunting feel like a chore for their kids (in which case they should not have brought them personally). But who knows. I have no experience with any of this, but that would be my take. Kids must have fun, because it could become very boring to sit in a car and listen to grown-up talk all day.
