What it takes to be a Relocation Team Agent
When I think of all of the real estate agents I have known throughout the years, they all have one thing in common…patience. Particularly those who work with relocating buyers and sellers.
Here are 10 key roles they have to fill:
Psychologist
Marriage counselor
Babysitter
Chauffeur
Hand holder
Tour guide
Housekeeper
Repairman
Strategist
Psychic
Top 10 skills they must possess:
Creative problem solver
Effective communicator
Trusted advisor
Able negotiator
Detailed administrator
Community ambassador
Real estate expert
Company advocate
Never give up attitude
Extreme patience!
They are all this and more. Agents who handle relocation have voluntarily chosen this path. They know the process is rife with stress and uncertainty. It can often be like a regular transaction on steroids. They understand that the timeframes are tight and the policies rigid. They know the families may not be all in on the decision to move. They know the paperwork on listings can be monumental. They may be dealing with unruly kids and squabbling partners. They understand that deadlines matter and clear and concise communication is critical. Let’s just say, it’s not for the faint of heart.
I reached out to a few relocation professionals to hear their stories about some of their firsthand experiences working with relocation or institutional referrals.
Here are some stories they had to tell:
“A transferee moved out of state and at the final walk through it was discovered much of their furniture was still left in the house. When the transferee was asked why, they said they thought the buyers would like to have it.”
“We had a problem with one of the inventory houses…there was honey dripping from the ceiling in the kitchen/family room. As it turns out there was a huge beehive in the ceiling rafters! We had to hire a professional beekeeper to come safely remove the bees.”
“The ‘pizza bandits’ got into a vacant inventory house. They spread ketchup and parmesan cheese on all the floors and counters in the kitchen and family room!”
“I had to advise a corporate client that the requested agent (non-relocation trained) had ordered the exterior painting of an inventory house, as we directed. But come to find out they got the address wrong and painted another vacant house on the same street! The real estate firm paid to have the correct house painted.”
“Back in the 90s when we handled a lot of foreclosure properties, the attorney handling the eviction gave an address of ‘123 ___ Court’ versus ‘123 ____ Street’. We evicted the wrong family. Coincidentally, they were also under foreclosure so they went along with it.”
“We were relocating a guy with Kodak in the 90s. He was high-level and had a giant all-inclusive relocation package. He told our agent on a house-hunting trip that once he moved he was going to quit because he already had another job offer that didn’t include relocation benefits with a competitor. We told the relocation company who told Kodak and they canned him before the move took place. We lost the referral, but the RMC and Kodak were very grateful.”
“One was an empty corporate inventory listing that had a swimming pool. A showing agent (not ours thank goodness) left the gate open to the pasture next door. The horse who was being boarded next door came through the open gate, fell into the pool, and drowned. No one discovered the poor thing for 5 days. Use your imagination on what that horse looked like after five days in a pool, that was an expensive mess to recover from. But recover we did, and we sold the house quickly after that.”
“A transferee decided he would save his employer money by not shipping his five-foot Boa Constrictor. He simply fed the big snake, he knew he would sleep the entire flight and then wrapped him around his waist under his coat. Clearly, this happened during the 80s before 9/11 without the added security where you had to take your coat off. Can you imagine sitting next to that guy if the snake decided to wake up and take a peek out of his coat!? Talk about ‘Snakes on a Plane’! “
“We had an inventory house that was under contract and vacant, but not closed. So the buyers just decided to go ahead and move in with.....3 dogs, 2 chinchillas, and 25 cats. The deal fell out of escrow and we had to make arrangements for all of those animals and I had to go to the jailhouse to sign the trespassing papers!”
“At a BMA appointment, the transferee’s wife met the male agent at the door with a glass of wine. While he was taking photos for the BMA, she changed into a see-through negligee. He was horrified and left immediately. We found out later, the transferee was having an affair and the wife had no intention of selling the house and moving so she sabotaged the relocation process.”
“One of our highly qualified relocation agents recently lost a listing because the transferee didn’t like that they used their pronouns in their email signature.” You literally can’t make this stuff up.
Relocation Directors, don’t forget to regularly say ‘thank you’ to the hard-working professionals who are a critical link in the relocation process!
“Prioritize compassion over commission.” Aarin Chung, author, and CEO of Community Influencer
