How Being a Bad Influence Pays Off in Sacramento Real Estate

Bucking the trend, being a maverick or rebel, is often frowned upon in society because it could mean a person is not a team player, doesn’t fit the norm, but in Sacramento real estate those traits in a real estate agent are very helpful. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard as a kid some parent warn my parents: that Elizabeth is a bad influence. Up yours is what I thought when I heard that crap. I’m not making your kid do anything that kid doesn’t wanna do.

I’ve realized from a young age that a person can pretty much do whatever a person can dream up. I’ve always thought: what if we do it this way instead? Or, how about this idea? And they weren’t always popular ideas or necessarily the best ways to do things, just different. Yet they worked. I’ve never thought of myself as a trendsetter or a person with followers, no entourage, I don’t care how many people read my prattle on Twitter and, quite frankly, if you’d have me in your organization, I’m not so sure I want to belong there; yet I know people still gravitate to stuff I write.

I don’t have anything out of the ordinary to say. I call it like I see it. This is a reason why people trust me, and why my clients can rely on my advice. I don’t generally say stupid things.

But there’s always tomorrow.

Being a bad influence means people often do what I want. I just give them permission to do what they already want to do.

When I met with sellers earlier this week, they asked why the price I suggested for their home was so much higher than the agent they had already dumped. Well, my price suggestion had nothing to do with the fired agent. It was based on the pending sales, peppered with the sold comps. I wet my finger and stuck it in the air to see which way the wind was blowing. It’s OK that people ask how I arrived at a conclusion. It’s OK if they ignore it, too. It’s not my house. These people took my advice, though.

I met with another seller and mentioned the smoke alarms needed to be installed in the sleeping areas. Lenders require it. She had installed a smoke alarm in the hallway and felt that was sufficient. Then she argued about it and told me I was wrong. Over and over. That she is a homeowner, so she knows the laws, and just because my profession depends on complying with regulations to close escrow, well, what would I know? She’s a maverick and I kinda like her. And she can find out the hard way. It’s not my house. This one, I’m not gonna argue with.

For a person who is a bad influence on others, real estate is the perfect place to be. If you want to know why my sellers typically get top dollar over other listings in the area, it’s because they listen to this bad influence. Call me at 916.233.6759.