In my book of real estate rules… there are rules that can be stretched, some that can be overlooked (given the right set of circumstances) and others I have kept inviolate for two decades.
I’m not talking about MLS, State or Board rules & regs, I’m talking about my personal business standards.
Example of a stretched rule? Taking the cutest dog in the world for a ride to a client’s house because I knew they would get a kick out of meeting her in person. (We’d shared dog stories & pictures throughout the home selling process)
Example of an overlooked rule? Showing without a pre-approval letter in hand. Yeah, Yeah…..I know this is a “no-no” but I do it , ok? I don’t make it an “all the time” thing, but if I know the client, know the client’s situation or know they are in the process and have been told everything “looks good”, I’m going to show.
Example of an inviolate rule? (again, not talking about laws or ethics here, just the world according to Colleen) Dress for Success. You never know who you’re going to run into right?
Even when working from home I go through “the routine” every morning (You ladies know what I’m talking about….at my age that includes lots of spackle and more than one fly-by of hairspray and too much wassted time agonizing over what to wear that I didn’t wear last week.
Today I broke one of those “never to be done” rules:
I wore jeans to a public open house.
GULP!
Yes, I did.
I WORE JEANS TO A PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE!
I know it’s going to sound like I’m rationalizing the whole thing (which I am) but it was a farm-type property complete with chickens, a very loud rooster and some fragrant but really cute mini-horses. I changed outfits no fewer than 5 times before deciding to be comfortable and dress to look “at home” during the open house. (That sounds totally plausible right?)
Those who know me know I’m a strict rule follower…..which might explain why I needed to confess via write an entire blog post about the subject.
I did have some good traffic and no one seemed to even notice what I was wearing.
Although that rooster was raising quite a racket every time I went outside…..
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Fickr Photo credit: SashaW