Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Day 10
What a day! With my colleagues going out around 11 today, I was left to man the floor (ie. address any phone enquiries or customers who came into the office), not long after being given this duty, a couple came in looking for an apartment! Perfect!
After ruling out a few options, we got it narrowed down to one. Fortunately the unit was unoccupied (which is a rare thing with school holidays taking place, as they are at the moment) and we went for a drive to take a look. They loved the unit, so we headed back to the office, and they went for lunch whilst I chased up some body corporate details.
Upon their return, I furnished them with the details and asked if they would be putting in an offer. The unit was, after all, perfect.
Unfortunately, the location was not exactly where they wanted to be (about 5 minutes drive too far north). Slightly crestfallen, I got their contact details (they return to New Zealand in a week) and promised to contact them if anything like that unit became available in their desired area.
I relayed this story to The Boss and he asked me if I had looked at an apartment in the building above our office, I told him that we had ruled the building out because, while the location was idea, the rental return was a bit below what the couple were looking for. He ran some sums and guaranteed me that IF the couple were to let our office manage and rent the apartment, we could get the rent to give them their desired 4% return.
I called the apartment front desk at 1.50 - the room was empty but there was a family coming in for about a week in the afternoon - they could arrive any time from 2.00 pm onwards. I jumped on the phone, got the couple to come for a look, raced to the front desk, picked up the key, went upstairs, opened the blinds and curtains and switched some lights on before dashing back downstairs and dropping the key at the front desk (on the chance that the people letting it arrived bang on 2).
By 2.30, my New Zealand couple were both looking very much like a pair of folks who knew that they had found a property which they wanted. I (narrowly) avoided being in the room when its new occupants arrived and a certain accountant in New Zealand is going to be receiving a call very soon. Could this be sale number one? Time will tell. I'll be phoning tomorrow to deliver some management information and finding out exactly when they are meeting with the accountant.
Not a bad day at all.
Tip of the Day:
If you aren't familiar with all the stock you have listed and there are customers in front of you, don't stress out. Simply explaining that you are new and apologising for short delays whilst you phone/leave the room to talk to your colleagues will garner sufficient sympathy from most reasonable people to let it slide. If you act professionally (and, even better, manage to find something that they like) they won't mind if you are a newbie or a veteran of decades.
After ruling out a few options, we got it narrowed down to one. Fortunately the unit was unoccupied (which is a rare thing with school holidays taking place, as they are at the moment) and we went for a drive to take a look. They loved the unit, so we headed back to the office, and they went for lunch whilst I chased up some body corporate details.
Upon their return, I furnished them with the details and asked if they would be putting in an offer. The unit was, after all, perfect.
Unfortunately, the location was not exactly where they wanted to be (about 5 minutes drive too far north). Slightly crestfallen, I got their contact details (they return to New Zealand in a week) and promised to contact them if anything like that unit became available in their desired area.
I relayed this story to The Boss and he asked me if I had looked at an apartment in the building above our office, I told him that we had ruled the building out because, while the location was idea, the rental return was a bit below what the couple were looking for. He ran some sums and guaranteed me that IF the couple were to let our office manage and rent the apartment, we could get the rent to give them their desired 4% return.
I called the apartment front desk at 1.50 - the room was empty but there was a family coming in for about a week in the afternoon - they could arrive any time from 2.00 pm onwards. I jumped on the phone, got the couple to come for a look, raced to the front desk, picked up the key, went upstairs, opened the blinds and curtains and switched some lights on before dashing back downstairs and dropping the key at the front desk (on the chance that the people letting it arrived bang on 2).
By 2.30, my New Zealand couple were both looking very much like a pair of folks who knew that they had found a property which they wanted. I (narrowly) avoided being in the room when its new occupants arrived and a certain accountant in New Zealand is going to be receiving a call very soon. Could this be sale number one? Time will tell. I'll be phoning tomorrow to deliver some management information and finding out exactly when they are meeting with the accountant.
Not a bad day at all.
Tip of the Day:
If you aren't familiar with all the stock you have listed and there are customers in front of you, don't stress out. Simply explaining that you are new and apologising for short delays whilst you phone/leave the room to talk to your colleagues will garner sufficient sympathy from most reasonable people to let it slide. If you act professionally (and, even better, manage to find something that they like) they won't mind if you are a newbie or a veteran of decades.
# posted by Nils : 5:14 pm
