Seller Success Stories

A New Definition Of On-Site Service

Scott loves to tell the story of his client Damian Zink who was relocating to Bowling Green, Kentucky, for his job at the Corvette plant. Damian had come to Scott to list his home, and Scott promised him he would take care of everything and get it sold.

As he does with all of his home sellers, Scott communicated with Damian every week to update him on how things were progressing. In one of those weekly updates, Damian told Scott he was leaving town in two weeks to take his family down to Florida to Universal Studios. “And then we’re visiting our new location in Kentucky,” he said. “I’ll email you our itinerary in case we get an offer.”

“You know what, I’m going to have you an offer while you’re gone, and I’ll come down and deliver it in person,” Scott said, not mentioning his family’s vacation plans around that same time. Of course, Damian just laughed.

Two weeks passed, and Damian and his family left for Universal Studios. As a result of the excellent marketing for Damian’s home, Scott was having showings left and right. And a few days later, he phoned Damian. “I believe I’ve got an offer coming in,” he said.

“Great! Here’s where I’ll be tomorrow and the next day. But the day after that, I may not be able to answer the phone.”

“You know what, I’m going to have you an offer while you’re gone, and I’ll come down and deliver it in person,” Scott said, not mentioning his family’s vacation plans around that same time. Of course, Damian just laughed.

Two weeks passed, and Damian and his family left for Universal Studios. As a result of the excellent marketing for Damian’s home, Scott was having showings left and right. And a few days later, he phoned Damian. “I believe I’ve got an offer coming in,” he said.

“Great! Here’s where I’ll be tomorrow and the next day. But the day after that, I may not be able to answer the phone.”

Of course, Scott was keeping track of everything Damian told him. “Maybe I’ll just come down and present the offer in person.”

“Okay, come on!” Damian replied, jokingly.

Well, the offer did come in. And it just so happened that Scott and his family had set out for vacation the day before. So, Linda, Scott’s office manager, forwarded the offer to Scott in Florida. And Scott turned around and printed it out at the hotel from the laptop he carries with him even on family vacations.

The next day, he took his family over to Universal Studios, where he called Damian on his cell phone. “Okay, I’ve got the offer that came in. Where are you?”

“Oh, I’m still down in Florida with my family,” Damian said.

“Yeah, at Universal Studios, right? That’s where you told me you’d be.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Scott asked again, “Where are you?”

“What do you mean, where am I?”

Scott laughed. “What ride are you by, because I’m over by the Incredible Hulk Coaster. Do you want to meet over here?”

Naturally, Damian didn’t believe him. So, later, Scott had to call Damian a second time. “Okay, where are you now? I’ll be over there in an hour.”

Finally, the two met in the middle of Universal Studios, and a delighted Damian signed the Agreement of Sale right there on the spot.”

Back in Indiana, the sale closed two weeks after Damian and his family returned from their trip. At the closing, he told Scott that on the phone he’d never really believed Scott was at the theme park. “But after your second call, I told my wife, ‘You know, there’s a chance Scott really is down here.’”

Scott made Damian promise that the next time he sells a house, he’ll list it with Scott and then go on vacation to Hawaii!

List With Scott ... And Get Ready To Move

In 2009, the real estate market in northern Indiana was practically at a standstill, just as it was in most of the nation. When Scott went to Gary and Sue Stone’s home to take photographs for their listing, both Gary and Sue seemed excited about their plans to sell their home and move to a houseboat. Gary had been a crane operator for many years and was ready to retire. He said he’d always dreamed of living on a boat. And Sue seemed to share his dream.

So, Scott got busy putting all of the marketing pieces together and helping his clients create an appealing home presentation. Sure enough, 32 days later they were under contract, and in another 30 days, the sale closed.

After Gary and Sue were happily settled into their new houseboat, Sue let Scott in on her little secret. Although she’d always known she and Gary would live on a boat someday, it hadn’t been something she wanted to do right away.

She said to Scott, “Only two houses in our subdivision had sold all year when we listed with you. So, I didn’t expect you to really sell our house. When I agreed to list it, I was thinking, no big deal ... we’re in a bad economy and things are moving slow. I was just going along to make Gary happy so he would feel like we were heading in that direction. I knew we’d do it someday. I just never expected you to make it happen so fast!”

A Man Of His Word

Linda Gilroy is Office Manager at Real Living Choice Realty. When a home that was part of a family member’s estate needed to be sold, Linda recommended Scott for the job of listing agent.

One of Linda’s sisters—who knows nothing about real estate—was executrix of the estate. Linda said Scott explained everything to her sister so thoroughly and worked with her so well, that she never asked Linda a single question. “My sister was able to relax and let Scott handle everything. She just went with the flow.”

The house was listed in December, which is the middle of winter in northern Indiana. Plus, they were heading right into the holidays. Home sales slow to a crawl at that time of year. “But Scott told us not to worry,” Linda said. “He assured us that despite the worst economy in decades, the house would sell in March.

March 1st came, and Linda said to Scott, “Okay, we’re down to March, and you have 31 days.”

On March 25th, Scott called Linda from out on the road and asked, “What’s the date of today?”

“It’s the 25th, and you have six days.”

Scott replied, “I told you I would sell it by the 31st. The offer is coming in tonight.”

And it did!