When Jen Walker, a Realtor® with McEnearney Associates in Alexandria, ran into her seller clients at St. Elmo’s Coffee in Del Ray a few days before their closing, she got an unpleasant surprise.

“The homeowners told me they have a feral cat that they can’t get out of the house, so they plan to leave it for the buyers,” says Walker. “I knew that couldn’t happen, so I stopped by the house on my way to a closing on another property. Luckily the homeowners had some long gloves I could use, along with a broom and a milk crate. I chased the cat around the house in my suit and grabbed it and got it into a cage.”

"I learned to value my time, set expectations, make sure I can meet my clients' expectations and make sure that they can meet mine." - Giorgio Danso

While she successfully evicted the cat, Walker had to attend the closing that evening covered in claw marks and cat pee.

“Turning over an empty house to buyers means really empty, including of animals,” says Walker.

Realtors® know that their duties frequently involve more than contracts and contingencies. Their adventures often result in experiences that inform their future transactions and that they share with other agents.

The lesson Walker learned, just like Boy Scouts, is to “Be Prepared” for anything in real estate.

NO SUCH THING AS A SMALL SALE

“From time to time I’ve had clients sincerely apologize to me for taking my time and causing me hassle for just ‘my small sale,’” says Brian Block, managing broker of RE/MAX Allegiance in Alexandria. “I always tell them that there’s no such thing as a small sale in real estate. Whether you’re planning to spend $100,000 or $1 million on your home, that’s a big purchase for you.”

Block learned that lesson early in his career when he helped the daughter of a friend buy a $79,000 townhouse in Dumfries – the smallest sale in his career. But treating his client as a VIP, no matter what her budget was, resulted in numerous referrals and sales transactions with her friends and family.

“Similarly, when I met another client to discuss her home search, she was a young girl in her early 20s, dressed in workout clothes and a baseball cap with a giggling girlfriend for moral support,” says Block. “After going through the homebuyer process, she told me she appreciated the fact that I took her very seriously. More than one real estate agent had dismissed her and wouldn’t even work with her because they didn’t believe she was qualified or ready to purchase.”

It turned out that the client had received a sizeable inheritance and brought a certified check for $975,000 to the settlement table.

DROPPING A CLIENT

On the opposite side of that scenario, sometimes it’s best to give up on a client.

“Several years ago, I had the opportunity to work with a buyer who had moved to the Washington, D.C. area from Texas,” says Giorgio Danso, a Realtor® with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Arlington. “According to her, she had worked with several other agents and looked at many homes and wasn’t finding the right home. As a newer agent, I felt this was a good opportunity to step in and ‘save the day.’ Because she had started the process of shopping for a home already, I didn’t feel the need to spend time with her to discuss all of her goals, needs and expectations in depth.”

Danso anticipated a quick sale until the first red flag went up: the buyer insisted on looking at $500,000 homes when her price range was $350,000.

“When I asked her why she wanted to look at homes that were out of her price range, she said, ‘Homes in Texas are so much cheaper, so I don’t think I should pay what the sellers are asking’ and that she expected to find a desperate seller,” he says.

Eventually she made an offer on a home for about 75 percent of the list price and was rejected. When it happened again, Danso gently suggested they terminate their agreement. Two years later, he saw her at an open house still looking for a home.

“I smiled and said, ‘My seller will be glad to sell you this home if you’re ready to put in a realistic offer,’” Danso says. “I learned to value my time, set expectations, make sure I can meet my clients’ expectations and make sure that they can meet mine.”

PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF

Corey Burr, an associate broker with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty in Chevy Chase, Md. worked with a buyer about 18 months ago who wasn’t quite ready to make an offer.  He recently purchased a property priced around $3 million.

“I kept in touch with him for 18 months, but I was very careful about how I did it to make sure the buyer was comfortable,” says Burr. “A lot of agents would set someone up with an automated email alert for listings, but I had the alerts sent to me and checked the market daily for properties that fit his parameters and price range.”

Burr emailed the client about once a month or so with houses that might work for him until he found the right one.

“There’s a fine line you need to figure out for each buyer about how to stay in touch the right amount without making the buyer feel hassled,” says Burr.

Block, Burr and Danso each needed to determine the best way to work with – or without – their clients. The lesson: the more you know about your clients, the better the outcome.

ALWAYS BE ON GUARD

A scary situation taught Bic DeCaro, a Realtor® with Bic DeCaro and Associates at Westgate Realty Group in Falls Church, some important lessons.

“A few years ago, I hosted an open house at one of my listings that had a long driveway,” says DeCaro. “At the end of the open house, I noticed that someone pulled into the driveway and blocked my car in. A man came in the front door and apologized for running late. He asked if we were the only ones left in the home. His question made me nervous.”

DeCaro told him that there was still someone checking out the home even though she was alone and mentioned that the owners were next door and would be back any minute.

“I had my phone in my hand, so I took a picture of him without him knowing and sent it to my husband and the sellers,” says DeCaro. “Knowing that I couldn’t drive away if I needed to because my car was blocked in, I walked out and took a picture of his car and license plate and sent that to them as well with a quick note that said something like ‘we have a last-minute visitor who’s making me nervous.’”

Fortunately for DeCaro, the sellers responded immediately and said they would be there in 10 minutes. Her husband was out and didn’t see the text until later. DeCaro saw the man go out the front door, so she ran inside to lock it and to lock the garage door.

“I felt a huge relief that he left without incident,” she says. “I’m not sure if there was real reason to be concerned that day, but I’m glad I trusted my gut instinct.

A few weeks later, I read the tragic news about Beverly Carter [an Arkansas Realtor® targeted and killed while showing a home in 2014].”

DeCaro says the lessons she learned from that scare include:

• Lock the door behind you when showing homes and/or at the beginning or end of an open house while you’re setting up and/or shutting down.
• When hosting open houses, put a couple of pairs of shoes by the front door.
• If the home is in a remote location or farther off the road, consider having two people host the open house.
• Let a few key people know where you are at all times in case of emergency.
• Have an exit strategy.

WATCH OUT FOR DETAILS

In a less scary but equally important incident, Colleen Wright, a Realtor® with McEnearney Associates in Arlington, learned the importance of careful attention to detail.

“I had a contract with buyers to purchase a house, and the wood-destroying insects report had some recommendations that I took to mean optional,” says Wright. “That was 100 percent incorrect and almost ruined the closing. At the closing table, the loan officer announced that the loan could not be funded until the wood-destroying insect report was cleared.”

Since the sellers weren’t local and the listing agent was out of the country, Wright sprang into action and found a structural engineer to write a report and a treatment team who made same-day appointments so the closing could be completed.

Wright now says she knows the difference between “required” and “recommended” – most of the time.

“It was the most stressful closing day of my career as a Realtor®,” says Wright. “If only I had shown my broker the report instead of having what was obviously a poorly communicated conversation, all that stress could have been avoided.”

MONITOR POSSIBLE INSURANCE ISSUES FOR DETAILS

“We got a big reminder a few years ago about how important it is to never cancel your insurance until the closing is 100 percent complete and all funds have cleared,” says Fetneh Schacht, vice president and managing broker of Long & Foster Real Estate in Vienna.

“One of my agents had a listing under contract but a financing snag delayed settlement for about 10 days,” says Schacht. “The home sellers had cancelled their insurance policy effective the original closing date, so they were now left unprotected. Their previous insurance company wouldn’t renew their policy, and they were scrambling for coverage. Fortunately, the team at Long & Foster Insurance was able to secure new coverage for them.”

Lesson learned: insurance coverage is an essential detail, too.

THE POWER OF STAGING

Sales techniques really do matter in every market. During the recession, Morgan Knull, an associate broker with RE/MAX Gateway in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, was hired by an investor to sell 21 condos with identical floor plans in an Alexandria community.

“In order to avoid flooding the market with our own inventory, we staged one unit as the model and incrementally would release two other units at a time for sale,” he says. “Almost without exception, all the buyers insisted on purchasing the model unit. By the time I finished selling all 21 condos, we’d probably moved the staging a dozen times, from identical condo to identical condo, each time creating a new ‘model’ unit.”

That experience convinced Knull of the value of staging and the appeal of model homes in the eyes of buyers.

TEAMWORK ALWAYS WINS

Kymber Menkiti, regional director of Keller Williams Realty in Maryland and D.C., says she and her team had plateaued on sales a few years ago and didn’t know why.

“We kept adding great people to the team, but we weren’t selling as much as we expected,” says Menkiti. “We finally figured out that it was our fault because we weren’t clearly setting expectations, and we hadn’t established a vision.”

Reorganizing and focusing the team has paid off in big and small ways.

“We love to host hyperlocal events in our geographic farm areas,” says Menkiti. “Last June we had 500 people registered to attend an outdoor movie screening in the evening. Late in the afternoon we got a call that the driver bringing us all the equipment for the screening was in an accident. He was fine, but the equipment was damaged.”

The Menkiti team mobilized, made calls, bought a large screen at Best Buy, found a D.J. with speakers and pulled off the event.

“We pushed every possible way for this and learned that, working together, we can always find a way to accomplish what needs to be done,” says Menkiti.

While every profession faces challenges, successful Realtors® can turn these into teachable moments. Whether it’s herding cats, nurturing clients or staging an event, Realtors® know how to get the job done and learn a few lessons along the way.