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Rick’s enthusiasm was contagious. Sophie’s twinge of doubt disappeared. She could do this. She had all the time in the world, and she wasn’t afraid of hard work.
When they reached the Brooklyn property, Sophie paid close attention—to everything. She noticed the difference in the feel and size of the Brooklyn townhouse. It did seem to be a nice option for a family as it had a real backyard and plenty of space and the prices were lower than in Manhattan proper.
She also paid attention to how Rick interacted with his buyers. They were a married couple, Bill and Emma Sousa. Rick introduced Sophie as a new associate, and she followed along as they toured the space and he pointed out the benefits of the property. She also noticed that Rick was a very good listener, too.
“Bill, has anything changed since we last talked? Have you seen any other properties in person or online that you’ve liked?” Rick asked.
“We’ve been to a few open houses, and we look online all the time, but it has only confirmed that we want something more like this. The open houses were condos in midtown, and they just aren’t big enough, for what we want to spend.”
Rick nodded. “You really can’t beat Brooklyn. It’s a great area for families.”
When they finished touring the townhouse, Rick asked if they wanted to make an offer. Sophie wondered if that was too pushy, but Bill didn’t seem to mind.
“We might. We just need to talk about it tonight and then I’ll call you first thing in the morning.” He smiled at his wife. “I am pretty sure we’re going to want to offer.” She nodded happily.
“Fantastic. You know how to reach me.” They said their goodbyes and Sophie and Rick found Evan parked a little ways down the street. They climbed into the car and headed back to the office.
“And that’s the job,” Rick said. “In the office in the morning and then out in the field most of the day, showing properties and getting listings. If you can get yourself a listing or two, you’ll build momentum faster. Because everyone in the office can help you find a buyer for it. It’s great to have buyers too of course, but right now it’s still a seller’s market and there are often multiple offers.” Rick’s phone dinged and he glanced at it and then typed someone back. He looked out the window and then back at Sophie.
“Your buyer won’t always get the property they want, and they won’t necessarily buy it from you. Unless you have a solid relationship established. Buyers sometimes work with lots of agents, and just call on whatever property they see or go to open houses.”
Sophie nodded, taking it all in. “Do you do a lot of open houses?”
“It depends on the property. For the ones that are in the most demand price points, we don’t always need to, because they will sell quickly. But for some properties, they can be good to get the word out. We sometimes will just do broker open houses to get more agents to see it and then bring their buyers. “
It was after four when they returned to the office. “Great job today, Sophie, see you tomorrow,” Rick said as they walked through the door.
Sophie returned to her desk and opened her textbook. The office was busy now with agents returning calls and working on their computers. She read for another hour and then headed home, taking the textbook with her to continue her reading that evening.
Tessa and Caroline had plans with their boyfriends that night, so Sophie heated up some leftover pizza and curled up on the living room sofa with her textbook and Charlie by her side. She read for a while, until her eyes grew heavy and then headed to bed.
Chapter Seventeen
Sophie spent the next two weeks taking her real estate course and studying to pass the exam. The classes were in-person and were all day Monday through Friday. When she finished, she signed up to take the test the following week and spent most of that week studying, attending the weekly meeting and spending a few hours a day shadowing a different agent.
She studied as hard as she possibly could. She took good notes, reviewed everything multiple times and took a practice exam. She didn’t know if she would pass but she felt confident that she’d prepared the best that she could. She made sure to get a good night’s sleep and wore a watch so that she could check the timing as the test went along. Years ago, when she’d taken an important test, she had been in a room without a clock and had no sense of how much time she had left. This test was so important that she couldn’t risk that.
And she passed! It took almost two weeks to get the results, and in the meantime, Sophie continued to shadow the other agents and learn as much as possible about all the office listings. She wasn’t yet able to work with buyers or get clients until she actually had her license, so she watched what everyone else did and paid close attention.
She went with Caroline when she held an open house for one of her listings and it was interesting to see how that was done. Caroline advertised the open house online and on all her social media. She also emailed her list of buyers—even ones who had already bought some type of property.
“I send new listings to everyone,” Caroline explained. “And I ask them to forward the email to anyone they know who might be looking. And they do. I generate a lot of referrals that way.”
About a dozen people came to the open house. They were there for one hour on a Saturday afternoon. “Weekends draw the most people, definitely,” Caroline said.
Sophie watched as Caroline encouraged each visitor to sign in her guestbook. “Please go ahead and explore. If you have any questions about the property, let me know.”
“You don’t walk around with them?” Sophie asked.
Caroline shook her head. “No. Most people don’t like that. They want to see for themselves. If they have questions, they will find me and ask. And that’s when I can get a better sense of how serious a buyer they are. Or if they’re just bored and looking for something to do on a Saturday afternoon.” She laughed. “There’s a lot of that too. People who are just curious but not in the market to buy, at all.”
“Do you usually sell the house from an open house?”
Caroline shook her head. “Sometimes, but not usually. The value of the open house is the marketing—it gives the property exposure, and the agent—most of the sales generated from an open house are for other properties. Someone might stop in, but that property isn’t the one they end up buying. But, if they are seriously looking, I can pick them up as a buyer and show them other things. And there’s also broker open houses which are for other realtors. The more agents that know about a property, the better.”
As they packed up Caroline’s marketing materials and prepared to leave, Caroline turned to Sophie. “When I started out, I did a ton of open houses—for other agents. The more senior agents don’t love doing them as much and they are happy for junior agents to hold them at their properties. And the property owners love it—especially if it’s a vacant property. It’s the most visible marketing to them.”
“Oh, I’d love to do that,” Sophie said.
