Nov. 26, 2006 - A Drive to Tucson ... |
Yesterday's bus ride to Tucson for the Arizona State game was an eye-opening experience, and not just for the abilities of some folks to "fuel up" for an 11 a.m. bus trip to a 4 p.m. game at a very early hour. No, what was truly amazing was witnessing the changing landscape between Phoenix and the Old Pueblo.
When I first made the trek in 1990 for my first ASU-UA game in Tucson, the drive was straightforward. A short trip through Chandler, with civilization all but ending shortly after Chandler Boulevard and not picking up again until Casa Grande, the one-stop towns that are Toltec and Picacho Peak, passing Picacho Peak and then driving through Marana and reaching the Tucson border shortly thereafter. For much of the ride there was little to see, especially in the way of single-family residential housing.
Needless to say, the landscape now is decidedly different than it was then. Houses are coming closer to the freeway in Casa Grande and even in Arizona City. The Chandler city limits now extend well below Queen Creek Road and the Tucson borders merge seamlessly with Marana. So many new homes and in areas, I must admit, I've not visited often (if ever) despite living in Arizona for nearly 30 years and traveling to Tucson at least every other year for the past 16.
The drive crossed my mind again this afternoon when I spoke with a homeowner I'd talked to a week ago about listing their home in Peoria. One of their primary criteria was neighborhood knowledge and, with one listing in that subdivision already under my belt, and my fairly regular visits to this portion of Peoria, I felt fairly confident that I'd be the lucky lister.
It turns out I wasn't. Instead, the owners decided to go with an agent with admittedly more experience but also based in Chandler, 60-odd miles away from the home. It's hard to argue against experience (though it's an argument I can make.) But the distance took me by surprise.
(Brief disclosure: I once had a listing in Queen Creek, 85 miles one-way from my house, that I accepted from one of my neighbors. To service the listing, I recruited one of my office's agents down in Gilbert to assist. The house sold, and I'm eternally grateful for the help I received.)
And so today's question is how important is local knowledge? I envy many agents who are in much smaller locales, if only because they have the luxury of specializing in a much smaller area. The vast sprawl that is the Phoenix area - Maricopa County covers 9,200+ square miles and most (but not all) can be considered the "Phoenix metro area" - make it far more difficult to do so.
To my mind local knowledge can be less important when working with buyers if only because there's far less "selling" to be done by the agent. Either the home and the neighborhood fits a client's needs or it doesn't; most of the local information easily can be located and relayed impassively to the buyer.
Impassiveness is much less useful when you're the lister, however. Some will argue that any for sale sign in a yard is good for an agent, but if there's no enthusiasm for the sale, if there's no belief in the home and in the area and in the market, then that will be apparent in the marketing effort put forth. It's fairly easy to tell even from the 680-character write-up in the MLS when an agent truly knows an area or simply is guessing at it.
One of my greatest strengths is having grown up first in the East Valley and then moving west, as I'm comfortable in large portions of the Valley and can speak intelligently about different aspects of the different areas. But I'm also honest enough to know when I don't really have any idea about an area (read: Maricopa, Queen Creek - my seller knew this going in - south Gilbert and Chandler) and will refer out the business to someone who can put their local knowledge to work.
Honesty builds loyalty which builds return business and referrals, without which we don't stay in business very long.
(c) Jonathan Dalton, 2006 / Jonathan Dalton's Arizona Homes |
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