Now Accepting Referrals for Million Dollar Home Buyers

Tuesday is my favorite day of the workweek because it is the official Realtor Tour day. This is when all the houses that have gone on the market in the past week are on parade for agents to preview. Basically it is an opportunity for us realtors to scope out new listings for our buyers and be on the cutting edge of real estate property. So, if you see a bunch of realtors cruisin' around on a Tuesday afternoon, we're just looking at other people's homes and eating catered lunch. Rough day on the job, huh?

The flaw with this system, in my opinion, is that homes of all price ranges are on tour at the same time. Since I work mostly with first-time home buyers, naturally you would think I would be looking in my clients' best interests and checking out homes in the "first-time home buyer" price range, right? Wrong. If you had the opportunity to go have lunch at fancy homes on lakes on a weekly basis, wouldn't you? The problem, now 3 1/2 years into regularly touring mansions on Tuesdays, is that I have become the multi-million dollar homes' worst critic. This is not to say I haven't had my jaw drop to the floor seeing some of these places. But, I find myself playing the game of, "If I had as much money as it costs to buy this house, would I buy it?" More and more often, I find myself saying, "no". It's as if I have seen TOO MANY of these houses that my taste is becoming TOO discriminating and I am becoming some sort of mansion snob! This coming from a girl who happily lives in a 750 sq. ft. condo.

For instance, today I saw a house listed for $2.8M. Beautiful, very European turn-of the century house near Lake of the Isles. Every one else walking through was drooling, but I walked away muttering to my co-worker, "master bedroom closets are too small and kitchen was too closed off from the rest of the house." Not to mention that the refrigerator door was made of glass. Is that some rich posh thing to do? I mean, who wants to see all their food---crusty condiments, leftover take-out boxes?! (Mom, if you are reading this, I definitely wouldn't recommend the glass door for you). And, if I'm going to spend $2.8M on a house, it better be ON the lake, not three blocks off it. Wait until you hear my review on the $4.9M house I saw a couple weeks ago. Piece of junk. But, it was on the lake, so that's the price you pay...literally. I definitely would buy the one I saw for $10M on Lake Minnetonka...so don't think I throw a hand in the face of them all.

My conclusion, is that I am just working with the wrong types of buyers. I really should be tapping into the ever so large pool of upper bracket buyers because that would be much more compatible with my Tuesday touring preferences. And with my expertise at valuing these estate-like properties, I'll take them to the best $4.9M home there is! That being said, I am now welcoming referrals for multi-million dollar home buyers. So don't feel like you have to hold back anymore. Send 'em my way.