This third post from the trip I thought I’d show everyone some different photos of rural Real Estate Offices from Johnson City, Texas through Santa Fe, New Mexico and to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. There were a handful of towns in far West Texas and Southern New Mexico where I tried to locate an office and couldn’t even find one. Maybe there is an opportunity there to start one for somebody?
I’ve always wondered how much the type of office makes a difference in a rural real estate business. I’ve seen every kind of office from downtown historic buildings and homes to humble cabins to brand new classy office spaces to trailer homes to primary homes to the back of pickup trucks. Along this trip the ones I was able to capture were on the beaten path cutting through rural towns. After all, what is the one thing that every Real Estate Professional says matters most - location, location, location.
There are two questions I wanted to get your input on as Buyers and Sellers of Rural Real Esate-
1.) Does location of a rural real estate office matter when buying and selling real estate?
2.) Does the quality of a rural real estate office matter when buying and selling real estate?
9 responses so far ↓
Cowboy Randy // Jul 13, 2007 at 1:58 pm
It’s nice to have a nice real estate office to go to now and again.
You are right about location, location, location. That’s why I have a mobile office. We’ve had board room meetings in the cab of my truck and taken breaks from office on the tailgate.
Peaches // Jul 13, 2007 at 2:51 pm
I don’t think it matters as to what a Real Estate agent’s office looks like - as long as there is one close by where I want to buy. Actually, an expensive looking office puts me off - I want my realtor to not make a HUGE profit on my purchase! LOL
What I want in a realtor (and will be looking for in the next year) is: One who knows the area, the property, and one who will tell me, up front and without being asked, the facts, not the fluffs, of a property - good and bad. Water rights? Mineral rights? Who am I beholden to? What ordinances will restrict what I want to do?
S/he also has to understand what I want and be able to refer me to find what I want rather than to try to talk me into something that they have for sale. Someone who loves the land and the area for all of it’s good (and even it’s bad!) attributes. Remember, what may be “bad” from a realtor’s viewpoint may be exactly what the buyer seeks. A person who grew up with hurricanes may not be appalled nor put off by minor earthquakes, and vice versa. A person who is looking for a quiet place may not care if the snowpack is 63″ a year, and that there are only two seasons, winter and the Fourth of July, secluding them from the rest of the world - if they can use the runoff to irrigate their greenhouses, and if the people in the area are quiet too.
I will be looking for a realtor with all of those qualities, and if they operate out of a pickup truck, so much the better - we can ride and look and talk and compare without ever having to worry about what we just tracked across the pristine floor!
Karen // Aug 1, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I agree with Peaches, but I’d go further. I’ve had some very bad experiences with agents, agencies, and mortgage lenders. I’m currently looking for a specific kind of place via the internet, because I can’t afford to just go half-way across the country to look, and even if I could, I can’t drive because I’m visually impaired. So I have some specific requirements. When I do reach an agent, I tell them what I’d like, what I can afford, what my timeline is, that I prefer owner-financing. So far I’ve been hung up on, left messages for calls that haven’t been returned, and had emails ignored. I would expect at the very least the courtesy of being told up front that they [a] don’t have anything that meets my requirements, [b] they’d be pleased to try to find something closer to my timeline, or [c] they’ll be happy to refer me to someone else. If I’ve actually gone to the trouble and expense of making a call - long distance that I pay for, not an 800 number that costs them - or emailing questions about a specific property, I’d like to get some kind of acknowledgment. I know my requirements are rather stringent, but I also know that the right place for me is out there somewhere, and I AM a potential buyer. I also know that if I ask about specific details regarding building codes, ordinances, utilities, etc, from 2,000 miles away, it’s much easier for an agent to make a few local calls than for me to make a lot of long distance calls, espeiclallly when the information given about the property in question isn’t complete. And the things I ask are the kinds of things that any agent should know about any property they are handling, anyway.
VossRanchSales // Aug 9, 2007 at 5:43 pm
These days real estate offices are like banks-There’s one on every corner. Not many people drive by an office and decide to pull in. Yes, it’s nice to have a place to meet if needed, but most often the work is done in the field, or by email.
Jason Ganz // Aug 12, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Great post! I am gonna share it with my own blog readers at jason.landbrokr.com ! Thanks.
Adam // Aug 29, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I agree with Peaches. Not really a matter of the office, but whether or not they have a property in the area the customer wants, and their customer service. Also, you have to think that when they have big fancy offices, they’re charging you big fees on your purchase to maintain them.
Marilyn // Nov 7, 2007 at 10:54 pm
As a Realtor, specializing in Farm & Ranch, it is good to read what the customer wants. For several years I have worked out of my home AND my truck! I have Realtor friends that just can’t understand how I work without a down town office. I always tell them the good Lord’s blessing me and I love the work arrangement. My husband often goes with me in showing property, and we have taught quite a few people how to ride ATV’s! I’ve always been a country girl and I had rather list one piece of land than a hundred houses!
Jason Smith // Feb 7, 2008 at 7:31 pm
I love Peaches and Adam’s responses. As an agent myself you always worry about whether you should have a fancy office downtown. My office is in my home or my pickup. On a daily basis you could find me wandering around the backroads of Iowa with a 4 wheeler in the back of my pick up. I’ve never really found I needed more than that. I’ve written more offers sitting on my tailgate than I have indoors! Marilyn I also agree that I’d rather list on piece of land than 100 houses, unless they are country homes that is!
Clyde // Feb 7, 2008 at 8:33 pm
I am a Realtor that works out of my home in the country and a small office in town. My saleslady (she is the brains of the operation) works out of her house. She takes care of the urban property and I take care of the rural property. I gotta tell you, I have the best job. Bad plumbing and leaky roofs are not that prevalent in the country.
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