by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
When it comes to selling or financing homes, your car is as important as — well, it might rank second only to your license.
While the price of a real estate license has remained constant, gasoline certainly hasn’t and those in the real estate industry face a daily problem of dealing with prices that have nudged over $3 a gallon in recent weeks and now aren’t far below that.
“I just filled my tank today for $53,” says Wally Sears of Wachovia Mortgage. “It’s starting to be a pain but, if you have an appointment or meeting, you gotta go.”
A poll of area professionals shows a common theme: more costs, less profit.
The key, say many, is adjusting to the situation.
“The rising gas prices have helped me become a little more organized in that I am more conscious of making sure that I handle both business and personal appointments at the same time when I am in a particular area of town,” said Judy Hicks of Re/Max Coastal. “I sell property in all areas of Jacksonville and gas prices will not keep me from doing that!”
Adds Michael Walker of Prudential’s Mandarin office:
“I’m no longer able to prospect five days a week. Now I’m prospecting three times a week and doing prospecting from the computer other two days. So right now it has set me back a bit.”
Carolyn Minor of Prosperity Bank agrees:
“I am now more judicial about my drives. I take more time to consolidate trips to areas I visit. I used to go everywhere without a thought and going to the same area of town two or three times a week. No more!”
Some won’t change their habits, instead taking the increases as just a part of the business.
“I have not changed my driving habits due to gas prices,” said Robert Fleishmann of SunTrust Bank. ”I still attend almost all of my closings and attempt to keep the personal touch with my clients.”
Wayne Francis of Realty Executives The Professionals travels a lot by car from his Argyle Forest base and says, “Gas prices and consumption are becoming a greater consideration when planning your day and your budget. However, that being said, it would fall into a category of a necessary evil.
“When dealing with a customer, who in most cases is making a major investment and purchase, their needs and my obligation to show them properties best suited to their needs and wants is my first concern,” said Francis. “Ever increasing gas prices are just one more ‘cost of doing business.’
“If I am in a cross sale with an agent at a relatively close office, I still prefer to drop off the contract, as opposed to faxing it. Most agents have seen the end result of a multiple time faxed contract; it ends up as a block of black ink.
“I have always been a strong proponent of maintaining the highest degree of ‘professionalism’ in our industry; increased gas prices should never be used as an excuse for poor customer service.”
Some have solutions:
“I cannot afford to cut back on the services I provide to my customers,” said Paul Gruenther of Watson’s Jacksonville Beach office. “So I bought a more fuel efficient car and I still make the rounds.”
“I know I am very careful about having the buyers qualified before starting to show them homes,” said Kay Stalvey of ERA Dan Jones. “I have always been careful about that because of my time, but I do now stress to the mortgage companies how much more important it is to be detailed on pre-approvals.
“For the cost of gas on listings, I don’t worry about the miles — I love listings and I don’t think twice about the distance I have to go. I have, over the past few years, focused on the higher, upscale listings and that makes a difference, but I still enjoy the first-time buyers and working with first-time sellers also.
“I do find myself combining trips across town and trying not to drive unnecessarily and thinking a lot more about how important a trip across town is. Before the higher gas prices, I would not think this way. I had invested in a smaller car a few years ago and at first I didn’t like it, I love it now! I get 27 miles per gallon in town and it helps a lot!”
“Now I ask the customers to drive!” said Clare Berry of Berry & Co. Real Estate. “No, seriously, it’s part of the job and there’s not much you can do except be especially efficient in how you route your appointments. And we should do that, anyway!”
Old solutions work, too.
“Living in Neptune Beach while marketing a Fernandina Beach property has always meant a lot of commute time but it seems longer when gas is almost $3 a gallon. Once I worked through the regrets of owning a V6 (that prefers premium gas!), I have found ways to save gas,” said Andie Pennell of Key Realty Advisors. “One of the strategies is the good old-fashioned car pool. One of my selling partners, Mike Slagle, is also a beach resident so we share rides to work on days where neither of us have off-site activities planned.
“I also group activities according to areas of town so that I am making fewer gas-guzzling short trips. I buy Wal-Mart gift cards to save three cents per gallon at their pumps. Every penny counts!”
“Rising gas prices have, undoubtedly, made me much more aware of how I can more efficiently and effectively use my travel time,” said Sue Ann Ogden of Suncastle Properties.
“Although, like most of us, I will go anywhere, at any time, to follow up on a lead or show a prospective buyer listings for sale, I am far more conscious of unnecessary trips, either that I could delay or delegate to someone else who might be going in the same direction I might need to go sometime soon.”
“Rising gas prices, ugh!” said Toy Scott of Norville Realty. “I try even harder to plan any errands or showings so that I don’t double back on myself, things like that.”
Adds Linda McMorrow of Prudential: “I find that I spend more time planning my day to cut out as many needless trips and to plan errands so that I consolidate trips in a particular part of town. I think more and drive less!”
A similar comment from Josie Deal with Coldwell Banker Jasinsky on Amelia Island: “Any increase in expenses results in a smaller paycheck for everyone. It will make you utilize your time and we’ll all be much more aware of scheduling showings to get the most out of every trip!”
Could the costs have benefits? Not really, but there are some who say they’re accepting the situation and making the most of it.
Phyllis Staines of Re/Max Coastal thinks the rising costs may actually help her come out ahead, saying, “It has cut down on the number of people who want the address of a listing to ‘drive by the home.’
“Now, the buyers see the value in using a Realtor to schedule an appointment to get inside the home on one visit, thus eliminating a second trip and wasted gas.
“Also, the gas crunch is a result of the cause and effect of a growing economy. Thus, as long as home prices continue to accelerate and our market remains strong, the price of gas is a moot point.”
To others, it’s grin and bear it:
“Certainly we are spending more at the pumps but we view it as just an increase in the cost of doing business,” said Tim Fennel of Century 21 Atkins Realty. “We haven’t allowed it to change our habits all that much except for maybe planning our day a little better, perhaps. By that, I mean we try to think through everything that needs to be done and incorporate all into one outing.”
But, says Paul Sandiford of Stockton Real Estate, there isn’t much to be happy about.
“It’s just another way to erode my bottom line,” he said. “Higher gas prices and discount brokers. What is next?”