Taking things down to a personal level

Brand is everything, right? 

Do you bank with Chase, Wells Fargo, WESCOM Credit Union, or Bank of America? Do you shop at Ralphs, Trader Joes or Pavilions? 

Coke or Pepsi? Steve Madden or Jimmy Choo? Realty One Group, Coldwell Banker, Berkshire Hathaway or Keller Williams? Which will you choose? 

And why? I propose to you that it is all about the people you are dealing with that matters in most cases.

Let’s deal with the people-less brand options to start. I’m a Diet Coke girl. Don’t like Diet Pepsi. Don’t like the taste, the logo and the ads. I’ll order water if the only zero-calorie cola being served is Diet Pepsi. 

I never hang my aversion to Diet Pepsi on my server, drive thru window operator or restaurant chain. 

On the other hand, when there’s an actual sales transaction involved, we go into another mode. Whom are you dealing with? Let’s take a look.

Wells, Chase, WESCOM, and BofA all have residential real estate mortgage lending lines of business. And they employ loan representatives to sell their products. 

These products may or may not be comparable, desirable, attainable, or available to you for a variety of reasons. How do you find out if their loan programs will work for you? You have to interact with one of their loan representatives. 

Hopefully, you reach the over-achiever on her way to sales rep of the century. The loan rep who will listen with undivided attention (that means no texting or FaceBook updates during your conversation.) 

This individual then has to take your qualifications, such as income, assets, debt and FICO score, and match it to the loan programs their brand supports to help you determine what loan program works best for you. 

All the while this is happening, interest rates change multiple times PER DAY.

Similarly, a real estate agent may hang her license with Realty One Group, Coldwell Banker, Keller Williams or Berkshire Hathaway. 

But trust me, it’s not Warren Buffett who is selecting properties that match the picture of the perfect home for you, staying within the budget you established with your lender. It’s the agent you selected who is leading you to the right house.

And keeping up with new possibilities that pop up every day. And tracking all the houses you liked to make sure they haven’t been scooped up by another buyer. And staying in touch with the agent for the house you’ve got your heart set on while convincing your spouse to overlook the fact that – although perfect – it just doesn’t have a pool.

At the end of the day, the quality of your home buying experience comes down to the people you are working with. You don’t just say, “Wells Fargo.” You say, “Here’s Mary’s phone number. She did a great job for us.”