Language. It’s more than just the English, Spanish or French you speak. It’s the ability to have effective communication with those around you. Does your Realtor speak your “language?” Deb, the Irish Realtor does. She has effective communication.

Have you seen the commercial with the dad in the backyard talking about something, and asks his daughter via text something and she answers “idk” and he says “what does IDK mean?” and the neighbor behind him says “I don’t know” explaining that IDK is an acronym for I don’t know. The main character totally missed the point and says something along the lines of “well I’m not so stupid after all.” Communication is about language. Have you missed the point of another person’s answer or conversation because you IDK? Now picture yourself trying to talk with a Realtor about your most important purchase… your home. Not having good communication here would be detrimental to your whole life. Does your Realtor speak your language?

If you are a twenty or thirty something hip to the newest internet slang, constantly tweet, facebook, tumble and pin things, wouldn’t you want to do business with someone hip to that as well? Now turn it around. Your Realtor has years of experience dealing with everything real estate: title issues, the newest home updates, appraisal acronyms and the like. What happens if he or she can’t make you understand those terms? Getting to a place where all understand is paramount. Your Realtor must be someone who can communicate the real estate language to you and make sure you each understand it so you will have all the knowledge you need to buy or sell a home.

Part of that is also being able to actually reach the other. How do you communicate the best? Email? Text? Do you even check your voicemail? Does your Realtor? Make sure that each of you know and respect the communication preference of the other.

Deb, the Irish Realtor, strives to be a great communicator. She really understands the ins and outs of communication. Her lilting Irish brogue has softened over the years, but she knows that even accents as lovely as an Irish brogue can make communication misunderstandings possible. So start out on the right foot by saying to Deb, or your Realtor “you can best reach me by_” and then ask LOTS of clarifying questions as you go!