On Spinal Surgery, Real Estate, and the Importance of Teams

Phoenix Real Estate Video Blog with Curtis Johnson

Today I have a story I wanted to share that illustrates the importance of hiring the right person when selling your home. I had to give my doctor a little education!

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Today I’m back answering more of your real estate questions. Today’s question is, “Does it really matter who you have sell your home?”
Let me explain with a story. Last time, I talked about how I hurt my back and when I was laid up, I had to rely on my team. That’s why I’m a huge believer in hiring a team; they’re able to take care of more things than just a single agent.
So there I was, unable to walk, getting lots of injections and getting ready for a procedure. I wasn’t able to get knocked out with anesthesia for the surgery, so the doctor tried to make small talk and asked what I do. I told him that I run an incredible team of one of the top-producing real estate businesses' in Phoenix and that we help sellers get up to 22% more for their homes.
He was curious how we do this. I told him that there’s an 11% price swing, meaning you can sell for 11% below or 11% above market value based on 168 different variables and choices you make. I could tell he was interested, and then, he said "I’ve always thought I wanted to go get my license." He wanted his license so he could sell his own house.
I told him the process only takes about 90 hours and that the bar is so low that people just jump right in. They try it for a few weeks and realize how hard it is, then bail. The doctor told me he wanted to get his license just to save the commission on his sale.

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Would you go to WebMD for a surgery?

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I said, “So you’d rather sit in class for 90 hours in order to save a few thousand dollars and get a part-time job doing that?” Then he said, “Does it really matter? Can’t you just sell it yourself and save all the money?”
Then I asked him, wouldn’t that be like me going to WebMD for this surgery? I explained that when I came to him with my back issue, I already knew exactly what the problem was. It wasn’t about finding out the problem, it was about knowing what to do. It was about the 10 years of medical school where he learned exactly where to put the needles, what to inject me with, and which discs to move. It’s about the little details in the expertise that comes from doing thousands and thousands of repetitions. Then, I asked" him if he thought he was better after doing thousands of treatments than he was after his first one.
"Oh my gosh, I’m so much better!" he replied.
That’s the difference, I told him. So many people do so few transactions that it really doesn’t matter and they can’t positively affect the transaction. With that experience, you can go from possibly losing 11% on the sale of their home to gaining 11%.
Before he told me to shut up because we had to finish the procedure, I think I turned him off the idea of going to real estate school.
So the moral of the story is to do what you do best. I thought that story was a good way to illustrate the point that when it comes to who you hire to sell your home, it really does matter who you hire!
If you have any more questions about this topic or you’d like to speak with us about how we can get you 11% more on your home sale, give us a call or send us an email. We’d be glad to help!