CHAPTER 24 Why Specialized Knowledge is Worth the Price
CASE STUDY #19
Some sellers had their home listed for seven months with another real estate agent. Tired of not getting offers, they hired me to take over. I sold it for 96.8% of the asking price in just 81 days. When I talk about reasons people should hire a real estate agent, it always reminds me of that old story about “knowing where to tap.” A huge steamship had a problem with its boiler, so the captain brought in a boiler repairman. The expert asked some questions, looked at the pipes, and listened to the boiler and all the other associated machinery. Then he took a small hammer out of his toolbox, tapped a valve, and fixed the problem. The grateful captain thanked him for his work, but wasn’t happy when he got a bill for $1,000. He called the repairman and made a huge stink, saying “You’re charging me $1,000 when you were only there for 15 minutes!” The repairman agreed to send a new bill. This time, the bill was itemized:
Tapping the valve: $.50
Knowing where to tap: $999.50
Total: $1,000
Because of his experience, the repairman was able to make the right fix in a short amount of time, and, in the end, that was worth it to the captain. After all, you can’t have a huge steamship without a working boiler! 89
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