"I have been up and down this road about half a dozen times and no house or FOR SALE sign." Has this ever happened to you? You follow the directions to the home you are to show a buyer, and you are are unable to find the place. This has happened to me a few times.
The one time, the directions said to turn right onto Weir Mountain Rd. from the main road and then left onto Fiddle Rd. Well, I drove down the main road looking for Weir Mountain Rd. I drove until I got into the next county. Maybe I missed it. So, I turned around and drove back on the main road looking for Weir Mountain Rd. Still nothing. Found Weir Lake Rd., though. I figured I'd try that. Maybe the agent typed in the wrong name. Drove down Weir Lake Rd. to the end and no Fiddle Rd. At this point, I called the listing agent. Lo and behold, the listing agent was not in the office and did not answer their cell. At that point, I just left a message on the voice mail and cancelled the showing for that day since I had another appointment to get to. It turned out that the listing agent omited the name of another road to turn onto from the main route in the directions. The next time I went to show that place, I did finally find it.
Another time, I was looking for a listing and I was on the right road, but could not find the house. Went up and down the road about half a dozen times and no house and no FOR SALE sign. Finally, I called the listing agent, and this time, I did get to talk to a live person. They explained to me that I should look for a bunch of mailboxes at the side of the road and there will be a dirt road there. (The dirt road looked more like someone's driveway.) I am to take the road down to the end and the home will be there. OK. I found the "road" and went down it and ended up at someone's farm. This was not the home that was listed. Tried calling the listing agent back, but this time the agent did not answer the cell. Tried a couple of times, still nothing. I finally decided to leave a message and in the meantime, the buyer said to forget it. The agent did not return my call and we never did find the house. The directions never mentioned about looking for mailboxes or a dirt drive. Just to go down Delaware Rd.
Not being able to find the listing is not only frustrating to the agent, but also to the buyer. Plus the listing agent may have lost a possible sale because of this. I'm sure many of you have gone through this. All agents need to pay attention to detail and double check the directions. This is quite important. Imagine how many buyers the seller had lost because of this error. If it is a difficult place to find, a broker's sign should be placed at the main road with an arrow so it would make it a little easier to be found. It will make things a little less frustrating and stressful all around.
GPS is your friend. My kids bought me one for Christmas because I drive around in the boonies a lot, but I've found I use it much more in town. And I quickly learned, early in my career, not to depend on the agent's directions, because they can be very - well, let's just call them "creative," shall we? ;-)
So, now, I Mapquest AND have my GPS system ready to hand (it's a portable), just in case, because sometimes Mapquest can get it wrong, too.
So driving down one area, the boundaries go in and out. First it's 3 digits, then 4, then 3 again, then 4.
And there's no warning sign for hapless visitors as to why it's happening!
Brigita, that happens so many times out in our rural areas. I've generally decided that most agents can't tell their right from their left, or north from south. Most any long day working with buyers, I can count on having at least one or two cases of misdirection. Usually I find that the agent has said "right" when it should have been left, etc.
In the areas I work, which are very rural, Mapquest and Google maps can get you in trouble. They'll often give you the "straightest" way there, but it's not necessarily navigable. My daughter got Mapquest directions for driving the 400-some miles from our house to Denver. They started out suggesting she drive the first 25 miles along the banks of our irrigation ditch, rather than taking the roads; since the ditches are blocked to car traffic by locked gates at several points, and require about a 5 mph speed, this was not an especially helpful suggestion!
I LOVE my GPS - I have it set on the British English setting, so it feels a little exotic and fun as "Emily" talks to me and tells me where to go! (Except she pronounces a lot of things wrong - for example GA-400 she says GAH-400 instead of Georgia-400, but it's okay - the accent makes up for it!)
Another feature about mine that I really love is that you can touch "Restaurants" and search by type of restaurant (Mexican, Japanese, Italian, etc.) so I know I can always find somewhere good to eat close by when I am with clients.
I highly recommend it - and I highly recommend "Emily" (although, "Karen" the Aussie is a fun companion, too!).
~Maura Gebhardt