When good contractors go bad, it is a lesson for us and our business

Once our clients buy their house, they begin a 10- or 20- or 30-year process of maintaining and upgrading the thing. Some will turn a fixer-upper into a showplace and others – sigh — will turn a showplace into a fixer-upper. Most people buy a house and change it to make it their home; they fall somewhere in the middle.

As buyer’s agents, we keep lists of companies and laborers who repair houses. But staffing shortages and supply problems have complicated everything. In the years following the Covid-19 lockdown, it became increasingly clear that much of the Boston metro area was suffering from a shortage of skilled labor for property repair and improvement. Companies that made our clients happy in 2014 no longer do.

We can listen and give advice. But, mostly, we can listen. Below are the notes that my client took on her way to getting her exterior doors replaced. It is a story of anticipation, disappointment, anticipation, and more disappointment. The takeaway from the “saga of the doors” below is that the process would have been so much better if:

The timeline was laid out right from the beginning.
One staff person did all the measurements, instead of having two preliminary appointments.
Deadlines were met, or communication about extending the deadline was sent.
Calls, emails, and texts were answered promptly.

How does our business do better?

I am not looking to be too smug, but I am a tough supervisor. I have taught my agents that they are responsible to do the tasks that the door company failed to do. We all

Lay out the timeline right from the beginning. There are steps to the real estate process. We’ve been through them hundreds of times. Agents explain the steps. As house hunting progresses, they remind the buyers about the next few that are coming up.
Are efficient with the buyer’s time as much as we can be.
Meet deadlines or communicate about extending the deadline . This involves the work we do, but also the work that happens in conjunction with the purchase, like getting the home inspection report or finishing the appraisal for the mortgage process.
Answer calls, emails, and texts promptly.

Agents who can’t or won’t do this do not stay in our company.

The Saga of the Doors:

Below are the notes from a client of ours. It was a long slog to exterior doors. The final result was that the front door was purchased from the manufacturer, through a local hardware store. It was installed by a local carpentry company. The back door is yet another story.

“August 23. Met with R—We’re not in love with the options we were shown. Emailed R—another idea from the Therma-Tru catalog. Also raised the idea of replacing the back door as well.

August 26. Had a phone call with R— to discuss options.

August 26-29. After some back and forth, decided to go forward with the front door and emailed H— to schedule.

August 30. Emailed H—again to confirm that we’d like to go forward.

September 3. Emailed H—again. We scheduled for a measure on September 12. Emailed H- to plead for a sooner date.

September 5. H—replies there is nothing sooner.

September 12. G— comes to measure. He is here an hour because he talks so much. He is affable but at total buffoon. I hope he gets the measure right.

September 16. I email H—to ask if she has measurements from G–.

September 17. H—emails back that she has the measurements and details a long list of steps we still have to go through before we place the order, including another measurement (WTF?). H—says she is waiting for a quote from the quote department. Again pleaded with H—to expedite the process. No response.

September 17. Reached out on social media to try to get some attention. H—ends up being the social media person. She reaches out to me, promised to get the quote ASAP.

September 19. Still no quote. Called H–. Called G—. Left upset messages.”

Update on this:

“September 19. Contacted three other local installers on the Therma Tru website. One called me right back. After explaining the situation, he said he can get a quote within a couple of days. I sent him all the door info.

Fired J—- (the company where R—and G— and H— work)

G—called me back.

H—emailed me back saying that they were very busy and short staffed and sorry we are taking our business elsewhere. That was the most prompt email she ever sent me.”

There was a coda. Once she got the front door settled, my client checked out how to get a standard-sized door installed in the back of the same house. She wrote: