Lately I have noticed an influx of agents having their clients follow them to homes.

Those of you that do this, is it at the customer/client's request or do you prefer it this way...and why?

For liability reasons I like this idea. Being a woman, for safety reasons, I like this idea as well.

However, don't you lose some intimacy with the buyer?

Thoughts???

Julie,
Try using the search feature. This has been discussed several times already.

Have used the search feature for many others, just not this topic for some reason. Sorry about that. Delete if you wish, Paul! Thanks!

No problem I was just making a suggestion.

And as woman I do this quite often. And the thing is sometimes when we finish for the day we are far from the office, so they can proceed home on their own. I do have a van ( which I bought new just for this job), but especially when they drag the whole crew, children and all, I would not like them all in my van. If I have gone out with them before and it is only the husband and wife alone, I may take them in mine. But honestly many of the customers prefer it that way.

I always offer, and maybe half the time they accept. I do it as a courtesy although it does give us more time to just chat and get to know each other which is nice.

I've noticed looking at past clients I have a better closing ratio on those who rode in my car, although honestly that's probably mostly because anyone who'd hop in a Realtor's car is probably someone who was pretty serious in the first place and not just a lookyloo.

I don't see safety as being a logical reason to refuse a ride to a client in my car, because if they want to whack me they'll probably wait until we're in a house together instead of driving down busy Dallas streets. I'm making way more money than any taxi driver, so if someone wants to call me a taxi driver I'll be laughing all the way to the bank, hopefully with a million dollar buyer in my car.

i tell people that it's best if they follow me or meet me at the homes because i am in my sports car today. i am in my sports car everyday though.

I always have new buyers follow me in their car, however, one time this backfired on me. I had gotten an internet lead and contacted the buyer right away. He wanted to see a house within an hour, so I made arrangements with the listing agent and then made arrangements to meet the buyer at a local mall parking lot. I arrived at the mall and gave him a map quest (he was from out of state) and requested that he follow me. He was fine with that. We got to the house and the listing agent had never contacted the seller and they would not let us in. Buyer was, of course, disappointed, however, we made an appointment for the next day to look at more homes. Buyer was following me out of the subdivision and rear ended me! We pulled over and he begged me not to call the police (my first mistake). I was trying to salvage the deal, so I took down all of his drivers license information. He offered to give me a "couple of hundred dollars" for the damage. Long story short, he stood me up the next day and the day after that. I "fired" him, turned him in to my insurance company, he denied ever even meeting me, and I had to pay my $500 deductible on $1,400 damage to my car. Lesson learned - I will never agree to not call the police again. However, if the buyer is not known to me or anyone from our office, I will ask them to follow me for safety reasons.

Somehow I develop a closer relationship with people in my car. They tend to be more open, friendly, etc.

I usually let them decide what they want to do.....

Either way works fine with me. Some buyers are very private and want it to be a business relationship only and I'm very happy at that too.

I agree with most of the above post. If my clients have kids I prefer they drive their own car. It does creates more close relationship when they are in the same car. I let my clients decide what they feel more comfortable with.

i let my clients decide - i prefer to ride with them (i have even gone in their car sometimes). But there again i am a guy

I prefer to drive them, it makes it so much easier. Lately though, I have ended up meeting my buyers at the listing as they are coming from the other side of town or have family/kids in tow.

If your state has child safety laws you need to have them follow you. Most agents will not have the correct safety equipment for a child's specific age, size and weight..... and it is a Felony if you are stopped.

Generally it is better to have traditional residential clients with you in the vehicle... far easier to form a relationship, for other clients it is less of an advantage.

I recommend people NEVER bring kids or pets on showing. Those that do have to bring their own car along.

Where the heck is it a felony, with the accompanying jail time and loss of voting rights, to not have the correct safety equipment? (Google is being no help at all; I can't turn up anything to confirm this claim so far.)

It is not a felony, it is a misdemeanor.