YOUR FIRST MEETING

I know, you see the tea bag. It's usually coffee. Black.

Real estate agents love coffee (we work stupid long hours) and we love coffee shops (our desks are usually in a cubicle farm with those inane inspirational posters on the wall, so when a prospective client actually wants to meet, we jump at the chance to go to a coffee house).

Thing is, coffee houses might not be the best places to meet. Not if you have your kids with you. And not if one or more of them is SPD. Or ASD. Or ADD / ADHD.

I know, it’s not always a no-no and yeah, a coffee house is usually a better place to make a good impression on a potential client than, say, a bowling alley. But there are other options.

The library, for instance. It’s usually quiet and if your kid is anything like mine, he can spend hours leafing through books about origami while someone like me tries to explain how escrow works (that’ll be in another post, I promise).

Bottom line, when you’re arranging a meeting with a real estate agent for the first time, mention that you have a kid with special needs. See where he or she suggests you meet. If it’s a coffee house –– one with loud music and F-bomb poetry readings, you might be meeting an agent who isn’t entirely sensitive to the whole ASD / SPD / ADD / ADHD thing.

Just saying.

Brian Belefant is an Oregon Licensed Real Estate Agent whose son is ASD / SPD. So he gets it. Call him at (503) 715 2852 or send him an emai at brianb (dot) mrealty (at) gmail (dot) com.