When I first started my real estate career in 2001, my mentor told me that it was important to become the local expert. The person that can answer the client’s questions. The “Go-To” agent. The “Trusted Advisor” who is there for his or her clients. Wow!!! That seemed to be a lot of responsibility for a new agent. The final piece of advise was that you did not really have to have all of the answers, but you did need to know where to find the answers and to get that information back to your clients in a timely manner.

The reason that I am even writing about it all these years later is because my youngest son will be taking the real estate agent exam soon, and I was remembering back to when I started and what advise I was going to pass on to him.

I thought back to the questions that I got from my buyers who were relocating to Elk Grove. Since I had lived in the area since 1973, many years before getting my license, I did have the answers at hand. Some clients had very specific questions and I had to tell them that I didn’t know but I found the answers and called them back. Some people just me to mail them a “Relocation Package” so that they could study it before they got to Elk Grove. Initially I told them that I had a real estate website, ElkGroveRealEstate.com but they would often say that they were using that website to look for homes, but they wanted more information about day to day living in Elk Grove. They wanted more information about schools, crime, neighborhoods, etc…

So, I started writing down the questions and the answers and put together a “Relocation Package” that I sent to new clients who were moving to Elk Grove.

The problem with publishing a “Relocation Package” is that it gets outdated quite easily. To solve the “out-of-date” issue, but still provide my clients with the information that they need, I created an online “Relocation Package Website” called Living In Elk Grove. I also maintain a Facebook page of the same name, Facebook.com/LivingInElkGrove so that I can stay in touch with clients on a day to day basis as well as post information about my new listings.

I have edited my Living In Elk Grove website so many times, that I cannot remember how often it has been updated. Every time a client comes up with a new question, I update the website so that the next client will find that information available at the touch of a keyboard or smart phone.

In fact, I just did a major rewrite of the whole website to give it an updated look and feel. Take a look, and if you don’t find the answers to your question, please drop me an email and I will find the answer for you and update the website for the next user.