Anne Rosen

By Stephanie Sims

Providing good customer service isn’t just about responding to clients promptly and answering all their questions. It’s also about helping them get exactly what they want, and negotiating for them and counseling them about their best available options. Anne Rosen of Keller Williams Preferred Realty knows firsthand how hard work and treating her clients as her first priority can help in a multiple-offer situation.

Rosen’s clients were out-of-town buyers who were looking for a second residence in Chicago. They fell in love with a Streeterville condo and made an offer, but the price the seller wanted was still too far above market value.

“We actually waited and re-submitted the offer a few weeks later, and still could not come to terms,” Rosen said. “My buyers decided to move on, but I knew that
this was really what they had their heart set on.”

Because she wanted her clients to be happy and to get what they wanted, Rosen sent them similar condos in other buildings, but kept her eye on new listings in the building her clients loved. Her persistence paid off – a new listing came on the market on a Saturday. Rosen called her clients immediately, encouraging them to come to the city as soon as possible to see this new listing in person.

After her clients agreed to see the condo on Tuesday, Rosen called the listing agent right away to let him know of her client’s interest and to request he let her know if he received an offer. To her shock, on Sunday evening, the very next evening, he called to tell Rosen he had an offer, and in addition, five showings on Monday.

But Rosen’s client couldn’t get to town any sooner than Tuesday. Rosen knew her client well – they wanted a lake view in a nice building in the price point that this condo in this building was in – so she talked to her client.

“I called my client to ask if she wanted to submit an offer based on the photos in the MLS. She knew the building and it was the same tier, so she knew that the view was comparable,” Rosen said. “But she was not willing to write an offer without seeing the condo first.”

Since there was no way around this situation, Rosen opted to do the best she could for her clients. She gathered as much information as she could about the condo so that if her client did indeed fall in love with it, she would be prepared.

“I knew there was another offer and knew what my clients were willing to pay,” Rosen said. “And while I didn’t know what the other offer was, I knew my clients were willing to go over, but only $500.”

Her client arrived to look at the condo on Tuesday as planned. “She did her best to contain her excitement to her friend, who had joined her on this day trip to Chicago,” Rosen said. “I had to leave her for another appointment and gave her time to digest what she had seen and let me know our next move. Indeed, this condo was the one she wanted. I prepared the offer, we signed it online, and submitted  it to the listing agent.”

But the next morning, Rosen discovered theirs was one of three offers. She knew this might be a difficult situation, but again, wanted to give her clients what they wanted.

“I had been in a multiple offer situation recently and lost,” she said. “I was determined to win this one. My client was set on it, and so was I!  Our initial offer was 97 percent of the listing price, but when we learned we were one of three offers and needed to submit the highest and best offer, we did. We ended up paying only $500 over the list price, but my clients were prepared to do that.”