Pump price becomes a real pain for agents

In 28 years of selling houses, Marty Marks never worried much about the cost of getting from property to property.

That changed the first time she spent $40 to fill up her SUV.

This summer, with a full tank running $50, Marks has taken action.

"I started using regular gasoline rather than premium," said the veteran agent at Virginia Cook Realtors in Dallas. "I thought my car needed the premium, but apparently it doesn't. It's running fine."

Rising gas prices hurt most everyone, but they've really hammered residential real-estate agents, many of whom drive more than 20,000 miles a year on business.

With cars that average 20 miles a gallon — they must be large enough to seat clients comfortably — the difference between $1-a-gallon gas and $3-a-gallon gas could be the difference between a tropical vacation and one close to home.

Indeed, at 20,000 miles a year, the difference would total $2,000, enough to merit consideration by anyone pondering a real-estate career.

What about mileage reimbursements?

Agents are independent contractors, associated with big names such as Century 21, but are self-employed. They finance everything from postage to health care to business travel.

"When you're starting out with no customer base, it's hard to cover all your costs," said Hanne Sagalowsky, an agent at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage who now heads the MetroTex Association of Realtors. "The extra money spent on gas may well be enough to force some young Realtors out of the business.

"Even for well-established agents, this is far more than a minor annoyance. This is serious money."

Some agents have found ways to drive less.

Agents traditionally preview newly available homes before showing them to clients.

But some agents now hesitate to preview remote properties. With gas at $3 a gallon, the time to learn about a house often coincides with the first customer visit.

Another mile-saving strategy: Abandon courtesy showings.

"When gas was selling for $1 a gallon, most Realtors would happily fill some free time by packing a couple of window-shoppers in the car and showing them five homes," said Jeff Updike, a senior vice president at Virginia Cook. "The idea wasn't to sell anything immediately. The idea was to build a relationship and hope they'd come back when they were serious about buying.

"At $1 a gallon, that idea makes sense. At $3 a gallon, it doesn't. At $3 a gallon, you don't get in your car until you're pretty sure a client is serious."

To separate buyers from dilettantes, some agents have stopped asking what sort of house people want and started asking when they want to move. No timetable often indicates no commitment.

Many agents also ask to see a client's pre-approval from the bank. There's no sense driving to a million-dollar dream house if the bank won't lend more than $250,000.

There's also no sense driving when someone else, such as a courier, can drive for you.

"We recently sold a property way south of the city, but when the time came to sign the papers, we realized that all the parties lived or worked in Dallas — so we signed everything up here, in front of a notary, and had everything delivered to the local authorities," Updike said. "We saved people from driving hundreds of miles just because we were creative."

Howard Zielke, an owner-broker at ASC Properties, hopes that drive-reduction strategies can save him 4,000 miles this year.

To cushion the blow, Zielke tries to trick himself into underestimating the costs.

"I never used to fill up until my tank was just about empty," he said. "These days, I usually get gas when my tank is still a quarter full. That way, the total never looks so bad."

Avoidance only works so well. At some point, Zielke says, anyone who wants to sell houses must be willing to endure pain at the pump.

"There's no way around it," he said. "You can't take the bus unless you're willing to move to Manhattan."