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If possible, without pressing too hard, find out why they’re selling before you have your evening meeting with the husband and wife. Unless you know why, you can’t give them the best possible service. Unfortunately, many sellers believe otherwise. Their line of reaction runs something like this: "If we let the agents know we’ve got to sell in 60 days, they’re going to gang up on us and beat down our price. By keeping them in the dark, we can get several thousand more dollars for our house." Many a wife or husband has received strict orders from a fearful spouse to withhold the truth. This usually results in disaster for the sellers. The agent goes along with unrealistic pricing, and the sellers think they’ve won an important battle. Time passes. No action. Then the sellers panic. Who gets trampled in that panic? The seller and the unwary listing agent. The listing expires or is cancelled and the house sells through another office in a week at thousands under market. Ignorance of how the real estate market works, and the first agent’s failure to gain the sellers’ trust, lead to these fiascoes. Variations on this theme are played constantly in real estate. The best defense against price games-playing is a genuine concern for your clients’ welfare, sensitive alertness, and a frank attitude toward and thorough knowledge of pricing. Other sellers are reluctant to discuss their true motivations for understandable personal reasons. Where a family is breaking up, serious illness threatens, or careers and financial security are jeopardized, revealing true motivations may be too painful an experience for your sellers. Be empathetic. Credit them with more than unreasoning greed. Financial or personal problems may make them feel desperate, or such a large decision as a house sale may simply have distorted their ordinary personalities. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we’re dealing with people, especially if we’ve been in real estate for quite some time. Everyone is different. They come from different backgrounds; they’re bound for different destinations; they’ll travel different routes to get there. Someone calls me and says, "Come over and list the house". Not until I get there does it come out about the divorce. They’ve been married 5 – maybe 25 – years. When I come in for that listing, I’m the guy who’s going to put the For Sale sign up in front of their house; I’m the guy who’s chopping at their roots; I’m the symbol of what’s happening to them. Where’s the empathy if I hustle in there bubbling with enthusiasm, success, and good cheer? "Wow, the market’s really going great! I’m having a terrific year, folks! Yeah. Now let’s take a look at the rest of this sweet little home of yours. Gee, it’s neat. I like what you did with the wallpaper. I love this carpet." Don’t chirp on and on at deeply wounded people. Don’t bubble at all when you take a listing where there’s a death, divorce, or other grievous problems. Try to understand what they’re going through. Do the job as quickly and professionally as you can, and then get out. Why is it so important to know why they’re selling as soon as possible? Because it’ll tell you how to act during your meetings with them-it’ll even tell you how fast to walk while you’re touring the property, and whether to be relaxed and jolly, or crisp and businesslike, during the listing interview. |
