Ten Things Sellers Really Want from Their Agent
You have worked hard, knocked on doors, networked, and you are finally getting listings! Hooray! This seems like a piece of cake: put the property on multiple listing, put a sign in the ground, and go collect your commission check, right?
Wrong! Not if you want longevity as a real estate practitioner.
Here are 10 things for you to do to develop loyalty from your customers and word-of-mouth referrals:
1. Deliver what you said you would at your listing presentation. Your credibility
is at stake. Do what you say you will do.
2. Take the time to make honest recommendations to them about "getting their home ready to show." Provide them with the names of vendors who can do work with them if they need the contact. I had one client with whom I went accessory shopping. She knew that her home needed some warm touches. First I took her to lunch and then we went to Pier 1 and Pottery Barn shopping for those important touches that give a home that extra punch.
I had another client who wanted top dollar for his home although the house
had the original, dated kitchen. It was not feasible to remodel the kitchen
so I suggested he go buy all new hardware for the cabinets. For about $400,
he improved the look of the kitchen enormously (and we sold the home for almost
asking price, as well).
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Let your seller know what they should
expect from you. Are you going to contact them after each showing... or once
a week... or once a month? Personally, I love e-mail because I can do it late
at night but some sellers prefer a phone call. Whatever your mode of communication,
stay in constant touch. It sounds like a cliché, but a person's home
is their most valuable asset. Treat it as such.
4. Be honest but tactful. Sometimes we do not want to hurt our Sellers' feelings
so we spare them from the truth. This ends up backfiring if they are not receiving
offers on their home. If the listing has not sold and you are close to the end
of the listing period, you do not want to have a "big bomb" to drop
on the client. They have slowly been adjusting to feedback from the market and
will be willing to relist with you at a reduced price.
5. Pricing: Sometimes Realtors are so desperate for a listing, any listing,
that we take the listing at the price the Seller wants but not the price the
house should be listed. We have all done it. What is important is that you do
it honestly. You must say, Mr. Seller, I have just shown you why $500,000 is
a great price for your home but you want to list it for $600,000. I will take
the listing for it for $600,000 but if in 30 days you have not received an offer
and I can document all of the showings I have had, we will revisit the issue
of price because we do not want your home to get stale on the market.
6. Marketing Report. Provide you client, at least once a month, a written marketing
report documenting your showings, your marketing,, feedback and any other information
that will be helpful to them in looking at the overall picture of their home.
This requires a lot more work, but as a professional who is getting paid handsomely
for their efforts, this is a document the seller deserves.
7. Contracts. Hopefully, before you have ever received an offer on your listing,
your Seller has seen what a sample contract will look forward. They will understand
the various pitfalls of the way the contract is written and they will know that
you will provide them with the very best information you can to navigate the
contract and provide them with your excellent real estate acumen. They know
you are looking out for their interests.
8. Once the contract is written. I take the contract and extrapolate all of
the important dates into one document and e-mail it to my clients. They are
then able to follow along with what is going to happen next and know that I
am on top of their transaction. I usually provide the same list to the Agent
for the Buyer as well so that we are all on the same page. There are presently
some Internet programs that will do this as well.
9. Inspections. Once the home is inspected and the report is delivered, you
must be the voice of reason. Be actively involved. I always tell my Sellers,
"What is the mission? To get your house sold? We will work through any
inspection issues that are presented to us."
10. Follow through. Sometimes I know I am a pain in the backside to the Buyers'
Realtor but I dot my I's and cross my T's. All of my transactions close because
if there is a problem I know about it immediately and do everything I can to
address the issue at hand.
11. Go to the Closing.