Turning the tide for a buyer

Not every buyer appears wanting to buy a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home plus a family room for their 2.5 kids. Not every buyer that comes across your threshold looks at 6 homes and says, that's the one I want, where do I sign. And, oh yes, I am, of course, pre-qualified for the exact amount of the sales price. That would make it too easy!

No, chances are a high percentage of the ones that call us need some help "out-of-the-box." How many sales would you lose in a year if you had firm rules about helping only those "easy" ones mentioned above? I bet a lot. We are in an economy where we need to stretch ourselves a bit. Here are some examples from just the last couple of days:

A. A young lady called me wanting assistance in buying a property that she had found through my website. After a few sentences I THOUGHT she said that she had an agent, but needed a loan. I am not a loan broker and told her so. After we hung up, I replayed the conversation again in my head and I realized that I had made the ASSUMPTION that that's what she said. So I called her back to clarify what she asked me. What she actually asked was that she did, indeed, find a property she was interested in, but she needed help in finding a lender. Once I had looked up the property, I realized that it was a REO and that they actually INSISTED that pre-qualification needed to be done by their company. I then explained to her that she would have to do that, but she, by law, could choose her own lender when then actually going through with the purchase. RESULT: I have a new client.

B. A buyer with excellent credit wants to purchase a multi-plex that has issues. Again, it's a REO that needs a lot of work. The buyer needs to get a loan in order to make it happen. Unfortunately no one will lend on this property, not even a rehab loan. The answer? Find a private lender, which we are now doing. RESULT: I have a new client.

C. A buyer called all excited because her son is looking for an investment property that she can live in. The price range that they are looking for is low, what can I say, especially the area she's looking at. The upside is that she won't need a big house, the ever-popular 3 bedroom/2 bath ones, so that is a definite plus. I did some searching, and, yeh, I think I found one that she will love. And, no, I did not ask her to have her son send me a pre-qualifying letter. This lady was so "high" that her son would do this for her, I was not about to burst her bubble. I will do everything possible to make this work for her! RESULT: I have a new client.

D. An out-of-town buyer called me about finding a beach cottage for them that they want to buy as an investment property. I wasn't so sure about this one because they weren't sure how far away we were, obviously had not been to our area. On the other hand, he was very specific about coming up for a weekend this coming month even after I told him how long it would take to drive here from there. Did I ask him for a pre-qualification letter? Nope! I figured if he and his family are coming up here all that way, I will extend myself for a day for them. If I had been hard to deal with, would they have gotten a good feeling about their venture? I don't think so. RESULT: I have a new client.

Would you have played it any other way? My feeling is, bring them on. I know I can help them. And if the last few days are any indication, this will be a GREAT year.