Conversational Real Estate

A real estate transaction is a lot like an ongoing conversation, especially for home buyers.

The greeting is usually, "Will you show me this house I found online?"

I respond by asking a few questions, but if I know them I will set the appointment to go and show. If I don't know them I want to meet them in the office first, of course, for safety reasons.

Once we get inside the home, the conversation continues.  I learn from them what they need, what they really want, what they like and don't like - at least as far as this one house is concerned. They learn from me some of the many ways I can help them buy a house - real estate services such as advice, explanation, encouragement. I can't get into the 'nitty gritty' too much at this point, especially if it's my listing*.

Sometimes they speak to me without words. For instance, if they have already been pre-approved by a lender, they're telling me, "We're serious about buying a house, and we're educated enough to know we're wasting our time until we know whether or not we can get the loan we need."

If they tell me they haven't at least started the process of finding a lender - or that their brother-in-law's cousin told them, 'no problem', though they haven't even applied - I know they're either taking bad advice from someone, or are nervous about talking to a lender, or just don't realize that all sellers want a pre-approval letter from a lender before they'll even look at an offer.

Before we part company, I try to find out how they'd like to continue our conversation.

• We can get together over coffee to talk about how to get just the right home in today's market. They can bring anyone they want to be involved, such as a parent or grown child.
• I can give them contact info for some great lenders**.
• I can set them up on a very user-friendly search site that will make their goal much easier to reach
• Or, I can offer to send them my monthly newsletter***

However it works out, I find myself spending a good amount of time just talking to home buyers. I think that's part of the reason some agents refuse to work with buyers - the right kind of service takes considerable time.

*If it's my listing and I have no working relationship with the buyer, I represent the seller and am looking out for their best interests.

**My definition of a great lender - puts people at ease, offers them options instead of making their decisions for them, explains the pros and cons, is honest and knowledgeable, is quick with those pre-approval letters, and doesn't have a problem answering the real estate agent's questions (with the buyer's permission)

***My newsletter is written by me, not one of those mass-produced ones. I offer real estate market info, local news, community events, and reader's input such as items they want to sell, advertisements for their business, restaurant reviews, fun things they've done, Q&A. It centers around Denver, Colorado and her northern suburbs such as Arvada, Westminster, Broomfield, Louisville, etc. So if you live here or might someday, you'll enjoy reading it.  I promise to not share your contact info with anyone, to not send you anything but the newsletter, and to remove you from the list the moment you ask.

Check out my website.

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