Taking Stock- Working with sellers & buyers

This year has been a challenging one for many of us in the business of selling & financing real estate.

It seems there may be a lack of overall urgency with many sellers unwilling to budge on price, and buyers willing to sit on the sidelines, or perhaps even being one of those sellers themselves.

Mortgage lending guidelines have tightened in many ways, too. There's just not as much action taking place, but we need to take stock of what we can do to control our own destinies, and earn a living!

Here's a few ideas that I'll share with you. Maybe one or more of them will resonate with you, and make today the day you change something or fine tune your own approach to the business.

LISTING PRESENTATIONS:

• Are you prepared? Have you done more than the average research, driven the neighborhood, checked comps, prepared market absorption & average DOM & list/sold price ratio info for the seller?
• Can you suggest ways to improve the marketability of a home, such as repairs, paint, landscaping, curb appeal, de-clutter?
• Do you have a marketing strategy prepared, and can you stick to the plan (or more importantly, can you get the sellers to commit?)
• Can you get the listing for the right price? ( Avoid the temptation to get the listing at any cost! )
• Do you suggest a tour of competing properties for sale with your potential sellers? Show them what they are up against.
• Do you suggest staging?
• Do you recommend a pre-listing appraisal?
• Are you on time?
• Do you want to be first, or last to interview? First in has first shot of locking it up with a good presentation. Nothing beats walking out the door with the signed listing as the other agents are being called to cancel their appointments. Of course, last also offers the ability to address all concerns the seller now has after talking to other agents, and problem solving.
• Are you advocating the full price selling agent commission, in order to avoid agents ‘skipping' the listing?
• Are you listening to the seller's motivations, and trying to identify with them?

THE ONLY FOUR THINGS SELLERS WANT TO KNOW IN ORDER TO GIVE YOU THE LISTING:
When making a listing presentation keep in mind that the seller who is deciding on whether to choose your services or another agents is really not concerned with all the paper work or glossy office flyers telling of all the services your agency will provide. The seller has only four things on his mind:
1. How much can we get for our home?
2. How long will it take to sell?
3. How much will it cost or what's the commission?
4. And finally, how do I feel about you? Do I like you? Are you in charge? Do you know what you are doing?

Remember- don't go to presentations with your just hoping they will choose you. Go to the meeting prepared to answer the big questions and take command of the meeting. You are a professional and yes, they are deciding if they will choose you but you also will choose if you want to sign them! Sellers respect agents who are professional and can take charge. Answer the four questions above to a seller's satisfaction and the listing should be yours.

YOUR LISTINGS: ( once you have them )

• Do you take excellent photos, or ho-hum? - With the high internet use by home shoppers, a bad picture is the # 1 turnoff next to price. Leaving pictures out is sure sign of something wrong!
• Give Good Directions-Not everyone relies on their G.P.S. to navigate through unfamiliar neighborhoods. Enter good directions to the property, and skip shortcuts. Don't use "See MapQuest" or "Call Broker."
• Using Remarks-Use the Remarks fields to the fullest extent to paint a picture of the property in the minds of the reader. The Public Remarks is a great place to talk about the features and benefits of the property, not to repeat the Description fields in sentence form.
• Add a Virtual Tour...If a photo is worth a thousand words, and a good virtual tour is worth a thousand photos, shouldn't you have a virtual tour for your listings?
• Enter Room Dimensions. Take the extra time to measure the room dimensions for your listings. If homebuyers are thinking about room dimensions, they are likely already picturing their furniture and decorations in the property. That is a good thing!
• Disclose Short Sales. If your listing is a short sale or could possibility become a short sale, be courteous to your fellow real estate professionals (and abide by the MLS Rules & Regulations)
• Tell the sellers what they need to hear about the home: It needs to be clean, and de-cluttered! Rooms need to be defined so the buyers can see what the room is for.
  1. Kitchen - No one wants to see dirty food in the sink.
  2. Bathrooms - No one wants to see dirty anything here.
  3. Windows - Finally, everyone wants to see through a window.
• Have an open house! - make sure you advertise it in the paper, and have plenty of directional signs. This is a great tool to find new buyers, and possibly new sellers, and keep your train rolling!
• Are your sellers going to buy? Are they pre-approved????
• Price reductions- sometimes, we miss the mark. If there's no action, it's the price. Everything will sell if priced right, even those ugly ones! Get a meaningful reduction, check the pictures, what else can you change?

YOUR BUYERS:

• First of all, can they actually buy? Get them pre-approved. NOW. (call Jeff- 732-938-2252 x303) Insist on this, and recommend they work with a local mortgage lender you know & trust, & tell them why.
• Ok, then make sure they are YOUR buyers. Explain to them how much time you will devote to helping them, and either sign them to a buyers agency agreement, or be sure to have ‘the talk' about how the agency representation works. Ask them to refrain from calling other listing agents simply because they got your voice mail if they want to see a home. Tell them the rules of engagement, and protect your interests!
• Understand what the right price range is. Talk to the mortgage lender & ask questions, take notes & confirm with the buyers to ensure you're all on the same page.
• Submit strong offers & coach your buyers on what this means. Cover letters with rationale, deposits, & be specific.
• Communicate & stay in touch with these people. Eventually, they will buy, be patient, & understand their time frame.

Stay available & accessible for your clients. Return email & voice messages promptly. Communication is key!

Look at what the top agents in your office are doing each day. What behavior are they exhibiting, and what can you use to mimic their results?

FREEDOM MORTGAGE:

Ok, you may be wondering what we have done to be ‘different' in today's market. Well, I'll tell you. We've recently launched a buyer incentive program that gives buyers a 1% lender credit towards closing costs.

This applies to all types of loans, and we've recently added the ability to issue the same credit to refinance transactions. We've also created more of our helpful tips & guide booklets to better serve our agents. We've sponsored numerous broker open houses, and caravans, and added more agents to our referral network. We hired a new, top-notch, experienced mortgage processor for our local team, too. All of this has allowed us to improve our already fast turn times for loan approvals, maintain & increase our market share during a difficult period, and continue to provide excellent service & support to our referral partners & their clients.

Please, call on us to be your trusted resource for mortgage information, and fast free-preapprovals & on time closings!

http://purchaseprosblog.com/post/2325572/freedom-mortgage-offers-1-lender-credit-to-buyers

Jeff Coon
Branch Manager
Freedom Mortgage Corporation
Bus: (732)938-2252 x303
jeff.coon@freedommortgage.com
Do you know someone who needs a home loan? All referrals greatly appreciated!

NMLS ID#19375 Licensed by NJ Division of Banking & Insurance

Over 25,000 hours of experience!