Have The Courage To Tell The Truth

While your clients may want you to tell them what they want to hear, they are paying you to be the professional and tell them what they need to hear to buy or sell in today’s market.

It’s much easier and doesn’t take a whole lot of skill to go on a listing appointment and simply tell the seller what they want to hear about price, marketing, and what it will take to get their home sold.

Many agents do this because it’s obviously much easier in many cases.  But, let me ask you, when you go to an attorney for legal advice or to a doctor for medical advice, do you want them to tell you what you want to hear, or what it will take to properly handle your circumstance?  I would venture to say that 99% of you will agree with the latter.

In today’s market price is one of the biggest factors in whether or not a home will sell, if not THE biggest factor.  Being honest with the seller about true market conditions and property values is critical when on a listing appointment, and when working together from that point forward.

In my experience of selling an average of 110 homes a year, even in this market, I am finding that price is something that must be looked at on a consistent basis.  If the house is in good condition, in a good location, and is not selling, price is the issue.  You must have the courage to tell the seller the truth and stand up for the price it will take to actually get the home sold.

It doesn’t matter how much marketing you do or how many open houses you hold, if the price is not right the home will not sell in this market.  Have the courage to tell the sellers this instead of painting the bed of roses that you and your marketing plan can get the home sold.

Be prepared with your market stats ahead of time and take this on the listing appointment with you the first time around.  Going in as prepared as you can the first time around is always best.  Guys, let’s face it we don’t get a second chance to make the first impression, so why not go in fully intending to take the listing and get the contract signed at the price it will take to sell the home the first time around?

Besides why on earth would you want to go back to the house 2 and 3 times when you can simply go in once and take the listing?

Yes, the market is finally starting to pick up a little in most locations.  However, don’t make your seller feel like we’re suddenly in a seller’s market again, because we aren’t.  In fact, if the truth be known it will probably be well into next year at this time before we’ll see the market really begin to recover.  Have the courage to let your sellers know this.

With buyers, tell them the truth about what to expect when making offers on foreclosures and HUD properties.  It’s a long drawn out process with long response times and extended closing times due to the volume of competition that’s out there and all the red tape that you have to go through.

Can you get a good deal? Yes, of course you can.  And again, simply have the courage to tell the buyers what to expect up front.   Don’t paint the bed of roses and forget to be honest about what they can expect.  Many of my coaching clients have had deals in the last 6 months become quite sour from the buyer having unrealistic expectations on these so called deals.

Educate your buyers as well up front about the market conditions before you even go out.  Let them know ahead of time and show them market stats to back it up, that while the market is still a buyer’s market, the list to sale price ratio’s in many markets are still fairly decent.  While the media is reporting that you can expect to get steals on property right now, that really isn’t the case in many markets.

Studies have shown that many sellers just aren’t willing to take the ridiculous low ball offers that buyers want to make right now.  Having the courage to educate your buyers up front on all this will save you time, frustration, energy and make it a much smoother experience for the both of you.

I believe in educating both the buyers and sellers UP FRONT about as much as we can.  I believe it’s best to tell them from the very beginning that you want to make sure they understand all the options, all the steps that will need to take place, what we as the agent will be doing, and what we need them to do, in order to have a successful transaction together.

Talk about the market, pricing, market trends, the home inspection, the loan application, the closing process, the waiting periods, the things that can possibly come up and go wrong, the moving plans, the contracts and paperwork that they’ll both have to sign.  Tell your sellers up front that no contract is a done deal until they get their check.

Don’t lead them to believe that just because you got a contract signed that the deal will close.  We all know this is the last thing from the truth.  Again, have the courage to tell the truth in all areas.   Our clients don’t know what they don’t know and our job is to educate them, protect them, and properly represent their best interests.  It commands honesty and integrity.

Instead of being caught off guard when handling objections and questions in this challenging market, be prepared.  Write down the most common objections you are facing right now and come up with some honest, scripted answers.

If you don’t want to write your own, you can purchase our book, Now What Do I Say?, a collection of over 425 answers to over 70 of the most common questions and objections that you’ll face in the real estate business.  Visit our products page on our website at www.yourethedifference.com to order your copy today.  Stay tuned to our blogs and articles for our May products sale, and upcoming coaching courses beginning in May.

I hope you are on track to Making 2009 YOUR year!