You don’t need an Ouija board, tarot cards or the help of a psychic to know what your buyer wants. But it does take some skill and effort on your part. Because not every buyer is alike and not every buyer has the same needs.
At the core, you know what your buyer wants – a home. But it goes beyond that, as it always does. There is a question of budget, of creditworthiness and desired features in a home. Then you are dealing with different personalities, level of expectation and personal quirks. Following are some tips on how you can work with buyers and create such a seamless experience that at times they will think you are reading their minds.
1 – Don’t make any assumptions. It’s easy (and human) to judge people on appearances or their first impression when you “meet” via phone or email. But you’ll need to stop yourself in your tracks every single time and treat each and every buyer as a new person, completely apart from anyone you’ve met before. By dumping the assumptions, you will ask your buyer the questions you need to delve deep and be able to anticipate her real estate needs later on.
2 – Create a buyer questionnaire. You can have this questionnaire available on your website, it can be something that you email out to buyer prospects or it could be a bunch of questions you ask while speaking with a potential buy on the phone. In any case, you will want to have a core set of questions to ask all buyers before you start working with them. It will begin to shed light on the buyer’s needs and wants, at a very base level.
3 – Before you run that first MLS search, ask your buyer for her “top ten.” These should be the top five needs – what she must have in a home and the top five wants.
4 – Push boundaries…to a point…and see how your client reacts. Some buyers are more flexible and open to suggestion than others. While some buyers “seem” adamant about a particular location or feature in a home, you may find there is more flexibility there than even the buyer consciously knows. And that flexibility might make the difference between a sale and a buyer deciding to wait it out for a year or two until something changes.
5 – Anticipate your buyer’s moves. You already know what forms need to be used in any given transaction. At the very first meeting you should provide your buyer with a copy of every single form that can possibly come into play. Give a brief overview of each form, explaining what it is for, and how it is used.
Recommend that your client read each form in its entirety, especially the crux of every transaction – the contract. And then know that the majority of your clients will set these forms aside and not read every line as you suggested. And when it comes time to write up that offer, go in expecting that you will have to coach your client and answer the questions that will come up in the moment.
6 – Over deliver. Don’t just stick to the basics of what your buyer has asked. Expand on that and offer up alternatives. Look at listings in adjacent communities. Take a gander at rent to own possibilities. Use that real estate knowledge and brain power to become creative and provide your client what she wants…even if it may be in a different manner than which she expected. For example, your client has a budget of $400,000 and says a pool is a “must.”
You’re having difficulties finding the right home with that pool. But you stumble upon the perfect fit at $350,000 with no pool. Go ahead and talk to a few pool builders and get some quotes and preliminary designs drawn up and present them to your buyer. Maybe that pool can be built for $35,000. You’ve just saved them $15,000 off their budget!
7 – Act, instead of react. Once you send over the MLS listings, go ahead and give your buyer a call. Explain what you just sent and ask if he has any questions. Don’t wait to hear from your buyers – call them, email them. Make sure that you are making yourself available for any questions or issues that pop up along the way. By taking the initiative and being the one who makes the first move every time, your buyer will feel like her mind is being read by a professional!
Volker Weiss – Maui Realtor(R/S) specialist focusing on Makena homes. Make your vacation last forever, check out Makena condos. For immediate help call VW directly at 888.572.6888
[tags]real estate, homes for sale, realtors, realty, realtor, mls, houses for sale, luxury homes, hawaii[/tags]
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