Maryland and Virginia Real Estate and Homes Blog

HOME SELLING TIPS FOR AGENTS WORKING WITH BUYERS WHO WANT TO LOOK AND LOOK AND LOOK!

HOW MANY HOMES SHOULD AN AGENT SHOW?  Of course it depends, but I’ve found over the years that with some experience, the best thing an agent can do to help buyers make a decision is help them focus. 

What would you say to a buyer who wants to see many homes before making a decision.  Seems to me that the first thing to do is determine their time frame.  If you’re in a market with a large inventory, an agent is well served, as is the buyer, by leading the way to help that buyer make a decision.  Just showing home after home doesn’t help. 

BTW.  My Buyer Broker agreement is for only 15 days.  After 15 days of working hard to find the right home, we may extend.  But, I mean to do the job.  I preview and select the best homes, show them and expect for the buyers to make a decision.  Once I find that a buyer isn’t ready, I let them know that the market is what the market is and perhaps. . . . .  Or, I offer to refer them to another agent who loves to show homes.  I get right to the point and separate the buyers from lookers.  I don’t have patience for lookers.  I respect that some folks need a lot of time, but I’m not the agent for them. 

ALSO, I usually spend about 2 times as much time previewing and researching properties to show than I spend actually touring homes with my buyers.  This preparation permits me to KNOW THE MARKET and the good points and bad points about the selected homes to show.   I also make sure to get the disclosures before showing.  Preparation saves time. 

If the question is:  “How long does it usually take to . . . .”. “It doesn’t take long”.   My answer would never be anything akin to “until you find the right house”.  That doesn’t help buyers make a decision. 

A better answer would be “It doesn’t take long.  I’m going to help you to really understand the market and individual homes we see so you can make a good decision”.   

MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE BUYER IS SEEKING:

• What is the qualified price range?  Got it.
• What is the needed location?  Got it.
• What special features are important?  Got it.

Focus on the above, show your buyers the best 4-6 homes and then sit down over lunch or a cool drink and talk about the homes they saw.  To manage home tours, it’s always best for the agent to preview the best and select the best of the best to show.  Of course, if a buyer has a specific home they found on the Internet that they would like to see, you have to include it in the tour.  However, since the agent has the best information about homes for sale, it shouldn’t take long for the buyer to realize that the agent is in a better position to select properties to tour too.

After the first tour, if the buyer hasn’t selected a home on which to make an offer, revise criteria. 

Show 4-6 homes on next tour that meet newly revised criteria. 

Help the buyer select the best home or two and revisit.  This is important because, it’s on the second visit that the buyer will begin to “feel at home”.  If they like the home, they won’t want to wait to wait buy it.

Have another lunch or cool drink and review comps and discuss offering price, terms and conditions.  You’ve now moved beyond the looking and into the writing offer phase.

At this point, they should be ready.  If the buyers are significantly noncommittal, they are probably not ready to buy and need to understand that they may need to rethink buying at this time. 

If the buyers are excited about any one house, simply ask, “Would you like to make an offer?”.
If the buyers are excited about any one house, simply ask, “Would you like to make an offer?”.
If the buyers are excited about any one house, simply ask, “Would you like to make an offer?“. 

If they are, go to a comfortable place and write the offer, NOW.  None of this “think about it”, or “let’s get together tomorrow. . . . . ?  Of course, if they want to see the home again, fine.  Make sure you allow a good hour or so for them to spend in the property to “feel at home”.  Let them place their furniture, use your flashlight to look under the sink, behind the mechanicals, walk the yard around the house, look at the fireplace, look hard at the flooring, appliances, bathroom fixtures, etc.  At this point, you want your buyers to know the house.   HINT:  Keep a bag in your vehicle with a tape measure, flashlight, forms, pens, calculator, eyeglasses, etc. 

Knowing a house is an important psychological step for a buyer to feel comfortable about buying. 

NOT READY?  If the buyers are not ready after a tour or two of the best of the best, let the buyer(s) know that they’ve seen the best of homes in their price range and location of choice with the special features they need or want.  Just looking at more homes is simply going to show them . . .

• more of the same,
• more of the same,
• more of the same. 

As experienced agents we know that homes in a specific area in a specific price range don’t change that much from house to house.  We have already selected the best of the best. 

NOW IS THE TIME MAKE THE DECISION!

Or, the buyers need to know that they should go out of the market until there is significantly new inventory in which case, we may be looking at new prices, new comps, etc.  This usually takes about 6 months.  Watching from week to week is simply going to wear everyone out looking at more of the same.  One of the best Buyers Brokers I know, after showing the best of the best to buyers, uses a “time out” period of about 3 months for them to stop looking for a while.  It works.  She has more patience than I. 

Never, never try to talk a buyer into buying something with which they aren’t comfortable.  That’s called “selling homes” and it isn’t necessary.  We don’t have to sell homes.  All that does is cause buyers to have buyer’s remorse and possibly default.  If they aren’t ready to buy, find it out before writing an offer.  

Good transactions are closed when buyers are happy, content and confident about their new home. 

Happy home buyers will cooperate with the home buying process best if they understand the process. 

Happy home buyers will remember the agent that helped them feel comdortable about their decision. 

Heppy home buyers will smile at the closing table. 

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988, E-mail.