Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
When a seller fails to give a realistic asking price for their home, then the chances are good that they aren’t really that serious about selling it anyway, according to one real estate expert.
He's pretty serious... But how about your clients? © Alexey Klementiev - Fotolia.com
Bob Floss, President of the Chicago Association of Realtors, wrote in a recent article in RIS Media of the importance of real estate agents having good communications with prospective sellers in order to ascertain how serious they are about shifting their home:
“Before aggressively investing time in sellers who may never be ready to price their homes realistically for today’s buyers, get to know them and establish routine communications. If you connect with prospects effectively and provide a full picture of the market, the true sellers will eventually signal when they are prepared to make the move.”
Floss recommends a useful tactic for agents who are uncertain how serious one of their clients is - negotiate a date on which the seller will agree to consider reducing the asking price if they haven’t yet sold their home. For instance, ask the seller to agree to consider lowering the price if they haven’t been able to sell the property after 3 months on the market. If a seller doesn’t agree to lower the price after this time, then it’s a fair bet that they aren’t entirely sure that they want to sell at all.
Another good strategy Floss suggests is to keep sellers informed of current trends and market conditions, as agents can then gauge the clients’ reaction to establish how serious they are. By taking advantage of MLS housing data, agents can educate buyers on what is a realistic asking price for their home, while this information will also benefit the sellers when it comes to negotiating with any potential buyer.
Keeping sellers up to date with market conditions and market reports is very important, and helps the sellers to understand the market.