What a Seller / REALTOR relationship should NOT feel like.

by Eric Blackwell

The Real Estate Group, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake VA

Author website

Several years ago I was at a pretty exclusive real estate conference for large brokerages held in Denver. As part of the conference a representative from a major online lender presented an “emotional model” of what an online buyer’s experience was like. It was a roller coaster ranging from the “high” of deciding to look for a house and starting the search, to the “low” of applying for the mortgage. I thought at the time that since many folks tend to avoid pain MUCH more readily than move toward pleasure, if we simply offer a buying experience with LESS negatives, we would gain more sales.

That has proven to be true. We continue to look for ways to do this in our operation. As we find them, we implement them. It has paid off in spades.

Then a thought struck me this past weekend. I am SURE that it is not new. It was the culmination of many posts read here and elsewhere. It was / is a principle that is at once amazingly simple and yet difficult to execute with precision.

CREATE THE SAME PAIN FREE PROCESS FOR SELLERS.

It is to accomplish EVERYTHING that needs to be done to MARKET and SELL a home, with as little pain (or even ANTICIPATION of discomfort) as possible. And, of course, then the process needs to be turned into a system and scripted. In short, a seller / REALTOR relationship should not feel like this:

When you saw the image above, you felt the discomfort that the neuroassociations of the image immediately brought to mind. The seller feels these same things. Let’s take a trip into things THEY find discomfort with.

1. How much they owe on the home.

Many of our agents prefer now to look up what is owed on the property ONLINE since we have access to courthouse records and all liens without leaving the comfort of our computer screens. This allows the REALTOR to reacts with sensitivity where needed and to (as importantly) make good marketing decisions with honest information. We can then use statements like “I understand that you feel pinched right now…let’s sit down and discuss the alternatives and try to find you the BEST solution.” “Here’s what I show that you currently owe on the property. Did I miss anything?”

2. The condition of the home.

There are some REALLY good reasons IMO why they NEED to face this up front. Sometimes, however, sellers just will not face it (usually due to the lack of capital to correct issues). For those times, we are finding that email feedback programs that send the feedback information DIRECT to the seller as well as the listing agent tend to be the most effective. It is always unpleasant to hear things like “Your house smells like CAT.” and “Your kitchen needs an overhaul.” BUT, we are finding if they will not listen to your advice upfront, the quickest and most pain free (for all parties involved) is to let the market forces (and comments) work their magic. This is MUCH LESS painful than the listing agent coming back again and saying it over and over.

“How many times do I have to tell you???”
“Six.”

George Carlin.

3. Price reductions.

See #2. We are finding that these feedback methods are worth their weight in commissions. I had one agent TODAY alone, who had two price reductions from sellers who could have priced a property to get it sold, but chose not too and now (after receiving several encouraging (grin) emails from showing agents…) have done it and now have their property positioned properly to sell.

We have also found that using our MLS’s “automatic market update” feature (normally used on buyers) and turning it on sellers has been well worth the time…with similar results. You are simply conveying the needed marketing info in a less painful way. Doesn’t it sound proactive to give them a daily market update? Much better than “Well, we need to talk. 3 houses in the neighborhood sold and they were under your price for essentially the same home.

4. Inspections.

Now this REALLY feels to the seller like the white (latex) glove treatment indicated above! The personal best list of repairs I have seen in our office was 4 pages long. I am SURE we don’t hold the record. I don’t have a GREAT answer here…I’d love some input on that. How can one take the surprises out of the inspection process as much as possible.

The bottom line for us is communication. Sometimes we need to give sellers a bit of privacy in dealing with these sensitive areas of their lives (pun intended.) I have not figured out how to take ALL the discomfort out of the transaction, but doing that to the extent possible is definitely my goal for 2008.

I would love your thoughts as well on other low points in the process for sellers and how we can remove them.

I am sure that going to Unchained will provide some answers!