What can you expect from your REALTORⓇ

 

Sometimes the tricks we have can’t fix everything.  A recent homeowner interaction prompted this story. I’ll begin with the story and end with what tricks should be expected  from any Realtor that you hire knowing that this is what you should expect once your Realtor’s family has been all tucked into bed, so to speak. I love Real Estate, but know that my family will always come first.

A homeowner had contacted me from one of my direct mail mailings that I had sent out.  It showed the cuteness of a sleeping baby relaxing on the front of my card.  The homeowner had been drawn to the image of the baby and picked up the phone to call me.  He said he loved the baby on the front of my post card and wanted to meet with me to discuss me selling his home. Great, I said! I’d be happy to help you get your home sold, as that is what I do, sell homes.  An appointment was set to meet at his home.

 

In the meantime, a family emergency struck at my home, the night before my listing appointment. Now, I wasn’t going to be able to make the listing appointment. I phoned the homeowner the following morning as my family emergency struck the night before. I explained to the homeowner that I was really sorry, but I needed to reschedule our meeting from that day as I had a family emergency.  He replied, why didn’t you call me yesterday and he also said, oh well, it would be my loss.  Yes, you heard me, he said it was going to be my loss that I didn’t get to meet with him.  No, he didn’t say that he was sorry to hear about my family emergency, nor did he ask me how my family was doing.

 

Perhaps this amounted to me escaping the wrath of a most difficult customer, I imagine.

 

Know that my family will always come first with me, however, when all is well and my family are well cared for, homeowners will know that I will work my tail off in making sure that I’m fighting in their corner to get their home sold.  They will never have to wonder on  whether or not I’m in their corner; they’ll know, I am. This should hold true for all Realtors, but unfortunately, it does not.  

 

What does it mean to say, that I’ll be in your corner or that any Realtor should be in your corner? Tucked away in our arsenal of tricks, well not really tricks but rather skills, skills that can only be learned through education and experience, which are then ready to be put to work. These characteristics will have you winning as a homeowner every time when employed by your Realtor. Perhaps I shouldn’t use the word “tricks” to describe a Realtor’s inherent characteristics to home selling as that, in itself, can present itself as being fraudulent or gimmicky however, these are anything but that.  I describe a trick for my discussion here as being more like that of a magical skill as it isn’t always easy to find and not every Realtor is beholden of them. It’s more of a matter of great skillful action. What are these arsenal of tricks?

 

Here are the tricks to expect from your Realtor

 

1. Knowledge of their local Real Estate market

 

What may happen in

my local Coral Springs

FL Real Estate market

will likely not be

the same as in a Real Estate market 25 miles away. Careful market analysis must be made to determine, the type of market whether Sellers, Balanced or Buyers which are reflected in Absorption rates which describe inventory levels. Then there are recent home sales, homes actively for sale and pending, how fast are homes selling, what are the Real Estate trends, what effect do interest rates have, and overall economy of local market, to name a few.

 

2. Setting the right price and marketing the home for sale  

 

I shouldn’t even have to mention that they should know how to price a home and market a home?! This is Real Estate 101. Unfortunately, too many Realtors aren’t taught how to price a home or market a home and will just wing it.  A “wing it” price won’t get a home sold.

 

The same thing holds true for marketing a home for sale. There must be a marketing strategy to reach Buyers over the internet where they’re searching for homes to buy. A yard sign, isn’t marketing a home for sale. Employing high quality home presentations and SEO (search engine optimization) techniques are what gets homes noticed.

 

I lumped these together as they are quite often two of the most overlooked and forgotten tricks when it comes to knowing how to sell a home.

 

3. Effective communication skills

 

Timely, prompt communication is perhaps one of the most desired things that a customer seems to have to beg for when selling a home.  They hire a Realtor who is very attentive in the beginning, their home is listed for sale and then their Realtor’s interest seems to have sunk with the Titanic.

 

Unfortunately, effective communication skills seems to be the exception and not the norm. I can’t tell you the number of times when I’ve gotten back to a customer and they say, “thank you for your prompt reply!” Customers want to be communicated with on a timely, prompt basis the same day and not the next day, days later or not at all. It should also be understood that customers want to know what’s going on with their home sale.  If they have to contact you to find out, then the Realtor isn’t doing their job.

 

4. Perseverance

 

Selling a home or buying a home cannot be set on autopilot. It’s all about never giving up or throwing in the towel when things aren’t running as smoothly as you had hoped for as the following examples suggest: When Seller’s don’t receive a Buyer’s offer right away or receives a low ball offer. Or when a Buyer’s offer is outbid by another Buyer fighting for the same home. Or how about the inspection that reveals costly repairs not known to any party. Or when negotiations simply demand a better outcome for a customer. These Real Estate scenarios that require steady perseverance can go on and on illustrating just what might happen; what can and will go wrong.

 

There are industry specifics that must be adhered to in order to complete a Real Estate transaction.  There are times, when other parties to the transaction just don’t seem to get it, and as a Realtor, we must follow up again and again to make sure all is completed with accuracy.  It takes a certain character who stands with integrity understanding the importance of getting it done right.

5. Skilled in negotiations

 

Selling homes involves negotiations from the moment a home is listed for sale. Negotiation skills are of particular importance during the offer period, during the home inspection process right up through the day of closing.  Just about anything can come up between Sellers and Buyers that will require negotiations.

 

6. Empathetic

 

Customers want to know that they matter.  It’s important to understand their differences and what’s important to them, and not to dismiss it when it’s not in alignment with what matters to us personally. It’s not that we have to adopt their concerns but rather, we must simply understand their concerns; imagine walking in their shoes.

 

7. Trustworthy

#1 – #7 culminates and gets us here to that of being trustworthy. You will be trusted as the local Real Estate expert if you’re able to demonstrate that you know your stuff as explained in the above points. Delivering on what you say you’re going to do is huge. Customers don’t like to hear lip service, but rather to put your money where your mouth is. My motto: Real Estate promises delivered. It I tell you something, the only way you’ll trust me is if I carry it out.

 

Online reviews are a great way in which to demonstrate trustworthiness too. There is nothing greater than a prior customer’s story of how you serviced their Real Estate needs.  It’s critical that Realtors are able to demonstrate value; they need to be of value to their customers otherwise, why should they hire a Realtor?

 

“ Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value”

– Albert Einstein

 

Real Estate article written by Lynn Pineda, a licensed Southeast Florida Real Estate Agent since 2005 serving Boca Raton to Coral Springs Florida and surrounding Southeast Florida.  eXp Realty. Real Estate Promises Delivered.  Call Lynn at 954-464-1100 if you need to sell or buy your Southeast Florida home.

 

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