After working with real estate buyers to complete pre-qualification, the next step is preparing them for the home search. It isn’t just a matter of finding the first real estate for sale that you find, either. Finding the ideal home takes special skills, excellent judgment, and refined communication skills. Here’s what you need to do to prepare them before they begin to search.
Need vs. Want
Discuss the difference between needs and wants. For instance, if they seem tightly focused on fancy features, ask them if this is something they actually need in a home or just something it would be nice to have.
The truth is that when working with real estate buyers, you often discover that they choose a house based on a fancy-looking feature that would be easy and inexpensive to add to any home. Therefore, guide them to keep their main goals in mind as they look. And if they don’t really know what they want, help them understand what matters to them.
This discussion will need to include lots of active listening from you. You need to understand them, their needs, and their hopes – not just talk without listening. You can learn how to use active listening as a real estate agent by taking online courses like Roadmap to Success: Buyers.
Managing Buyer Expectations
Managing buyer expectations is an essential part of being a real estate agent. When you keep the buyers’ feet on the ground, they are less likely to be disappointed. At the same time, many buyers aren’t of what a lovely house is within their budget. So, the key is not necessary to keep their expectations high or low. It is to keep their vision of their ideal home at a realistic level, given their budget and situation.
Setting Priorities
Every buyer will have their own priorities. However, you may have to help them consider all the possible features they might find in a home or its neighborhood. Some buyers put energy efficiency at the top of their list or even want to buy a green home.
For others, the most important thing is the neighborhood or the schools. For a family with several cars, spaces, or garage slots, parking them will be a high priority. Some want a specific floor plan, a fireplace, or a large lot.
Some would prefer a short-sale home because they have heard it’s the best way to get a good deal. You must warn them that some short sales turn out to be a nightmare transaction, or the home is not as good as it seemed.
The most important things here are communication and active listening. Most buyers will need your vast knowledge of housing and home feature options. But they will also require you to listen to them so that they find the right home for them, not the house you think is best.
Helping Buyers in a Tight Market
Working with real estate buyers in a tight market means helping them get a good home at a reasonable price, as always. However, a tight market makes your job as a real estate agent even more challenging. In this case, your help negotiating the price will be more valuable than ever. And that means more referrals and loyal fans for you as a realtor.
However, before that, you will need to recommend that they get pre-qualified for a mortgage immediately. This gives them a better chance of getting the home they want before someone else snatches it up.
Preparing for the Home Search
Getting your real estate license may have set you on course to be an excellent real estate agent. Yet to be a phenomenal one, you must know even more. A realtor knows and can tell a buyer many things they need to know, such as:
– There is no perfect home.
– There is no perfect time to buy a home.
– Getting too many opinions makes decision-making more difficult because it muddies the waters.
– Even if a buyer thinks they are a good negotiator, the realtor is a negotiator who specializes in real estate transactions. So, they would be better off trusting their realtor.
– Don’t look at just the home – also look at what surrounds it.
When You Prepare the Buyer, the Next Steps Become Easier
As you may already know, helping a buyer find a home involves much more than flipping through a real estate magazine or using the MLS.
If you’re working with real estate buyers, you need to begin with pre-qualification, continue preparing, and only then lead them on the search to find the home that suits them to a T.
To learn more about working with real estate buyers, explore Roadmap To Success: Buyers.
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