I had someone contact me the other day. The bottom line was that they disliked the job that their Realtor was doing. The first thing I was told was that the Realtor had done a poor job of staying in contact. Long periods of time had passed without any contact from the Realtor.
- Lesson #1 - Stay in Constant Contact with Your Clients. Even a quick call, email or text message to say "Here's what's going on or I haven't forgotten you" is better than no contact. Real Estate clients are nervous by nature. When they don't hear anything, they assume the worse. So do your clients a favor and stay in touch.
- Lesson #2 - Once A Client Loses Confidence, It Is Rarely Regained. The listed home had been on the market for over six months and only had a couple of showings. The homeowner said that the Realtor mentioned something about lowering the price of the home and he was not opposed to that. However, he just didn't feel confident in the Realtor.
- Lesson #3 - Develop a Marketing Strategy and Discuss Price Drops Up Front. We can all be Monday morning quarterbacks and tell someone else what they did wrong. I negotiate price drops before the listing agreement is signed. I add a statement of when at least three price reductions will occur. It's automatic and it doesn't come as a surprise to my client. Because I stay in contact, it is easy to say to my client "the property has been on the market for X weeks and we are coming up on our first price reduction".
- Lessson #4 - Do Your Homework. The worst thing you can do for your client is try to "wing it". Being a successful Real Estate consultant is work. It takes time and effort. But then again, isn't that what we are paid for? Before I call the homeowner back after his initial contact, I did some work. I looked up the history of the home. I researched the selling history of the town. I looked up the recorded mortgages on the property. I had some idea of the seller's situation before I spoke to him.
- Lesson #5 - Ask for Help. Realize when you need help. It was clear to me that this home was a prime candidate for a short sale. Short sale was never discussed with the homeowner. It was never suggested that the homeowner contact the lender. I am not a short sale specialist. My buddy Sal Poliandro is. Sal works in North Jersey, I work in South Jersey. Whenever I have short sale questions or issues, my first phone cal is to Sal. Rome wasn't built in a day and successful Realtors are not groomed overnight. If you are out of your league, do your clients a favor and get assistance. There is no shame in admitting that you don't know. I have gained more respect by saying I don't know, but I will find out.
I hope these words of advice were helpful to someone. If nothing else, maybe they made you think about some things you can do better in your real estate practice.
Have a Great Day
Make This YOUR Best Year Ever
Leander McClain, Burlington /Camden County, NJ Realtor & Real Estate Consultant, Keller Williams Realty, 1814 Route 70 E Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 856-685-1677 Direct
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