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A Big Part of "List"ing is Listening

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Services for Real Estate Pros with RE/MAX Executive Realty - Happily Retired 104763

two steps....two brochures....one prelisting brochure....the second the CMA brochure.....works everytime.....

Original content by Tanya Nouwens

I love it when I hear a non-salesy, common-sensical approach to gaining business.  'Cause I'm not salesy at all.  Never have been, never will be.  I tried to be salesy once, while working in a clothing store to help put myself through university.  I ended up stalking the client who said she didn't want my help throughout the store, pretending to be fixing the clothes on the racks near her.  She knew what I was doing...and ran away.  Then I ran away too.

I'm now a Montreal real estate broker and Montreal home stager, but I'm still not salesy.  And I have no intention of ever being that way.  To me, buying and selling a home is just too much of a life-altering event to be "sold" to.

In my quest to continually learn how to be a better Montreal real estate broker, though, I went to ActiveRain University yesterday and listened to Jared James, a real estate coach, talk about listing presentations.  In real estate school, we were told that listing presentations generally happen this way:

  1. Consumer calls you and says they're thinking about selling their home. You ask them questions about their property and make an appointment to come by and give your listing presentation, including your assessment of the value of the property.
  2. You do research on comparables that have sold in the area, and active listings on the market right now, and prepare your comparative market analysis (CMA).
  3. You show up at their home at the scheduled time, wow them with your listing presentation, and go through the CMA with them.

This has never made sense to me.  How can you do an adequate CMA when you haven't even seen the inside of the home?

Dog with big ears extendedYou don't have to.  And you shouldn't.  And it's not just because you won't have all of the information you need to do a really good CMA.

When you show up to do a listing presentation, the homeowner inevitably takes you through the house, describing the updates that were done, the planned updates they didn't get a chance to do, the gorgeous Corian they installed in the kitchen, the basement wall with the hockey puck scars, the gorgeous wood floors they installed themselves, the garden planted with love 5 years ago, how nice it is to have coffee in the morning on the deck, etc.

And if you let them do this, and then sit down at the table with them with your CMA already completed, you're telling them that all of the things they have just told you do not make one iota of difference to you.  That what they say doesn't matter because all you have to do is pull numbers off of a computer.

This is one of the reasons why, as a Montreal real estate broker and Montreal home stager, I've never sat down with a fully completed CMA on the first visit with a homeowner. 

And it's nice to hear that the way I'm doing it makes sense, even if it's not the way I was taught in school.  Thank you, Jared James.

Tanya Nouwens

Montreal Real Estate Broker, JJ Jacobs Realty Agency jjjrealty.com 

Owner & President, Ready, Set...Sold! Inc., a Montreal Home Staging Company  www.readysetsold.ca  T. 514-919-8468    tanya@readysetsold.ca

Logo for JJ Jacobs Realty Inc.Logo for Ready, Set...Sold! Inc.

 

This blog is written with my opinions. My opinions are presented with accuracy but not guarantees. Please talk to a professional before making any real estate or financial decisions. Tanya Nouwens - 2010. If you want to reprint parts of this, just email me for my permission at tanya@readysetsold.ca.

 

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Barbara Todaro, Great Grandmother to Caleb, Santino, Aiden and Gianni       

Todaro Team - Retired

508-918-9148

               

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Comments (11)

Kira Angel
Equity Oregon Real Estate - Canby, OR

I agree!  It is so important to actually see the home before determining value. 

Jun 08, 2010 06:42 AM
Barbara Todaro
RE/MAX Executive Realty - Happily Retired - Franklin, MA
Previously Affiliated with The Todaro Team

the homeowner expects a two step, two visit analysis.....they want to feel like they are getting a thorough analysis not one off the top of your head....

Jun 08, 2010 06:45 AM
Tanya Nouwens
Immeubles Deakin Realty - Montreal West Island, QC
Montreal Real Estate Broker & Stager

Thank you so much, Barbara.  This is the way I have done it, rookie-hood and all, because it made common sense to me.  It was nice to hear Jared James articulate other reasons for doing it this way as well.  He had a lot of interesting and useful things to say actually.

Jun 08, 2010 06:54 AM
Barbara Todaro
RE/MAX Executive Realty - Happily Retired - Franklin, MA
Previously Affiliated with The Todaro Team

I just wrote another blog on this topic and included a link to your post....

Jun 08, 2010 07:12 AM
Barbara Todaro
RE/MAX Executive Realty - Happily Retired - Franklin, MA
Previously Affiliated with The Todaro Team

Kira....it's a necessity to see the home before you give your presentation.....two steps.

Jun 08, 2010 07:12 AM
Karen Feltman
Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, IA KW Legacy Group - Cedar Rapids, IA
Relocation Specialist in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I would disagree slightly.  In my market, there is no two step process.  You have one shot to get it done in one initial appointment.  In my experience, since I am a relocation agent, we are not allowed to discuss price in any terms or specifics.  We are allowed to show recent comparable listings that have sold and able to show them the current active listings that will be their direct competition.  You are only allowed to give a range, which is very broad.  Why do I do it this way all the time, even when not required?  I like doing it this way.  It take the pressure off of coming up with a price "off the top of your head" as you say.  The entire point of your initial consultation with a seller is to show marketing ability and strategy and to demonstrate market knowledge.  It is not to set the price!  Some of these sellers are testing the waters and considering listing for sale by owner, so I never give my numbers.  I rarely lose a listing, and I would like to think that it is because I do listen and I do not tell them what they want to hear.  Once they have selected me to list their home, price is the last piece of the puzzle and since I saw their home and have an idea of their expectations, I can now provide a price with all of the information that I need!

Just my 2 cents!

Karen

Jun 08, 2010 08:36 AM
Loreena and Michael Yeo
3:16 team REALTY ~ Locally-owned Prosper TX Real Estate Co. - Prosper, TX
Real Estate Agents

I hear it, I hear it. The way I look at it (guess I never saw it) was another opportunity to shine at the 2nd meeting. I would never consider it a waste of time anymore.

Jun 08, 2010 09:38 AM
Pippa Mac
Chevaux Group Realtor, The Woodlands and Spring - The Woodlands, TX
The Woodlands TX Real Estate

Barbara ... I also attended the AR University yesterday and I am still digesting the 2-part CMA!  pippa

Jun 08, 2010 04:34 PM
Barbara Todaro
RE/MAX Executive Realty - Happily Retired - Franklin, MA
Previously Affiliated with The Todaro Team

Karen....if a seller's intention is to be a FSBO, it will happen with or without your price....they will call someone else....real estate is local, and maybe in your marketplace, the one visit presentation works best....here, you wouldn't survive with it.

Jun 08, 2010 07:28 PM
Barbara Todaro
RE/MAX Executive Realty - Happily Retired - Franklin, MA
Previously Affiliated with The Todaro Team

Loreena....it's not a waste of time, at all....

Jun 08, 2010 07:29 PM
Barbara Todaro
RE/MAX Executive Realty - Happily Retired - Franklin, MA
Previously Affiliated with The Todaro Team

Pippa....it gives you more strength and allows you to assess the seller....we are psychologists as well as teachers in the real estate business.....

Jun 08, 2010 07:30 PM