That Finicky Buyer Doesn't Deserve All The Blame

So many buyers have to lose a deal or two before they get more serious about the purchase. It's just part of the process...

As the old saying goes about leading a horse to water..... I agree with Tim, sometimes they have to lose one to get them really motivated.

There are some people who do not trust anyone so even if you tell them it is a good deal they may not believe you.  They have to lose out on a house before they believe you.

Ed, sometimes they need a little help off the fence - and education goes a long way with that.   When the buyer is knowledgeable about the market, they can make decisions.   I will work with buyers forever (I've shown one buyer 200 houses) if they are serious and committed, but someone who maybe wants to buy a house and can't make a commitment to me. - that spells...NEXT!

With these types of Buyers, the Realtor has the difficult job to bridge the gap between their perception and reality. Too many buyers are getting advice from "all the wrong places" co-workers, relatives, friends, the national media, etc... and they need to be taking the advice of (only) their trusted real estate professional.

Most of the time their perception of the market is not even close to the reality of the market......and if they are slow learners it takes multiple showings (80) multiple offers (12) and multiple lost opportunities (11) before they figure it out.

Stick with it. You have a client with the means and the motivation, you just need to get them to learn a little faster. :-)

In this market, everyone is concerned about the sale of a home, whether buying or selling. People are going to be finicky and it is our job to make them feel confident in their decision without making them feel pushed into a transaction. If they feel it is the best decision for themselves and/or their family, it will be a LOT easier.

Great post Ed! I agree with the comments that time up front with the buyer discussing needs and wants and the actual state of the market will help to get the ball rolling in the right direction. It IS a HUGE decision and some personalities have a real hard time taking the final step.

You know we tell sellers all the time that what they want or need does not determine the houses value.  Buyers need to understand what they think the seller might need or how much profit the seller is making does not have any baring on the value of the house.

I agree that it is us the agent's responsibility to educate our clients on the market and what they feel comfortable in purchasing.  Even if that means less commission. A happy client will bring lots more referrals down the road.

Educating and illustrating value is the key to moving a buyer to take action, so sometimes it's the fault of the teacher and not the buyer, isn't it?

First time home buyers are a tricky bunch.  They often don't have the market knowledge, and sometimes the maturity, to feel comfortable to pull the trigger.  Agents can do a lot to provide the knowledge necessary to help them get comfortable.  However, once that's done and a problem still persists, it's often time to move on!

First time home buyers are so nice to work with, and I don't mind that they take their time.  I have seasoned buyers who are taking much longer than my first timers....  

I like to sit my first timers down on our first meeting and go over everything they should expect, including the fact that they might not decide right away, and that's ok.   I hand them a packet full of information about the process, and they are usually faster than I expect in their purchase!  

Congratulations on your feature, ED!!!!

Ed - As others have already mentioned, educating the buyer is absolutely vital in this market.  However, like so many others, I have to agree that with many of my borrowers, after losing a property they really wanted (sometimes two), they suddenly become much more motivated and realistic about their next offer. 

LOL at George and his borrower who looked at 78 houses before they bought.  I have had borrowers who looked at dozens of properties too but the thing about these folks is that they had probably made a dozen offers too!  Heck, some of them might have even been in escrow once or twice. 

That's not all that unusual for some folks here in Los Angeles & Ventura counties where the competition for properties in the low-end of the market (400k<) is fierce and so many properties (especially REOs) are absolute money pits that buyers won't discover until the inspection process because the REO LA and their seller refuse to disclose anything (even if they already know the property is a dumpy money-pit).

Blame the media for buyer confusion. I don't know why they persist in saying things that are detrimental to everyone concerned, but it seems to be their aim in life.

Hi Ed,  I agree.  Have of the job is ours to motivate and set buyer expectations.

Really well written Ed, and easy to see why this was featured.

A bothersome trend I see is that buyers want to ask the seller's to pay for closing costs.  It's not that it's wrong, but when they're already asking for a 10% reduction in the purchase price on a home that is priced properly, and then asking for closing costs on top of that, I really have to bite my lower lip to keep from screaming.  I always try to stress that you want to pick what you'd like to negotiate on, price or terms.  Try not to hammer the seller with both.  I blame a lot of this on HGTV.

Heck, I had a guy offer $75K on a $125K listing because it had been on the market for 6 months and "the market's not good right now."  Needless to say, the seller wouldn't even counter-offer.

We have finicky buyers in all markets but the media confuses buyers and it makes it harder for them to put their full confidence in local market data. And to Brad's comment about buyers wanting closing costs and a below market price, some of that problem is from lenders who lead the buyers to think that all sellers will pay closing costs as if it is done for every sale without setting that expectation correctly.

I think that sometimes the agent is at fault for not sitting down with the buyers at the beginning of their search and helping them to define precisely their list of needs and wants.  This process itself helps the buyers to focus their own minds on what really matters to them and by doing that a lot of unnecessary viewings can be avoided.

Obviously a lot of the commenters here do go through this stage, but I see many agents that just turn up to open doors and show houses without any idea of what their buyers are looking for, but merely responding to their requests following an Internet search. These same agents do not usually have a buyer's agreement either, but that's a different story for another day.

There are a lot of buyers on the fence right now. It seems to be an interesting mix with the fence sitters and the eager to grab a home in this market buyers. Showing the value of the home is usually very helpful, although some buyers are looking for that best deal, and sadly, will likely miss the market.