• Everyone thinks spring is the time to list - that means that there are actually MORE people listing in the spring, not less - as she mistakenly believes.
• Waiting till the spring means she will have to make at least 4 more mortgage payments.
• Mortgage rates are expected to go up - this could mean fewer qualified buyers in the spring.
• People who look for a home during the holidays are more serious buyers
• Serious buyers have fewer houses to choose from during the Holidays and less competition means more money for you.
• Since the supply of listings will dramatically increase in January, there will be less demand for your particular home.  Less demand means less money for you.
• Houses show better when decorated for the Holidays.
• Buyers are more emotional during the Holidays so they are more likely to pay your price.
• Buyers have more time to look for a home during the Holidays than during regular weekdays.
• Some people must buy before the end of the year for tax purposes.
• January is traditionally the month for employees to begin new jobs.  Since transferees cannot wait until spring to buy, you must be on the market during the Holidays to capture that market.
• You can still be on the market, but you have the option to restrict showings during the six or seven days during the Holidays.
• You can sell now for more money and schedule a delayed closing or extended occupancy until early next year.

• By selling now, you may have an opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer during the spring when many more houses are on the market for less money!  This will allow you to sell high and buy low.

I am sure there are more, but there are a few for starters...  I hope that helps.

Patti - I got your comment on my blackberry and had to go to the nearest computer just to say thank you for all that information. This will help me very much with a few of the sellers that are telling me this right now. since you have known all this, do you still have trouble getting past this rejection?

Cody

Sure, some people just won't listen - and for them, I back up my words with data.  Informaiton IS POWER and it is really hard to argue with the numbers.  Check on your local RMLS or with your local real estate board (at the lowest level) and see if they have statistics you can actually print out.  Or you may have to generate them yourself from RMLS data.  I am not sure what is available to you in your area.  But you can print out the number of new listings per month for your area.  Then when you chart this, it will show the trends clearly enough for even a lay person to understand (if they are open minded at all).

This chart is an example.  It lines the years up one after another, which might be a little confusing to people at first, so you might have to explain the chart a bit.

I actually perfer to make my own so that it looks somethign like this (only prettier):

If you local board does not provide a nice graph for you - you can create one yourself.  I am going assume that you can use a little Microsoft Excel - hopefully you won't have too much trouble.  Find the number of homes listed for the entire month for each year that you want to show in your client's city or area.  Then put those numbers into an Excel file so that you can create a chart like the one above.  Even though you see the overall number of listings is growing each year (due to overall growth in population & relocations) you will also see a pattern emerge.  Listings are their higest in the spring, then they tend to drop off a bit then come back up around the end of August, then fall off sharply at the end of the year.  This pattern may be different in different regions, but there will be some similarities nation wide.

Here is a link to the kind of data that I have access to: Weekly Market Activity Report and "The 100" which gives you data for the largest 100 cities in the Twin Cities Metro Area.  You may have something similar available from your board.  If not, check around with your office and broker to see what kind of data you can get to use for "ammunition" against this argument.

Always back your agruments up with data - it helps eliminate a lot of objections.

One other suggestion, if you don't mind...  If you haven't taken a D.I.S.C assessment yet, you might want to consider it.  It helps you determine your behavior style (not your personality) and how you interact with others.  It might help you adjust your style to your individual clients - which in turn helps you overcome objections.  If you want - I can refer you to someone who does the testing and helps you understand about your style and matching your style to others.

Also...   Here in Minnesota, people don't like to take their kids out of school in the middle of the year and transfer them to another school in the middle of the school year.  This is about the only situation where I can't convince them that waiting is bad.  Personally, I think it is actually good for kids - it helps them learn to be adaptable and flexible - but many parents just won't even consider it.

And just one other point...   Don't answer your phone at 11:34pm!  I undersand you are trying to provide your clients with exceptional service, but you can't let them walk all over you either - a burned out REALTOR® is a bad REALTOR®.  Take command of the situation.  Tell clients right off the bat what your "working hours" are.  I tell mine (and I also say this on my voicemail message) that I return calls in the afternoon.  I do not take any calls before 12 noon and I do not return calls after 8pm.  I have scheduled days off and I advise my clients of those days.  They can still call me on my days off, but I may not respond immediately and then only if it is really urgent.  I rarely change my scheduled day off for a client.

They will respect you more and your relationship will be more professional if you establish some ground rules when it comes to contact with you.  This is a business and you need to establish your business hours early on in the relationship.

Wow, that's a lot - I hope you are not trying to read this on a little bitty cell phone!

Good luck and contact me any time!  I am with EXIT Realty and we have a little different philosophy than other companies.  We are a team and we have a culuture that strongly rewards and encourages mentorship and passing-down wisdom.  We like to SHARE what we know!    

Patti - Thanks for all that informtion again. It took me a while to through it all because I am trying to put a chart together like the one you created there. I want to make sure I am reading the chart correctly, is it saying that in May of 2000 you had 6000 new listings and in May of 2006 you had over 11,000 new listings?

Hi Cody,

FBD (Fact Based data) come from knowledge and contribution and your client will appreciate you more. Telling them and being sarcastic that the market is not predictable, is not the right answer, and when she finds out when the market is getting better to tell all of us too. I know it is hard and that you want to take it out on them, but they are not the professional, you are. You should know your market and have all the FBD like the Realtors that are showing you graphs in this post. They are wonderful and it creates a visual to help make your point.

 Your Local Market should be predictable month to month based upon the sales activity, inventory, and the interest rate. No you cannot see one or two years away, however you can see what is just around the corner.

Like the Exit Realtor Patti Kasper, I am with a great company, with a culture that is learned base, and teaches you to share with all Realtors in the community instead of keeping it to yourself. I am with Keller Williams, unfortunately for Patti, she does not have Gary Keller, or Dave Jenks at Exit Realty. They are probably & unarguably the best Real Estate Experts in our Industry. Both of them put on great seminars and video messages that help keep you on top of the industry. Give me a call and I will help you cross over to KW. Your business will soar and you will thank me for it.  

Take Care Cody,

Michael - Thanks for the tip on acting professional, I will remember that. I like the idea of the graph as well. It will help to illustrate to my customers what I am saying. I appreciate the offer, but I love my office I work with. Not only do I have a great coach but our office is always offering training and we are constantly in motivation seminars, etc. Having a positive office helps so much. I ask many questions because that way I can find what works best for me. Thanks for your help!

Glad to hear you are enjoying Real Estate. So your office has everything we offer, Coaching training seminars and Great technology, They must offer profit share too! I like receiving the profits that our office pays out. How do you like yours? 

Michael - Well I am not sure what mine offers in comparison to yours, I obviously don't know anything about your office but it sounds like a great office to work for. Our broker takes a great interest in each one of us that work for him. Not only does he offer multiple training seminars a month but he will sit down with you one on one also. I don't know anything about profit share. I am not saying that my office is any better than any other I just know I am happy here. So what is it about your office that makes your business sour?

Wow, that question offered alot of professional advice from good people. The point is always have the facts for every question. Especially that one. Some of by best sales were a week before Christmas! Happy Holidays and good listings mean good sales!

Wow, that question offered alot of professional advice from good people. The point is always have the facts for every question. Especially that one. Some of by best sales were a week before Christmas! Happy Holidays and good listings mean good sales!

Cody, I was going to tell you I posted a blog on this on Localism and then read Patti's comment - which is the exact same info.  It's funny because I hear from buyers, I'm going to wait until the Spring when prices drop....who do these people listen to?  We anticipate prices will actually go up here, in my market!  Good luck with the info ~ hope it helps you get this listing NOW.

Nicholas - Ya I have had great responses to this question. I agree with you about the Christmas season. Many agents I have talked to tell me this is the slowest time of year. I closed 5 deals last December and will most likely have another good December. Thanks for the comments!

Cody

Joddie - I am sure you blog on Localism is very useful to the public. I am not sure how Localism really works yet. Can consumers comment on your blogs there?

Cody

Cody, yes they can comment, just like here on AR.  If you get a minute go ahead and check out my post ~ it might inspire you to do your own.  I actually used the same info as a mailer last year.

Joddie - wow your blogs look great. Have you every had a consumer call you up and ask for some info or received a lead from them?

Hey Cody,

I took a Break  from AR for the Holidays, Please let me reiterate, I was not saying anything negative about your Broker or think any less about Re/max. At the end of your question you asked what keeps my business Soaring? Well Telling people the truth and not sugar coating or Patronizing them is always a plus. Telling people what they want to hear just to get business is never going to earn you a return on your investment. Having all the facts to back up my analysis or analogies of the market helps me overcome the emotional attachment that most of our clients have. Let's face it, it's about Money, and money is a necessity to everyone for survival, So this creates a very emotional challenge to overcome for most agents.  Keller Wiliams teaches you to think for yourself and helps you find the facts to back it up. Not only do I have a business from Selling Real Estate, I have a business from Realtors that I have sponsored that join Keller Williams all over the country.

So lets say a Realtor in AZ and I am in FL, I find out through casual conversation that they are looking to switch companies. I begin to have a conversation with them and let them know about KW and what it has to offer. The profit share is the last thing and least important because I do not want to make it about recruiting selfishly into KW. KW sells itself without the Profit share just in the education alone and the Broker Split which is 70/30 in most offices and the ability to cap and recieve 100%. The Profit share is a bonus to all of the agents who participate. 

So If that agent does decide to make the switch and puts me as their sponsor I will recieve Profit share from their office. I am in Florida and I get a check from Arizona KW office....is that insane. Not only do I get a check from that agents production but if that agent recruits in an agent into KW I begin to recieve a profit share check from their production as well.

Please note I do not take from that agent..... I take from the offices monthly profits, only if that agent had a closing. That agent still recieves his 100% intitlement of income from their sale. But the portion that KW receives is what I get a piece of. 

You can easily find agetns from other companies anywhere, like here in AR that are frustrated with the market or their broker. They are just looking for a beacon of light to show them that they are important and their skills have been neglected to improve.  

   Cody my Email is Kwbrenner@gmail.com let me know if you are interested and if you know people that are not happy you can recruit them into your downline and profit share immediately once you come into KW. By the way Althea Osbourne Profit shared $750,000 last year and is said to finally break the 1,000,000 mark by the end of 2009. This can be willed on to your family and treated as retirement.

Take Care 

Cody, good post and great point about most sellers with having that attitude about the market during this time of the year.  Find out the main reasons behind why they are selling and then go from there, it is always good to put the house on the market as soon as they know they need to, depedning on how much they need to sell. Good luck!

They may have to wait a long time...

Sorry for taking so long to thank you for your comments!

Michael - Hey the thought of you saying anything negative never crossed my mind. I love how you say telling the truth and not sugar coating it because that is something that I have been working at for some time now and I tell ya, my business has gone through the roof since. Thanks for filling me in on how all that works. I will keep that in mind if I ever decided to go that route! Thanks again for your comments!

Thavisak - I noticed how you constantly referred to our clients need! Like you I found focusing on their need and addressing it specifically has answered any questions that I have had. The more questions I ask the less I have to explain!

David - haha, no joke...a long time!