We’ve all had them…buyers looking farther and farther from our comfort zone or sellers with property we just can’t move. Many agents try to hang on to the prospects, afraid they’re going to miss a sale. You know what? It might be best for ALL parties to just let them go…with a referral. It may be the only way to improve your odds in getting a portion of that sale.
Yesterday, Wednesday, we referred out a vacant land listing that we’ve represented for years. Sure, vacant land moves slowly in this economy but some agents still manage to sell a few parcels. The referral went to an agent specializing in land, someone I used to work with. He taught me what I know about vacant land. More importantly, he’s managed to stay afloat using his developer contacts to sell property. We made the seller understand this wasn’t personal, we have his best interests and ours in mind by sending the listing to someone new. A fresh perspective was needed. We had coffee with the agent and reviewed our history regarding property and seller. Within minutes, the agent shared ideas to market the property that we hadn’t thought of, because he has a background in development. Great for him, for the seller and for us. With our exchange of signatures on the referral agreement we all increased our odds for a profitable outcome.
Later that day, I met with a Waynesville agent showing property to his buyers here in Sylva. Because he wasn’t familiar with our area, I agreed to show with him. Wouldn’t you know, he couldn’t make the sharp turn off the gravel road into the driveway and ended up driving into the ditch. Since the other side of the road could have turned into a steep slide to nowhere, it took careful directions and a million point turn to get him out of there. Sure glad I drove myself! Anyway, the round eyes and pallor of the backseat rider clued me in that we wouldn’t be showing this house today! We stopped at the bottom of the mountain to talk about anything else I had to suggest. Once he got to terra firma, the agent admitted that he didn’t know our area well enough to avoid the kinds of roads he knew his buyers didn’t want. He asked if I would work with them in this area. I sent him the referral agreement and again, by exchanging signatures we’ll increase our odds for a profitable outcome.
Time is money and energy. So often there isn’t enough of either. Our goals are clear….sellers want to sell….buyers want to buy…agents want successful deals. Why limit the chances for successful outcomes by continuing to list a property long after you’ve thrown everything you know how to at it…or hauling buyers into unfamiliar territory and risk selling them something inappropriate because you didn’t know your way around?
Qualified referrals can increase your odds for successful results!
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