Today, I overheard another agent sharing an interesting listing strategy. He requests sellers meet in his office for the listing presentation. He tells them when agents meet in their homes, the agents hone in on the seller's emotional attachment and then uses that against them to win the listing.
Just to clarify, this agent wasn't talking about short sale sellers who had a foreclosure looming. These were sellers who weren't delinquent on their mortgage and had equity in their homes.
He advises sellers to meet with agents in the brokerage office. This way, the sellers have removed themselves from the object of their affections.
Their home is no longer their home, just an asset to be sold. Sellers can then focus on hiring the best agent to sell their house, rather than hiring an agent who has preyed on their emotional attachment to it.
Of course, the obvious question would be, "How can an agent price a home he hasn't seen?"
In reality, we've already run the comparable sales prior to entering a seller's home. Based upon the recent sales, active listings and expired listings, we've determined a range, if not, an actual listing price. However, the final piece in that puzzle is usually determined after we see the house. If I don't know what the house looks like, how can I put an accurate listing price on the home while the sellers are in my office?
My goal is to get a signed listing agreement at the listing presentation. I don't know any sellers who would sign a listing agreement and leave the price blank to be filled in later. It's not like I can get the signed agreement and then go view the house to price it.
As far as I'm concerned, there isn't any real advantage to the seller. As a matter of fact, the person who benefits most is the agent. Let's face it, if I have every seller meet in my office and I don't have to worry about commuting time to each appointment, I can get lots more listing appointments in each day.
What exactly is the benefit to the seller? Oh that's right, he won't be taken in by a slick salesman. In my opinion, any agent who would prey on a seller's emotional attachment to their home is going to do it no matter where he conducts the listing presentation.
I'm not sure how this agent gets around this pricing issue, I didn't stick around to find out. The question that keeps running through my head:
Would you hire a listing agent who had never seen your house?
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