Liz and Bill Spear got my attention with their savvy post about buyers who have the very sadist of negotiating skills. See: NO!! NOT HAPPENING!! NEVER!! FUHGETABOUTIT!!
CONSUMERS' QUESTIONS REVEAL THEIR INEXPERIENCE. Do prospective buyers really believe that practicing agents would disclose the most valuable information about sellers that would then give these buyers a distinct negotiating advantage???? It appears that they do.
CONSUMERS ARE JUST LOOKING FOR THE TREASURE CHEST OF "INSIDE" INFORMATION!
I'm often posed these question when prospective buyers call for information about homes for sale. 
- "How much negotiating room is in this price?"
- "How low will they go?"
- "What is their bottom line?"
- "Why are they selling?"
THEY ARE WRONG! No experienced agent without an agency representation relationship with a caller would disclose such information, even if they knew the answer.
Our answers to those questions is likely to be:
- "We don't know until the seller is presented with an offer."
- "How high are you willing to offer?"
- "I don't believe that they have one."
- "Because they want to."
Many prospective home buyers don't realize that their questions, simply the questions alone, reveal these consumers as very unsophisticated, inexperienced and naive. Yet, they ask the questions believing that they'll get inside information, information that no one else has thought to ask or information that will give them a clear negotiating advantage.
WHAT MAKES PROSPECTIVE HOME BUYERS BELIEVE THESE MYTHS? I believe that buyers are reading articles on the Internet and in the weekly real estate section of their local newspapers written by journalists who have no real estate experience, no real estate knowledge and no accountability.
THE TITLES OF THE ADVICE ARTICLES SPEAK VOLUMES.
- "Questions to ask sellers when negotiating to buy a home."
- "Negotiate home prices before you buy."
Prospective home buyers read these articles and feel empowered. They now believe that they have learned the secrets of negotiating the best home prices, often before the home is even viewed.
WHAT IS THE WRITER'S REAL ESTATE EXPERIENCE? The advice columns are often written by FORMER real estate agents or brokers. These writers can and do give quality real estate advice but seldom advise prospective home buyers to represent themselves to buy a home. They know from experience that agents will quickly gain the upper hand in negotiating price, terms and conditions when dealing with unrepresented ho
me buyers.
WHO HAS THE EXPERIENCE? When the advice articles are written by journalists who have never been "in the trenches" as an agent or broker, their articles are written by information obtained by interviewing working agents. Or, journalists base their articles on their personal purchases or sales. Experienced real estate agents may have closed hundreds of transactions. THAT is experience.
Investor buyers often sound promising. However, unless they are really experienced, they can usurp more time than the average residential home buyer. Many investor buyers want to sit in their homes or offices, review listing after listing by phone and expect an agent to provide them with comps, plats, interior photos, etc., before they view a single property for sale. I'm very patient with investor buyers and we represent them regularly, but only if they are willing to hit the road with us and preview listings thereby limiting the research time to those properties they the investor would consider buying.
WHAT'S THE SOLUTION TO THE TELEPHONE NEGOTIATORS?? Let them know that YOU, THE AGENT, DO NOT HAVE THE ANSWERS!! Only the home owners can make decisions about offers, bottom lines, price, terms and conditions.
Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.
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