It's an old addage amongst real estate agents that "Buyers are Liars". Agents believe that buyers really do tell their agents something different from what they are looking for. Were these buyers really liars?
As a background for why agents think that buyers are liars most agents need only think about the last few buyers they worked with to "prove" it.
- The buyer with the small baby that insisted on a one story, yet they bought the two story.
- The buyer who absolutely didn't want the pool and yet they bought the one with, you guessed it, the $35,000 salt water pool.
- The buyer that wanted a specific neighborhood and yet bought 3 miles away in a different school zone.
But if you look at what a buyer says versus what they do, maybe it's more than LYING or CONFUSION.
The way I see it, buyers really break down into two categories. You can further break down number 2 as Let's look at Buyer group number 1. They NEED to buy a home right now. They may or may not be familiar with the entire process but they are motivated to buy, usually by personal reasons (want to set down roots, just moved here, got a job transfer here, it's time, new family...whatever the reason, it's usually very personal and meaningful to them). Why would these buyers LIE about what kind of house they want if they NEED something right now? It's pretty simple. The buyer came and said, I want a new home, 4 bedroom, 1 story for a maximum price of $215,000 in Cinco Ranch. Keep that in mind as I show you these two homes? The first home is a brand new, 4 bedroom, one story home in Cinco ranch and is priced at $215,584. The second home is about 10 years old, 4 bedroom, two story home located in Kelliwood and priced at $219,900. The buyer selected home number 2. Now why would that be? Most agents would assume that they buyer lied...I mean, house two only met 25% of the criteria that was given to them. It wouldn't have even come up on the MLS autosearch (the bane of buyers and agents alike!). Why would the buyer select home number two? Because it overshadowed the other homes that the buyer considered. As an agent, you may have shown 40 homes that were one story homes, in Cinco Ranch, with 4 bedrooms, that were relatively new but the buyers didn't really get excited about any of them. We've all been there. "I've shown you everything that meets your criteria", right? What you didn't show them was the few houses in your market area that overshadow or outshined what they were looking at. I recently heard this referred to as the "SHINY PENNY" house. Buyers buy what grabs their attention and if one house outshined the others, that's the one they bought! We all do it, whether we are buying a home or a car or going on a vacation...it's what SHINES that we are attracted to. Given the choice between a $100 bill that is old and wrinkled and one that is crisp and new, most everyone choosed the crisp new one, even though they are both worth $100. You should be familiar with your inventory and KNOW the houses that "won't last". Not because the listing agent put that in the description, but because you saw it and KNOW this is going to be a quick moving, priced right, "shiny penny" house. It will do two things...make you a better agent (because you know your inventory) and it will move your indecisive buyer out of hesitation and into motivation. Not because they HAVE to buy, but because now they truly want to buy what you showed them. It will also kill off the myth of "buyers are liars" if you simply listen, know your inventory, and help your buyers as a valuable real estate resource rather than a "door opener". I'll save buyer category number 2 for another post...that group of buyers are not liars either, but their motivations are far different than the NEED to buy buyers in category 1!
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