Help Me Help You-Finding Motivation for Un-Motivated Sellers

Getting a new listing in your farm is always exciting-especially when you learn that the sellers contacted you as a result of your ongoing marketing efforts.  YEAH! Those dooor-to-door flyers really do work!  The initial meeting with the new potential sellers often sets the tone for the entire listing experience.  This is when you find out what the motivation for selling really is-learning what they are trying to accomplish and in what time frame.

So, if the homeowners share with you that they "don't really need to sell" and "will only sell if they get exactly what they want", is there any way to convert that "my way or the highway" attitude to a positive, open minded sharing of strategies, goals and most importantly-flexibility about expectations?

Well, I have tried several methods when presented with this type of seller, and most of the time one of these will work to get the seller to consider an offer that they might have never considered otherwise.  Here are a few tips that usually work for me when working with seemingly hard nosed, unmotivated sellers:

• Take the Listing-NO MATTER WHAT! In my opinion, unless you actually GET the listing, you won't have the opportunity to get a SALE.  Circumstances change, the seller's goal and timeline may shift-often a seller who didn't need to sell now suddenly does.
• Take the LONGEST listing period you can-especially if the price is unrealistic, you will need the time to show the seller all of your marketing efforts and demonstrate why no offers have come in.  I send weekly reports to the sellers showing the number of hits on their listing, number of views of their virtual tour and share ALL comments from showing agents and their clients.  Usually if they see that many, many buyers have viewed their home (often over 50,000 if you market online)-it is compelling proof that what you are telling them is accurate.  I also provide them with weekly Market Updates in the neighborhood, showing them what is selling and for what price-this encourages them to make adjustments without me having to hammer them with figures.
• Help them prepare for their next home-I will provide them with pieces with moving tips, information on their new neighborhood (if they already have an idea of where they are moving)-usually if you can get them excited about where they are going, motivation will slowly set in.  If they can picture themselves in their new home, the excitement factor becomes a huge motivation for selling.

If a seller takes the time to contact me about selling their home, and actually sits down with me to discuss a listing, I have to believe they are really serious about selling.  It's my job as a real estate professional to work with them to achieve their goals and to keep them informed about our local market-and provide my honest advice and recommendations.  If I do this diligently and with sincere intentions, we can usually achieve the goal-a CLOSED sale.