The worst question a prospect can ask…

The worst question a prospect can ask…

The worst question a prospect can ask…

There are a world of questions tenant prospects might ask while viewing rental properties.  Some are great ones, some are silly ones- and yes, some are stupid ones.  A few of ‘em can actually start out as good ones, yet turn into stupid ones: if you have a place on the market at $1,795/mo, for instance, and one’s “Will the owner take…” question ends with “$1,295?”.

For the most part, though, prospects’ questions are germane to their anticipated rental of a particular property.  One might ask if an owner would consider fencing in a back yard, another might inquire as to whether owners would replace appliances- and still another might have their hearts set on the property if they’re allowed to do a bit of painting.

Things could lead in a number of directions from the questions above: a positive answer to a question can lead to a quicker rental or sale, while a negative one might very well eliminate both you and your property from a prospects’ radar in no time at all.  That said, none of them are inherently good or bad.

That changes with what I’d consider the worst question a prospect can ask, though:

“Have you got anything else?”

Few things can suck the air right out of a room quicker than knowing that you’ve just humped across town to show your property to some folks that have quickly scratched it off their list of possibilities.  Sure, tenderhearted folks might try to soften the blow with a real estate version of the “It’s not you, it’s me” game… but we all know that indeed it is us our property.

The postmortem that follows may ultimately render the whole experience beneficial, mind you.  If your office is like ours, you’ll make an effort to learn why prospects don’t like properties they visit- and you might very well discover some of a property’s failings you hadn’t yet noted.  Words from those rejecting your property for whatever reason can even be considered a positive- if you consider their input as constructive rather than destructive, don’t take things personally, and commit yourself to making an effort toward correcting any deficiencies within your control.

It still won’t take away the sting that comes with that question, though….

The worst question a prospect can ask…