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Yes, No, Maybe Tour for Relocating Buyers

By
Real Estate Agent with Better Properties Seattle

I invented this back when I was doing a lot of relocation work for Coldwell Banker on the East Coast.   It comes in very handy when you are touring a lot of homes the first day in a new area.

It's pretty simple.  You each have three little cards (kind of like Richard Simmons' Deal a Meal - yes, it was that long ago when I came up with this.) One card says YES, one says NO and the other says MAYBE.  You can only use ONE card in each house.  Husband and wive each have their own set. 

At each house you are not allowed to say a word to one another until you make your selection from the three cards.  If you are touring homes with an agent, you hand her one of the cards as soon as you know your answer, not how you think your spouse will feel about the house.  Since there is a MAYBE card, this should be a fairly quick procedure for most people.  If the agent gets handed two NO cards as soon as they walk in the front door, you can all get back in the car.  Unless the owner is home, in which case you do a "pity" pass through.  Easier than saying we already know we hate this house.

If you have all NO cards played at the end of the day, what you don't like is your price range, and you may have to go back to your new employer and say, "what you offered to pay me is not enough to live here".  If you have three YES houses where you both said YES, you may as well toss out the MAYBE houses and go back at the end of the day to the three YES houses and spend more time in them.  I usually ask people to rank their YES choices as they go.  First YES, no ranking.  Second YES, you have to label one #1 and the other #2.  This way if you have 7 yes houses at the end, you can go back to #1, #2 and #3. 

Why did I feel the need to invent this system?  Can't people know if they like a house without a little card? 

Here's why. 

1) Sometimes the relocated spouse feels guilty about making the family move and says "Whatever my sweetie wants will be fine with me" until it is time to sign the contract and wants to offer 80% of asking price.  That's called saying yes and meaning no.  It's a passive/aggressive thing some people do :-)

2) The wife walks in first and starts saying things like, "well, we could take this wall down over here and we could add a master bathroom...", take it from experience, that's a NO.  Before they start arguing over how they are going to afford the time and money to do all of that stuff...get a NO card and GET OUT!  Otherwise they will be crying and fighting before you get to house number 4.

3) When they both hand me a YES card and find out that the other party agrees, they can move through the house really evaluating whether or not they should actually buy it, instead of discussing whether or not the other likes it.  And you will be amazed at how happy they both are when you tell them they both said YES.  Sometimes one spouse is afraid to say they like the house because they don't want the other spouse to buy it just because THEY like it.  It is a great moment when they both hand over a YES card.

Of course the client that keeps handing me all three cards at every house drives me nuts :-)   Some people just don't like to be pinned down.

John Hruska
Homes Charlotte, LLC - Charlotte, NC

Ardell-

This a very creative.  An excellant idea I am sure to implement

Feb 16, 2007 12:44 AM
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA
Thanks Luke!
Feb 16, 2007 01:59 AM
Tricia Jumonville
Bradfield Properties - Georgetown, TX
Texas REALTOR , Agent With Horse Sense
I love this idea, Ardell!  Wish I'd read it a few months ago with some out of state buyers that came in - would have made things easier for all concerned, I think, though we did end up buying them a lovely home, just the complete opposite of what they came in saying they wanted.
Feb 16, 2007 01:59 AM
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

Dale,

I don't find that to be the case.  Maybe because I do't let that happen.  Maybe that's why I invented it.  To make sure both parties were equally happy with the choice of home.

Feb 16, 2007 02:01 AM
Richard Hoffart
Beverly-Hanks & Associates - Asheville, NC

Ardell,

I really like this idea.  It gives each party an opportunity to voice their opinion.  It also helps the agent keep track of the homes that are at the top of the list for both of them.

Kind of as an aside: I had a relocation where I was working with the husband for about a month.  We looked at around 40 homes.  His wife was finally able to come down and look at what we had narrowed down.  They ended up buying the first house that he and I had looked at.

Feb 16, 2007 02:51 AM
Stefan Scholl
Buyer's Broker of Northern Michigan, LLC - Petoskey, MI
Northern Michigan Real Estate

Ardell,

Did you invent the internet, also?  :-) 

 

Feb 16, 2007 02:54 AM
Debbie DiFonzo
Debbie DiFonzo - United Country VIP Realty, SW Missouri - Lebanon, MO
Lebanon MO and Buffalo Missouri Real Estate

Great idea Ardell! Thanks for sharing - sometimes you need a little something to break the ice and this would be perfect!

Debbie

United Country VIP Realty

http://www.ucmissouri.com

 

Feb 16, 2007 02:54 AM
Anonymous
Anonymous

 

What a fun way to show homes.  I'll try it someday and see how I do with it.  Thank you.

 

Patricia Aulson/SEACOAST REALTOR NH & ME

Feb 16, 2007 04:20 AM
#17
delete delete
delete - Whale Cove, YN

ARDELL

That is VERY cool. In fact, I have some folks from New York to tour with this Tuesday, and we will probably see lots of homes, sounds like a good way to inject some fun and yet a good way to make a point. Thanks

Feb 16, 2007 04:26 AM
Tina Howell
RE/MAX DFW Associates VI - Little Elm, TX
Little Elm & Frisco Area Real Estate
Ardell -- very clever.  Much easier than trying to scribble notes all over an mls sheets as clients randomly make comments while walking through a home.  I will definetly try your method out.  Thanks for sharing.
Feb 16, 2007 04:34 AM
Jim & Maria Hart
Brand Name Real Estate - Charleston, SC
Charleston, SC Real Estate
This is such clever and practical idea!  I think it's such an awesome way to save you and them tons of time! 
Feb 16, 2007 05:02 AM
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

Stefan,

I didn't even FIND the internet until 1998!  Not me! LOL

Feb 16, 2007 07:49 AM
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

For those saying they are going to try it.  I use publisher or word and make sheets of YES, NO, MAYBE in all caps like that.  Card stock is best. DON'T use different color paper or stock for the YES vs. NO vs. MAYBE or the other person can SEE what they voted. The almost never hand you the card at the same time.

If one can't ever hand you a card in any house...it is a red flag that you will have trouble at contract time...fear of commitment issues.

I suggest doing a trial run with your family or some other people first.  You can do it with anything.  Hand two people yes, no, maybe cards and do it with how much they like four different wines, or anything else.  The more fluent you are in explaining the process, whether it is houses or not, will make the difference in how successful you are at this "game".  Get your part down before you try it on real clients.

Feb 16, 2007 07:56 AM
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

P.S.  After you make the sheets, you of course use a paper cutter to cut them into little squares about 2' X 3".  You never get the little cards back for some reason and it is "chintzey" to ask for them back.  So make a bunch.  They only need one set, but bring some extras because sometimes you misplace some if you are seeing a lot of houses. 

Keep them in your keypad puch in between houses. They should slide in to the pouch with your keypad.  Test the size of your pouch before you cut them into squares or rectangles.

If you have trouble getting your clients to use them, read between the lines.  If the husband doesn't want to use them, that means he doesn't want the wife to have a "equal say" in the home selection process :)

Feb 16, 2007 08:00 AM
Joan Snodgrass
Midamerica Referral Network - Kimberling City, MO

Such interesting psychology, Ardell.  Very good.  Thanx

 

Ozarks Joan 

Feb 16, 2007 08:40 AM
Anonymous
Anonymous
Ok, as a former re-lo buyer, I have to jump in here. This would not have worked for me, or Rich. Had our agent suggested it , at least on day one,  I would have probably thought the agent was being very controlling and would have switched agents. Also since we were moving from an area where housing prices were very different from area where we were relocating, I would have found this to be very limiting. If we had gone with the yes/maybe's on the first day, I can tell you in the long term, I would not have been happy with the house. It took a couple of full days looking at houses to get a handle on what we wanted, and the price range in our new city. This might have worked later in the process, once we have a better handle on what we truely were looking for.
Feb 17, 2007 11:24 AM
#25
Melissa Kruse
Gryphon - Lewis Center, OH

Sorry, thought I was logged in. Wasn't trying to be anonymous. The comment above about my experience as re-lo buyer is mine.

 

Feb 17, 2007 11:31 AM
ARDELL DellaLoggia
Better Properties Seattle - Kirkland, WA

Melissa,

When I used this, the couple was usually only in from Thursday until Sunday, and wanted to get a house before they went home.  Also, it was a buyer's market with lots of houses on the market.  It wouldn't work here at all, but since much of the Country is in a buyer's market again, thought it was time to revive an old method.

You are correct that I would often have to change the price range and area midstream.  If all were no then I had to switch gears.  But I would line up the best to the worst, so if they didn't like the best, we would break for lunch and I would start showing them what they wanted, based on their comments.  That would at least show them what the cost was for what they wanted.

Did you end up spending more than you told the agent you would spend in the beginning? 

 

Feb 17, 2007 02:25 PM
Rich Kruse
Gryphon USA, Ltd. - Columbus, OH

No - We spent less.  It was not due to his lack of trying though.  We knew what was comfortable based on our base salary and bought well within those means.  I deal with overextended people on a daily basis.  The only stretch in our experience was the definition of buyer representation.  I negotiated the deal nd he took a commission and builder spec bonus.  Don't get me going....

Evil R

Feb 17, 2007 02:38 PM
Melissa Kruse
Gryphon - Lewis Center, OH
Actually we spent less. We were coming from DC  to Columbus. The markets were so different, that it took some time to get a handle on what we really did want.  DC was all older homes and Columbus had a range from old to new. We looked at probably 60-70 houses over a period of 2 weekends. I wasn't trying to slam your system, I just wanted to raise that it might not work with all buyers, at least off the bat.
Feb 17, 2007 02:42 PM