Relying On Others To Educate Your Client? Careful With That!!!
Barbara has written an important post, and I'm glad I read it. It was a great reminder of the importance of going beyond the "sales" skills if one is to become a truly competent buyer broker.
New construction is always a good topic for discussion. There are so many different facets to building construction and always new methods and materials to improve what was used in the past and/or how it was used. Since new home building is very strong in most areas of the country, it’s to the advantage of those agents who want to participate in those sales to become knowledgeable.
The problem with the big builders, Pulte and Toll as examples, is that they have on-site “hostesses” who don’t understand construction but they know the “glitz.” Remember, as Kathy Streib so eloquently stated in her post about “staging” a post, “the eye buys.” Toll is selling “glitz” and the buyers are totally oblivious to the quality of the construction.
Home inspections will reveal structural and mechanical defects but will a home inspector share his opinion of the quality of the materials, IF THEY ARE TO CODE? That’s not typical. A builder only needs to satisfy the code, and the building code is not usually “top shelf.” Local codes trump the state codes for demanding a better quality material and sometime upgrading the methods used.
Knowledge of the product, sells the product. Not all builders have a model home with the “glitz,” especially if the subdivision is a small one. It’s not worth the investment for a 12 lot subdivision compared to an 80 to 100 lot community.
The burden is on the buyer’s agent to pick and choose the type of builder and the product being sold to the client. How many buyer agents are well versed with this entity? Are they relying on the listing agent and/or the “hostess” at the model home for an education in new construction? Let’s remember who they represent.
New construction has taken it on the chin over the years. With so many types of materials today; green building and/or “pseudo green” building; plus a variety of methods used, real estate agents who previously sold new construction are now lost in the new construction quicksand.
A buyer’s agent who sells the glitz, without any discussion about “the bones” of the structure, is an agent who will be eaten alive. This is serious business, and to have an understanding of the product being sold is imperative. One need not be an authority, but there is a need to have enough knowledge to question and investigate. Without the basic information, one will blindly sell and the results are not always positive. This is how reputations become tarnished.
Just another thought for the moment….
Barbara Todaro, sales manager of RE/MAX Executive Realty
308 W. Central St...suite E
Franklin, MA 02038
508-520-9881
www.todarosellsfranklinma.com
Copyright © 2009 - 2016 Barbara Todaro
All Rights Reserved
Visit Our Other Sites:
NetionFranklinMA.com | FranklinMAHomeSales.com | FranklinMANewHomes.com
Comments(7)