On this episode of the Real Estate Fight Club podcast, hosts Jenn Murtland and Monica Weakley are butting heads today. Do you always say yes to buyers when they want to see a house that doesn’t meet their needs? Monica just started intermittent fasting, so she is extra touchy in this one!
Episode Highlights:
- Monica has been dealing with buyers for over 18 years and has seen plenty of buyers land on a house that didn’t match the initial criteria.
- A house that doesn’t meet someone’s needs is not the same as a house they don’t qualify for.
- Monica makes the assumption that different features can act as substitutes, so she takes them regardless.
- Though she is willing to show these houses, Monica does not move her schedule around to do so.
- Jenn demands to know why her buyers don’t like a house to see if there’s a possibility of putting in an offer.
- After putting in a ton of work to find out what a buyer really wants, many agents get impatient when they are sent a house that does not match.
- If buyers explain their thought process in detail, Jenn is able to counter with either an understanding or rebuttal.
- Monica shows these houses because she does not believe it’s an agent’s job to predetermine the outcome of a showing.
- Many agents avoid pushing the potential client out of fear of losing the potential sale.
- Buyers don’t always say what they are looking for, so agents must push to figure out the unsaid.
- Monica sees house showings as opportunities to learn more about what a buyer really wants.
- There’s a lot that you can find out about someone by spending just one hour with them.
- Jenn’s big takeaway is that agents make sure to ask questions and know that it’s okay to push for clarity.
- Extremes don’t work; the answer is somewhere in the middle with some common sense mixed in.
- If you’ve done your job as an agent and dug deep, there should be no rational surprises.
- Joan Cummins has been a real estate agent for over 15 years and is currently in South Florida with Splendor Realty.
- Before meeting with her customers, Joan goes through an assessment, evaluation, and determination.
- By the time she meets her clients face-to-face, Joan knows enough to confidently reject requests to see houses outside of the criteria.
- Depending on the source of her clients, Joan may be inclined to do a buyer contract, but for the most part, she does not.
- When it comes time to tell her clients no, Joan refers back to the information that she has gathered in her preparation.
3 Key Points:
- Based on the budget and desired location, agents can determine if there is wiggle room on the initial criteria.
- While Jenn needs a valid, logical reason to show a random house, Monica is willing to show these houses based on a buyer’s desire.
- At the end of the day, buyers don’t always know what they want. It’s an agent’s job to figure out what they are not saying.
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