5 Ways to Sell a Property

Don’t Take Every Listing!

Saleable listings are almost always created at the listing appointment. Some agents tend to have "I’ll take the listing at any cost” mentality; but consider the flaws of that attitude. If you take a listing that is overpriced, the condition is horrible or if the seller won’t allow you to market the property properly - what will the end result be? A frustrated seller, an empty bank account, and a huge amount of wasted time!

Instead, decide that you will only take listings that you feel have a reasonable chance of selling. This may include setting your own internal standards. For example, perhaps you will only accept listings that are within 5-10% of your recommended price range.

To set the stage for success you have to come prepared for listing appointments. Meaning you have to have done your homework. One of the key ingredients to taking a saleable listing is setting the right asking price. Also while summer or autumn takes all the laud winter is a good time to sell your property. 

Take your gut feeling and work backward. As soon as you walk into a home, you have a sense as to what it will sell for. Consider this your "gut price”. It may not be exact, but your sense is usually fairly accurate. Many agents fighting this sense; they look for ways to build up the price. Why? So, they can appeal to the seller. Don’t do it; trust your gut.

Set the Stage for Price Reductions

A terrific technique to use when taking a listing is to explain to the seller that, as a normal part of your sales process, your team mails out a price reduction letter every thirty days to homes that have not yet sold. This will give the seller an ongoing push to reduce their price, a point which you can address during your regular phone follow up calls.

Here is an example, using ‘Sally’ as our agent:

Sally: Listen, I want to really thank you for this listing, I’m very excited to begin marketing the property. I want to take just a couple of minutes and talk about the follow-up process. Would that be okay?

Seller: Sure.

Sally: One of the things that my team does is to mail out an auto-price reduction letter every thirty days. I don’t want you to be offended by this, we do it with every seller. You can do one of a few things with it - Of course, you can throw it away, or save it in case you want to use it in the future. Or you can just fill in the price adjustment and mail it back; if you do adjust your price, let me tell you what will happen then…

By using this simple technique along with some essential selling tips for real estate agents, you will keep your seller focused on an area that they control; price. This opens discussion to price adjustment  creates a better environment for you to sell the listing.

Talk About Inspections

One key to building a sale-able listing is to talk about showings. Sellers often associate showings directly with your performance or lack thereof. They tend to think - If my house is not being shown it must mean that my agent isn’t advertising enough, so bingo they call you and complain. And for the better selling of the property you should know some killing marketing ideas on real estate.

Most agents will then run off to spend even more money on a listing that will never sell. Instead, why not explain the truth to the seller? What is the truth?

Here it is:

If the home is not being shown it’s almost always because the market is rejecting the price. If on the other hand the home is being shown but you are not receiving any offers it’s almost always because there is something wrong with the condition of the house.

If you explain these facts at the listing presentation you will set yourself up to talk intelligently about getting the home sold, instead of just placating the seller with more advertising that will never work.

Example:

Sally: A couple of things we need to be really conscious of, first, if we don’t get any inspections or very few inspections - what this means is that the market is rejecting the price, and no amount of marketing will fix it. 

At that point, I may need to ask you to adjust the price. The reverse would be if we get a lot of inspections but no offers, that would indicate that the buyers are rejecting something specifically about the house. My job would be to find out what it is and see if there is something we can do to fix it.

Be Honest During the Listing Presentation

Most agents think that telling sellers what they want to hear is a good way to get listings; and while in many this may be to true, it is almost always a straight line to the bottom of the profitability barrel. When you mislead sellers, you may end up taking a listing which has little chance of selling. This is a huge waste of time and energy.

Instead, tell sellers what you really think. This may seem radical, but I guarantee they respect you for it.

Consider the condition of a home. Most sellers will ask an agent what they think should be done to prepare the home for marketing. Many agents will respond saying "oh, nothing, it looks terrific!". But what about the holes in the rug? The water spots on the ceiling? Really, terrific?

Instead, try this technique:

Sally: Listen, we can go two ways here. I can tell you what you want to hear, or I can tell you the truth - Which would you prefer?

Client: The Truth

Sally: Are you sure?

If you were the seller what would your answer be? I expect you’d want to hear the truth.

Give the Seller Something to Do

Think about your seller for a minute. They’ve been thinking about selling for the last six months. Finally, they work up the nerve to invite a successful real estate agent over to the house. They listen carefully to the presentation, all the while getting more and more excited about the prospect of selling, and moving. At the end of the presentation, they agree to list the house. Now they are on cloud nine, and they just can’t wait for that first inspection.

Then the first step is taken, and all they can do it wait. They watch your every move; your flyers, your advertising, your website, and your follow-up letters. Perhaps they find mistakes, which in their mind is exactly why the home is not selling. They become frustrated, irritated, and hard to deal with – eventually, they hire another agent. So the real estate agents should know the network building tips for selling property.

Instead of just letting your sellers sit and do nothing, why not give them a list of things to do. For instance - how about a pre-inspection checklist, a pre-marketing checklist, or an after-inspection checklist? This simple list of things to do can provide a seller with an outlet for all of that nervous energy.

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