For all of us that are veterans in real estate we've heard every possible line a potential home seller can say while they try to negotiate in a position of strength! The problem is that most of them really don't know what they are saying and how it will most likely kill any chances of selling! Any person knows that it is wrong to paint yourself into a corner with no way out, yet home sellers do it every day. Whether they realize it or not they speak in absolutes, and since we are only licensed as agents we must do the sellers bidding. So if they say "No closing costs," it means there will be no deal in this market!
When we listen to the potential seller we must hear what they are really trying to accomplish! Their words may not convey the real message!
- I really don't have to sell!
- I'm not giving my home away!
- I'm not selling unless I get my price!
- I'm just testing the market! If I get my price I'll sell!
- I'm not in a rush to sell!
- My new home won't be ready for 5 months!
- I don't have to move! I really love this home!
- I'm not doing anything! The buyer can take it or leave it!
- I'm not paying closing costs or giving the buyer anything!
- The neighbors gave their home away! I heard it was trashed!
- I took some time off to find myself!
- I'm not changing the carpet or painting!
What the seller may really be saying is:
- I am maxed out in my mortgage and cannot take less!
- We're divorcing.
- We've already pulled the credit out to pay off our debts!
- I lost my job, and I am working now at Starbuck's!
- They are eliminating my position next month!
- I am upside down, I owe more on the home than it is worth!
- The mortgage payment is resetting shortly, and I cannot pay it!
- I do not have that type of cash to bring to sell, and cannot afford to do so.
- The seller may have lost their job or know they are being laid off.
- I had a loss in income.
- I have a terminal illness and the mdical bills are forcing the sale!
- The seller's do not have the money for repairs, carpet or commission.
The sellers are really trying to firm up their net - getting the highest possible price. The seller may be more desperate, but do not want to give away their position! This real estate market is not for the faint of heart! As real estate professionals we must ask real questions, and give real directions..if not we may excuse ourselves from the appointment if we are at a stalemate! Pricing, commission, and appearance in this market are critical and not negotiable!
We must be able to ask real questions:
- What is your reason for selling or relocating?
- What is your time-frame?
- What is your target price? What do you owe on the home?
- Is there a divorce? Do you have a copy of the divorce decree?
- Are you in a mortgage where the payments are resetting? If so when?
- Are you currently employed?
- Do you have cash reserves? (If unemployed)
- Have you already purchased another home? Where? With whom? When does it close?
- Will that agent be representing you selling this home?
- Are you willing to work with me as a team to sell this home? Paint, price, repairs?
If we do not hear what we need to hear...move on! NEXT! We cannot help anyone unless the dialouge is based in truth! It is no difference to the person that tells a doctor that they do not smoke, and the doctor is looking at the X-Rays! Truth can be a starting place for assistance of a real professional!
Subscribe To Our Atlanta Real Estate Blog in a reader
...with web-based news readers. Click your choice below:
RE/MAX Paramount Properties 678-595-5283 Direct
Or 888-940-0074 Toll Free Office
Atlanta Real Estate Agents, Alpharetta GA Homes for Sale, Dunwoody GA Homes for Sale, Atlanta Real Estate & Atlanta Homes for Sale 
Gwinnett Homes for Sale
Atlanta Real Estate Blog, Cumming GA Homes 
Amen! It is important to dig a little deeper and listen a little harder to what your clients are actually saying. If they are not saying it, then you are right, it is our responsibility to ask.
Jim, very good. We have to ask the fact finding questions to do our job to the best of our ability.
WELL SAID, Jim! A large part of our job is to be a good listener and sometimes we have to listen to the unspoken word in order to interpret our client's needs. GREAT post!
This is good information we have to think about when working with sellers in this market. It can really be difficult to work with the seller when they are not honest with us because we do not have a clear idea of what their needs or goals are.
Jim, this is a great "refresher" course for each of us. The key is to listen and to really "hear" what the seller is saying. THEN we can ask the right questions. Good, thoughtful post.
Jim -- this is the best post I have read in a very long time. Of course, it may be because I agree with everything you have to say! It is important to ask the right questions and to listen. Do more listening and less talking!
LLoyd Nichols~SW Florida Homes We must dig deeper! WE had a client years ago after Sept 11th when a lot of the DOT.BOMBS failed and he was let go overnight, with no cash reserves, a VA 100% Loan and 25K higher than anybody else in neighborhood! He had every toy imaginable, and no common sense! He was straight with us after I asked questions, and we sold him - he had to bring money to closing (4K!)
Unless we dug deeper, he wouldn't have told us!
Leesa L. Finley, REALTOR® Right! Once we know and understand what the real motivating factor is we have a chance if the seller is willing to work with us!
Midori Miller-Daytona Beach Florida Real Estate Training I totally agree. In the end you have sold yourself, or you are walking away from someone you cannot deal with! It is the difference between a win and a loss! In hte past we have taken a listing where we disregarded our own advice...only to find we've listed a home where the seller's are in the middle of a vicious divorce! Need I say more?
Jim, great post, sometimes we have thought about selling here and moving towards Ellijay and yet when we really get down to it, it's more about the fact that during these times it's a little harder to meet the mortgage and it would be easier to sell and have something cheaper and yet everytime I think about it, I love my home and really don't want to move, plus David's business is more around here. Your sellers can be so torn when deciding what to do. My mother just moved to Ellijay and they use to live right behind us and we spent a great deal of time with them, so that would be a whole different issue. But if you don't ask you will truly never know what is going on with the person. You have to be a good investigator.
Bonnie
TheHomeInspectorsWife
Atlanta's Home Inspector David Lelak - IHI Home Inspections We may be good in real estate but we are not psychic! Sometimes asking a question just confirms in your mind what you already suspect.
Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes / Murrieta & Temecula I agree. In the Atlanta area I always tell my buyers teh Fall is a great time to buy a home! If they ask why I tell them! No one wants to sell a home between Thanksgiving and New Years Day! Only serious sellers have their homes up for sale then!