Home owners who want to sell their property usually have a list of questions they want to ask each Realtor they meet with. The answers we give you here will make you stand out from the crowd. A lot of sellers meet with three potential listing agents, so they ask the same questions three times.
If you are the first Realtor they meet with, then your answers are probably new to them, and they will use your answers to compare against the other Realtors. If you are the third one, then they probably have a good idea as to what you might say.
Whether you are 1, 2 or 3 you want to impress the seller, so you can close on the listing agreement. If they say they have other Realtors to speak with, offer to call them, and cancel the appointments on the seller’s behalf. That, by the way, makes a great subsidiary question close.
OK, let’s look at those questions – and your answers.
1. What is your track record?
They ask this for obvious reasons – they want an experienced and successful agent who will get their property sold. Many Realtors answer this question by talking about the awards they have won, their overall results, and how hard they will work. Some will go straight into their listing presentation.
Successful Realtors begin answers to questions like this with “Thank you for asking” or “I’m glad you asked that.” You do this to reinforce the fact that you are on their wavelength and to get their attention. If you have a great track record, your first sentence should be specific to them and their property in some way. You might have a strong track record in their subdivision, their part of town, condos, 3-2-2 floor plans, etc. By going straight to the heart of the question you do two things:-
- You set yourself apart from your competition
- You take them away from the overall subject matter and bring them down to what really matters – getting their home sold
If you are a fairly new Realtor, and you don’t have a great track record, talk about your office’s track record. For example you can say “We sell a lot of condos/homes in this area/etc. My colleagues and I . . .” You can say you all work as a team, you are the leading office (if it’s true) for their kind of property, etc. So even if you, personally, don’t have much of a track record, you can still win the listing.
Even if you have only sold three properties in your entire career, you can say “My track record is that I have sold every home I’ve listed, the average number of days they were on the market was X, and the average list to sell price was Y.” You can then go on to talk about your office’s record. Those kind of specifics will impress your prospect.
2. How will you market our home?
This is a very powerful question, and one that all sellers ask in some way. Most agents have a marketing plan; you want your prospective client to know the ‘strategy’ behind your plan, so you can then explain how your plan will work. So tell your prospect that you will approach getting their home sold by using the right strategy, then you will create the plan.
Tell them that many agents have the same “quote-unquote plan that they use all the time, regardless.” Be polite and say that most agents do get properties sold, but what matters is starting with the most appropriate strategy. Tell them that really successful Realtors base their marketing strategy on their client’s goals, and that is what you will do. So, to be able to answer the question, you must know and understand their goals.
When you know their goals, you can use them in your listing presentation to explain why your plan will work best, and how you will roll out your plan. This will really make you stand out, because most Realtors tend to describe their plan, and leave it for the seller to work out how effective it will be. Do the work for the seller, and they will want you to list their property.
3. How will you price my home? or What is my home worth?
Most people make this one of their first questions. It is, of course, a very important question. It is important for your seller to understand market value, and that value is dependent on three factors:-
- Their home’s current market value compared to similar homes (if you need to, explain the Law of Substitution just like you learned it in your pre-license course)
- The specifics of their home – how up-to-date it is, how well maintained it is, how it will appeal to prospective buyers – “What I call the Wow! effect.” Etc
- How soon they need it sold, because every home has a ‘sell it by tomorrow price’ a ‘sell it within the average list-to-sell time in this area price’ and a ‘sell it next year price’. When you know more about their goals, etc, you will be able to answer the question in detail. This will impress the seller because it shows you are a true professional who keeps them front and center
Explain that you will perform a comprehensive and accurate (always say ‘accurate’) market valuation. You will also compare their home with others just like it that are currently on the market (their competition) plus those that failed to sell (because they were priced wrong or perhaps not marketed effectively) and those that recently sold. This will give them a full and accurate market valuation. And you will be able to use the current average list-to-sell price, to calculate their ‘walk-away money’.
Final Note
These are three common questions that sellers ask all Realtors. These answers are not common, so they will help you to stand out from your competition. Think about them, practice variations on the answers, so they will fit any situation and you will win more listings – and sell more houses.
When you finish your listing appointment you might want to leave a small ‘Thank you’ gift for the opportunity to meet with them, and to reinforce how different you are from other Realtors. You might also want to mention that when you sell their home, they will receive a very nice closing gift. To help you plan ahead, please feel free to contact us so we can answer our questions, and help you choose the closing gifts you want to arrange for your clients.