Please enjoy an excerpt from our book – Moving Forward:
No matter where you are in life, or what neighbourhood you live in, your home is very likely one of your largest investments. You’ll care for it, invest in décor, furnishings and upgrades, and by the time you’re ready to sell it you will have had many different experiences inside those walls: birthdays, love, family gatherings and dinners. The home becomes more than just a house, it becomes the place where life existed, flourished, and grew. It’s the place families were strengthened and children raised, the place where infants were sung to in the night. By the time you sell your home, it has become a place where memories dwell, and much more than a house.
So how will you navigate all the decisions that need to be made when it’s time to part with your home? Choosing the right Real Estate professional is key.
Homeowners and Agents should have a unified goal in mind when a property goes up for sale, and that goal is to get the home sold in the least amount of time and netting the largest amount of money. But it’s also important to find someone who works well with the entire family, someone who can navigate the process and build relationships with other agents as well. A valuable team member.
When the sale of your home remains faithful to this principle, the transaction has a happy ending. The seller/agent relationship is established that is mutually beneficial. Everyone wins.
So why, then, do some homeowners lose? Why do houses sit on the market for years, or sell under value? Why do deals tank at the last minute due to miscommunication or contractual error?
Real Estate is a business, just like anything else. And choosing the right business partner is key. Your home sale (and the purchase of another) will hinge on the success of your Real Estate professional and his or her business acumen and communication skills. A home sale is not simply about whether the home looks great or not, it’s about a host of other decisions and factors.
Your home sale will go smoothly if the Agent has done her or his homework, asked the right questions, and prepared the buyer and /or seller appropriately. In other sales industries, a salesperson would have several customer interactions via telephone or face-to-face, conduct in-depth discovery questions to fully understand expectations and motivations.
However, in a typical Real Estate transaction, you may have one or two meeting before a listing is awarded to someone. That isn’t much time to understand someone’s business expertise. The truth is, most homeowners make their decision to choose a Real Estate agent based on likability. But you wouldn’t choose a banker or a surgeon on personality alone, because it’s really about much more than that. Selling your biggest investment will involve skill.
The best agents are those who are making the most money for their clients and are doing it more easily than their competitors. They have negotiation skills, sales ability, and build relationships easily. These agents are skilled at quickly understanding the individual personalities they are dealing with and uncovering motivations that will affect the foundation of a single business transaction. They’re not easily flustered, dramatic, emotional, or high maintenance.
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