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It’s the first call from a prospect. Let’s suppose you are selling your house. Of course, there are the two methods, and the traditional method of using a real estate agent would not involve your answering a phone call from a prospect at all.
But there is also the for-sale-by-owner method, in which you will be doing a good deal of the work. Phase one is generally answering the telephone and letting prospects inspect the property. There is actually a best way to proceed through phase one. It involves a first question. It may seem intuitive at first, but some of the subtleties of the asking, the responses, and your reactions to the responses are more than worth looking at.
Are you working with an agent?
Yes or No. The very first question you when someone calls about your house should be, “are you working with an agent?” The best surprise is NO surprise and you need to know.
I was working with a couple once who negotiated an entire sale with someone. Then about midway to closing, the buyer’s agent surfaced, introduced herself, and put in her claim to over $30,000 in commission, which, of course, completely skewed the net to the seller and the sale fell through.
Prospects are usually not going to lie to you at this point.
There is nothing for them to gain at this point by telling you something incorrect. Your question will also usually catch them off guard enough that they have no lie planned, they won’t come up with one. They will probably truthfully give you one of four answers.
No
If they say “no,” you say “great!”
“I can’t wait for you to see inside. What is a good time for you?” Proceed to schedule a time to get together.
It will be to your advantage to actually schedule that appointment in a planner. Even if you have no other appointments, you need to seem over the phone as though you are scheduling it. Don’t over-do it, but give it some importance.
“Drop by Saturday morning,” rarely ends well.
Yes
If yes, say “great!” (Never sound disappointed.)
“I don’t want to step on any toes, so if it’s ok with you, just coordinate this through your Realtor.”
I have found this particular wording to be key. You don’t want to do the work, and someone else get paid. Let them do their job. But you don’t want to sound dismissive.
Also some agents are also very possessive of their prospects, and may think you are trying to steal their prospect if you don’t include the agent.
I Was (or Not Anymore)
“I was working with one, but I am dropping them.”
This one doesn’t always work out well, often with no bad intent. Someone may try to drop an agent, but the agent may not accept that, and try to buffalo their way back into the equation. Sometimes the buyers just start feeling bad, and just decide to re-include them.
In any event, if the buyers have ever had an agent, just figure they still do.
Uncle Harry
“Uncle Harry just got his license, but he doesn’t want any commission.”
This one almost never works out. Even if Uncle Harry doesn’t want the commission, Uncle Harry’s broker does. And that money belongs to and has to first go to the broker before Uncle Harry.
Uncle Harry works out of an extra bedroom. His broker has real overhead.
Some brokers may let one of their agents not charge someone a commission, but sometimes they still collect from that agent what would have been collected otherwise. Be sure you are not putting it to Uncle Harry if he’s doing you a favor.
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