Life is filled with obstacles. Obstacles are best to be viewed as challenges, as opportunities to make things right. It’s a mentality, a mindset, a preparedness that can get you through it. You just have to anticipate it, plan for it and be ready to take the bull by the horns when obstacles are thrown your way. You will find that in Real Estate, you aren’t immune to obstacles either. How you handle the obstacles that are thrown at you in Real Estate, will spell out what value you can bring to any Real Estate transaction, what value you can provide the home Seller or home Buyer as their Realtor.
Today, I thought it would be great to hear how other Real Estate Agents handle the obstacles thrown at them along the way instead of simply getting my take on them. With this in mind, I reached out to veteran, top selling Real Estate Agent, Bill Gassett, a top Franklin MA Real Estate Agent who has been selling homes for 27+ years to find out his thoughts on the subject for our interview. I interviewed Bill and found out about how Bill grabs the bull by the horn, as you can imagine, with his experience he’s likely seen it all.
To me there are two types of obstacles to overcome in real estate sales. The first kind is before the sale takes place and the second is during the process. Issues prior to a home sale generally involve the marketing process. Problems encountered during the process are almost always condition related. I will tackle each of these separately.
I am sure it will come as no surprise to you that the #1 problem I see as a Realtor is getting a homeowner to understand just how important pricing a home can be right out of the gate. Like most real estate agents, I am sure you have encountered that stubborn seller who thinks they know more than you do.
We all have heard the standard homeowner way of thinking with things like “we can always come down later”, “we have all the time in the world”, “we are not desperate to sell”, “we need to have negotiating room”. Once you have been in the business for a number of years these statements become commonplace. The key of course is getting a seller to understand that pricing their home higher does not mean it will sell for more. In many circumstances the exact opposite occurs. An agent who knows exactly what to say when a seller wants to overprice their home is one of the keys to being successful in this business.
This kind of situation is compounded even further when a seller is interviewing multiple agents and they happen meet a Realtor who will give them an unrealistic market value. Sometimes in these circumstances there is nothing you can do but walk away. Sometimes the seller and this kind of agent deserve each other. While it is always hard to turn down business the best of the best understand that walking away is the best move. It is always best to be honest and in many circumstances you will end up being the second or third agent in who actually ends up with a sale.
The other marketing problems I see every so often I would group into the top home seller mistakes. They include making it difficult to see the home or even requiring accompanied showings, not presenting their home well and having ungodly odors present. Lastly, as already mentioned they choose the agent for all the wrong reasons.
The second set of obstacles has more to do with the property itself than it does with the seller making things more difficult than it has to be. There are a number of things that can cause a home sale to fall apart most notably common home inspection issues. Sometimes these issues are fairly apparent before the home is listed for sale. It becomes crucial for the seller to understand that many buyers don’t react favorably to finding major issues with a home they don’t own. In fact it can be the difference between the buyer wanting to move forward with the transaction or not.