Balancing Act: Convincing sellers to make necessary changes to get their home market-ready.
By Chandra Hall, CRS
Talking to potential sellers can sometimes be a delicate dance—you want to win their business, but you also need to make sure you’re being honest and forthright with them about their property and its sales potential.
In many of my seminars and in CRS 201: Listing Strategies, one of the most common issues we encounter is how to talk to clients about getting their homes market-ready. This is a pivotal moment in a listing presentation or marketing proposal. You don’t want to offend the clients, but you want to give them a realistic picture of the work it will take to get their property top dollar. Here are three of my favorite ways to get that done:
1. Have some ready-to-go scripts in mind. The method I have found most effective in approaching the subject of getting a home market-ready is to ask the sellers during the home tour if I can take notes on things I see that, if addressed, could help maximize their market dollar. They always happily agree and that way they expect my critique. This is a lot different and more effective than offering criticism throughout the tour, which can pile up and feel overwhelmingly negative to sellers, putting them on the defensive.
2. Talk about the budget upfront. Ask the sellers in your initial conversation what their budget is to get their home ready for the market. Honestly, you may be met with confusion. Many people think only about the money they’re going to make in a sale, not about the money they’re going to have to spend. This is a good way to set the stage for a conversation about what they need to put into the sale to get the most out of it, plus it gives you a good idea of how committed the sellers are. Their answer will also help guide your suggestions.
3. Break suggestions down in nice to do/need to do. When I present the list of suggested improvements to clients, I break it down into two columns: The items that I think are necessary for the sale and the changes I think would be nice to do. This gives them some flexibility in what they do to get their home market-ready. And honestly, when seeing it written this way, they often end up doing everything on the list anyway—but through this method, they feel more empowered because it’s their decision.
By having a few strategies in place to discuss how sellers can get their homes ready for the market, you can differentiate yourself from your competition and set the stage for a successful and profitable sale.
