I Lost Out On A Great Listing...And Here's How

Last week I lost out on a great listing with a top executive at one of the world's largest companies. It happens, right? Well, yes...but I walked out of this knowing I had the best marketing strategies, the highest level of professionalism, the most competent knowledge of the market, his house and our industry. I have combined a top level of understanding of the technical side of real estate matched with the intimate side of the sale of a home. So How did this happen?

This same week I lost out on this listing I went to a class offered by Compass that goes over different personality types. They teach you what your personality type is, and how to discover what someone else is. In learning this, you find that some personality types simply can not hear what the other type is saying. It's not because the information is wrong, bad or incomplete. Rather, it's not delivered in the best way to communicate effectively so that the other person can hear what is being said. Months ago, I met Chris Voss who was the Top FBI hostage negotiator for many years (and you thought selling real estate is all about where to point your open house signs and cute bus bench photos) He spoke with me and touched on something I hadn't thought of before. He said "Amber, you seem very competent and direct in your communication. I'm the same way. But is the person you're speaking to able to hear you or do you need to communicate with them in another way?" That was the first light tapping that got me thinking. Then I took this course last week that hit the nail on the head. Some people simply have a way that they take information in and process it. And while all the great information I have may be good for some, others may not hear it the way they need it to be delivered. And I had just left a listing appointment with the CFO of a world-wide company thinking what a great job I had done. I mean, I really went into that meeting giving him all the information I had, with my background in real estate and every top notch marketing piece mixed with technological advances my company and I had in our pockets. Yet, I got the call two days later that they went with another agent. What?! I didn't see that coming. At least before I had taken this class through my company about how to deliver information to different types of personalities. And believe it or not, after I had completed this class and before I got this seller's phone call, my mind had changed on what a great job I had done during our meeting. See, I still believe I left him with everything any top executive looking to sell their home would want from a Realtor. What I didn't leave him with, was the best way he could have heard what I was trying to deliver.

So, lesson learned. And I'm always excited about good lessons. I don't believe I can do my job at a top level without being able to step back and see where I could make improvements and putting that to work.

How Much Personal Information Does Your Real Estate Agent Know?

Buying and Selling a Home is a very intimate process.  The people you work with have an up-close POV to a lot going on in your life.  And of course, there are many people who work with a friend who is an agent.  So how much personal information does your agent find out about you?

When I go to meet a new client or someone I know who is going to be selling or buying, the questions I ask are:
--"Why are you selling or buying now?"
--"When do you hope to move?"
--"If you are buying, Have you been pre-approved with a lender?"

Once a client has been pre-approved, here is what I find out:
--"What budget a client would like to stay within"
--"How much down payment a client has to use for a purchase."
--"What a client's FICO score is." (sometimes I don't even know this)
--"If a client is being given money to help in the purchase. This is called a "Gift" and is usually from an immediate family member"
--"The amount of proceeds a client may be receiving from the sale of a house."


Here is what I don't know and can't find out unless a client chooses to tell me:
1. "What a client's salary is."
2. "Any bonuses a client has received from an employer"
3. "What taxes they paid or their tax returns" (sometimes if a client is renting a landlord may ask to see this)
4.  "Any debts, or credit card bills a client has."
5.  "How much money a client has total in savings, retirement, stocks or any other investments"
6.  "If a client has been previously married or divorced" (unless the home you are selling still has a previous spouse still attached to the title or loan.
7.  "How much and on what a client spends for personal use each year."



I write this blog because so often I am helping a personal friend/acquaintance to buy or sell a home as many real estate agents do.  And no matter how close we are, there is still information that most people prefer to keep private.  I completely understand and am actually the same way, especially when it comes to some of these financial pieces of information.  The lender is the one who finds out most, if not all, of the very personal financial information a client has. The lender is not allowed to share these things with me and it is a good idea for every buyer/seller to talk with their lender about what information they share and with whom do they share it.  A client can also just tell the lender (even though it is already this way) to not share any extra un-needed information with anyone, especially just for the piece-of-mind of saying it out loud and letting it be known that you want to keep things private.
                                                                           

If you are looking to make a move this year, call me. I would love to help you make a move.