5 ways to avoid buyer burnout

1. Don’t work with buyers. You can make a lot of money if you are a good listing agent. Remember the old saying that you have to “list to last”. I don’t completely agree with that since most of my income the last 5 years have come from buyers. However, if you look in any market the largest producers are usually the big listing agents.

2. Qualify. Qualify. Qualify. I see way too many agents just hop in the car to go show property without really qualifying the prospect. Ask as many questions as you can get away with. Here are a few examples:

a. Are you working with an agent yet?
b. When are you looking to buy?
c. Are you paying cash or have you arranged financing yet?
d. Do you need to sell a home prior to buying?
e. How large of home do you need?
f. Do you prefer newer or older homes?
g. Have you been to (city) before? If so, what areas do you prefer?
h. Do you follow the real estate market? Do you feel we have hit bottom yet? If not, are you ok with buying at these market levels?
i. Is this an exploratory trip or will you buy if you see a home that suits your needs?
j. How long have been looking to buy a home?

You don’t want to make it an interrogation so be tactful in how you ask some of these questions. I have always found that a conversation works well or ask them questions in an email with an emphasis on how these will help save them (and you) time.

Some of these questions can save you a bunch of time by finding out exactly who your client is and work them accordingly.

3. Say No. Learn to say no to people who you know are a waste of time. You are running a business and have to be efficient about your time. I wouldn’t be so strict that you can’t spare 30 minutes to go show an old client a home even though you know he will not buy it. The old client may never use your services down the road.

I get requests all the time from vacationers who want to go see a few a beach front condos. After I ask them a bunch of qualifying questions it is apparent that they are not serious. Sometimes, after my questions they realize they are wasting my time and decide not to look at them. This can be a tough one sometimes because every now and then you are surprised who does buy and does not buy.

4. Show the best properties. It is not about the quantity of properties but the quality. I explain to buyers that I plan to show them the best properties and will eliminate the ones that are waste of time. Obviously, to do this you need to good market knowledge. It is hard to pick the properties that best suit your client if you don’t know the market very well. Some of the buyers of my largest transactions only saw 4 or 5 properties. I sold a home in Sarasota last week with a list price of $1.695 million. They viewed 3 homes. Every personality is a little different. Some buyers need to see 30 homes before they feel comfortable pulling the trigger.

5. Educate. Educate your buyers on the market. Buyers have to be well informed before they pull the trigger. The amounf of information is different for each buyer. Be careful not to overload your buyers with too much information. They might suffer from paralysis of analysis. This goes back to learning who your client is through a number of questions. Some buyers need all of the information to buy while other only need an executive summary of the market. Figure them out and work accordingly.

At some point in the process I mention some market statistics. For example, “last month all of the properties that sold did so for about 93% of list price.” This sets their expectations of the market. I weed out a lot of lookers this way because they hear all of the horrible news about Florida real estate and expect a 40%-50% from the list price.
 

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