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Any challenge to winning over sellers can be overcome through competent conversation that includes, above all, seller participation. Great questions and deep listening enable sellers to make educated choices and have ownership of their goals. Real-world examples with risks and consequences demonstrate value, instill trust and help create a true “partnership” relationship.
The conversation starters below do more than get you started. They are lessons in seller conversion through probing questions, knowledge sharing and mutual decision-making.
1. Know the market. Be the expert. A metaphor will help sellers understand
By the time a shift in the market is noted by the media, it’s old news to the real estate industry. Agents need to be the market analysts, not the media. Let sellers know that you are the holder of the information and can help them leverage real news in real time.
Agent to seller: “When we track a town’s supply and demand, we know when shifts in the market favor the buyer or the seller. A two-month supply of homes in [town] signals a seller’s market. It takes only two months to empty the shelf. However, changes in supply and demand can swing leverage in the opposite direction. Let’s discuss steps to win in this market.”
For a simple calculation of the month’s supply of inventory, divide the supply (homes for sale) by the current demand (the last 30 days of pending, not closed, sales).
Example: If there are 100 homes for sale, and 50 under contract/pending sales in the last 30 days, it takes two months to empty the shelf. Track every 30 days to see emerging trends.
2. Probing questions lead and guide seller discussions. Neighborhood news helps
Offer your SOI a review of the equity in their neighborhood, quarterly or annually. Meet or drop off a simple “MLS one-liner” of all activity in the area. If it’s simple and on one page, it will be shared with neighbors, becoming a big source of referrals. Follow up with probing “what ifs.”
Agent to seller:
- “Everyone benefits from knowing the equity in their neighborhood and where prices are headed. I have a print-out of activity in your area that I’d like to drop off.”
- “Hey, have you heard the news about the sales price of 123 Main?”
- “Consider me a resource to help guide your future lifestyle plans.”
- “If you could change anything about your home, what would it be?”
- “What’s your long-term goal for your home: Keep, sell, rent or renovate it to suit a future need?”
3. Is their house ready to sell? Help sellers see their home through buyers’ eyes
Asking sellers about the condition of their home is a delicate task. But because everyone understands what a “model home” looks like, switch up your ask to help them visualize how problem-solving fixes, with you as their guide, can increase the value of their home.
Agent to seller:
“Because there are steps in preparing a home for sale for a return investment, looking at a home through buyers’ eyes provides a clear perspective on whether a house is ready to sell.”
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- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your home’s condition? Model Home = 10. Poor Condition = 1.
- What would it take for your home to be a 10?
- What steps do you need guidance with?
- What resources can I provide to help you through the initial process?
4. It’s not your marketing, not your personality, not your price
Losing a competitive listing can leave an agent in the dark. Of course, the seller liked you and your stellar marketing and maybe even your price. Differentiation in a consultative appointment is the key to hireability. To stand out, educate the seller on the three things that pay them a premium. They’ll listen!
Agent to seller: “The most crucial factor in selling a home is the collaboration between seller and agent on three key decisions that pay a seller a premium: pricing, condition and negotiation. While marketing capabilities are standard across the industry, educating a seller to critical choices on pricing, prepping the home, and complex negotiation when hearing offers are the benchmarks of a great proposal. Let’s discuss how to avoid leaving money on the table.”
5. Pricing choices that pay a seller a premium (in a 15-second elevator speech)
Providing sellers with critical decisions on goal-targeted pricing and having them choose is the consultative part of a “pre-marketing” process. Educate, don’t advise.
Agent to seller:
“There are 3 ways to price a house for sale — goal-targeted choices with risks and consequences:
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- Right-pricing, based on comparable sales, adds as much as a 5 percent premium to the sales price
- Bidding/auction pricing, somewhat risky, is set low to stir up competition
- Retail pricing, with a built-in price cushion in place, encourages lowball offers and a later sale. Which one works for you?”
6. Beware the escalation clause! Buyer opportunity. Seller risk. Pro-offer options
Educate sellers on the often-misconstrued escalation clause. Not understanding this buyer strategy can leave money on the table. Understanding it can give sellers the upper hand.
Agent to seller: “Without a clear understanding, the escalation clause in an offer can look like a win for the seller, but it’s actually a buyer attempting to buy a home at the lowest price, offering to beat competing offers by an ‘escalated’ amount up to ‘a maximum price’ — the highest the buyer ‘would pay.’ Accepting the escalated offer on its terms is leaving money on the table. A true win for the seller, by the buyer ‘revealing his hand,’ is to counteroffer the buyer’s maximum he would pay, or counter ‘highest and best’ to all competing offers.”
7. The powerful message of the ROI of staging: Help sellers debunk common myths
It’s easy for sellers not to hear the message an unstaged home is sending to buyers. Help sellers separate “myth from reality” to capitalize on staging and sell for a premium.
Agent to seller: “The ROI stats are clear. Staged homes sell higher than unstaged homes. It’s common to question, ‘Why stage?’ because buyers ‘will want to change it’ anyway. Actually, buyers want to immediately fall in love with ‘their’ home, not ‘the seller’s’; have little vision and fewer resources; and can’t translate vacant or unstaged rooms to extra value and more space. Whether DIY or full staging, a home will sell for a premium and with fewer showing days on the market.”
8. Buy before sell? Sell before buy? Provide choices, not answers. Let them decide
It’s not about “what you would do” when the seller asks for advice on this critical timing issue. Answer the question with content; respond as the resource all agents should be.
Agent to seller:
“There is no one universal answer when selling and buying. There are actually five options to consider. It becomes a matter of personal choice. Each comes with consequences. Decide which one works best for you.”
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- Put your house on the market; sell it with a 60-day Use and Occupancy Agreement, giving you about 120 days or more for a home search and relieving some of the pressure to find a home.
- Find the house first; make an offer contingent on selling your home — an ideal option for you, except for the weak negotiating position.
- Put your house on the market; close, then find temporary housing. It’s a short-term option to decide your next move and the best negotiating position, but it’s inconvenient to move twice.
- Secure a bridge loan to buy a home with equity from your existing home; repay it with proceeds from the sale of your house, also relieving pressure when buying before selling.
- Keep your house, and rent it as part of an investment plan. I can guide you on that.
9. Carpe diem! Help sellers seize the deal. They decide how offers are heard
Too often, Realtors buy into “this is how we do it” when hearing offers. But negotiating isn’t a procedure. It’s a strategy based on what is on the table, with varying sets of buyer circumstances and seller goals.
Stop. Look. Listen. Then consult with the seller on the ways a negotiation can be handled. The seller decides the when and the how.
Agent to seller: “When an open house is swarming with potential buyers, what happens next can prompt sellers on when to accept a deal. Although there are commonly accepted ways of hearing offers in most markets, it comes down to choice. Some sellers in some scenarios wait to respond to an offer until an artificial deadline is set to amass other offers, while some sellers in other scenarios seriously consider the early offer, submitted to wow the seller, demonstrate urgency and align fast action to buyer commitment. Negotiating guidelines are just that, meant to help, but skilled negotiating is brainstorming options despite local practices.”
10. A seller’s wishlist is a clear path to getting it all. Provide buyers a visual
When a seller-agent guides buyer-agents with a seller’s wishlist in a competitive selling environment, it’s a win for both sides, facilitates targeted communication to address seller goals and curates the best offer by the buyer for the seller!
Agent to seller: “When sellers dwell on how to score the best deal among several offers in a seller’s market, they need only to name their terms. As seller agent, I commonly share the seller’s wishlist, in collaboration with the seller, with buyer agents preparing an offer. Here’s a sample of items I can include:”
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- Highest price with best terms and fewest contingencies
- 60-day closing with 60-day Use and Occupancy
- Appraisal waiver for offers above list with proof of funds for deposit and appraisal gap
- Total deposit due on Day 1 after all parties have signed the contract
- Limit home inspection to major structural, environmental and mechanical issues
- Consider waiving a specific dollar amount toward inspection concessions
- Home inspection within three to five days after all parties have signed the contract
- Add to contract [example]: chimney, fireplace, flue in As Is Condition.
- Add the following personal property items excluded from sale: _____
- Sellers will look favorably on a pre-approval from the preferred lender: _____
- Provide buyer’s attorney information upon submission of offer.
Winning over sellers is a misnomer. It’s really about earning seller relationships when mastering the art of information communication. Markets change. Even repeat sellers want to know what they may not know.
When coached by a knowledgeable agent, sellers become holders of the information. This seals a bond between seller and agent, leads to effective decision-making, without remorse or regret, and is a platform for referrals.
Annette DeCicco is a real estate broker and director of growth and development at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Jordan Baris Realty in Northern New Jersey.
