Updated 2.3.26

Mrs. Smith, you said that you want all of this long list of amenities, and you want this location we just talked about. And. Right now, for you to get that, you need to be, $340,000. Right. And to be able to get all the things that Mrs. Smith wants. The budget has to be different. And so you’re saying, Mr. Smith, are you willing to compromise to get Mrs. Smith some of the things that she wants?

 

So you just ask him, are you willing to compromise to help get her the things she wants? And I, I try to make this fun and playful with them. And I kind of go, Mr. Smith, would you turn and look at her for a minute? That’s the face of the woman that, you married right there. You see that ring on her finger right there?

 

At some point you said, till death do us part. So I just want to ask you.

 

Are you willing to compromise to get her? Look at that beautiful face. Are you willing to compromise to get her? And I kind of jokingly, like, go through this with them, and they kind of giggle a little bit, I don’t yeah, probably, you know, and you’re like getting him to look at her and saying, no, honey, I’m going to hold a hard and fast budget and you need to give up everything because I’m not giving up anything.

 

You’re kind of putting them in the position because I’m about to flip this in a second back to her and go. Mrs. Smith, I know that you want all of these things. I know you want the elevation, see, and I know you want them four bedroom and more square footage, and you want the finished basement and the upgraded cabinets and countertops and flooring, and you want all the stuff.

 

And it’s gotta be in the Fall Creek neighborhood in Rogersville. But the budget would need to be quite a bit higher. And Mr. Smith said, we really need to keep it in this budget. Is there anything on this list that you would be willing to compromise on? What did I just ask her? I kind of asked her, are you unwilling to compromise or is there something you’re willing to compromise on?

 

And she’s going to be like, well, you know, and maybe she has a hard time figuring out what she will compromise on. So here’s what you do. Be ready. This is the secret move that nobody gets.

 

Ask them to rank in numerical order.

 

What they want most to least. She’s got this whole list of amenities. Or maybe he does. Whoever does. In my example, Mrs. Smith has a long list of amenities. Ask her to rank them in numerical order of what they want most. To what they want least. Ma’am, you’ve picked five items, and I want you to look at Mr. Smith.

 

And I just want you to understand. You look into his handsome face for a moment while I talk to you about this. We just look at that beautiful man for a moment. I just want to say to you, while you’re looking at that handsome face, he works so hard and he. He comes home. At the end of the day, he’s tired, and he just doesn’t really want to get a second job.

 

And not being able to come home to you in the evening. And therefore we got to probably stick closer to the budget that he’s trying to stay within and he’s the one managing the bills and he knows. So would you rank those items like in order of like the most important to the least important. And then maybe could we work on a couple items we could take off of there that would maybe help get us closer to the budget?

 

This is how you get them to negotiate. Does this make sense?

 

And then the next thing that I would pivot into and just want to tell you guys, is the timeline of the buying cycle for the customer.

 

So at the beginning when you first start talking to the customer.

 

Well, I would say this when you first meet with them, you need to ask them their experience level.

 

With the shopping process. And how do I ask this.

 

Here’s the words.

 

How many homes have you guys looked at so far in your home shopping experience or process?

 

How many homes have you guys looked at in your home shopping process so far, and is this the first home review? Have you looked at a lot of them? And they’re like, no, this is the first one. I always clarify first one today or first one? Well, no, the first one this weekend. Oh okay. So you guys have been looking.

 

How long have you guys been looking for a home? Oh my gosh. We’ve actually been working for like six months okay. Very experienced with the shopping process. Or you get the opposite. I’ve literally had people come in and they go, today’s actually the first day. You are the first home we’ve looked at. We just started. Okay. What do you think is the major difference between these two potential leads?

 

They’re serious or they’re not. I think both can be serious. Well, if they’ve been looking for a year, they’re clearly something is they’re doing it wrong if they’ve been looking for a year. Right. But like okay, so let’s say one first one or they’ve been looking for two months. Let’s go that route instead of six months. What do you think the difference is between those two buyers.

 

I’ve stumped you okay I’m going to give you the answer. When was the last time they bought a home?

 

On average, was five years ago. According to the National Association of Realtors, people move every five years. So if the last time they moved, the last time they bought a home was five years ago, what were the prices on homes in your city five years ago? 20% was okay. In my town, they were probably 40% less nationally.

 

They were probably 30% less.

 

Prices have gone up a lot in the last five years. A lot like more than probably just about of any period in history. So the last time they looked at a home, that’s the numbers that are stuck in their head of what can I buy for the money? And what you have to do is you have to understand the process the customer is going to go through in this buying cycle process.

 

They’re going to go through, which, by the way, on average is 30 to 60 days. So they go through a 30 to 60 day cycle doing this. And during that 30 day to 60 day cycle, if I go to the beginning of the cycle, typically they’re thinking about what prices were, what what could I get 2000 square foot 4 or 5 years ago?

 

Well, it might be 50 grand less than what I can buy it for today.

 

So in their brain, they’re still thinking of five years. It goes price and they walk into your model home and the first place they’ve ever been. And they’re going to think you’re expensive. They’re going to think your prices are high because they haven’t calibrated their looker. I’ll call it quote. They’re looker. They’ve been calibrated. They’re like looker to knowing what they should be able to buy for the price.

 

Does that make sense?

 

Some people haven’t looked in 10 or 20 years. I’ve had clients before that came in literally. My husband built the house we’re in 45 years ago and we haven’t moved. And now he can’t keep up with this house anymore. I very specifically remember this one couple in that I can picture in my mind that they hadn’t they hadn’t moved in 45 years.

 

He built the house, they raised their kids, their family in it, everything. And now he’s getting elderly and he’s having some health issues, and he couldn’t maintain the home anymore. So they started looking for a new home so they’d have no maintenance. Well, what do you think? They think they can buy a home for? Their number in their head is so skewed.

 

If they’ve never looked like they have. No. And they’re like, yeah, we want a 3000 square foot house in our budget is 19,000. You remember you guys ever have your parents or grandparents tell you about that? They used to be able to buy home smart. Oh yeah. Every day. Yeah. It’s like a number where you’re like, seriously? Like, I think my dad told me