Coach’s Corner

Helping Your Seller Manage

elling real estate is stressful—there’s no way around it. But as real estate agents, we can work to minimize that stress on behalf of our clients. The recent Zillow Group 2019 Consumer Housing Trends Report found that 95 percent of home sellers are stressed by some aspect of the process. According to the report, one of the most common stressors was whether a seller’s home would sell for their desired price. This is where you come in. One way to decrease this major stressor is getting the price right. This is easier said than done, because pricing is not an exact science. The seller needs to understand that buyers have access to information. When looking for a home, the buyer has done their research, and they know the price points for various neighborhoods. Serious buyers may not even look at an overpriced property, let alone write an offer—and then there’s the stress of waiting for the property to appraise. When pricing a property, agents do the best they can with the data that is available. We only know if we got the price right when it hits the market, because the market sets the price. Not the seller, not the agent—the market. If a property sits on the market for months, it’s probably priced too high. But when a property gets lots of showings and multiple offers, it was priced within the appropriate range. Pricing a property based solely on the desires of the seller is not wise. When confronted with a seller who wants an unrealistic price, you have a decision to make. Do you want to spend time and energy marketing an overpriced listing, do you want to build in a price reduction after a certain period of time, or do you want to walk away? Make the choice, and stick with it. At the listing appointment, don’t just be “happy to be there.” This means, don’t accept whatever the seller says just so you get the listing. The listing appointment is your opportunity to manage the expectations of the seller. Managing expectations helps to manage stress—and reducing their stress can make for a better transaction. S

CANDY MILES-CROCKER “The Real-Life REALTOR®,“ coaches, mentors, and trains new and experienced real estate agents to transform their business by mastering her proven systems for success. She is a firm believer in managing expectations and her goal is to elevate the perception of real estate agents among the general public through education so every client has an amazing real estate experience. Candy’s unique training methods have shown agents what it takes to be successful! Inman News selected Candy as one of the Top 25 Real Estate Coaches in 2016. Learn more at www.RLRETraining.com.