GINA HANSON
AUTHOR,
SELF CONSTRUCTED
Keynote Speaker Workshop Facilitator
Real Estate Trainer
Objection Handling Scripts
BUYER OBJECTIONS:
ALREADY HAVE AN AGENT ♦ CREDIT SUCKS ♦ DON'T LIKE PUSHY SALESPEOPLE ♦ DON'T WANT TO MAKE A FULL PRICE OFFER
♦ FRIEND IS A REALTOR ♦ HAVE TO SELL OURS FIRST ♦ LOOKING FOR A FRIEND ♦ NOT READY YET ♦ REDUCE YOUR COMMISSION
WE JUST STARTED LOOKED
SELLER OBJECTIONS:
ADVERTISE MORE ♦ DECIDED TO LIST W/ SAME AGENT ♦ FRIEND IS A REALTOR ♦ GOING TO SELL IT MYSELF
NOT GIVING MY HOUSE AWAY ♦ NOT REDUCING MY PRICE ♦ TAKING IT OFF THE MARKET ♦ WHERE WERE YOU THE FIRST TIME
I ALREADY HAVE AN AGENT
Out of curiosity, have you signed anything?
IF YES, WISH THEM WELL AND STOP HERE. DO NOT CONTINUE ANY FURTHER.
If they say NO, then... Great. I don't know if you know this or not, but in the state of Washington/California, (check with your broker in other states) technically, you don't have an agent. I would like to apply for the job to sell your house. After all, I specialize in houses that didn’t sell the first time around. You know, sometimes even the best houses don’t sell the first time around.
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If you felt you could get more money and a quicker sell, would you interview me?
Set the appointment.
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I understand - you want to make sure you are doing the right thing, right? Yup. Real estate is a lot like any major decision, if you found out you had to have surgery, wouldn't you want another opinion? I know this isn’t surgery, but it is a major decision. Let's get together so I can show you why so many clients choose me to sell their house. What works best for you, Tuesday or Wednesday?
Set the appointment.
I DON'T WANT TO MAKE A FULL PRICE OFFER
Do you want to be a professional offer-writer, or do you want to be a homeowner?
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If you insult the seller by offering too low of a price for the property, they may choose to not ever do business with you, and that means not only no counter back, but an actual refusal to even look at other offers from you. However, if you offer them something that is workable, hopefully they will at least counter back, and you can get this new home.
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I know that you’re looking at the price of this home and it's slightly outside of your range. However if you take the (X amount - say $30,000) extra, and divide up over the 30 years of the loan, that's out works out to be $1000 a year. $1000 a year works out to be, what, $80 a month? $80 a month is $20 a week, which is approximately $3 a day. Isn't that less than a cup of coffee? Here, let me pay your first day. Give them $3.
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(Name), I need you think like a seller. If the seller has three offers and one of them is cash and the other has no contingencies and yours is seriously underpriced, which would you take?
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Will it hurt if you lose this house? Then let's write up an offer that will get accepted.
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Would you sell your house for $400k if you knew it was worth $450k? That’s exactly why we need to come up in price.
I’M GOING TO SELL IT MYSELF
After what you’ve been through, I understand. It's better to be a FSBO than to be with an agent who doesn’t know the market. Look, every CMA tells a story about the individual neighborhood the property is located in. I'd like to get together and go through your specific market and why your house didn't sell the first time around.
I'M NOT GIVING MY HOUSE AWAY
Actually, in this market, you are. And you are getting a screaming deal on the other side as well. It's just how it works.
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What is more important to you, _______ (being closer to your family, being closer to your new job, being in a smaller house, buying your dream home...whatever) or not having to give the home away?
I'M NOT REDUCING MY PRICE
(Name), may I share an NAR statistic with you? The National Association of Realtors say that even when the market was really bad, a correctly priced property sells in approximately 15 days . The other rule of thumb is two weeks no showings, or 10 showings no offers, means your house is overpriced. We are now at X days and X showings, we have to adjust the price of your property.
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If you see a home that has been on the market a long time (refer to the average days on market on their CMA), what do you think about the house? Right, something's wrong. That's why we can't allow your property to sit here at this price, people will think that something is wrong with your property, and there's not. If you did make an offer on a property that has sat for a long time, what kind of an offer would you make? Full price, or much lower? Exactly, that's why we need to price your property correctly, so we don't get really lowball offers from people who think there is something really wrong with your property.
I'M TAKING IT OFF THE MARKET (OR WE'VE DECIDED TO STAY)
If a contract were presented to you tomorrow, would you still sell? Okay, so there is still some desire to move, right? You know, I specialize in houses that are great, but that didn’t sell the first time around. Can I ask you a question? Why do you think your property didn't sell? What will you look for in the next agent? Let’s do this. I’ll drop by and look at your house. That way you can at least meet me so when you are ready you don't get a weak agent. After all, you don’t want to list you house later just to have it sit on the market for another six months, do you?
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I see. Just out of curiosity, if you did sell, where were you moving to? WOW! Why was that important?What would that do for you and your family if you had moved? If that could show still happen, would you be interested? Look, I specialize in houses that didn’t sell the first time. Even the best houses don’t sell the first time, and it just takes a new approach and new ideas like I use to get houses sold. When could I stop by and spend 15 minutes with you and show you why so many homeowners...choose me..to sell their house?
IT'S NOT US, WE'RE LOOKING FOR A FRIEND
Great, what's your friend looking for?
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Would it help if I set your friend up on search so they could see all of the homes that fit their criteria? That way you guys could just contact me when you want to see the inside of one?
OUR ____ IS A REALTOR
Awesome - where are they today? (busy) Ahhh. Have you ever heard of the Pareto Principle? The 80/20 rule? Basically, it's that 20% of the people do 80% of the work. In sales, it's more like 90/10. Is your friend in the 10%? Some agents only do 3 or 4 deals a year, and it's hard to know, really know your industry when you only do it once every few months. Would you like to at least get a second opinion? I'm a full-time agent, and I work exclusively with my clients from start to finish in order to protect them all the way through.
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I understand. What happens if the job doesn’t get done? Are you willing to risk your friendship on that? Or are you looking for an objective professional that you can put to work for you?
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Oh, so does that mean you feel obligated to have your relative/friend do business for you, or are you able to freely choose who you work with?
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Yup, everybody does. Have you ever heard of the Pareto Principle? The 80/20 rule? Basically, it's that 20% of the people do 80% of the work. In sales, it's more like 90/10. Is your friend in the 10%? Some agents only close 4 or 5 deals a year, and it's hard to know, really know your industry when you only do it once every few months. Would you like to at least get a second opinion?
OUR CREDIT SUCKS
I understand. You spoke with a lender recently? Did they talk to you about a rapid rescore? It's a consultation where they can tell you which debt to pay down and then can run your credit again and sometimes bring your score way up. Would you like my lender to contact you?
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OK. Did they walk you through all the different loan types available? Their are programs out there for almost every situation - and they all have very different requirements. Would you like to at least meet with a lender to find out where you stand?
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That’s not unusual at all. A lot of my clients thought they could never purchase a home and my lender worked with them - sometimes it was so minor - and we helped them get into their homes. Would you like to see if my lender could help you too?
WE AREN'T READY FOR AN AGENT YET
A lot of my clients felt that way at first. Once I got them set up, they realized that driving around and looking only at the few houses that were held open was taking up a lot of their time. Would it help you if I set you up the same way? That way you would get notified the second a new property came up, days before the open house, and you could be first to see them before anyone else.
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Do you need to sell first? When did you plan on moving? Wow, you're right there. Would you like to get together so we can go over property preparation so you aren't scrambling at the last minute to get your house ready?
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No worries. How are you planning on finding your next home? Would it help if I sent you a list and you could see all of the homes for sale instead of just the ones that are open? That way you could just contact me when you want to see inside one?
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Okay, have you spoken with a lender yet so you know your purchase price and monthly payments? What is it that you are looking for when it comes time to pick out the right agent for you?
WE DON'T WANT/LIKE PUSHY SALESPEOPLE
Good. Because I'm a process facilitator, and a contractual negotiator, not just some pushy salesperson and because of that, I work a little differently. We sit down and I ask you a ton of questions and my services line up only with what you need. By the time we're done, I know exactly where you are in the process and how I can help you best. It a very individualized process. Did you want to be in this neighborhood? Would you like to grab a cup of coffee and just chat? Does Tuesday work, or would Wednesday be better?
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Me either! My job is to only help you when and where you need it - so how do I help YOU best? And, any answer is fine - I can set you all up, or I can just touch bases with you in the future. Where are you in the process?
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That's awesome. The only person I want to push is the agent on the opposite side of the transaction to get my client the best deal possible. You, I don't push. You, I listen to an help you find the perfect house and handle the million little details that pop up. So what are you looking for in a home?
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Yeah, I wouldn’t like that either. I would want them to push for the price I want. I would not want them to push me into something I don't want. Does that make sense? Me too. So, what were you looking for in a new home?
WE HAVE TO SELL FIRST
Before you can buy? (nod yes) Would it help to know how much you could get for your current property so you can know your exact budget for the new home?
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That’s normal. When did you want to move? Have you met with a lender yet?
WE JUST STARTED LOOKING
Ahhh, how did you find out about us?
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Awesome, how many homes have you looked at so far?
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Great! Have you spoken with your lender yet? One of the first steps is to make sure you have your financing in order. Have you sat down with anyone to determine what lifestyle you want to choose for your new home? Different homes in different neighborhoods live differently. Some are urban, some are set up for entertaining, some for having relatives stay with you, some are very private. Would you like to get together and brainstorm the perfect house?
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Perfect! Are you looking to purchase or lease a home?
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Perfect! What are you looking for?
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That’s how you start! Out of curiosity, what kind of home are you looking for?
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That works! What specifically are you looking for?
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Well then I’m glad we met! Has anyone sat down with you and walked you through the process and what you can expect in our current market?
WE'RE GOING TO WAIT (WE AREN'T READY YET)
Alright, what specifically needs to happen first?
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Do you have to sell first?
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I totally get it. There is a lot to get in order before buying a new home: prepping your current property for sale, meeting up with a lender, the insurance, inspectors, repairs, finding a new home, etc. You want help with all of that?
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Okay, what specifically are you waiting for?
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On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 meaning you want to buy yesterday, where are you? Why not a 0?
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Too many steps down the path just yet? I see. What needs to happen first?
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When do you want to move into a new home?
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When were you thinking?
WE'VE DECIDED TO RELIST WITH THE SAME AGENT
Alright. Out of curiosity, what are they going to do this time around that they didn’t do the first time?
Set the appointment.
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That’s great, and what I’m hearing is you feel obligated to your last agent since they invested a lot time and money in your house, right? Well, you don’t owe me anything and you certainly don’t owe them anything, but you do owe it to yourself to do the very best, don’t you? It wouldn’t hurt to just hear what I do get houses sold, would it?
Set the appointment.
WHERE WERE YOU THE FIRST TIME WE TRIED TO SELL OUR HOUSE?
That is such a good question! I never even saw it because your agent never marketed and exposed the house to us. May I explain? In order to sell a house once, you actually have to sell it twice. Agents properly market and expose the house to other agents, who then sell it to their clients, and to be honest, your agent never sold it to me. That's one of the things I do best, I get houses sold. I properly market and expose your house to all the agents in the area and then make calls daily to find the buyers for your house. That's what you want, right? Let me drop by for 15 minutes and I'll show you how I proactively look for buyers for your property and market your house to the other agents so they can sell it to their clients.
WHY DON'T YOU TO JUST ADVERTISE MORE
Let's say you go to the grocery store and there are 3 gallons of milk for sale and one is priced at $1.99 the other one is $2.50 and the third one is priced at $5.99. Now, the milk is exactly the same - which milk are you going to buy? Correct. Now, what if I advertised the $5.99 milk and told everybody about it, which milk would you buy? Right. Now, what if I put sign spinners all around the $5.99 milk and bring in a marching band telling us about what a great gallon of milk it is - would you buy it then? Exactly! It’s supply and demand economics and it is the exact same with houses. If the buyers find the same property in the same neighborhood and it is priced much less than yours, it doesn't matter if we have a marching band and sign spinners, everything is online now, and all the marching bands in the world aren't going to change the fact that your milk is overpriced.
WILL YOU REDUCE YOUR COMMISSION? (BUYER SIDE)
What commission? You don’t have to pay me anything. The seller covers all of that for you.
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You don’t have to pay me a commision. The seller pays the broker who listed the home, and that brokerage shares with mine to pay me. You have no out of pocket expenses to cover my commission, it's already taken care of. You're all good!