NEWTOWN SQUARE PA – Winning is in, and losing has never been a good thing. As the National Association of REALTORS® approaches the 2012 edition of its Nationwide Open House Weekend, scheduled for April 28-29 (2012; Saturday and Sunday), one challenge that faces real estate brokers and salespeople across Pennsylvania is proving to consumers they’ll win big by buying a property with you, a real estate professional, at their side.
Real estate licensees, if they intend to be successful, must acknowledge all home buyers – first-timers, repeaters, those who are downsizing, and those who are investing – have fears. Most revolve around losing: losing out on a good deal, losing equity in their properties, losing a low interest rate, losing a bid on the palace of their dreams or, as witnessed all too often in recent years, losing their home altogether.
They’re valid fears for many consumers. Add to the mix worries about buying a lemon and a common lack of understanding of the home-buying process, and it’s no wonder that working in real estate sometimes seems like an uphill struggle.
Top producers rarely falter, though; they usually don’t even see the hill! The reason: they do their best to address consumer fears right up front, and explain how they will help overcome them.
The best salespeople openly admit, for instance, that the housing market was changed forever by the banking crisis. The days of creating instantaneous wealth by buying a home are gone. Like any professional guides, top producers counsel consumers that housing is not a quick-in, quick-out investment. They bolster their claims with solid proof too, like that provided by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. It shows the rate of return on a housing investment increases the longer it is held.
Top producers also recognize that media attention on foreclosure sales and inventory over-supply has generated bargain-hunting fever. They caution consumers that market timing is an almost impossible task, even for world-class economists. The bottom of any market reveals itself only when home prices there begin to rise. By then, the “best bargain” probably has already passed.
So here’s the trustworthy, winning advice record-breaking salespeople give consumers: 1) Find a property within their budget that best satisfies their needs, lifestyle choices and priorities. 2) Buy it right, within the context of the market. 3) Buy for the longer term and, once purchased, let the asset mature.
Just as consumers seek a medical professional to relieve their fears about an illness, they can depend on your services as a professional real estate agent to relieve home-buying fears. Top-notch licensees will identify false fears, work with consumers to address valid ones, and walk them through the entire process.
To win when buying a home, consumers must make many hard, responsible decisions. That becomes easier when you, their agent, keep them informed and dispel or calm their fears. Moreover, it further convinces them that you are the best advocate of their interests.
- Want to join the excitement of NAR’s Nationwide Open House Weekend? Find tips in its “Field Guide to Open Houses,” here. Get promotional resources, here (this will require your Realtors.org login). Find more help from the Pennsylvania Association of REALTIORS®, here.
This article was originally published on the Polley Associates‘ blog
Logo from the National Association of REALTORS®