Over 70% of Okanagan Sellers may not use their past agent again to Sell their home!!!-Part 2
As noted in the last Blog Post, the National Association of Realtors finds that over 70% of sellers will not use the same agent again to sell their home! The number 1 reason the survey found was Lack of Communication!
In this Post, we will focus on one key communication challenge in the real estate process: Understanding what buyers really mean when they give you feedback from your North Okanagan home showing.
The biggest challenge I see with feedback and its interpretation is, as Canadians we are polite to a fault!! What I mean is… I have seen, interpreted and provided thousands of feedbacks both live and via email/text to our client base and I find that the buyers and their agents are typically polite Canadians who do not want to offend the seller.
(Disclosure: I went to an American College and worked, lived (including buying and selling real estate in the US for a period of 7 years.) There is a significant difference between Americans and Canadians, especially in the area of delivering blunt criticism. Americans get to the point quickly whereas Canadians try to soft-pedal bad news and/or avoid delivering blunt criticism by giving cryptic responses.
Here are some examples of feedback I have received when working for sellers and as well an interpretation of what the buyer really means when I pressed for more detail:
| Agent & Buyer Says: | Agent & Buyer Really Means: |
| The house is too small. | We found larger homes for the same price. |
| We like the house but we will keep looking. | We believe there is better value out there. |
| It is on our shortlist. | We have 1-3 better homes we will pursue first. |
| Our parents want us to keep looking. | A person with the money did not believe the value was there. |
| Needs too many updates. | We are finding homes with less work at the same value. |
| Yard too small street too busy… | We found a home(s) with a larger yard and quieter street for the same price. |
Price objections are often camouflaged in vague feedback.
As you can see from this sample feedback there is an avoidance of commenting on the price. As Canadians, many of us do not like to be blunt and say you are overpriced. Unfortunately, this gives many sellers a false sense of comfort as to the value of the home and its place in the marketplace. I will hear comments like “ no one has said anything about my price… it must be fine”...
A quick rule of thumb is if you are not getting many showings (your agent can define what a reasonable number of showings is in your market) or an offer within 19-27 days (in most markets) you generally have a price problem.
To ensure a successful sale at the highest price, in the least amount of time, with the least hassles, it is important for you and your agent to discuss your communication guidelines, especially with regard to the importance of having candid discussions throughout the process.
In the end, as a seller, your goal should be: to be the very best valued Okanagan home in the price range you are listed. Once you have achieved this value, your agent’s home marketing will go into overdrive and will bring you positive feedback and competitive offers.
I am always pleased to discuss our strategies further and our proprietary marketing programs.
