Four Questions to Rapidly Disqualify Unreasonable Sellers

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Dear Friend & Colleague,

This is a highly-coveted prospecting technique that will have astronomical effects on your listing inventory.

Unmotivated real estate sellers can be risky business. You can work ten, twelve, fifteen hours, and not get paid until
3, 6 or 9 months later—if the house sells at all. And when your own mortgage is due at the end of the month, can
you afford to wait that long to get paid?

I didn’t think so.

See, motivated buyers and sellers make the most profitable real estate deals. Commitment is critical.

Also, you can waste a lot of time and energy with a seller who wants to sell above market value and isn’t up front with you about it.

Imagine this scenario: You have a buyer make an offer on a house you represent. To make sure it’s accepted, the buyer offers the asking price, expecting the seller to embrace the offer with open arms. But, your client doesn’t. In fact, he’s disappointed because he really wants to sell for quite a bit more than he’s asking and is willing to play the waiting game.

From 2001 to 2006, sellers obtained multiple offers and high selling prices—the result of years of healthy real estate appreciation. This year is different. While it’s true that in most areas prices aren’t dropping, they aren’t rising at nearly last year’s pace either. Unfortunately, some sellers are still pricing their homes for last year’s market. And if that is the case, you need to find out up front if you are dealing with a client who’s unreasonable in his expectations.

See, sometimes we get so desperate (like when the mortgage
payment is due) that we neglect to qualify a lead. We accept sellers who may want to play games. Unreasonable games.

The key component to profitably working with sellers is to
disqualify rigorously. Remember, we’re looking for those who have a
time-frame of at least 60 days or less. You can’t really afford to wait any longer than that.

Use these four questions and you can rapidly single-out the unreasonable
sellers and move on to those who are motivated and reasonable.

1. Why are you selling? Your first order of business as a buyer is to find out the seller’s motivation
2. When do you need to be out of your home? Timing is everything.
3. What did you pay? When the homeowners moved into their house and how much they paid for it are matters of public record, so it’s futile for sellers to try to withhold this information.
4. How much do you owe on the home? Ask this question directly and listen to or watch the response. Someone who balks is a red flag. Someone who is honest may turn out to be an asset. Also, seller financing for those who own their home outright might be an option they may be interested in to help sell the home.