You Don't Have To Give It Away

All you hear lately is how slow the real estate market is. The last people to figure this out are usually sellers. Sometimes I think they live in caves until they are ready to sell. They emerge from the cave with the expectations that they will sell quickly, for top dollar and for a reduced commission. Have you met these sellers?

How do you deal with them? First, don't feed their fantasies. Sellers need to be educated about market time, market price and the value of your real estate marketing services.

How else do you deal with the sellers? This is the hard part but it can be the fun part. You have to become a real estate salesperson and a real estate marketing expert. You have to know what's happening in your market and how to convey the state of the market. As an agent, you have to be able to believe in and sell the value of your service.

Market time, percentage of selling price to listing price, absorption rate and recent appreciation or depreciation of prices are facts you need to know. Once you have a grasp of the factors, they have to be presented in a way that the sellers can see and almost feel the state of the market. Spend some time on preparing charts, graphs or organizing the facts in a manner that is easy to grasp. If you can not get sellers to see where the market is in regards to their property, you will be wasting your time.

Next you have to show the value of your real estate marketing services as a benefit to the sellers. You have to know what you offer and you have to believe in it. If you can figure out what the value of your service is to the seller you won't have to compete on price. This is the time to review your marketing materials, update them and organize them. Your materials plus your presentation should leave no doubt in the sellers mind that you are the best person for the job. If you do your job right, there is no reason to give away commission dollars.

In tough times, people go to quality and they are willing to pay for quality. You have to become the quality agent. You must know what is going on in the market and convey it to the seller. You must then show the seller the value of your service in terms of their needs. If you can't put together a good analysis of the market or don't have a presentation or marketing materials you believe in, it is time to get to work. Your success in real estate marketing depends on those two factors.