Showing Instructions and Winning Offers

Winning an offer for your buyer has a lot to do with you and your broker practices.

Imagine this.
You are about to represent your client in a multiple offer situation.
The house is priced at $800,000. Your client fully trusts you to do your best work, be strategic and help them win their new home.

What they don’t know

What your buyer client doesn’t know is that your strategic best work starts with how you handle yourself in the marketplace.

Your reputation in the field directly impacts your client’s success.

Ready for a few tips to set you and your client up for success?

These aren’t hard but they are frequently overlooked and under-utilized. They make a big difference in how you are perceived in our industry. So, please do yourself a favor and put them into your practice.

If there are showing instructions for a listing, follow them.As the buyer’s broker, be sure you are clear about best times of day the property will be shown. Especially if the family is still living in the home.

1. From the listing broker’s point of view

When a listing broker has a few offers for clients to review, be sure your behavior as the prospective buyer’s broker doesn’t stick out in the wrong way.  Don’t be the broker who didn’t follow the showing instructions and mistakenly walked in on the listing agent’s clients having a dinner party. That listing agent won’t be enthused about working with you on a transaction.

A listing agent spends time and effort to give clear details in those showing instructions. Have the courtesy to read, follow and respect them. If the directions are unclear, ask succinct questions to get the answers you need about that property.

2. Leave it how you found it.

Once you’re inside the house and showing it, be sure and careful to leave it the same way you found it.  If the lights are on, leave them on. If it says to make sure the doors are locked, do that.  However you found the house, leave it the same way.

3. If there are home owners there in the house when you show it, befriend them.

The sellers will be the ones deciding on whether or not your clients win. It may seem odd, but many brokers treat the owners or tenants strangely and that won’t serve you, or your clients, at all.

4. Follow up after the showing.

I know we get a lot of requests for feedback but when you want it as a listing agent, you get mad at others not responding.  Be the agent who always responds to showing feedback.

Lastly, the way you handle all this either sets up your clients for success in this market or it severely handicaps them unbeknownst to them.  Stand out by doing these few simple things and it will benefit you and your clients.

Any surprises in these tips? Any of them seem unreasonable or outrageous?

They aren’t. But by taking a little time and care, these under-utilized suggestions can make a big impact regarding winning more offers for your buyer clients, especially in this competitive Seattle market.