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Counseling Buyers April '08 Click on a link below for the entire article.
Success Tip Counseling Buyers at the Beginning  Successful projects begin with a plan, but don’t depend on your buyers—especially first time home buyers—to have one. Planning their home search is your leadership role.Understand your buyers’ needs, wants, and priorities. You’d eventually sort out your buyers’ preferences by slogging through a plethora of properties with them. But you’ll risk frustrating them, as well as demonstrating that you don’t get it. Instead, ask your buyers up front about their needs and wants. (If you’d like a time-proven questionnaire for that, click here for the PDF.) Educate your buyers about the buying process. If cooperative sales are common in your market, explain that to first time buyers. Otherwise, they might not understand why you are showing them your competitor’s listings. You should also explain the transaction process, and how the purchase agreement protects their interests. If they see the purchase agreement in a positive light up front, they won’t flinch when you introduce it later after they find a house they like. Discussing a few transaction details also reminds them that their goal is to purchase a property, not merely shop around. Motivate your buyers to reach their real estate goals. Facing a higher monthly housing cost spoils some of the fun of buying a house. Most buyers will agree in principle that real estate is a great long-term investment, but they still have to make those monthly payments. To reduce this de-motivator, run comparison numbers for their expected length of ownership. A good “rent versus buy” calculator can be found at FinlCalc.com (Choose ConsumerCalcs>Home & Mortgage>Should I rent or buy a home?) Engage your buyers in an exclusive working relationship. The benefit to you is obvious: your chances of earning a commission will be enhanced if the buyers agree to work exclusively with you. But buyers can’t be expected to be concerned about what’s good for you. They will, however, agree to work exclusively after you’ve answered their two implicit questions:
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