How Real Estate Agents Can Miss The Mark When Making Assumptions

Whether you are a newer agent, or a veteran agent, you may find yourself thinking the same thing over and over again about your clients and placing them into little “boxes” based on your assumptions. Don’t do it!

For newer agents, it’s easy to step right out of the training and the licensing courses and then listen to what the so-called experts say will work and what the more experienced agents they come across may spout.

For the veterans, it’s easy to become cynical and jaded. You’ve dealt with a lot of clients, both buyers and sellers and you’ve seen “it all.” But guess what? There is no “one size fits all” in real estate.

Every buyer is different. Every buyer will come to you with different credit challenges and a different income history. And every buyer will place something different on top of their house hunting wish list. Some will want new, light, airy. Others want a fixer-upper. Some buyers say they want one thing…and then as you go along and show them homes, you realize that they are actually looking for something different.

If you make assumptions about buyers and their needs, then you’re missing out. You are missing out on making a personal connection with that client. You have already put them in that little box in your mind. You’ve already slapped them with a label. So how can you really get to know your client when you’ve got them all figured out on your own?

Sellers are another story. The reasons they need to sell might be different than what you are initially led to believe. And those reasons may affect how you market their home or approach your dealings with a particular seller. If you assume why your seller is placing his home on the market you may present a marketing plan that is all wrong for that property. Or you may not be providing your seller the service she expects from you.

Imagine a seller who tells you she is having money troubles and needs to sell her home. You assume that you have some time, but what you don’t realize (and what your client has failed to tell you) is that the home is about to go into foreclosure. Your timeframe for selling that home has just kicked into overdrive. If you had asked more questions instead of making assumptions you could have gone into the listing knowing full well what you were dealing with.

Think about it. Even if you’ve closed 100 transactions, while some of those transactions may have similar aspects, every single one had its own specific differences. No two transactions in real estate are alike. If you want to make one assumption when working your real estate business, then make the assumption that every real estate client has different needs and every real estate transaction will progress differently. Then you’ll be ready for anything that comes your way!

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

Tina McAllister is a ghostwriter for busy professionals and the author of The WAHM Agent. You can find more tips on how to work with real estate clients and market yourself as a top-notch real estate agent here.

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