THE GOT-A-BUYER TRAP

How sellers resist a common bait.

by Neil Jenman

READING TIME: Apx 6 minutes

If you live in anything but a tent anywhere in Australia, you get “junk mail” from real estate agents.

Their common headline is “BUYERS WAITING!!”

And these buyers are ready to pay you a whopping price.

If you respond to these leaflets, here’s what happens: Within minutes of being in your home, agents will mention “marketing.”

They will say you “need marketing to find buyers.” That’s rubbish. It’s a pitch to fleece thousands of dollars from you. All for two nefarious purposes.

First, most agents want to promote themselves at your expense. Second, they use “marketing” (paid by you) to attract more home-sellers, hopefully as gullible as you.

GIVE IT SOME THOUGHT

You need to Think (with a capital T). Lack of thought is why home-sellers throw-away tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

When selling your home, it’s important to find a good agent and use the best method of sale. Mistakes in these areas – agent and method – is how sellers lose money.

From the moment you meet them, most agents have one goal: to sign you up to an exclusive selling agreement. Once signed-up, you are locked up. At the agent’s mercy.

Don’t think you can resist all agents. That’s what wounded sellers thought. No one likes to feel – or worse, admit – an agent stung them, and that’s why home-sellers seldom complain. It makes them look stupid.

How do normally intelligent home-owners get caught by people they’d never let collect their children from school – or invite for dinner?

It’s simple. They fall for a slick line.

“WOW, HAVE WE GOT A BUYER FOR YOU!!”

A common way that agents catch sellers is with the ‘got-a-buyer’ lure.

But consider an obvious fact: When sellers meet agents who put a ‘BUYERS WAITING’ flyer in their letterbox, agents want money to find buyers.

Didn’t the flyer say: ‘BUYERS WAITING’?

Sellers should look at the agent and ask: “Why do you want our money to find buyers if you already have buyers?”

And, before you get lured by another slick statement such as, “We need to widen our net to find lots of buyers,” remember this: You only need one buyer.

Even if you are silly enough or naïve enough or gullible enough – or you adore agents and you like to give them your money to promote their face and find more [chump] sellers like you – shouldn’t you first meet buyers already known to the agents?

Of course.

But that won’t let an agent to use your money to promote themselves and attract more sellers.

Will you be okay with that?

Can you live without an agent charging you thousands of dollars for needless advertising?

If yes, here’s what to do.

SHOW ME THE BUYER!

Tell the agent to sort through their ‘bank of buyers’ and bring candidates to your home.

Do not sign anything until the agent shows you these buyers.

Oh, but the agent says you must first sign their agreement. That’s not strictly true; however, here’s another suggestion.

Sign-up for two days.

No more than a week.

Forget this three-or-four months nonsense. Why does an agent with “buyers waiting” need months to contact buyers, arrange an inspection and negotiate a decent price?

So, before you agree to spend thousands of dollars looking for “more buyers,” you should check out the ‘waiting buyers’?

If any of these ‘waiting buyers’ offer you a great price now, you will save money and time instead of a costly “marketing campaign.”

If the agent says: “That’s an ‘off-market’ sale and you won’t get the best price,” that’s more nonsense. Good negotiators get great prices without massive advertising costs. Indeed, many often get far more.

Try it. What’s the worst that can happen? Maybe you’ll embarrass an agent who didn’t have any “buyers waiting.” So what? Better than hiring the rogue.

HOW SELLERS GET CAUGHT WHEN CHOOSING AGENTS

Here’s another danger for home-sellers: Let’s say you have met a few agents. You are taking time to THINK.

Suddenly, one agent says: “We have a couple of buyers looking for a home like yours. Would you be okay if I show them now to see what they think?”

Be careful: This “got a buyer” trick traps many sellers. If you sign up, the buyers disappear, and you’re stuck with a dirty rotten agent for months. It’s so frustrating.

But what if they really do have a buyer? What if the agent is a good agent?

Well sure, if there is no obligation and you do not sign anything, the agent can maybe bring a couple of buyers for a quick look.

But if the agent suddenly whips out a multi-page Selling Agreement (contract) – full of tiny fine print – and they want you to sign up for months, it’s a rort. Ditch that agent, fast. They are the wrong agent.

Before you find the right buyer for your home, find the right agent.

If you can’t find the right agent, you should consider selling without an agent. Check it out. It’s easier than you think.

Whatever you do, however, do not fall for the “GOT A BUYER” lure and commit yourself for thousands of dollars in advertising costs and sign-up for several months.

If agents say they have “got a buyer,” you say: “SHOW US YOUR BUYER!”

If a buyer wants to buy your home for a whopping price today, you will save a lot of hassle. And money.

The only thing you won’t do, of course, is let agents promote themselves at your expense. You won’t become a patsy. You will be in control. Not the agents.

If you’re okay with that, go for it. You’ll be a smart and successful home-seller. Good on you.

***********************

FOOTNOTE: Why not consider selling yourself? At the very least, check it out – especially if you can’t find a good agent. Seriously, if every agent asks you for money to advertise your home to find buyers, what are they doing that you can’t do? Surely you can place an ad on-line. Of course.

If you’d like a copy of a book that shows you how to sell your home without an agent, please click here. No charge and no obligation.

If you succeed, we will still not charge you.

So, what do we get out of it? Ever heard of “job satisfaction?” Some people in the real estate world put your interests first. At Jenman Support, we are those people.

Thank you for reading our article.

******************

To comment on this article, please click here.

To contact us, please click here.

To follow Neil on Twitter, please click here.

To visit our Facebook page, please click here.

To read more Articles, please click here.

******************