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If you are like most real estate agents, you are tired of writing offers that never get accepted….what a waste of time. Of course, writing offers is the first step to a pay check yet it is estimated that only 20% of the time do offers get accepted. In other words, 80% of the offers written in today’s real estate market are rejected…agents never get paid for the work.
A professional real estate agent only has so much time during the day and it is important that they get paid for the time they invest. There are some simple strategies that can dramatically increase your chances of having your offer accepted. Negotiations is a skill as well as a process. Take your time, be thorough and you will be amazed at how many offers can work out.
Follow these simple steps and you will be on the way to your next commisssion check.
1. Explain why your buyer has written the offer the way they have:
Too often, the agent submits an offer that is low and the other agent immediately thinks the buyer is a bottom feeder. As the buyers agent, you cannot afford for the agent to form this opinion early on in the negotiation. If the agent of the seller has a negative feeling about your buyer then they are going to share that with the seller and a deal will never happen. This is probably one of the biggest issues that we have in today’s market.
Here’s what you do…
You send a detailed email along with your offer. In the email, you explain that your buyers are real buyers who are serious about purchasing this property. You mention how the buyers love the way the owner has decorated, kept it in good condition, landscaped or some other compliment. This shows the buyer is sincere and it acknowledges the seller for doing something right. Then proceed to explain how the offer may first appear to be low yet after thorough research of the area, they felt that this was appropriate. Share with the other agent the comparable sales that you and your buyer used to create the offer. When done correctly, the seller will see that the buyer is informed and in most cases the seller will be seeing this evidence for the first time because the listing agent never informed them of the realities of the market.
Do not offend or question the agent or the seller in this email. Your goal is to plead your case and give the agent the ammunition they need to convince the seller to take you serious and give you the best counter possible if not immediate acceptance.
2. Contact the other agent quickly:
Don’t just email the offer and wait for the response. Call the agent immediately after submission of offer and share with them verbally what you just explained in the email. Convince them that your buyer is real…not a shark investor. Let the agent know your buyer conducted extensive research prior to writing the offer and welcome the agent to share any additional information that they feel the buyer may have overlooked. Let the agent know that you will do your best to conclude this sale. I almost forgot, let the other agent know that it is okay if they chose to forward the email you sent to the actual seller. (This is the ultimate goal because this gives you the chance to share the buyers story direct to the seller)
3. Inform the buyer that the offer has been submitted:
After the email is sent and you have had a conversation with the other agent, call your buyer and let them know everything is submitted and you had a great conversation with the other agent. Let them know that you hope to have an answer soon. Remember, buyers get buyers remorse so you must stay in close communication with them so they do not change their minds in the middle of negotiations.
4. Counter Offers:
If the seller has accepted the offer then ignore this yet we all know that there is typically a counter offer in today’s real estate economy. Do not present the counter offer until you have asked the other agent to explain their sellers position so you can explain to the buyer in hopes of offering clarity in the suggestions you will make. Once the agent explains their position, look for evidence in the MLS that you can share and validate that position to your buyer. This will show the buyer that the seller is serious and they will be able to consider a different perspective. We don’t want the buyer to think anything negative about the seller at this time.
Repeat this step as well as Step #1 every time a counter is submitted to either party in the transaction.
The thought behind this strategy is that you want the other agent and the seller to feel that your buyer is a real human, not just some LLC or corporation that is wanting to steal their property. Maybe your buyer is a savvy investor but you still want the seller to want to sell to them. Also, you are not allowed to call the seller and discuss the offer or our opinion of fair market value. Most of the time, the other agent will share your email with their seller. This is the same as talking to the seller. This is your chance to explain your buyers case without violating any rules of ethics.
This strategy will be a real solution for converting more purchase offers to pending contracts. Follow this process every time. If you feel you don’t need to, do it anyhow.
