Every buyer customer we have comes with a different set of expectations, personalities and understanding of real estate. Some customers are married, some are single, some have a trusted advisor, some are first time investors or savvy investors but what they all have in common is their perspective of the market and their perspective of how things should go. Understanding the type of customer(s) we are working with is paramount to fulfilling or exceeding expectations. Secondly, after getting to know our customer(s) we spend time setting proper expectations and making sure our customer(s) is informed of the true market to include if it is a seller’s or buyer’s market.
Summer 2018 Perspective- The last few years has certainly been a seller’s market. With the shortage of supply on the MLS it has been difficult to strike a good buyer deal. The transaction volume and this idea that buyers are missing out is reminiscent of 2006. We have been strongly urging our buyers to rent for a year or two or only offer on homes on the market for 90 days or more with the mindset that if we do not hit our strike price to walk away.
In two scenarios this summer we have worked with buyers willing to implement our strategy where it paid huge dividends. We had clients looking the Desert Ridge area and they made a $950,000 offer on a home that was listed for $1,100,000 in August 2017. The sellers countered and at our urging the buyers walked away. About three weeks later the seller’s agent reached back out to us to accept our offer. Our buyers were shocked and we felt we did a great job of executing on our strategy. We also sold our clients home for a discounted fee since we represented them on this transaction.
Just this month we had a similar scenario unfold. We had a physician customer and his wife anxious to buy a home because they are due with a baby later this year. They were interested in a property in Desert Ridge as well and the property was listed initially at $570,000 a bit below market. We did some research to see that the property last sold in October 2014 for $495,000. We determined that the seller had not done any improvements to the home but they wanted a $75,000 profit. We encouraged our customers to offer $515,000. The sellers countered and we encouraged our clients to walk away which they did. About a week later the sellers came back to us and agreed to $525,000. Our clients again were shocked and elated that our strategy worked.
Take away- Although buying a residential property can take on an emotional undertone it is generally the biggest purchase a customer will make. We stress that the emotion must be removed from the process and to view the home as an investment that could provide financial freedom. Although it is a difficult concept for some to accept on a residential purchase the ability to walk away is a very powerful negotiating tool.