Stage 4 – Looking for Properties/While the Listing is on the Market 

Regardless of how often the client says they wish to be contacted, communication should escalate now, if it hasn’t already; showings will be scheduled and possible open houses will be discussed, for both buyers and sellers.

Sellers need to have notice to prepare the home on the day of a showing or open house. Buyers need advance notice, too – for instance, send them a tour schedule a day before looking at properties, and after each showing, talk to the client about what they liked and didn’t like. This will strengthen your bond and also help develop an understanding of what the client is looking for.

To help sellers analyze feedback as their home is on the market, Brahm also presents the client with hard copies that report the number of showings, Internet search results and Realtor feedback.

LaFido has seen many agents selling property fall out of touch with their clients at this stage. “The No. 1 complaint for listing agents is that they list a home and [clients] never hear from them again,” he says. “Constant communication is important.”

Stage 5 – The Negotiating Phase/Sale

Continuous communications are needed through the negotiation and sale; agents should discuss all aspects of an offer or acceptance. When agents know where their clients stand on earnest money, the closing date, the mortgage pre-approval, down payment, any contingencies and repairs, etc., they will be empowered to negotiate more effectively.

When a deal is reached, the sale phase begins. By this phase, sellers should have been made fully aware of what to expect from an inspection and appraisal and how to realistically handle it. However, sometimes this can still be tricky on both sides.

“Emotions always are involved – this is a huge purchase,” LaFido says. “But it’s important to use stories and analogies to show them the big picture, that what they’re upset about is small in comparison, and to empathize with them but take the emotion out of what’s going on.”

For example, LaFido once represented a seller client where the buyer wanted the seller to pay for $750 in repair costs. His seller was agitated about this demand, but LaFido knew that, compared to the property taxes, assessments and other costs his seller would need to keep paying if the deal fell through, $750 was a small price to pay. It also helps if you can use an anecdote to empathize, as LaFido did.

“I’ve bought and sold enough homes to know what will come of certain actions,” he says. “You need to acknowledge their frustration, but also talk to them about the big picture. When I sold my own property, I had to pay $2,000 in repair costs. I told my sellers this and in comparison to my experience, along with the realization that paying property taxes and other costs would be more expensive, they were willing to pay $750.”

When clients are ready to close, great agents step up their communication even more. O’Neill, who works with many first-time buyers, assists his clients at this stage by opening up his network of real estate professionals to them, which can cause fewer headaches and allow him to effectively manage the details.

“I’m full service,” he says. “Usually clients are using one of my lawyers, they are using one of my mortgage brokers, my insurance guy, my inspector and my contractors. I get every single person in line for them.”