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What Buyers Expect

by James F. McClister

Let’s Talk…or Text…or Email

To find their agent and jump-start the process, our buyers were consistent in doing what felt most comfortable. Their decisions were largely contingent on their preferences, and each expressed contentment with his or her experience. But as they stepped further into the process, more was taken out of their hands, which, while being the goal of hiring an agent, can still be rather stressful if the agent isn’t communicating the way the buyer would prefer. According to NAR, 86 percent of buyers consider good communication skills “very important” for an agent to have. Our buyers agreed.

Buyers A, B and C were united in preferred method: email. “I prefer email because that allows me to respond when it’s convenient for me,” Buyer C admitted.

Buyers A and B also expressed an inclination towards email, but explained their preference, while also being about convenience, was more so dictated by a desire to have a constant, written record of communication with their agents.

“Being a first-time homebuyer,” Buyer A said, “my head was often spinning, and it was nice to be able to read things more than once without asking someone to repeat themselves.”

Buyer A went on to clarify that it wasn’t so important that he be frequently updated by his agent, but that they respond to his inquiries promptly – something 94 percent of buyers agree with, according to NAR.

“I was often contacting my agent on a daily basis, and I liked it that they always got back to me the same day,” he said.

Buyers B and C were more concerned with being updated when the agent had something to share – whether it be a daily market update for B or simply new information for C, who as an international buyer wasn’t coming in with the same foundation of knowledge as the others – but our fourth buyer, Buyer D, who we contacted through Reddit, agreed wholeheartedly with A’s sentiment.

“Sometimes we sent several texts in a day (setting up showings) and sometimes we went days without texting (waiting for replies from sellers),” said D, who is currently in the process of buying a home.

Buyer D prefers text messaging, unlike his counterparts, because, as alluded to above, it’s easy and perfect for quick, pointed conversations. He uses emails for documents and likes larger chunks of information doled out over the phone, but by and large, he said, text is how he likes to connect with his agent.

Communication is important because it sets the tone for the entire buying process, which is why agents should aim to learn their client’s preferred method of communication as soon as possible. But equally as important is knowing what to communicate, and when.

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