Sealing the Deal – Tips for Preparing Your Client to Close

Your client needs to be happy! The real estate business thrives off of repeat and referral business. The more challenges a client runs into when you represent them in a closing, the less likely they will be to return to you and they may even tell their friends/family about their unsatisfying experience.

What do you think is the best way to seal the deal and offer your client the smoothest closing? It seems, when representing a buyer, that there are 3 distinct stages to the buying process to which you are tasked with:

●      Helping the buyer find the house 

●      Getting the offer negotiated

●      Closing the deal

Those are the 3 distinct segments involved in sealing the deal and each stage represents different challenges. Here are our top tips for preparing your client for a smooth closing.

1.   Helping the buyer find the house.

●      Listen to your client and what is important to them – this seems obvious but we mean really listen. Learn about their family and what they look for in a neighbourhood, not just a home.

●      Research – come up with some really great options for them to see but check each before presenting them to ensure that there isn’t already an offer or that the property is still on the market. There is nothing more disappointing for a consumer than to fall in love with a listing only to find out it is not available.

2.  Getting this offer negotiated

●      Leverage technology and electronic capabilities to reduce the “paper” back and forth and unnecessary meetings that often occur when negotiating paper-based offers by fax and even email.

3.  Closing the deal

●      Once the offer is all signed off – you know the deal is not closed. You are going to have to align your client with the right professionals to ensure the deal closes. Crucial relationships include: mortgage broker, home inspector, real estate lawyer, home insurance broker, etc…

When it comes to a closing, it will only be as smooth as how aligned your resources are. Strong relationships with other competent parties to a real estate transaction will enable you to be in the loop in case challenges come up, such as an issue on inspection, with the mortgage financing, etc…

If you want to seal the deal, then it is important to have contingencies, tools and resources in place to not only help your client find the home of their dreams, but also to uncover the information relevant to your client and address any hiccups that could occur.

GeoWarehouse has you covered. For more please visit www.geowarehouse.ca

If a Dr. Can X-Ray a Patient, Why Can’t You X-Ray Your Client?

If you are sick and it is something that is not visible to the eye, like a broken bone for example, the doctor may give you an x-ray, CAT scan or even an MRI to identify the problem and fix it.

As a real estate sales professional you too can figuratively x-ray your client. While x-rays administered by doctors are usually taken after a medical issue, you can x-ray your client at any time. In fact the sooner you x-ray your client, the better.

If you haven’t yet connected the dots, when we reference x-ray we mean conducting due diligence. Performing due diligence helps you to identify if your customer or the house that they are buying has an issue – almost an illness that may or may not be visible right away.

• House related example – a house that has a previously undischarged mortgage on title is an illness that can be cured with proof that the mortgage was discharged. An example of a terminal illness on a property may be a lien that is unresolved that consumes all equity in the home leaving no money to cover your closing.
• Borrower related example – a customer who approaches you to list a home where it is later discovered that someone else is on title who refuses to sign – this, too, would be a major issue!

Performing a virtual x-ray to complete due diligence on file is one of the best ways to eliminate the chance of any surprises popping up on your deal later. You want to make sure you perform searches to learn:

• Who the legal homeowners are.
• How many mortgages are registered against the property.
• What the sales history on the property is.
• What comparable sales are in the neighbourhood, and more…

When is the right time to perform due diligence – we think right at the point where you engage your client. Time is money and performing due diligence at the point of engagement ensures you identify the issues from day one – and hey, it may be that something turns up on your searches that the client can resolve. Now you can bring it to their attention and they have enough time to resolve it. Also, if the deal is not going to close because of the information you discover, then at least you find that out before you have started financially investing in a listing or helping a buyer find a home.

Don’t let a deal go astray – stop problems before they become issues. Use GeoWarehouse to conduct due diligence. Check out www.geowarehouse.ca. 

Sealing the Deal – Tips for Preparing Your Client to Close

Your client needs to be happy! The real estate business thrives off of repeat and referral business. The more challenges a client runs into when you represent them in a closing, the less likely they will be to return to you and they may even tell their friends/family about their unsatisfying experience.

What do you think is the best way to seal the deal and offer your client the smoothest closing? It seems, when representing a buyer, that there are 3 distinct stages to the buying process to which you are tasked with:

• Helping the buyer find the house 
• Getting the offer negotiated
• Closing the deal

Those are the 3 distinct segments involved in sealing the deal and each stage represents different challenges. Here are our top tips for preparing your client for a smooth closing.

Helping the buyer find the house

• Listen to your client and what is important to them – this seems obvious but we mean really listen. Learn about their family and what they look for in a neighbourhood, not just a home.
• Research – come up with some really great options for them to see but check each before presenting them to ensure that there isn’t already an offer or that the property is still on the market. There is nothing more disappointing for a consumer than to fall in love with a listing only to find out it is not available.

Getting this offer negotiated

• Leverage technology and electronic capabilities to reduce the “paper” back and forth and unnecessary meetings that often occur when negotiating paper-based offers by fax and even email.

Closing the deal

• Once the offer is all signed off – you know the deal is not closed. You are going to have to align your client with the right professionals to ensure the deal closes. Crucial relationships include: mortgage broker, home inspector, real estate lawyer, home insurance broker, etc…

When it comes to a closing, it will only be as smooth as how aligned your resources are. Strong relationships with other competent parties to a real estate transaction will enable you to be in the loop in case challenges come up, such as an issue on inspection, with the mortgage financing, etc…

If you want to seal the deal, then it is important to have contingencies, tools and resources in place to not only help your client find the home of their dreams, but also to uncover the information relevant to your client and address any hiccups that could occur.

GeoWarehouse has you covered. For more please visit www.geowarehouse.ca.

Tools = Brand? Yes, it is True!

It is natural when thinking of branding to immediately think of your logo, or how one might visually recognize you. When it comes to branding, a lot of companies put a great deal of focus into consistent brand guidelines, colours, fonts, styling, imagery, etc… to create recognition of the brand. Some of the big real estate brokerages are great examples of a significant investment in branding. That aspect of branding though deals with visual branding – but what about perception of your brand as a professional?

What do you want to be known for?

•             Education and experiences?

•             Professionalism?

•             Knowledge of a particular area?

Aren’t these all common sense? The real estate industry is extremely competitive and to rise above the pack one must have an edge and something about them that creates a draw.

Millennials represent a large window of time (2nd largest to Baby Boomers) with birthdates spanning from 1980-2000. That makes our youngest millennials around 15 years old and our oldest around 35 years old. In the next 15 years, millennials will not only dominate the workforce but will also represent your buyers and your competition (whether you are a millennial or not).

The Globe and Mail recently released an article about Gen Y characteristics in the workplace, which actually ties in nicely with why your tools impact the perception of you. Gen Y is the most educated and diverse generation in history. Millennials represent 1/3 of Canada’s population, or 12 million people, and by 2028 will represent roughly 75% of the workforce: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/the-future-of-work/the-six-ways-generation-y-will-transform-the-workplace/article9615027/.

This is a large market that should be considered when planning how you want your brand to be perceived. Millennials are impressed by technology, have no problem learning new technology and incorporating it into their daily lives. Fast multitaskers, they are attuned to their mobile devices, using their tablets and computers to perform most daily tasks, and many expect the same from the people/companies they do business with.

What do you think a millennial thinks when their real estate sales professional says that they need to drive back to the office to fax out offers? Or when their real estate sales professional shows up with a handful of paper? It is a new world and no matter the generation you are in, it is important to embrace technology and tools, especially apps and mobile technology, to do more for your clients and to be more relatable to a client who may be more technically savvy than you.

The more you can do to be more digitally accessible, the more you will become known for and increase the perception that your brand is one that is connected and up to date on current technology!!

GeoWarehouse provides the tools to make you the expert. For more about doing more, please visit www.geowarehouse.ca or call 1-866-237-5937.