Q: What effective approaches have you used working with sellers who feel they can do everything better themselves, including marketing their home?
There are some people I cant help, especially those who [think they] know everything and feel that my 37 years of experience means nothing. There are too many nice people who need and want my services. My job, every working day, is finding them and winnowing out the ones I dont want so I can focus on the ones I do.
Eric Reusch, CRS, Bunbury & Associates, Madison, Wisconsin
I ask them politely, How many houses have you sold? Usually only one or two
I then ask them, Well, let me ask you. If you needed an appendectomy, would you rather have a person who has performed one or two, or a doctor who has performed 1,000 appendectomies? It kind of breaks the ice and most of the time they get it.
Lane Mabray, CRS, RE/MAX Westside REALTORS®, Houson, Texas
Sometimes sellers need a taste of what we experience every day. I have let them write their own ads, paid to place them where the ads should be, and I make sure that a lot of their verbiage regarding what they like best in their home is inside the MLS listing, too. It is a small bit of control for them that often works!
Barbara Avery, CRS, RE/MAX Northwest REALTORS®, Kirkland, Washington
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