Like a Formula 1 car race, the green flag has dropped on the real estate market and the race to the checkered flag of property acquisition has begun. If you represent a client on the listing side, you control the lights, you set the time, and you record the cars on each lap. If you represent a client on the buying side, you are steering, maneuvering, anticipating, and guiding your driver around mishaps and potential crashes on the track. Either way, and no matter how many people cheer or jeer, the race is always exciting to watch. And as a REALTOR®, fully immersed in the speed of today’s market, the race can definitely offer an unparalleled surge of adrenaline. However, getting too caught up in the energy can prove perilous in many circumstances, so a REALTOR® must navigate and find some measure of control to ensure that a client is best served in the battle for first place.
Here are some easy tips to follow.
First and foremost, over research your client’s potential interests, but also keep a cognitive eye on the fluctuating market. With so many changes and price surprises on a daily basis, it is of paramount importance that you study your market as much as you study your client’s wish list. Knowing all aspects of the market will offer your client a holistic perspective and protect them from buyer’s remorse, should they bid beyond their budget.
27.09.2020. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 10, Russian Grand Prix, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Russia, Race Day.
Photo credit should read: XPB/Press Association Images.
Secondly, temper your frustration. If, as a REALTOR®, you are expressing frustration over the market, your client is probably experiencing the same to the exponent ten. Remember, you are representing their interests so you want to ensure they remain interested. I cannot express enough how many times I have seen a REALTOR®’s attitude trickle down to completely discourage and eliminate a client’s interest. It happens all of the time. Alongside this unprofessional conduct, disparaging other REALTOR®s in the business should be a “no no” , as you are insulting yourself and the profession in the process, creating a lose-lose situation.
Finally, be a paperwork ninja. In the hustle and bustle of creating a deal, paperwork is always the innocent bystander affected by consequential shrapnel. Keep your paperwork legally clean and precise. In doing so, you implicitly display your professionalism in the heat of battle, which more often than not, determines the relieved winner at the end of the race.
