Being a property agent means having to manage multiple stakeholders most of the time. For listing agents, their major stakeholders are the property sellers whom they represent, and listing agents’ priority is to sell a listing in its seller’s best interest. On the other hand, potential buyers are the major stakeholders for selling agents, whose priority is to find the next best home in the right neighborhood for buyers and negotiate on their behalf.
Considering the different priorities, it is best to have two separate teams of listing agents and selling agents to avoid conflict of interests. However, a number of property agencies are not sizable enough to operate in this structure. Many property agents in smaller companies wear multiple hats and represent both the seller and the potential buyers of a property. This practice usually involves specific regulations and requires written acknowledgment from both seller and buyer sides. Apart from the legal perspectives, the agents must be able to balance the relationships and the interests of both sides.
If you work directly with the property sellers, make sure to understand seller insights so you can delight them and know how to manage them. A satisfied seller, like a customer, can become a loyal partner who returns to you for future quality listings and provide referrals.
Have Seller’s Interests at Heart
Serving customers or clients’ best interests is the core of any sales and brokerage business. From property sellers’ perspective, they certainly want to see their house being sold fast and at the best price. While that is not always the case, knowing the property inside out will help agents align anticipation and reality. Here are a couple of reminders:
Throughout inspection: Regardless of the trust level, always check the inventory throughout since the beginning. This is for the agency to provide the most precise valuation and to have full transparency when marketing it to potential buyers or selling agents. Keep in mind that inspection is not an act of distrust, but a professional examination to help the seller prevent unnecessary disputes later.
Honest valuation: One common challenge in the property valuation process is the pressure to favor the property owners with a better price, and the need to reflect real market values. It is advised to choose the latter whenever possible because buyers generally perform comparative price analysis on their end, too.
Manage Seller’s Expectation
It is crucial for agents to find out the reason behind selling the property. People who decide to put their house on the market due to an urgent relocation or a financial need have different paces and expectations compared to those selling their unattended second home. Once you have gained seller’s insights, be aware of:
Emotional selling: Selling a house can be an emotional process , especially if it involves first-time sellers. Overpricing, taking offense from lower offers, or easily giving in are among the signs of emotions. Property agents add significant value in helping sellers stay on the ground and be the buffer for chasing and dealing with negotiations and other complications.
Constant communication: Providing regular seller reports helps a lot in managing sellers. The report should contain the number of leads, viewing appointments, and positive and negative comments from the leads. Such visibility keeps sellers updated about the agent’s effort and prospects’ thoughts on the property. This comes in handy when a property has been on the market longer than expected and the agent needs to negotiate the price or other terms with the seller.
Go The Extra Mile
There is nothing wrong with doing a little extra to delight the clients. Since the agent knows the sellers’ needs and expectations, it is wise to offer them discounted or complimentary listing marketing services on top of the inclusive plan, e.g., property video production, paid social media ads, local influencer marketing, etc. Not only does it help increase the deal potential, but it also shows the sellers that they are valued.
Another important tactic is home staging, which presents the best possible version of the house to impress the potential buyers and help them imagine the living experience. Home staging does not have to involve expensive decoration but focuses more on tidying and depersonalizing the space, especially the living room, master bedroom, and kitchen. With this extra effort, 31% of the surveyed listing agents stated that the home staging greatly shortened the listings’ time in the market.
Make Use of CRM System to Enhance Seller Relationships
While there are endless ways to delight the sellers and build relationships with them, some agencies focus on nurturing the relationship with potential buyers only. An effective CRM system should recognize the fact that property sellers are as important and complicated as buyers and provide insightful features to support sellers’ engagement.
Property Raptor is the state-of-art CRM software for real estate agents and agencies. We provide the most agile, end-to-end integrated real estate solution that supports agents in creating lifelong relationships with both seller and buyer clients. Ready for a change Book a tour to see what an agent’s dream-come-true software looks like!
