Three Things You Might Not Realize You Need To Tell Your Clients

You’ve thoroughly explained the home buying or selling process, gone through the buyers agent or listing contract, gotten all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed on the paperwork, and talked current market conditions, pricing, and mortgage preapproval. You’re ready to hit the ground running and help your new real estate client buy or sell a home. But have you mentioned the following three things it might not have occurred to you that they didn’t already know?

1) Maintain some privacy concerning their purchase or sale.
It may not be an issue of National security but when it comes to real estate loose lips (or keyboards in this digital age) can be costly. Caution your clients against revealing, either in casual conversation or on Facebook, Twitter, etc., that they’ve found a great deal on the house they’re submitting an offer on, or about how anxious they are to sell. Something as simple as posting a link to the listing or saying “I can’t wait to get out of this neighborhood and away from these crazy neighbors/that barking dog/all this traffic” (or whatever the case may be) could wind up killing a deal if the information makes its way to the wrong person.

2) Say yes to every showing (if at all possible.)
Sellers often don’t realize right away that they are in a stiff competition for the attention of potential buyers. A showing right at dinner time, after the kids are normally in bed, or without much notice to get the house ready can be inconvenient, and some homeowners might just figure they can say no and the house hunters will come back another time.

Make sure your client understands that it’s very possible they may not come back. Their time may be limited and this may be the evening devoted to the particular neighborhood, or they might fall in love with and place an offer on another property. In addition, being flexible with making the house available is a first sign that the seller is serious about selling and will be open when negotiating the terms of a transaction.

3) Be ready to make an offer.
Since you never know when you’ll find “the one”, the house you want make an offer on, it is smart to think through what you can spend in advance. It can take a good look at the household budget to determine what is realistic in terms of a monthly mortgage payment as well as other expenses such as property taxes, insurance, HOA dues, and upkeep of the home.

It can also be helpful to compare a few home loan programs with different payment options. Advise your clients against waiting until they’re ready to submit an offer to run the numbers. Otherwise they may run the risk of wasting time deliberating while a competing offer is submitted, having to withdraw a hastily submitted offer down the road when they figure out it’s beyond their means, or worse still, purchasing a home that they can’t afford.