When is a buyer more trouble than they're worth?

[andrzejn]

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

I'm not a realtor. I'm not sure how realtor's get paid (except by commission) or on what this pay is based exactly (selling price of the house they sold?).

But, I've worked with a client base before. Those clients that are fussy and with whom you see no end in sight are the last ones you get to during the day - you check on them as little as possible, not wanting to insight another barrage of endless, needy questions. At least, that's how I felt about them.

I'm picky. My husband is picky. We're not in a rush and we're looking for something specific. I've got a ton of stupid questions and am curious about things other people might forgo.

My question is this: How do you, as a realtor, handle less-than-ideal clients like this? You can be honest, it's okay. Do you charge an extra 'pain the butt' fee? Is the commission based on time spent on the client?

Or did I get it all wrong? Believe me, it's not my intention to be a pain in anyone's butt. I just know I won't be an easy to find a house for.

Thanks!

I don't consider that as difficult buyer. In my opinion you are spending lot of money and want to make sure you purchase the right house.
The difficult buyer is the one who ask for items that I'm not allow to provide, or blames me for things that are out of my control.
For example in our current market (Phoenix) many homes receive multiple offers and selling agent or the bank(seller) do not respond in the amount of time provided in original purchase offer and buyer is blaming buying agent for not knowing where we at with the process even when buyers agent has been unsuccessful in finding answers from sellers representative.

[misplaced1]

I know this is in the real estate professional section but having sold a property on my own I still feel the need to answer here.

I sold a property off c list. I had interaction with a LOT of people. Emailing, marketing, phone calls, photo's, the works. It got nerve racking a few times and frustrating.

So I had an offer from a buyer who asked me to carry. The buyer was "sure he really, really wanted the property". I gave him a verbal ok on the terms. Then I had a cash offer a day later I REALLY wish I had taken. I held up my end of the verbal though and let the buyer have it on terms. It's not a lot of money so the bigger issue is I just want to be paid and be done with the property.

So we went through closing and he is STILL calling me. I gave him over a month till the first payment was due which will be the first of Sept.

So he calls and most often doesn't leave a message. I've stopped picking up most of the time because I don't need the stress any more. He has already asked if he could resell the property and give me a lower payoff if he can get cash. He's called me to tell me that he thinks the house has ghosts.

Now a week before the first payment is due, he's started calling again.

I've developed a while new appreciation for realtors and the anonymity of selling without direct contact with the buyer.

I have an offer in on a house I really want that and the deal appears to be going south because the repairs are so high and right now I'm just not in the mood to play with my buyer.

Reps to realtors!!

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by misplaced1

I know this is in the real estate professional section but having sold a property on my own I still feel the need to answer here.

I sold a property off c list. I had interation with a LOT of people. Emailing, marketing, phone calls, photo's, the works. It got nerve racking a few times and frustrating.

So I had an offer from a buyer who asked me to carry. The buyer was "sure he really, really wanted the property". I gave him a verbal ok on the terms. Then I had a cash offer a day later I REALLY wish I had taken. I held up my end of the verbal though and let the buyer have it on terms. It's not a lot of money so the bigger issue is I just want to be paid and be done with the property.

So we went through closing and he is STILL calling me. I gave him over a month till the first payment was due which will be the first of Sept.

So he calls and most often doesn't leave a message. I've stopped picking up most of the time because I don't need the stress any more. He has already asked if he could resell the property and give me a lower payoff if he can get cash. He's called me to tell me that he thinks the house has ghosts.

Now a week before the first payment is due, he's started calling again.

I've developed a while new appreciation for realtors and the anonymity of selling without direct contact with the buyer.

I have an offer in on a house I really want that and the deal appears to be going south because the repairs are so high and right now I'm just not in the mood to play with my buyer.

Reps to realtors!!

Sorry you had/are having such a bad time of it

And thank you for posting a "third party" comment about the (positive) value of using a Realtor - it means a lot!!

[JillBoBill]

I always wondered how people ever managed to sell a home on their own. Some people can't even sell cars on their own, much less a house.

And, lol, your old house was haunted - hahah.

[trentdejong]

You know that controlling these emotions is extremely important, don’t you?

Here is why it is extremely important to be aware of your customer emotions.

People buy on emotion, and justify their purchases with logic.

Also, people prefer to buy from people they know, like and trust. Period.

It is at the point of first contact, whether it is a cold phone call or e-mail, that you must earn their trust. If you do, you would be able to sell with greater ease having less resistance from your prospects.

How do you do that?

Simple, you start by establishing rapport and showing genuine concern about their problem. Please notice the last word – problem. You have to discover exactly what their emotional problem is.

If you are talking to a buyer, ask her that easy question: What is important to you with regard to buying a property? If you are talking to a seller, ask her: What is important to you with regard to working with an agent on this sale?

You might be tempted to start the usual talk of presenting yourself and your company first. Please DON’T! This is the surefire way of shutting yourself the door for ethically tapping into your customer’s mind.

The above questions would help you to discover your customer’s beliefs and values. Unless the prospect has a favorable “feeling” about your listing and yourself, she would not work with you, because she would simply not trust you.

Once you determine her beliefs and values, however, you would know which of these fundamental emotional hot buttons you can use to earn her trust:

Honesty;
Reciprocity;
Curiosity ;
Greed;
Specificity;
Familiarity;
Simplicity;

Once you earn your customer’s trust you would be able to sell with less effort and less resistance from your customer.

But you already know that, don’t you?

[appoloosa]

Lets see if I can answer this question without being insensitive to all my realtor friends out there, having a Real Estate license since the late 70's I think I've seen a lot of moaning about how long it took to try to find the buyer the right house, only for them to pick up a newspaper and go see a house that just hit the market and without a second thought off they go to work with another realtor they just met and buy. I understand the frustration, but your guilty of causing that scenario by taking the buyer to see only the listings that you will make the most commission on "your own listings" give your buyers multiple listings to look at, let them feel free to call you 1st if they find anything on their own, don't act like they are stabbing you in the back because they found a for sale by owner by themselves, offer to help to put the sale together for them, basically don't act like a used car salesman that only wants you to buy on his lot and maybe, just maybe they will use your services again and refer you to others. Just a thought.

[JosephCampbell]

Originally Posted by BootStrapTX

Are you familiar with Phoenix? If so then you probably have good reasons for being interested in so many areas so far apart. The important thing here is to figure out your relationship with the city and which of these areas meet those needs to narrow things down a bit. Look for a Realtor who has a good overview of the city who can help you find your place in it (and not steer you into their niche).

As for the time, given the current state of AZ real estate, I don't think a couple of hours delay here or there is going to break any deals given the current market.

Hi. I used to live in Scottsdale. I moved because of the heat, but loved living there otherwise. When we bought our home, we used two separate realtors.
Typically in Phoenix, because the land mass is SO large, the realtors only work a certain part of town. For example, one may only work the west valley and another will only work the east valley. Some concentrate only on the outer fringes.
I would be honest and let them know you are looking in several different areas and working with more than one realtor. If they are honest, they won't mind because they KNOW how far apart and different each area is.
Good luck to you, Phoenix and the surrounding areas are beautiful, well kept and convenient to everything!