People know when they live in a cluttered home or if work needs to be done. They just don’t want to do it and especially when there gonna sell but that is exactly when to do it and can mean the difference from selling sooner better price or months/years later for less.

Lost clients from “truth” issues:

I once listed a house and the woman’s husband was literally dying in the room. On oxygen. This was a while back when people had a one time right to sell without capital gain.

After I listed the house I found out she was within six months of attaining that age. I also found out they had a zero cost basis.

I told her to talk to her attorney because her husband’s share of the house would get a stepped up basis to date of death value, and if she waited six months she would have no capital gain at all. I told her to check that with her attorney.

She thanked me and I cancelled the listing. One of her sons bought the house after she had no capital gains, with the money he received from his father’s estate. Everybody happy.

Another client lost from truth:

I listed the home of a young couple with small children where the husband had just lost his job. They couldn’t afford the payments. I asked them if they had told their parents. They said they were embarassed to tell them. I told them they should tell the parents before their house had an offer. The parents helped them out, I cancelled the listing, and he got another job and they kept their home.

So Carrie, I have not lost a customer by telling them the truth about what they needed to do to get their home ready. I often pitch in and do a lot of it myself, so that makes the news easier to take.

Those are not really lost clients in the sense you are asking. In 2007 I told two buyers that they should rent and not buy because they were planning to move out of State within two years. They rented instead of buying. But I don’t think that fits the description of a “lost” client. I did show them several homes on a few different occasions. But sometimes it just takes that long for them to open up and tell me their plans.

I find that by telling them the truth, they eventually also tell me the truth. It doesn’t happen in the first hour of meeting them, most times.

Have you ever lost customer after the truth came out because they decide not to proceed with their unrealistic expectation? For example customer won’t be able to find what they want at their price range, or a property won’t be able to sell for what customer expects, so they choose to keep the property.

As a home owner, I always want to truth, about my house and about the market, that way I can decide what to do without wasting everyone’s time. But I always thought that’s very selfish of me because I might end up not selling/buying, which cost the agent’s sell. It’s nice to know some agent prefer to tell the truth as well, even though the truth can be as painful as the 360 mirror in WhatNotToWear

Carrie

These were 80s dark oak cabinets with darkened brass hinges and shiney brushed nickel knobs. All knobs. No handles. Nothing else anywhere was brushed nickel, and there were so many of them they looked like polka dots.

Sometimes you can drop a little, under a price tier, like $415,000 to $399,999, and improve condition at the same time. But after that, people have to be patient. Quick one week sales are few and far between these days.

It’s like “the good old days”. You have to be creative, patient and pay close attention to the cues. Dropping price is often needed, but simply saying drop the price is the easy way out.

We’re back to checking feedback in terms of did they buy anything? If not, then lots are still just looking, and dropping price is a fool’s game.