Advice for Supporting Your Clients Throughout the Buying Process

If you’re a real estate agent, you know it can vary if you’re working with more buyers or more sellers. Lately, I’ve been working with a lot of buyers and although it might be more challenging at times, it is also sooo much fun when great clients turn into great friends!! This goes for ALL my amazing clients of course (sellers/landlords/etc) but recently I’ve closed a few buyer-repped deals and have had the BEST time getting to know and getting close to these families.⁣ Not one was a completely 100% smooth deal but those are far and few between anyways.⁣

Last Sunday I went to deliver some keys to some clients moving into their new house. First of all, the key wasn’t working for the first 5 minutes (which felt like an eternity) and I was sweatinggg bullets while the whole family stood there waiting and watching. I asked one of them to give it a shot and he got it in half a second (how embarrassing lmao). They asked me to stay for a celebratory drink and then did the cutest little champagne toast and we all cheers-ed sitting on the living room floor with their two kids and 6-month-old baby. They were so grateful and it was such a nice feeling and a great reminder of why I love what I do. Their daughter even wrote me the cutest note which I’ve saved in my office. 

So I thought for this week’s post, it would be the perfect time to chat about working with buyers and what you can do to support them throughout the buying process. I have horror stories too so trust me it’s not always positive but I think we have the opportunity to make the process so great for our clients (even when it’s not all smooth sailing) and that’s what we should always aim for. If you have any questions let me know in the comments!

Also, it goes without saying this is a condensed list of tips but some of the most important ones that came to mind!

Keep an Open Dialogue About the Market and Timing Their Buy

A lot of people struggle to want to buy when it’s a “seller’s market” and I get it, no one wants to feel like they’re overpaying. So when I have clients that are intent on waiting for prices to drop, I try to keep a really open dialogue and challenge them a bit by asking them how they’ll know they’ve correctly timed the bottom of the market. This usually results in one of two things:

1. They realize they’ll never truly know when the perfect time to buy is
2. They have a very well-thought-out picture of what their target is 

Having this information helps me determine how to move forward with each individual client. What it truly boils down to is managing their expectations. It’s important to get to know your clients and to be able to read each individual situation so you can do your best work for them (while also knowing their expectations might not be in line with the current market situation and being transparent with them about that always). This of course means you also need to have extensive knowledge of the market, and be able to correctly guide them in the right direction whether that means being able to answer questions about how the financing process works, the comps and values of the neighborhood, being able to analyze the upside/exit of a property, and walking them through everything they can expect to happen during the home-buying process start to finish.

Providing Confidence so They Can Commit to a Home They Love

This is a question I’ve seen a few different times – how to provide confidence so your buyer feels ready to commit. I do think it’s an important piece of the buyer puzzle because your clients are relying on you to show them properties they can confidently make an offer on, however, it’s also very important to never push a buyer into anything or make them feel overly pressured from you. You never want them to feel you’re just trying to get a quick commission and move to your next deal! A good question to ask them is how they would feel if they were to LOSE the property in question to another buyer (and of course, at what PRICE they would be willing to lose it to another buyer) – I find they usually come to their own conclusion, that this helps shape their budget, and then we are able to work backward utilizing the best strategy in order to get the property for them at the best price possible…  Most buyers are usually very grateful for the perspective.

Exclusive Buyer Agreement

To be completely transparent, I don’t use this 100% of the time but do think they should be the industry standard. I always ask new buyer clients if they’re working with any other agents and if they say yes, I let them know that I only work exclusively with buyers and that I’m sure they’re already in good hands. Having this commitment from them and from me, lets everyone know that you’re serious and respect each other’s time, which is a big deal when buying a home.

Be Genuine

Last but definitely not least, be genuine. Truly CARE about the people you’re working with. Ask them questions. Get to know them and their family, even their pets. Their hobbies, favorite places to travel, etc…  Be empathic and try to find a common ground between you and your buyer. It’s all about trust-building, not ass-kissing!

If you’re an agent, what do you do to support your buyers? I’d love to hear from you guys on this one!

xx Farrah