ONE OF THE BIGGEST MISTAKES THE MAJORITY OF SELLERS MAKE IT IS FALLING FOR SALES TACTICS AND TRAPS. SOME COMMON ONES ARE;
- I can sell your home for the highest price! Fantastic, where do I sign? This is a common script that agents will use. There’s over 3,000 agents in Ottawa, I’m sure if all 3,000 get a chance to list and sell your home, only one would come out with the highest price and I doubt it’s whoever just told you they can sell your home for the highest price… You want to find an agent that can get you the price you are both agreeable too, and that can hopefully over deliver on the asking price, by getting you an over ask offer. There are a lot of fluctuating changes at any time in Real Estate, and these factors will help determine the correct listing price to sell your home. You also want to avoid listing your home for too much, as it may sit stale on the market, just to warrant a future price reductions, consequently selling for less in way more time.
- I sell more homes than anyone else in Orleans or in the Ottawa region! Are you sure about that? Sales people who tell you that they sell more homes than anyone else are normally using bias statistics to deceive you. Here are a few examples of tactics they may use; they will show you a statistic or an award showing that they are number 1! Number 1 for what? For their whole company globally? nationally? regionally? for their brokerage? for their team? (Some brokerages have less than 5 employees, it is not hard to be number 1). Then ask yourself the question, if they are selling the most homes in Orleans or Ottawa, how will they be able to best serve me? Are they just working on volume, and want to sell as many homes as possible as quickly as possible for the lowest price possible? Be careful some of the “biggest” names in the region, will typically meet you to list your home and once the papers are signed, they’ll pass you on to someone else that will do all the work and not who you wanted to hire in the first place!
- I can save you commission! Run! These salespeople might be discount brokerages and work on volume. They sometimes have to sell 5 times the amount of homes just to be able to break even. A scheme that they might use is that they will explain how they can save you commission and offer the same level of expertise, knowledge and care as a regular brokerage but at a discounted rate. Afterwards they will go through their sales pitch, and agree to whatever listing price you would want to ensure they get the listing. Once the listing is signed and under you’re contract, then your home hits on the market, they will quickly call you to demand a price reduction. If it doesn’t sell within the next few days or weeks, they’ll call you again for another price reduction until the home eventually sells for much less than it could have. They are in it to sell a lot of homes quickly. How do you sell a home quickly? List it for the lowest price possible…
- I will sell your home guaranteed or I’ll buy it! Would you exchange me your loonie for three quarters? This is how the home guarantee works. The listing agent will guarantee they will sell your home or they’ll buy it themselves for significantly less. Sometimes at 80%, 70% or even 60% of the true value of the home. This is just another tactic used by some agents to try and address a peace of mind for the Sellers so that they think their home will be sold no matter what. Read the fine print!
- I have Buyers for your home! This is a tricky one, because some times the salesperson might actually have Buyers looking for a specific home in a specific neighbourhood and there aren’t any homes for sale with those criteria, so the agent takes the initiative to send out mailers or door knocks or door hangers to let home owners know that they have Buyers actually looking to purchase their home. Here is my caution with this one, if this is actually true, and they are doing it to best serve their Buyers, they should not be charging you a normal commission rate, and should offer you a deal, as they will not be going through any of their standard marketing steps or techniques, and save money on all marketing costs. You are doing them a favour, helping them and their Buyers, so there must be quite the incentive for you! Watch out, some salespeople might be deceitful, and say they have Buyers, bring their friends or family to visit the home, say they would like to purchase it just to get you to list with them. After you have signed the listing agreement and they have you under contract, the deal with their Buyers might suddenly fall through, but it’s OK because we still have 100+ days to sell your home…
