Residential Real EstateLessons From Lenders
One of your most daunting tasks as a successful real estate agent
is to make sure that you work with buyers and lessees who you
know will be loyal to you. And while exclusive listings are the
norm when you represent owners of properties, they are still far
from being the norm when representing buyers and lessees. And
what is so unfortunate is that the way that our industry has
evolved over the years has made it so easy for the prospective
buyers and lessees that we run with to jump ship and do a deal
through another agent instead of us at any moment in time. They
simply have no downside except for maybe a little personal guilt.
Enter the lending industry. Their approach is short, sweet,
simple, and it works.
Almost any time a buyer applies for a loan the buyer has to
immediately cut a check for processing fees to the lending
organization in order to begin the process of trying to secure a
loan. This simple little procedure is one reason why buyers don"t
go shopping for a loan with many different lending organizations
at the same time. Now of course a buyer can apply through a loan
broker who will approach different lending institutions for the
best loan for the buyer, but this one broker is normally the only
person or company that the buyer has hired to secure a loan for
them.
When people spend money because they want a specific result they
normally don"t go running around hiring other people to get the
same job done. They simply don"t want to spend anymore money to
get the job done if they don"t have to. You don"t see people
hiring a lawyer, paying the lawyer a retainer, and then turning
around and doing the same thing with another lawyer for the exact
same work to be performed.
This is one area where our industry can learn a lot from how our
lenders do it. Imagine if when working with buyers and lessees
you asked them for a retainer in order to get started with them.
It could be $500.00, $1,000.00, $2,500.00, or even more depending
on the size of the anticipated commission with them. And, with
appropriate disclosure to all parties involved in the transaction
in many cases, you could even offer to refund them their retainer
out of the future commission that you will receive after you have
successfully completed the transaction with them. (Please check
with both your manager and the applicable real estate laws and
regulations in your state on this one first.)
Now just like when someone pays a loan broker a processing
fee or pays an attorney a retainer to get started, most
prospective buyers and lessees will not want to jump ship and do
a deal with another agent knowing that they"ll lose the money
they"ve already paid you. Heck, if another agent shows them a
property that they like they"ll probably then insist that the
agent has to involve you in the deal! And what a pleasant
surprise that would be.
When our prospects have not invested any money in working with us
and have no legal obligation to continue working with us their
loyalty can indeed vanish very quickly. It"s time for us to take
a stand in our industry and implement new approaches that ensure
that our clients and prospects value our time and their
relationships with us similarly to how they already do so with
other quality professionals in other industries.