More often than not, a buyer’s decision to purchase a new home is based on emotion, not logic. While they may have a checklist that includes the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square-footage of the backyard or their potential commute, it all comes down to how they feel when they walk inside their dream home.
As real estate agents, it’s necessary to be able to tap into that emotion to figure out how you can best help your clients find their perfect home. This may include cautioning them against investing in a property that they think they love, but you know will cause them problems in the future, to understanding their emotions as they move through this new process. Here are four emotions your clients will likely experience as they move through the buying process, and how you can help guide them to the best home for them.
- Excited
When you first talk with your client about their home-buying process, they’re likely to be more excited than anything else. They’re new to the home search and are still in the dreaming phase. It’s likely that they’ve started looking at homes online and are beginning to figure out what they want.
This is the perfect time to present them with a Homebuying Guide. You’ll be able to walk them through the steps of buying a home and the role that you play. This can also be a good opportunity to talk about the services you offer, your commission rate, and your general role in the transaction. Assure them that you’re there to be their voice in the process, and that your real estate knowledge will help make the experience as easy as possible.
- Overwhelmed
To help your clients, it’s important to remember that they’ll be overwhelmed with the amount of information they receive at the beginning of their search. Between the number of properties they’re seeing, calculating their finances, and preparing to pack up everything they own, homebuyers are constantly overwhelmed with information and decisions.
When most people begin their home search, they already have an idea of what they want, but after visiting property after property, they may lose sight of these priorities. Because it’s important for you to help your client find a home they’re truly satisfied with, implementing a Buyer’s Guide can be helpful for letting them express their needs to you while also keeping them on track. This can help them visualize and prioritize their home search and selection, because they won’t have a faint recollection of what they’ve seen, but a clear, defined list that they can review as they progress through their search.
- Stressed
Once your clients settle on a home and begin moving forward with the buying process, they’re likely to start feeling stressed. Buyers will be anxious to wrap up the transaction as soon as possible so they can move into their new home, and that means they’ll want to push forward through the paperwork as quickly as they can. This is a great opportunity for you to shine, since many homebuyers are unfamiliar with the legal and real estate industry jargon associated with contracts. In fact, interpreting contracts is one of the main reasons homebuyers choose to hire a real estate agent.
Be sure to explain their contract in a way that will put their minds at ease and help them feel satisfied with their decision. Help educate them with this Homebuyer Mortgage Checklist that includes basic details involved in qualifying for a mortgage and other financial responsibilities. While it focuses on first-time homebuyers, this resource can still be beneficial to those who have purchased a home in the past, but are still somewhat unfamiliar with the financial process.
- Fulfilled
Once your buyers make it through the process, they’ll feel both happy and fulfilled. Share in their joy; after all, it’s likely been an emotional process for everyone involved. What better way to close the experience than to give them something to help them remember this milestone (and you!).
Whether you give a set of wine glasses, personalized doormats, a gift card or a classic bottle of champagne, your clients will likely feel even better in their decision to work with you, and will remember you for years to come. After you’ve closed with a client, remind them that you are also available to help their friends and family reach their real estate goals. You could even look at offering an incentive, such as gift cards, if your clients’ referral turns into a closed transaction.
The first step in helping these buyers is making sure they can find you in their search for a home. Advertising on real estate websites such as Homes.com is a great way to make yourself visible to these buyers. As many as 76 percent of Homes.com’s visitors are currently NOT working with a real estate professional. Start connecting with these local buyers today while they are still in the initial stages of their home-search process.
For more information, visit connect.homes.com.
