While smiles, courtesy and friendliness are an agent’s calling cards with everyone, let’s be real about the residential real estate business. While it may not be purely a cutthroat calling, there are no nice tries for buyers. Your client either captures the flag with a winning bid for a home or you trudge back to the office to explain why no commission check will be forthcoming.
Unless this is your first week on the job, we’re not telling you anything you don’t already know. And, most likely, you’ve been on both ends of deals, shaking hands with delighted new homeowners or comforting the dejected while perhaps deflecting blame for the outcome.
Well, here comes spring, the lead-in to open-house season most everywhere, and agent Suzy Minken, with Compass in Short Hills, New Jersey, has some somewhat unconventional but effective ideas on how to emerge victorious. Here are a few examples.
“Sometimes, a seller cancels a Sunday open house,” she begins. “This could be a signal that the seller has already accepted an offer. On the other hand, it might just mean that the timing didn’t work for the seller, e.g., perhaps the seller was having family visit from out of town.
“In this scenario, the house is still active on the market and homebuyers need to act quickly to seize this window of opportunity. The buyer needs to pivot and schedule a showing appointment, sooner rather than later. This is exactly what one of my clients did when we found out that the open house had been cancelled.
“I called the listing agent for clarification and it turned out that the sellers were arriving home from a trip in the afternoon of the day the open house had been originally scheduled. The timing didn’t work for the sellers to have an open house. However, it was possible to arrange for a private showing on Sunday morning, which was the first day the house could be seen. Fast forward, my buyers were able to see the house Sunday morning before the sellers got home. My buyers quickly made a very strong offer, which the sellers accepted. Other would-be buyers who were counting on attending the open house missed out on a home-buying opportunity.”
The lesson is to try and schedule a private showing, rather than rely on the open house, where hordes of people will be attending, creating who knows how many bids. Another strategy is turning the broker open house into a private matter.
“If a property looks like it is going to generate a lot of buyer interest, there may be a window of opportunity for house-hunters,” says Minken. “Many homes that come onto the market are launched on the day of the broker open, a reserved time for REALTORS® to preview the home. Here in Northern New Jersey, broker opens are usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Instead of waiting to see the house either at the public open house or a private showing over the weekend, clients should jump at the chance to join their agent at the broker open house.”
Minken recommends buyers simply reach out to agents and ask about broker open houses.
“They might need to take time out of their workday to attend, but it could be a golden opportunity,” she insists. “Perhaps they can see the house on a Tuesday and make an offer immediately, remembering to follow the advice of their trusted agent and make the offer very competitive. The goal is to make the offer so attractive that the seller agrees to cancel the public open house scheduled for the weekend.”
Minken cautions that buyers should be aware that windows of opportunity can open and close quickly.
“That is precisely what happened to one of my buyers who could not leave work to go to the broker open house with me, nor could they travel an hour to come out later in the evening,” she recalls. “It was a new construction home that was beautifully staged. It didn’t make it to the weekend. Another REALTOR® brought her buyers to the broker open house on a Tuesday, and they were able to shut down the public open house with an amazing offer. The seller accepted the offer and they were under contract by Friday afternoon. What was the offer? They offered $150,000 above the list price of $1,350,000—and it was all cash.”
Another opportunistic strategy Minken suggests for buyers is to see the house on the first day of showings, public or private. If there is a broker open house during the week, they should try to attend, and be ready to make an offer that can shut down the public open house.
“Oftentimes, the first day of showings is the same day as the public open house on the weekend, which is typically scheduled for the afternoon,” she says. “When that happens, I find out if it is possible to schedule a private showing immediately before the start of the open house. My buyers are almost always more comfortable seeing a home without other people there. It gives them the time they need to experience the house more peacefully in order to determine if it could be their next home.”
While aggression is Minken’s preferred strategy, she admits that there can be a downside to it, especially if an immediate offer is not accepted. So buyers must keep that in mind as well.
“Being the first one to submit a written offer may potentially pose a disadvantage,” she says. “We refer to it as being ‘leveraged.’ The first offer might just be used to encourage other offers to come in. And once it is known that there is an offer on the table, other buyers might decide to move forward with an offer. The other buyers, of course, do not know what the first offer is.
“But making a swift offer may be just what the seller is looking for. With rising mortgage rates, some sellers are anxious about how buyers will respond and may want to lock into a good offer as soon as possible. The key is to present a winning offer. Think like a seller. Put on a ‘seller hat’ and ask yourself if your offer is strong enough to motivate the seller to say yes.”
