It takes a lot of consistent effort to convince a potential buyer to the point where they visit an area or estate to carry out a site inspection. I truly commend all realtors who have ever made it to that stage with a potential buyer. However, there are certain details realtors must not take for granted when they have made it to the site inspection stage.
In layman’s terms, a site inspection is referred to as the physical inspection/viewing of a piece of land or estate. The core purpose of site inspection is to give potential buyers a physical feel or insight into the property in order to help them make a final purchase decision.
A lot of realtors get distracted and lax when they make it to this point with a potential buyer because they feel they’re one handshake and bank transfer away from closing a deal. This is not completely true because a potential buyer reserves the right to decide not to purchase a property even at the last minute.
Here are 5 tips and things that realtors need to pay attention to when going for a site inspection with a potential buyer:
1. Visit Ahead of Time
It is highly advisable for realtors to have visited the site/estate location that their potential buyer is interested in at least once before they proceed to take the buyer there. This is to enable them to get familiar with the route, know very well what the situation of the road is, and also have an accurate idea of what kind of car can drive all the way down to the site/estate location. This is to enable the realtor to communicate a proper time frame to their potential buyer and also reduce the chances of panic should the realtor and potential buyer take the wrong route while on their way there.
2. Engage But Don’t Overshare
While going for a site inspection with a potential buyer, it is always a great idea to engage them in conversations that are not related to the property that is going to be inspected. Realtors can ask them subtle surface questions about their family, childhood, profession, hobbies, sports, and even trending news topics. This is important because it allows them to get relaxed and lose the “strictly business” demeanor they have.
Realtors also have to tread with caution while doing this because it is very possible to overshare in-depth details about their personal lives. This might not sit well with some potential buyers as they might perceive it to be an emotional appeal by the realtor to get them to purchase the property. Remember to keep conversations at the surface level.
3. Avoid Getting Weary & Saying The Wrong Things
It is very likely that things don’t totally go as planned. It could be traffic. It could be the site manager showing up late. It could be the potential buyer showing up hours later than the time agreed on. It could be a sudden fault with the car. It could be absolutely anything. These are things that would normally frustrate any human being but it is important that realtors are able to control their emotions and not say offensive things regardless of the situation.
This is because it could make the potential buyer uncomfortable, give them a bad impression of the realtor, and ultimately put them in a bad mood that clouds their judgement and prevents them from making a clear purchasing decision.
4. “I don’t know” Is A Horrible Answer
When at a site/estate location for inspection, the potential buyer will naturally ask a lot of questions concerning different things about the property. This is why it is important for realtors to know every basic detail about the property ahead of time. “I don’t know” is a shabby answer to give to a potential buyer. I highly recommend that realtors write down every detail about a property in a sheet of paper such as soil type, documentation covering the property, and more in order to avoid forgetting.
5. Give a 24 – 48 Hours Break
Once the inspection is over, I highly recommend that realtors give their potential buyers a 24 – 48 hours break before reaching out to them as regards what the next step would be. This is because property buying is a big deal and often, people want to cross their T’s and dot their I’s before paying for a property. Bombarding a potential buyer with calls and messages right after an inspection might seem very desperate.
Bonus Tip
Do a Video of yourself as a Realtor and take pictures of the Property or Estate you are selling.
In the video educate the viewers and your prospects about the estate ,the location ,major landmark s, tips and why they should invest.
Question of the day
When last did you go for site inspection?
Have you gone for site inspections and product knowledge as a newbie Realtor?
Thanks for your attention and please enjoy your day.
Dr Laide Okubena