And you wonder why my seller didn’t choose your offer?? Really??
You email me your offer… No, better yet… You fax me your offer. No warning, no notice, and I have no idea who you are. I mean, it’s ok if I don’t know you, but it’s NOT ok if i’ve never talked to you. It could be gold plated or better yet, solid gold… Or maybe solid chocolate, like those easter bunny chocolates we get as kids. No, not the hollow ones that leave us sighing in sadness, but solid chocolate… But if I’d never talked to you prior to receiving your offer, I may not know that indeed it was a cadbury creme egg.
It’s as if you called me out of the blue (Tele-marketed), and wanted me to buy some dumb product, and expect me to purchase it on the spot… Without even knowing a thing about it.
But seriously, many times offers are rejected because the agent who represented the buyer just was lazy. There, I said it… LAZY.
I mean, think about it. It is the acceptance of the offer that starts the whole ball rolling for us as real estate agents. I know, I know… We lead generate, send mailers, market, email, and door knock to get the client…. But the action happens when we get the deal in writing. So why is it that agents fax it over blindly to the listing agents, and hope their offer gets accepted?
Here is my advice: Call the agent. Talk to them. Find out what makes them tick. Find out what they did last weekend. Find out what the seller wants. Find out what the seller’s idea of a fair price would be. Ask about inspections, disclosures, repairs, rent backs, and what they want to keep or leave. Learn their hot buttons. See how the agent wants the offer presented (i.e. In person, email, fax, etc…).
If the offer is due next week, make an excuse to reach out to the agent daily between now and then….
So back to my original thought. The seller makes the decision, right? I mean, we give them the facts, and information, but the seller makes the decisions not the agent. Yup, the SELLER makes the decision, not us as agents. We give them guidance, we give them the facts, we give them the information. But sometimes it is the intangibles that win over other offers. Like when the seller asks if I know any of the agents… Maybe the seller chooses one because I know the agent? Or maybe the seller chooses one because the agent has called and talked to me every day for the last week and that makes the seller feel that you are a real go getter!
So what if the seller asks me if I have ever talked to the agent that submitted the offer… Wouldn’t it be better if I said YES?
In the end, sometimes your offer wasn’t accepted because of the price and/or terms… But sometimes it isn’t accepted because another agent took more time to establish a relationship that ended in a sale.