"The Unrealistic Buyer": Top 10 Signs

Unrealistic Sellers Meet Their Match

Their counterpart, the Unrealistic Seller, has received more ink and attention, but these days Unrealistic Buyers are just as numerous -- and intractable.

As a public service to would-be Home Sellers, herewith are my top ten signs that you may be dealing with an Unrealistic Buyer (any resemblance to real persons isn't purely coincidental) :

10. They're on their third Realtor -- or don't have one.

9. They've been looking for more than a year . . .

8. and have seen more than 30 homes, which they've all pronounced "grossly overpriced" (and otherwise deficient).

7. They've yet to make an offer on a home.

6. They've already made offers on more than four homes -- none of which has even elicited a (genuine) counter-offer.

5. If they actually receive a serious counter-offer, they refuse to work with it.

4. They know the minutiae of the Purchase Agreement and Addenda as well as their Realtor -- and are better at opening lockboxes.

3. They offer more than 15% below a well-priced home's asking price (see also, #6).

2. They have no discernible timetable or catalyst (new job, baby, expiring lease, etc.) for buying a home (see also, #9).

1. They let you know that they're thinking about getting their real estate license.

There!

Forewarned is forearmed (now read "Serious Buyers: Top 10 Signs" to contrast with the foregoing).

P.S.: Sign #11: they'll only agree to buy something for 20% or more below market . . . if they can sell their current home for 20% above market.

The "Rebound Realtor"

Realtor-Client "Second Marriages"

Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.

--Alexander Pope

A second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience.

--Samuel Johnson

"Rebound relationships" seldom work out because one of the people in the relationship usually hasn't had time to get over the last one.

Is the same thing true in real estate?

In my experience, it depends on two things: 1) who the client is; and 2) who the last Realtor was.

(As they say, "Duh!)

In fact, there are four main scenarios:

One. Bad Realtor/Good Buyer.

There aren't that many bad Realtors out there -- they tend not to able to make a living at it! -- but there are some. There are also Realtors who are overextended, burnt-out, inexperienced, or simply inattentive.

"Inheriting" a client who's just had a bad experience with one of the above takes a little extra effort upfront, to establish trust.

However, once that exists, I've found such clients to be very gratifying to work with -- and extremely appreciative.

Two. Good Realtor/Unmotivated Buyer.

For a Realtor, this is by far the riskiest scenario to step into, because ultimately what any Realtor has to sell is their time -- and unmotivated Buyers devour it!

Fortunately, there's an easy way to establish whether a particular Buyer is unmotivated.

I simply ask: a) how long have you been looking?; and b) how many homes did your last Realtor show you?

If the answers are "more than a year" and "more than 50 homes," respectively, I pass (note: unmotivated Buyers have been known to fudge the foregoing numbers).

Three.

Good Realtor/Unrealistic Seller.

Like the unmotivated Buyer, the unrealistic Seller is also usually easy to spot.

Typically, their home didn't sell for one reason: it was priced too high.

When that's the case, no amount of marketing, staging, or salesmanship is going to produce a Buyer.

When it's obvious that that's going on, the key issue becomes: are they now willing to price at market? (which also begs a secondary question: why wouldn't they price at market for their first Realtor?)

Four. Bad Realtor/Good Seller.

I don't see this often, but there are saleable homes on the market that nevertheless are lingering because they're not being properly marketed.

The photos are grainy and unflattering; the sales literature is full of typos; the homeowner is amenable to staging, but the "incumbent Realtor" never even brought it up!

Being the successor Realtor in such situations (like scenario #1) offers the opportunity to really be a "hero" to the typically beleaguered homeowners.

Other Scenarios

Are there other scenarios?

Sure.

Just like in real relationships, sometimes Realtors and their clients have style and/or personality clashes that get in the way of their working together.

Usually, that becomes apparent during the interviewing process -- but not always.

The "X" factor in all of the foregoing scenarios is the identity of the former Realtor (which I'll always ask).

If I know them and their reputation . . . I can usually skip all the other questions.

The Serenity Prayer -- Realtor's Version

Passing on Overpriced Listings

Everyone knows this famous passage from The Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.”

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Here's my version for listing agents (Realtors representing home sellers):

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the listings I can sell;
the courage to refuse the listings I cannot;
and the wisdom to know the difference.

--Ross Kaplan

So what makes a listing unsellable?

Ultimately, just one thing: price.

Everything else -- condition, curb appeal, location, floor plan, etc. -- can be overcome if a home is sufficiently discounted.