Agents Beware: Help Your Clients Avoid Buying a Nightmare

Customer Care

Mar 18, 2019

As a new agent, you no doubt learned that, in many states, home sellers have a legal obligation to disclose known problems with the home.

As well, home buyers have an obligation to perform due diligence. The law, however, understands that home buyers, even with the best due diligence, are inexperienced and may not understand what to look for.

Enter, the real estate agent – the third side of the disclosure triangle. While states differ in their agent disclosure requirements, most make it pretty clear that an agent has a duty to disclose any known material facts that may impact the value of the home.

In California, for instance, the Civil Jury Instructions state that:

“A broker must disclose these facts if he or she knows or should know that the buyer is not aware of them and cannot reasonably be expected to discover them through diligent attention and observation.”

Legal duty aside, helping your client make a wise buying decision is basic, good customer service. The stuff that referrals and glowing testimonials are made of.

As you advance in your real estate career you’ll learn that most houses have problems, from the tiny to the gigantic. Yes, even newly-constructed homes.

Some are obvious, while others lurk behind very scant evidence of their existence. With experience, you’ll get to know the clues – the red flags that something isn’t right.

Compel fence sitters to call (Available in the postcard section under Fence Sitter Buyers Series)

In the meantime, we’ve gathered some of the more common clues to look for when showing homes to your buying clients.

The electrical system

Old homes are notorious for their electrical system problems. Outdated or damaged wiring, too few electrical outlets and burned out or loose connections are common.

Before buying into your client’s desire to buy a home that needs to be rewired, let him or her know that they can “expect to pay $8,000 to $15,000 to rewire a 1,500- to 3,000-square-foot home,” says Angie Hicks of AngiesList.com.

A chief complaint of many owners of old homes is that there aren’t enough electrical outlets to meet their needs. While the cost of adding new outlets isn’t as high as replacing the home’s wiring, it can still be costly, depending on the electrician’s hourly fee.

“. . . adding a new electric outlet can range from $100 to $800, with the average cost around $350,” according to the pros at ImproveNet.com.

As you tour a home, especially if the home is more than 50 years old, do a bit of snooping. Flick all the switches in the home to ensure they’re operating.

Help the move-up market understand the process (available in the postcard section under Move-Up Market)

Take a look at the electrical outlets for obvious signs of trouble (scorch marks, etc.). Run your hand over the outlets. They should be cool to the touch. Warm outlets are “strong indications of an unsafe wiring condition,” according to Donna Boyle Schwartz at BobVilla.com.

How’s the plumbing?

Don’t be shy – turn on the water at the taps and check the pressure. Low water pressure may signify a leak somewhere in the lines.

It may also be a sign of less serious problems, including:

A water softener that needs servicing
A pressure reducing valve that isn’t set properly
Clogged aerators

Check the pressure while running the hot water only. If it’s lower than the cold-water pressure, there may be a problem with the water heater.

Press your toes on the flooring surrounding the toilet. If it feels soft, the toilet may have a leak.

Finally, in multi-level homes, look at the ceilings on the floors beneath bathrooms for signs of discoloration. This may indicate a leak somewhere.

Maintenance Red Flags

You’ll be hearing the term “Deferred maintenance” a lot during your real estate career. Some folks find home maintenance too easy to put off. As the years go by, problems don’t go away, and many tend to get worse.

Deferred maintenance is often easy to spot. It’s the overflowing gutters, the chipped paint, the dripping faucet and the toilet that rocks when someone sits on it.

While some of these may seem like minor fixes, taken as a whole, you’ll need to wonder what else was deferred that you can’t see. It’s something that you definitely need to share with your client.

Check out the floors

While your home-buying client is marveling over the gorgeous hardwood floors in a home, you should be checking to see if they slope.

Especially if the home isn’t vintage, sloping floors may indicate foundation problems.

The two most common include “ . . . uneven settling in the outer foundation, or uneven settling of the support columns beneath the floor system. Either way, it’s not a problem that fixes itself, but it is a problem that will get worse over time,” warns the experts at BDry.com.

Buying a home with foundation problems isn’t something you want to encourage. HomeAdvisor.com claims that the national average cost to repair a foundation is $4,158.

Centex Foundation Repair in Central Texas gives us a better idea of cost by looking at their client’s bills: $2,162.42 on the low end to $13,705.19 on the high end.

“. . . so far this year our average price of repairs has been $5,911.70,” they claim on their website.

Excite Fence Sitters to take the first step (available in the postcard section under Fence Sitters Series)

Run this by your client before he or she falls madly in love with those Brazilian walnut floors.

Send at least 100 The Time is Now postcards from the Fence Sitter Series to an area where you want more buyers.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free ways we can help you have an INVINCIBLE 2019!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

“Get MORE Listings & Begin to Dominate Your Market!” Free online webinar. Learn the 3-7-27 strategy for explosive growth, why 95% of agents have less than 20% market share, and how to become the agent everyone competes against. – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. – Click Here

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan. – Click Here

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

The Art of Retaining Past Customers

Customer Care

Oct 24, 2018

Keeping past customers coming back should be easy…

After all, you don’t need to “sell” them on your service and phone calls to them are warm and friendly. In addition, if you did your job right, they know, like and trust you.

So, why do so many agents fail miserably at retaining past customers? And how are you going to ensure, as you head into the new year, that you keep your past clients present?

Beyond this being a smart question, it is also an important financial decision.

The following are some statistics that explain why you should strive to remain top-of-mind with former customers and some tips to help you do so.

The puzzling facts

Nearly 90 percent of real estate consumers surveyed by NAR say that they would use their agent again and that they would recommend their agent to others.

Yet the same statistics show that, sadly, only 12 percent of consumers actually used an agent that they had worked with in the past. Dive deep into these numbers and you can easily see that real estate consumers want to use the agent they’ve worked with in the past,

Yet curiously, few do.

And, it’s a safe bet that they don’t because they forgot about the agent and went with one referred by a friend, family member or colleague.

A financial reality

“Depending on which study you read, acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one,” claims Amy Gallo at Harvard Business Review.

In fact, there’s a formula you can use to determine just how much chasing after new business costs you each year.

Divide your total marketing and sales costs (what you spend on gas driving buyers around, listing expenses, etc.) by the number of new customers you acquired during the year.

Scary, isn’t it? Those are some expensive customers.

Former customers, on the other hand, are gold mines. “Increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%,” according to Frederick F. Reichheld and Phil Schefter of Harvard Business School.

How’s your past customer list looking? If it appears dry and parched, it’s time to try nurturing it.

Customer retention strategies

Remaining top-of-mind with former customers doesn’t have to be an expensive endeavor, although the larger and splashier the “touch,” the more memorable you’ll be.

Less expensive ways to keep in touch are the no-brainer methods that tend to fall through the cracks of the busy agent’s schedule.

Drip email campaigns
Monthly direct mail, of interest to your customers, such as newsletters and market updates
Birthday and anniversary postcards
“Or offer home maintenance reminders (e.g., changing out smoke detector batteries once a year),” suggests Melissa Dittmann Tracey at realtormag.org.

Face-to-face

Some experts recommend a quarterly face-to-face visit with former customers. Take them to coffee, happy hour or lunch. Or to get the most bang for your customer-retention buck, throw some sort of annual customer appreciation event.

It can be as lavish as the black-tie event Buyer’s Edge agent Steve Israel holds (complete with orchestra and catered food), or as simple as a casual backyard summer barbecue.

You might even consider an event that not only brings your past customers back into your sphere but benefits your favorite non-profit as well.

Kathy Broock Ballard invites customers, past and present, to “The Annual Erin Go Bra(gh) Party” on St. Patrick’s Day. She asks that they bring an item of clothing for the local women’s shelter and in return, lunch and an open bar are theirs to enjoy.

An agent in San Francisco holds a crab feed every year during Dungeness season. He holds it in partnership with a lender and title company to keep expenses to a minimum.

Don’t forget to ask

Whether it’s one-on-one or as part of an event, don’t forget to ask former customers if they know anyone who may be thinking of buying or selling real estate. Focusing your “ask” may bring better results, according to the late Jay Conrad Levinson, father of Guerilla Marketing.

Narrow “the universe of those you ask,” he suggests in the book “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days.” For instance, instead of asking your weekend golf partner to thumb through his mental database of everyone she knows, ask her who else she plays golf with who may be thinking of buying or selling real estate.

The smaller you make the “universe,” the more likely your customer will be able to come up with a name.

Keeping in touch with the customers you already know and who know you is one of the easier parts of your business. By not periodically reaching out to them, you’re leaving easy money on the table for your competition to grab.

Start sending out a Community Newsletter to your clients each month to remind them of who to turn to for expert guidance when needed.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you STILL CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free ebook.

2. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator.

Also…check out these cool tools

Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

Want to Refer a friend or colleague? Refer them, Here. THEY get a Free $25 Gift Card and YOU become their hero. BTW, you also get a $25 Gift Card too (now that’s what I’m talking about)!

customer care