Buyers, this little nugget of wisdom is for you as well as your agent. Did you know that for every property you see, your agent will be expected to provide feedback to the listing agent in the areas of price, appearance, and your interest level? Although your agent uses your reaction to the home as the basis for their feedback they often input their own opinion as well. This feedback is invaluable for the sellers of the home. It can affect their willingness to reduce price, to make repairs, or simply rearrange some furniture. But let us remember the Golden Rule when giving feedback: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. A.K.A. put down the Hater-ade before providing your feedback.
First, it can be very frustrating when your realtor says: "Price- Good, Home Showed- Excellent, Client Interested?- No"...and that's it. What is it you didn't like about the home? Was it the size, location, feng shui, building materials? Was it just a matter of taste?
Second, and exponentially more frustrating, is the feedback that seems to scream "the person who completed this feedback form is having the worst day ever". The buyer is not interested, because of a large element-- let's say they wanted a bigger yard. Then it would seem a bit unnecessary to go on and on about all of the perceived shortcomings of the home. "Paint colors are tacky, strange layout, floors should be refinished, unusual landscaping." Now see...them there fightin words. Don't forget what a tremendous amount of emotion the sellers have tied into their home. This is the place they scrounged every dime they could find to buy, and spent years pouring bits of themselves into. They picked that paint color together...as a matter of fact that is the first thing they ever bought for their home as a married couple. They've raised their children there and taught them about gardening. So what if the result looks a bit 'unusual'? You're just going to tear it up to build a deck anyway! When you and your buyers agent are walking through the home alone, certainly be as candid as you like. But when providing feedback, be as gracious as possible while still giving an honest explanation of your level of interest. There's no need to gloss over huge defects, but if it's clearly a matter of taste, just let it go.
The other thing you want to steer away from is letting your agent giving the seller's agent a diluted impression of your intent to purchase. Until you are pretty sure you're going to write an offer, be sure your agent isn't giving the green light to the sellers. This will ultimately get everyone's hopes up for nothing.
I had an agent schedule an appointment for one of my listings late one evening. In her appointment remarks, which went to my sellers as well as myself, she said "Buyers are anxious to purchase this home!!". Naturally we were all jumping up and down and basically staring at the fax machine all day waiting for the offer to come in. After two unreturned calls, hours later, I was able to reach the buyer's agent at home. "They didn't like it. It was really much too small. And they thought it the lights were strange. And the yard was......"(by now she's sounding like Charlie Brown's teacher, drowned out by the sound of my high hopes deflating). I was dumbstruck. How anyone could be so insistent that this was their clients' dream home only to be blowing smoke. In the words of Full House's own Stephanie Tanner, how rude!
So remember and please remind your agents that the feedback you give them in private should be filtered and passed on appropriately. That rejection stings enough and there is no need to add extra barbs. And that somebody actually really loves that "funky layout", and someone else will, too.
It only takes one!
First, it can be very frustrating when your realtor says: "Price- Good, Home Showed- Excellent, Client Interested?- No"...and that's it. What is it you didn't like about the home? Was it the size, location, feng shui, building materials? Was it just a matter of taste?
Second, and exponentially more frustrating, is the feedback that seems to scream "the person who completed this feedback form is having the worst day ever". The buyer is not interested, because of a large element-- let's say they wanted a bigger yard. Then it would seem a bit unnecessary to go on and on about all of the perceived shortcomings of the home. "Paint colors are tacky, strange layout, floors should be refinished, unusual landscaping." Now see...them there fightin words. Don't forget what a tremendous amount of emotion the sellers have tied into their home. This is the place they scrounged every dime they could find to buy, and spent years pouring bits of themselves into. They picked that paint color together...as a matter of fact that is the first thing they ever bought for their home as a married couple. They've raised their children there and taught them about gardening. So what if the result looks a bit 'unusual'? You're just going to tear it up to build a deck anyway! When you and your buyers agent are walking through the home alone, certainly be as candid as you like. But when providing feedback, be as gracious as possible while still giving an honest explanation of your level of interest. There's no need to gloss over huge defects, but if it's clearly a matter of taste, just let it go.
The other thing you want to steer away from is letting your agent giving the seller's agent a diluted impression of your intent to purchase. Until you are pretty sure you're going to write an offer, be sure your agent isn't giving the green light to the sellers. This will ultimately get everyone's hopes up for nothing.
I had an agent schedule an appointment for one of my listings late one evening. In her appointment remarks, which went to my sellers as well as myself, she said "Buyers are anxious to purchase this home!!". Naturally we were all jumping up and down and basically staring at the fax machine all day waiting for the offer to come in. After two unreturned calls, hours later, I was able to reach the buyer's agent at home. "They didn't like it. It was really much too small. And they thought it the lights were strange. And the yard was......"(by now she's sounding like Charlie Brown's teacher, drowned out by the sound of my high hopes deflating). I was dumbstruck. How anyone could be so insistent that this was their clients' dream home only to be blowing smoke. In the words of Full House's own Stephanie Tanner, how rude!
So remember and please remind your agents that the feedback you give them in private should be filtered and passed on appropriately. That rejection stings enough and there is no need to add extra barbs. And that somebody actually really loves that "funky layout", and someone else will, too.
It only takes one!
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