Why is it that even with compelling evidence that a buyer should buy, a ready, willing, and able buyer will still delay their purchase? Its not because it makes sense to do so. It is likely that the buyer’s behavior is a result of a bad habit. Habit is formed when a person does something over and over and over again. Eventually, this spaced repetition creates instinctive behavior. Even if the behavior is harmful to a person, they may continue to exhibit the bad behavior because it has become a habit. Buyers may not be aware that through a constant barrage of information, they have actually developed two potentially harmful habits.

1. Buyers have learned to focus exclusively on price. After years of being inundated with information about the drop in real estate prices, today’s buyers have learned to minimize other considerations. This bad habit is damaging because people have always bought homes to improve the quality of their life. Its important for a trusted real estate advisor to explain how this bad habit develops and to encourage the buyer to give equal or even greater weight to the benefits of buying a dream home.
2. Buyers have learned to sit on the fence. Consistent fear that prices will continue to drop paralyzed buyer actions. Over a long period of time, this lack of action became ingrained in buyer behavior. Eventually, the habit of waiting became the norm so much so that even when it made complete sense to buy, buyers would still refuse to move forward. Once again, as a trusted advisor, an agent should explain why a buyer feels the way that they feel. When buyers identify where the resistance to make a good decision comes from, it is much easier for them to correct the behavior.

Every agent should make certain to point out the two potentially harmful behaviors described above and should also make every effort through spaced repetition to help buyers correct these two bad habits.