It Never Hurts To Put A Little Pressure On Your Clients
As agents, we’re well aware of the fact that it’s never easy for our buyers and sellers to commit to contract involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sometimes taking a leadership role with your clients involves putting pressure on them to take the next logical step. The Half Nelson Close is most effective when used in response to buying signals or questions. Simply put, when a buyer or seller expresses an interest to move forward by asking a question, rather than answer the question, a strong agent will ask their client if they would be willing to move forward with the agreement if the other side said yes. Here are some examples of the Half Nelson Close in action:
- A buyer asks: “Do you think the seller will accept $100,000 less?” A strong agent will respond by asking: “Would you be willing to make an offer for that amount if they would accept it?”
- A seller asks: “Do you think the bank will approve a short sale for that price and still release me of all liability?” The strong agent replies: “If the bank would accept both of those terms, could we put this agreement together today?” Seller says: “yes” and the strong agent puts the agreement together contingent upon the bank’s approval.
- A buyer asks: “Is this house in a good school system?” The strong agent replies: “If the school system is good, can we write the offer today?” Most agents will confirm it’s a great school system only to have the buyer bring up another concern.
- A seller asks: “Do you think the buyer will come up another $50,000?” The strong agent replies: “If the buyer will pay another $50,000, can we put this together today?”, and then if the seller says yes, the strong agent writes the counter offer for $50,000 more.
Notice how the Half Nelson Close put the monkey on the client’s back, and compels them to move forward. A good agent can always back off if the pressure proves annoying to their client.
Seller Argument #20—Declining Prices Close
With a mixed bag of housing and economic news, many sellers are beginning to feel like holding off for a better market and a better price just a little bit longer makes sense. The problem is, most of these sellers have had this feeling for the past 6-9 months. If it’s really is all about price, as an agent, you may want to remind them of what’s been happening to prices during the past 3 quarters. According to the S&P Case-Shiller Index, home prices, year-over-year, were down as follows:
3rd quarter 2010— -1.3%
4th quarter 2010— -3.8%
1st quarter 2011— -5.1%
Sellers should pay close attention to how the number is continuing to increase with every quarter. Unless local prices have magically increased (not likely), the seller’s strategy of waiting isn’t working too well for them, is it? They should probably consider changing their strategy before they lose even more money.
Buyer Argument #20—The Back To The Future Close
We’ve all been taught since early childhood that real estate prices always go up. This has been true as national home prices have steadily increased ever since WWII until now! Massive over appreciation in 2006 and 2007, has led to a massive overcorrection during the past several years. As a good agent, it’s imperative that buyers be reminded that according to data collected by Robert Shiller, prices today are at their lowest levels since mid 2002. In other words, buyers can temporarily go eight years back in time without having to pay a dime more than they would have paid in 2002. As economic and housing data improves, lost appreciation of 5% per year will eventually be recovered. When this happens, everyone buying today will be a big winner. This one is a no-brainer.