Aug. 17, 2007: How to take away buyers' objections to drawbacks in a home
I was looking at the web site for a For Sale By Owner home the other day. In the site menu was a heading called, "Drawbacks." I thought this was an excellent idea at first blush, the kind of inspired salesmanship I almost never see.
The fact is, everything is a trade-off. Everything has advantages and disadvantages. This is not a secret. Buyers already know that every home they look at will have drawbacks.
What is inspired -- what could have been inspired -- is calling the drawbacks to the buyer's attention. Why? Because then you can take away the objections.
Like this: "We know this room is small for a bedroom, so we pre-wired it for digital cable and two phone lines. That way, you can use it as a home-office and also as a guest bedroom."
The buyers will see that the room is small, but by acknowledging and addressing the defect in advance, you can help them see around the problem.
I said the idea of a "Drawbacks" page could have been inspired. Instead, when I clicked through to the page, I saw this:
"There are no drawbacks! Come and buy this house right away!"
This is far beyond being uninspired marketing. This is the kind of ham-handed ignorance and arrogance we associate with Hollywood's idea of a venal Realtor.
Since you know exactly what objections buyers are going to raise with your home, your best strategy is to acknowledge and address them in advance. This communicates that you are honest, that you are not trying to pull one over on your buyer, and it also gives you a chance to reframe objections in a way that can help to sell the home.
If you don't want to admit that your home has drawbacks, say nothing. Every buyer's biggest objection is the fear of being hustled into a bad decision. If you go out of your way to look like a hustler, you will scare buyers away even if your home really is close to perfection.
Greg Swann is the designated broker for BloodhoundRealty.com, a full-service Metropolitan Phoenix real estate brokerage. This article originally appeared in the West Valley regional sections of the Arizona Republic.
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