Debunk Your Buyers’ Top Fears

Debunk Your Buyers’ Top Fears

Home buyers may get a little anxious when facing the biggest transaction of their lives. Doubt starts entering and they may start second-guessing whether or not they are making a good move.

Realtor.com® recently featured some of buyers’ top fears during the home-buying process and how you can help ease their concerns, including fears of:

“I’m afraid I can’t afford a home.”

Some buyers believe they’ll have to empty out their savings account completely in order to buy a home. “There are many loan programs out there that can help first-time home buyers with down payment assistance or that don’t require a severed arm and leg in order to get a mortgage,” says Bill Golden, RE/MAX Metro Atlanta Cityside. Encourage them to talk with a loan officer about options.

“What if I buy a money pit?”

In reality, most homes aren’t money pits, and there’s a lot buyers can do to protect themselves against buying one too. Before buying, they can use a home inspector to help soothe some of their fears about getting a lemon. The home inspector should be trained to spot signs of water damage or electrical or plumbing problems. They also will advise on any possible repair costs.

“It’s just safer to rent.”

“Rent money disappears without allowing you to build any equity over time. That’s truly scary,” says Scott Forman, divisional vice president of Cross Country Mortgage. For many renters who are willing to pay about $100 a month more, they could own a home, he says — and receive tax deductions.

Source: “Terrified to Buy a Home? Your Top Fears Debunked,” realtor.com® (Oct. 25, 2016)

3 Marketing Excuses You Need to Dump

3 Marketing Excuses You Need to Dump

Do you find yourself making excuses when it comes to your marketing? When some of these excuses enter your head, try to control them, a new article at Forbes.com warns. Otherwise, you risk falling into the trap of becoming a lazy marketer.

This is what always has worked.

No two clients or listings will ever be exactly the same, so don’t treat them as such. You may instantly want to jump in autopilot mode for listing a home, but you may be missing a big marketing piece if you don’t consider each home through a different lens. Be willing to explore other alternatives and you may even get better results.

I can’t afford to try that.

You’re likely to be on a budget with your marketing. But make room for experimentation. “You don’t have to have a massive budget to try a ‘sample-sized’ version of a strategy,” writes Forbes columnist Jayson DeMers. “There are plenty of marketing strategies that can be executed with a simple investment of time.”

I don’t have time to learn that.

New technology can breed skeptics. But “taking the time to learn these things can ultimately save you even more time than you spent in the future, so always be open to trying it — and better managing your time so you can fit it into your schedule,” DeMers suggests.

Source: “7 Lazy Excuses Marketers Need to Stop Making,” Forbes.com (Oct. 20, 2016)

More Owners Are Remodeling: Be Their Guide

More Owners Are Remodeling: Be Their Guide

For your outreach to past prospects, you may want to talk home renovation. There are growing signs that it’s top of mind among more home owners lately, and they might need some advice.

Home renovation and repair spending are showing strong gains that are expected to continue into next year before then leveling off, according to the latest Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity, an index by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Remodeling growth is expected to reach new highs in the third quarter of next year.

Annual growth in home improvement and repair expenditures is to surpass 8 percent by the second quarter of 2017, the index projects.

“Home owner remodeling activity continues to be encouraged by rising home values and tightening for-sale inventories in many markets across the country,” says Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center. “Yet, a recent slowdown in the expansion of single family homebuilding and existing home sales could pull remodeling growth off its peak by the second half of 2017.”

Could your clients use some remodeling tips? Here are some resources to share:

• Remodeling Impact Report: What Pays Back the Most at Resale
• Outdoor Features That Offer the Biggest Returns

Source: Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University

Ways You Could Irk a Client as a Know-It-All

Ways You Could Irk a Client as a Know-It-All

“A great customer experience is one where customers feel good, even look good,” writes Forbes columnist Micah Solomon, a customer experience coach, trainer, and author. In the end, they’ll feel good about you then too.

Yet, too often sales professionals are so concerned with making sure they look smart to their customers that it comes at the price of making their customers feeling stupid.

Solomon highlights five things you’ll want to avoid in your talks with clients to make sure you aren’t hurting their self-esteem:

1. When a customer is wrong, try to avoid “schooling them” on the error. Instead, try to make the mistake seem like one that could have happened to anyone.

2. Avoid jargon that could be confusing to your customer. Translate your thoughts into language that the customer can easily understand.

3. Don’t go on and on … and on. Be respectful and value your customers’ time. Don’t drag out conversations in a way that seems disrespectful and make them feel like you think their time is less valuable than yours, Solomon writes.

4. Don’t let them feel like an interruption. Hold off on taking phone calls or responding to messages from other clients when you’re with someone else. Avoid making customers feel like they’re an interruption of your work, rather than central to it.

5. Don’t assume they know the process. Make sure you explain to them the process of home buying or selling in easy-to-use terms and steps so they know what’s coming next. “Feeling lost and frustrated by a counterintuitive customer experience doesn’t make anyone feel good about themselves,” Solomon notes.

Source: “The Customer Experience Is About Making Your Customer Look Good, Not Making Yourself Look Good,” Forbes.com (Oct. 16, 2016)

New Mortgage Applications Up 3% This Week

New Mortgage Applications Up 3% This Week

Even as rates were on the rise last week, mortgage application volume still managed to squeeze out a 0.6 percent increase on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports Wednesday. Total mortgage applications include those for refinancings and home purchases.

Mortgage applications are now 18.5 percent higher than a year ago, MBA reports. Broken out, mortgage applications for home purchases rose 3 percent compared to the previous week and are now 13 percent higher than the same week one year ago. Meanwhile, applications for refinancings dropped 1 percent from the previous week, but remain 22.4 higher than a year ago (when rates were slightly higher).

“Refinance applications dropped to the lowest level since the week of the Brexit vote, as mortgage rates reached their highest level since then,” says Michael Fratantoni, chief economist for the MBA.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to its highest level last week since June. It reached 3.73 percent last week, up from 3.68 percent the week prior, MBA reports. Lenders report that mortgage rates did start to inch lower at the beginning of this week, however.

Source: “Mortgage Applications Climb 0.6%; Rising Rates Don’t Scare Buyers,” CNBC (Oct. 19, 2016)