Category: ask questions

Know THE Objective. Know the Contingencies. Precision Draft the Offer.

Before we  draft offers we better know the overriding objective of the client.  (There can be more than one objective, but only one that is do or die.) If that Objective is something subjective, such as “protect me”, we could discover what “protect me” looks like to the client.  What I fear is not the same as what another person fears. I need to know what they want to be protected from and be sure the protection I am suggesting is not protecting them from fears of my own and diminishing their offer.

What could the client’s goal be?  Get my offer accepted is one goal. Is it overriding? If it is, we better know what the contingencies we suggest look like to the people  on the other side of the table.  If the objective is to protect me from whatever could go wrong, we can do that so well that the offer is unacceptable to the Seller.

There  is a balance in most cases. Once accepted the objective may change to something subjective, but inserting protection without the client having  the opportunity to decide before the Offer is submitted is a sure way to contribute to having an otherwise acceptable offer rejected.

To know a person’s overriding objective, we have to (1) Ask questions about the client’s risk tolerance. (2) Know  what the different contingencies do and don’t do. (3) Have a dialogue about choices to strengthen or weaken the chance of accomplishing the client’s objective.  Once we know what matters most to the client we can begin precision crafting of an offer with the objective in mind.

Asking Questions, or Questioning Actions? One requires genuine curiosity.

Tell me more about that.  You’ve given this a lot of thought. What other ideas did you consider? If this works, what will it mean to you?  Why is that important? You mentioned something you see as an obstacle. What happens if we don’t overcome that obstacle? Is that a big problem or an inconvenience?  What is unique about the person who will buy the most expensive, unique property, in this community? Have you ever been that person in another transaction? Have you ever bought a house? Have you ever been sold a house?  Know anyone who has?

You know the property in a way no one else does or could. Your family history is in this home. What does it mean to you to be the person who sells it? Who else is involved in the decision? You have not tried to sell before. Why now? Why is this the year to sell? What if it doesn’t sell this year? Who looks after the house when you’re out of state? What do you do when something needs to be fixed? What’s the most inconvenient problem that’s come up in the last few years? How did that impact your life? When you think about this house, what wakes you up at 3 am?

What do you know about real estate marketing that you like? What would you like to avoid? Do you have a value in mind, and how did you arrive at the price?  Will the buyer pay cash or use financing? Are there other sales to support the price?  How will that affect our process? If closing doesn’t happen this year, what’s your backup plan?

May I share my thoughts about the plan you described?

There are so many questions to ask when judgment is overcome by curiosity?