Prepping your Vendor
Your mission, should you care to accept it, is to make your clients’ houses look fantastic
Even when there are dirty plates in sinks, toys all over the living room and three months’ VAT paperwork on dining tables. It shouldn’t be a problem for you; you’re an estate agent, worker of small and major miracles! The difficulty that most agents face is that they can’t afford a full day to undertake a property makeover before taking the marketing photos; and when you stop to think about it, neither should you have to…
Your clients are the ones who will win most if you can get the marketing right for their property, although by the same token, you will find it easier to sell their properties if they look great on the Internet and in your sales particulars. BUT, you and I know there just isn’t the time to fluff cushions AND get on the phone to your best buyers; so what’s the answer?
One thing is for certain, if the property doesn’t sell it will be YOUR fault! The client will be much more likely to blame you for the lack of interest in their poorly-presented property and to change agents than to contemplate tidying up. It’s not a great way for an agent to lose money, (the investment made in printing and circulating naff details and advertising etc) and much less fun than a day at the races.
Well, one possible solution is that you do the unthinkable and tell the king he’s not wearing any clothes. In other words, you could try being honest with those vendors whose homes don’t meet the mark and tell them what they need to do to make sure they achieve the optimal price for their property. Very often it’s a simple case of tidying up and decluttering. Your part could be to point out the fact that they will improve their selling price and their chances of a sale by getting their act together. You could also find out the cost of short-term storage so that they can get ‘stuff’ out of their properties so that prospective buyers can see the wood for the trees and so that you can take some great-looking marketing photos.
A good approach that I use is to alert the client to your fastidiousness and concern to get it right, is to suggest that it might be a good idea to add a ‘splash of colour’ to the photos by buying in some flowers and fruit in preparation. This is a great ice-breaker and often clients will ask if there’s anything else they need to do by way of preparation. This is your cue…
The reality is that many people who own aesthetically-challenged homes have no idea of the impact that their attention to presentation coupled with great photography and marketing could achieve for their bottom line of their selling price. So it’s up to you to tell them.
This is the major message that you, as your clients’ marketing department, MUST be able to get over to your vendors. It’s tough love, if you like; but if you don’t tell them then nobody else will! If you really want to make a difference to your clients’ bottom line and if you’re fed up trying to sell houses that are badly prepared, then the simple solution is to be honest, and tell your clients how to improve their chances of achieving the best price for THEIR property. They may not thank you right away, but if they’re serious about selling, they will in the long run.
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