What Is a “Seller’s Consultation?”
You’ve probably heard it a lot.
“Contact me for a free consultation.” Or “Sign up here for a free consultation.”
All over social media and online people talk about the “consultation” from many people in various industries - lawyers, doctors, contractors, and even real estate agents.
What exactly is a Seller’s Consultation and why are they free a lot of the time?
In the simplest terms, a Seller’s Consultation is a meeting between sellers and a perspective agent to list their home. This meeting can be in person at the sellers' home or sometimes virtually depending on the agent's and sellers' location at the meeting's time.
Let me break down what a Seller’s Consultation meeting with me would look like and how I would show you all of the parts of the overall strategy:
Understanding Your Motivations to Sell. This is a very important one. Not all sellers have the same motivations. Is it because the market is hot and you want to take advantage of the money you’ll make? Or maybe it’s for other financial or family reasons. Or maybe you want to relocate to be closer to family in another state. During the pandemic, many people wanted to sell and move because they realized their homes were just too small to live in and work in. Understanding your motives will help ensure that all of the other strategies flow into this goal.
Discussing an Effective Pricing Strategy. You can put any price on your home, but it doesn’t mean anyone is going to buy it. Contrary to what you saw in 2021 and early 2022, just because you price it doesn’t mean they’ll come. And to make sure your home is not sitting on the market too long and that you as a seller are not leaving money on the table, we need to look at everything. What is the market telling us and the comps in the neighborhood? Does your home have any positive unique draws to it that help it stand out in the market?
Reviewing the Marketing Strategy. There’s more to selling a house than just pricing it. The marketing strategy that I work with is specific to the home I am trying to sell. Emails and social media marketing are the basics. Does this home require an Open House? Are we door-knocking to get the neighborhood involved (if that’s allowed), and what other unique marketing strategies can be used to get the most exposure for your home?
Going Over All Elements of the Listing Agreement. There’s a lot to it. But, the good news is, we’ll go over each section of it to make sure you understand exactly what it means for both you as the seller and for myself as the agent. I like to make sure all of my sellers do not enter into any agreement they do not fully understand the good and bad parts of.
Building Rapport with Each Other. Finding out if we actually like each other is going to be key! All of the other strategies and information that I share with you during our consultation all come down to how well we get along. I want you as a seller to trust me with one of the biggest transactions you’ll make in your life and the best way to build that trust is to build rapport.
The final question is, why is it free? It’s basically free because you haven’t agreed to anything. This is a way for me to get in the door and ask for the sale - or the listing in this case. But more importantly, I want to show you what I can do because the reward will be greater than my charging you for this consultation.
There are some agents who will charge for their consultations and that’s totally fine. But there are plenty who will not and use this as a value-add for you as a potential client, including myself.
To learn more about selling your home and to schedule, your consultation with me, reach out to me I’d love to help!