BUYER S REP TODAY S. pages 3-6. page 7 LOOK INSIDE... Buyers Priorities versus Experiences. New Consumer One-Sheet: From One Buyer to Another

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1 TODAY S BUYER S REP A publication of the Real Estate Buyer s Agent Council, Inc. A wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Association of REALTORS April 2014 Volume XXIII Number 4 Voice of the Customer: 5 Ways to Improve Your Buyer Business What do buyers think of their agents? NAR s annual Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers provides many important and largely positive insights, but we wanted to dig further. So we talked to buyers from around the U.S., each facing a unique set of market circumstances and buying preferences. Several common themes emerged from these conversations, each representing a potential opportunity for buyer s reps to gain further ground with their clients. Think of the ideas you read inside as a collective Suggestion Box. Some of our buyers thoughts will ring true more than others. But if you aren t personally asking your own buyers about their experiences, these insights may provide a helpful substitute. The best news is that buyers genuinely want to forge positive partnerships with their agents. This is especially true now, as more buyers find themselves facing increasingly difficult challenges. From bidding wars, to competing with cash buyers, or difficulties securing financing...buyers want and need your help and resources. It s a great time to be a buyer s representative. Read on to learn how to do an even better job in today s market, straight from the buyer s mouth. Continued on page 3 LOOK INSIDE... Buyers Priorities versus Experiences pages 3-6 New Consumer One-Sheet: From One Buyer to Another page 7

2 MEMBERSHIP UPDATE WORTH QUOTING... Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. - Bill Gates ALSO SOUGHT: Good Neighbor Candidates REALTOR Magazine is seeking nominees for the 15th annual Good Neighbor Awards, which recognize REALTORS who impact their communities through volunteer work. Five winners will be recognized at the 2014 REALTORS Conference & Expo in New Orleans and will receive travel expenses to attend the show and a $10,000 grant for their community cause. Volunteer work might include affordable housing initiatives, youth mentoring, homelessness prevention, or anything else that makes a community a better place to live. Entries must be received by May 16, For more information and an entry form, go to REALTOR.org/ gna, see the March/April issue of REALTOR Magazine or contact Sara Geimer at sgeimer@realtors.org. 2 TBR April 2014 of Fame Nominees! Although the 2014 REBAC Hall of Fame inductions won t be made until November, during the Networking and Awards Reception held at the REALTORS Conference & Expo in New Orleans, It s not too early to begin considering nominees for this prestigious award. You can nominate any active member, including yourself, who holds either the ABR or ABRM SM designation, and who meets all other related criteria. The deadline for submitting nominations is June 27, To download a nomination form, visit: REBAC.net/HOF. Please call with any questions. Final Reminder: REALTOR Party Convention and Trade Expo Previously called the Midyear Legislative Meetings, the REALTOR Party Convention & Trade Expo is where NAR members take an active role in advancing the real estate industry, public policy, and the association. It s also a great opportunity to attend these valuable courses: e-pro Day 1 Course New-Home Construction and Buyer Representation: Professionals, Product, Process NAR s Military Relocation Professional Certification Core Course All three courses will be held May 13, 2014, from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. For additional details or to register, please visit REBAC.net/courses/conference-expo. Connect online with fellow ABR s for news, tips and REBAC.net

3 Voice of the Customer: 5 Ways to Improve Your Buyer Business Continued from page 1 What? When? I really wish my agent had provided an outline of when different things were going to be needed and how the process was going to unfold. Knowing who got involved when and what they required could have prevented several last-minute scrambles. Opportunity #1: Respond Promptly to Buyers First Inquiries According to NAR research, most buyers (54 percent) rely on referrals from friends and family to select a real estate agent to assist with their purchase. Typically, buyers only meet with one agent, but it s not necessarily for lack of trying to meet more. A surprising number of buyers we spoke with mentioned a lack of responsiveness from the agents they initially contacted. One comment shared by a consumer sums it up: I was a buyer and a seller, and represented well over $20,000 in commissions. But among the four agents I contacted, only one responded in a timely manner and two never returned my call. In the end, I was very pleased with the agent I used and would definitely recommend her to others. Still, I was surprised that I didn t encounter more competition for my business. Other buyers shared similar stories. From these limited results, it appears agents aren t necessarily capitalizing on all the opportunities available to them. Routinely test your and voice mail systems (including all Contact forms on your website) to make sure messages are checked and responded to in a timely fashion, and not accidentally landing in a Junk folder. Opportunity #2: Deliver More Value When Identifying Possible Properties Several of our interviewed buyers used their agent s website to view MLS property listings and to receive alerts for new properties matching their criteria. Buyers would sort through the new listings and give their agent a thumbs up or thumbs down on each property. While they found this resource superior to the consumer sites they d been using prior to hiring a buyer s rep, some buyers also expressed disappointment at how automated the process felt, or that responsibility for screening suitable properties had been shifted over to them. Comments included Please don t waste my time having me go through a bunch of listings that don t match my interests, and If my agent says their job is to help me find the right home, why am I the one doing all the upfront legwork? These reactions shouldn t be entirely surprising. When NAR last surveyed buyers about the assistance they most wanted from real estate agents, the top answer (by a wide margin) is Help finding the right home to purchase. (See chart, page 4) Buyers clearly want you to help them identify the best potential properties, but sophisticated MLS portals and systems can t be relied upon to satisfy their needs. Savvy buyer s reps should look for ways to add value, such as routinely asking your buyers about the results they re seeing, tweaking the search criteria accordingly and supplementing automated systems with your own personal input on search results. Continued on page 4 TBR April

4 Voice of the Customer: 5 Ways to Improve Your Buyer Business Continued from page 3 Wants and Needs Our agent took an indirect approach to understanding our needs. Instead of defining specific parameters, her worksheet inquired about our interests, lifestyle, etc. From this, she got to know us much better and was able to deduce our needs. (For example, our dog plays a big role in our life, so our agent knew a fenced yard and dog-walking areas were very important to us.) Opportunity #3: REALLY Get to Know Your Buyers NAR research finds that most buyers think very highly of their agent s people skills, ranking their actual buying experience even more satisfying than the level of importance they placed on this characteristic. (See chart on page 5) But how do buyers define people skills and how can agents make sure they re hitting the mark? Our interviews provided several key insights. More than a personable and friendly agent, buyers want their agent to display genuine interest in helping them. They want to know that you are fully in their court, actively listening and responding to their desires and concerns. Do that, and you ll also score high marks for being trustworthy (a multi-dimensional quality that includes honesty, integrity, and competency). Often, achieving trustworthy status boils downs to excellent communication skills not just saying the right things, but actively listening to what your buyers are telling you. Of course, communication is a two-way street. If your buyer isn t meeting their end of the bargain, you may need to have a frank and honest conversation to get things back on track. Understanding your buyers also means understanding their communications preferences: Do they prefer calls, text, ? What kind of feedback is most important to them? I m a very analytical person and was always pressing my agent for more details, explained one buyer. I wish he d made a bigger effort to understand how I operate and adjusted his style, offering more specifics and providing more insights. What Do Buyers Want From Real Estate Agents? Source: NAR s 2013 Profi le of Home Buyers and Sellers Survey 4 TBR April 2014

5 After the Sale We were first-time buyers and would have loved for our agent to follow up with basic tips on how to operate and maintain our home. This seems like a great excuse to stay in touch, but we haven t heard anything from her since we closed six months ago. Opportunity #4: Be a Solution-Provider Buyers genuinely appreciate tapping into your industry contacts. No matter what I needed done, it was wonderful to rely on my agent to set me up with a great resource, explained one buyer. The more you re able to cultivate and share genuinely helpful resources, the more buyers will view you as their go-to person, long after closing. (What a great way to stay in touch!) Currently, good lenders are a top concern for many buyers, especially if it s their first home or they face any unusual circumstances. For example, more than one condominium buyer we spoke to ran into financing difficulties for various reasons, including buildings with insufficient owner-torenter ratios or HOAs facing some type of difficulties. Mortgage brokers love to court you, but also won t hesitate to dump you, said one condo buyer. My agent gets credit for finding a bank that would finance my purchase. Continued on page 6 Buyers Priorities versus Experiences Agent Skills and Qualities Buyers Priorities: Very Important Buyers Experiences: Very Satisfi ed Surplus or <Gap> Honesty and integrity 98% 87% <11%> Knowledge of purchase process 94% 87% <7%> Responsiveness 93% 83% <10%> Knowledge of real estate market 93% 86% <7%> Negotiation skills 87% 73% <14%> Communication skills 86% 82% <4%> People skills 79% 84% 5% Knowledge of local area 79% 82% 3% Skills with technology 46% 77% 31% Source: NAR s 2013 Profi le of Home Buyers and Sellers Survey TBR April

6 Voice of the Customer: 5 Ways to Improve Your Buyer Business Continued from page 5 Opportunity #5: Exercise Patience Buyers understand that the commission you earn has no correlation to the amount of time it takes for them to buy a home. Knowing this, however, also makes them potentially suspicious of any attempts to rush a decision. Buying a home is such a major, personal decision. It s not like buying a dress that can be returned later, said one buyer. When an agent says I can only sell you what s on the market, I realize that s true but I also feel like we re on different wavelengths. They may be thinking in terms of current inventory, but for me, it s much more emotional. This is where I m going to live. Good to Know! Recent buyers picked up a few unexpected tips while purchasing their home, including: New Listings In my market it takes about a day for photos to upload to the MLS. Noticing listings without photos on realtor.com helped me spot what had just hit the market something that was very helpful in my highly competitive situation. The Winning Bid In a multiple offer situation, you might be able to gain Obviously buyer s reps don t want to get bogged down with a buyer who can never make up their mind. But exhibiting patience can go a long way towards maintaining a buyer s trust. Looking at the big picture, your buyers with larger time demands will hopefully be offset by other easy clients. In any case, if your patience is wearing thin, try discussing your concerns and finding a mutually-agreeable solution. Perhaps your buyer will be comfortable taking a wait-andsee approach, keeping an eye on potential properties while you concentrate on other clients motivated to make faster decisions. the upper hand with something as simple as letting the sellers know you don t want to change a key home feature. (Telling them we didn t plan to tear out their beloved koi pond put us on top.) Flipped Tricks A home s sales history can provide clues about whether it had recently been flipped. We were less interested in these properties because they often had cheap upgrades geared towards a quick resale. Comparables? To prepare his CMA, our agent used a tighter radius to select comparable homes than the appraiser. In our case, it worked to our advantage in renegotiating a lower price. But ideally, agents and appraisers should be on the same page. 6 TBR April 2014

7 Helpful Advice: From One Buyer to Another Your Accredited Buyer s Representative (ABR ) is a trained expert on buying homes. But he or she is not the only person with helpful advice. Consider these home-buying tips from other consumers people who recently completed their own real estate transaction and the suggestions they d offer to other buyers. 1. Start your search by interviewing several buyer s agents and checking their references. Make sure you re working with someone you trust. 2. Market knowledge and experience are important, but the best agent is one who will take the time to get to know you and understand your housing needs, as well as your personality and communication preferences. 3. Your first negotiation is with your agent. Read all agreements and ask questions about anything you don t understand. 4. Take time to do homework on your needs and wants. Get a solid grip on what s essential (whether it s price, location, certain home features, etc.) versus what s nice-to-have. Your agent will be more successful in helping you fi nd the right home if you re able to clearly communicate your preferences. 5. Don t waste your agent s time viewing properties that might not fit your needs. For instance, if you re uncertain about the neighborhood, drive by the home on your own and ask yourself if you d be happy in this area. 6. The real estate search process can be stressful, but don t buy a home that doesn t feel right. After all, this will be your home, the place where you ll be living, eating and sleeping for years to come. 7. Communicate fairly and honestly with your agent. If anything starts going amiss, discuss it immediately. If, for example, your agent seems more attuned to their own home preferences than yours, talk about it right away and revisit your priorities. 8. Respect your agent s market knowledge and consider their perspectives. Their experience does give them important insights into future resale values, up-andcoming neighborhoods, easy home modifi cations and other factors that buyers may not be attuned to. The Accredited Buyer s Representative (ABR ) designation is awarded by the Real Estate Buyer s Agent Council (REBAC), a subsidiary of the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). To learn more about REBAC and access various home buyer resources, please visit REBAC.net.

8 Real Estate Buyer s Agent Council, Inc. 430 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL REBAC@realtors.org TODAY S BUYER S REP April 2014 Volume XXIII Number 4 Have you visited the NEW REBAC.net? The new, improved REBAC.net member website is now live! If you haven t already, stop by for a visit. You ll fi nd a new look that s easier to navigate, mobile friendly and contains more content for you. Log in today and take advantage of convenient access to numerous member resources.