We ALL should be doing this!

Sellers Estimated Net Sheet- Do One At Every Listing Appointment

Last week I was contacted by email and asked if I would be interested in coming over to do a listing presentation. They said they had already interviewed 3 agents but a friend of theirs told them they should interview me too before making their final decision. Naturally I said yes and the appointment was set and off I went.

Now my listing appointments are never about me and always about them. Their plans, their needs, their concerns, their wants. As I was delving deeper into their wants I found their main want from an agent is for that agent to accept $X listing commission. OK that's an interesting tidbit to know about up front.

As I went deeper into their reasoning for $X listing commission I found that they had figured this amount out on their own by using what knowledge they had as to customary closing costs asociated with the sale of a property.

M/M Seller before we talk commissions let me show you what I provide to all my clients and then we can talk about your bottom line. As I went through my presentation I could see their thoughts were churning and when I finished I said now... lets do an estimated net sheet so you can see what your bottom line will be at the price we discussed and at the commission I will put in. Sure they said. Do you want to email it to me? No I will do it right here and now I said. Really they answered? Of course I said. Didn't the three agents before me do a net sheet also? Errr... No... they said. Goodness then how do you know what you may net when selling at such and such price with such and such costs? I asked. We just sort of figured it out ourselves using the figures we thought were right. Oh my.... So I did my net sheet and went over the figures with them. From the look on their faces I could tell they truly had no idea what the true estimated figures were like.

Now I know some Sellers may not hire you because they DO NOT like your Estimated Net Sheet. But when all is said and done an Estimated Net Sheet is needed at ALL listing presentations. Sellers need to know and need to be prepared for worse case scenario. They need to see the correct figures and not the figures they have pulled out of the sky somewhere. They need to know the truth about what todays market value will put in their pocket so they can make informed selling decisions up front and not decisions based on being pushed in a corner later.

I got the listing....at the sales price that all 4 of us agents had very closely suggested...and at the commission I normally charge. All because I did an Estimated Net Sheet.

I'm not sure why the 3 agents that came before me did not do an Estimated Net Sheet. Maybe it was fear of what the Sellers were suggesting as to commission. Or maybe they thought once they heard they had the listing they would do one then. Or maybe it was just being too laid back. Whatever the reason, in my book, an Estimated Sellers Net Sheet should be done right then and there. Before I leave and not when I come back. Sure it might not be the bottom line a Seller wants to see but it sure opens communication up to what they need to hear and see. And it puts me one step professionally above all those agents who do not do one.

And who knows, There is always that possibility I may never get that second chance. Not likely but possible :)
Sellers Estimated Net Sheet- Do One At Every Listing Appointment

This article was taken from a blog on Active Rain.