Meeting a seller’s expectations: A Scenario

by Shawn Lackie

Real Estate is a funny business. Funny ha ha and funny not so ha ha. Just ask anyone who has been at it for any length of time. As a full-time business, not some side hustle, all too prevalent these days. When things die off, like they have the last few years, it’s interesting watching all the wanabees scramble out of the madness.

Speaking of madness, a lot of a sales persons reputation depends on their innate ability to satisfy a buyer (or seller’s) expectations. Which is easier said than done. However, not all clients are difficult to deal with, in fact, some can be downright easy to get along with and thus easy to please, as long as you continue to deliver what you promise.

Case in point: A few years ago a regular client of mine called me and was very succinct in what he wanted. “I need you to list my mother’s house.” There was no beating around the bush with this gentleman. So, I arranged a date to meet, at said home, and go over what we would do next. It was a nice 1,400 square foot bungalow, in a great area of Whitby. This was just at the precipice of the market going soft, so I had to relay to him, if we were going to do something it should be done sooner rather than later. We toured the home and I made a number of notes on the pad I was carrying.

Now I must say, with some clients, when you recommend things they need to do to the property, they just look at you with glazed eyes and a vacant stare. Which usually means, not a chance it’s going to get done. Others, like the one I was dealing with, take it all in and then simply say OK. Wow. Talk about a gift from heaven.

The home was well built, by a local builder I knew very well, but it was, sadly, dated. So, I gave him my list and it was extensive. Paint the whole place, replace all light fixtures, replace shag carpet in basement, fully replace rotting deck and clean up the yard, including the small in-ground pool, and a few more. He just put the list in his pocket and said, “When do I need to get done by?” My answer was (and still is) yesterday. The sooner it’s done the sooner it’s on the market. Three weeks later, he called and said, I will meet you at the home. Wow! The place looked stunning. He asked about price. I said, given we were heading into a downturn, let’s not fool around. If we list at $1.1 million, there is a small chance we might do better than that. Maybe we could end up around 1.2. I had a call from his goofy brother, telling me it should be 1.5. Uh, no. So, we went ahead at 1.1 million and we ended up with 6 offers, and he got 1.2.

It made me look a whole lot smarter than I am, but the key was, he was happy and boy was he happy. That made me happier than you could ever know. Big smiles all around.

Feel free to check out this story and more on my blog site, at https://slackie14.wixsite.com/buy-sell-and-more