In new home sales, or any sales field for that matter, there is rarely the perfect time to schedule a week-long trip. What are you going to miss? What will you return to? These are questions that go through the mind.
This year, we managed to select the perfect week for our mission in Honduras, which hopefully you read about in past postings. We missed the largest snowfall of the year and we missed the most frigid temperatures recorded this winter. On our return day, the weather turned near perfect! What timing!
The warmer weather turned loose a hotbed of activity in the new home market with our sales and traffic at levels we had not seen since the home-buyer tax credit expired last year. I am proud to say that ALL of our available new homes in Nashville’s Spencer Hill are now pending! And we’re starting more, even a 4-bedroom home for $149,990!
The traffic surge continues into this week too, thank goodness! And according to this, the same trend is developing in Nashville! http://kennethbargers.com/2011/02/09/2011-home-sales-begin-with-increase-in-the-greater-nashville-area/
The one thing all prospects have in common right now is they all are expecting “a deal.”
They’ve heard all the national statistics on home sales and they are also hearing us shout “now is the time” from our rooftops. They are reacting by exploring their options. We have to react smartly and cannot afford to let emotions block the way to a potential sale.
There have been recent examples of transactions that could not be fathomed at any other time. Mansions listed for 1.5 million selling for 800k, short-sales of homes where 180k is owed selling for 150k or less, etc. Transactions like these are what prospective buyers have heard about. Even though these transactions are not the mainstream in Nashville, their expectations have been raised. It is our charge as Realtors to keep expectations in check, but most of all make everyone involved realize that “it’s not personal.”
Realtors are solutions to needs and desires. Most Realtors have a realistic idea of what can be accomplished in a successful deal and set expectations accordingly. Listing Agents and Buyer Agents have a duty to set parameters within reality.
Buyer agents have an exceptionally difficult task in balancing their clients expectations and the reality of a successful offer. Their clients have to know that they hit “rock-bottom” without leaving a single dime on the table. The process may start with an offer of ridiculous expectations, and it may start with an offer closer to reality. It depends on the Buyer Agent and the desires of their client, but in neither case is to be taken “personal.”
Listing agents also have their hands full. When was the last time you presented an offer to your “seller” only to hear “They want WHAT? Do they think I am a fool? To hell with them, etc…” The listing agent also has to set expectations, and focus much harder on taking emotions out of the picture when presenting offers. “It’s not personal!”
Nashville is very fortunate to have a diverse population, and especially fortunate to be a destination for people relocating to the United States from other countries. Negotiating tactics vary and must be kept in perspective. In many countries, negotiations start AFTER everyone has agreed. All of us have to know that this is simply a process and not an indication of the buyer’s honor or integrity. “It’s not personal.”
In negotiating a recent contract, the laundry list of items and price concessions appeared endless. You CAN do this and that. Yes, technically we could. But, we won’t. It’s not personal.
The most important ingredient to any negotiation is the element of mutual RESPECT. Without that, your deal will go no where.
Let the negotiations begin!
Trey Lewis is a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Tennessee with Ole South Realty, 615.896.0019 direct 615.593.6340. Specializing in new home sales in the Greater Nashville area to include Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, and Spring Hill, Tennessee