In her recent study, “100 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People,” Dr. Susan Weinschenk, P.H.D. notes that people subconsciously scan the environment for certain things. These include their own name as well as messages about food, sex and danger.
Danger
If people are in fact predisposed to have their antenna up for danger, than a Realtor should have a client’s undivided attention during a discussion about reserved prospects.
Reserved Prospect
A reserved prospect is an individual who, before the home was listed, spoke directly to the Realtor’s seller client about the possibility of purchasing their home after it is actually placed on the multiple listing service. Thus, the homeowner client at times will request that the agent include this person as an exclusion to the contract.
Note
Many MLS governing bodies stipulate that under circumstances such as these, the listing is actually no longer an Exclusive Right To Sell but in fact an Exclusive Reserve Prospect. The homeowner should be made aware of this and the possible repercussions:
- Some seasoned agents will be reluctant to show a home whereby his or her buyer is at a disadvantage.
- That being the case, the potential buyer is esssentially holding the the seller hostage to their whims.
- Without the aid of a Realtor managing the process, for a variety of reasons, the private deal is less likely to close.
In addition to the above realities, the homeowner should seriously consider the reasons that the potential buyer doesn’t move forward with the purchase immediately. Are the reasons valid? Does the buyer have a home to sell themself, which just adds to the implications of bulletpoint #2?
Solution
The best solution is for the home seller to give the potential buyer a certain time period, either twenty-four or forty-eight hours, to make a decision to move forward with the purchase or not. In this scenario the seller has an opportunity to sell direct without jeopardizing the enormous prowess provided by the local MLS.
The conventional way of handling such situations is usually not in the best interest of the client and the danger signs are everywhere.
Do you explain the pitfalls of a reserve prospect to your client when appropriate?
Are there others that are not listed above?
Please let us know in the comment section below.
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