It happened twice this week in my presence. First on Tuesday while I was previewing a $3M home for a potential buyer client that I would refer to a team member. Then again today while I was attending a broker open house.
God’s Blessing
We’ve all heard, many times, the reason that we are blessed with two ears and one mouth. For various reasons I’m sure, many of us are overly uncomfortable with silence. Thus we feel as though we have to say something. During Tuesday’s showing the listing agent offered a grandiose idea on how the entry hall could be renovated to include a huge, sweeping stairway. I hadn’t noticed anything wrong with the stairway as it was. “Well that’s an interesting sales technique,” I thought. “Let’s encourage the buyer to spend $50K before even setting foot into a living area.”
From Bad to Worse
Today’s experience wasn’t much better. As I gazed out the glass sliding doors of the beach area property that I was touring, the realtor asked whomever was on the other side of the line to please hold. “Don’t worry about the ponding in the back yard,” she loudly exclaimed in my direction from an adjoining room. “The government is attending to it and will be installing a drainage system very soon.” The beauty of the marshland was captivating and I hadn’t even noticed the ponding. “Never trust the government,” I said jokingly.
Silence
I have observed similar scenarios over and over again during my real estate career. A salesperson attempting to make a situation better, only to make it worse. One man’s poison is another man’s pleasure (or something like that.) I once had a listing with power lines in the backyard. I made copies of an article which concluded that living near power lines was harmless. I left the copies on a table in the kitchen with other information about the home. Unfortunately it only served to exacerbate the issue and call more attention to it.
When it comes to percieved negatives, the worse thing you can do is to address them before you know they are a concern to the potential buyer. Silence is golden, and highlighting what you consider to be a negative often results in a disservice to your client.
When have you been guilty of exacerbating a perceived negative?
Has another realtor ever done so in your presence?
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