Helping Clients Find the Perfect Home

In the real estate industry, it would stand to reason that people would think that it's the agents' job to help clients find the perfect home and that mortgage brokers should only be invested in helping them find the right financing for that dream home. Yet how many of us have heard the stories about agents or friends or family members who they felt had pressured them into buying a home that wasn't quite right, that wasn't perfect? If you have spent any amount of time working directly with homebuyers, then you have undoubtedly heard at least one of these stories.

Why should it be everyone's job?

When talking about the perfect home for any client, it should stand to reason that the task should fall (and there's a reason that word is emphasized) upon everyone's shoulders. This purchase, for most people, isn't like buying a flat screen television for the family room or even buying a used car; this purchase is the most important investment in a person, or family's life. It shouldn't be taken lightly and it shouldn't be forced or rushed, even when time is of the essence.

When we look out for our clients and their best interest, we begin to thread a reputation of respect and caring through the fabric of our business relationships. Clients will continue to spread the word about what caring and personable people helped them get the right mortgage and were concerned with their long-term happiness with this purchase.

What defines the perfect home?

Now, it's time to share the revelation: there is no perfect home for any person. There are ideal homes, homes that will be beneficial, homes that will bring joy and happiness, but there is no such thing as a perfect home. But you will see the complete array of various clients step through your door, or converse with you on the phone. Most of these people will be in search of something they may not even be certain about and will be nervous and wary of the numbers about to be spilled their way.

Some families are seeking the home that will help them eliminate bad memories. A couple struggling to hang onto their marriage may feel that a change of scenery is going to help them overcome the trials and tribulations of their wedded years. Someone may be trying to live up to the expectation of their loved ones, a father or mother, perhaps, and looking at a house that is four sizes too large for them, and for their budget.

In case you haven't noticed, single folks, or married couples with no children, buy four, five, and even six bedroom homes, five thousand square feet, stretching their budget as thin as it can go just for that token McMansion at the end of a cul-de-sac and have no concept of the upkeep, heating, cooling, cleaning, and furnishing something for which there simply won't be the bodies to fill it. Their idea of the perfect home will probably be skewed.

Does this mean that it's your job to turn them away? Of course not, but you can ask questions that their agent or friends have failed to; you can ask them what they're going to do with all that extra space. You can ask them how they plan to heat it, if they feel that it's a long-term investment or whether they plan on having children. Simply asking the questions can often instigate a dialogue that wouldn't happen anywhere else. When money is on the line, when the signatures are being prepared, is when the truth about the perfect home comes out.

The impact on business

By being open and communicative with clients, by asking them questions, pointing out potential issues or downfalls, you will certainly run the risk of having a closing delayed or held, but this is rare. Once people reach your door, they're ready to sign, but when the days turn into weeks and months in their new home and they start to notice that it isn't everything they hoped or thought it would be, they will think about you and what you were trying to get them to consider.

And when they're ready to make their next move, you're the first person they're likely to call. That, my friends, is a powerful position to be.

David

David Reinholtz is a professional Mortgage expert in Real Estate Industry. David is also a sales and marketing expert and trains professionals in every career field. David has personally trained tens of thousands of loan officers, mortgage brokers, real estate agents and individuals through The Close More University Seminar Series, LoanOfficerSchool.com Classes, Correspondence and On Line Learning, and countless private engagements and training events throughout the country.

David is the Founder and CEO of LoanOfficerSchool.com, an approved education provider for The Conference of State Bank Supervisors and The National Mortgage Licensing Systems' (NMLS) required pre-licensing education and continuing education.