Building Seller or Buyer Rapport in Person

So you did a great job with your marketing, spoke to your potential seller or buyer by phone and qualified them. You also made sure they were motivated and started building rapport with them in your initial conversation and possibly even had a follow up call or two and a couple of emails to get to this point. (If you need tips on Building Rapport with Seller & Buyers by Telephone, please read our article on the legalwiz.com site first!) Many of these tips also apply in person and also apply to potential buyers as well as sellers. It is also helpful to role play this meeting beforehand with a trusted friend, mentor or coach familiar with real estate negotiations.

Now it’s time to meet in person. Most of us are a bit nervous when we have an upcoming person to person meeting, but you get better at it with practice and experience. Honestly it’s a lot easier to build rapport when you are meeting face to face if you have already built the foundation of trust, respect and honesty on your initial phone call and subsequent communications. You also have a lot of other tools you can now use just as body language and eye contact- to name a few!

Before the Meeting.  Make sure you do your due diligence. Check for who is on title, who is on any loans and any relevant information pertaining to the property details and numbers. In addition if price may be an issue, we will run some current comps for that area.

We like to call and confirm the day or a few hours before our meeting. In this confirmation call, you can review the time, place and what you hope to accomplish during the meeting. If documents or other information is needed from your buyer or seller, you can also make sure that they will have that available. Finally, make sure all persons that are on title or are decision makers in the deal will be at the meeting. If we need essential documents or information and it won’t be ready for our meeting, we may actually reschedule the meeting for a day or two later.

My wife and I also decide if just one of us will attend the meeting or both depending on if we feel that there will be an advantage to us in establishing rapport, credibility or just if we feel having both male and female at the meeting will lead to a more productive get together. There is also the issue of safety which we will address in a bit.

Where to Meet. Obviously we will normally meet at the property and talk there. In cases where the property is vacant  and there is no place to sit and talk, we will go to the property first, walk through it and then head over to a local restaurant or coffee shop to chat.

Driving To the Meeting.  When we are driving to the meeting, we normally allow extra time in case of traffic, etc. We also allow time before or after the meeting in order to drive by the comps that we ran earlier to validate values. In this age of technology there is still no substitute for having “eyes-on” if at all possible!

Make sure that if you have magnetic signs on your vehicle, to pull them off before you park in front of a property. If you have something that says “Foreclosures, No Problem” or something of the kind, it can be embarrassing to your potential seller. If you have a “regular” vehicle, use  that one to drive to the appointment- in other words don’t take the Jaguar!

How to Dress.  We try to dress nicely, but to the trend of the area. In dealing with most sellers, normally I will wear a collared shirt and nice jeans or slacks. Rarely, if ever, will I wear a suit and tie to a meeting, especially in the “starter” home areas that we deal with that make up our bread and butter. My wife will normally dress with a blouse and slacks. Nothing too fancy!

Safety. Make sure, if in doubt that you take someone to the meeting with you. In most cases I will accompany my wife if she is the main person on the deal as ladies can be on the hit list for predators. Never compromise your personal safety- it’s not worth it. Always let someone you trust know the address you are going to and when you expect to return. Call that trusted person when you get back to your home or office safe and sound -even if there are two of you going to the meeting.

The Tour. Normally after we have said our “hellos” and exchanged small talk, (weather, pets, neighborhood, current events- but not politics) we will ask for a “nickel tour” of the property. As we tour the property we will look for items of commonality where we can build rapport and find out more about our sellers.  Lead the pace and make sure you look at the house thoroughly. You’ll need this information for your estimated repair list and to find any items that may affect the price, up or downwards.

As you tour, smile, maintain appropriate body language and eye contact, ask questions relating to the property. I normally refer to the property as “your house” or something similar.  Take a personal interest in what they have to say. You can also further test motivation and even stray slightly into negotiating mode by using some of the Probing or Test Close questions contained in the telephone script such as: “What other options have you considered in selling your house?” or “What will you do if you don’t end up selling your place?” or “When do you need to close by?”  Ask- don’t assume anything until you get an answer!

Listen to what they have to say. Is it the same story they told you when you first spoke by phone? Take a personal interest & take their sides on their problems. Let them vent if needed. Use common terms, not real estate jargon.  Just like on the telephone, not everyone is a “talker”. In this case use questions to move the conversation ahead in the right direction.

We will also take pictures of the property. Make sure you take pictures of the good stuff as well as the bad or the seller may feel slighted and suspicious.  Take notes as you walk through, again writing as much good stuff as negative. Don’t let the picture taking or note taking interfere with your conversation and rapport. Once trust is built and it appears to be a deal going forward, you can always return to the property for a 2^nd look if needed. That is another advantage to having you and your partner at the meeting sometimes. One person can take notes and pictures and the other maintain the flow of conversation. Make sure you bring items like a flashlight, measuring tape, etc. for darkened areas, crawl spaces etc.

Don’t be in a hurry and if as all possible- find out exactly why the seller is selling and what their specific needs are before you begin the actual negotiating process.  What are their real reasons for selling?  Is there a specific amount of cash they need? Do they need it all at once or in increments? What date do they need to close by? You may find that you are able to begin the negotiating process during the tour, if you have built rapport and by asking the right questions as you go along.