This is a public service announcement to all vendors and landlords from realtors. We hope to create synergy with our clients and defuse the amount of “fake news” in the real estate industry. Cooperation with the realtor doesn’t stop at the handover of the property, it stops after that. While we realtors provide our own version of after-sales service, vendors and landlords too have a responsibility to provide their own after-sales service. 

Exclusivity

Vendors and landlords are advised to practice exclusivity. Only one sole realtor is engaged to manage the property. The realtor will be motivated to manage the property.

All communications channel will be funnelled through one realtor. Enquiries from prospects and other realtors will be through that one realtor. The realtor will filter and shortlist the right purchasers and tenants.

This saves the owner time and energy. His or her phone won’t be disturbed by relentless enquiries. The enquiries can be legitimate or fake. Fake in a sense that they are just enquiring to “fish” for information and nothing more than that. We want to give the owner peace of mind and less stress. Realtors are here to lift the burden off the owner’s shoulders.

The agency, not the agent

If the owner decides to engage multiple realtors, its understandable. However, there can be dire consequences on the owner and the property.

The owner will get unsolicited calls and texts from realtors. The owner’s phone will be buzzing nonstop continuously. The owner has to repeat himself, send out the same information again and again, and sacrifice his or her personal time for the agents to take photos for advertisement purpose. It is a mentally draining journey.

After obtaining the relevant information, realtors will hang their banners at the property. This is where it will get messy.

The many banners present on the gate or in front of the property, destroys the beautiful feel of the property. Its like splashing a coat of paint on a white wall and the wall has become tainted.

Even though the banners show that the property is for sale or for rent; the many banners give the impression that the owner is desperate to sell or rent. To the owner, its a number’s game and a game of probability. The more realtors are engaged, the higher the chance of securing a purchaser or tenant.

That may not be the case. Instead of getting enquiries from multiple prospects, only one prospect may be contacting all the realtors. Hence, all the realtors will then contact the owner. The owner will then have the impression that his property is in demand and then increase the asking price. If the owner finds out that the enquiries are coming from the one same prospect, the owner will then feel irritated and annoyed.

A good strategy will be to limit the engagement to 2 to 3 agencies. Engage each realtor from a different agency. Different agencies have different strengths and appeals. They can be the colour of the banner, the agency’s name, the realtor’s name, or the gender of the realtor.

Red and yellow stand out more than brown or black. Colours illicit emotions. Bright colours creates positivity. Dark and mellow colours dampens the mood. Prospects will be more attracted to bright colours.

A prospect may have had a pleasant previous experience with an agency. The prospect sees the same agency’s banner on the property. There’s a high chance the prospect will contact the realtor.

Another case study is of a female prospect who was looking at the banners. All the banners had male realtors, expect one! It was a female realtor. The female prospect then proceeded to contact the female realtor.

Property has been sold or rented

After the property has been sold or rented, owners should make it a point to inform the realtors engaged.

So that realtors do not have to unnecessarily spend money on advertising, only to then find out that the property has been sold or rented long time ago. This also saves the previous owner the hassle of repeating himself or herself by informing that the property has already sold or rented.

Owners can then peacefully move on from the property. Thereby giving the owner peace of mind. Realtors too can move on and focus on other properties.

This is a public service announcement to all vendors and landlords from realtors.