SarahGray Lamm ~ Chapel Hill / Carrboro / Durham Real Estate Blog ~ Agent Outlier

There’s a really good reason we, as experienced professionals, are integral to a smooth real estate transaction. We are bi-lingual…we speak the languages of both buyers AND sellers; languages which are quite different when you think about it.

Fortunately the respective languages are not fraught with grammatical pitfalls. I asked a client the other day what her expectations were of me for the freshly inked listing contract period. She looked blank for a split second and then, as only someone you know well can get away with, she replied, “List it. Sell it. Capiche?” Oh yes, I capiche. Sellers want their property sold for as much money as possible and in as short a time as possible. They don’t want to make another monthly payment. It’s about the cash left in their pocket at the end of the day. Sellers care about price.

Buyers’ expectations may not be quite as easy to suss out but the language they speak is really not much more difficult to understand in the end. They may talk about wanting ‘a deal’ or taking advantage of the current buyer’s market or low interest rates. They may talk about wanting their ‘dream home’ or a ‘great investment’, a ‘fixer-upper’ or home that is ‘move in ready’ but in the end it’s about what they are willing to pay for it. Buyers care about cost.

Enter the simultaneous translators. Umm, that’s us…you and me. My job is to translate your clients’ offer into my clients’ language and I’m expecting you to be doing the same on your side of the transaction. Seriously, how much mileage do you expect to get when you tell a buyer that the seller needs x dollars out of the transaction? What do you think a seller will say when you say the buyer can only afford x? Maybe something along the lines of “How is that my problem?” Should the seller really care what the buyers’ payments will be and should the buyer be concerned with how much cash the seller walks away with? Sure they should if it accomplishes their own goals. This is not a chess game with a winner and a loser. Our job is to make it win-win.

Here’s where our ‘language’ skills come in. Talk to your seller in terms of price and to your buyers in terms of cost. This is not an insult, it’s a negotiation. Can the buyer move up the closing date, resulting in one or two less mortgage payments for the seller and a lock on a lower rate for himself? Can the seller offer to buy down a rate giving the buyer a payment he is comfortable with for less money than a dramatic price drop and preserve some of her equity for herself? Terms have monetary value. Explain them. Can the seller agree to an earlier close to secure the buyers rate and then rent back for a time that is mutually agreeable? Is the buyer prepared to do some repairs after closing in order to get a better deal? Is the sellers’ property in a price range most likely to attract buyers with FHA loans or conventional loans? Is the buyer more concerned with down payment or monthly payment? Does the client understand what those scenarios mean?

I am always amazed when a colleague on the other side of a transaction decides to take an adversarial approach and tries to explain to me why my client is being unreasonable because their clients’ needs are more important. I do not believe that the advent of agency relationships requires me to forget that there are actual human beings on the other side of a contract. I do not believe my client hired me to be a pit bull or a lap kitty. They want my skills in pricing, negotiating and getting the deal to closing. Accomplishing all of those things requires that I speak to them in language they can understand. Capiche?

SarahGray Lamm is a licensed, full time, residential Broker in the Triangle of North Carolina.  She specializes in serving the real estate needs of home owners and home buyers in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, SW Durham and Northern Chatham County.  With over 60,000 hours of experience in North Carolina real estate, SarahGray is proudly associated with Allen Tate Realtors , the Carolinas largest independent real estate company.  With exceptional relationships all over the Carolinas, SarahGray is able to connect you with other professionals in all areas who will make your home buying or selling experience the best you have ever had!

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