Take 5
Handling objections like a Pro
With Alexis Bolin


Alexis Bolin directly addresses camera:  Low inventory and high interest rates have sellers on the fence nowadays. They're concerned about where they'll move when they sell, particularly if it's local. Real estate. Agents should have an answer to these common objections before they ever go and meet with the seller. Hi, I'm Alexis Bolin. I'm a broker associate with Keller Williams Realty Gulf Coast in Pensacola, Florida.

And I'd like you to take 5 minutes with me to talk about what kind of response you could give to a potential seller who says, Look, Alexis, I want to list my house and I want to stay in the area, but there's nothing out there for me to buy. So how would we handle that? So I had that happen recently with an elderly lady.

And so I explained to her that if we price the house right for the market, we price it to sell and not to sit, we'd get multiple offers. Then I'd be able to negotiate 90 days after closing for her to stay in her own home while we located a property, and then she would have her cash to purchase and then we'd be able to get her moved.

And I'm proud to say every bit of that happened and she is thrilled. So I want you to start asking questions when you're talking to the seller in the beginning and ask, where are they going to, How soon do they need to move? What are your concerns about selling your house? Then you'll know up front before you ever go there, whether or not that's their concern about where they're going to go in your local marketplace in this market and be prepared to answer those questions.

Another one we get is, well, we'd like to get to a bigger house because we just added another child and the interest rate we have on our home right now is three and a half percent. Well, if we buy right now, we're looking at six and a half or 7%. It doesn't seem financially feasible for us to make this move.

And we've had those questions. And my answer is this. You don't move because of the interest rate. You marry the house and you date the rate. Because the interest rate will change, you'll be able to refinance and yet you'll be in a house that fits your family. So what's more important to you, staying with your three and a half percent interest rate or getting to a house that fits your family? So, think outside the box when you're talking with them because they haven't thought about those things, because eventually what goes up must come down and we'll be able to go ahead and refinance that house at a later date.

So why not take advantage now and get into the right size house? And the same thing with the downsizing. If you really need to move down in size, you need to move down. And it doesn't matter what the interest rate is, you need to fulfill your needs in the marketplace and move on with your life. Because every day real estate changes.

It's like the stock market. Every day we have a new deal going on in real estate. Prices are up, prices are down, the inventory is up, the inventory is down, interest rates are up and down. And we have to learn to work in that market. If you are going to continue to be in real estate for a length of time, you're going to need to brush up on your scripts and dialogs.

The other thing to consider about interest rates is if you're listing a house and the market seems to be a little tougher today in your area than it may have been two years ago, talk to the seller about doing a buy down on the interest rate or offering some incentives to the buyer, such as paying some closing costs, which will help them to buy your house.

I mean, there are a lot of things that can be done if the seller has an assembelable bill mortgage on the house, meaning a VA or an FHA or a government backed loan, and their rate is 3 to 4%, we're very likely to get somebody who can assume that mortgage, and that would cause that house to sell for a little bit more money because they're buying the interest rate along with the house.

So I want you to get outside your comfort zone, outside your box a little bit, and start thinking of different ways to handle the interest rates. Look at what your builders are doing. They're buying the rate down. They're giving some incentive to the buyers to buy. So I want you to do the same thing for the sellers.

What can your seller do to make this house more salable by offering some creative type of financing to the buyer? And I want you to think about that. The first thing I'll do is when I find out they've got a government loan is to get them to sign an authorization sheet authorizing me to get in touch with their lender to order an assumption package.
And then I'm going to advertise that property as I've got a three and a half percent assumable VA loan on it. And I'm going to know the particulars on what it takes to assume it. So I would start there. If they have a mortgage that can be assumed.

So you don't know how good you've got it in today's market. If you're an agent, you're very fortunate. When I got my real estate license in 1978 it was already eight and three quarter percent.

And I was a new agent and I didn't know that was bad. The interest rate by the end of my first year in real estate was in the double digits and it climbed to 18%. Well, what I quickly learned is I have no control over interest rates. My job was to find a buyer who could qualify for that interest rate and a seller who could sell their house and put the two of them together.

And that's what I did. I didn't stand around worrying about it. Our job is to help buyers and sellers, so if you get out there and you prospect enough, you'll find enough people who can still buy and sell regardless of the market because we cannot control the real estate market, all you can control is you. So continue your education, get out there and learn what you need to say and how to do this.

And good luck and God bless and much success.