Excuse Me, Are You A Property Agent? ....(11)

One of the most popular questions that buyers like to ask is, "Why is your client selling?"

What answers are they expecting? Why are buyers filled with suspicion when an owner wants to let go his unit? What relevance has the question? If there are answers like, "My owner is becoming a bankrupt soon; or banks are after my client, or the apartment is huanted" would agents really reveal to potential buyers.? Hence, the question need not be posed at all.

Sometimes, tongue-in-cheek, I would reply, "For the same reasons why you are buying! In any case, if my client is not selling, how would you have the opportunity to buy this property?"

Perhaps a more pertinent question to ask is, "Is the property of good value, and do I like it?"

It is even more precarious when I market properties with enbloc potential. For buyers would be even more overly suspicious why owners are letting go when they stand to gain much profit from the enbloc. Of course enbloc properties come with a higher than valuation price. Very often the cash above value would amount to almost 10 to 15% of the valuation price. A shrewd buyer will not mind paying the cash above value because at the end of the day, he is the one who will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Sometimes I tell the potential buyers that by the time, I answer their question as to why my client is selling, my client would probably be in the process of transacting another unit. This is how fast shrewd investors move. They do not ask redundant questions; they analyse on their own, irrespective of market reports; they feel the pulse of the movement of real estate. I enjoy serving these shrewd investors because they are very decisive and know exactly what they want.

However, I also do not mind serving clients who could be quite green in real estate investments. It is a test of my patience and ability to explain and to convince. There are some who are quite teachable; there are others like the previous doctor, who will always adhere to whatever little knowledge they have. And as they say, a little knowledge could sometimes be dangerous.

C'est la vie. This is what makes my life so interesting as an agent. Everyday I am learning new things from shrewd and experienced investors. Even from new investors, for "every man I meet is my superior, in that, I learn of him."...Emerson.

Gan Chau