So you are having a open house house for one of your listings or for either your fellow agent or broker. A couple walks through the door. They view the property. After they finishing viewing the house,you ask them. What do you think of the house? The couple loves it. So you then ask them "Are you working with a real estate agent? They say yes. But we all know that everybody that comes to your open house are not working with a real estate agent
They just say that because they do not want to be bothered by real estate agents. So I want to know,should I still give them my business card? I say that because I don't want to be unethical. But at the same time,I don't want a couple who is probably a potential client to walk away. So what should I do to approach this situation and not be unethical? Is there a better way that I can handle this situation/ If you was my situation,what would you do? Any advice,tips or suggestions will be very helpful. Thank you very much for all of your comments in advance.
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I love Rich's answer above and think it works perfectly.
I try not to ask the question directly as people tend to respond honestly if they are caught off guard and don't have time to think about their answer. It's sort of like being asked, "Can I help you?" when shopping - we almost always say "Just looking" if the question comes too soon, even though later we wish we had some help.
If someone expresses an interest in the property, I usually say "Could I get your agent's name so I could keep her/him updated on the property?" If they say they are not working with an agent, I hand them a card and say, "if I can help in any way, here's my contact info. By the way, if you like, I can email you any other listings in the neighborhood if you'd like." I take a low key approach, but that is just what works for me.
I haven't held an open house in years, but I used to try to give visitors something useful that coincidentally has my name and contact info on it.
An example might be this: one page of a book printout from MRIS (contains 9 homes) of other properties in the area (including some priced lower), and let them know there you could email more details about the properties, and include some additional ones, if they like - which gives you their email address and, of course, an opportunity to find out what they'd like (bedrooms, price range, etc.) I'm more comfortable doing this than passing out a card because it gives an opportunity for two-way communication AND giving them something of value to them.
Susan - Thank you so much. After they tell me what they think or how they feel about the property,am going to ask them to give me their real estate's agent name so that I can update on the property. I am definitely going to start doing that now.
Sandra-I like that a lot. Just wanted to make sure I am not doing something wrong. I want to change my approach when I start doing open houses this spring. Thank you very much.
Margaret -I am definitely going to do that. Thank you very much again Margaret for giving me another great tip.
You have to take people at their word. One day you will also be too busy to tend to all of your buyers, and would like for fellow agents to respect your relationship when one them trips into an open house. The question as framed by your first respondent is perfect.
Lanre,
I just ask them to pass it on to their Agent for reference....and put the house address on the card. If they have an Agent, they will not be offended by that approach...if not they have your card and the property address for reference.
Chris -I agree with you. Its a small world. You never know what real estate agent you might run into. Thanks for your comments.
Dan - Absolutely. They shouldnt be offended. Thank you for your comments.