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1. Deliver what you said you would at your listing presentation. Your credibility is at stake. Do what you say you will do.
2. Make Honest recommendations to sellers about "getting their home ready to show." Provide the sellers with the names of vendors who can do work with them if they need the contact. I had one client with whom I went accessory shopping for those important touches that give a home that extra punch.
I had another client who wanted top dollar for his home although the house had the original, dated kitchen. It was not feasible to remodel the kitchen so i suggested he go buy all new hardware for the cabinets. For about $400, he improved the look of the kitchen enormously (and we sold the home for almost the asking price).
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Let your seller know what they should expect from you. Are you going to contact them after each showing, once a week, or once a month? Personally, I love e-mail because I can do it late at night, but some sellers prefer a phone call. Whatever your mode of communication, stay in constant touch. It sounds like a cliche, but a person's home is their most valuble asset. Treat it as such.
4. Be Honest, but tactful. Sometimes we do not want to hurt our sellers' feelings so we spare them from the truth. This ends up backfiring if they are not receiving offers on their home. If the listing has not sold and you are close to the ends of the listing period, but have been honest along the way, they've slowly been adjusting to feedback from the market and will be willing to re-list with you at a reduced price. 5. Pricing Sometimes Realtors are so desperate for a listing, any listing, that we take the listing at the price the seller wants, but not the price the house should be listed. We have all done it, but it's important to do it honestly. You must say, "Mr. Seller, I have just shown you why $500,000 is a great price for our home, but you want to list it for $600,000, but if in 30 days you have not received an offer and i can document all of the showings i have had, we will revisit the issue of price because we do not want your home to get stale on the market."
6. Marketing Report. Provide your client, at least once a month, with a written marketing report documenting your showings, your marketing, feedback and any other information that will be helpful to them in looking at the overall picture of their home. This requires a lot more work, but as a professional who is getting paid handsomely for their efforts, this is a document the seller deserves.
7. Explain the contract. Hopefully, before you have ever received an offer on your listing, your seller has seen what a sample contract looks like. They will understand the various pitfalls of the way the contract is written; they will know that you will provide them with the very best service you can in order to navigate the contract; and that you are looking out for their interests.
8.Simplify the process. Once the contract is written, I Extrapolate all of the important dates into one document and email it to my clients. They are then able to follow along with the process and know that I am on top of their transaction. I ususally provide the same list to the agent for the buyer as well so that we are all on the same page.There are presently some internet programs that will do this for you too.
9.Inspections. Once the home is inspected and the report is delivered, you must be the voice of reason.Be actively involved. I always tell my sellers, "What is the mission? To get your house sold. We will work through any inspection issues that are presented to us."
10. Follow Through. I dot my "I's" and cross my "T's." All of my transactions close because if there is a problem I know about it immediately and do everything i can to address the issue at hand.
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