Tips For Qualifying Buyers Quickly

You can’t sell if your client can’t buy, so one of your most important steps in any transaction is buyer qualification. This needs to happen early in the game so you don’t waste time and resources on a dead-end pursuit. If you’re driven, you may meet 300+ potential buyers in a weekend of open for inspections, but how many of those people are actually ready to buy?

Frankly, only 2 or 3 of those potential buyers per weekend are important for you to meet your yearly sales goals. What you need now is a simple, reliable system for qualifying buyers and sellers as soon as they enter an open for inspection.

There are nine basic questions you will ask from the moment you meet each potential buyer.

1. Why are they moving?
2. What is their timeline?
3. What areas are they considering for relocation?
4. Have they been to any other opens yet?
5. Have they bid on any other properties or made an offer?
6. Are they paying cash or using a bank?
7. Have they made arrangements with a bank yet?
8. Is this their first, second or third purchase in the area?
9. Can you come by and see their current property?

This set of questions will tell you everything you need to know to qualify a buyer. You will know why they are selling a home and/or buying a new one, and when they need to be moved in. You will know if they are location specific, or more lifestyle oriented, so you know which features you can help them find. You will know how far along they are in the purchasing process, whether they are active in the marketplace, and what steps they still need to take. You can also quickly identify any blockages, questions or objections that need to be addressed to allow them to move forward.

Verifying financial capacity is vital, and you may need to refer them to a bank or broker before anything else can be done. Learning if this is a first purchase, or if they have bought and sold before, will tell you if a buyer is also selling, or may even be a property manager. And getting in to see their current property will help you better evaluate preferences they may have for their next purchase.

You can see how these nine simple questions will give you a well-rounded view of each client and help you to qualify potential buyers quickly. It will also help you to assist each client at their current stage of the process, wherever that may be, so that even if they don’t qualify yet they are likely to come to you when they are eventually ready to buy or sell property.

Thank you for watching today’s Coaching Tip. I look forward to seeing you here again next week.