Seems like a strange title, doesn’t it? I’ve been studying consumers and more specifically real estate consumers for almost 20 years. Over that time, I think I really have been able to dial in on what consumers want and what consumers need. I also think that’s been a big part of our success at The Hawai`i Team. Now, no one will ever nail down what consumers want and need 100% and it’s constantly changing over time, but at least at this time in the market, we’ve got a really good handle on what consumers want and what they don’t want. Continue reading below and let me know if you agree.
Reason # 1 NOT To Hire Me!
If you’re looking for a real estate agent to meet with you in your home or on Zoom and present a lengthy listing presentation that’s all about them, how terrific they are, and how many homes they’ve sold then DON’T hire me.
Reason # 2 NOT To Hire Me!
If you’re looking for a real estate agent who has a strategy to sell your home using the three “P’s”, then DON’T hire me. Oh, by the way, the three “P’s” consist of Put a sign in the yard, Put it in the MLS, and Pray. And I would go so far to suggest that if you’re even paying 1% of the purchase price for the three “P’s”, then you’ve paid too much.
Reason # 3 NOT To Hire Me!
If you’re looking for the low-price leader in the market because you’re hoping to save a bunch of money on commission, then DON’T hire me. On average, we are spending $6,000 per house on every listing we take and that’s even before we put it on the MLS and any marketing. Hiring a discount broker is not going to net you more money. It never has and it never will.
So now that we know what most people are not looking for in a real estate agent you must ask the obvious question of what traits or things consumers are looking for in their real estate agent or team.
There are three primary things which affect people when they are choosing a real estate agent:
• Likeability
• Convenience
• Price
Likeability – no question this is a big one. Study after study shows that consumers need to know you, like you and trust you to do business with you. It’s critical that when the parties talk everyone feels like there’s a good rapport established. Most of my clients feel like they know me before they meet me based on watching a lot of the videos on my YouTube channel. When I meet with them for the first time, it’s my chance to find out about them and certainly not talk about myself. At the end of that meeting, we want to feel like it’s a good fit for both of us.
Convenience – this too is a big deal, particularly in Hawai`i. I sell a lot of homes here and many of my clients are not on the island. Selling a property from afar is anything but convenient. If a realtor is going to succeed in this business, they must be a problem solver on every level. You’ve heard me say before that our motto at The Hawai`i Team is – the answer for our clients is always “yes”, as long as it’s legal, of course. One of the things we’ve done well over the years is establish ourselves as high-level problem solvers who provide an enormous amount of convenience to our clients.
Price – Bottom line is – can that agent make you more money? Last month I wrote an article about how we were achieving a 99% list to purchase price ratio for the homes we were representing. This is while the rest of the real estate market was achieving a 93% list to purchase price ratio. Meaning, we were achieving a 6% higher price than the rest of our colleagues. If you’d like to re-read that blog, you can find it here: What Am I Paying For
One of the reasons why I’ve backed off doing long listing presentations was because I found out the consumer really didn’t care. What the consumer really wanted to know were the following three things:
• Can I show them that I have done it before?
• Can I show them that I have done it recently?
• Can I show them that I have done it for someone like them?
Almost 97% of the time we can show the consumer all the above and thus it makes a long, boring listing presentation a thing of the past.
Finally, if you can show consumers, you can give them more time, more money and risk mitigation there’s a good chance they’ll agree you’re the right person for the job. When I meet with people, I always talk with them about how I’m going to make them more money, how I’m going to give them back more time and how I’m going to mitigate their risk. These are the reasons that you want to hire the right real estate agent or team.
Dan Polimino is the owner of the Hawai`i Team in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i. He and his team are the luxury residential experts for the Big Island. If you are thinking about buying or selling in Hawai’i, then please reach out to us at team@thehawaiiteam.com or call 808-913-0899.
