Tribbles hate Klingons and Klingons hate Tribbles. This little knows fact from Star Trek might very well been written builders hate real estate agents and real estate agents hate builders. Ok so it is not that bad but real estate agents and builders have very different perspectives.
For Real Estate agents the product is the customer. For the Builder the product is the house. This can be a critical difference particularly in overcoming buyer objections. If a buyer object to a window placement the builder will often have a detailed explanation ready why the window was place where it was or ways to relocate the window, a builder will overcome the objection. Too often a real estate agent takes the customer to his or her car and is off to look at anther home built by someone else. Rather than risk the customer they want to meet every need the customer expresses whether valid or not.
Real estate agents like to get paid quickly and if they have to wait until a home is built than the commission is delayed. Some agents will steer customers to existing homes just to avoid the delay.
When you work with a real estate agent you are working not only with the agent but with their office and also with all the subscribers to their multiple listing systems. If a customer is interested in seeing a house and they call the listing office they will likely get whoever is on desk duty that day. The desk agents are often the least experienced agents. Experienced or not the desk agent may know little or nothing about your project. If the customer is with an agent who found your project in the multiple listing service they may know nothing about the product and have absolutely no loyalty to you.
We were having difficulty with a spec home that had been on the market longer than the rest of the neighborhood. I was so concerned that I had a friend of mine and his wife shop the real estate agent for me. The couple called the agent and was referred to the desk agent. When they told the person answering the phone they would rather talk to the listing agent they were told that the agent would be busy all day but Joey knew the project well and had shown the house several times this week.
When they met the agent at the house he showed them through the house getting in the way rather than adding to the presentation. Near the end of the tour my friend looked out the window at the back yard. He was looking at the yard when the agent said, "and behind that tree line is the highway. In the winter you can see it and if you think that is bad wait until they widen the road. " Joey was not someone we wanted showing our homes.
Most real estate agents have little or no more expertise regarding home construction than the general public. What they do know often comes from word of mouth from other agents who have the same limited information or even faulty information. This does not, however, keep many from offering an inexpert opinion on things they do not understand.
So how do you deal with these varied perspectives? If you can set up a program to pay the real estate agent at contract instead of closing you may gain a few sales. Even with a real estate agent doing the bulk of the lifting you need you own sales people to do the presentations of the homes and be ready to overcome objections. WE found the process went best when we registered the customer to the agent then got the agent out of the house. Many will object because the customer is the product but try. Paying the agent is painful enough but having to pay an agent who almost screws up a deal is worse.
Do training programs for agents in the area. You will not get everyone but you will get some and you may build some loyalty. It has been my experience that if you have a luncheon you get the agents looking for a free lunch not those interested in selling your homes. I found you got more return for your effort if you did a training presentation.
The current market has driven out many of the weak agents but it has also driven out many of the good ones. If you are going to turn over such a critical business function as sales remember you still need to control the process. The more you can do in house the better it is likely to work.
Of course, like many things in the housing industry, use of real estate agents vary by region, some areas use agents nearly exclusively and some not at all. If you are in area where it is a necessity it is even more critical you control the process.
Original content copyright 2011 Thomas Robinson
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