Is your client too selective?

Agents have several clients to accommodate, yet one client sticks out due to their hard-to-please personality. Every move the agent made is the wrong move. The stress reaches the point where it’s dreadful interacting with the client. What are the signs? What are the solutions?

Will the client compromise?

It’s fine to have a wish list. A list leads buyers to suitable homes by eliminating homes that don’t meet specifications. At one point, the client must compromise between the list and the home’s as-is layout. Buyers who compromise are open-minded buyers adapting to the realities in home buying. The buyers with a list who refuse to compromise are the fussy ones. No house meets all expectations, yet buyers refuse to believe that. They will continue to search with or without the agent.

Does this client expect perfection?

Agents understand no home is perfect. Fussy clients demand perfection because they are paying for it. In reality, a custom-made home isn’t perfect, yet it’s the closest to perfection. Unless the buyers have the finances for custom home building, buyers must accept the fixer-upper and move-in ready homes. The perfectionism in buyers is too overpowering to accept one flaw. Like the person who refuses to compromise, perfectionists will tell the agent to continue searching.

Does the client over analyze details?

Part of perfectionism is perfecting the minor details. Buyers blow those details out of proportion to the point where a minor flaw is a deal breaker. Who cares about the home offering 99 percent of what I desire when there’s a barely there paint chip in the wall, dust in the corner, and hideous wallpaper? It becomes an obsession to find flaws in the home instead of embracing the home’s imperfect features. Perpetual concentration on the small stuff equals perpetual home showings with no satisfaction in sight.

Is the client impatient?

Retirees and baby boomers can afford fancy homes with their savings, retirement, and Social Security accounts. They already dealt with starter homes and fixer-uppers to earn their way to the fancy homes. However, millennials and Gen-Z clients want the fancy living space now. The generations don’t want to struggle to earn the fancy home due to excellent upbringing or viewing countless magnificent rooms on Houzz and HGTV. Regardless, they expect to continue living good forever. This is unrealistic, yet the clients are unreasonable. Life changes and so do their priorities. Besides, the home they choose now may not be the forever home.

Does this client watch too much TV?

The reality TV shows related to fixer-uppers, buying and selling, and home makeovers are turning viewers into experts. Buyers see a home and expect all homes to live up to the TV show. They believe they know the process of home buying better than the agent and expect quick results. Those buyers are highly selective too. Sadly, reality television rarely matches reality. Post-production cut out the lengthy and boring parts to concentrate on drama, yet clients don’t care.

Does this client have a favorite home?

There’s a difference between an authentic favorite and a conjured favorite. Clients with a conjured favorite home watched TV and viewed spectacular photographs to get the imagery. An authentic favorite home has a physical address traceable on GPS and Google Maps. It’s harder to convince clients with conjured images to select a realistic home than clients with authentic favorites.

Sadly, saying yes to four to six of the questions indicates a picky client. A solution is adding realistic progress to their rose-colored fantasy. Encourage buyers that there are homes available with more amenities on the wish list, but it requires more from their budget to obtain it. Tell the buyers to add those features to the home after closing. Suggest custom building. When all else fails, the agent should drop the buyer to save him or herself stress.

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DISCLAIMER: This article expresses my own ideas and opinions. Any information I have shared are from sources that I believe to be reliable and accurate. I did not receive any financial compensation for writing this post, nor do I own any shares in any company I’ve mentioned. I encourage any reader to do their own diligent research first before making any investment decisions.