When Other Agents Focus on Price, You Should Focus on Skills
We frequently hear from real estate agents, “How do I compete for a listing when my suggested price is way lower than other agents AND Zillow?” We’re bringing the answers!
It’s a competitive world out there, and it’s tempting to tell the seller whatever they want to hear to get the listing, but this could mean your integrity gets a little tarnished. So, what do you say to differentiate you from them while still being respectful and truthful? What you want to convey to the seller can be broken down into two parts: Price is less important than skill, and they’re the boss.
Why Price Doesn’t Matter as Much as Skill
Here is some dialogue that you can use:
“As you are interviewing other agents, I just want to alert you to the biggest mistake that homeowners make at this phase. This is a list of all the houses that have expired in the last 30 days. You’ll see it’s a lot, even in a hot market, and I’m going to tell you why these houses expired. They all did exactly the same thing: they hired their agent based on the price the agent told them, not based on the agent’s skill. When you have these 2 or 3 other agents come in, you will get 2 or 3 different prices. Mine, plus any prices from other agents. If you interviewed 20 agents, you would get 20 different prices. Every agent has an opinion, but their opinion is not law. What’s law is what a buyer is ultimately willing to pay you for your house. What you want is to have more than one buyer fighting for your house because then it becomes an auction. When it becomes an auction, things will sell for more than the projected price because of supply and demand, and more demand drives the price up. So when you interview these other agents, ignore the price they tell you and look at their skill set. Ask yourself, ‘Does this agent have the skills to be a great auctioneer and drive buyers to my house to pay me more money?’ Price isn’t important; skill is.”
Related reading: Use a Price Range When Coaching Real Estate Sellers
Related reading: Bridgewell Real Estate – Asking Price vs Selling Price: What Do They Mean and How Are They Different?
Agents Don’t Dictate Price, They Coach and Market
Now, the homeowner might counter the above dialogue with their objections because, in all likelihood, they are still thinking about the price and getting the most for their home.
When other agents suggest higher prices, it’s tempting to go with the flow to please the seller. However, it’s crucial to communicate that a strategic, well-considered price will attract more genuine interest and potentially faster sales. Overpricing can lead to a longer selling process, where the property might eventually sell for even less than its market value due to its ‘stale’ status. You can say something like this:
“I’m fine with going with a different price because I gave you my opinion. I would love to be wrong because the more it goes up, the more everyone wins. If you decide you want to try a higher price than what I’m suggesting, I’m OK with that. You’re the boss; I’m just here to market your home and get your listing in front of buyers.”
As listing agents, you should never go into a listing appointment thinking your job is to sell the homeowner on your price. Your job is to sell them on your skills and ability. You should always tell them they are the boss and they make the decision, that your opinion is just an opinion, and that this price range is where you believe their house will sell. You can then say:
“If you want to try the higher number, we could try it, but at some point if things aren’t moving, we’re going to have to revisit that higher number because we don’t want it to sit on the market too long. The longer it sits, the more stale it becomes, like bread on a supermarket shelf. We don’t want to have to slash our price because it sat on the shelf for too long.”
Emphasize that your approach is about finding that sweet spot—the price that’s just right, not giving the house away but also not scaring off potential buyers. This strategy ensures the property sells for its true value in a timely manner, avoiding the pitfalls of becoming the real estate equivalent of clearance aisle bread.
Related reading: Approaching the Price Adjustment Conversation Without Stress
Related reading: The Close – Price Reduction in Real Estate: A 5-step Guide for Agents
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