Comments on: Gathering Feedback After a Showing

By: Steve Belt

Steve Belt — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:49:41 +0000

As a listing agent, I rarely ask about price as well, unless I get a sense a buyer is on the fence, due to price. Then I’ll needle in to find out what price they might be willing to offer. But that’s the kind of discussion that happens well into a conversation, when you get the sense you might be close, and there aren’t objections over the floorplan, features, etc. It’s really the beginnings of the negotiation, more than a feedback request, except when no offers comes though, then it ends up being feedback.

In the post, I was talking about price from a buyer’s agent perspective, which again has as much to do with negotiation, as it does with feedback.

As to my opinion vs. the buyer’s opinion, I typically provide some of each and make that clear as I’m answering. As an example, I’ve seen a kitchen painted green that I loved, but my client hated. Or Berber carpet that I nearly always love (I’m a Berber fan), but some clients hate. I typically dislike vinyl flooring (particularly in a kitchen), but some clients don’t care. I always hate carpet in the master bathroom, while again some clients don’t care.

By: Jonathan Dalton

Jonathan Dalton — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:16:43 +0000

And Steve was worried you stopped reading his blog.

If I have feedback from the buyer I’ll pass it along, but I try to make it constructive. As often as not a home is DQ’d because of floor plan or layout or something outside the seller’s control.

I’ll also throw in my two cents if there’s something major that I notice, even if my buyers’ didn’t.

One area in which I differ from Steve is I don’t ask about price. It’s my job as the listing agent to know the market and know the price. If I’m soliciting that, it’s only to help sell a price reduction to my seller. But usually you’re reducing the price because of a lack of activity.

By: Jenifer De La Garza

Jenifer De La Garza — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:10:01 +0000

I have to agree with Steve AND Jonathan on this one. On one hand it is not really worth the time if you get a no information kind of answer. However, if you can be good about asking the right questions, then feedback can be very valuable. Here is a question for you both. How much of your feedback as buyer’s agents comes directly from the buyers? Do you readily include your opinion or just tell the agent what the buyers thought about the property?

By: Jonathan Dalton

Jonathan Dalton — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:48:51 +0000

Feedback’s a mixed bag … most agents don’t remember a particular property. And my main interest is whether there’s something seriously egregious or whether there’s any interest. If all I’m going to get is “it showed well but my clients like one around the corner” then I’d just as soon pass on the whole exercise.

By: Steve Belt

Steve Belt — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 05:01:50 +0000

If I need to consult my notes, and for big showing days (10+ homes) that’s quite likely, I’ll promise to call back when I have my notes. I’m doing what you are doing, waiting to consult my notes, but I’ll agree to a return call, if they want to wait.

I know there are many people that like to conduct business via email. However, I feel there’s a lot lost in translation in email. Voice inflections, pauses, tone…it all adds up to what the agent really thinks. It goes that way when I’m a buyer’s agent talking to a listing agent, too. If I know my client is somewhat interested, reactions to follow-up questions from the listing agent are equally important to me. This feedback Q&A could very well be the first negotiating step in a successfully closed transaction.

By: Steve Nicks

Steve Nicks — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 03:13:14 +0000

Steve – I primarily use email feedback requests. And for one main reason. When I’m out with a buyer and we look at 5-10 homesin a day, I try and make notes after we leave each home, so that if need be we can go back through and review what we saw, refocus and continue on if we didn’t find the right home. So when a listing agent calls me, sometimes the next day as they should, but most of the time 2,3,4 or even more days after the showings, if I don’t have my notes in front of me for those showings that day, which, odds are I don’t, I can most of the time offer them no feedback because I don’t remember. However, if I get an email request, I can grab my notes and respond to the listing agent with some substantial feedback, that might do them some good.
As a buyer’s agent, how do you handle feedback request phone calls when you can’t remember which house they are asking about?