The Fine Art of Handling Buyer and Seller Objections in Real Estate: What You Need to Know

Without a doubt, real estate is primarily a sales-driven job. Regardless of how skilled a particular agent happens to be, getting objections from both buyers and sellers is a common part in the daily life of a Realtor . Sometimes they'll be completely legitimate concerns and it's part of your job to ease the client’s mind. On the other hand, on occasion there are instances where the client may be acting more out of emotion and not reason, and you'll need to figure out how to deal with those types of situations, too.

How to Handle Common Real Estate Objections

Still, HOW these objections are handled - and knowing what to say and how to say it - will no doubt lead to more sales moving forward. Therefore, if you want to get better at handling objections from both buyers and sellers, there are a few key things you'll want to keep in mind.

Take the Time to Understand Their Point of View

By far, the most important thing to keep in mind when fielding an objection from anyone is that you need to be proactive about trying to understand someone's position. Don't just think literally about what the objection is - try to go beyond the words and really get a sense of where this is actually coming from.

Buying or selling a home is a major transaction (not to mention a significant moment in someone's life), and that's naturally going to put people on edge. Likewise, some people are simply more risk adverse than others. By really trying to understand someone's position and by getting a better sense of their point of view, it can help focus on exactly what you need to say to move forward with the deal, and how to best present it moving forward.

Be Sure to Validate Their Opinions

Similarly, you'll also want to make sure that the prospect feels validated. Don't simply write off their concern as irrelevant because that's only going to put you farther away from your goal, not closer to it. Even if an objection is coming up simply because of someone's fear of change, that's okay - you can't help that someone feels the way they feel.

As an example I’m writing this six months into the Coronavirus pandemic and prior to a presidential election. Your buyer might want to wait until after the election to make a buying decision. This may or may not be a wise decision but I would dig deeper into their motivation for buying a home. Do they want to get wrapped up into a one year lease and pay a year worth of rent while they “wait it out”. Are they willing to risk interest rates increasing while they try and wrap their minds around the market? Are they willing to risk losing out on their dream home if one is available now?

The major reason why all of this is important is because your ability to handle objections to everyone's satisfaction also helps build trust, an invaluable part of the relationships you're currently navigating. Remember that trusting someone isn't as simple as turning on a light switch - it ultimately takes time and care to build.

Build Trust by Actively Listening

By showing buyers and sellers that you're really listening to them and that you're paying attention to what they have to say, you're naturally in a better position to use trust to overcome the objection. Because at that point, they'll be able to see that you care about their success and that you clearly have their best interest in mind. Most of the time, that's all someone is looking for in the first place and sometimes objections happen when that sense of trust just isn't there yet.

As Always, Remain Positive

Whenever objections come up, try to remind both buyers and sellers of the positive side of what is going on. With rare exception, those positives will far outweigh the negatives and if you can just get them to say focused on those qualities that really matter, the situation will undoubtedly resolve itself and you'll be able to move forward in no-time.

Love,

Kartik