By Tim Harris

We’re talking about the action plan to get your listings sold in this market. Make sure you’re taking great notes and as the name implies it’s an action plan, so take action.

The next point I wrote down for the week is working the showing agents. In this case, because I’m assuming you have some listings, don’t wait around for the buyer’s agents to do your job for you. If you’re a bubble agent, someone who’s only sold real estate in the hot sellers market then you’ve never had to work the other agents and now you do. In the old market you put it in a list and waited for the offers to come flying in, but it doesn’t work that way anymore.

When you have a showing and showings are hard enough to get, but when you do have a showing on one of your listings, you have to call the other agent and ask them these three questions.

1. Did the buyer like the house? 
2. Did the buyer have any interest in the house whatsoever?
3. Is the buyer considering any other house and making an offer in any other listing? How close are they to making an offer on a listing?

What do you (seller or listing agent) have to do to get the offer to come in on your listing? In other words, is the buyer looking for special financing incentives as we discussed earlier? Is the buyer looking for new carpet, the house to be painted a different color? In this market it doesn’t matter, whatever the buyer wants the buyer gets.

Nine times out of ten when we’re in a market like this your job at this point is to get the offer that’s what the seller expects. That’s what you’re supposed to do, any offer is the starting point to getting a contract together.

When you know you have a showing coming up on one of your listings, by all means, call that other agent and get them motivated about your house by telling them all the features and benefits. Let them know it’s a great house, probably a perfect fit for their buyers, do whatever it takes to get that house sold.  When you get a showing do whatever it takes to make it so that showing results in an offer.