Homesellers want to pay the minimum for marketing and get the maximum for their house. But what about you? You have the expertise on real estate, you know how to market the listing, and you’re going to be putting countless hours into getting the home sold. Going in your listing presentation with awareness of common objections and how to overcome them will help you stand strong when it comes to your value. You ARE worth your fee.

Objection:

“We need every penny for a new home, so we can’t afford to give you that commission. Can you go a bit lower?”

This is a similar mentality in tipping your waitress – if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to go out to eat. But you can’t tell your sellers that. Instead, offer them support while still staying strong.

Overcome:

“If I accept a lower commission, I won’t be able to spend as much money on marketing to sell your home. This isn’t ideal when days on market are longer now than in past years. The longer on the market, the more it costs you as the seller keeping up with the house and higher chances of selling for a lower price”.

Nobody wants you to do less on their home, especially in a competitive market. They’ll hum and haw, but chances are they will come back to you. They aren’t saving money by getting a lower commission but rather losing out on fantastic marketing exposure – so explain that to them.

Objection:

“Someone else will do it for less”

There will always be someone doing it for less. Fast food restaurants are cheaper, but the quality of their food is not nearly as good as higher end restaurants. Same goes for real estate.

Overcome:

“Usually when someone offers a lower price on commission, it is because they give less. Sometimes they don’t have a lot of business so they are willing to cut their fee just to get a listing. Do you want someone less effective that may not be able to get the results you want?”

Objection:

“What you do isn’t that difficult. Is it really worth that much?”

Yes. Yes it is. Saying the word “commission” comes off as free money for you in exchange for doing barely anything. In reality, it is a marketing service fee. You need to explain that to the sellers.

Overcome:

“To help you understand the entire experience, I’ve prepared this list of all the tasks that will be included in the process”

Show the sellers how their listings will be displayed on other sites, the high quality photos that will be taken, the virtual tour – show them the works. Tell them the right statistics that will hit home – such as listings with 6 photos or more increasing viewing by almost 300%. If you do special marketing initiatives, such as staging or mailouts, explain how it benefits the sale. Show them your worth!

After all of these overcomes, if the sellers are persistent on cutting your commission it’s time to walk away. Be polite, explain that you understand their concerns, but won’t be able to meet their needs because of your commitment to doing the best for your clients. More often than not, the homeowners will come back to you.