We previously reviewed in Part 1 the similarities between agents who show too many houses to buyers and a hungry person ordering food from a wide selection of dishes at a restaurant. When there are too many choices available, people have a natural tendency to not make a decision and to avoid it altogether. To prevent that from happening, in part 2 of this article, I’ll go into how agents need to strike a balance between giving the buyers houses to choose from and not showing too many that it makes the decision too difficult to make.



So,

1) What do you say is an appropriate number of homes for previewing?

2) How OFTEN do you show them to your buyers?

Many agents I’ve discussed this with have stated that they show about 5 homes each time they go out with their buyers and altogether, they show an average of 20-25 homes before their buyers decide upon a home to purchase. Selecting the right number of homes is critical, you need to tailor it according to the type of buyer you’re working with. Buyers that come in from out of the area may need to see areas before they see homes, whereas the local buyer has more familiarity with the areas around them and they are down to the specifics of the home itself.

Some ideas that you can use in your next showing are the following. Select the best six from the homes that match the desired criteria. Show the best one first. That becomes the "house to beat." As you show the others which are not as good, the buyers can see the difference in the homes and will be able to recognize that the first one beats the rest.

One method some agents use is to handpick just 5 properties that really match the criteria, one that is close but "out of the box" and one that is so far away from their wants they quickly say "no way." That tells you that the buyers know what they want - that they they are focused on what they want and will not waste time considering everything under the sun.

You will no doubt come across buyers who insist on seeing many homes since they feel this is such a momentous decision that they want to see everything so they don’t miss out on anything, then another method to handle the showings is to invite them for a buyer’s consultation or orientation where you explain the entire house-buying process in a buyer’s packet that you create so they know exactly what to expect. Included in this packet is a form they fill out about their criteria. From the information in this form, you pull up available listings on the MLS that match the desired features. You review these with the buyer—checking out the interior pictures, going through the details of the property, and selecting the ones that meet their needs. Let them take the list of homes with them to run a preliminary driveby.

For many individuals, the first aspect of the home buying experience is in choosing the location of the home, so this is an easy way to weed out the ones that they won't consider based on location. Think of it, how many times have you pulled into a driveway and they say before setting foot out of the car, "We don't like this one." By having the buyers preview the homes for themselves, they can decide what they want. For the homes that the buyers are most interested in, you would then schedule in showing appointments and drive them to those select homes. It is a good point to suggest to clients that they drive neighborhoods before scheduling an appointment to view. From time to time, you will come across buyers who would prefer that you drive them around to preview the homes instead and so you will make the changes needed to the showings.

For the optimal results for the buyers and the agents, it is recommended that you show between 3-5 homes each time you take them out and you should show these homes over a period of three meetings. If the buyer has not made a decision by that time, it’s best to sit down and reevaluate what the buyers want and what needs to be modified to come closer to what attracts the buyers.

There are situations where your buyer is very flustered by the whole house selection process. For those individuals, you may need to use the “one house at a time" game plan in order to get them to focus and to buy. By limiting the homes they see and compare, it may make it easier for them to make a decision. In the really extreme cases, you can always refer them to another agent and collect a referral fee. Then you can go on to a more serious buyer.