Building Credibility With the Sellers
Real estate investing can be tricky, and there are sellers who can be skeptic on real estate investors. Just like any other business, credibility is also important in real estate investing. Sellers want to be assured that the real estate investor handling his or her property can really do what he says he can do with the property.
Here are some tips on how to build credibility with the sellers:
- Be punctual
As much as possible, stick to the schedule. Be on time in meeting with your seller and in making plans for the property. Being late can put a mark on you that you might be late for anything! Sellers may think that you might not be able to sell the property quickly, or that you cannot be trusted to keep a steady and organized pace in your business.
- Dress For Success!
It’s sometimes a good idea for a real estate investor to dress up casually. But, in general, this will make it feel like you and the seller are on the same ground. As the real estate investor, you have to show him that you know how the business works more than he or she does. A seller will feel more reassured if he or she can see that you are confident that you can solve whatever problem they have with selling the property.
- Have Proof Of Your Credibility
As proof of the many deals they’ve done and the success they’ve had with them, many real estate investors take pictures of the properties they’ve bought and sold. Others take testimonials from their past clients. These are proof that they have done a good job in the past and will not fail in their present and future projects.
Don’t forget that in presenting these, you have to bring out the benefits that these bring to the seller. Present yourself in a way that the seller knows he made the right choice of selecting you to help out with his or her property. Make it less about you and your company. Remember that you are trying to reassure the seller that you can do what needs to be done.
- Get Testimonials
As explained above, testimonials are helpful to build credibility. Testimonials are proof that you can do what is required of you. They show that your past clients had faith in you and were satisfied with your work.
Try to get a testimonial from every single seller that you can. Before the closing of your real estate deals, kindly ask the sellers to write down their assessment of how you did with the deal. If you want to publish their testimonials on your website or public journals, ask for their permission first. You can also ask if they can be reached by the public in case a potential seller inquires about you and how you did on their deal.
- Join the Better Business Bureau
The Better Business Bureau well-known for its credibility in regulating businesses in the country. To be a part of the Better Business Bureau is to assure the sellers that you are also a credible source of help with their properties. Let it be known to every one of your professional contacts that you are a member of the Better Business Bureau!
To be better known that you are indeed a part of the Better Business Bureau, include their logo on you business cards and your letters to the sellers. When the sellers see this, they are assured that you can be trusted to do a deal. This also gives them a little ground control on how you do with the deal; they have the option to complain about you to the bureau if you have not reached their expectations.
- Honesty and Trust
Don’t lie. This is a rule you must not violate, for the consequences can be your downfall in the business. True, you might not have the experience and you may still be a beginner, but that does not give you the assumption that you can tell the sellers that you know all there is to know about investing in a property. Once the seller knows that you lied, then there is no more trust between the two of you. Trust is very important between a seller and a real estate investor if they are to work together.
It is not just among the sellers that you will be in trouble with when you are caught lying. Your image and reputation among the real estate investors will also be ruined.
To build credibility with the sellers, and among your fellow real estate investors, will definitely result to more leads. More leads mean more deals. This will obviously lead to your success in the real estate market.
