Scripts for competing against inflated appraisals

Some real estate salespeople will promise you the world and buy you an Atlas.

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We all know the types of agents who put exorbitant appraisal ranges on paper. The same ones who seem to brush off disclosure obligations, offer to pay for marketing themselves and generally spin whatever it takes to win the listing. Only to inevitably disappoint owners down the track.

How do you overcome this if you are a salesperson who's trying to do the right thing by the vendor and doesn't want to bullshit people, but still wants to maximize your chances of winning the business?

Get on the front foot, baby

Lean into challenging conversations and acknowledge that other salespeople will potentially offer inflated appraisals to try and win the business.

Throughout your listing presentation process, a lot of your focus and dialogue should be on managing expectations.

This first script falls into that category. When it comes to presenting your CMA / appraisal range, work in something along the lines of:

"Mr. and Mrs. Owner, other salespeople may well come in here, promise you the world and buy you an atlas.

I'm going to give you the facts: All the recent sales in the area that could be useful as comparisons for your home. These sales don't limit what I think we can get for your property, but I have to provide you with a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) and an appraisal range right now. The key thing to keep in mind is other people could promise you anything just to win your business, but that doesn't mean they can deliver on that.

I would rather give you a realistic estimate based on facts, and then let's go about trying to exceed those expectations."

Take the wind out of their sales

The way to take the power out of the 'over-inflated-appraisal' approach is to talk about it with your owner right from the start. And re-iterate the message at every stage of the listing presentation.

When you talk about your commission rate, you're going to front foot that situation, too:

"Mr. and Mrs. Owner, our commission is X. There'll definitely be people that will be prepared to do it for a cheaper rate.

But you have to ask - if they're willing to do it that cheaply, why is that? If they need the business that bad, is that the kind of agent you want representing you, selling your biggest asset?"

If they're looking for the cheapest possible agent, you're unlikely to be it. But what you can assure them of, is that no stone will be left unturned in getting them the best possible price for their property. And, they'll be fully informed the whole way through.

You also need to get on the front foot when presenting your marketing package...