I recall a number of years ago hearing of a real estate training session by a well-known real estate trainer wherein he advocated showing buyers four homes and then asking which one they wished to buy. If they wanted to see more homes, his training was to let them go as clients and move on to the next buyer.

I also recall speaking with an agent around the same time who proudly proclaimed how he would turn to them (in those days, buyers would generally ride with us in the back seat, now we’re in the back seat) and ask them which one they wanted. If they wanted to see more homes, you guessed it, just like the George Thorogood song, “Next Friday come, and I didn’t get the rent, out the door I went.”

Until the trust relationship is solidly established, buyers aren’t going to listen

Now I can see the logic behind this technique. Back then, we would generally choose which homes to show, and if we did our job well, we would choose the four best homes based on the client’s needs. Buying one of these four would get the clients into the best home as soon as possible and make us the most amount of money in the least amount of time.

Ethically speaking, though, this logic never sat well with me and still doesn’t. The reasons will be obvious to many of us, but before I discuss that, I would like to add one more complicating factor.

The real estate world is very different now than it was ten or twenty years ago, and now the clients often pick many or most of the homes they want to see, then turn to us and ask how soon they can see them. If we don’t want to show, often out the door, we go. Even though we know they aren’t likely to buy many or most of the homes they want to see, until the trust relationship is solidly established, they aren’t going to listen, and they will go with whoever will show them those homes. This often adds unnecessary work for us and can frustrate buyers when they realize many properties aren’t quite as advertised.

Are buyers really liars?

So back to my original point. The four-homes showing limit never sat well with me. Sure, oftentimes, the buyers would return to one of the original four homes because we did our job well and picked the best ones — but not always.

Enter the old adage, “Buyers are liars.” I’ve never liked that saying because why would someone lie about what they want? How would it serve their best interests to see the wrong properties? 

I feel a more accurate statement is, “Buyers don’t realize they don’t really know what they want, or are mixing up their wants and needs, or don’t quite trust the agent enough to openly reveal their true needs and wants yet.”

I know, I know, it doesn’t quite have the same ring as buyers are liars, but I feel it is a more accurate statement. Either way, it is a complicating factor in the realtor/client relationship and the successful completion of a purchase. 

Distinguishing between needs and wants 

Often, buyers need to receive some good advice from their realtor before they can appropriately make the distinction between needs and wants and before they can trust the agent enough to accept what they will get for a certain price. And they aren’t ready to accept advice from us until they trust us — and it may take a few showings and a little discussion time together to build that trust.

And finally, sometimes the best four homes available just aren’t good enough. Sometimes you have to wait until the right home comes on the market, and that can be a money pit. So, to bring the discussion full circle, often, the right thing to do ethically isn’t the right thing to do to maximize short-term income. 

Clients depend on us to help them fall in love with the right home, and most of the time, we are successful in aligning their needs and wants with the market once they trust us, but sometimes that can be challenging. 

I don’t have any special techniques; for me, I’ve just found that providing them with good market information and showing them a few of their picks generally works to align needs and wants with the realities of the market. 

I would love to hear everyone’s ideas and techniques for maximizing both client satisfaction and income. 

Gerald Tostowaryk

Gerald has been a licensed real estate agent for thirty years and an industry instructor for over twenty. He has served on several committees with the Realtors Association of Edmonton and on the Board of the Real Estate Institute of Canada (REIC) Edmonton chapter. He is also an ethics instructor for REIC nationally and enjoys family, various sports, and the outdoors. Check out his popular real estate podcast The Real World of Real Estate here.