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The 21st Century Broker tool guide: 3 things to know about inspections

The most defining moment of real estate transactions is that ‘one-chance’ period when a prospect inspects a property and the moment he/she decides if it’s a deal or not. Typically, some interactions between the agent and the prospect will have ensued prior to this. Much of these will have included exchange of pictures, description of the property and amenities and the geographical locality. With a great camera and editing skills, an agent is able to make a very good impression on the prospects selling the property as suitable. However, while all these sell the property enough to convince the prospect to make an inspection, there are other factors that impact the deciding moment. 

With credit to technology, some agents are able to facilitate property inspections through a video call or an actual video coverage of the property. Notwithstanding, a vast number of property inspections are still physical. The more professionally these inspections are carried out, the higher the chance that the prospect will choose your property. In this article, we will be discussing three key inspection tips that will make your prospect fall in love with the property and ultimately decide to buy.

Be professional

Proper branding and professionalism will achieve more than your eloquence can, in convincing the prospect. The impact of this cannot be overemphasised. When taking a prospect for inspection, you need to ensure that the inspection agent is well equipped for the exercise. If you can, go for inspections with an official branded vehicle. 

Additionally, you need to provide site boots, helmets and every other necessary safety materials for the prospect and everyone involved in that inspection. This is important for newly completed projects or projects that have ongoing construction. Presenting a professional look makes your prospect confident that they are dealing with the right brand. Further, this builds trust, and assures the prospect of your credibility. 

Know your onions

To convince a prospect, you need to be knowledgeable and well grounded, in other words, know your job. Be exceptionally good at what you do. In a highly congested market like the Nigerian market, especially Lagos, demonstrating unrivalled knowledge of your business can be the only advantage that will differentiate you from the thousand others. What does it mean to know your onions? It means having superior knowledge of your business and product lines. If you are selling a plot of land in Victoria Island as an agent for instance, no one should know that property more than you do. 

You need to dig deeper into the history of the property, its surroundings, and the parties. Arm yourself with as much information as possible, and demonstrate your competence by effectively communicating some of this information to the prospect. When you arm the prospect with enough information; which usually will be validated by their own due diligence, they tend to trust you more, and this is the game changer.

Be great at telling stories , but give your prospect the opportunity to talk

Real estate thrives on storytelling. Selling a property goes beyond telling the prospect about the property and its amenities. For long term investors, their reason for purchase is to store value with the promise of future appreciation. For this type of prospect, you can only get them to love your property, and make a buying decision, by selling the future to them. For instance, data on comparable property yield, or historic market performance will be a good story to aid your sale.

Infrastructure creates the future of real estate in every economy. As an agent, you need to tell stories about the neighbourhood and possible infrastructure projects that are coming up in the future that will affect the value of the property that you are selling. Get acquainted with the state government master plan and know what is happening in the neighbourhood. But, in telling stories, make sure you give your prospect the opportunity to talkThis is where most people miss it. It is only when you give the prospect an opportunity to express themselves that you will also get to know their pain points and sell to them better! Happy selling!

This topic is inexhaustible, so, you probably have additional tips that have worked for you in the past. We would love to hear them. Please send us your comments and feedback at research@buyletlive.com. You could also follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram to get more locally applicable insights to help your business perform better.

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