When you work in the real estate investing business—especially in house flipping—it’s easy to start to think that houses sell themselves. In a way, they do. People buy our flip houses because they have beautifully designed floor plans and a bunch of updates, all for a fair market price. However, if we weren’t there to point out the improvements and nearby amenities, and to discuss the benefits of buying, we probably wouldn’t sell nearly as many properties.
As much as a great house will “sell itself,” good salesmanship is essential to gaining more success as a house flipper, especially if you’ve decided to pursue your real estate license and act as your own real estate agent. Here are a few tips that have helped me get more sales for our house flips.
GIVE BUYERS SOME SPACE
When you hold an open house, don’t follow your buyers around the house. Instead, greet them at the door with a brochure about the property. You can ask them if they’d like a tour or if they’d just like to wander around for a while, but don’t follow too closely if they want to explore on their own.
Do come back to them after they’ve had some time to see the place and ask them if they have any questions, though. And be sure to shake their hands and wish them a good day when they leave.
HELP THEM IMAGINE THEMSELVES IN THE SPACE
When you talk about a property, you’re probably going to be tempted to talk about all the features and upgrades you made to the house. Yes, buyers love new appliances and improved floor plans, but you need to tell them why they should love the things you’re talking about.
For example, instead of saying, “The kitchen has a gas range stove, an industrial hood, and a new refrigerator,” you could say, “Imagine cooking dinner in this spacious kitchen. The gas range gives you a better cooking surface than an electric stove, and that industrial hood will take care of any smoke while you’re sautéing your veggies, too! And check out this fridge. There’ll always be room for leftovers and plenty of produce in here!”
Notice how, in the first statement, I just focused on the features of the kitchen that we’d installed. In the second, I pulled them into the home and helped them imagine a typical night coming home to cook in this amazing new kitchen.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR THE SALE
As your buyers are getting ready to leave, go ahead and ask them something like, “So, do you think you’d be interested in this property?” or, “Do you think this is the property for you?” If they aren’t sure, you can follow up to ask what might make them consider buying.
Christina and I have gotten iffy buyers to make offers the day of the open house just by asking them what they would need from us. From small additional renovations to a slightly lower price that would work for them, if you ask for the sale, you could find yourself negotiating an offer the same day that you put the house on the market.
NEVER TAKE “NO” PERSONALLY
Finally, you’re going to have a lot of people walk through the front door at your open houses, and you’re going to have a lot of people look at your listings. Not all of those people will be buyers, and that’s okay. So, if the answer is no, just accept it gracefully and move on. Never take it personally because you never know if they might be buyers for another of your properties down the line.
