If anyone reads this blog…this will undoubtedly be known soon as the “infamous fortune cookie post.” It’s Friday night as I write this…Let’s get real!

Local Wichita Realtors & Home Sellers need to have the secrets revealed. I can already hear the lectures I’ll get from a few specific business colleagues, being that I have a certain reputation in the community to uphold…but it’s worth it to shed some light on the big messages that are often, all too obscure. Here it goes:

Did you ever experience a time when someone told you that the way to really read a fortune cookie is to add a couple, or three, missing words to the end of the message?  Adding the words “in bed” or “under the sheets”…makes the fortune to be read hysterical to a group of obnoxious friends.  

Many years ago, Randy & I learned that showing feed back could be interpreted in much the same way…by adding a couple of  sobering words.

Those words don’t produce laughs…they do produce clarity. Those words are “for the price”…or “for the money”.

• The kitchen is too outdated…for the price.
• The yard is too small…for the price.
• Buyers did not care for the floor plan…for the price.
• Buyers prefer a more private lot…for the price.
• We didn’t like the daylight basement…for the price.
• Decided we need 3 bedrooms on the main floor…for the price.
• Now we are strictly looking at Ranches & not multi-levels…for the price.
• Buyers didn’t like the busy street…for the price.
• Buyers didn’t like all the wallpaper/decor was too personalized…for the price.
• The dogs next door barked & made us uncomfortable…for the price.
• It smelled bad…for the price. (and you know…”if we can smell it, we can’t sell it!”…sorry, real estate humor!)

Feed back is often infuriating to sellers. The truth is it extremely valuable. Feed back is real…and “it’s the breakfast of champions.”

It’s critical to a top-dollar, successful sale to obtain every grain of feed back & know how to translate it so you can adjust the strategy &/or capitalize on your opportunity!

Nearly every objection can be translated in this way, especially in the Trade-Up market we are experiencing. What it means is that there are so many choices…and the buyers quickly figure out how to weigh & measure the homes they see against each other. All buyers want a great value & it that comes down to “same for less ” or “more for the same”.

Buyers know what they want when they see the choices out on the market. Even when they don’t expressly spell it out, their feed back says it all. They are seeing that they can buy the same…an equally great home for less money; or more…an even better home for the same money. Rarely will feed back ever mention the word “price”.  In fact, more often than not you’ll hear it’s “priced right”. Trust me…they never say it’s priced right when they want to buy it! When they don’t want to buy it…you get something similar to the examples above…and you’ll scratch your head until you remember to add the magic words!

Written by Katherine Ambrose, ABR, CDPE, CRS, GRI
Ambrose Team, Inc. 316.773.SOLD
Founder & Assoc. Broker: Keller Williams Hometown Partners LLC
316.807.5079
kambrose@kw.com

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