How Property Data Can Be Useful To Help Overcome Seller Procrastination

Property Data can be an important resource when dealing with procrastination, an issue that researchers say hampers ONE out of FIVE adults.

Take notice of this issue. It’s 20% segment of any market!

Brokers and agents know the type. Homeowners who contact them and express an interest in selling their properties…then seem to disappear.

Psychologists say there are several reason why people procrastinate.

They include fear of failure, living in the present instead of planning for the future, avoidance of doing a task, waiting until someone else makes the decision for them, only being able to function under pressure and several others.

This self-defeating behavior can have negative consequences. Think about what happens when people delay seeing a doctor or saving for retirement.

A recent study by H&R Block found that every year taxpayers lose a substantial amount of money when they file taxes late and then rush through the forms to get their returns in the mail.

Property data provides focus

Fortunately, a real estate agent is not supposed to be a therapist. Unfortunately, sometimes it seems as though they have to act like one.

Obviously, there are quite a few emotional plates spinning in the air when people procrastinate. Mentally, their minds are wandering all over the place.

But as we discussed in previous articles, one of the best ways to counter emotions is with facts. Property data in particular.

Take that reluctant homeowner for example.

Instead of allowing them to wallow in indecision, help them focus by providing some market data. A real estate reality check so to speak.

Working with national data aggregators such as Home Junction, a broker or agent can embed a Real Estate API onto their website. This is basically just snippets of software that can easily be added to the back-end coding of any site.

But those simple bits of code open that website up into a huge warehouse of hyper-local property data. Just the type of information to get people to move off the dime.

Say a homeowner in Desirable Acres has retired. They insist they are ready to list their home and relocate. Perhaps to Sunny Acres in Florida or Arizona.

However, something keeps causing them to delay their decision. In fact, they can’t even give a legitimate reason why they are delaying. They don’t even know.

They suffer from procrastination.

Pull out those Home Sales charts for Desirable Acres from Home Junction.

Show the homeowner that their area is hot right now in terms of transactions. Homes are selling. Fast.

Also show them how prices are escalating in their neighborhood.

This will help them overcome their fear of not making a smart decision. The data is there. Now is a great time to sell. The homeowner is sure to receive a very satisfying offer with these current market conditions.

Enhance listing presentations

The agent can also use this property data to show a homeowner how they are going to market their home.

That marketing material to make that property shine can include:

  • Municipal  and neighborhood boundaries
  • School information – student/teacher ratios, enrollment figures, etc.
  • School attendance zones – those important boundaries that indicates which school: elementary, middle or high school, where a child will go to school. These boundaries are different for each school and periodically change for changes in enrollment.
  • Neighborhood demographics
  • Crime ratings
  • Area amenities – that includes parks, stores restaurants, etc. Research shows a Starbucks or a Whole Foods located near a property can definitely have a positive effect on home prices.

Another effective strategy to help overcome procrastination is urgency.

The property data could indicate there is a great window for a owner to sell. Now.

But that window might not always be open.

Conditions change. Mortgage rates go up. More inventory could go on the market and drive prices down. Etc. etc. etc.

Obviously, agents don’t want to talk people into doing something they don’t want to do.

They also don’t want to be the type of overly aggressive sales person that most people dislike.

But that’s the beauty of property data.

Let the data do the persuading. In a gentle manner.

Get those prospects on your email list. With your Real Estate API, send them a regular campaign of market data and charts, showing where the market is going.

Give them a short summary of market conditions.

Suggest deadlines based on market data

Another tool that psychologists say helps with procrastinators is to set deadlines.

Perhaps work with a homeowner to agree to make a decision by a certain date.

Let them know, based on the property data and charts on your website, that typically these months are the best for selling their house. (As we all know, different parts of the country have different sales cycles).

Show people these are ideal times when a homeowner has better odds of getting an optimal price for their property.

Also, these are the preferred time periods for the homeowner to place their home on the market to get it sold quickly. Let them know otherwise they could be facing months of waiting for an offer and numerous open houses.

Consumers must make quite a few decisions today.

Which car to buy, doctors to choose, where to live, which career to pursue. All of these decisions can be overwhelming at times.

But inaction can have major negative consequences, for example, when a local real estate market goes flat.

A savvy broker or agent will realize they need the right tools to help procrastinators overcome their inaction.

That’s where Property Data, supplied by a reliable Real Estate API, can be a huge asset to help people act rather than hesitate when the timing is best for them.