By Michael Krisa
RISMEDIA, July 5, 2008-Todd Walters is the “Go To!” Realtor in the Metro Atlanta area. In his dynamically impressive sales career, Walters has grossed well over $20 million in sales commissions, closed almost 5,000 transactions, and provided over 100 job opportunities for other real estate professionals. He is recognized as one of the top 20 team agents among all Realtors, according to the National Association of Realtors. He is also listed as a Top 10 agent with RE/MAX International out of almost 100,000 agents, and the number-one agent at the Cobb Board of Realtors.
Michael Krisa: Why do agents need to cut their own path through this market?
Todd Walters: It seems that there’s no real problem for getting buyers in the door. The big problem is getting the offers-and we know how traditional real estate works.
A buyer walks into a house for sale, and we kind of sit back and hope that they are going to make an offer. A better way to do it is when you list this seller’s house, have them sign a purchase-and-sell agreement. In other words, have them prepare an offer so that every buyer that walks in the door-within a day or two of them looking at the property-receives an offer from the listing agent and the seller-a simple written offer to purchase.
MK: So, the seller is now sending the offer to the buyer?
TW: Yes, absolutely. We call it a reverse offer, and we’ve done a couple of other things to make it a big success for our team. Simply put, in an overused market, we have multiple offers coming into a seller. The seller gets three, four, five offers from different buyers, who are all talking about their families and how they are the right buyer for this house, etc. The seller is in a great position: he/she is feeling good, is going to get his/her price and maybe more.
In the reverse market, when the market is a buyer’s market and it’s not very heated, we do the reverse. The seller sends the buyer the offer and talks about why this is a great home: “Here’s what’s happening with the neighbors. This is the experience we’ve had with the schools. This is my offer to you.”
So, now-as the seller-you’re able to generate more top-of-mind awareness for your home.
MK: Do you ever get feedback from buyers thinking that sellers are desperate to sell their homes?
TW: Well, they are. They are desperate to sell their homes. If they weren’t, then they wouldn’t have it for sale in a marketplace where there are 13 homes for sale for every one buyer.
MK: Do you often find that the buyer comes back and starts low-balling? If so, it opens up the door for the negotiations, correct?
TW: Absolutely, what a great problem to have-an offer/counter-offer situation.
For more information, visit www.TRTSellsHomes.com.
Michael Krisa, aka “That Interview Guy,” has been a practicing real estate professional since 1989. For the past four years, he has hosted his own syndicated interview series featuring some of the best and brightest people in real estate today. He can be reached at michael@ThatInterviewGuy.com.
