The Best Time-Savers and Hacks to Help REALTORS® Close Deals Faster

Wouldn’t it be great if it took your sellers even longer to accept an offer?

Or if your buyers just wanted to see more and more and more listings?

Or if the paperwork took weeks, not hours, to come through?

Said no REALTOR®. Ever.

Closing deals fast is a win-win for everyone. Your sellers get closure, your buyers get certainty and you get to move onto the next client and the next milestone.

Personally, we love a good time-saving hack. Which is why we’ve rounded up the best of the best hacks and time-savers to help REALTORS® close deals faster.

Read on!

Interview Your Buyers

Buyers can’t be trusted. They think they know what they want. Then they turn their nose up at everything that fits the bill.

Kidding. Kind of.

Every agent has had a buyer whose needs and wants seem to change from day to day. It’s understandable — deciding on a future home is a big decision. But it also eats up valuable time.

Before you even think about sending your client a link to a listing, sit down with them for a one-on-one. Ask them all kinds of questions about their likes, dislikes, wants, needs, lifestyle and future plans. Write down every one of their answers.

When there’s some hesitation or if a couple isn’t on the same page, work to clarify what it is they’re actually after.

For instance, if your client says they think they like mid-century modern, pull up an example on your phone (or tablet — more on this below) and clarify whether that hits the mark.

Post-interview, turn the discussion content into a document to share with your buyer. List their must-haves and nice-to-haves, desired areas, budget and send them the doc to review and approve.

This interview and follow-up helps your buyer crystallize their vision and gives you a clear set of parameters to follow, saving everyone time and stress.

Make a Workback Schedule

Listing appointments are a great opportunity to save time further down the road.

We like showing up with a fully customized workback schedule for the seller, outlining proposed dates and action plans for every step of the process, from listing photography to the first open house.

Having a workback schedule to show your prospective client achieves two things:

• It shows that you mean business. And that leaves less room for doubt and indecision.

• It saves you a step further down the road. If the buyer decides to go ahead and list with you, then you’re pretty much ready to jump in and get going.

Trade Paper and Laptops for Tablets

If you’re not already using an iPad or your tablet of choice in your real estate business, it’s about time you jumped on the train.

A tablet can expedite so many aspects of your business. Like:

 

• Open houses. Download an open house app like Open Home Pro and Happy Open House and have attendees fill out the traditional open house form virtually. These apps take your lead organization, management and follow-ups to the next level. No more wasting time trying to decipher handwritten email addresses.

• Buyer showings. Tablets are light and sleek enough to tuck into a purse or briefcase. Load yours with details and photos of every listing you’ve shown your buyer so far.

When you’re standing in one home and your buyer wants to compare it with the last one, bust out the tablet. Boom: your buyer has everything they need to make an on-the-spot judgment call.

• Work on the go. We’ve all been there: squinting at an iPhone screen, trying to cram in a few email responses while waiting for a doctor’s appointment. A tablet is way more practical — and eyeball-friendly — for on-the-go work than a tiny screen.

 

A word of advice: keep your personal and professional tablets separate.

Don’t risk losing brownie points with clients, just because you were caught desperately trying to mute the Paw Patrol video your kid was watching right before you left for your meeting!

Get the Right Apps and Software

Apps and software are as crucial to your business as pagers and fax machines were back in the day.

Using the right apps and software can help you skip over the time-sucking parts of your business that slows down deals.

HelloSign

HelloSign lets you scan paper documents to be signed digitally, create branded digital templates to be filled out and signed online, and get in-person signatures on your tablet. It can seriously expedite the signature process and help you get the deal done faster.

Google Drive

That example we mentioned before, about having information and photos from each listing available for your buyer to review on the spot? Google Drive is the perfect way to organize all that content.

Use the app on your desktop (or on any device) and drag in images and documents. That content will then be available on any device that you use to sign into your Drive.

YouMail

You’d close a lot more deals if you could be everywhere at once. This app for Android and iPhone is the next best thing.

Sign up for the professional package to get tools like auto-reply, where your missed calls will receive a text letting them know you’ll get back to them soon. Or live call routing, where callers can press a number to be immediately connected to your office. Or voicemail-to-text transcription, so you can keep a lead alive by text or email when you can’t call them back right away.

Keep Tabs on Key Players

Sometimes how quickly or slowly a deal gets signed-sealed-delivered is beyond you.

Once the offer has been accepted, other professionals step up to bat, including people like the lender, and the home inspector.

To keep things moving, accept your role as the task-master.

For instance, if you think your buyer’s offer has a good shot at being accepted, ring up your trusted home inspector and get a sense of their availability. Your buyers will be happy to have that off their plate once the offer is approved and you’ll be that much closer to an appointment — and a done deal.

Similarly, check in with the lender after the offer has been accepted about how things are proceeding and what they still might need from your client to move things along.

 

What’s your strategy for closing a deal that’s been twiddling its thumbs?

 

 

 

Last Updated on June 27, 2024 by myRealPage