RealEstate Investing:Motivation Makes the Real Estate Market Go ?Round

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You may have seen a listing or two with the words “Motivated Seller.” And when a buyer’s agent presents an offer to seller, the agent may disclose that the buyer is motivated.

In real estate, motivation is a code word for need. The seller needs to sell. The buyer needs to buy. For the real estate market to function, you need motivated buyers and sellers.

What makes a home seller/home buyer motivated?

More often then not, it’s a change. Divorce. Marriage. New baby. Pet. Job loss. Promotion. Job Transfer. Death in family.

Or it can be an outside influence. This year the tax credit has motivated many buyers to buy. In previous years, the motivation to sell was instant profit. Without motivation, the real estate market slows down.

For home sellers, the best motivation is the purchase of another house. They’ve found their next house and they need to sell the one they have before they can buy.

For home buyers, the best motivation is a school start date, end of a lease or the starting day of a new job.

Now you may think that most sellers who go through the process of listing their home and showing it to complete strangers would be properly motivated. You would be wrong. There are many home sellers who would like to sell…but only if a buyer pays what they are asking and possibly a little less.

And wouldn’t you also think that someone who goes out with a buyer’s agent every weekend is motivated to buy? Most are but there are some buyers who don’t have enough motivation to buy - the tax credit isn’t sweet enough, low interest rates bore them, and the endless supply of houses offers nothing for them.

Motivation is what brings two parties with opposing needs together. If both home buyer and home seller need to make the sale work, it will. It can still work when one party is motivated enough for both sides.

Some examples of sales where motivation made it happen:

A Condominium that had been on the market for 7 months - seller had already purchased another home.

A single family home where the home owners didn’t want the hassle of showings so they went on vacation and I sold it before they came back.

A couple wanted to be in their new home by August so their child could attend a special program only one school district offered.

When Realtors communicate to each other that we have a motivated client, it’s really just a way of saying that our client is serious and is open to a good old-fashioned negotiation. To quote Martha Stewart, “It’s a good thing.”

real estate agents