Working with a First Time Home Buyer
John interviews Lea Anne Bedsole about working with a first time home buyer.
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Transcript
JOHN: Hey, guys. John Jones here with another edition of Tuesday Morning Coffee. Today, guys I’ve got a real treat for you. I’ve got Lea Anne Bedsole who is one of my finest and best and shining agents that we have in this company. And I was looking at Lea Anne’s production the other day for the midyear, and she has done an exceptional job this year.
And we went out to have lunch and I asked Lea Anne. I said, “Lea Anne, what’s been the difference? Where are you getting your business? Blah, blah, blah.” And she said, “You know what, John. This year, I’ve worked with a large amount of first-time homebuyers. So this segment today, we want to talk about first-time homebuyers. And Lea Anne, my question to you is since you’ve been working with so many first-time homebuyers, what are the couple most important things in your opinion to a first-time homebuyer as they go through this home buying process?
LEA ANNE: Right. There’s two things, John, that I have found that have been integral in the success of getting something to closing with a first-time homebuyer. Trust and communication.
JOHN: All right. That’s interesting. Trust and communication. Let’s talk about trust for a second. What do you mean by trust?
LEA ANNE: Well, what I found is that a lot of these people, they are either coming to me after maybe seeing a couple of houses with another agent or someone else. And they’ll say, “They never told us that” or “Can my mom come to view the property with me?” or “My dad’s coming.” There’s lots more people involved in this process.
They want to trust that what I’m telling them is that they’re going to get the best house for them and at the best price. And that nothing bad is going to happen because I think everybody likes to share their story at a party about their experience with somebody that’s never bought a house. So we’re overcoming that.
JOHN: So how do you help build that trust? I mean, what do you do? Because obviously, they’re not just going to call you and say, “Hey, I trust you.”
LEA ANNE: Sure. I think it’s really important John, I get them to come into my office. They come into the office; we sit down at the conference table; we just get to know each other. We do a really intense hour or so of bonding, as long as it takes for me to get to know them, to know what they’re looking for. Their lifestyle, their family. Then they’ll open up and start talking about mom and dad or why we’re here or what we’re doing. And that’s kind of how we base the buying process.
JOHN: So first session is mainly you just asking them a lot of questions.
LEA ANNE: Yes.
JOHN: Trying to figure out what’s going on.
LEA ANNE: Listening and asking some questions and letting them just talk about what they’re expecting and me sharing with them this is what’s going to happen. That’s where the communication comes in.
JOHN: Setting expectations. Let’s talk about communication. Trust and communication.
LEA ANNE: Okay.
JOHN: Communication. What do you mean by that as related to a first-time homebuyer?
LEA ANNE: I think it’s different in the buying process for them in that (A) there may be more decision makers in this than just your traditional homebuyer. Like I said, mom and dad and my older brother and his wife and Uncle Bob are all going to come and see the house. And do you mind if we bring my grandparents back? Of course. And I think just letting them feel comfortable with it and letting those could be important decision makers know that I am going to take great care of their loved one.
JOHN: So in a way do you have to kind of build a relationship with those decision makers as well?
LEA ANNE: Absolutely.
JOHN: You’ve obviously got to make them feel important.
LEA ANNE: Very important because I think that it walks a fine line and they want these people to make the decision on their own, but they also want to make sure that everything’s being taken care of properly.
JOHN: So if granny and Uncle Billy and daddy and momma trust you—
LEA ANNE: And Joe Bob.
JOHN: —it’s going to make this process go a lot smoother.
LEA ANNE: Very much so. And I think asking some questions and also, I know that sometimes we tend to think that people watch a lot of HGTV and they know what’s going to happen, but they really want you to guide them through. I’ll say, “Now this is what’s going to happen next and then this stage is coming next. This is what you need to be doing now.”
It’s almost like providing a road map for them because they really don’t know. There are no dumb questions. And I tell them that right away. I said, “Listen, you’re not supposed to know everything about this.”
JOHN: So you try to make them feel real comfortable.
LEA ANNE: Absolutely.
JOHN: And obviously, you’re doing a good job.
LEA ANNE: Thank you, John.
JOHN: Because you’re having a heck of a year. And I think that’s very important. I think sometimes even us being in the business, we forget that it’s a first-time homebuyers first time. We get a little cynical. We’ve got to slow it down. You said a keyword in there. Listen. Listen I believe is the key.
LEA ANNE: Yep.
JOHN: So thank you so much for coming on today.
LEA ANNE: Thank you for having me.
JOHN: Guys, if anybody needs a great, great buyer’s agent, here she is in the flesh. 867-3020. Thank you guys. We’ll see you next week.
LEA ANNE: Thanks so much.
