Here’s why you should get your client to sign the agency agreement early.

Today we’re talking about when you should have your client sign your agency agreement and what to do if they’re not looking to sell for months down the line. Every single year, there are folks we talk to who want to sell their home, but they don’t want to sell it till October, November, or December. You want to get the client to sign the agreement early because there are a number of benefits you can capitalize on.

A lot of times, clients will decide in the spring that they want to sell their home that winter. Taking the photos early really helps sell the property because the yard is still in full bloom instead of the dead, grey lawn that the home might have in winter. But the opposite might apply to homes with seasonal views. Some lawns can only get those gorgeous mountain views when all the trees are missing their leaves in fall, making it better to take pictures of that view before summer arrives.

“ A lot of people have a hard time making a decision now that will affect them three to six months down the line.”

To make it more appealing, you can even give the client an early termination right, saying that they can decide to go with a different agency if they want when it comes closer to the time they wanted to sell. It gives the client a lot more confidence in signing, knowing that they aren’t locked into the deal. Even though they could cancel, we’ve noticed that the client almost always goes on to list their home with us. If you are worried about the upfront cost, you could put in a clause asking them to reimburse the price of the photos if they do go with another agency.

Another advantage is if you know about the sale in advance, you can market it internally with the brokerage and line up a buyer for the home before it even goes on the market. You can really be a hero to both sides of the transaction. Sometimes, we’ll even take a smaller commission on the seller’s home since we never paid the cost to market it fully. You have a lot of freedom here to make it a win-win, and if the sale goes forward, you’ll likely get the seller as another buyer right after that.

So the next time you come across a client who’s saying they want to list later in the year, this can be another arrow in your quiver to get that client on the path to selling their home. To get more advice like this on how to sell more homes and get more clients, reach out to us at this link to our contact page.