Home Featured Articles 4 Tips on Creating Urgency in Real Estate Sales Without Being Pushy

4 Tips on Creating Urgency in Real Estate Sales Without Being Pushy

April 26, 2017

One question that bothers every agent is how to speed up the deal without being pushy. If done right, creating urgency in real estate sales empowers you to close more deals including the ones that have been sitting on the market for months. So what are some intelligent and professional ways to create a powerful sense of urgency that would inspire your prospects to take action?

Home buyers and sellers are naturally cautious of making rash decisions and prefer to wait in case a better offer might come along. As a result, that period of “We need to sleep on it” can drag on for months and some really good offers might slip through the cracks in which case, it’s time for you to reverse the situation asap.

Let’s say you’ve already established trust with your clients, defined their needs and got a full understanding of their lifestyle. You’ve already organized a couple of viewings and meetings but things got stuck. Here are some ways to convince your clients that taking action now is in their best interest.

Creating urgency in real estate sales

1. Give your prospects at least 2 rational reasons to take action now

The problem with creating urgency in real estate sales is people usually see right through it. More often than not, prospects think it’s another promo tactic agents use to earn their commission faster. And if the other party in a real estate transaction suspects manipulation, there’s a slim chance to close the deal.

Here’s some reasoning that might prompt your clients to act (of course, it’ll depend on each particular situation):

offer properties and prices they can’t resist. Research your clients’ needs thoroughly and offer homes as close to their vision as possible. Maybe you won’t have to resort to urgency after all;
offer prospects a reward. Imagine your clients are considering buying from a builder. The latter may offer a significant contribution should the buyer use their mortgage financing or be the first three/five/ten to buy a property in the new development. More often than not, people won’t wait to be the fourth, sixth or eleventh only to lose several thousand dollars;
emphasize on the unique property features other homes don’t have. A pool, a pet-friendly area, proximity to a school, a garden, etc. might be a powerful incentive to use. The key is to identify what it is that your prospects appreciate most of all. Then, point out how other people are on the lookout of that very same feature so your clients might as well hurry up;
explain why there’s a good chance to negotiate a better deal on this property now. At this point, you might want to showcase your insider knowledge of the local market, tax and mortgage practice, etc. If you hold any piece of information that can give you a stronger position as a negotiating party, explain to your clients how you can use it to their advantage if they decide to act now, while it’s still relevant.

2. Ask the right questions

You won’t be able to create a sense of urgency, if you don’t know what are your clients’ priorities. Provided that you’ve already discussed their requirements (but the process is nevertheless stuck), consider asking:

Have you thought about the timeframe and how much time do you have at your disposal?
Do you see how many benefits there are when listing/buying your home this season?
If we can find a solution sooner, how does that help you?
Are there many people in your family involved? What is an acceptable timeframe for them?
Do you want us to move faster to find the best deal?

3. Find out who the decision-maker is

When your clients are a couple, each of them might take a different stance on the future real estate transaction. One will be more inclined to wait, the other will prefer to get it over with sooner rather than later and so on.

While a real estate transaction is a shared decision, someone is nearly always more enthusiastic about each specific offer than the other. Pinpoint key priorities and objections everyone has and address them but make sure you know exactly who’s going to take the responsibility of making the final decision.

4. Confirm commitment

It’s easy to get your clients to agree to “move forward asap” or “review the timeframe”, but how about getting them committed to act right now? Provided that you went through all the questions and discussed all the answers, ask directly if your prospects are committed to act right now since you’ve both agreed on a course of action.

In other words, your goal at this point is to get specific approval to move on faster, rather than a generic confirmation that it might make sense to move faster.

What’s next?

Creating urgency in real estate sales is a powerful hack but it doesn’t work well just on its own. That being said, make sure you’ve done everything you could to deliver great customer service before resorting to urgency.