Attract more using Honey

I spent the day, Sunday with a few of my girl friends. We wandered around downtown Denver looking at art and visiting farmers markets. We had a day full of drinks and yummy food. It was great to be out with others, safely outside and enjoying the weather and community. We stopped at Denver's Union station for drinks and a charcuterie board. It had a block of delicious honey with the comb....so delicious.

Anyways, It was a beautiful day and it was so nice to be out and see smiling eyes (with masks and all). The world is pretty divided theses days and it feels like vinegar is so much easier to throw out than a bit of honey. We can all use a bit more love and acceptance today. 

As with most things, I then start thinking about real estate and how that is so true as well. We can attract so much more with honey. I think of the reputations that some investors give the rest of us..."I buy houses cheap & stack them deep. And what you've got here is a dump!" That arrogance that make the rest of us feel like slum lords, when we're just trying to provide clean & safe houses for people in our communities. 

Sometimes the best way to a deal, a new teammate, partner, etc is to just be nice. Show genuine interest in them, their house, their business, & their life. If you know you need something from them, Simply Ask Nicely, more flies with honey concept. Over and over again you hear that you need to build rapport with motivated sellers. I always encourage you to ask open ended questions and find out about their circumstances before you even dive into price. 

When working toward that lower price the “snake” investors often like to talk down the condition of the home which will destroy any progress that the buyer made up front. Making them feel bad about their home will not excite them to sell them to you. So embrace the use of “honey.”

To a seller, their home is their castle. It’s the place where they’ve raised their children, and has been the backdrop for many of their memories. It’s the asset into which they’ve invested the lion’s share of their time and money, sometimes for years. It’s an intensive expression of their personal tastes. And it’s also the asset they must convert into as much money as possible to move forward with the next phase of their lives.

All that said, the average seller knows most things about their home that you can see with the naked eye. So if you, as a buyer, think trash talking a home, pointing out obvious flaws or issues is a good strategy for getting the price down, rest assured that you are not telling the seller anything they didn’t already know when they set the list price. In fact, you might very well be doing your case more harm than good, as this “strategy” is highly likely to alienate and insult the seller whose cooperation you seek. 

If you feel strongly that something about a place makes it less valuable than the comparables the seller seems to have based the list price on, work with your agent on how best to communicate your offer price rationale to the listing agent in a way that is diplomatic and fact-based.

The spirit of honey can be used when building your network. If you have a relationship with our property managers, realtors, and lenders beyond basic business, they'll do more for you. So open up your honey jar and care, be nice, and create a lasting working relationship. 

Here's to putting more Honey in the world!

Best of Success, Andrea