Be Aware of Seller Delay

There’s an opportunity hiding right under the nose of every British estate agent. It’s about timing.

So often, we spend our time chasing old valuations and canvassing new ones, apparently oblivious to the lucrative middle ground – high-intent potential sellers who have already started their journey online. They just haven’t told anyone yet!

People don’t take moving decisions lightly. It takes time.  

According to Paul Drummond, CEO of Swoople.com, a surprising proportion of  prospective sellers start their sale journey several months before they even approach their eventual estate agent. 

This stands to reason. There are four major “P” components involved in the early stages of moving: the Prompt, the Price, the Peruse and the Pick. Only when these are aligned does a seller instruct an estate agent.

1. The Prompt. This is the thing that causes the seller to consider moving. It could be a pregnancy, school selection, job move, health issue, financial problem, needing to be closer to an ageing relative, retirement etc. These often come with a few months’ notice.

2. Once a strong enough prompt has been established, ie “We need to move”, then The Price comes into play. “Can we afford to move?”. The seller initially uses an online valuation tool to get an early indication as to the viability of the move. 

3. The homeowner then Peruses possible purchase opportunities. At this stage they are “just looking” and becoming familiar with what their expectations should be.

4. Only when they have completed the above research are they ready to Pick an Agent. But, just as with price, the early stages are done online without the agent’s direct involvement.

The process from the first whiff of a prompt, (often combined with a partner needing to be convinced as well), to taking the significant decision to act, is by no means fast. Indeed, Swoople’s findings concurs with ValPal’s recent suggestion that homeowners typically engage with an online valuation tool four to five months before they go on to instruct an agent. 

So keep an eye on who is “just browsing”. They are not necessarily tyre-kickers! If they live locally but are not yet on the market, treat them royally. It’s just that their time has not yet come. Sometimes sellers need some encouragement to make the decision to sell, and you can possibly play a part in speeding things up by showing them properties they might not want to lose. (Fear of loss). 

Everyone has to start somewhere, and if they see you as the helpful and committed local expert, when other agents might not be taking them seriously, then you’ll be tapping into that lucrative middle market that might just have ended up with one of your competitors. 

This is where Swoople actually comes in quite handy, because it’s a place where potential sellers can not only generate an initial approximate valuation, but importantly ,compare local estate agents without having to trawl through loads of websites.

Smart agents make a point of ensuring that their Swoople profile is therefore note just the default “agents’ name and address” but ideally, an attractive and well-worded showcase for their agency. If you make a point of doing this now, then when that seller is ready to shortlist – you’ll be top of mind!