Securing the Property Listing: How Brooklyn Brokers Earn a Seller’s Trust

From the Mendy Realty archive, first published by Mendy Lipsker.

As a broker/agent, it is important that you have properties to sell. You can show and sell properties listed by other agents, but to be really successful, you want to represent your own list of properties for other agents to show and sell.

When people are looking to sell their property, the first thing they want to do is get it listed with a reputable and trustworthy broker/agent, so the first part of getting a property listed is getting the people to trust you. Some sellers call me and interview me because they’ve talked to other brokers and heard about me. Some are referred to me by their family, friend, their mortgage broker or they saw my sign or advertisement.

When they contact me, I will set up a meeting that is convenient for them and do my presentation telling them all about what I will do as their listing agent. Usually, I would then want to preview the house/property and I make recommendations that will help make the property attractive to buyers. Most of the time they listen to me, but not always and if they don’t, we work around the situation. It just makes doing my job more challenging.

After we get that communicated and them trusting that I can sell the property, I have three basic rules that I follow and they are the most important part of this article.

First, if I have the seller’s trust and they are hiring me, I like to put it in writing so that we don’t have any misunderstandings. It is a legal agreement but also serves as a reminder of what was discussed and intended. This way both parties have something to refer back to if questions arise.

Whether the property is residential or commercial, I need access to the property. Most sellers will give me a set of keys, but some are hesitant about doing that. If there will always be someone living at the house or someone available to let me in if it is a commercial property, that’s fine, but I need access to the property in order to show it and get it sold.

The third rule is to allow me to advertise that the property is for sale. I will put it on my website and on multiple listing services, as well as put a sign out in front of the property or on the building. Some people object to the sign but if I can’t tell anyone or call attention to the property in some way, it makes my job more challenging. People looking to buy may be living in or visiting the neighborhood, which means your buyer may be right next door, so the advertising sign is very important.

Why is it important to hire me or a real estate agent/broker? Everything has to be sold and everything has to be represented. You can try to sell it yourself, but as Lincoln said, “A person who represents himself has a fool for a client.”