Distressed Sellers, and Tough Love…

Hatched by Andre Potgieter on Friday, July 31, 2009

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The times we are in are different indeed, one facet we have had to deal with is making appointments with “distressed sellers” …to take Virtual Tours and Videos so that their properties can be marketed and sold. Obviously we do the VT’s for a growing number of Auction properties, both online and physical Auctions, and have found that making appointments to gain access to the property of a distressed seller provides a unique set of challenges.

Who are they?:

The distressed sellers are property owners that are in default on their mortgage payments, and are under pressure from their Mortgagors to sell, yes even under threat of a sale in execution (SIE).  But distressed sellers are just people! That is, they are human and often “hurting”, they stand to lose something that is precious to them and still owe money on it after they lose it! Nasty! This results in people that can vacillate between grumpy and hopeless, to, uncooperative and violently resistant or even lose touch with reality…see the clip lol.

Challenges:

To go into a distressed sellers home and do a VT so that it can sell is a bitter and unpleasant experience for the seller and when a tenant is involved there is immediately a threatening uncertainty experienced by the tenant…even more so when the tenant is in default! So it is tricky and potentially a tense environment.

The ART of TL:

Making appointments and visiting the property require different soft skills. The art is in being professional, compassionate and ,when circumstances demand , adopting a “Tough Love” (TL) approach. The TL approach requires some kind of counseling stance, and for our Co-Ordinators and Listing Consultants involves more of “come alongside and recognize the bottom-line of the distress is: that if you don’t sell and lose a little, you lose much much more”.

Agents can add real Value:

For an agent taking a mandate on a distressed sellers’ property, the counseling and TL approach is far more real, and the distressed seller needs to come to terms with their choices and risks in a sober manner… not easy! Again the art is to listen, summarize the choices and implications and then wrap it up with genuine Tough Love. What is the alternative to TL?… decision paralysis: losing more than necessary.

From the OPS Team, our hearts are out there with these Distressed Sellers, and the Agents that can give them valuable advice.