Buying a Property is usually the biggest purchase most of us will make in our lifetime.

Be aware that making this large purchase is a complex process that goes through many stages. And in tandem with this buying process is an equally complex selling process. Very often new agents mistakenly believe that selling is just convincing and no part of a complex process.

When we keep the purchasing process in mind, it keeps us on track to follow the selling process to its completion.

The Four (4) Main Stages are:

• Stage 1 – Awareness – The prospective buyer becomes aware that he/she/they would like to purchase a property. Then they become aware of some of the properties on sale.
• State 2 – Interest – Based on limited knowledge such as classified advertisements, pictures on websites, Real Estate Listings, and recommendations from friends, they may become interested in specific locations.
• Stage 3 – Desire – Through visits to the available properties on sale in the locations, they may grow to desire to own one of many options.
• Stage 4 – Action – Then, if they are sold on a specific property, they may begin to take action to close the deal.

The prospective buyer may stop at any time along the way and not proceed to go forward to the next stage.

Based on this basic knowledge of the buying process for a home, we can fine tune our selling process to match the buying process.

During the first stage of the buying process, the Awareness stage, the person becomes aware of the need to purchase a home, it is important that our agency and our listings are in his/her ‘line of sight’ at this stage. We can best achieve this through highly visible listings and advertisements. Here we can use the most cost effective combination of advertising tools such as Social Media, High Quality Signage and Print Advertising, focusing on the credentials of the Agency and the quality of its listings. At this stage, it is helpful if their friends recommend you and suggest that they pay you a visit.

At the next stage of developing an Interest in specific locations and properties, here the potential buyer is looking for property details, such as neighbourhood, number of bedrooms and other amenities. The Agent can facilitate this, in today’s world of the Internet, through picture-rich websites. If at the awareness stage we were fortunate enough that the prospective buyer was introduced to us, one can complement the website with e-mails, with links to specific properties on the website.

The next stage in the buying process is Desire and the Agent can induce this by taking the prospect on direct visits to properties, within the correct price range, and stimulating desire by focusing on the fact that the property meets the attributes the buyer has in mind. Desire is a very emotional stage and here it is important that the agent trigger positive emotions by communicating property attributes that promise to make the buyers life more enjoyable.

Finally, if all has gone according to plan, the prospective buyer may desire a specific property or have two options. At this final stage the selling skills of the agent becomes paramount. This stage of the journey is not just about desire, but one that makes financial, emotional, social and in many cases, spiritual sense. One can say desire is of the heart and action is of the mind and heart. The agent, therefore, has to handle the whole gamut of objections that may arise in the buyer’s mind.

So the next time you start off with a prospective buyer, remember buying and selling are processes. Ask yourself, where along the process are we and what must I do to take it to the next stage? If you follow the process diligently you will certainly increase your chances of success.