Buying a home is not about racing to the front door of the first property you can find on Zillow. It’s about setting the stage, earning trust, and actually preparing for what will be one of the most important decisions of someone’s life. I imagine, no I know, that many agents are meeting people for the first time in the driveway of a luxury home. Wow.
Our Buyer Process starts with four simple but powerful steps:
Greeting - We do not have to script this. There is a proper way.
Meet - Once greeted…you have to meet to listen and learn and indeed to make sure they are aligned to you as well. “If you are everything to everyone then you are nobody”
Let the questions flow from their answers. But you do want to know Who, What, Where, Why, When and How. This is a bit deeper than the old commission breath LPMAMA.
And today you need to Clarify Agency and Expectations
Sounds simple. But here’s the part most agents get wrong: they skip all of this and go straight to “Let’s go see houses.” We will not every show anyone a home as our first place of meeting. I cannot tell you how many times we have declined the “Hey I am driving around and I want to see 123 Main Street can you show it to me?” That is a 100% NO from us always.
Relationships are not formed this way. We required “coffee”. Now the market takes care of this because there are “ambulance chasing agents.” We have the right to not be one. You have the right to work with whatever level of competence you desire.
🏡 The Pro Way: Neutral Ground, Not the Driveway
For a real agent, this isn’t a script it’s just in their nature. You greet people a certain way because you know it matters. You do it in a certain place or places.
And you don’t meet someone for the first time standing in the driveway of a $5M home they found on Zillow. You sit down first over coffee or inn an office in a quiet spot. You meet them as a person before you meet them as a client. Without that we simply cannot do what we do. If you want someone to unlock doors it is easier than what we do. If you want someone to listen and then say “ah ha” with you and take you to the homes you will love…..then read along.
We have to know:
Who are you?
What do they you to do with you life?
Where do you live now? Where do you want to live? Not as a place but as a state of mind. Where do you want to be when you’re with friends, family, or colleagues?
When are you really ready to make this move? And in our area that is a lot of mindset and financial freedom. After all our team average selling value is over $2,500,000 for a vacation home, second home or real primary home here on 30a.
Why? what’s the reason? Kids grown? Spouse or partner ill and wanting to live differently? Retired? New business? Freedom of mind and place? We live it too. We understand all of these dynamics.
And How? What’s the plan for making it happen? And in that what is the mindset? Are you really there?
By the time you walk into the first property, you’re not strangers fumbling introductions you’re partners with a purpose and as I sometimes say “I cannot tell you what I would do if I were you” but if we reach the moment where you look at me and let me tell you “what you would do if you were me” then the magic happens.
😬 The Wrong Way: “Oh Hi, I’m Your Agent!”
🚫 Wrong Agent Approach and Yes I have seen this from Presumed TOP VOLUME producers in our market and am amazed they can turn that into the market believing they are actually competent.
Meets the buyer for the first time in the driveway. NO
Hopes Zillow has already “pre-qualified” the client. NO
Rushes through awkward introductions at a luxury showing. NO
Confuses activity with trust. NO
I’ve seen this play out in real time and it’s painful.
First case: The buyer arrived before their agent. They turned to me, shook my hand, and said, “Hi, I’m [Name]. Good to meet you.” I thought, wait a second… did this buyer just mistake me for their agent? Yes. They had never even met their supposed representative until that very showing. That story has a happy ending… let’s just say that buyer ultimately found someone else they preferred to work with 🙂.
Second case: The agent actually beat the buyer to the house. When the client walked up, that agent rushed over and said, “Hi, I’m [Agent’s Name], nice to finally meet you!” For the first time. At the door of a multi-million-dollar property.
My jaw dropped. Both times.
And the outcomes? Exactly what you’d expect.
In the first case, the buyer moved on quickly. They realized that they had no relationship in a community where the expert was right in front of them. Free to make an alternative choice they did.
In the second, that buyer never purchased anything at all from that agent. More showings. No Life changing closings.
Because here’s the truth: if the very first experience of “representation” is confusion and awkward introductions, the rest of the process is already broken.
🎯 The Lesson
✔️ Pro Agent: Meets in neutral space, asks the right questions, and learns who the client really is. The Pro Agent, if not able to do that because that client is unwilling simply declines the kind offer to waste time. We attract those that want the service level and experience we bring.
🚫 Wrong Agent: Meets in the driveway, skips the hard questions, and hopes for the best.
If your agent is meeting you for the first time on the front porch of a showing, you don’t have an agent you have a tour guide with maybe a set of keys to unlock doors. You do not have someone that counsels on how to unlock lives.
A pro sets the stage before you ever see a house.
The other way? It kills trust before the process even starts.