Decide who answers buyer questions
Name the person who will reply, and decide that replies go in writing.
Pick one person to answer buyer questions before you advertise the house. That person can be you, a co-owner, or the agent you hired. The point is that a caller does not get two different answers about price, showing times, or what stays. Write the person's name at the top of a sheet and keep that sheet by the phone you will actually answer.
The sheet needs the list price, the showing hours you can keep, and the two or three facts you are willing to say out loud. An example: the roof was repaired in a year you can point to on a receipt, the refrigerator stays, and offers should be sent to a named email. If you do not know a fact, the answer is that you will check and call back. Guessing a repair date on the phone is how a small question becomes a A form where you report what you know about the property. Your state decides which forms you sign. problem.
Decide what the answer person will not discuss. Price negotiation belongs in a written offer, not in a friendly call. If someone asks for your lowest number, the prepared line is that you will read a written offer. Practice that line once so it is ready. If two of you own the house, agree on that line together before the first call, and let the other person know when a call came in.
There is no fee for the sheet. The cost is the hour you spend writing it and the discipline to use it. If you hired an agent, ask them to send you the same sheet so your answers match. If you are selling it yourself, you are the answer person, and the sheet is what keeps a tired evening from inventing a new price.
What to do
- Name one person who answers buyer questions.
- Write the price, the showing hours, and the facts you will say.
- Agree on the line you will use when someone asks for your lowest price.
- Log each call on the same sheet.