They will be purchasing a home in a 55+ retirement community & at this point they are just wanting to check out different communities. Their current home is not even listed yet!

Would you politely tell them they need to get their home listed first or would you take a few trips out to drive them around & show them the neighborhoods/homes they want to see? They want to make sure they find an acceptable retirement community before they take the plunge & list. Could be a time waster. WWYD? TIA!

Maybe they're going to keep the home and rent it.

It may well be that they can take their time and carry two homes at once, and make it a casual move. At that stage in life, more time can be spent doing things in a more deliberate manner. They have to, there's not that much time left.

I don't even bother talking to people at that age about financing . . . . their retirement nest-egg should provide the financing.

Conversely, I also have 78 year old people who are trying to qualify for their 1st mortgage ever . . . . and banks will consider them for 30 year loans. What have they been doing?

Now that I think about it, I just had some elderly retirees who "were" carrying four (4) homes, two in Florida, one in Jersey, and one here in Vermont. The nest-egg is exhausted and they had to sell both Florida homes as shorts . . . . so now they have empty pockets. What were they thinking?

Regardless, provide top-notch service and get the listing on their current home.

First of all being in a vacation home community, I end up working with a LOT of "maybe people." These buyers are considering my area, the Adirondacks, the Carolinas, New England. Many of my customers are scouring the entire East Coast for the perfect vacation spot. These people are just as prone to buy here as they are there. It's up to me to sell them on how awesome our area is.

That said, I have made somewhat of a policy that I sometimes use for some of my "maybe" people...


1. Do I feel I could work with them? Do they seem like we could get along? Some personalities just do not mesh well together. I know my limitations.

2. Do I have time? Early in my career I had more time to spend taking "maybe" people around. It helped me hone my skills in conversing w/ customers, learned what things people like/dislike. I also was able to learn the inventory and it helped me learn my way around the different homeowner communities. Places that scare the jellybeans out of newbies because they are so big/have a confusing road system etc. are a piece of cake to me - all because I took a bunch of buyers around and learned my way around.

If the answer to either of these questions is No, then I find another agent to refer them to - sometimes a newer agent, sometimes a more experienced agent who has the right personality, sometimes anyone who will take them. Most experienced agents though will not take them on unless they are truly motivated to buy.

SLChomes how long does it take to sell a home in your area?

I work with clients all the time that want to find the perfect new home before they commit to selling their current home. I find these people may take a bit longer to buy a home but when they do they tend to be motivated sellers and price the home properly.

You are looking at 2 deals here so unless you are super busy I would invest some time with them.

Thanks everyone! I'll take them out again & keep building rapport. They've already told me they will be selling their home before they buy a different one. And homes are taking awhile to sell here, unfortunately.

But yes, I can see myself working with them & yes, I have the time right now. I just don't want to spend all this time only to find out their son is a realtor & will be listing their home.

If their son is a Realtor and will be listing their home, the chance that you lose out on the buying side is high.

Just something to think about.