- Chelsea Donovan
How to Use the Real Estate Transaction Process to Elevate the Client Experience (and Boost Your Reve
We’ve all been there. Two in the morning, a carton of ice cream, and Zillow. Daydreaming about a dream house in a town you’ve never heard of in the middle of nowhere is one of the most calming things you can do as an adult… until it’s time to actually buy the thing.
Real estate transactions are some of the biggest purchases a person will make in their life, and they aren’t exactly easy to get through. Between piles and piles of papers, approvals, and limited understanding of the technical legalities of it all, transactions can often feel like you’re signing your life away.
Working in the industry, it’s not only your job to ensure your real estate clients are informed and on task throughout a transaction — but that they also feel comfortable and confident throughout the process. After all, this is an exciting time!
Luckily, as stressful as they can be, each step throughout the real estate transaction process allows an opportunity to create an awesome client experience. Here’s how.
PrecloseGO! helps make every step of the real estate transaction process easier. Learn all about it with a free 14-day trial.
What we’ll cover:
The Research Phase
Long before you arrive at the real estate transaction process itself, you have the homebuyer research phase.
This is one of the most exciting points in the process for real estate clients and on average, buyers spend about 8-10 weeks researching buying a home.
So how do you create an awesome client experience when they haven’t even contacted you yet?
The biggest trick here is to make sure your agents are rapidly answering their questions, and that your real estate team’s content is accessible. Writing blogs about the process, or having a simple Q&A section on your website can help build trust with prospects you haven’t even met yet..
As with all things real estate marketing, just make sure you offer value first.
Then, focus on distribution. For example, if you’ve created a guide or blog post on what first-time homebuyers should expect in the transaction process, try sharing that content on multiple websites and social media channels to give your content the best chance to be found.
Consider sharing your homebuyer content on:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Reddit
LinkedIn
YouTube
TikTok
Financial Understanding
Approximately one in eight Americans are blissfully unaware of their credit score, and 46% reportedly have not checked their scores in over 2 months.
If your client is considering a real estate transaction, that’s kind of a big deal! It’s likely you’re going to come across prospects that are unaware of their financial positioning to buy a home.
Having a trusted lender that you can recommend is a great step in helping clients get moving if they’re already in a good place with their credit. What can create an even better experience, is having a good credit repair company you partner with that can help prospects who may be a bit out of reach.
Working with a trusted lender and credit repair company can not only position prospects to be approved for a loan, but also lower their monthly payments, allowing them to increase their purchase price (and your potential revenue).
This is great for clients who are purchasing new construction and have some time between the presale agreement and closing to work on a few marks on their score.
Selecting an agent
73% of buyers work with the first real estate agent they interview. While this does put you in a great position once you get clients on the phone, having a solid understanding of what clients expect can help you better market and sell your business during the selection process.
Here are your buyer’s top considerations when selecting an agent:
51% of buyers hire an agent to help them find the right home
13% are focused on having someone help negotiate sale terms
11% are looking for someone to help negotiate price
8% report their main concern being help with paperwork
Pre-approval process
While some prospects will enter business with you after already speaking with a lender, you may get some clients that are still needing to get through a preapproval process. This is a necessary, and very stressful part of the transaction process, as clients need to gather a lot of sensitive personal information to get the approval.
Creating a secure place where clients can send sensitive information such as bank documents, social security numbers, etc. is a great way to put a client at ease during the process of obtaining funding with a lender. Many lenders will ask for this via email, which can put clients at risk of fraud. Being able to bridge the communication between lenders and clients on a secure platform is a huge plus.
The home search
This is it! The moment buyers are all waiting for. They found their dream house and are ready to tour it, along with 2,000 other properties. You’re going to need some coffee…
Dealing with multiple clients means that you’re going to have a ton of different preferences and homes to keep track of.
With 51% of buyers hiring an agent specifically to find the right house, this is the most important thing to get right. Setting up viewing appointments, remembering client needs, and follow ups reminding clients of the homes they’ve viewed can be a lot to keep up with — especially if you already have multiple files in the closing pipeline
It’s important to have a good process in place to handle it all.
Making an offer
By 2021, 63% of buyers made an offer on a home without physically touring it.
Between the gold-rush style housing market, as well as the pandemic limiting in-person viewings, this can be a very stressful part of the transaction process.
We’re seeing a ton of denied offers as multiple buyers jump to offer over asking price on homes. This can be very discouraging for buyers, especially if it’s their first time buying.
Having a really solid relationship with a client can help them feel more secure and satisfied working with you, even when their dream house falls through, especially if they feel like you already have another idea lined up for them.
Inspections
86% of buyers who used a home inspector reported that the inspector found at least one item that needed to be addressed.
Not only that, 46% were able to use these findings to negotiate a lower sale price on the home.
Staying on top of the closing process game by having recommendations for ace inspectors, as well as a highly responsive client chat app and email templates on-hand, can help you and your clients make the most out of the inspection process.
Most common flaws found during inspections:
20% of issues were with the roof
18.7% of issues were with the electrical system
18.4% were with the home’s windows
13.6% of issues were with the home’s plumbing system
12.2% of issues were with the water heater
Final paperwork
Once everything is all said and done, it’s time to start signing!
Clients don’t typically have a strong legal understanding around buying a home. The amount of paperwork needed to secure their mortgage and close on the property can quickly feel overwhelming.
Being able to reassure a client on what they’re signing is important. That’s where using expert transaction management tools such as Dotloop or SkySlope can be a game-changer for keeping things organized.
Take it a step further by combining PrecloseGO!’s communication software to help proactively answer any questions clients may have along the way. You can try it completely free for 14 days.
Insurance, utilities & more
In some cities such as Detroit, utility costs can amount to more than a mortgage payment.
Providing a client information about utilities should happen before the sale is final.
Being able to give them insights into the companies that provide power, cable, etc. will enable them to research average utility prices and ensure they can budget their future needs.
Closing the real estate transaction process with a bang
Once everything is finalized, your client is ready to move in!
This is an incredibly exciting time, and a great opportunity to ask your clients to leave a review of their interaction with you.
And don’t be shy. 90% of buyers report being willing to recommend their agent to others, so be sure to ask for both reviews and referrals once closing is finished.
Here are some fun ways to welcome your clients to their new homes:
Help them celebrate with an awesome closing gift like a personalized bottle of wine
Stop by on moving day with some pizza so they don’t need to worry about dinner
Buy them a local membership to somewhere fun in their new neighborhood
Continue to send thank you letters, birthday and holiday cards, even after your work is done
Remember, creating a great customer experience can not only provide a better reputation for your business, it can also increase your revenue.
By consistently showing up and communicating each step of the real estate transaction process clearly, you’ll empower your clients beyond their wildest expectations — leading to lasting relationships, increased referrals and even more stellar clients down the line.
Ready to elevate the client experience? Learn how PrecloseGO! can help!