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You have just finished what you would consider an excellent presentation to a property owner who is planning to list. Everything seems to be acceptable to him, your market analysis makes sense, marketing methods are well received and you have a good proven track record on servicing listings with many good testimonials. His only objection is this:

I have a friend (or relative) in the business and if I list with you I may offend him!

You ask him if his friend has been in the business for a while and is he a dedicated full-time agent, in other words, does his friend know what he’s doing? Unfortunately, everything seems to check out with his friend. The guy actually works for one of your competitors, and he seems to be a good producer, now what?

Response:

“Mr. seller, a real estate transaction involves many steps from staging the property to properly marketing it. You might have to negotiate with several buyers and other brokers to finally find an interested party, but that is only half the work. We would still have to worry about financing issues, inspections, city certifications, possibly repairing defects, title issues, and much more. During any of these stages, my relationship with you is strictly professional and even if we disagree on certain issues, I am willing to accept criticism and even be proven wrong, no hard feelings.

On the other hand, if you listed your property with your friend (or relative) the outcome could be much different. Think if you had to criticize him, tell him he’s wrong, be upset with him, God forbid even sue him! Would you be able to salvage the good relations that you now have with him?

Just for the simple fact that you value your friendship (or relationship), you should not list with this individual. If he questions you, then you can tell him that you appreciate him so much as a friend or relative, that you do not want to do business with him!”

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In practice, real estate is a numbers game. My trainees have reported that although ALL of their potential sellers have agreed with their response, a portion of them had still decided to list with a friend or relative. But the good news is that a good portion have agreed and listed with them. And that’s what it’s all about.