Real estate expectations have a huge impact on outcomes, both for you as agents and for your clients.
Let’s begin at the beginning, back to when you first decided to become an agent. Were your real estate 
expectations reasonable, or did you think real estate would be an easy job that would instantly give you a six-figure income?
If you had honest guidance going in, you knew that when you passed the test, you’d still have plenty to learn. You also knew that you were going to have to spend a fair amount of money, and work hard to build and keep your business. Finally, you knew that unless there was a lucky fluke, it could be months before you saw any income.
If those were your real estate expectations, you had an honest foundation on which to build a successful business. You may have been a bit nervous, but if you also expected that you could and would meet the challenges, you’re probably doing well.
If you expected an easy job with plenty of time off and money pouring into your pockets, you probably aren’t reading messages like this one any more.
But the role of expectations doesn’t end there…
Real estate expectations play a role in every action you take as an agent.
Why? Because your expectations affect your attitude and your demeanor.
They affect how you prepare for a client meeting – whether it’s a listing appointment, a meeting with a new buyer, a discussion about preparing a house for market, or a discussion regarding a purchase and sale agreement.
When you expect to get that listing because you’ve prepared well and know you’re the right person for the job, you’re most likely going to get it. (I know, there are flukes. They list with a best friend’s brother or their own Uncle Amos, who is semi-retired and lives in a different community. That can’t always be avoided.)
Your expectations affect home sellers behavior after you have the listing….
Your expectations affect how you present your “terms of service” to your buyers and sellers. For instance: If you go into a discussion expecting them to understand that you work set hours and are not available in the 
middle of the night, you won’t be tentative or apologetic.
If you expect your listing clients to follow the rules regarding having the house ready, leaving during showings, etc. they probably will – simply because you presented the reasons why in a factual, authoritative, and caring manner.
Will it always work? No, but I can almost guarantee that if you go in expecting that they won’t listen to you, you will be right. You won’t have the confidence to convey the importance of following your instructions. You’ll be tentative, and they’ll get the message that what you say doesn’t matter.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations
in advance of the event.”
Brian Tracy
~~
“There is abundant reason to believe that optimism – big, little, and in between –
is useful to a person because positive expectations can be self-fulfilling.”
Christopher Peterson
~~
If you believe in the Law of Attraction, you know real estate expectations affect your success in marketing.
- If you send prospecting letters expecting a good response, you’ll likely get some. If you send them out with negative expectations, you’ll likely get none.
- If you make a phone call expecting that the person will be happy to talk with you, they probably will welcome your call. If you expect rejection, you’ll probably get it.
- If you create a website expecting people to visit and read your offerings, they probably will.
Why does that work?
Because when you expect good results, you make a better effort and you present yourself with confidence.
- When you mail positive, useful prospecting letters because you expect people to read them, those who are ready will respond.
- When you make a phone call with a positive, uplifting attitude, people will respond positively to your tone of voice and your energy.
- When you create a website and fill it with information that’s valuable to visitors, they’ll stay, read, and come back.
Now think about real estate expectations and your real estate showings.
You’ve been telling sellers that curb appeal is important, and buyer expectations are the reason why.
When buyers see a clean house with freshly painted trim, sparkling windows, and clean doors in a yard that’s freshly mowed and trimmed, they walk into the house expecting to see good things.
When they see an overgrown lawn, a screen door hanging by one hinge, and grimy windows, they walk in expecting to find a house that has not been maintained.
Since our eyes (and brains) seek out what we expect to find, they see just what the first impression told them they’d see.
Both buyers and sellers can be made successful by their own expectations …
Sellers who expect the right buyer to walk in the door will make a better effort at having the house ready.
Buyers who expect that their dream house exists – in their price range – will give you more assistance in the form of becoming pre-approved, providing you with want / don’t want lists, and moving quickly when you say there’s a house they should see.
Both sides will be more successful in negotiations when they expect to come to a mutually acceptable agreement.
Stay positive – expect exceptional outcomes…
Agent Image courtesy of graur razvan ionut at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Confidence Image courtesy of nonicknamephoto at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Successful buyers Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
