(Too) Affordable Monthly Payments
One of the best ways to deal with (financial) objections is to whittle them down to size.
As salespeople know, there’s no better way to make a big(ger) number seem smaller than to shrink it into monthly payments.
So, that extra $10,000 you might have to pay to get a house now isn’t $10,000.
At today’s (still) rock bottom interest rates, it’s only $40 per month (emphasis on the “only”).
“You can do that, right?”
Only 5.9¢ an Hour
Actually, I don’t — use that line, that is, for three reasons:
One. Gimmicky. I associate such pitches with late night TV come-on’s (“your own beautiful steak knives for only $19.99 a month!” — sometimes with “very own” substituted for “own”).
Or used car sales, or (too aggressive) health clubs.
As a Realtor, I don’t want to invite those comparisons.
Two. Slippery slope. Why stop at the cost per month? If you really want to shrink the number, quote its price per week. Or day.
Want to make it really tiny?
That $40/mth. is only 5.9¢ an hour.
Buyer-Turned-Seller
Of course, that affordable monthly increment only remains small until it comes time to sell.
Then, suddenly, the mortgage on the house isn’t $200,000, it’s $210,000 (Reason #3).
In an appreciating market, where the owner’s been accumulating equity for years, no biggie.
But, if there’s a housing downturn (remember those?), and the Buyer has an unexpected job relocation, that extra debt can be the difference between being able to sell or not, especially if that puts the Buyer underwater.
Thankfully, I find that in my role as a Buyer’s agent, once I supply enough facts and context, my clients can usually sort out for themselves the price they’re willing to pay for any given property.
