Talking Finances

Finances are a delicate topic, even within a professional relationship. But with a home being the most expensive purchase most people will make in their lifetime – not to mention New York City being one of the priciest real estate markets in the world – the subject has to come up sooner or later. Use these scripts to handle financial conversations with a prospect in a way that’s prudent, yet productive.

PREVIEW:

Best practices

• Avoid talking directly about finances on a first call with a prospect. For example, don’t ask right away whether they’ve been pre-approved. It can be intimidating for first-time buyers, and your goal on every new call is to radiate warmth. 
• Take a soft approach to financial questions. Ask more open-ended questions, like if the prospect has thought about financing or where they’d need to cap their monthly mortgage payment.
• The goal is to get the prospect to open up about finances, without necessarily being specific. From there, get them to follow your lead.

Scripts

Starting the conversation

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Have you thought about financing?

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Are you planning a cash purchase or will you be looking to take out a mortgage?

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Have you thought about where you’d need to cap your monthly mortgage payment?

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When it’s time to talk pre-approval

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Have you spoken with a mortgage lender about getting pre-approval? If not, I have a great lender who I partner with. Can I give them your email or phone number so they can contact you?

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Co-op considerations

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This co-op requires a 30% down payment – are you prepared to pay that?

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Have you noticed the maintenance fees for this building are $5,000 per month?

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Do you know what your debt-to-income ratio is? This building prefers a DTI of below 25%.

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Coming up with an offer

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Have you thought about what you’re comfortable offering for this property? Inventory in this market has been low, so we may need to be a little competitive with our offer.

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