How to Close A Sale: 8 Winning Real Estate Techniques (2024)

Many people think one of the biggest challenges of real estate is closing deals. We have trained too many agents working today only on the paperwork side of the business and not on how to actually sell successfully and professionally. Selling is what real estate is all about, and that means building rapport and strong relationships.

Without this skill, there’s no money to be made and no paperwork to be done, regardless of how proficient you may be!

In today’s market, we must overcome traditional sales obstacles such as canned, fake responses. Instead, real estate agents need to hone in on their instincts to make a sale.

While this article is going to be mostly focused on selling properties, we could also apply many of the points to real estate investors and agents involved in the rental market. So, let’s look at some sales tips.

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Common closing techniques

“Now or never” closes

With the “now or never” technique, the real estate agent brings up a special benefit that requires immediate action and expires after the day. This is a real limited-time offer.

Summary closes

This effective sales technique stresses the values and benefits of items or packages in the deal—such as a house coming with its own washer and dryer or fully furnished. Summarize everything that is unique to this house that might prompt the customer to buy at the current price point.

Sharp angle closes

Potential customers might ask for additional features, like whether their home can keep the current furniture of a specific room or a discounted rate. With approval from a supervisor, the real estate agent can provide these additional features and close the deal on the home with that price reduction.

Question closes

Ask questions that hook at the prospective buyers and give them homework to think about. These questions can ask for their opinion, or about a problem that their current home has and whether this potential house has the same issue. Make them think about why they’re interested in the house. Asking the right questions will allow the agent to answer outstanding questions and earn a commitment from the buyer.

Assumptive closes

This technique draws on positive thinking. Monitor the potential buyer’s interest, their engagement, and their objections throughout the meeting. After talking with them, ensure that you ask them if their expectations were met or not.

Take-away closes

Have you ever seen a child who’s had a toy taken from them and they want that toy more than anything else in the world? That’s a similar phenomenon that can happen with potential customers or homeowners. Does the price of the home scare your customer? Remove a feature and offer a discount. They’ll think about the feature instead of the discounted price, and you may reach your desired outcome.

Sharp angle closes

When a prospective buyer makes a request, you can agree… if they sign immediately. Maybe they ask if you can cover closing costs, or for price reductions. With a sharp angle close, you’d say “Sure—if you sign the sales agreement immediately. Is it a done deal?”

Soft closes

This type of closing shows the benefit of the home to your customer, making no sudden requests of them. You ask a low-affected question, such as, “If we downsize the kitchen, it’ll cost 20% less and you could get a new refrigerator. Does that sound like something you’d be interested in?” There’s no sense of urgency as to whether the buyer should commit and itgives you more time as the Realtor to learn about the family you’re dealing with.

8 steps to close real estate deals

1. Believe in yourself

Confidence is key. If you believe in yourself, if you believe in the deal, it will happen. This confidence needs to be clear throughout the process, right from the first viewing until they sign on the dotted line. If you’re enthusiastic about the deal, this energy will transfer to your clients.

Sometimes this can be hard to do; maybe the property isn’t quite to your liking or your clients are difficult. But as long as you believe in yourself and your own ability to find, negotiate, and complete a deal, you will succeed. Be careful not to overstretch to co*cky, but a certain air of self-assurance and positivity will work wonders for closing sales.

2. Keep it simple

Don’t bombard your clients with information, facts, and figures that won’t actually affect their decision-making. Treat them like you would want to be treated—in a straightforward, direct, and personable manner. If the clients are interested and the process moves forward, then that is the time to give more information that could help them decide if the property is right for them. But wait until they have shown definitive interest before doing so.

3. Listen

Don’t waste your time trying to sell a property your clients really aren’t interested in. And don’t keep pushing for a deal that will never happen. Listen carefully to what your clients want and what their conditions are, and then work as hard as possible to get exactly that.

By delivering exactly what they asked for right from the start, you will gain their trust and respect, meaning they will be more likely to buy with you than any other agent. A positive relationship with your clients works to your advantage, both on individual and future deals, as you may well find yourself referred to as their friends and family. Remember: Selling isn’t telling, it’s listening.

4. Reassure

If your clients have doubts—and they will, because it’s only natural for people parting with significant sums of money to have areas of concerns—talk them through. Don’t just ignore the issues when they arise. Face them head-on and deal with them together. If the problem is insurmountable, move on to a different house. Don’t waste your time trying to sell a property they’re never going to buy because of an unchangeable matter such as location. Take stock, learn from it, and show them something more fitting to their brief next time. If you can work around the concern, then do.

Reassurance, encouragement, and problem-solving are all key skills for closing sales. Being truthful in your encouragements is vital, and most real estate agents become well-versed in this skill because of buyer’s remorse. This is when clients appear to get cold feet as the deal approaches, usually intimidated by the financial implications. It’s a phase. You just have to get them through it and remind them why they loved the property.

5. Work on your script

Do not find a script online and learn it by heart! That will come across phony, staged, and untrustworthy. Scripts can be great, but they have to be uniquely yours. Base your sales tactic on your own personality and speak and act in the most natural way for you. Not only will this make it easier to remember what you want to say, but it will also come across as far more genuine and truthful.

Also, although a script can be useful, remember each property and each client are different, and therefore some flexibility, ad libbing, and creativity are always necessary in order to close each sale. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all sales script.

Related: How to Use Interest-Based Negotiation to Close True Win-Win Deals

6. Sweeten the deal

Are your clients interested in the property but wavering over the final decision? Find something you can throw in they simply can’t resist. You’ll probably have to work with the other real estate agent to allow this to happen, but since you both want the sale to go through, be able to come up with something pretty irresistible.

Here, it is important to have positive relationships with other real estate agents working in your patch. Together, you need to make the deal so tempting your clients have no choice but to agree and sign those papers.

7. Be yourself

As human beings, we want to interact with other human beings. A fake persona is not only obvious but off-putting to clients. Relax, take a deep breath, and go into each meeting and deal as you. No one wants a phony friend, so don’t be one. Trustworthiness, a straightforward attitude, and a lot of personality are all traits that make a great real estate agent.

Long gone are the days when clients were naïve, unassuming, and gullible. With the number of home improvement and property search shows on television these days, real estate agents are increasingly dealing with people well-versed in the property market and how it works. We’re on the same level now—treat them as your equals. Be yourself rather than “that real estate agent,” and your personality will carry you the rest of the way.

8. The final step: Go out and sell

It’s difficult, of course, but with these simple pieces of advice, I hope you are going to have more success in the future in closing real estate deals. In fact, most of these points could apply to anyone in the sales industry. The difference with property, however, is the significantly larger amounts of money involved in the deals. This is daunting for your clients (reassure them) but great for us who work on commission (but don’t get too focused on this).

It’s a balance—an art, a skill, and one that you will take time to perfect. You will make mistakes, you will lose sales, but over the years and with more experience, alongside advice from experts such as myself and others who have been in the business for a long time, you will get there.

How to close a deal without feeling pushy

You should keep any and all contact with potential buyers to emails and calls when you have information for them. Do not call your clients without something to offer them, as that seems like you’re hovering. Furthermore, you should decide which closing technique you need to use, and be prepared to use it. That means, if you need to deduct something from the cost, or offer a “limited time sale” you should go in with that in mind.

Usually, the first showing of a house is not the be-all, end-all. That means you can take a moment or two to figure out what approach might get these clients to buy this house. Remember, if your client has an objection or question, never ignore it or give them a “but.” Their concerns are real. And you should acknowledge that, as this will help you win their trust.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.