Photo credit: AJ Canaria
“If you are not getting educated about real estate market conditions, what’s happening in the economy and everything else in your local market, you’re doing yourself and your clients a disservice.”
This quote from Tom Toole perfectly sets the tone for the Knowledge Brokers Podcast every week—and it’s exactly how he opened the objection handling session at BAM Mania.
Joined by his co-hosts, Lisa Chinatti and Byron Lazine, the trio dove into the most common objections real estate agents are encountering in today’s market. They emphasized that objection handling isn’t about having a magic phrase that convinces people to buy or sell instantly. Instead, it’s about developing a deep knowledge of the market and using that expertise to guide your clients with confidence.
As an agent, you know that today’s market is filled with uncertainties. Buyers and sellers are nervous about the economy, concerned about election outcomes, and waiting for mortgage rates or home prices to drop. These fears create real hesitations.
But as Toole pointed out, “It’s about using real market data to help guide people to make smart decisions.”
Having the right data, being proactive, and communicating with your clients consistently are the keys to navigating objections with ease.
So with that, let’s dive into some of the objections that were handled on stage.
Objection 1: “Why isn’t my home selling?”
Scenario: Seller’s home has been on the market for 30 days, with minimal traffic, and no offers. The seller is upset because they expected the home to sell quickly.
Agent: “So Lisa, when we sat down to take the listing, do you remember exactly where we started?”
Seller: “No.”
If the seller doesn’t recall the initial conversation, it’s a sign the agent may not have been clear during the initial conversation or consistent with updates.
Agent: “So Lisa, when we went through the three pricing strategies, we wanted to test the market. We’ve now come to that place. Our experience tells us that if we’re going to get the house positioned to sell, we need to stop testing, and use the data that we’ve been reviewing every single week (ShowingTime data, market data, etc.)… Now it’s time to either go to more of a competitive price or a common base price. Which one are we leaning towards?”
Objection 2: “I need a certain amount of money.”
Scenario: The seller is concerned about lowering the price but still needs to sell.
Seller: “I need a certain amount of money. So I guess what I’d love to understand is what the options with the pricing are and how much I actually have to sell for to sell the home in the next two weeks.”
At this point, Lazine reiterated that it’s all about revisiting the initial conversation the agent had with the seller, where they outlined an aspirational price, market price and competitive price.
“Go back into the net sheet,” Lazine said. “These conversations don’t work unless you have the right conversation in the first appointment. If you haven’t filled out a net sheet from day one, you don’t have anything to reference.”
As price adjustment conversations are becoming more common with rising inventory, it also comes back to constant communication throughout the process. “These conversations should be very easy—if you’re communicating with the seller every week,” Lazine said.
Objection 3: “We don’t want to sell over the holidays.”
Scenario: Homeowners prefer not to sell during the holiday season and want to wait until the spring.
Seller: “Tom, thanks for coming over. This is amazing information, but we definitely don’t want to sell over the holidays. And I think we really want to wait until the spring.”
Agent: “I’m really glad we brought this up, Lisa, because that’s definitely a strategy that’s available. So tell me what’s most important to you about selling the home? Is it maximizing the price? Getting the best offer? Is it timing?”
Seller: “We really need to maximize the price… Timing it so that we’re lining up with the school schedule is super important.”
Agent: “I’m a dad, I get it. Totally hear what you’re saying. So I don’t know if this would be for you, but what we know is it’s really going to be things we want to accomplish.
“One is making sure we get the right emotional reaction and that people walk through the door. It does take time to get the house ready. You have two girls, I got kids at home, I know what the rooms look like. We got to make it look like you don’t live here a little bit. We have a staging team that can come in and help you with that.
“Imagine if we took the next couple months getting the home ready, maybe get some exterior fall photos. People love that in Massachusetts. We could start to do some video work so that when you are ready, we get ahead of the market. Because what I know is even right after the first of the year, a lot of buyers that enter the market. When you’re the only home on the market—and we know inventory’s rising, we talked about how it’s up 22% so far this year. If you’re one of the only homes out there that’s going to help you get the better price rather than compete with three or four more and you’d rather be the only one out there at a really great price point, right?
Seller: Absolutely.
Agent: “I want to make sure you time things right, we can negotiate a longer term settlement. We’ve seen that become more common and give you lease back if you need to. So would be open minded to getting started now? We’ll start to prep work so we can be right out there after the holidays and that way we’re ahead of the market, not trying to chase it down and beat all the other competition.”
Beyond addressing holiday concerns, agents can also use data on when most closings take place each year. As Lazine highlighted, showing clients when most closings happen each year can offer valuable insights. From there, agents can walk their clients backward to show them that buyers typically begin searching several months earlier This type of data gives clients a clearer understanding of market timing, helping them make more informed decisions.
Objection 4: “I can’t sell until I find a place to go.”
Scenario: The lock-in effect is keeping a lot of people from moving. The seller can’t afford to carry two homes and needs to find a new home before selling.
Seller: “I love everything that you’ve said, but the reality is I can’t sell my home until we find a place to go.”
Agent: “Lisa, when you do find a place to go, are you certain you’re going to sell the house?”
Seller: “Without a doubt. We can’t afford to buy the next house and carry this one at the same time.”
Agent: “Let’s go there. When you’re a seller, what kind of buyers are we looking for? What’s going to be most important? Is it going to be price? The timeline? Is it going to be ability to close? If you had to maybe rate those three, what would you say would be most important?”
Seller: “Oh gosh. I think all three are really equally important.”
Agent: “Once we find the buyer, we want to know that they’re going to be able to close on time so that you can have the money to move into the next house. So as we’re reviewing offers for your house, we’re going to see a variety of different offers. We may see some buyers who are just like you, Lisa, and are contingent on selling their home to buy your home. We may see other offers and they may come in at a lower price, but they may not have any contingencies or they may come in at a higher price and may not have any contingencies like waiting for their home to sell. If you get that scenario when you’re the seller, I’ve got no house to sell or I have a house to sell and price is comparable, give or take 5%, which one are you going to take?”
Seller: “The one that’s going to get to the closing table fastest.”
Chinatti pointed out that many agents hesitate to have these tough conversations because they fear the client’s reaction. “When we can really uncover what the true fear is underlying it allows us to really handle the objection in the right way.” Confidence comes from staying curious, leading with market data, and asking the right questions. That’s how objections are transformed into opportunities.
Practice Makes Perfect
As the KBP trio agree, mastering objection handline skills doesn’t happen overnight. It requires regular practice—whether that’s role-playing with other agents or keeping yourself updated on market trends and data.
“The skill that these two exhibited today didn’t come overnight,” Chinatti told the BAM Mania audience. “We all still role-play five days a week.” With that practice and continued education comes the ability to respond to objections with ease and confidence.
In a market filled with uncertainties, agents who commit to refining their objection-handling skills, backed by real-time data and a deep understanding of their clients’ needs, will not only overcome objections—they’ll thrive. By educating yourself, staying ahead of market trends, and communicating consistently with your clients, you can guide them to smart decisions and help them achieve their real estate goals.
Want more?
Looking to sharpen your skills and stay ahead in the market?
Here are three ways to get started:
- Subscribe and watch the Knowledge Brokers Podcast with Tom Toole, Lisa Chinatti, and Byron Lazine every Friday.
- Tune into the Hot Sheet every Monday-Thursday when the stock markets are open for the latest housing market insights.
- Become a member of BAMx for exclusive templates, scripts and courses.
And for those who don’t want to miss out on BAM Mania next year, drop your email below for more information!
