What it's like to be referred to Travis Hightower in Real Estate?

Last week, I talked about how referrals are the lifeblood of my business.
99% of my clients are personal referrals from friends or past clients.

This week, I want to share what the winning combo looks like when I work with a referral. What happens when someone refers me someone they trust and I take care of them.

The Client’s Goals

I really want to talk about a specific client that went from renter to buyer. They literally rented for a year just to get comfortable with Colorado and to make sure they were aware of where they wanted to live.

When I met with them, we talked about two possibilities:

House in the suburbs – where they’re currently living. And would be the stepping stone to their dream property.
A horse property – the dream house.

When I left that conversation I just really felt the client had her heart set on having a horse property. It really meant a lot to her to own something like that.

He is not a full man who does not own a piece of land

I actually wrote her a thank you card for taking the time to meet with me. And I literally put a stamp with horses on that card because I felt that that’s what she truly wanted and connect to.

Financing Program

When we started the process, she had mentioned something around doing doctor financing.

I was wondering what kind of doctor programs were out there. So, I literally called all the lenders in my referral network trying to figure out who had a program like this.

I ran into one at Compass Bank where if you’re a medical doctor or a physician, you can do 0% down with no MI up to $650,000. This was an amazing find because it allowed them to actually affirm that looking for a horse property was a possibility. They don’t need to make the house in the ‘burbs be the step because the program fit what the borrowers want.

Finding “The One”

This journey actually started off really great in May. We found a property that was a really great fit after the client has checked out some open houses. Then the market knocked us around a bit…

Multiple Failures

We got priced out with multiple offers. So we started out in the foothills and just kept exploring to see what possibilities were out there including what could fulfill this horse property dream.

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We even got bid out on a property in Sedalia. And we went through some forced outcomes where the buyers are really starting to feel like, “Ah man, I’m tired of renting. We just need to find something.”

It Was Destiny

I remember standing outside of a house in Parker of the Hess road. It fit everything that they wanted – had land perfect in all ways. But it was right on Hess Road where you could literally hear the cars wheezing by.

And we just talked about how we didn’t need to force it. I’m remember giving both of the clients a hug and just saying, “This will work out if we stay committed to what it is that you want.”

And through this process, we even considered doing Plan A – going back to the house in the ‘burbs. So was really powerful to just share that moment with them where we weren’t forcing that outcome and really getting clear on what the vision was when we started.

And within 2 weeks, “The One” showed up in Sedalia. It was pretty magical because we had that moment in early August. And then this property literally popped up.

Offered Below List and Won the Deal

If you remember last year the market started off really hot in the beginning of the selling season, ran hard in May and June, and it started to soften up towards the end of the summer. And when that happened, it created a great opportunity because the house that was previously under contract came back on.

This was “The One” because when we walked into it was nicely updated, had horse property potential with acreage, and a unique lot with all scrub oak and rolling hills. It was just a really cool property that fit the vision that the clients were looking for. And when we left that property the buyer literally couldn’t stop thinking about how awesome this was and how it fit everything that they were looking for.

It was listed for $675,000 but we actually offered $650,000 and we won the deal. This is because that house had been previously under contract and the sellers were just ready to move on.

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The Power of a Winning Combo

They just worked out so perfectly because it fit within the program. It fit within the original budget that we set in the beginning of the process. But most importantly it fit this vision that really was just a dream in the beginning. And we were able to make that a reality.

I shared this because this is a winning combo of where a referral – someone that showed up for me from another agent in another state referred me this client. I got to keep in touch with them for more or less a year and then they become a buyer after that. And then we created this experience together.

And that’s the power of having a triangle of trust. Creating a winning combo where everyone’s committed, right?

I’m committed to this client because I want them to find the perfect house. It means a lot to me that they realize their dream as much as possible.

And it’s perfect for the person that referred me as well. Since he’s another agent, he’s got to celebrate this experience along side us.

Real Estate Infographic Winning Combo with Travis Hightower

Next Week…

Stay tuned because I’m going to share my referral sources. These are trusted resources I can refer to you. They will help you win in some of the most important parts of a real estate transaction.

“What makes it a perfect home and why do you absolutely love it?” It’s a simple question I ask when having conversation with home buyers. I enjoy seeing people light up when they share past moments that have brought them great joy. In real estate, it comes from experiences like renting a place in a new city or living with roommates for the first time. Emotion is the very essence of a great Home Must Have List. Today, I want to help you create yours by selecting the characteristics that makes a home perfect for you and let those become your guiding principles going forward. Are you ready?

Create Clarity

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to create a home must have list before searching for the perfect home. Imagine starting this journey without it especially in today’s real estate market where you need to find houses and make offers quickly. All of that pressure will probably lead to a decision that may not be the best. Looking forward, we want to change that, right? So that when you walk into a house, you know exactly what you’re looking for.

Over the past 2 weeks, we designed meaningful real estate conversations with those most important to you. Then we coupled it with divergent thinking to allow your best ideas to rise to the surface. Armed with all of these amazing ideas and themes, it’s time to get clear on what property you want to purchase!

Meaningful Conversation + Divergent Thinking = “Must Have List”

Your Home Must Have List acts as your guiding principle during the buying process. It starts with your #1 deal breaker which is something you won’t compromise on at all. It’s very binary and should be either a YES or a NO. Synthesize this by looking at the themes you discovered during the perfect home exercise. Pick one that moves you emotionally and brings the most excitement to you.

Design a Hierarchy

After finding out your #1 deal breaker, it’s time to choose your top 2 and 3 for your home must have list. These 2 priorities can interchange with one another and remain as characteristics that you’ll confirm during home tours. It’s important to keep #2 & #3 top-of-mind from the moment you walk into a prospective real estate property. This creates a frame of reference when comparing homes and deciding what’s the best for you.

How to Test, Test, Test

By discovering what moves and excites you, it’s easy to exclude the deal breakers and confirm how important #2 and #3 are when looking at homes. Having that clarity from your Home Must Have List quickly eliminates properties that fall short and allows you to seek out those that have the characteristics of your perfect home. This eliminates trial and error because you know exactly what to look for!

While testing, it’s important to have commitment to the guiding principles given by your Home Must Have List. If for any reason this isn’t the case… that’s OK! Review the themes you created during the perfect home exercise and re-examine your #1 deal breaker and all other themes that excite you. If anything has changed, recalibrate with a new top 3 and tour homes with those characteristics. This becomes a never-ending process until you find the right home.

A Home Must Have List Example

Let’s take a look at a real life Home Must Have List example from one of my clients. Check out the themes that emerged in the photo below from the Perfect Home Exercise we did. In this case, the location became the #1 guiding principle and an absolute deal breaker. To the client, this meant the property had to be located in downtown Denver, Colorado – near restaurants, bars, parks, and other local drivers.

Next, floor plan and layout emerged as top #2 . The buyer described this as having the right flow from the moment you walked in and having windows that’s letting in plenty of light. This layout had to have “everything”, including closet space, a kitchen to cook, and a laundry space.

Top #3 in her home must have list became the overall level of finish. This wasn’t initially clear initially and became something we had to test during our home tours. So the buyer and I selected several homes with “brand new” upgrades aligned with the current trends and others with upgrades from the mid-to-late 2000’s style. We decided to scrap anything with a 90’s feel or older.

These 3 priorities were not fully clear until we have met and gone through this process. It felt like she wanted something nice but wasn’t really sure what it looked like before creating a Home Must Have List.

Why Not Price, Beds, Baths, or Square Footage?

Price is always assumed in buying real estate and should not be in your Top 3 Home Must Have List. Price is determined by your budget and will boil down to a comfortable payment. The same is true for beds, baths, and square footage specification since those are all driven by price.

When looking at homes online or in person, you will quickly see the relationship between beds, baths, square footage and how those all relate to price. So go deeper! Get clear on the characteristics of a home that excites you. That will always take precedence over the property specs.

If you absolutely would love to have 2 bedrooms, create the context for what that means to you. For example, “Additional room for our future child” or “Place for my sister to come stay during the holidays.” That carries more meaning and possibilities for you to consider.

Pulling it ALL Together…

Thanks for taking ownership of the things you absolutely love! Creating a Home Must Have List is a critical step in finding the right home. It offers clarity and purpose in your search. Most importantly this is your creation and simply a reflection of who you are and why.

Next week…

I want to share why I use the Perfect Home Exercise with all potential homebuyers and how quickly a client can choose to work with me or leave the conversation having a better understanding of what they truly want.

Until next time!

What It’s Like to be Referred to Me