Profile

Negotiating skills help in hot market

By Huang Yuli (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-24 08:05

Guo Juan has high ambitions: a successful career and a home of her own. Wang jing / China Daily

Guo Juan came to Beijing from Hebei province after graduating from Jilin Agricultural University with a degree in English in 2008. She took a job as a house agent with Juntol Real Estate, which sells and rents apartments and houses to both foreigners and Chinese. Over the past two years Guo has been engaged in both renting and selling. She shared her typical workday with METRO.

6:40 am

After showering, she turns on the television and watches First Financial on CCTV 2. Real estate news is her focus. Her boyfriend, a tire repairman, prepares breakfast in the kitchen. They rent an apartment of 35 sqm in an old two-story building outside the Fourth Ring Road. They finish breakfast together and head to work.

7:30 am

Guo must transfer to three buses to go to work, and it takes almost 90 minutes. Sometimes her boyfriend drives her to work. She bought a Junjie (a Chinese car brand) on her own last year. It takes barely 30 minutes to get to her office.

"But I still take bus most of the time," she said. "The car is too expensive - not only the gasoline, but also the parking fees increase in the city center. I only use it on weekends."

9 am

The workday begins with a regular meeting. It normally lasts 30 minutes. At the beginning the associates will chant a slogan such as "We are the best" or "Fight for sale" to cheer each other on. After that each salesperson reports to the manager his or her plan and goal for the day. The manager then makes a short summary and encourages them. Guo's plan for the day: to close one deal, if possible.

9:30 am

She sits in front of her computer and posts housing ads on websites that are popular with foreigners, including thebeijinger.com. Guo counts five such websites, and each salesperson must post at least five pieces of valid information on each listing every day. The apartments and houses are mostly located in the central business district of the Central Villa Area. Most of the information comes from her company's administration department. The salespeople translate it into English. The ads should contain the main features of the apartment or house, the agent's e-mail address and phone number.

"We'll then wait for clients who are interested in the housing to call," said Guo.

The company gives each salesperson a SIM card, and they can only use those numbers to contact clients, so most have two cell phones. Anyone who quit the job needs to return this SIM card to the company. "It's always the case in the housing industry," she said.

10:30 am

After posting 25 messages she begins to contact a client and landlords. A German client is looking for a two-bedroom apartment in the Central Park community off the east Third Ring Road. His present lease expires at the end of March. Guo showed him two apartments last week, but they were not to his liking. Today there are two more to view, so she calls him to make an appointment. The client works in the Kerry Center, not far from Central Park. They agree to meet at 2 pm. "This is an excellent client," Guo said, "because he knows exactly which community he wants to rent in. Most customers don't know their own needs, and this causes a lot of trouble for house agents."

She then calls the landlords of the two apartments. The first agrees to send his wife there. The second one is impatient and interrupts Guo before saying "OK" and abruptly hanging up. Impatient or even rude landlords are not uncommon, and they generally don't trust house agents. "The reason may lie in the fierce competition by agent companies," Guo said. "After being asked a thousand times whether you have apartment for rent, no landlord would remain nice."

Noon

Guo grabs lunch at a snack shops downstairs. She orders rice with meat and vegetables, as well as a drink at about 14 yuan. Sometimes she brings a lunch made by her boyfriend. Can be heated in a microwave in her company's small kitchen.

2 pm

She meets the client outside Central Park. She always arrives 10 minutes early to showings because other housing companies have been known to poach customers outside high-class communities.

"Such things do happen," Guo said. "You know a landlord usually contacts several agents. Clients only pay attention to the apartment or the house, they never care who their agent is. But if several agents show them the same house, they would sign the lease contract with the first one."

The German client arrives on time. Guo brings him directly to the first apartment. The landlord's wife is already there. Guo knows the unit quite well; she has been there several times. It's on a high floor and the furniture is all European-style. The only deficiency is its view. The living room faces another building. The landlord's wife offers a rent of 15,000 yuan a month. The client said he will think about it.

Guo then brings him to the second apartment. The landlord is more pleasant than he was on the telephone. The furniture is brand new. And both the living room and two bedrooms face the tennis grounds. It has a water purification system and an LCD television in the kitchen. The price is 16,000 yuan a month, not including the cost of satellite TV. From the look on the client's face, Guo knows he is very satisfied, except for the price. He told her his company covers 14,000 a month for rent; he might consider paying some by himself if the apartment is really good. She knows his limit is very likely to be 14,000 yuan. The landlord holds firm on the 16,000 price.

They don't stay for long. She'll exchange opinions with the renter and landlord separately. It's not always easy to negotiate, especially when the apartment is really great. It is open to all interested renters; and those who offer the highest bid has the best chance. At any rate, acting fast is critical. Guo has to hurry, because the landlord tells her that he is already negotiating with two other renters.

"I hope this deal can get done. My quarterly task is to sell at least 200,000 yuan and to rent at least 50,000 yuan worth of properties. The end of the first quarter is coming soon and I'm not even half close," Guo said.

4 pm

After saying goodbye to the client, she returns to the office. She now knows he would offer 500 yuan more, or 14,500 yuan per month, but with the satellite TV included. She calls the landlord back and asks whether he would compromise. The renter would sign a contract at once if he agreed. The landlord sticks to16,000 yuan but will cover the satellite TV. He said he won't wait until the next day and hangs up.

Guo is pleased that progress has been made so soon. As a house agent one of the most important tasks is to negotiate.

"To cut the price, we would emphasize how nice the renter is, because landlords don't like renters who cause too many troubles. And to the renter we would highlight the quality of the house and the furniture; whether the landlord is approachable or easygoing is another factor the renter will consider," Guo said.

5 pm

The manager holds a closing meeting for the day. The agents report their accomplishments for the day. One colleague made a deal and is beaming.

Most of a house agent's income comes from commissions. The basic salary is barely enough to survive in a big city such as Beijing. Excellent agents, however, are truly well-paid. Guo biggest deal came when she sold a five-bedroom house in the Central Villa district in Shunyi; that time she earned almost half of her yearly income. But in some months there may be no deal at all.

7 pm

It's time to go home. Guo's boyfriend picks her up. Sitting in the backseat, she calls the client again to ask which conditions he can offer to entice the landlord to lower the price, for example, to pay semi-annually or annually instead of quarterly. He said he will think it over.

9 pm

Their home is warm, but small. They couple have lived in it for almost a year. They might move next month but are unsure. That Guo is herself a house agent doesn't make the job any easier. "Because my company only does the expensive ones; I can only look for cheap ones to rent. It's an extraordinary contrast, but that's life," she said.

Guo is also concerned about the abnormally rising housing prices in Beijing. It meant good business for her in 2009. This year she thinks the market might be a little too crazy. Still, there have been few buyers in the first quarter.

Because the unit price per square meter exceeds 10,000 yuan even in the suburbs, her dream of buying an apartment with her boyfriend in Beijing seems so far away.

"Anyway, there's no royal road. My manager has only been in this industry for only five years. Now he has bought a two-bedroom apartment on his own. I'll set him as my example," Guo said.