The third time a buyer ghosted me, I realized I was making a classic new agent mistake: I spent too much time pitching myself and not enough time listening to my prospect’s hopes, dreams, and needs. A simple buyer questionnaire that asked the right questions—preferably filled out together in an in-person meeting—would have quickly built the trust and rapport I needed to make them my client.
To save you from making the mistakes I made, I put together this insightful buyer questionnaire. You can download the questionnaire as a fillable PDF below.
Example Buyer Questionnaire
If you don’t want to download our predesigned PDF questionnaire, you can copy and paste these questions into your own document and format it for buyer leads to fill out.
What’s your contact information and the best way to reach you?
Are you currently working with another real estate agent?
Are you in an exclusive buyer agency contract with another agent?
Where do you want to buy property? Is there any specific part of the city/area that you prefer?
Do you have pets?
Have you bought or sold a home in the past? If yes, how long ago and where?
Do you need to sell a property before you can purchase another?
Have you arranged financing yet? If yes, please include lender’s name & contact info
Do you need assistance in locating financing?
Have you been pre-qualified, pre-approved, or otherwise informed as to what your maximum purchase amount is? If yes, what amount have you been pre-qualified/pre-approved for? If yes, will your financial company issue a pre-qualified/pre-approval letter stating this amount?
What monthly payment range would you aim for?
Will you require down payment assistance?
What style of home would you prefer? (duplex, townhome, condo, single-family, near any places of interest?)
Are stairs acceptable?
Is a master bathroom important to you? If yes, what type would you prefer?
What square footage do you prefer?
Do you want a basement? If yes, which style?
Is air conditioning important to you?
Other home features:
- Open floor plan?
- An office or study?
- Formal dining room?
- Patio/deck?
- Sprinkler system?
- Do you want a garage? If yes, how many garage spaces? If yes, do you want a heated garage?
- What size lot would you prefer? Is mature landscaping important to you?
Are there any other specific features you’d like to be factored into your property search?
What Is a Buyer Questionnaire?
A buyer questionnaire is a tool that experienced real estate agents use to learn what their buyer clients need and want from a home. A well-written real estate buyer questionnaire helps agents establish their credibility and build the rapport they need to develop relationships with them.
Think of it as a lead nurturing and property search tool in one. Once you’ve generated your buyer leads, using a buyer questionnaire will help you find them the right home at the right price.
Why Top Agents Use Buyer Questionnaires
While many newer agents think they can just wing it and learn what their buyers need on a phone call, most top producers use a homebuyer questionnaire. Here’s why:
How to Make the Most of Your Buyer Questionnaire
Now that you’re sold on the value of a good questionnaire, here is how you can make the most of it:
1. Pitch Your Buyer on the Value of the Questionnaire
Every time I go to a new doctor, I get annoyed. I make the appointment and spend a half-hour getting there, only to have a clipboard shoved in my face with 20 minutes of paperwork on it. Some of the questions make sense, but others don’t. Why does my oral surgeon need to know if I’m married or not? I would feel much more comfortable answering questions like this if I knew why they were asking. What’s in it for me? Your buyers are in a very similar situation but with one key difference.
The difference is that I need to go to the doctor. That buyer doesn’t need to work with you—or any agent, for that matter. So telling them what they will get from answering all those questions is important. It will make them more likely to complete the questionnaire, take it seriously, and make you look more professional and empathetic. Here’s an example pitch you can use in a pre-meeting email or text message:
Hi {lead’s name},
Before we have coffee tomorrow, please review the attached questionnaire. This will help me learn exactly what your hopes, dreams, and needs in a new home are and give me the information I need to pull together a list of homes you will love.
Choosing a home is often a process of discovery. Many of my buyers have found that this questionnaire helped them prioritize what they were looking for and avoid making expensive mistakes or wasting time looking at homes that weren’t quite right for them.
See you soon!
-{your name}
2. Use Their Answers to Prepare Possible Showings
As Beverly Ruffner says, “You can’t sell steak to a vegan.” This is why having detailed answers about your buyer’s needs and wants will help you find them a home much more easily. If you know their timeline and the fact that they’re already pre-approved, you can pull together a list of properties they might like. Or, better yet, schedule a quick tour right after you meet. After all, you already know what they want!
You can also delete the new-buyer questions if, say, you know they’re empty-nesters who have already bought and sold five homes. You’ll also be able to learn if they’re paying cash or needing to list their home first. Our buyer questionnaire even has a spot for lender information, so you know you’re prepared to show homes ASAP. After all, things go quickly in this market!
3. Add as Much Information as You Can to Your CRM
To use another Beverly Ruffner gem, real estate agents are in the database-building business. All of the value you produce as an agent is in your customer relationship management (CRM) system. This is why adding as much information as possible from the questionnaire to your CRM is essential. So, after you get the questionnaire filled out and use it to prepare your buyer presentation, add the data to your CRM.
Depending on how your presentation goes, you can even set up a drip email campaign using your CRM with properties that fit their criteria. For example: LionDesk, a popular low-cost real estate CRM, has an AI-driven lead nurturing feature called Gabby. She will automatically follow up with your leads in natural language.
4. Save the Delicate Questions for Your Buyer Presentation
No matter how charming or trustworthy you think you are, odds are not everyone you talk to will agree with you. Some people are highly cautious about sharing personal or financial information with a stranger. Most folks are much more willing to share those details in a casual conversation rather than writing that sensitive information down.
This is why you don’t see delicate questions about income, savings, or financing in our buyer questionnaire. Save those for your presentation or, even better, your first showing. This way, they are less likely to think you see them only as a paycheck.
Questions about marital status or children can also be delicate and might even toe the line into fair housing violation territory. This is why we ask about preferred school districts instead. If you have a buyer with a large family, trust me—they will let you know in person.
5. Establish Your Authority
Your buyer should already see you as the expert—now it’s your moment to act the part. Do all the research you can on their current home, if they already own one. If not, understand that this is a sales presentation, and if you don’t know the question, you can always say, “I’m not sure, but I’ll get back to you on that.”
However, you should be able to offer tips that they may not be aware of. For example, if a pregnant couple is seeking a new home, it would be good practice for you to keep things like air quality, noise pollution, and overhead power lines in mind to be able to give your buyers a heads-up on those items. Knowing the area will go a long way in gaining trust from prospective buyers.
6. Help Buyers Feel Comfortable
Remember that you are assisting your buyers with what’s probably one of the largest purchases in their life. In fact, if you treat your client right, you may be lucky enough to have them use your services again and again!
When discussing a buyer’s timeline, living situation, or certain features they’re looking for in a home, it’s important to keep an open mind. Most people can read others easily, and your buyer questionnaire should be a judgment-free zone. Allowing them to feel comfortable and without judgment is extremely important for both parties.
7. Get On the Same Page
If a buyer is meeting with you, there’s a pretty high chance they’re already dreaming about and searching for their next home online. Have them show you some of the homes they have been looking at so you can see what excites them, what’s essential to them, and—most importantly—their thought process. For example: How did they find the home? What tools are they comfortable using? Just a few minutes of listening to buyers explain their search methodology should give you a good idea of how you can expect the transaction to go.
Keep in mind that this buyer questionnaire is part of your sales presentation. A great agent doesn’t just sell a property—they sell themselves. Give your buyer a taste of that personality and hustle! Pull up a chair next to them and have them open up Zillow to show you what they’ve been doing on their own. They’ve probably been doing their own research, and it’s important to factor that in when working with your new buyer.
The Buyer Presentation: A Step-by-Step Guide to Convert Clients
Over to You
What do you think about our buyer questionnaire? Are there any questions you ask in yours that you think we should add to it? Let us know in the comment section below.
Tell us about you so we know what to send.
