Are You Taking Advantage of the Opportunity "For Sale By Owners" Possess?
By far one of the best
prospecting opportunities
in real estate are FSBOs or
For Sale By Owners!
Why, you ask?
Here are some of the top
reasons I believe you should
be actively marketing to potential
clients who are attempting to
sell their own home.
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- They already own a home
- They already want to sell
- They are not only a seller but a potential buyer
- They will list if unsuccessful in selling themselves
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Hmmmm... see some potential here?
Keep in mind these people just want to save money.
Think about it, you can't blame them for wanting to try and save money. Can you?
So why tell them they can't?
Why tell them they are nuts for trying?
Isn't that being a bit hypocritical?
What about this?
Why don't you try and help them sell themselves?
Aren't you in the business of helping people buy and sell homes?
A mentor of mine Mark McKee shared the secret to "FSBO success" is reciprocity!
You got to give to get!
Mark discovered that helping them was the most profitable act. He hoped they sold on their own with his help more than listing with him.
When they sold on their own with his help he discovered they referred him on average 5-6 pieces of business in the following 12 months in return for his help
Are you thinking about this?
If they sell then they will more than likely buy. Will they buy from the agent who helped or the agent who hindered?
If they are unsuccessful and list, will they list with an agent who helped or an agent who told them they can't and discouraged them from trying?
Which agent are you going to be?
Statistics show on average a FSBO will try to sell on their own for 10 weeks. This means your system must consist of a follow up time of at least 10 weeks.
We begin like any other important secret in real estate prospecting and that is "Show Up".
We all would agree we are at our best face to face.
So get face to face and bring them a package with tips and information on selling their home themselves.
Go to the door and let them know you are in the business of helping people buy and sell homes and you would like to give them this valuable package to help them sell their own home.
At this point their defenses are probably lowered so you could ask them "if I bring a buyer for your home would you pay me a portion of my fee?"
If they agree (which they usually will) ask if they would mind giving you a quick tour of their home so you are prepared for potential buyers you may have.
While you are touring ask if they are ok with you taking notes, measurements and photos. Tell them this will allow you to keep record of what is on the market outside of the MLS system. Then mention you can return in a few days with some complimentary feature sheets of their home to use.
Ask them "How does this sound?"... how much negative feedback do you think you will get from this approach?
Keep in mind the initial visit is soft... helpful... low key and no pressure.
It is all about the strong consistent follow up with the FSBO.
Your follow up plan is simple. Plan to return every week.
I call them FSBO Fridays.
Each week you return bring them one item to help sell their home professionally.
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- Feature sheets (no branding, just generic) professional like you were listing their home. Aim to impress them.
- CD Rom with their feature sheet template to print their own, as well as the photos you took for them to use in other advertising sources.
- Professional ads for different advertising sources. We spend so many hours writing ads, why not write some great ads for them. Remember to focus on the benefits vs. the features in your ads.
- Create a single listing website for them. www.1234anystreet.com helps with their web exposure and their google rankings for online buyer.
- Post online classified ads for them on sites like Craigslist, Kijiji, Castanet.net and more.
- Complimentary sign. Have a professional sign made and installed for them on their front yard that sets the impression for the buyer vs. a small inexpensive cheap looking sign.
- Guest Registry book. Buy an inexpensive book to assist in tracking their prospects viewing and enquiring on their home for follow up and security purposes.
- Provide a blank contract of purchase and sale and along with the contract provide sample clauses to assist in providing them a bullet proof agreement on their home.
- Set up some mobile technology for their home like texting and QR codes. Something not expensive like www.streettext.com Show them how to capture leads from mobile consumers.
- Create a youtube compatible video of their home and post it on youtube for them. It is the worlds second largest search engine.
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You can choose so many different things for the seller when you follow up. Be sure to keep track of your homes and which items you bring each week so not to double up on items by mistake.
Keep in mind all this work and effort would only be going into a FSBO who gave you the right response to these very important initial meeting questions...
- If you had a friend or family member buying or selling do you have an agent you would refer them too?
- Are you committed to another agent?
- If your home does not sell, what will you do?
Measure their commitment to another agent and measure their motivation. No Mo, No go!
Time to put this into action... go to the classifieds, online by owner sites and seek out your prospects. Lets get some listings and sales in the near future by helping vs. hindering!
Strength and Courage,
Wade
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