Real Estate Agents: How to Get Listings by Working FSBO’s
Starting out “brand new” at anything in life is never easy and becoming a Real Estate Agent is no different. You likely have gone to school, or acquired a certification through training, and now you are expected to jump right in and start selling homes, right? Well, not only can this be frightening for first time agents, without the assistance of a more experienced broker, it may even seem down right impossible. After all, the competition is stiff, and only the strong survive.
The fact is, that as a “rookie agent” you are going to have to hustle to get clients. Why even the old school professionals will tell you that the hustling will likely never end. There is a myriad of options to choose from concerning the development of your skill set in order to gain the necessary experience needed to be successful in the housing arena.
In this article, we will introduce you to FSBO’s
What are FSBO’s you say? Some people choose to sell their homes without the services of a professional agent. It is up to you to convince them that the value of your experience far outweighs the costs of allowing you to sell their home. But how do you convince them to let you list their home?
Well here is what you DON’T DO: Cold-call homeowners and ask them to let you list their home.
Instead develop a long-term relationship which will potentially lead to an “Ah Ha!” moment, whereby the seller comes to the realization that you are more qualified than themselves to get their home sold quickly. But, how do you go about developing this relationship?
The first step is to comb through the FSBO listings (www.fsbo.com) and search out current Open Houses
Introduce yourself, and let them know that you simply like to stay on top of your game and noticed that they had a listing, and you would like to come preview the home. DO NOT share with them that you already know about their upcoming Open House. Let them tell you. Trust me, they will. They are hoping for as many people as possible, so you will certainly be invited. Make sure that you set the appointment as close to the end of the viewing as possible. That way the owner will be less distracted by potential buyers and be more focused on your message.
Once you arrive, take a look around the home and see if there are any brochures, disclosure or sign-in forms etc. that are common in houses being handle by professional agents. If you see none of these then offer to provide them to the prospect at no charge, and discuss their importance. After all, you do have stacks of these types of seller tools in your trunk, right? The homeowner is now beginning to see that there may be some things they might need help with to get their house sold.
Continue stopping by every week with something new to offer. This can be anything from more brochures and useful forms to a marketing analysis of the owners’ neighborhood. Believe it, or not, by taking these actions you are simply selling yourself without overtly demanding the listing through other means. After several visits, the owner will more than likely “see the light” and realize that your value is worth the expense (especially when their home is sitting stale from lukewarm marketing efforts). At that point, they will ask you if you would be interested in listing their home for them. The real point being made here is to not give up after the first try. It is proven that the majority of sales occur after several attempts (three, four, and even five).
Remember that this is only a crude outline of only one method you can use to convince FSBO’s to list with you. After all, is said and done, you are the product you are selling. Break out those old books on salesmanship and combine those ideas into this one and develop this into a winning strategy to strengthen your own brand, and reap the rewards of turning potential clients into paying friends. Finally, when in doubt always remember:
ALWAYS
BE
CLOSING!
To learn how to take your real estate business to the next level check out: