I recently spent some time cherry picking through my local Craigslist Real Estate For Sale-By Owner Ads. I picked the best four that seemed to be legitimate opportunities for me as a Realtor near me to start a conversation. Sent each one an introductory email, requesting to preview the home. Initially, they all responded positively, inviting me over and all of them agreed to pay me a full commission if I could bring a buyer to the deal.
It is my philosophy and belief that for a Realtor to become the Listing Agent for a FSBO, you must engage them routinely as part of a defined process. I use my program successfully to routinely start conversations and list FSBOs. Becoming the Listing Agent for a FSBO is not, and cannot be approached as a one-time event. Most Realtors sell very little real estate. That is a NAR established fact. On average a professional, licensed Realtor will sell six homes per year. So, it always intrigues me when the mass of Realtors which generally moves as a herd of lemmings reject my ideas, techniques, advice, and procedure for listing a FSBO. Most Realtors are not successful because they are arrogant.
They wander the earth telling us that we do not know anything about selling a house. Realtors tell us that only they know how to sell a house. This is how Realtors treat other Realtors, and this is the impression they leave on FSBOs. However, if any of that were true, how come most of them quit the business before they ever sell anything? When I first began to share my philosophy with Realtors, they laughed, told me I was wrong, said they would teach me how to actually do it.
Interesting, I’m making more money than all of those people, and the only lessons I’ve learned from them is how to NOT treat people, and how to not do business. I have learned for a fact that my process and technique is how to actually do it. My results are faster, and have predictable reliability. So, I digress. This is not a bash on Realtors; I am a Realtor. My goal in this is to continue sharing the good news with my peers. Yes, I know how to list FSBOs. I have a process and a procedure, it is methodical, and it works. It is a process, not an event.
So, once I had engaged in my second contact with these first four prospects I decided where to focus my efforts. One of them did in fact turn out to be a Realtor selling their own home. Another was just too far away, I will drive an hour in any direction but this one was just too far, and in heavy traffic. Of the two I continued to engage I offered a proposition, let me try to help you sell your home.
I explained to these homeowners that I am a marketer. My job is primarily to market their home for sale, to bring the crowd, and deliver a Buyer with a Realtor. I educated these folks on the reality of a Realtors liability. At this point, it took a few days to hear back, but one of them invited me to come sit down and talk about it. At this point the home seller is still a FSBO.
He held an open house using ForSaleByOwner.com, over the weekend he had eight couples stop by and visit his open house. No Realtors visited. None of the lookers were prequalified, and most were really neighbors. I shared some of my marketing ideas with him. And I agreed to help him market his next open house, still as a FSBO. This was basically my interview for the listing. The homeowner honestly believed that I could not do any better than he had.
He had placed an ad on the internet, and put out a couple open-house directional signs. Fortunately for me, I have a marketing arsenal, not just an idea. I implemented my marketing strategy to bring traffic to his FSBO Open House. We ran the open house on SAT/SUN from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day. We ran out of flyers multiple times each day. By the end of Sunday afternoon nearly 200 unique couple had come through. But, still only One Realtor showed the home, and you could tell they were not happy to be there at all.
The homeowner was amazed, excited and nearly giddy. He was certain that several of the most serious visitors were going to rush back to their Realtors to make offers. Days later nobody had ever come back, no Realtors called. Depressed the owner called me for an explanation. Again, I provided some insight, a little consumer education on the liability a Realtor can face when representing both sides of a FSBO. The state will not allow a Realtor, a licensed expert, to take advantage of an unrepresented seller.
Remember this is a FSBO, I was not his Realtor, just a marketer. A friend helping to get people to come see the house. The Realtor must assume all liability, represent both sides of the deal, and do it for half of their commission. The FSBO homeowner did not realize that the Realtor would be required to accept their liability, do all of the work, and accept half a paycheck. This is all part of the process, both demonstrating my ability to produce a crowd of home seekers. And what I call FSBO pain, some education to the reality that Realtors will not sell a FSBO.
My typical process will include an introductory email, perhaps a phone call, or second email. Then, I will have gained the opportunity to preview the home. Each step of the way making soft ‘temperature check’ closes, to see where they are and if I should ask for the listing. Depending on the homeowners willingness to engage me, allow me in. And to continue the conversation I will go as far along as they let me. I work with them to sell their home, showing them that they just won’t be able to.
You have to allow them to learn, providing education, sincere assistance, and guidance along the way. Four days after the massive success of our joint effort open house, with no offers in hand and a house on the market for a month. The home owner called me and asked me to sell his home. I had made the transition from uninvited pest, to welcome guest https://buyfloridarealestatenow.com.
