“I like to work with FSBOs, which is my target market. (If you can’t identify your target market then you don’t have one, so find your niche and be an expert in it!)
“I like to approach the FSBO as a genuinely helpful REALTOR®. I offer to do a walk-though of their house and offer up ideas that may help them sell the property. I usually keep a couple of ideas tucked away in case I get the listing later.
“I also will offer to do comps to help them determine if the property is priced correctly. I am always available to answer any questions. The great thing is that I have generated business from this whether I get the listing or not. I offer to make professional looking fliers for them and give them a flier box that they can put outside on the lawn. The boxes are cheap enough when you buy 12 or more, and the fliers are also an inexpensive tool.
“After approaching the FSBO, I talk about disclosure, home warranty, fliers, price, condition, etc. I offer up FREE helpful information and some forms, like a sign in form, to help the FSBO sell the property. I offer to keep the flier box stocked for them with my professional quality fliers. I give them extra so they can fill the box, and check on it from time to time to be sure they use mine and the box is full.
“I also put a message on the back of the flier that offers a FREE report. I have one for buyers and one for sellers. I also offer one of these to the FSBO so that they can see I am not trying to steal their customer. I have a dedicated phone line with an answering machine so they can leave a message for me and get the FREE report sent out. This gives me another contact based on which report they choose. I have a step-by-step contact program to stay in touch with these people to ensure I don’t lose them.
“If they don’t use the fliers, I give them a FREE sign in form, to see who is looking at the property and capture potential buyers that way.
“If the FSBO property doesn’t sell, which only about 7% do, then who do they come to? The agent that has been there working with them all along. Between the fliers and the sign in form, I have gotten as many as five transactions on a property I didn’t even list!
“One seller had his property overpriced and refused to budge. He was one of those sellers who would only sell if he could get his price. The best part: Guess who he called when he tried to sell at a ridiculous price again? That’s right, me. I came out and got two more transactions from a property I didn’t list! I spend a few bucks, but I wound up with seven transactions for just doing a little work–being nice and helpful and, of course, a little creative and diligent about the follow-up. Not bad for a listing I never got on a property that never sold.
“How many of those transactions do you think I get if I act like the other agents in my office and just sit around and wait for the phone to ring? Zippo! Just under $20,000 for working a little smarter.”
