Soliciting FSBOs:
Ten Ways You Can Help The Sellers
Many agents
find leads
by soliciting listings of properties listed for sale by the owners. As a real estate professional, there are 10 ways you can help the owners that will also help you.
Two Basic Truths About FSBO-sellers
The same basic truths about real estate clients apply to FSBO-sellers.1. They Want to Sell Their Homes As hopeful sellers,
FSBOs share the same needs and wants as all of your clients.
2. You Can Help Them
As an expert in your field,
you can help them. . .a lot.
10 Ways You Can Help FSBOs
Like all prospecting, successfully soliciting FSBOs depends upon building a relationship with the property owners.The easiest, perhaps only way to do this is to help them. Your task is to help them understand the benefits that they will enjoy as a result of your assisting them with selling their homes. Here are 10 benefits that FSBO-sellers can expect from hiring you as their agent. Each represents something that as an agent you can most likely do better than the sellers.
1. Set A Realistic Listing Price To Receive A Higher Selling Price Owners may know what homes near them have sold for. However, they do not however have access to the information and knowledge that will allow them to set a price that accurately reflects the property and market conditions.
As an expert in your market,
you have the knowledge and skills to help owners establish market-based listing prices for their properties. Market-based listing prices are realistic. They also result in higher selling prices. Several surveys have found that the selling price of properties sold with the assistance of real estate agents were higher than properties sold by owners on their own. For example, one survey by the National Association Of REALTORS® found the selling price to be about 20% higher in agent-assisted sales than when owners sold on their own.
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2. Prepare the Home To Sell
From experience,
you know the simple things that can be done to increase a home’s overall attractiveness. Instead of simply making the home ready for guests, you can help make it appealing to prospective purchasers.
3. Buyer Awareness Owners are emotionally attached to their homes. As a result, they tend to emphasize the features they like. However as a real estate professional, you are more attuned to the buyers’ preferences
in your market.
You know what appeals to prospective buyers and what turns them off This allows you to highlight specific features that appeal to different buyers.
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4. Comprehensive Marketing Plan Selling a home involves more than just planting a ‘for sale’ sign or listing the property online. A focused property-specific marketing plan will help sell the property for the best price in the shortest time possible A comprehensive plan would include maximum exposure through appropriate listings online and in hard copy format.
5. Plan and Conduct Open Houses Agents’ and public open houses dramatically increase the number of people who know the features of individual properties. Again, through your experience, you can effectively plan and conduct open houses. Few FSBOs can do this as well as you can.
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6. Full-Time Commitment Your full time job is helping people buy and sell real estate. With you looking after the time-consuming aspects of finding a buyer, FSBOs are free to get on with their regular activities.
7. Simplify Complexities Selling real estate is a very complex procedure. Few owners can understand, let alone prepare the paperwork necessary to sell a house. As a real estate professional, you are trained and qualified to efficiently look after all the paperwork
8. Negotiate And Overcome Objections Balancing offers and counter-offers and handling many of the contingencies that accompany real estate transactions, can be frustrating or intimidating for FSBOs. Among the skills that you offer to clients is the ability to negotiate mutually satisfactory agreements. This includes dealing with any objections that may arise during the sale process
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9. Locate Other Service-Providers Frequently sellers are required to provide certificates and reports. This could include home, termite, environmental or similar inspections. Drawing on your network of contacts and
referral partners,
you can quickly and easily arrange the required services and documentation.
10. Facilitate Closing More often than not, real estate closings involve a seemingly endless flow of details. FSBOs are most likely consumed with the logistics and details of the move. Not involved in move, you are available to attend to the hassles that inevitably arise on closing. By doing so, you demonstrate the
consistent quality of your service.
In turn, this continued helpfulness positions you to
generate referrals
from lawyers and other parties involved in the closing.
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Making the Connection
The best way to connect with FSBOs is to start by serving as a resource for them. Offer advice on the home selling process so that they’ll turn to you whenever they need help. Be persistent. Continue to make contact with FSBOs even when you don’t generate response from them at the beginning. Monitor their properties’ status and tailor your message to how long those properties have been on the market. You can also offer them contact information on some of the professionals in your network who can assist them as they sell their home. That shows them you will continue to be a resource and are available if or when they need help. Soon they might be the ones contacting you. Or of equal marketing value, make a referral to you.
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