Keeping In Tune With The Market: Inside the Mind of a FSBO Seller

How can you, as an agent, convince a For Sale By Owner seller to work with you? It starts by jumping inside the mind of a FSBO seller.

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Welcome back to another episode of “Keeping In Tune With The Market.” Today, we’re going to get inside the mind of a homeowner who wants to list their home as For Sale By Owner (FSBO).

Would you like to get a listing this month? Sure, the market is tight and there’s not very much inventory, so what is the best way for you to get a new listing where you could help a homeowner sell their house?

Many agents shy away from FSBO listings because they think that when they go to those homeowners, they’ll get their heads bitten off. That’s actually not the case. By getting inside the head of a FSBO seller, we can understand that they might be a little less scary than you think.

Why would a person consider selling their home on their own instead of turning it over to a Realtor?

The first reason is to save on commission. A lot of them are just confident that they could sell on their own because, perhaps, they’ve sold cars or homes before. They might not know a good agent, or they might have had a bad experience with one. Many FSBO sellers feel as though they have a bottom line to reach and that they can’t afford to pay an agent. In that case, we have to show the owner how we can make them even more money than they could get on their own.

They might also think that if they can’t sell it on their own, then they can just turn it over to an agent. They might give it a few weeks to a couple months to try to sell on their own. In this case, find out what their motivation is. How soon do they need to move? Where are they going? Get an idea of how long they want to try it on their own.

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Many agents shy away from FSBO listings because they think that when they go to those homeowners, they’ll get their heads bitten off.

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Lastly, they feel like they want to get a particular bottom line. You will really be helpful to them if you can put them in touch with a mortgage broker or a financial expert so they can see how much money they really need from the sale of their house.

FSBO sellers aren’t as scary as you think. If you try to get on the other side of the able, get into their heads, and think about what their thought processes are, it might be a little easier for you to approach them.

If you’d like more information about working with FSBO sellers, I have a couple of trainers who have great plans. Just reach out to me, and I’ll be glad to send you that information. If you’d like to set up a strategy meeting to plan out your business for this year, we can set that up over coffee. I’d love to speak with you.

How to Get More Listings in 2018

If you want to get more business, there is a key mantra you need to apply. That mantra is, “See. Call. Send.”

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What are the best ways to get listings?
Today, I’ll be going over three tips you need to know to get more listings in 2018. The first question you need to ask yourself is, “Who are the best people to get listings from?” A lot of people will say you should look into things like cold calling and door knocking. These things are fine, but the fact is that about 75% of your listings will come from people who already know you. This means that the majority of listings you get will come from friends, family, co-workers, and other people in your sphere of influence. The people who know you are the ones who will do business with you.

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The people who know you are the ones who will do business with you.

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Now, let’s move on to the three ways to get listings from these people. It all comes down to the mantra: “See. Call. Send.” Let me expand a little on this. 1. See. Checking in with the people you know will help you stay connected. It doesn’t always have to be about real estate. The important thing is that you are keeping in touch and maintaining these relationships.

2. Call. It’s important to give the people you know a call every once in a while. The market has gone up dramatically, so consider asking people if they’re curious about their home’s value.

3. Send. Distribute newsletters and notifications to people in your sphere of influence via the mail. The mail you send can be informative, educational, and entertaining. While you’re at it, you could even start sending out videos. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Break Into Real Estate Without Breaking the Bank

Welcome back to another episode of “Keeping in Tune With the Market.” Today’s question is: How can a new real estate agent break into the business without breaking the bank?

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Welcome back to another episode of “Keeping in Tune With the Market.” Today’s question is: How can a new real estate agent break into the business without breaking the bank? So, you’ve got your brand-new real estate license and you’re excited to begin. Then, things start popping up. You’re told you must subscribe to this coach or pay for that class. The issue is that all of these kinds of things cost money. But I’m here to tell you that all is not lost. You can get great training for free. It is possible. The first thing I recommend is that you look into a program called RealtyJuggler. When you sign up at www.RealtyJuggler.com you can get a 90-day subscription for free, and it really does the job.

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It is possible to get great training for free.

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RealtyJuggler will help you learn how to consistently prospect, stay organized, develop a database, and have a great mindset. There are a lot of great features on the site. In the contact section, you can add all of your friends, relatives, neighbors, coworkers, and anyone else right into your database. Once you’ve plugged in the email addresses of all of these contacts, you can begin to prospect. I’ve got a couple of resources I’d like to share that can help you do this. First, www.MikeFerryTV.com is a great, free resource for scripts, dialogue, and training. Another place to get information is on Kevin Ward’s video blog. And, of course, we can’t forget Mr. Tom Ferry. Visit his website here for some great tips. We also have our own career-building video blog, which you can find here. If you would like some training on a particular topic, you can feel free to ask me a question at any time. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How Texting for Dollars Can Grow Your Business

If you want to finish the year strong, I recommend that you start texting for dollars. Texting is a great way to get an immediate response from potential clients.

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If you’re like me, as you approach the end of the year, you might think that you are running out of steam or you’re running out of people in your pipeline. However, you still want to finish the year strong. One way you can still end 2016 on a high note is to incorporate texting for dollars.

I don’t know about you, but if I get an email, I put it in my line of emails that I have to reply to and I might get to it or I might not. If I get a voicemail, the same thing happens. Sometimes my voicemails wait awhile for a response. But what about a text?

A text is immediate. People always have their phones on and people will see it right away. How do you text for dollars? Here is an example of a text you could send out:

“Hi Janet. The market’s really moving and prices are going up, up, up. Are you curious about your home’s value or know someone who needs my help???” Then, hit send! Hopefully, Janet will give me a call.

The fact of the matter is people are curious about their home’s value. Texting for dollars is a great way to get a CMA to someone who might be thinking about making a move this year or next year.

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A text is immediate.

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Who should you text? Anyone in your database who bought a house 10 years ago. Back then, the market was up kind of high, but it went down. Now the market is almost back to where it was, and it might be time for those homeowners to consider selling again because they should have enough equity to do so. 

You should also text people who are thinking about retiring. A lot of people in the older age bracket pride themselves on being able to text, so this is a great opportunity to reach out to them. 

In short, texting for dollars is a great way to finish the year strong. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. Don’t forget to submit your questions for our next video; send me one and you will enter the contest for a $25 gift certificate. I look forward to hearing from you!

Major Mortgage Mistakes Tampa Buyers Should Avoid

I received an email from a colleague the other day and it was so upsetting that I thought, “Wow, we have to talk about how to avoid the heartbreak of major mortgage mistakes.”

This buyer had been in the army and felt that he “hadn’t had a place to call home since.” He was about to close on the property when the lender sent an email requesting more paperwork, pushing the closing back another month.

The buyer had sent in his application on time and paid for inspections and appraisals. Unfortunately, the lender never sent the application to underwriting. When the buyer asked why everything took so long, the lender cited staffing issues. Because of this, the buyer didn’t have a home to move into when his lease was up. As the buyer said, this finance company failed.

How do we as buyers, sellers, or Realtors avoid major mortgage headaches like this?

First of all, make sure you work with a local, reputable lender. Get recommendations from friends and colleagues. Hire someone who has done many transactions. Please, don’t search online for lenders and hire one from a different state. They won’t know any appraisers in our area, and that can only lead to headaches.

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Work with a reputable local lender.

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Make sure that the money the buyer needs to close is in the bank. That means they have enough to cover the downpayment and closing costs. Also, make sure they know not to run up additional debts by purchasing a car or furniture between contract and closing; doing so will also cause trouble with your mortgage.

Finally, make sure that you call your lender with any questions. Make sure the buyer is pre-approved, not just pre-qualified. As a Realtor, it is your responsibility to make sure all lines of communication are open.

If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

Let’s Get You Out of Your Summer Slump

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Welcome back to another edition of our blog highlighting real estate tips, trends, and strategies. The summer is when many agents get into a slump in their business. If they had a good spring, they feel fine with the slump as it happens, only to regret it toward the end of the year.

Many agents I’ve spoken to over the years tend to blame their lack of summer production on a lack of good leads. When we first got into the business, we decided to make a list of everyone we knew. We made a commitment to add to that list daily and send those folks on our list relevant and interesting information on a periodic basis. A lot of agents I talk to think this is a great idea, but make excuses for themselves like not having enough time to get a list together or not knowing enough people.

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I really want to help you do this.

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If you’re slowing down a bit during the summer, this is a great exercise. Make a list of all the people you know, and make a commitment to add to that list. I really want to help you do this, so I will be doing two things for you as well, personally. First, I’ll send you a dynamite memory jogger to help you remember those people you always seem to forget. Secondly, I will be your accountability partner for one week. Tell me how many names you want to add to your database in a week's time, and I will be in contact with you to make sure you're successful.

If you have any questions for me at all, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. Your real estate success is my concern. As always, make it a great day!