Agents can expect new listing opportunities to become more and more scarce during the coming months. The good old days where an agent could turn down a listing because of a difficult seller with unrealistic expectations will soon come to an end.
Agents that expect to grow their business during the remainder of this year, and in the coming years, should plan on making prospecting for listings one of their top priorities. One effective way to address this issue is to take advantage of dealing with a very selective buyer. What better way to determine which homeowners are thinking about selling, than by contacting residents who own homes not currently listed, but meet your specific buyer’s needs.
For example, an agent’s buyer insists that he’s only interested in a single-family home that’s on a golf course. Although there are seventy homes that are on the golf course, none of them are currently for sale. A proactive agent will call all 70 homeowners to determine if any of them would consider selling. It only takes one of those homeowners to be interested for the agent to end up representing both the buyer’s side and the seller’s side on a contract that comes together immediately.
The worst case scenario for the agent would be that the buyer sees the home and doesn’t like it. The agent however, has identified a homeowner that wants to sell and ends up with a new listing. Use the following approach on the phone, in person, or even in a letter to prospect for listings when you have a buyer with a specific need.
“Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner, this is Tommy Takestheshots at Name Your Price Realty, and I’m working with a buyer who has expressed an interest in your home. Would you ever consider selling at any price?”
If the answer is no, move on to the next prospective homeowner. Any other response will indicate some level of interest in selling. You should use this opening to engage in a dialogue with the homeowner that will enable you to determine their level of interest in selling. This is also a great approach to use when building relationships in a specific farm area. You can call homeowners or you can even just mail letters and be successful. But, neither is the best approach. As always, the greatest impact will be made by contacting homeowners face-to-face. If you don’t like door-to-door canvasing yourself, quit making excuses and partner with another agent. There’s always an angle. Never forget, the greatest risk will lead you to the greatest rewards.