Calling Fsbo's

[Alan (NYC) 0]

I decided to spend one hour each weekday night between 7:00 and 8:00pm cold calling FSBO's. My strategy is simple. I reasoned that these homeowners would be at work during the day, and home at night. I did not want to waste potential customers by leaving a message on voice mail during the middle of the day. I reasoned, there would be a higher percentage of live answers calling after dinner.

 

I stayed focused for that 1 hour, and to my surprise no one seemed to be home! So I left my messages.... again! I sit here writing this and laughing to myself, because I know it was just an off night for calls. Calling at night vs. calling during the day has to make you to believe the "human response rate" will go up!

 

It is amazing how easy this business can be if you let it. Just call. Talk to people. The more people you talk too, the more interest you'll develop. People want to sell their homes, and they don't care how they do it. They need help and will be more than happy to keep an open mind to fresh ideas.

 

What I found most surprising tonight was the amount of FSBO's I talked with that already signed with real estate companies. I purposely aged the paper by 2 weeks. Maybe I'll try aging the classifieds by one week, and hopefully net these poor souls before they reach for their friendly neighborhood real estate agent!

Best of Luck to you all!

[Kimberly 0]

Alan,

 

Even if you call the same day the paper comes out, many will not answer their phone.

 

While you're getting started, it's going to be more of a numbers game. The more sellers you contact, the more possibilities you'll have.

 

I wouldn't worry so much about calling during the night vs. the day, just make the calls. Once you've left a message, anyone who calls you back has already shown that they are interested.

[-Tony- 0]

What I found most surprising tonight was the amount of FSBO's I talked with that already signed with real estate companies.

 

according to the National Association of Realtors only 10% of FSBO's actually sell their house 90% end up calling a realtor.

[MichaelC 160]

Alan, I'm not surprised at the quick turnover to a Realtor. Most homeowners will enter the marketplace as a seller all puffed up with dreams of dollars. Then, a week or two of quack phone calls, strangers peering into their closets, and the inevitable no-shows, and the dream rapidly turns to nightmare. Combine this with the high cost of newspaper advertising in your location, (I know it well), and most folks turn to the only other option they are aware of: the local Realtor.

[Craig 0]

So the object is to get to the FSBO owners before the REALTORS and just after the owners are getting frustrated and broke putting ads in.

 

I have found sim. results with the owners not home or making all the calls go to a answering machine then calling back later. At first I was leaving messages then I stoped doing that. Just looking for real owners to talk to. Now I think I'm changing that thinking.

 

I should be leaving the short message. Hi my name is ... If you might have a interest in selling your home as a Lease Purchase would you call me back at ...... By doing this I have screened the clients up front. If they call back they might be considering that Realtor help me call. If they don't call its saving me my time.

 

Now I think I will change my thinking like this. The VM message then the postcard follow up in a week or two. I look the phone number up on the reverse phone book on the net to get the address of the homowner. Then I should send another card out in 2 weeks.

 

They say in direct mail it takes about 3 contacts before any response happens.

[Kimberly 0]

ALWAYS leave a message. The ones who are serious about needing something done now will call you back.

[<Steve> 82]

It's unfortunate how we can be programmed to always do things in a conventional way. And turning to a realtor for many folks is the only way they know.

 

I just received a call from a seller, that I just completed a CA with their daughter's vacant home. This seller was found from a news paper ad. Turns out they are retiring, moving and want me to do a sandwich l/o with their current residence this spring. They do not have time to fsbo and do not want the hassles of Realtors. As it turns out they own other properties as well and are wanting to liquidate much of their realestate holdings. Well you know that works for me! Nothing like a returning client.

 

I think after working with them since last spring, they see the "naked" advantages of lease/ options and want to break form the conventional way of doing things.

 

<S>

[MichaelC 160]

That's great, Steve! If you can get a homeowner to view you as providing a service with your "program", and you do it well, you'll get referrals. That's the best marketing of all, and no amount of money can buy it.

[Akinwale 0]

ALWAYS leave a message.  The ones who are serious about needing something done now will call you back.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Definetly leave a message. I do make a lot of my calls during the day and leave a ton of messages. However, I have had pretty good success in contacting sellers in the morning and early afternoon. The messages I leave have a pretty decent response rate.

 

My voice mail message might go something like this:

 

"Hi my name is Akin Akinsanya and I was calling about your (ad, listing, etc.) that I saw in the (paper, on the internet, etc.) and would like to know if your home is still available for sale? I am not sure how long your property has been on the market or what your situation is....but I would like to know if you would feel that selling it on a RENT-TO-OWN or Lease Purchase would be beneficial to you? Please do me a favor and give me a call back either way to let me know what you think.

 

Again my name is Akin Akinsanya and I can be reached at xxx-xxx-xxxx or on my cell at xxx-xxx-xxxx. I look forward to speaking with you."

 

I do get a decent response rate from this voice mail message. I sound personable and ask a few questions that I hope the seller will take action and call back to answer.

 

What I also recently did for a property that I am working with now (trying to find TB's)....VERY CLOSE to placing a TB in the property...I passed out flyers all over the neighborhood which stated:

 

"Do you know of anyone you would want as a neighbor?" Refer your family, friends, and co-workers to your neighborhood RENT-TO-OWN home available NOW. If they are selected, you will receive a $50 gift certificate to one of your local area businesses. Use the gift certificate to shop, eat, or just have fun.

 

“We Speacalize in Lease Purchase/Rent-to-Own Solutions”

 

Please call xxx-xxx-xxxx for more information

 

I got a good resonse rate on this advertisement for TB's///

 

Well I'll let the group know more about the deal soon...

 

Happy Selling...

 

Akin

[Alan (NYC) 0]

Akin,

 

I like your style on the phone and another good idea for seeking out T/B's. People like you make the learning curve a bit faster. Thanks for sharing them here.

 

Alan

[Sold ! 0]

My philosophy on leaving messages is to make them very generic.

 

"I am calling about the house for sale on ___________. Please call me back at xxx-xxxx."

 

Your number of people to talk to will dramatically increase. They'll ALL call you back if the property is still available. Now, you can chat with them and find out how to help them !

 

Cheers,

[Akinwale 0]

My philosophy on leaving messages is to make them very generic.

 

"I am calling about the house for sale on ___________.  Please call me back at xxx-xxxx."

 

Your number of people to talk to will dramatically increase.  They'll ALL call you back if the property is still available.  Now, you can chat with them and find out how to help them !

 

Cheers,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I do also leave a generic VM at times. I might leave the first voicemail generic and then follow up with my second voice mail like I typed above. Sure generic VM's will get them calling in, but do you have the right people calling in or are you just fielding calls. Its always best to mix it up if you are going to call more than once. I keep a database of call my calls(how many times I called, how many VM's, how many suspects, etc.) I would recommend having 2-3 VM's ready and leave a separate one every hour keeping track of what #'s you left what VM with. This will give you a better understanding of what VM tactic works best. It might sound corny, but its worth it in the long run. I left 3 VM's my first week of calling and found that my VM # 2 was working better than 1 or 3. So what I did was take some of 1 & 3 and mixed it in with #2 to make the perfect VM. Sounds corny I know but I think it works.

 

I promised the group some sales tips awhile back but got all caught up in things. I will try and get some tips posted tonight.

 

Later. Happy Selling

 

Akin

[Alan 0]

On your massage tell them what Michael says in his script. "Would you be open to selling your house on a Lease Purchase." If you tell them your interested in buying their house, "FOGET ABOUT IT"......You will get sellers calling you back who think you want to buy their House for ALL CASH...Who has the time to mess with nonmotivated sellers. ...

 

It's a numbers game.......