alxrodz 0 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 Hi all. I was referred to this forum by my friend bwalston (thanks again Bill!), and I am delighted with the friendliness and professionalism of all here. I wanted to congratulate and thank MC for his fabulous contribution of maintaining this forum. I've been reading for a few weeks without posting, so I wanted my first post to be somewhat helpful so I can give back in some way. I've just barely been interested in lease-options for a few weeks (in other words, I'm a complete n00b), but my background is in Internet and Social Media Marketing, which may be helpful to some of you. I've been reading how most of you have taken on "online classified" sites such as Craigslist, Kijiji, etc., but did you know Facebook also had a similar marketplace? Disclosure #1: I have not tried this yet, so I don't know how effective it is. But, in my experience, users are a lot more open on social media channels than on the "open internet", so I would think this method would garner a higher response rate than those other methods. I mean... it's called "social" for a reason. If you go to: http://apps.facebook.com/marketplace , (you may need to be logged in), you will see a page very similar to Yahoo Classifieds or Kijiji. Guess what, there is a "Real Estate" section, plus separate sections for rentals and sales! Now, as far as I can see, there are no sub-sections for FSBO or FRBO, so it may take a bit of digging. However, I would think that, because the posters' profiles are right there in the open for you to check out (as I demonstrate below), it's much easier to figure out if there is an agent behind or not. Here's how I would go about the process: 1) Look up rentals or sellers in your area. 2) In the summaries, you will see a link that says "Posted by ________" (I've highlighted it in yellow for you). Click on that link. 3) When you click on that, you'll go to another page which reads "All listings from this Facebook user". It looks like this: 4) Then — and here's the secret part you may overlook — if you hover over the person's profile picture on the left, you'll see that it's actually clickable! If you click there, it'll take you to their public profile, where you can see whatever info they've decided to make public (probably by this point you'll be able to tell if the person is an agent or not). If you click on the "Add as Friend" button, the "Friend request" window pops up, which looks like this: 5) Now of course, clicking the "Send Request" button will send an actual Facebook friend request... so be mindful of what you have published on your Wall and elsewhere, as if they accept, they'll be able to check out what you're all about, if you know what I mean! Disclosure #2: According to Facebook, you're not exactly supposed to friend people that you don't know in real life. However, I've found that people actually do this all the time. I do this frequently (both requesting and accepting), and have had no issues. Once again, if you decide to do this, be mindful of personal info you have posted (which I would suggest as a general rule anyway). 6) Now, before you send that friend request!! See that link in blue that says "Add a personal message..."? You can click on that to send a customized message along with your friend request. Based on the info in this forum, I would use that to send a short message such as "Hey, I just saw the house you posted for rent. Are you interested in renting as a lease-option?" That person can then interact with you through private messages, and in all reality he/she doesn't even need to accept you as a friend for you to hold this conversation. Does this sound like something you'd be willing to do? If so, please let me know, and also let me know your results. I'm actually just about to pull the trigger on this technique as well, so I'll report back too. Take care, and thanks again for such great info and interaction on the forum! P.S.: In the spirit of this post, if anyone wants hook up with me through Facebook, I'm here (please just mention your forum user name so I know you're coming from here). I'm also on Twitter here. P.P.S.: MC, is this post good enough for a runner-up on your "Winners" column? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
speedingpenguin 19 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 Hey Alex, welcome! Sounds like an idea worth trying! I had posted a property I was selling on the Facebook classifieds and didn't get any sort of response, but I hadn't really thought about marketing to sellers through Facebook. Seems like a good idea to me! I'll report back my results in a few weeks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bwalston 1 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 Hey Alex! Thanks for sharing the Facebook info. Good stuff :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilot76180 51 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 I like the Facebook picture that is blocked out.....it looks like MC's mugshot...When his wife sent their Christmas cards out his pic was blocked out just like that.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MichaelC 160 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 Hello, Alex, and welcome aboard! Glad you found us, (a big thank you to Bill).Very informative post. Lots of great info. Thank you for sharing! I didn't know that Facebook had such a marketplace. P.P.S.: MC, is this post good enough for a runner-up on your "Winners" column? Hehe. I like your attitude, ARod. You're going to be a natural in this biz. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MichaelC 160 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 I like the Facebook picture that is blocked out.....it looks like MC's mugshot...When his wife sent their Christmas cards out his pic was blocked out just like that....JJ, the Christmas card your wife sent me had nothing blocked out and included some derogatory comments about you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alxrodz 0 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 Thanks to all of you for the warm welcomes! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
<Steve> 82 Report post Posted January 5, 2011 Thanks Alex for the Facebook info. good stuff! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alxrodz 0 Report post Posted January 5, 2011 You're welcome Steve! Today I messaged about 6 peeps through FB, and got one response... a no-go, but still a response. Compared to the 50 or 60 emails I've sent to FSBO sites last week, garnering 2 responses (also no-go's), I think FB gave me a pretty good batting average! LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
