How-To Program: Find Unlisted Properties You Can Sell
DISCLAIMER-This program will take some time and energy upfront to set up. After that, I will tell you how to put on auto-pilot. This activity is two-fold.
Challenges of a Seller’s Market
One of the challenges of a seller’s market is that although buyers are plentiful and are ready to buy, sellers may not be. It can be difficult to find homes that meet the needs of your buyers with low or lack of inventory.
Many sellers are nervous to sell as well, since the inventory is low and they are anxious about putting their home on the market. If it were to sell quickly and there are not enough homes for them to choose from, they are homeless in their minds. So you can see the dilemma this creates.
The Unlisted Properties Program to the rescue. It is perfect for this type of scenario as it is a way to find non-listed properties and create pocket listings for your future buyers. So let’s get started.
Finding your Buyer the right Home
If you are shopping for a particular buyer, start by determining what specifically your buyer is looking for. Do a complete and thorough Buyer Consultation so you will know exactly what they want when you see the home as a result of your research.
If your goal is to search for listings as well, (which it should be) follow along the next few steps. This program works for getting listings and finding your buyer the right home.
Geographical FArming
A. Use your MLS to start searching particular neighborhoods that would be appealing to you for marketing to on a consistent basis and/or the buyer you are searching for as well.
First, research to see how many homes are selling per year. Search the average price ranges of homes in each neighborhood. Next look at the activity each neighborhood is receiving when homes go up for sale. Search the listings that are active, sold, pending, show for back-up status, expired and canceled. Notice the days on market and the list to sales ratio(Listing price vs Sold price) on the properties that you pinpointed that have sold.
This very important search is where you discover whether there is rising or declining property values. This will be an important discovery as you do not want to farm areas that are selling below fair market value or have extremely long days on market unless that is standard for homes in the metro or township you live in. This is also great information to share with your buyer so they may be prepared and informed as well.
Getting an edge over other Realtors
Doing this sort of research will be overall impactful to your business as you are creating what we call a geographical farm, and you will learn about different neighborhoods and subdivisions in your area. This will give you an edge over other realtors who just search when a buyer is making an offer or they are getting a listing.
Your research and knowledge will open up doors for you since you will be prepared for any encounter or networking event where people want to know what is going on around your city. I have experience this on many occasions and people will come up to me and ask if I know what is going on in their neighborhood as far as property values go or homes that are for sale.
Since I am a long time at this profession and I have marketed to many neighborhoods in my area over the years, I can answer those question pretty quickly. Having the knowledge to share with someone who requests information like this will give you credibility and make you look like an expert in your field. This research will also help you to decide whether you want to build relationships in these particular neighborhood via marketing there on a regular basis or if they are neighborhoods that would be suitable for your buyer.
Sending Postcards
B. Next compose a letter or postcard titled “I Have A Buyer For Your Home”. (Postcards work best as when they are received the homeowner can glance at them quickly and determine if they are interested. They are cheaper to mail out and many times letters that are sent are viewed as junk and never opened.)
NEVER use that catch phrase of “I HAVE A BUYER FOR YOUR HOME” unless you really have a buyer looking in their area. It is fraudulent advertising otherwise.
We use Vista Print to create postcards that look great, have good quality and are very reasonably priced. Vista Print will even mail them for you at your expense if you provide a list of the residents home addresses. We use bulk mail here as it is cheaper using all the same zip code.
Demographic Lists
Use your MLS, local county tax rolls, or buy demographic lists from places like InfoUSA.com to get the addresses of each resident in the neighborhood. It is very important to include in every mailing your name, your brokerage name and all your contact info (name, phone, email, website) so it makes it very easy for residents to get a hold of you when they are interested.
You might even include a Youtube link printed on the card. They can then type it into your You tube channel so that they may view a video of you telling them how you can help them get the most money for their home with the least amount of hassles. This is a n awesome way to start building trust.
I have used postcard mailings for years with a tremendous success. It is a very effective way to target these potential Sellers. You get your name out there, begin relationship building and have a very good chance of getting new listings as well as find your Buyer their dream home.
Effective Door Knocking
C. Another way to seek out homes for your Buyer and get listings would be to go door to door with flyers. You can door knock or simply place a flyer on the doorknob using a rubber band to attach it. Make sure to have all your contact info on every flyer and better yet staple your card to it so they can call or email you if they are not home and want to reach out to you. Don’t have limiting beliefs about what you may need to do to get sales. All the effort you put in pays off when the checks start rolling in. Because you did something outside the box and no one else wanted to do and you stayed consistent with it year after year. It is great exercise too!
If this is a neighborhood you have decided to farm, what better way to meet people and start building relationships with the residents that you get to meet face to face.
Manage & Track Your Marketing
D. Now you have taken the time to do all the research, neighborhood by neighborhood, keep it going! Save each specific search by neighborhood in MLS by putting yourself on an “auto email list”. This way every time a new home comes on the market, one goes under contract or sells or any status change happens whatsoever, MLS will notify you. This is also a resource for contacting expired listings and cancelled listings. This is how you easily manage this portion of keeping track of all the neighborhoods you are marketing using MLS.
HAving a reliable Database is important
E. Last step is getting all this information placed into your data base or CRM. You should be able to export these lists into your CRM. So you can schedule all your personal contacts with them when the time comes and your mail-out schedule.
So say for instance Sam Jones calls you off the post card you sent because he is interested in selling his home. You make an appointment with him to determine if his home would be a good fit for your buyer. While in the appointment you discover it is not a fit for your buyer but would be a nice listing to help him sell. You express your desire to help him sell his home, however the buyers are looking for something different. Since you did a good job of building a rapport with Sam, he is honest with you. He tells you that unless it is an immediate “as is” sale, he has no interest at this time to put his home on the market. It is just too much of a hassle and he has too much stuff.
How your CRM is worth it
At this point you know Sam is going to be selling in the next couple of years as he is elderly and unable to keep up with the home. The CRM is your information storing and scheduling vehicle and all the information you have gathered about Sam Jones is inputted into the system.
This way you can schedule regular mailings, emails and phone calls to Sam letting him know you are willing and able to help him get his home prepared to sell and find him the perfect buyer when he is ready to go, further building trust and rapport.
So in closing let me share a secret with you, this is exactly how I built a multi-million dollar business spanning 26 years.
You can too!
You just need to get to work!!