Tag Archives: selling a home

The Secret to Converting For Sale By Owners into Listings in Kansas City

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Are you looking to convert more For Sale By Owners into listings in your market?

Regardless of the market, one of the best listing opportunities are still the For Sale by Owner, or FSBO (pronounced Fizz-Bo by most Realtors). There are several reasons why FSBO’s are still and have been one of the best listing opportunities for realtors and they are:

  • They have already “raised their hand” that they want to sell.
  • Most are already willing to work with agents who have buyers, so getting in touch and creating a relationship is fairly easy.
  • There are usually plenty of them to prospect and they have their phone numbers and emails readily available.

So why aren’t more agents listing For Sale By Owners in their market?

While the reasons vary, most agents don’t convert FSBO listings due to several reasons. Do any of these apply to you?

  • Since FSBOs are called on by many agents early on, they may get a frustrated individual on the phone and it makes them feel bad, that “All FSBOs are just MEAN!”
  • They don’t have a system to keep in touch over time, so they fail to follow up and then some other agent invariably gets a sign in the yard.
  • They don’t have anything of value to offer when they follow up with the For Sale by Owner so each call feels like they are bothering them.

These are just several of the main reasons why most agents give up on FSBOs and why you can use this information to your advantage.

A few stats on For Sale By Owners that you need to know.

  •  94% of for sale by owners do not sell on their own.

    Kansas City For Sale By Owner conversion information

    Information so you can effectively list more for sale by owners in your market.

  • of those that do sell, they sell on average 11% less than if they would have been represented professionally.
  • The biggest obstacle that FSBOs face is getting the property priced right
  • The second biggest obstacle is understanding and executing the paperwork.

So what can I do to convert more For Sale By Owners into more listings?

  1. Truly come from contribution and don’t be like every other agent who is just going in for the listing. If you approach FSBOs with a real regard to help them, they will remember that when they decide to explore a professional listing.
  2. Be sure to have information, or items of value, available to help a FSBO in their sale. The stats are still valid, and most will not sell due to lack of exposure and marketing, but they will remember the agent who actually tried to help them sell.
  3. Actually follow up when you said you would. If you told them you would call every week to check in on them and they said it was okay, THEN DO IT! Sure week one, 15 agents are calling. By week two that number is in half. Week three there are maybe you and one other agent calling. By week 4 it is you and only you.

Recap:

Converting for sale by owners into listings in your market and in Kansas City does not have to be a stressful and painful experience. Keeps several of these lead generation tips handy and you will be increasing your listing inventory like clockwork.

If you want to take this conversation even deeper and discuss the specifics of your action plan and what items of value you leave with your FSBO prospects, just contact me for a private and confidential consultation. Worst case scenario is that you leave with some great information that will help you grow your business.

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Top 3 First Time Home Buyer Worries. You are not alone.

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Stressed about buying your first home?Being a first time home buyer can be pretty scary. It wasn’t that long ago that we sat at the closing table, staring at that seemingly endless pile of paperwork, thinking to ourselves, “Are we really doing this?” At that time I was not a Realtor, I was just like you – but I have never forgotten that butterfly sickness that came over me when it was time to close. So even though I now close 3-4 transactions a month, I am still very much aware of the sensitivities and stresses of the closing table.

I was curious to see if my personal initial fears were shared by many others. I harnessed to power of Facebook and asked a survey question on my Fan Page, http://www.Facebook.com/MatSellsKC and I wanted to discuss the top three first time home buyer fears an also discuss some ways to ease that fear a little bit.

When buying or selling your first home, or if you are thinking of buying a home, what is your greatest fear or concern?

So I posted this question with the option for readers to write in their own answer or vote on one already there. Over 30 friends voted(thanks) and the top 3 first time home buyer fears were:

  1. Buying in the right area.
  2. Can I afford it if something happens to me financially.
  3. Can I afford the maintenance?

Buying in the right area

Okay, I have to bite, we have all heard this term – there are only 3 things that matter in Real Estate – Location, Location, Location. 39% of my friends who took the poll agreed. So what does location really mean, and how can you make sure you are buying in the right area.

There are 5 things to consider when choosing location:

  1. Commute Time to work – Do I get a smaller house and shorter commute, or do I add 10 minutes to my drive time and double my square footage?
  2. Schools– Do the public schools in the area provide the education and extra curricular activities we are looking for, or will be looking for in the near future?
  3. Local Amenities – Are the stores close by? Do we have access to the arts/entertainment? How walkable is my neighborhood?
  4. Public Transportation – Do I have access to bus lines, trains/light rail?
  5. Privacy – How close to my neighbors do I really want to be? Can they look right into our bedroom window?

Take some time to talk about or discuss these main issues to help streamline your decision making process. As a neighborhood expert, I can help guide you through some of these decisions and show you all the homes that fit your specific needs and criteria.

I will be tackling fears 2 and 3 on a future blog post. In the meantime, let me know in the comments section below, what other considerations are you thinking about when looking for the right area to buy a home in Kansas City?

Download our FREE First Time Home buyers eBook that talk about the step by step process that myself and my team will help with.

As always, thanks for reading!

If you or a friend or coworker is thinking about buying a home or selling a home in the next 30-60 days let us know! We would be thrilled to help your friends and family.