Call the expired and FSBO’s. Having a large, well managed listing inventory has always translated into success in real estate sales. Expired listings of your competition most likely were never provided any more information about the current market except that it has “slowed down.” The sellers who really want to sell will appreciate you being truthful. Homes need to be priced at or below market depending on their condition. A seller looking to test the market at a higher price may be putting themselves in a “finding a needle in a needle stack” position with so many homes on the market at this time.

To continue the success or to get started if business has not yet improved for you, continue to do the things that will make you money. Put yourself in the way of buyers and sellers.

Until the REO listing floodgates open up, agents should be going after the second part of the REO equation, the buyer/investor. If you direct you marketing and prospecting towards picking up the buyers looking for foreclosures, bank owned and distressed properties you will realize just as many sales as you would if you listed these hotly sought after listings. How can you get REO buyers? These 3 methods have proven successful for picking up new customers and clients.

1) Your office marquee sign should be offering a free list of bank owned properties to those who stop in. Companies sell foreclosure lists online and in the newspaper that interested buyers willingly pay for so imagine the interest you will generate by offering these lists for free!
2) Blogging about the REO market for your specific area will attract online users searching for this type of real estate. Making sure your blog title, content and keywords are location specific will help to increase the visits of those looking to buy an REO property in your market area.
3) REO homes add to the attractiveness of this real estate market to first time home buyers. The low prices these properties are being offered for in some cases coupled with the tax credit and low interest rates available provide strong reasons why a renter or potentially new home owner would want to buy. Your job is letting them know. Make sure you have a direct mail or direct phone campaign in place directed to renters in your area.

You don’t have to be the listing agent to enjoy the success that selling REO properties are creating in this market. You just need to have the buyers that make up the second part of the deal.

All the while we keep tucked safely away in our pockets a simple business tool that if used this regularly, the return would no doubt be much better than any other marketing or prospecting source. 

The business card.

Too many agents only hand out their business card to a customer they have met through a different form of marketing or prospecting.  We give our card to our buyers when we first meet them at an open house or when we have them meet us for the first time in office to view houses.  We give our cards to sellers who have called us to list their home immediately upon entering the home as a way to introduce ourselves. 

An agent would increase his or her business if they just handed a business card to everyone they meet through the course of a day/week/month, REGULARLY.  Handing out your business card regularly is one of the most effective, inexpensive forms of marketing/prospecting available to any type of sales person and has been successfully used for years. 

Real estate sales is about meeting and talking to people.  We meet so many people during our day to day lives that if we only made a habit of handing each and everyone of them a business card it would surely result in more real estate referrals and more real estate closings.

Try it.  The suggestion we use in my company is for agents to start with passing out 10 cards a day.  When you think of all the people you come across while buying gas, buying bagels for breakfast, at lunch, at the doctor’s office, at the drugstore, at the post office, you will find that handing out 10 cards will not be that hard of a task. 

Start passing out cards today and continue to regularly pass them out and you will be on your way to a successful real estate career.

1. Find people.  Real estate is a people contact business.  You must find ways to meet people if you intend to be successful.  You can choose to knock on doors, hold open houses, join clubs and organizations, socialize online or real time.  The more people you meet increases the opportunities to successfully prospect.
2. Engage those you meet.  One of the biggest mistake real estate agents make is not taking the time to build relationships.  Take the time to find common interests with those you meet.  People love to deal with those they trust and know.  Get to know them.  Be sincere.  Ask questions, be interested in them.  Taking the time to get to know the people you meet could result in a new friend or a chance to learn something new long before you ever help them buy or sell a home or property.
3. After you have built your relationship don’t be afraid to talk about your business and career.  Of course you should not dominate the conversation with talk of business.  However, well timed reminders that you are a real estate professional and can help them or anyone they know buy or sell a home will be appreciated to those who know you and who do have a need for real estate help.

In summary remember that in order to enjoy a successful real estate business you need to meet people, get to know the people you meet and then ask those people for business.  Developing solid prospecting efforts now will equal sales in the future.

What most agents are never told or never learn on their own is prospecting is not simply holding an open house or sending out a post card. Many agents confuse prospecting with marketing and build their business around their marketing efforts alone.

Prospecting is getting your hands dirty, doing the things that you might not enjoy, want to do or think you should have to do. In most any real estate office you will be able to find an agent in the kitchen or break room who will tell you that picking up the phone, knocking on doors, interviewing local investors, emailing your COI is a complete waste of time. When looking at their sales volume you will be able to determine if what they are dispensing is sound advice or not.

Many real estate agents are trained, early in their careers, on different ways to maximize their prospecting effort when holding an open house. One suggestion is the 10-10-10 method, which refers to contacting 10 neighbors on each side of the home and 10 neighbors across the street prior to the open house. This is a great way to increase your chances of having visitors at your open house, add to your contact list and possibly pick up a new customer. 

Here is a tip you may wish to us that takes the method one step further. Why not make plans to revisit those 10-10-10 neighbors immediately after your open house with feedback on how the open house went? While your first meeting was centered on asking them to do something for you, attend your open house, the second step is about you doing something for them. The feedback you have from the potential buyers who visited your open house is important to the entire neighborhood and community. What the potential home buyers thought of the price of the home, the community and the neighborhood is valuable information to each and every neighboring homeowner. Your taking the time to update the neighboring homeowners after an open house will be appreciated, presents you as an expert in the neighborhood and may result in future business.

Give it a try.