15 Ways to Generate Motivated Seller Leads: #3

The FSBO: “For Sale By Owner” sellers are oftentimes in a negative equity position or would be if they had to pay the costs to list and sell.  They can be retail owner occupants or investors trying to unload unwanted rehabs or non-performing rentals.

How do you find FSBOs? There are several no-brainer ways.  Write down the ones you see, locate them in classified listings, gander through on-line classified listings.  You can also use systems that scrape FSBO sites and compile easy to use lists.

How do you reach out to them? Pick up the phone and call!  FSBO sellers, if they truly want to sell, will answer the phone.  There are two approaches I suggest.  Remember to not insult them. 1) We simply make notice that their property is up for sale and that we would like to make a fair market value offer.  The offer is generally well below their advertised price and opens up a discussion.  2) We have tools we can offer to help them sell their home on their own.  They can be sent by email.  Through providing free assistance and free information, we build trust and a relationship.

When should you reach out to them? Here is something to consider.  A FSBO seller that just started advertising may not be ready to bite the humility bullet and go the short sale route.  However, a FSBO seller that has sat on the market for a while may be more desperate.  The team member in our marketing department trained to prospect FSBO leads, uses a system to track the age of the leads.  She changes her approach depending on how old they are.  FSBO’s can age like a fine wine.

TIP for Investors: Make a deal with local flat fee listing agents to connect you with upside-down sellers who are FSBO but needing the MLS exposure.  We have two flat fee agents who provide us with the MLS ID for each of their flat fee listings.  We pull deed, tax, title, and our investor CMA.  If our analysis determines the property to be negative equity, we reach out to the sellers.  An agent on our team is trained to effectively get the email when prospecting.  Through an email campaign we offer them tips and tools to sell their home, tools to determine the value of their home, and LOADS of information to help them understand what may be required to sell their home in this market.  In the same emails we always include links to free short sale information.

The key to effective marketing for motivated sellers is SYSTEMS SYSTEMS SYSTEMS and a well-trained MARKETING TEAM.  The Flagship System is uniquely set up to help you hire and train each division of your business, like ….MARKETING!

To Your Short Sale Success!

Amy Ransdell ~ Your Atlanta Real Estate Expert