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Following is a collection of FSBO scripts accumulated over the years. Some are better than others, but all may be useful to you. Do you have others that work for you?

Hi. My name is _________. I am a professional Real Estate agent with ____________. You know I am a professional because I am one of the first individuals to call about the (Home, Condo or Lot etc.) you have just put on the market. Over the next few weeks you will most likely get many calls from many other Realtors who are just not as informed about the local Real Estate market as I am. When you get serious about selling - I’m here and I care - give me a call.

The above script says much with very little. It portrays you as a professional. It shows that you are not only on top of the Real Estate market - but subtly shows that you are one of the very few that are. You also become sort of a prophet – prophesying about the upcoming calls from less informed agents. The key here is to remain in contact.

Hi. My name is _________. I am a professional Real Estate agent with ____________. I really care about Real Estate in this area. I enjoy staying informed of what properties are available in the area. Could I do a quick tour of your property so I could see what you have available.

This works best by stopping by. The disadvantage is the time it takes to drive, rap on the door, and take the tour. The advantage - how many agents care enough to do this. Once you are walking through the property, laughing, complementing the home seller you are developing great rapport. At this moment you are in a prime situation to eventually list this home. Stick with them.

Hi my name is ____. I understand you have a home for sale. Are you aware of the liability you are assuming by trying to sell it yourself?” Given a pause or other indication that the home seller is not sure what you are talking about. The agent continues, “I have been selling Real Estate professionally for years now. I may have some knowledge that could really help you avoid some problems. I believe it would be worth fifteen minutes of your time to let me more fully explain some of these issues and ways to avoid problems. Does Thursday or Friday night work best?

This is a direct and no-nonsense approach. Before attempting this approach I would recommend you have a great understanding of local real estate law so that you come across not as an angel of fear and threat but rather as a concerned and informed consultant – wanting to help.

Hi my name is ____. I work with the best (or biggest, or most producing, or whatever else may be applicable) Real Estate company locally, _______ (Company Name). Can I ask you a couple of quick questions about your property?

• How long have you had your home on the market?
• What are you doing to market your home?
• How did you come up with the asking price?
• Why did you choose to try to sell it yourself rather than have help?
• How long will you try to sell it “By Owner” before you allow me to sell it? (Or if less bold you could say -before you considering listing with a Realtor)

In using this script you must listen to the answers. If the seller hears that you really don’t care about the answers you are short changing yourself. The answers the seller provides to you about these questions will provide you with powerful directional insights for you next move. For instance, if the seller indicates they came up with the asking price because a property sold down the road for roughly the same price - you could inquire further about the other property, explain the power of having a full blown list of sold comparables, and offer to bring it over. Or if the seller indicates that they are using signs and newspaper ads to market their property you could point out what you do to market and sell your listings.

Another question and answer approach that has worked successfully:

Hi, my name is ____ I’m with ____ (Company). I love to show homes. I understand you have a home on the market. Could you describe your property to me?

• Who will the home most likely attract - seniors, young couples, families?
• What benefits does your home have that others may not?
• Are there any other homes nearby which are also for sale?
• This sounds interesting - Could I come and take a quick walk through Thursday or Friday evening so I can see specifically what you have available?

This approach has worked best when you can be the first Realtor contact. At first these home sellers are proud of their property, they’re willing to talk about it with anybody. After 5 or 10 agents have called you are less likely to get the answers you are searching for.

Here’s another:

I understand you have a house to sell. My Name is ____ with ____. What questions do you have about selling a home that I could help answer for you?

If they start asking questions - perfect. If not - or - if they respond, “I don’t have any questions or we’re fine thanks” - Probe further:

• Do you have any questions about the new earnest money agreement? (They have made some important changes recently)
• Are you comfortable with how you have priced the home?
• Would a list of recently sold comparables in your area help?
• You are probably aware that you must select a title company to handle the closing. There are a few things you might want to consider before deciding…

It is important not to make the seller look stupid here. Although there are agents who purposefully do just that. Rather, it’s probably best to offer sincere help while simultaneously suggesting points of the sale process that they may not have thought about.

The most important part of marketing to FSBOs, or marketing to anyone for that matter, is finding something that fits you. Figure out what works best for your set of strengths and weaknesses and become an expert at that approach. Of course, part of perfecting is experimenting with new twists.

Good luck!

Summer is the peak season for FSBO marketing as this is prime moving time in most areas. One good idea for marketing to FSBOs for mortgage brokers that I recently heard is something that may seem silly to many but, in fact, is quite genius (in my opinion).

A broker in the Southwest has been teaming up with FSBO sellers on weekends and instead of doing the usual “sit at the open house and pre-qualify buyers”, she has been sitting on the front lawn with a lemonade stand. The lemonade is free, poured into cups with the broker’s logo and contact information on them, and is served from a table that has a large logo banner in front of it. This attracts more visitors than usual.

What I like about this idea is that it doesn’t restrict the broker to getting leads from only those who enter the FSBO seller’s home, but it opens up her lead potential to neighbors and anyone who might drive by. In fact, the broker who told me about this idea said that she gets more non-FSBO leads from her “open house lemonade stand” than she typically does from an open house itself. What a fantastic idea!

Let’s work some numbers: A 8′ x 2′ full-color all-weather banner might cost you a couple hundred dollars. That’s really your only large expense - and you honestly don’t have to have a sign professionally made. A sign on bright poster board would probably work just as well and cost only a couple of dollars. Lemonade, ice, and cups are all very cheap. You could do very well for yourself with a budget of only $20.

The good will in the neighborhood and with the sellers will be more than worth your time and effort (and $20), even if you don’t close a loan from a few hours in the sun.

For those of you who are in the mortgage business (or even for you agents who need some mortgage contacts), check out Mortgage-B2B.com. It’s a directory for the mortgage business.

Not only a good reference site for the various needs of a loan officer/mortgage broker but you can also submit your site to help out in search engine rankings.   Even better is that it’s free!

Interest rates are on the rise, which while still low the increase is causing a tightening in markets for real estate services and mortgages.  As such, for sale by owners (FSBO) become a higher priority for both realtors and loan officers looking for their next deal.

Competition is fierce and fsbo leads are increasingly more sought after.  The trend will only continue as interest rates continue to climb.

Many FSBO marketers (Realtors) have one fatal flaw when they first decide to tackle the for sale by owner market: lack of patience.

9 out of 10 sellers will eventually list with an agent. It’s been this way forever and shows no sign of slowing. So for most, it’s not “if” but “when”. Taking this into consideration, doesn’t it make more sense to shift the sales approach from “sign sign sign” to simply “I’m here when you need me”?

Being in front of the seller as much as possible can be good, as long as you don’t create a negative stigma by being annoying, pushy, etc. Otherwise, let the “fruit” ripen on it’s own and be there for the “harvest”.

For sale by owner marketing for real estate professionals (agents and loan officers) has the potential of providing multiple leads from a single source. If an agent converts the FSBO into a listing then potential buyer leads are on the way. If a loan officer works with a FSBO they can pre-qualify buyers that want to tour the property, in addition to financing the FSBO’s next purchase.

This potential for multiple deals is one of the aspects of FSBO marketing that is so appealing. As one would expect in our day and age of technology, there are some tools and services out there to help you collect as many leads as possible from each FSBO you work with. For loan officers, FSBO3k.com comes to mind. There are other web programs out there, and most of them will help you collect buyer leads for a monthly fee.

In addition to website services, there are call capture services. This is a popular tool that many FSBO marketers use to collect leads when interested parties call for a “free recorded message” about the home. Mainly loan officers can use this tool, but agents use it also after the listing has been secured.

It would be wise for saavy loan officers and real estate agents to team up in their FSBO marketing efforts. Loan officers have a unique advantage when it comes to getting in the door with FSBOs: they’re not agents! But when the FSBO wants to list, the LO can then recommend the agent. This is a great win-win situation for both parties.

The bottom line is maximizing the yield from each FSBO, which is better done with modern technology and a good team of people working with the same goal in mind.

With rates on the rise, more and more loan officers are beginning to think “purchase” instead of the fading “refinance” that has been numero uno for several years.  This being the case, for sale by owner marketing is one of the niches getting the most attention.

FSBO marketing is competitive and will only get more competitive.  Timeliness and strong marketing strategies are sure-fire ways to get ahead in this niche.  The daily FSBO lead provider that gets the most leads out the fastest surely stands to do well in the coming years.

There are a few companies out there that will send you an email list of new FSBOs in your chosen geographic area on a daily basis for a pretty sensible fee. Most are $39 a month for a single area. What these services do is gather new leads from newspapers, by owner websites, yard signs and anywhere else they find a new FSBO and then add them to their database and send new ones to you every day.

More information on specific providers will be available fairly soon (I hope) so keep an eye out.

I realize this is a somewhat related topic that doesn’t necessarily fit in considering that this is only the second post on this site.  However, it’s an important topic for real estate professionals who have marketed to for sale by owners for a long time or those who plan on doing so in the future.

All reports from the Wall Street indicate that newspapers all over the country are seeing huge declines in circulation and therefore revenues.  Most think it’s because the internet can provide the same information but faster, cheaper, and more conveniently.  Classified ads generally represent a major portion of revenues for newspapers and these are also seeing declines.  Themed classified sites unlimited by geography, and therefore providing a more complete and “one-stop-shoppping” location for classified buyers seem to be killing the newspaper classified’s traditional market share.

It seems like I see an Autotrader.com commercial every five minutes when I watch TV.  Vehix.com is another one that airs a lot of ads.  So should FSBO marketers be worried that their newspaper classified ad source may be drying up?  I’m not sure.

Reportedly, Google is planning a new classified ad system though I haven’t heard if it will be free to post ads or not just yet.  If the Big G does get into the online classified space you can bet it will almost instantly gobble up a huge portion of that market.  Will daily FSBO lead services be able to capture home seller’s contact information from Google?  Doubtful.  Google is chock full of Stanford PhD’s - they are no dummies.  Privacy will be one of the first things they address if they do release a classified system.

Leaving alone the trouble this would stir up among traditional real estate brokers and MLS systems (an efficient online market for independent home sellers that was centralized and wildly popular would certainly stir up trouble for Realtors), what does it mean for the average loan officer and real estate agent who have been relying on FSBO leads for years?  My guess is that daily FSBO lead services would see a significant drop in their total number of daily FSBO additions (unless they could tap Google’s data), and the average FSBO marketer would see it in less leads per month in their chosen area.

I realize I’m painting a somewhat bleak picture here, but it’s a possibility that must be considered.  Are there ways to survive in a world where real estate services have been “Wal-Martized”?  Sure there are - just don’t ask me what they are yet.

This site has been launched to provide information and resources to the real estate industry, with a focus on the real estate industry. If you are a home seller looking to sell a property “for sale by owner” then this is not the place for you. Feel free to read through our information, but keep in mind that it’s all geared toward real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and other professionals that have an interest in helping you sell your home.

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