In part 2 of 3 for this series, Mike Ferry discusses How to Get Listings Sold in this New Market.

How To Get Listings Sold In This Different Market – Part 2

Welcome and good morning to Mike Ferry TV. It is, of course, the week of October 31st, three months in the fourth quarter. One month is down. How have you done so far?

Because we always have to remember that what we are doing in October, November and December not only allows us to finish the year strong, which we all have to do, but it also, and probably as importantly, really affects our income in January and February.

One of the biggest challenges Real Estate people face is if they’ve had an exceptionally good year, which so many of you have done in our clients have experienced, we kind of kick back, and relax a little bit.

We don’t put the foot all the way down on the gas pedal to the floor. We don’t speed up when most of the industry is slowing down.

And as a result, our production starts to slide in November, December, and then in January, of course, we do not have the cash flow we would like to have. So you have a listing, you might have three, and of course in some cases many more. Some of those need to be reduced in price.

We started that conversation last week. We’re going to continue it this week and again next week. It’s a three-part series. So the next point, if we went through one through ten last week and if you missed it, probably it will be in a program we call The Vault.

Look at our list of services, look for The Vault, and then go find that last week’s presentation.

#11: Provide extraordinary customer service on every listing

So point number 11 … Work on extraordinary customer service on every listing. By extraordinary customer service I am referring to the fact that we make strong, weekly truthful, upfront communication between yourself and the Seller regarding everything, starting with, of course, the price.

You know, we work so hard to get a listing and so many of you put a lot of energy and time into this process.

You know, you’ve learned the scripts, you’ve learned how to handle their objections, you’ve learned how to prequalify, you’ve overcome the fear of prospecting, you’re developing leads and then you take a listing and then you think that’s the end of it.

That’s the beginning of it. Because in today’s market, that’s just the beginning of a very sometimes painful process if that listing is not priced properly.

So let’s go back to looking at point 11, customer service. Keeping them informed. Being honest and truthful. Doing it every week, every month.

Upfront communication between yourself and that Seller is vitally important to a long long-term listing sold and in many cases getting that price reduction.

#12: After 30 days into every listing, motivate the Seller by reintroducing the prequalifying process

Point number 12 … 30 days into every listing, go back and do a complete reintroduction of the prequalifying process, looking again for their motivation to sell.

You know, a Seller could be discouraged after 30, 45 days. You know, they’re not getting a lot of showings. They’re not getting any offers. They’re thinking, of course. January, February, March, April of 2022, when the market was going like this.

This is now going into November of 2022. The market has flattened out dramatically. They don’t recognize that their motivation might have changed. You know, maybe they had looked at a particular property to buy. That property is still sitting; theirs hasn’t sold.

They’re getting discouraged about moving go back and re-prequalify every Seller. Ask all the questions again and simply say, “I just want to make sure I’m doing the right thing for you. Let me take you through these questions once again.” With your job to really key in on their motivation.

#13: Find out the Seller’s net bottom line sales price

Point number 13 … We have to learn as quickly as possible the Seller’s net bottom line sales price that they would take.

And one agent said to me one day, “Well, this is a fantasy conversation with the Seller.” I said, “Maybe.”

“So, Mr. or Mrs. Seller, you know, we’re listed at $596,000 right now. Today, we’ve dropped the price from 645 to this price we have at this point. If somebody brought an offer that was acceptable to you, and I’m not going to go out and advertise this and promote this, what is the net bottom price you would take for this home today if an offer came in?”

So let’s say they say to you, “Well, we would take 575.” That’s better than 595. So now at least we know that when an offer does come in and it comes in at, say, 550, we know where we are in terms of a net bottom line price.

The net bottom line price is really the most important price to a Seller because that reflects what they’re going to receive when the property actually closes.

#14:  Consider having your Sellers write an offer to the potential Buyer.

Point number 14 … If your property has been shown to a motivated Buyer more than once, consider having your Sellers (And this is controversial per Mike Ferry because I’ve been blasted for years on this point). Consider having your Sellers write an offer to the potential Buyer.

So reverse the process. We take a listing. It goes in MLS. We do our marketing. It’s shown a couple of times. We would hope that a Buyer makes an offer. But a Buyer has looked at the property once with their agent. You’ve talked to the agent. The Buyer seems very interested.

They’re hesitant to make an offer because of price, etc.. Ah, I know the Seller’s net bottom line price that they will take. I consider talking to my Seller and saying, “Would we consider writing an offer to the Buyer to have them buy the house?”

So we’re reversing the process. This was done a lot in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, early 2014. It was a very common practice. And here we are in 2020 looking at doing that same thing excuse me, 2022 doing that same thing again.

So if it’s being shown and no offers come in from a potential Buyer, consider having your Seller write an offer to the Buyer.

#15: Notify the top agents in your marketplace with a copy of your listing

Point 15 … Whether it be email, voicemail, notify the top 25 to 30 agents in your marketplace and you can resource this through your MLS and then send them a note with a copy of your listing saying this is the benefits of the selling, of your selling this home.

This Buyer is considering moving out of the state. They need to be there in 30 days, etc., whatever that may be. Top-producing agents will many times have a small team. They will pass that information on to their Buyers Agents. It might speed up the sale and get a transaction taken care of.

#16: Bring the most attention to your listing to get it sold

Point number 16 is something what I refer to as common sense. Our job is to get as much attention brought to a property to get it sold as possible.

Whether you call it selling, whether you call it marketing, whether you call it branding, whether you call it advertising is to bring somebody’s attention to your listing.

So there’s a couple of things that I would recommend you consider doing:

a) First, putting a structured term sheet, looking for a Buyer that would say to them, “Wow, look at the terms on this!” And we all make a flier of some type on the property.

On the back of it, put a structured term sheet as to what would be a recommended terms that the Buyer could offer to the Seller. It makes a difference.

b) I wrote down Second, make every property you have listed very easy to show. Biggest challenge is the showing process. Seller wants the Listing Agent to be present. Seller wants to be present when the home is shown. I can only show the property between 1:00 o’clock and 4:00 o’clock.

You’ve got to remove the restrictions in a highly competitive market that we’re involved in today.

And you can say to your Seller, “The more restrictions that you put on the showing process, the less showings are going to be done, because an agent working with a motivated Buyer is going to show the properties that are the easiest to show.”

c) I wrote down third, consider asking your Seller to offer some Buyer concessions to trigger an offer. These concessions could be anything from paying down the interest rates to maybe making three to six months of their payments to start.

We’ve seen Sellers pay off a Buyer’s credit card so they can qualify with the lender. Watch. Consider concessions, everything from painting to get the house looking better to having the carpet cleaned.

#17: Contact your entire database, prospects and leads regarding the listing

Number 17 … Within a week or ten days of taking a listing contact, every prospect and every lead that you have and ask them if they would be interested in buying your listing or do they have a referral for that listing?

Contact every Past Client. Everybody in your database. But again, remember, the word “exposure” is what makes a listing sell.

#18: Follow-up on every showing that takes place through a competitive Buyer’s Agent

Next point number 18 … Follow-up on every showing that takes place through a competitive Buyer’s Agent to get their concerns, their remarks, make a note of them and if necessary, take them back to the Seller to help them understand what has to be done to get the listing sold.

#19: Consider developing a simple listing evaluation form

The next point is something that I have been saying for years, and I started reintroducing it about three months ago to our Coaching Clients. Consider developing a simple listing evaluation form.

Okay, you have two listings. Write down the name, the address, the property. Write down on a scale from 1 to 10. The Seller’s motivation. If it’s a three, we have a problem. If it’s an eight, we have a much better opportunity.

On a scale from 1 to 10, write down the condition of the home. Then write down the price versus what price you think it should be listed for, and then rate the showing process on a scale from 1 to 10.

Is that easy to show? Hard to show? And then take the evaluation and sit down with your Seller and say, “This is what I’m seeing and this is what I’m evaluating. How much is it getting in the way?”

#20: Consider getting a conventional appraisal done on the property that the Seller would pay for.

And then the last point, which I have said for many years, and we’ve been through so many of these markets in the time that I’ve been in Real Estate, I’ve been doing this now for 47 and a half years and been in Real Estate since I was 18 and I’m 77.

So what is that, 58? I don’t know. 59 years I’ve been in Real Estate. Consider to get your listing sold, getting a conventional appraisal done on the property that the Seller would pay for.

Do it on any listing that has been sitting for a while because that appraisal many times will come in at a totally different price than what they want. And that could be the conflict and keeping from getting it sold.

And it could be the key point and getting them to understand what has to be done. Okay. It is the first part of November. We got to put the pedal to the metal. We’ve got to get out there, talk to our Past Clients, talk to our Centers of Influence.

Finish this year strong to make January a good month for you. Your Sellers deserve the best. They have the best and working with you.

Use these thoughts, take them to them. Review this a couple of times this week. See you next week for the final part of How To Get Listings Sold In This Different Market .