By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
QUICK SKIM
Think that FSBOs dread hearing from you? Think again. Studies show that nine out of 10 FSBOs eventually end up hiring an agent to sell their home. Yet, only 5 percent of real estate practitioners say they work with FSBOs — which means there’s an untapped market for you to grow your business, says author John Maloof in The Real Estate Agent’s Guide to FSBOS (AMACOM, 2008). To help you get started, Maloof gives scripts for justifying your fees, advice on avoiding communication blunders, tips on building rapport, and techniques for showing FSBOs why it’s not in their best interest to fly solo.
FROM THE BOOK: 5 WAYS TO PROSPECT FSBOS
Selling a home with the help of a real estate practitioner will net home owners 32 percent more at closing than selling on their own, according to a 2006 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® study. Still, some home owners try to go it alone. That’s where you come in. Here are some ideas from Maloof’s book.
1. First, find the FSBOs. To create your FSBO prospecting list, scour newspaper classified ads and public ads posted at grocery stores and convenient stores. Record any drive-by sightings of FSBO yard signs. Also, you might subscribe to a FSBO lead provider service, such as www.fsbohotsheet.com or www.fsboleads.com. These companies compile FSBO listings for you on a weekly or daily basis. Another idea: Attend FSBO open houses and then follow up with a card thanking the sellers for allowing you to view their home. In the card, include a list of homes you recently sold in their neighborhood.
Here are the latest top selling books on real estate, according to Amazon.com:
1. Be a Real Estate Millionaire: Secret Strategies for Lifetime Wealth Today, By Dean Graziosi
2. Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life, By Donald Trump and Bill Zanker
3. The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor’s Kit: How to Make Money Buying Distressed Real Estate — Before the Public Auction, By Thomas Lucier
4. Emerging Real Estate Markets: How to Find and Profit from Up-and-Coming Areas, By David Lindahl
5. The ABC’s of Real Estate Investing: The Secrets of Finding Hidden Profits Most Investors Miss (Rich Dad’s Advisors), By Ken McElroy
6. Home Buying For Dummies (3rd edition), By Eric Tyson and Ray Brown
7. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It’s Not About the Money … It’s About Being the Best You Can Be!, By Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, and Jay Papasan
8. Flipping Houses For Dummies, By Ralph R. Roberts and Joe Kraynak
9. Rich Dad’s Real Estate Advantages: Tax and Legal Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investors , By Sharon L. Lechter and Garrett Sutton
10. Kaplan MCAT 2007-2008 Premier Program, Kaplan
Mortgage broker Bill Nazur and real estate investor Danielle Babb, authors of Finding Foreclosures (Entrepreneur Press, 2007), respond to your foreclosure questions.
Q: With foreclosures, which states are redemption states and which are nonredemption states?
A: Mortgage-Investments.com lists out, by state, whether it is judicial or nonjudicial, the number of process days, publication days, and redemption period. Otherwise, you can request the information from most title companies, or closing attorneys should be able to show you information for their respective state. Understand the redemption period better than any single piece of information in the foreclosure process. Worst case scenario: Your buyer purchases a property that the previous owner has a right to redeem six months, one year, or even two years later in certain circumstances. As an exercise, look at the Dakotas, New Mexico, and Tennesee for fun.
Q. How can real estate practitioners with little background in foreclosures find opportunities in this expanding market? Is there room for newcomers?
A: You will be very pleased to know that (unfortunately, or fortunately) there is plenty of foreclosure business to go around, so the opportunities are endless. There is plenty of room for newcomers to get into this market, though here comes the caveat: Most lenders, banks, and asset managers want to work with an agent that has at least 5 years of experience in the real estate field, preferably longer as foreclosures are extremely time intensive. This does not mean that you cannot break in with less experience, but you must know ahead of time that on-the-job training is very much frowned upon in this specific niche.
I’d recommend that you start building a real estate resume, outlining your successes in the market. Have you dealt with difficult buyers where you came up with a solution that required some creativity? Do you know REO terminology? Are you organized enough to manage multiple projects, meaning if tomorrow you received 10, 20, or 30 REO listings, that you would be able to
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