Trying to list FSBOs? This is what your marketing needs to emphasize.
You know why home sellers are trying to sell without your help. They think they will save a lot of money. And to be absolutely honest, those who know what they’re doing, have nerves of steel and don’t need to go to work every day can come close to doing what you can do.

As for the rest of them… their marketing needs to gently point out that they just don’t know what they’re getting into.

No, you can’t say that. Making a prospect look or feel dumb is definitely not the way to win their business. Therefore, you must be courteous in your introduction.

You should offer them help in the form of advice, or perhaps hint at the various disclosure forms they will need. You can offer some tips on how to protect yourself from the insults they will hear when buyers try to lower the price. (I used to laugh at buyers’ comments to me. Sometimes I wanted to ask why they wanted to buy the house if they hated it so much.)

And, of course, you need to remind them that buyers will try to point out that they’re not paying a realtor so they can naturally sell the house for less.

Before embarking on a home sale on their own, homeowners should ask themselves:

• Do I know how to determine the value of your home in today’s market?
• Am I willing to work and pay a buyer’s agent?
• Do I know how to market my house and get it in front of enough buyers?
• Can I treat people who are severely critical of my home in a civil manner?
• Am I willing to require buyers to disclose their financial status before I take my home off the market to negotiate with them?

All of these points should be addressed when you talk to FSBO sellers, and you can incorporate them into a special report or a series of real estate letters to mail to them. If you like to write and have a few extra hours, you can create letters that are uniquely yours.

If you don’t like to write or don’t have overtime, you can buy pre-written real estate letters and just take care of mailing them.

Either way, real estate letters written this way are a smooth selling technique that will position you as an agent who is not pushy or threatening and who knows how to sell houses. With each card, you’ll become a trusted advisor, so when they decide they need help, they’ll naturally turn to you.

But how do you first contact these people?

One way is to offer the special report on your website. Visitors opt in to receive the report and their addresses are automatically entered into your answering machine to receive the letters.

You can write down addresses and try to locate the names that go with them, or (please don’t!) write to Dear Owner. Personally, I think you should use a subscription option on your site, even if you take the hands-on approach… which is to go out and meet people.

I know, that can be a little scary. But if you decide what you are going to say ahead of time and practice it, it will be easier.

Write a script that sounds natural to you. Something like, “Hi, my name is Sally Jones from ABC Realty. I see you’re offering your home for sale by owner and I stopped by to ask if you’d be willing to let buying agents show it to their clients.”

If you say it all at once, they won’t have a chance to say “I’m not on the list” and close the door on you.

Some of them may not have thought about the fact that some buyers want agent representation, so at this point you may need to explain the procedure. If you have a list of buyers that you email, you can mention it. If you use a single/one-party listing agreement, please mention that as well.

If they say yes, they are willing to work with the buyer’s agents, request a tour, and take notes. You could even take a photo to go along with the notes.

The important thing is that you do not ask for the list at that time. (Not unless they throw themselves at your feet and beg you to take over this horrible job they got themselves into. In that case, you have to be a good samaritan and help them. )

If they say they don’t want to work with buying agents, be courteous and polite and say, “Okay, I’ll let the others in my office know so they don’t bother you.” You can also include something complimentary about the house and tell them to let you know if they change their mind, because you’d probably like to show it off. Give them your card, of course.

Before you leave, tell them you have a special report with tips for owner-sellers that you’d like to send to them. That gives you the opportunity to ask for their names. You’ll probably also need to ask if the home address is your mailing address, as some people prefer PO Boxes to home delivery. Send the special report as soon as you return to the office and attach a small handwritten note thanking them for talking to you. If you can think of something more personal to add, do it. For example, if you were about to go to a kid’s soccer game, say that you hope your team will win. That’s just to show you that they are more than just a home address to you: you realized who they really are.

Be sure to include another card in case the first one was thrown away by the time you left.

Then every few days send a new real estate letter with a new piece of advice that will come in handy. End each letter with an offer to help should you decide not to do it on your own.