FSBO Guide - Authorify

high-quality standards, and the love they put into their home-style baking process. All of these elements created a goodwill relationship between the shoppers and owners that

represented more than just baked goods. Most importantly, customers could smell

the cookies baking! Not surprisingly, this shop attracted a bigger crowd than any other store around. I’m sure they sold a lot of cookies. What’s a good sample that you can give away to FSBOs in order to get your foot in the door and let them see what you have to offer? Offering free pictures works well for me. Remember in Chapter 1 when we discussed the poor quality of photos taken by sellers? Here’s a way you can be genuinely helpful. It takes about an hour to take pictures of the house. You get to talk to the people, go through their house, see the advantages and disadvantages, and discuss some of your marketing ideas. This has enabled me to list a lot of FSBOs. Once I’ve gotten in and taken the photos, I have my assistant call and give the seller’s instructions on how to get the pictures. In several instances, the sellers never even wanted the free pictures after I shot them, but I got their listings because I offered the samples. Offering a service before asking for anything in return accomplished several important goals: ● It demonstrates my willingness to help. ● It allowed me to prove I possessed expert knowledge about marketing homes. ● It lowered the seller’s natural resistance to sales. ● It created the basis for a conversation, which formed the foundation for a relationship. In one example, my assistant cold-called a seller . The seller had been a FSBO but was finally ready to give in and hire a Realtor®. My virtual assistant called and offered the pictures, but the seller was so impressed with the offer they just skipped right to hiring me to sell their house. I’ve even obtained referrals from taking pictures. I took pictures for one seller, and her house ended up selling FSBO. However, she later referred me to her friend and I listed his $400,000 house. You can put the same kind of proven marketing to work for you.