My Name Is Chris Curry... And I'd Like To Make A Confession I sold real estate the hard way for way too long. You see, I thought the key to improving my business was working harder. So I worked harder. I often stayed at work until 9 or 10 at night. I prospected for 2 3 hours a day. I begged sellers for their business. I reduced my commission just to get listings. This didn't happen all the time, but it happened enough to really annoy me! To be honest I worked way too hard for the money I made. Sure, I made good money. Unfortunately, I made an all too common mistake. I worked HARDER, but not SMARTER. This was all before I discovered a new method that brings listings. You see, I am so confident in this new way to get listings that I am willing to make the following claim: Send me to any city in America, Place me at a tiny, no name real estate company, Take away my ability to do any prospecting, and in one week I'll list 2 3 homes,
Without discounting my commission, Without promising lots of open houses or unnecessary marketing, And... without making wacky claims like, "Your Home Sold In 90 Days Or I'll Buy It Myself!" I just listed a house last night and this seller was hounded by a dozen other agents. However, he ignored all the other agents, picked up the phone, and called me. Now, why did he do this? Because I used my most powerful tool that causes expireds, FSBOs, and just about any other type of seller lead to call me and not other agents. Here's what happened. While I Was Going Thru My Presentation, The Husband Asked Me A Question, "What Do You Know About Jane, The Agent At Huge Highly Respected National Franchise Who Guarantees To Sell Your Home?" He continued, "I think her ad says something like, 'I guarantee to sell your home in 90 days or I'll sell it for free.'" I told him that I had heard of Jane s Guarantee, but I didn't know the specifics. He then replied that he thought it was probably some sort of scam. That solved the problem of Jane s Guarantee and ended the conversation about Jane. Hooray! I continued thru the rest of the presentation, and
listed the house. Now, I am sure you are wondering how I do this. After all, I can get listings without doing ANY of the following: Without working at a big name franchise like Coldwell Banker, RE/MAX, Century 21, Berkshire Hathaway, Keller Williams, ERA, or any of the other well known franchises. Nor do I work at the largest local Real Estate Company with over 32 offices in the Jacksonville Area. In fact, I drove past two of their 10,000+ SQ FT locations on my way to the listing appointment. I am not discounting my commission. I am not doing a lick of prospecting. I am not promising to do open houses or other unnecessary marketing. I am not guaranteeing to sell their house. What I'm doing is actually very simple. I've Discovered The Most Powerful Way To Approach An Expired Listing And Virtually Any Type Of Home Seller And Get Them To Call Me Versus
All The Other Agents. I just pull up the Expireds every day and mail them the letter below. Dear John, (Letter Starts) Are You Still Accepting Offers On Your Home? The reason I ask is because I have a buyer that may be interested in your home. They haven t been able to find their dream home yet and your house grabbed my attention. However, since it is no longer listed with a Realtor I wanted to make sure you are still interested in selling it and willing to entertain offers. If you are still interested in selling your home, please give me a call right away at (333) 555 1212. Sincerely, Chris Curry (End of Letter) I Have A Very Simple Question For You. Why Aren't YOU Using This Letter To Get Listings? Just last night I talked with an agent in LA who told me he doesn't want to use the letter because he doesn't have a buyer specifically interested in that seller's home. He and a lot of other agents are afraid to send out
this letter. Agents are concerned that they will get in front of a seller and the seller will say, "So, tell me about your buyer." Or, the seller will realize that they do not have a buyer that is specifically interested in their home. The Good News Is That NEVER Happens. Let Me Explain Why. I tell the sellers UPFRONT that I do not have the perfect buyer for their home. After all, I don't want them to have any unrealistic expectations. The entire basis behind this letter is to preview the home. I build rapport while I am viewing their home. In most cases they like me on a personal level. By the time I am done seeing the home, if they do not have someone in mind to hire, then I am usually one of the first agents they would consider. This was a big aha for me. A few years ago I realized that in order to get listings I do not need to do crazy marketing or make huge promises. I just need to meet with people and get to know them on a personal level. If I just do that, then I've put myself in the running to get their listing. That is why I preview as many homes as possible. This puts me in the running for a lot of listings. You must always have the mindset that
the primary reason you are mailing this letter is because you want to preview the home so that you can be knowledgeable about the market. We can all agree that a good agent is knowledgeable about all the homes for sale AND the homes potentially available in their market area. When someone asks a good agent about a certain house he or she has seen the agent can confidently answer any questions about it. When a good agent is going thru comps they know why a certain home sold for more than other similar ones. They know why another house sold for less. They know all this is because they have personally viewed all of the comps. Most people would agree that knowing the market is necessary to be a good agent. Ok, So What Do I Say When A Seller Calls Me? A seller called me the other day and asked, "If your buyer buys my house what percentage do you want to be paid?" I confidently replied, "Well, I don't know if they are going to buy your house. I work with a lot of buyers in Ponte Vedra and part of what I do is look at homes that may be coming on the market soon.
I do this so that my buyers will be aware of EVERYTHING that is on the market, not only what is on the MLS. I don't know if any of my buyers are going to be specifically interested in your house. But, I'd like to check it out and see if they might be interested. If one of them is interested, then I would like to be paid 3%." Is This Starting To Make Sense To You? If you said yes, then you don't need to read any further. Put this down right now and start mailing some of these awesome letters out today! Ok, so you're still reading. You probably understand the basic concept. But, you're still a little skeptical of the whole process. Will You Do Me One Little Favor? Would you test this out in a situation where you have a legitimate buyer? Think about all of the buyers you are working with right now. If you don't work with many buyers, then think about the last one you talked to on the phone. Go thru your notes on what that person was specifically interested in buying. Call the buyer and make sure they are still looking for a home.
OK, So Now You Have A Real, Legitimate Buyer That Is Looking To Buy A Home. Go to your MLS and do a quick search for homes that match what they are looking for. Put in their exact search criteria. Only, instead of selecting "Active", select "Expired." Then, select the Expired Date and only search for expireds from the last 2 years. Now, check and make sure those homes have not been relisted or sold since they expired. You Will Be Left With A List Of 10 50 Leads. Mail just those people the Expired Letter. When they call you, ask to come out and look at their home. Another reason you need to do this alone is so the owners don't have to waste time making their house look perfect for the buyer. Then, go out and see the home. Have them give you the grand tour. When you are done, ask them to sit down at the kitchen table. At this point you will know if your buyer is interested in their house or not. If your buyer would be interested in the house, then you handle it however you want to handle it. I would still get a listing agreement signed at your normal rate. But, that's up to you.
Anyways, this rarely happens because in most cases their home will not meet the buyer s exact interests. Ok, so here is what you do next. Tell them that your buyer is probably not going to not be interested in their house. But, WAIT! Don't just leave! Go Thru Your Presentation And Show Them What You Do To Sell Homes. Here is how that works. I usually say, "Do you mind if I show you what I do to help people sell their homes?" Most people don't mind. We sit down at the kitchen table and I go thru my normal listing presentation. Before I am finished I ask a few trial closes. I say, "Do you think this marketing would be more effective than what your last agent did?" If they say yes, then I continue with my presentation and ask for the business. I say, "Mr and Mrs Seller, I'm confident that my marketing will sell your home. It doesn't cost you a dime unless it works. Would you mind if I went to work and started marketing your home for you?" Most people agree and I list the house. That's all. As you can see it's a very simple process from start to finish. Well, that about wraps it up. I think I've explained the basis of the program and hopefully now you have a
better idea of how it works. So, please start using my expired letter. It has worked great for me and made the real estate business fun again. I'm confident it will do great things for your business as well. Thank you for taking your time to read this. I know it's a lot to cover, but I want to make sure that you understand exactly how effective it really is. And remember, Life Is Too Short To NOT Enjoy Tremendous Success In the Real Estate Business. Use my strategies to start enjoying the real estate business again! Here s to YOUR success! Sincerely, Chris Curry You First Real Estate Jacksonville, Florida P.S. If you still don't understand how my expired letter works, then please read thru this again. It is such an important tool, you owe it to yourself to figure out how to put it to work in your business! Practice it in a situation where you have a buyer specifically interested in buying a home in a certain area. You'll be shocked at how easy it is to take listings this way.
P.P.S. When you DO use it, and get your first listing this way, I want to hear about it!! Let me know how it went, I think you ll be surprised how easy it is once you ve grasped the goal, and the concept!