Real Estate Leads 101: Keep an Open Mind With Open Houses

Posted on February 27, 2009
Filed Under Real Estate Foreclosures |

Rory Wilfong, co-founder of GetMyHomesValue, talks about how open houses are a great source of real estate leads:

In my day to day conversations with real estate professionals and both my sales and customer service teams at GetMyHomesValue.com, I’m finding that too many agents look at open houses the wrong way. Just like many agents look at doing a free CMA for their real estate leads as a waste of time, many agents don’t like doing open houses…usually because they have the wrong expectations. A free CMA is simply an icebreaker for you to get a listing appointment. An open house is not for the purpose of selling that particular house. If you do, great, but that rarely happens. An open house is simply another rich source of real estate leads for you.

The attitudes of some agents just baffle me: “Oh gosh, I gotta appease my client…appease my seller. I can’t find somebody to do this open house for me on Sunday. I don’t want to do it.” These are the same people complaining that they don’t have a check coming in for the next 90 days. Real estate leads ensure that you have a steady flow of income for the rest of your life. You must always keep your pipeline full of leads…I always had several hundred of them (at different stages, of course). If you don’t want to do this, get out of real estate. it’s not for you. This is how you secure your income flow…just always keep your pipeline full of real estate leads.

Agents sometimes start off strong and then relax prematurely, thinking they can rely on referrals when they really should be generating more real estate leads. Open houses are a great way to do it. Form a relationship with a loan officer and have them with you at your open houses and listing appointments to do good faith estimates. The opportunities are there for you. There are very successful agents, some of whom you work with, who literally are so busy that they NEED someone to work an open house for them. If your pipeline isn’t full of real estate leads and you have the time, don’t miss out on these opportunities. ASK for them. They’re there.

Look for FSBO open houses, as well. Don’t let the “For Sale By Owner” sign scare or discourage you. FSBO’s can be a great source of real estate leads as well. I met with a lot of FSBO’s and converted them into my clients. All you have to do is show them how they’ll come out better with you as their agent. I can’t tell you how many times I went to FSBO open houses, had a nice conversation and asked if I could list their house. The worst they’ll tell you is “no.’ So what? If you don’t ask for it, you don’t get it and I found that most FSBO’s were okay with me visiting their open house. If they sell it on their own, that’s okay…you didn’t put out too much effort anyway. On the flipside, I made many calls where I asked them if they had sold the house, they said “no,” I said “I have a buyer for you,” and I wound up earning their business and making a commission. I’m amazed at how many agents just won’t do this.

Keep an open mind with open houses. Whether you’re hosting the open house or visiting a FSBO open house, they’re a goldmine of real estate leads if you have the right mindset.

Rory Wilfong
http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/real-estate-leads-101-keep-an-open-mind-with-open-houses-134171.html

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