Real Estate Marketing On Steroids; Farming Expired Listings For Increased Profits

By: Lanard Perry
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:16:14
Print this article | Tell a friend | For publisher | Social Bookmarking
Rating:
 

If you're not farming expired listings you're missing out on one of the best real estate marketing strategies going...and a major source of income. Why? Well, there are many reasons, but I've distilled it down to 4 major ones for the sake of brevity.

Perhaps they will convince you once and for all about how an expired listing script is one of the best strategies for marketing real estate.

1. Farming expired listings is easy to do. It's as simple as logging into your Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and doing a search of expired listings for any time frame you want. Go ahead - try it right now. It's simple, easy and near effortless!

2. Expired listings are some of the hottest leads you'll ever have - each one is a known and motivated seller! When a listing expires it's usually not a good thing.

Some owners have to sell because they're moving to another city and state to start a new job. Others may have to sell because they were "down sized." Still, some want to sell because they're transitioning into retirement and are trying to lower their monthly living expenses.

In many instances, no matter the reasons, they're more motivated to sell than they were before!

3. Sellers of expired listings are often more realistic about price and terms the second time around! Good agents can leverage expired listings to better prices, terms and conditions. Astute Sellers are quick to understand that they may need to give a little on their asking price, or sweeten their listing by providing other financial incentives to sell their properties.

The more the Seller is willing to "give", and they will, the more desirable their new listing with you will be, and the more likely you are to get it sold!

When Sellers insist on overpricing their listings you can politely decline them (which will shock them like you wouldn't believe) knowing that more opportunities are just a few mailings away! Sometimes the Sellers are so stunned when you decline their offer to list with you they'll start back pedaling while trying to give you what you want to list with you. After all, how many times have you actually declined a listing?

4. Most real estate agents do not farm expired listings - they assume that someone else has already converted them to new listings. But they're wrong. Sometimes nobody is going after them!

I'm constantly amazed at the number of agents who know that expired listings are worth their weight in gold, but ever market them.

Go on and try it out for yourself. Go around you office and see if any of your coworkers are farming expireds! But do it quietly! You don't want to give them any ideas if they don't already have any!

What you'll find is that few, if any, are farming expired listings. Instead of marketing real estate in this relatively stress free way, they're hung up on complicated real estate marketing schemes that cost a bundle of money and deliver little return on their investment.

It's the most incredible thing I've ever seen. Even veteran agents, who should know how valuable expired listings can be, don't farm them. In the end their failure to act is your gain.

So, if you're not farming expired listings you ought to seriously consider it. Don't continue to be one of those agents that assumes another agent has already secured the listing. Instead, be the one that actually converts the expired listings into new ones!

Lanard Perry, author of a real estate marketing system that shows Realtors how to average 1 or more listings a week. Visit him at Real Estate Marketing Talk for more marketing ideas.

Article source: Expert Articles

Most Recent Articles in Real Estate category

  • The Silver Lining of the Foreclosure Crisis - By: Leslie Eskildsen
    They need capital to not only buy the home, but also to restore it. Foreclosure homes can range from an empty, abandoned building to a trashed house with garbage strewn all over the place, missing fixtures and a galloping case of mold or termites.
  • Why You Should Invest in Spanish Property - By: Craig Edmonds
    The reasons why people choose to invest in Spanish property are varied. Those wanting to spend their vacation in this beautiful country know all about its beautiful beaches and romantic culture. They want to experience its golden sunsets and warm nights with the sea air wafting through the curtains.
  • Additional Inspections to Get Before You Buy That Home - By: Greg Smith
    Hiring a licensed pest inspector to check the home for wood destroying organisms such as termites and mold is always a good idea. Termite infestation wreaks havoc on the wood structures in your home, while keeping their presence a well-kept secret. Often it isn't until a great deal of damage has been done that you discover that you have termites.
  • The Ins & Outs of Sale Contingencies - By: Greg Smith
    A sale contingency is a critical contract addition for a buyer who owns a house that he or she needs to sell before closing on a new one. If she doesn't add this provision to the contract, she faces the possibility of having to pay two mortgages. With a sale contingency in place, the contract for the new home becomes null and void if she is unable to sell her home.
  • Problems With Mineral Rights Leasing - By: Anna Poelo
    Problems and disputes cannot be wholly avoided in mineral rights leasing.
  • Milwood homes for those wanting to settle - By: Joe Cline
    It is your typical Austin community: landscaped lawns, tree-lined side-streets, kids playing, couples strolling, all awash in Texas sun on a summer's day, and you scout around for 'for sale' or 'for rent' signs.
  • Rosedale: An Austin Neighborhood By Any Other Name - By: Joe Cline
    Rosedale is simply enchanting. The small cottage-like homes offer a charming, homey, and exquisite appeal. The neighborhood offers a mix of the old and new Austin.
  • The 4 Parts of a Business Plan for Real Estate Agents - By: Cheri Alguire
    This model of business planning and goal setting for Real Estate Professionals breaks the process down to four parts and seventeen steps.
  • Tenant Screening - the first line of defense - By: Garret Lloyd
    Getting a tenant for an unoccupied apartment is definitely a good idea. But getting good tenants is of prime importance in order to ensure safety and peace of mind in the long run.
  • What is online reverse auction? - By: Ron Victor
    Reverse auction deals with internet auction and e-purchasing. This is also known by many names like procurement auction, sourcing event, e-sourcing, and e-auction. Generally in an auction, purchaser is allowed to place a bid on an item on the amount that he is willing to pay so that he can buy that item.