This week, we’ve covered the benefits of creating and utilizing an unpaid team.  We even shared a few options for mutual lead generation with your lender in pursuing FSBOs.

Today, we’re wrapping up with a system that made me good money…and made me locally famous.  This will show you how to have fun how to have fun and how to meet every seller and buyer in the neighborhood.

In the same step, this system will also show you how to create a massive personal promotional campaign and form an alliance with your lender while being a hero to your sellers.

I never liked open houses much.  They were always too slow.  I never could control the quality of client for whom, out of courtesy, service, and reputation, I had to wear a smile.  Even though I was missing my favorite “F” words – faith, family, fitness, fun, friends and freedom, I trudged through.   I met a speaker who said, “Just say “no” to open houses.”  The sellers sometimes do not understand so I devised a system to make it fun, massively profitable, and effective.

After almost twenty years of doing these open houses and watching others do them, here is the finished system:

Assemble no more than eight properties for a 15-minute open house on the second Sunday from today. Get all the homes to have something in common, i.e.: same general price, or size or all within your local historical district.  Keep them within a mile of each other if possible.  Call all the sellers so they can get the homes ready for your big event.  Explain it could bring out hundreds of people and that you will have two salespeople in the home while it is going on.  You will have an ample supply of brochures and maps.  Ask them if they might prepare some sort of refreshment.  Inform them we will be there and be gone within 15 – 20 minutes (watch or hear the smile).

Also, mention that your lender will be present to pre-qualify, that there will be a sign announcing the event in their yard, and that some of their neighbors will be invited by written invitation.  If you can’t find enough of your own sellers to make the event, try the in house listings.  Everyone needs an open house to be done.  Give chances to win 100 lottery tickets at each home!

Next, contact your lender and request his/her services.  Explain they will be meeting most potential sellers and buyers for a given geographical area.  Then explain that they will be made famous for their ingenious service and will share in the glow that comes from a unique, effective real estate system.  Tell them to have their notebook computer for pre-quals and see if you can get their help in a joint ad that announces:

 

Walter Sanford of Sanford Systems

and

Joe Lender of XYZ Mortgage

announce a wonderful real estate event –

eight homes in the Riverview District will be open in

15-minute intervals with 5-minute travel times.

Here they are:

1026 Cobb Blvd. — open 1 – 1:15

825 S. Chicago — open 1:20 – 1:35

etc.

etc.

Joe will be on hand to pre-qualify buyers and he will be giving out pre-qualification certificates with the amount of loan that you qualify for.

• Refreshments will be served at many of these fine homes (watch the crumbs).
• Maps of the tour will be available including a brochure on each home.
• Walter will be on hand to inform you about all the recent sales in the neighborhood and even tell you what your home is worth! Ask for his free dream home search.

NOT TO BE REPEATED FOR ANOTHER YEAR! 

Bring your tennis shoes, your car, your appetite, and, if you like a house — your wallet!

P.S.  You will be given a ticket for every home you visit.  All tickets will be put in a bowl at the end of the tour; at the last home, we will pull out one ticket and the lucky visitor will win a $100 gift certificate to America’s Bistro or 100 lottery tickets – your choice!  If you need more information, call Sanford Systems at 815.929.9258 or E-mail my assistant, Cyndi at cyndi@waltersanford.com.

 

You can probably split the cost of the gift certificate or lottery ticket with your lender.  How many new buyers, sellers, and refinance connections is he/she going to make?

We now should have the sellers and their properties that are necessary to make this a success.  Make sure you have keys and the lockbox pad!  Next, start making a tour map to hand out to everyone (include all your contact info) and have up to 200 brochures ready on each property. Also, get plenty of business cards or personal brochures ready.  Counsel the sellers on what it means to have a “show ready” home.  Explain to your lender that their real job is to quickly determine buyers from sellers.  Then they are to sort the ready buyers from the not so ready buyers and introduce only the ready buyers and sellers to me.  The contest tickets will be the foundation of your database.  Place the ad so it runs a week before the event.

Some finishing touches are to get out the reverse directory and invite thirty neighbors, by post card, from around the block of the homes on tour.  Furthermore, you will need a minimum of ten-yard signs that you put up at least five days before the event.  They should have your name on them (you should get the credit) and someplace to announce: OPEN HOUSE 1PM to 1:15 PM. (or whatever time), the day, and the date.  I had chalkboard signs made up after I got tired of taping paper signs over my regular signs!  You might want some directional signs, especially for the first house.  Once you have them at the first house, you probably have them for the tour.

It is Sunday at 12:50PM; you, your lender, and one helper (family member is okay) are at house number one.  It is not unusual to have 20 – 40 people waiting to get in.  You let them in and the fifteen minutes are up.  Your helper stays behind to clean up and lock up.

You and your lender go to house number two.  You and your lender are both pre-qualing and pressing the flesh like crazy!  There is certainly not enough time to be bored!  People are slapping you on the back and telling you this is a great idea!  They are telling you that you are a real estate genius!

House number three is across the street from a competitor’s listing.  The seller of that house is out mowing the lawn.  He sees 85 people go into the home across the street (the pied-piper effect) and he goes in to call his listing agent to ask where his buyers are!

As you move on to new houses, you are meeting more sellers and buyers – some want you to make an appointment with them!  At house number four, two buyers come up to you at the same time and tell you they “love this home!”  Both see each other and return to separate rooms to plan their acquisition strategy.

You get to house seven — but wait, in the newspaper ad, house seven was only listed as a SECRET, NEVER BEFORE SEEN, SUPER BONUS LISTING!  It is true.  I actually called two FSBOs whose houses met the criteria, negotiated a fee over the phone, and told them to get their homes ready for a lot of buyers at 3PM and 3:15PM!  Those FSBOs have not seen or heard of that many buyers in one place, except in urban legends.  You are a hero!

Everyone has a great time.  The nice young couple wins the dinner at the last home.  Your helper picks up the signs and flags then you sit down to look at your winnings!

Both FSBOs thought it was great, and one of them wants to talk to you in a week.  You double ended one of the properties by the Wednesday after the event, and one of the lookers brought their agent back to see house number five again.  All of the sellers cannot believe the amount of activity.  You have two “down the road” new sellers to follow-up with.  Three “ready to buy” new buyers that are pre-qualified have appointments with you this week.  Your lender has a couple of refi’s and some more buyers to work with on financing challenges, plus all the new business you are going to give him/her!

You now have new database entries to add to your follow-up system, and do not forget to write thank you letters to everyone.  Do not forget the sellers!  Give them the feedback they deserve!  If you borrowed the listings, then give the feedback to your agent friends.  Call the local paper and tell them about the success – maybe they will cover the next one.  Maybe you can start a local neighborhood renaissance.

 

Lead generation is what builds your business and keeps your pipeline full, no matter what the market says!  Grow Your Leads: Just Add Wa(l)ter is a hefty book full of detailed and complete prospecting systems, and it includes the data CD (digital copy).  This is also a great manual for an assistant.

Call 800.792.5837 and ask for the $50 blog special on Grow Your Leads: Just Add Wa(l)ter.  Check out the content details here: http://www.waltersanford.com/shop/grow-your-leads-just-ask-walter/.