FSBO sellers have the goal of selling their home. They have made that obvious by putting their home up for sale! Contrary to what they believed, when they put that sign in the ground, or maybe even signed up with a website, their home wasn’t flooded with eager, willing, and able buyers for their property. After their home has been listed just a short time, they now get more phone calls from real estate agents than prospective buyers.
FSBO sellers often have an ax to grind with real estate professionals. They can’t see the value in the services, they think it’s incredibly easy, or they just want to save money. Whatever their reason for listing their home themselves, when you get a hold of them for the first time, understand that you are going to have to break through their fears to see if they qualify for your services.
It’s important to remember that you will only get a FSBO owner on the phone about 20% of the time. The other 80% of your communication with them will be through voicemails and the letters that you send them. When you do get them on the phone, it’s very important to ask powerful questions so you don’t waste any time.
The very first question (and the easiest) to start the conversation is the following:
Is your home still on the market?
Asking this question will give you the first indication on if there is a possibility to be able to help them. Now, if they do say “my home is sold”, take time to dig deeper and ask if they have actually signed a purchase agreement. Sometimes FSBO owners think they have sold their home when someone just has expressed interest so dig deep and find out what their real situation is like.
After you have determined if their home is actually available, it’s important to transition into qualifying the FSBO to see if there is a match. There are three questions that you can ask to determine if there is a match and when you ask all three of them you will be able to select only the most qualified FSBO sellers to work with.
Consider the following question to ask as part of your match script.
Mr/Mrs. Seller, if I brought you a buyer, would you offer a 3% co-op?
This question helps you to determine if they are willing to pay someone to bring them a qualified and motivated buyer. Don’t dive into questions of asking if they want to pay a listing commission as well as you will just get them to hang up on you!
Questions that Can Help You Get to the Heart of the Problem?
Of course one question certainly isn’t going to get you the appointment. The more questions you can ask, the more interest you can pique (i.e. without sounding like you just want a listing) the better chance you have to establish enough rapport that will get you an appointment with the FSBO. Consider a few of the following questions:
- Have you had a challenge with real estate agents in the past? If so, can you share those challenges?
- How did you price your home for sale? If I could show you how your home could be worth 5-10% more would you consider using a real estate professional?
- Are you making this home sale contingent on buying another home? Have you done that process before?
- Have you identified who your escrow company will be when you get a buyer? Have you had an escrow company run a seller’s estimated net proceeds for you?
- How are you determining if a buyer’s offer is one that will ultimately be successful?
- Are you aware of all of the reports and disclosures you have to provide to a buyer?
Taking FSBO listings does require building rapport building and you generally won’t be able to ask all of the questions you need to on the first phone call. Focus on asking enough qualifying questions to determine if they are worthy of your follow up and on your following calls you can work to get that appointment!
