Tag Teaming The "FSBO" Prospect
BATTLECALL GUEST EXPERT: Walter Sanford, National Real Estate Trainer
In previous articles, we have discussed what the top real estate agent wants out of a loan officer. We then discussed finding the top real estate agents to work with, how to eventually get a successful appointment and convince them that your services rank worthy of team inclusion. Also, we discussed some of the best ways to interact with real estate agents, such as seminars. Today, we are going to give you a strategy that will be profitable not only to you as a loan officer but also to your real estate agent team member.
The successful joining of the loan officer and real estate agent for the purpose of prospecting new potential clients has been an activity pursued by far too few loan officers and embarrassingly, real estate agents. The reasons are numerous but mostly the team effort has not successfully been completed because it costs one or the other team members too much money or time. So, here is what I believe to be an equal division of work and an equal division of the income. This is one of a continuing series of joint prospecting systems that you can bring to your top real estate agent so that the inclusion into their team and all of their future business will be directed to you. These team approaches should be planned over a large conference table with any assistants who may be helping present.
The first step in the program will be to obtain "for sale by owner" leads. These should come from both the loan officer team members and realtor team member. The leads for "for sale by owners" come from signs that are noticed in the local neighborhoods, Penny Saver type magazines, leads from bird dogs, any for sale by owner Internet sites, grocery store bulletin boards, and, of course, the Sunday classifieds. These leads need to be cut out by using a highly technical Xacto knife! Then they're taped to the upper left-hand corner of a 3x5 card. On a daily basis, these cards are to be arranged in telephone numerical order as to prevent duplication and then given to the loan officer for the following telephone script. The best time for making these telephone calls is on Monday evening between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. However, any time is certainly better than no time. Here is the telephone script:
"Good evening Mr. Johnson. My name is Carl Conforming, and I represent MGB Mortgage. We are one of the top lenders in the neighborhood, and I see that we are temporarily in the same sort of business. I provide home loans, and you are providing the home. The reason for my call this evening is to inquire about our working together in providing any buyers you may meet with the best possible home loans and therefore increase your success ratio in the sale of your home. Would this be of interest to you Mr. Johnson? (answer: hopefully positive)
You see, Mr. Johnson, if you will supply me with the buyers who call on your property I will call and pre-qualify them and then report back to you their qualifications so that you know that you are negotiating with a buyer that has the ability to buy your home. Secondly, I will prepare a copy ready sheet outlining five different ways that your home can be financed so that the buyer will understand their options. Third, I will pre-qualify you so you know exactly what your needs and requirements will be for the purchase of a new home. Mr. Johnson, will you be purchasing in this area? And fourth, I will distribute any flyers that you have made up on your home to some of the top real estate agents that I deal with. If these agents have any buyers possibly they can help you get the property sold. Do you work with any real estate agents?"
Very few "for sale by owners" will turn this free offer of help and counseling down, and the benefits are of course amazing. First of all, you will receive the leads of buyers who are looking to buy homes. If they don't end up buying your "for sale by owners" client's home then you have a ready supply of buyer leads to give to one or more of your top real estate agent team members. Also, many times a "for sale by owner" will actually sell their own home that will result in a new loan for you, because of the momentum of that down payment reaching the seller's pocket, you now have a candidate for a new loan on a move-up home. You have now bonded with the potential "for sale by owner." Once they find that the sale of their own home is a laborious and risky enterprise many times they will express their disinterest. At this time, you can sell your real estate agent team member as the likely alternative, thus providing a valuable listing lead!
Your telephone call can be preceded or followed up with a professionally done letter outlining the terms of your new "for sale by owner" partnership such as the following:
Date Ms. G. Iamlost
1322 E. Ninth St.
Long Beach, Ca 90814
Dear Ms. Iamlost,
In reviewing the current properties for sale, I notice that we are temporarily in the same sort of business. I am not a Realtor®, but a real estate mortgage lender. I actually find the money to make real estate transactions happen. I am writing you because I would like to meet and pre-qualify any potential buyers for you. I would also like to assist you should you decide to repurchase in the area.
When I pre-qualify buyers, like I do for Realtors®, I check their credit, down payment source, employment, and any other factors that may enhance or detract from their ability to obtain a new loan. This information is paramount to a transaction. If you do not have it, you may waste many weeks if you subsequently find that your buyer cannot qualify for a loan. So, think like a real estate agent: You must pre-qualify all buyers before entering into contracts with them to ensure a fast and smooth closing.
Your own pre-qualification is also important, because it, coupled with the amount of money you will receive as net proceeds from the sale of your home, will determine the dollar amount of your new purchase. These are very important amounts to know and will help determine the type of property you will soon be looking for. Both of these complicated procedures can be handled at no expense to you. I provide these services with the sole expectation that if I deliver prompt service and competitive rates, you'll use me as the mortgage lender for you and your buyer.
Finally, because I'm involved in this industry full time, I know all the best title and escrow companies and the best Realtors® in town. Since I will not receive any commission from the sale of your home, you can trust my guidance as to whom to use. I've been dealing in this market for many years, and I know how important it is to use team members who have good track records and many satisfied clients. I can tell you who these people are. I want to be an asset and resource to your real estate decisions. Please do not hesitate to call me, should the need arise.
Sincerely,
Joe Awesome
Awesome Funding
P.S. I'll call you in a few weeks just to see how you are doing. Please fax/email me the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of buyers at your property and I will report back to you as to their qualifications.
Remember that "for sale by owners" will enjoy working with you because you are a non-commission sales person, thus providing no threat to their net proceeds. You enter the transaction from the beginning, placing yourself in a mentorship position that allows you to reap the benefits should any new loans occur and to reap the benefits from your team members should any business occur.
This whole process is extremely low cost since it will require about 5 - 15 telephone calls on Monday evening and as many follow-up letters. The check-in rate for most "for sale by owners" seems to be appropriate at about once a week and we find that most "for sale by owners" tire within a 10-week period of their quest. Obviously, if you tire of carrying around 3x5 cards this information can easily be recorded on any simple database program.
Please be aware that every week there is a potential for the same "for sale by owner" to run a different ad and therefore there is a necessity of recording ads by telephone number as to prevent duplication and embarrassment. The process of attracting "for sale by owner" business has always been one of the most profitable aspects of lead generation for a real estate agent however, because of the large amount of rejection to commissioned sales persons requesting business, it is one of the least mined activities.
It is refreshing to have a team member handle the majority of the hard work. The majority of top real estate agents do not aggressively pursue "for sale by owners," thereby leaving the field dormant for you to present the new profit center. All it takes is an appointment with a top producer who understands that concept of profit centers and team concepts. Present your methods of researching the market, the telephone scripts and direct mail and explain the benefits of turned-over pre-qualified buyers and turned-over properly seasoned sellers. The benefits are massive and the potential for return both to the loan officer, the team membership and the Realtor® are awe-inspiring and guaranteed to form a long-lasting annuity type relationship.
Congratulations on your quest!
Walter Sanford was one of the top real estate agents in North America for nearly thirty years, and now, he is one of the most requested speakers, trainers, and coaches. He has authored twelve systems and books on checklists, pro-active lead generation, affiliate lead generation, plus others mentioned in this article. You can hire Walter or buy his products by visiting his website for more details at waltersanford.com.
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