Welcome back to Brilliant Talks, our free coaching for real estate agents. We are now on our 10th session, and today, I am joined by my long-time friend and CEO of Curtis Realty Group, Brian Curtis. We did a practice call on For Sale by Owners (FSBOs) to show everyone how to use “scripts” in order to communicate better with them.

One thing I want you to keep in mind is that everything you are doing right now is in practice. You may not get it right the first few times. You may suck at it a whole bunch of times. Trust me, I did.

When it comes to FSBOs, we see a lot of opportunities in some areas more so than in others because of the downturn in some parts of the US.

We get our leads from REDX, and we start calling those leads. I’ll be going over the script we use so you can get a better grasp of the whole process.

What I want to highlight is that whether you are talking to FSBOs, expireds, online leads, or any other category of leads, the key is always consistency, tonality, and giving value. As agents, we always want to come from a place of helping our consumers, whether they are buyers or sellers.

Here’s the practice call I did, where Brian played the part of a For Sale by Owner lead:

*Ring. Ring.*

Lead: Hello, this is Brian.

Agent: Hey, Brian, are you the owner of the For Sale by Owner online?

Lead: I am.

Agent: Awesome. This is Tristan with Happy Realty. How are you doing today?

Lead: Can’t complain. How about yourself?

Agent: I’m good.

*Take note that a lot of agents think that people don’t want to be asked how they are doing, but it’s the opposite. Establishing a little bit of respect and common courtesy at the beginning goes a long way. And even if they hang up after asking how they are, that is okay. We want to take a small step in the right direction.

Agent: I’m calling about the home for sale at 123 Main Street. Is that still available, Brian?

Lead: It is.

Agent: Awesome. I have a few buyers in the area and I was wondering if you have…

*A little warning: If you don’t have any buyers in the area, then don’t use it. We don’t want you to lie. The reason we say this is that we have over a hundred thousand people in our database, so we have buyers in most areas that we’re calling in. The idea behind this next part is a pattern interrupt, which most agents don’t do because they have been using the same scripts for years.

*If it is an entry-level home or a single-family residence, we ask:

Agent: … a formal dining room?

*If it is a luxury home:

Agent: … a guest house or separate sleeping quarters?

*If it is a condo or townhouse:

Agent: … a pet policy in your HOA?

*In this practice call, we went for a condo.

Agent: Awesome. I have a few buyers in the area and I was wondering if you have a pet policy in your HOA?

Lead: I think there is. Full disclosure, I don’t have any pets. But I think there is a maximum, and don’t quote me on this, but I think there is a maximum of two pets per condo.

Agent: Is there any way that I can get more information on that? Do you have the direct number? Because I do have a client that may be interested in your specific home.

Lead: Yeah, absolutely. I can text you the number when I hang up. That way you can talk to the guy in case you have any other questions besides pets.

Agent: Awesome.

*If the answer is no, there is no pet policy, I would have said:

Agent: No? That’s okay. It can still work.

*The reason for asking those three questions for pattern interrupt is because these things aren’t always clear online. Sometimes you can’t see if there are walls that separate the dining room, or if there’s a separate sleeping quarter, and pet policies aren’t always mentioned online. And again, it is a pattern interrupt from the scripts that they often hear from other agents all the time. This could get the lead to talk to us a little bit more.

Agent: Can you tell me a little bit more about your home, Brian? Just so I can get more information?

Lead: Well, it’s a three-bedroom, two-bath condo. It’s a city view, so, you know, we’re looking at the city. People seem to like that. And let’s see… the house is built in ’98. We did some updates about two years ago, so we put in all new flooring and we updated the kitchens and the bathrooms.

Agent: Awesome. So, everything that was online. I just wanted to verify that. How long have you had it For Sale by Owner?

Lead: You know, we did it, I want to say, about three and a half weeks ago, somewhere in that range.

Agent: Alright, so not too long. How’s it going so far with the market shifting the way it is?

Lead: You know, a friend of mine sold their condo right down the hall from us and they sold it in like a minute and a half. Obviously, we haven’t done that, or I probably won’t be talking to you. So, you know, we’re getting one or two people to come look at it a week. I haven’t gotten any offers that I find acceptable yet.

Agent: Got it. And did you choose to sell it on your own to save on the commission or just because you hate all real estate agents?

Lead: Well, for the record, I don’t hate all real estate agents, just most of them. But, yeah, when you’re at the price point of… you know, we’re at $700,000 is what we got listed for. And I start looking at 6% commission and that’s 40 grand. So, yeah. I think I’d like to save 40 grand.

Agent: It is. That’s a chunk. I mean, I don’t blame you. How long are you going to try to sell it on your own before you look at possibly hiring a real estate agent?

Lead: I was thinking that I was going to wait at least another month. I talked to several agents and they told me that right now, the average days on the market is around 50, and since we’ve been on the market for about 20, I was figuring that I’d probably wait another 30 days, give or take.

Agent: Got it. And with the changing market, it’s really tough to tell where we’re actually going to head.

Agent: I have a question for you. Besides the commission, is there anything else holding you back from hiring a real estate agent?

Lead: No, not specifically. I think the commission is a big deal. And again, obviously, I want someone who’s going to do something for their commission. I’ve sold several houses and I felt like all they do is put a sign in the yard, and that’s about it. So, I guess, if I do end up listing the house, I’d like to go with someone who’s actually going to market the house because, well, what else am I paying for, right?

Agent: Yeah. What does that marketing look like for you?

Lead: You know, I’m not 100% sure. I do think open houses are valuable. Then I think, online marketing… Because in my business, that’s what we do, everything is marketed online. So, I’m assuming Facebook, Google, and some other stuff. … I’m not a real estate agent, but I feel like more than putting a sign on the front yard is a good starting point.

*Now, this is the point where I decide to close. Remember that the close isn’t “Can I get the listing? Have you interviewed any other agents?” That’s all great, but that’s not what we’re going for. We want to go for the relationship. And the relationship is only going to be strengthened if I meet the lead in person.

*From the way our conversation went, what he was saying, basically, is “I don’t want to hire another real estate agent that’s just going to put it up for sale and hope it sells. I want to see the plan.”

Agent: Brian, we’ve got a plan on the social media side, because we’ve looked, and you probably already know this, but the most visited websites in the world are Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok’s creeping up there.

Agent: So, we’ve got a plan for all those. Do you have some time later today, around 5:30 or 6:00, so I can stop by for 15 minutes, just drop by something and show you what we can do. Just so you’re ready when it is you want to pick the agent to sell your home?

Lead: Yeah, sure. I’ll be home around 6:00 so why don’t we just do 6:00, that way we won’t miss the chance.

Agent: Alright. I’ll see you later.

What happens next…

Chances are, on top of me meeting him, he’s not going to list with me for the first time. He’s not going to list with me the second time either. This is a very long-term play for FSBOs (or expireds). Sometimes it takes 3-7 weeks. Sometimes it happens in a week or two.

The point is, I need to continue to show up and have a plan.

So, I’m going to stop by and give him a two-page plan of what we do. I’m going to keep it short, connect with him, give him value.’ (If you want to check out what goes into our listing marketing plan, click here, or watch the second session of Brilliant Talks on YouTube.)

I am going to ask for the listing in person, but I’m not going to push it.

Some tips from Brian

During the coaching session, we also did a practice call where Brian played the role of the agent and I played the role of FSBO, just to show people two different approaches. You can watch the replay of the session on YouTube or listen to the podcast on Spotify.

Brian shared some tips with all of us. His approach to the call is to schedule a showing with the seller and ask for more details about the property. On the mock call, he also taught the lead about the current situation of the market and assured the seller that it isn’t doomsday yet for people who are looking to sell real estate.

But what stood out the most to me, and to others on the coaching call, was his strategy of offering the seller co-marketing for free. He gives so much value, offering to do the marketing, field calls for the owner, and even pre-qualify interested buyers, for no cost to the seller.

His reason for doing this is the opportunity to get a few more buyers looking to buy in the same area.

Another strategy he shared is offering to give the seller a lockbox. Most of the time, FSBO leads get more calls from real estate agents than from potential buyers, and it can get irritating for them. As Brian pointed out, they didn’t put up their home for sale on their own just so they could get calls from a lot of agents.

Offering to give them a lockbox, designed specifically so that only agents can open them, is a good way to pattern interrupt the other agents who will be marketing to “his FSBO lead.” 

Closing thoughts

People aren’t interested in whether you are the top agent in your area or in your office. When you tell them that, it doesn’t automatically translate for the clients that “this agent can help me.”

They won’t care about what you have to say until they know you care about them. So, focus on giving them value. What is it that they need, and how can you give it to them?

How can I show this person that I have their best interest at heart? That way, we can build more meaningful relationships beyond just a business transaction.