Real estate agents that effectively market around their listings understand that their efforts will not only generate more listings, but also provide a higher level of customer service to owners of their existing listings. The following real estate scripts and techniques for contacting neighbors around a listing are designed to show that you go the extra mile to market homes for sale for your clients. First we will examine some essential “Just Listed & Just Sold” prospecting strategies.
DIVERSIFY COMMUNICATION
Alternating the ways that you contact neighbors around a listing not only prevents putting people off with only repeated phone calls, but also shows that you use greater effort and a wide variety of methods to expose your client’s home for sale. The real estate scripts below allow agents to systematically display an array of marketing techniques to other potential home sellers in the immediate area around a listing. They can be used in prospecting telephone calls, door knocking, marketing flyers, mailers, email campaigns or even with neighbors that stroll through an open house.
“JUST LISTED” SCRIPT:
“Hi, I’m John Smith with ABC Realty, and we just put your neighbor’s home on 123 Main Street up for sale. Did you notice that it was now on the market?” Wait for a response and proceed with: “Great! On the John Smith Real Estate Team we do everything we can to get homes sold, and we know that the ultimate purchaser of a home is often a friend, family member or acquaintance of someone that already lives in the same neighborhood. So do you know anyone looking to buy or sell a home in the near future?”
“JUST SOLD” or “SALE PENDING” SCRIPT:
“Hi, I’m John Smith with ABC Realty, and I’m proud to say that we just sold your neighbor’s home over on 123 Main Street. But we have a new problem. We generated so much interest in marketing the home that we had several interested home buyers that also want to live in your neighborhood. So we are now reaching out to all of the neighbors to see if you know anyone else looking to sell their home in the near future?”
FOLLOW-UP SCRIPT FOR NEIGHBORS:
“It is my intent to specialize & focus my practice in this neighborhood. So I’m providing all of the homeowners with a complimentary value of $500 with the hope that they might consider interviewing me when and if they ever decide to sell their home in the future. You see, an appraiser would typically charge you around $500 to appraise your home, and I’m attempting to help you alleviate that cost to determine what your home would be worth in this market. Would that be of benefit to you?” If they are interested, proceed:
“I’d be more than happy to take a brief look through your home to give you a quick value with absolutely no obligation on your part. I also wouldn’t want you to straighten up your home just for me. I’m a Realtor and we’re very used to viewing homes before they’re ready to show. I assure you it won’t affect the value at all.” If they are still interested either preview the home on the spot or set another date and time to preview the home with them. Either way, obtain their contact information so that you can add them to your client database management system to stay in touch with them over time.