Incentives offered by sellers at closing are nothing new to the real estate industry. 

Sometimes it’s as simple as leaving that beautiful pool table behind, rather than moving it out of the basement.  Or, it’s the seller agreeing to fix the front porch, or repaint the pink bedroom that the future buyer just can’t get past as they dream of a new in-home office.

Seller-funded incentives have also gone to extremes.  It wasn’t too long ago that everything from a free car, boat, and luxury trips could be included in the mix. 

Incentives are back and have become a bit more realistic. Perhaps they are back to their true purpose, which is as a valuable marketing tool that can draw attention to a listing while providing an added benefit to the buyer.

Zillow Special Offers Screenshot

In October, Zillow introduced "Special Offers" to address this need and it’s already having a positive impact on agents who are taking advantage of this new marketing tool.  More than 1,000 listings have a seller-funded cash incentive attached, which provides added visibility on Zillow, among other benefits.  

The early results for those agents that are participating in the program are promising. Listings with a Zillow Special Offer are currently receiving 10 times more buyer contacts than listings without.

Tyler Rygmyr, with Revolution Real Estate in Nashville, is already a fan of the program.  “I learned about the Zillow Special Offer program late one evening, so I ran a special later that night on a listing that had been on the market for 9 months. Several scheduled showings happened immediately thereafter, and an acceptable offer was submitted within days. Pretty cool!”


Let me know if you have any questions or if you need more information about seller-funded incentives, I'd be happy to show you some great examples of how other agents are using these "special offers" in their areas.

 

 

          

 

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Posted by Brad Andersohn on 12/21/2011 09:06 PM   Comments (51)   Special Offers in the Sales Strategies / Tactics Channel   zillow special offers  
Originally posted at: ActiveRain Outside Blog: Seller Incentives Increase Buyer Contacts
Short URL: http://actvra.in/nbM
Post is included in group: Almost Anything Goes
Post is included in group: Out Of The Box!
Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: Services for Real Estate Professionals
Post is included in group: The Art Of Marketing You

51 Comments on Seller Incentives Increase Buyer Contacts

20 Most Recent Comments Displayed Show All

NOV
27
2011
681,595 Points 316 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Hey Larry - I actually think that with the volume of email we all get these days, many probably just missed the announcement that was emailed out.  I too am glad that Blogging has the value and power of getting our messages out to the rest of the online world.  Now days, seems like we need to add video, podcasting, tweeting and texting etc. to the mix as well.  lol~   Happy Holidays!  :-)
1:48pm • #32
NOV
28
2011
355,012 Points 19 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Brad-Looks like a good plan for getting more eyes on the listing. The more eyes you get, the better your chance for getting a buyer, right?
11:13pm • #33
NOV
29
2011
681,595 Points 316 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Yes Wayne - EXACTLY!  Very well put, I couldn't have said it better myself!  :-)
7:51pm • #34
DEC
21
2011
445,107 Points 11 Featured Posts Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Brad - this is the first I hear of it (I too must have missed the email that went out) but glad I didn't miss this blog.  Suggested and hope it gets up there so that others like me don't miss it this time around.  Have! a super holiday
9:57pm • #35
160,052 Points Outside Blog Hit Router Called Shot Master

Add me to the list of agents that didn't know about this. But I think it is an excellent idea and I am going to spend some time looking into it further.
10:58pm • #36
1,336,895 Points 128 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

I, too, missed this. Had a delightful call from Kerrie at Zillow who set up the banner on my AR blogs. I really like this feature!.

Margaret
11:18pm • #37
733,185 Points 13 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Hi Brad...Great Idea. Nice to see Buyers are getting on board. It's better than keep dropping the price.

Merry Christmas-Fred Carver

Thanks to You and Zillow...Hope you plan to Come here soon :O))

Have your best year ever in 2012

 
11:33pm • #38
DEC
22
2011
Outside Blog

Zillow keeps raising the bar for added value to everyone's listings.  Great article to hear about the news at Ziloow!
12:11am • #39
617,305 Points 60 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Brad

Thanks for posting. Will definitely explore that in January. Expecting a new listing and will want to wow the customer with new marketing ideas. Will keep a close look at the stats.

thanks!
3:32am • #40
975,339 Points 6 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Sounds like a new way to put some spunk in your showings!
7:00am • #41
823,980 Points 155 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Brad, thanks for mentioning this.  I, too, must have missed the email announcing this to Zillow Premier agents.  By the way, I've had two Zillow leads this week.
8:24am • #42

Wonderful wonderful post Brad.

I did send the article to my sellers for reference as the 3rd source.

Great share and Happy Holidays Brad
12:00pm • #43
578,616 Points 2 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Sounds like something I need to look into.  On to Zillow!!
12:17pm • #44
236,909 Points 4 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Hi Brad,
Thanks for sharing.
This sounds like a nice incentive for buyers, plus it brings in offers faster for sellers.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
12:18pm • #45
DEC
23
2011
556,102 Points 31 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Hi Brad,

An interesting post.

Zillow continues to come up with interesting and creative ways to make things interesting.

Thanks for sharing

PHil
6:37am • #47
681,595 Points 316 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Lora - thanks for the comment and the suggestion. Happy Holidays to you and your family too.
12:14pm • #48
DEC
24
2011
879,476 Points 10 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Brad - trusting you and yours will ....

Have A Very Merry Christmas

and

A Prosperous New Year

 
9:34pm • #49
DEC
26
2011
681,595 Points 316 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Kathy - we did, thank you.  Hope your Holidays are just as good...  or even better!  :-)
10:45pm • #50
JAN
10
2012
269,968 Points 15 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Called Shot Master

I never heard about this and I advertise with Zillow! Sad that my rep never mentioned this to me but they keep trying to sell me zip codes.
10:47am • #51
681,595 Points 316 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Hit Router Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Hi LaNita - this is something new that we've recently added. It may be that your sales rep at the time didn't have this available?  There were numerous emails that went out to ALL Premier Agents when we did launch this, unfortunately I think many of those were missed or deleted without being read.  (I do that sometime too) 

We also did 3 separate webinar trainings to show how this works and how to set it up for your sellers.

I'll make sure I pass along your comment to the sales team so they can be sure to mention this as an added-value to those they are helping with their advertising like yourself. 

Thanks, and if you ever need any assistance or have any questions, feel free to contact me anytime. :-)
11:10am • #52

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Brad Andersohn

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