I spent the better part of the afternoon yanking flyer boxes from the front lawns of our sellers homes...why???

A couple of months ago our local MLS sent out a notice that for a limited time, an upgraded listing package, normally $99 would be free. Woo Hoo! Included in the package was a free flyer box for each listing, if requested.

Well, free being an excellent price, my business partner, Paula (a very sweet English girl complete with accent) and I ordered boxes for all of our listings. Another friend, Holly, has taken full advantage of this fab deal and ordered boxes for each of her subdivision lots. Holly is now selling those boxes at half the going rate and has created a small cottage industry operated from the trunk of her car.

Heck, why not? We're Realtors and business is slow...we gotta eat, right? A couple more nights of Cheerios for dinner and I might think about selling mine...just kidding! Although, tis the season for giving so if you are feeling charitable, please follow the link at the bottom of the page to make donations to the bruised, battered and busted Broker Babes of Salem Fund. All donations are appreciated, cash only please, no pocket change. The US Postal service frowns on that kind of thing.

So why did I pull out all those flyer boxes?? As soon as the boxes went up our sign calls went down. During the course of conversation, my partner and I realized that neither of us has received any sign calls for quite some time. I know that people are plucking the flyers out of the boxes because I've had to restock said boxes several times. I've never really been a big fan of flyer boxes and this has just served to reinforce my belief.

I would prefer to get the sign calls. My theory is that if I can get the potential client on the phone I will be able to dazzle them with my sparkling and witty repertoire, expound on my brilliant real estate expertise and then eventually, when I have finally convinced them that I am the greatest Realtor in the free world (more likely they are just beaten down and tired of listening to me talk) I will gain their trust, get their contact information and they will become a client of mine for life. A girl's gotta dream, right?

So, as fast as you can say "Bob's your uncle" I headed out on a mission. Now my trunk is filled with mud covered metal posts and I will have to clear some additional space in the garage to store my "free" flyer boxes. Mental note to self...don't use a sledge hammer to install flyer boxes....it's a serious pain in the behind to dig them out of the yard.

Anyway, I am going to make it a point to fully explain to all my current and potential sellers exactly why I don't believe that flyer boxes will help in the home selling process. Plus, I'm tired of replacing boxes that someone has "permanently borrowed" and refilling flyer boxes early on a not yet caffeinated Saturday morning incognito in my sunglasses and pink fuzzy slippers because a seller has left me a 911 message to let me know that they are out of flyers and need them desperately or nobody will buy their house.