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Why You Need a 'Would Sell' List and How To Build One

By
Real Estate Technology with ActiveRain

If someone comes to you and wants to buy a house, but the house they want doesn't match up with a home currently listed for sale on the MLS, what do you do?

One of the really awesome parts about Ben Kinney buying ActiveRain, is that it's given me an unprecedented level of access to see how he runs his real estate business. One of the best things I've seen that they do, is their 'Would Sell' list.

What is a 'Would Sell' List?

(At the bottom of this post, I will show you in a short video how to actually build this for yourself)

Essentially the Ben Kinney 'Would Sell' list is a list of every homeowner in Whatcom County (the area Ben's team does business) who has ever spoken to someone on Ben's team and indicated that if the price and the timing were right, they would consider selling their home. 

Think about the scenario by which someone ends up on the 'Would Sell' list. Let's say Ben's team is running ads geared towards sellers on Facebook. Lot's of agents do this. It's the 'To Find Out What Your Home is Worth, Go here.....' type ads. We all know that not everyone who clicks on an ad like that, is going to be a ready, willing and able seller today. In fact, most of these people aren't looking to sell today, they are simply looking to see what their house might sell for. 'Seller leads' come from lots of different marketing methods on Ben's team. And they all get followed up with.

Much of the time, once they are able to actually speak with the homeowner, they come to find out that this person is not yet ready to sell. In every case like this, they will leave the conversation by saying:

"We understand you aren't ready to sell today or in the near future. However, we always have a lot of buyers that we are working with in our business at any given time. I wonder if you are alright with us calling you in the future if we have a qualified buyer that really wants to buy a home like yours?"

And then they get out of their own way. What happens more often than you can believe (if you've never tried something like this) is the homeowner will say yes. At this point then, this property goes on the 'Would Sell' list. Meaning if the timing and the offer price were right, this homeowner would consider selling.

This does a couple of things. 

First, it creates a reason for their team to follow up with this homeowner in the future. In Bellingham, especially in certain neighborhoods, the inventory can be very tight. So if Ben's team has a buyer that wants to live in a certain neighborhood, there might only be a few homes for sale in that neighborhood. But they always have people on the 'Would Sell' list that they can call. That might go something like this.....

"Ms Homeowner, hi this is Brian from the Ben Kinney Team. We spoke to you back in November and you had agreed that if we had a qualified buyer that was looking to buy a home in your neighborhood, we could give you a call. This weekend, we have a family coming into town that will be looking at 3 houses with us and we thought they might also be interested in your home. Have you given any more thought to potentially selling if the offer was right? Would you mind if we brought them by to look at your home?"

You'd be surprised how often that a homeowner says 'Yeah, sure, bring them by'. But, in almost every single case, who do you think these people end up calling when they are ready to list? In the mind of the homeowner, the Ben Kinney team has had potential buyers for their property every month or so for the last two years, so why wouldn't they be the best listing agent in town to sell their home when they are actually ready to sell.

Second, It also has a built in benefit for the buyers that work with the Ben Kinney team. What is that benefit? Having access to homes that aren't actually on the market, but where the homeowner may be willing to sell. They let their buyers know about the 'Would Sell' list when they begin working with the buyer. All of your buyers (assuming they have Internet connections....which is like 95% of them) have seen the properties that are for sale on the MLS. They've seen them on Zillow, Trulia, REALTOR.com, Redfin, your website......they've seen them everywhere. But you can provide absolute value beyond what 99% of the other agents in your market can provide by having other properties where you already know the homeowner is willing to let you (possibly) show the home and they are willing to listen to an offer.

I imagine many of you have conversations every week with people that just aren't quite ready to put their home on the market, but would consider it if you had an actual buyer on standby, ready and willing to make an offer on their home. This is a great way to build value into your business and an easy way to map out where there are potential opportunities to grow your business.

Here is a short video where I show you how to build your own 'Would Sell' List.

 

Posted by

Bob Stewart
ActiveRain
408-638-1834

 

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Comments (83)

Gayle Rich-Boxman Fishhawk Lake Real Estate
John L Scott Market Center - Birkenfeld, OR
"Your Local Expert!" 503-739-3843

Bob, I don't know how to do all of that (on your expert video), but I DO have pocket listings and have done that for years. It's a list of sellers that aren't on MLS (they don't want to accrue days when the bad weather starts and the seasonal buyers wane a bit), but when I have a buyer that works for their listing, I can show it, only to MY buyers. Because I'm a dual agent in Oregon, it works really well. Didn't know about this post, and have to thank Patricia Kennedy for highlighting it in her weekly favs!

 

Nov 28, 2016 07:47 PM
Lisa Friedman
Great American Dream Realty - Essex, VT
35 Years of Real Estate Experience!

I'm just curious if when you bring a buyer to these properties if you charge half of the commission (buyer's side only) or if you get paid for both listing and buyer sides.

Dec 25, 2016 08:13 AM
Praful Thakkar
LAER Realty Partners - Andover, MA
Andover, MA: Andover Luxury Homes For Sale

Nice to see this post back on Daily Drop, Bob Stewart.

It's the time to implement the new strategy for 2017 - and this will be very helpful.

Dec 25, 2016 08:48 AM
Nick Vandekar, 610-203-4543
Realty ONE Group Advocates 484-237-2055 - Downingtown, PA
Selling the Main Line & Chester County

Helpful post in these times of low inventory, thank you.

Dec 25, 2016 11:31 AM
Debra Leisek
Bay Realty,Inc Homer Alaska - Homer, AK

I hd read this before... but good to see it again.thank you and MerrChristmas!!!

Dec 25, 2016 03:33 PM
Julie Larson Realtor® Sarasota FL 941-284-9826
White Sands Realty Group FL | 941-284-9826 | Serving Sarasota, Manatee & Charlotte Counties - Sarasota, FL
When you're thinking of moving...ThinkSuncoast.com

Brilliant idea!!! Like, Lisa Friedman, I'm curious as to how you handle the transaction if the buyer does want to buy the house that's not listed? Would you please share how that works, Bob Stewart?

Dec 25, 2016 06:38 PM
Debe Maxwell, CRS
Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC
The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

Nice - great idea to add to our 2017 list of goals, Bob Stewart!  I hope you and yours had a very Merry Christmas!

Dec 26, 2016 04:00 PM
Beth Bromund
Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel - Rochester, MI
REALTOR (248) 651-3500

What a smart idea!  Thanks for sharing this.

Jan 15, 2017 04:01 AM
Gita Bantwal
RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA
REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

Thank you for the great tip and video. I love the idea . I will bookmark this post.

Jan 15, 2017 05:05 AM
Shirley Coomer
Keller Williams Realty Sonoran Living - Phoenix, AZ
Realtor, Keller Williams Realty, Phoenix Az

I missed this the first time.  I love that you shared the google maps and plotting "how to".

Jan 15, 2017 05:59 AM
Olga Simoncelli
Veritas Prime, LLC dba Veritas Prime Real Estate - New Fairfield, CT
CONSULTANT, Real Estate Services & Risk Management

This is an amazingly simple and intuitive concept, yet so powerful! Great idea for both sides - buyers and sellers, love it!

Jan 15, 2017 06:59 AM
Brittany Kinsland
MVP Realty - Naples, FL
In the top 10% of REALTORS® in Southwest Florida!

This post is awesome and I LOVE that you created that video tutorial on the google maps. That is such a great idea! As a newer agent I am always looking for (free) tools and ways to get/remain organized. Thanks Bob!

Jan 15, 2017 07:54 AM
Mark Don McInnes, Sandpoint-Idaho
Sandpoint Realty LLC - Sandpoint, ID
North Idaho Real Estate - 208-255.6227

I feel so new at this business (after 10 years) when seeing idea's of this nature that long ago have been implemented.  Never too late.  Mark

Jan 15, 2017 08:57 AM
Amy Gutschow
RE/MAX - Sheboygan, WI
Professional Real Estate

I completely agree!

Jan 15, 2017 09:29 AM
Amy Kramer
Reilly Realtors - Austin, TX
Realtor serving Austin and surrounding communities

Great ideas and powerful strategy from the Kinney group.  I will definately look at implementing this in my farm area. Thanks for sharing Bob Stewart .

Jan 15, 2017 11:28 AM
Jerry Murphy, CRS, SRES
Long Realty West Valley - Anthem, AZ
Anthem, Phoenix, and Scottsdale AZ Real Estate

This is a great idea.  I've often thought of doing something like this but a little more proactively whereby when I have a buyer who is searching for something that is not yet on the market, doing some research through our tax records and past MLS listings to find homes that DO match and then inquiring with the home owners as to whether they would entertain an offer on their home.

Jan 15, 2017 04:49 PM
Joan Whitebook
BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH
Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

This is something I had not been aware of.  Thanks for sharing this valuable tip.

Jan 15, 2017 07:52 PM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

Thanks for sharing this with us Bob Stewart - I look forward to putting together a list like this - Hope your new year has started off strong - how is that darling little munchkin? 

Jan 15, 2017 07:58 PM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

This is actually helping to get marketing ideas to do the would sell list. It's really a pretty cool thing in disguise as something kind of tedious.

Jan 15, 2017 11:25 PM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

Lise Howe you're not the only one who's inspired quite a bit by this! Hopefully we can both make really good lists!

Jan 15, 2017 11:26 PM