Have you ever heard "We knew enough to sell it ourselves" come out of someones mouth who sold their own home?
While getting my nails touched up at the nail shop today, I asked my nail guy if he knew any other Investors like himself who he might introduce me to. He asked me why and I said "Well, when I get licensed, I would like to have lots of investors that I can call if I come across some great buys in the market!"
The lady that was sitting in the other chair asked me what I did, and I told her I was waiting to take my test so I could become a licensed Real Estate Agent. Her and my nail guy started talking about her new house, so I thought I would 
roll the dice and start asking some questions.
They just had a new house built and had sold their old home. I asked her who handled the transaction and she said, " Oh, we knew enough to sell it ourselves." I just sat there and smiled and asked her how it went. She said it was really great, they had a lot of "professional" people, Realtors, Mortgage lenders, and bankers who helped them!
She said they had watched enough of those "TV shows" to know what needed to be done. Why should we pay someone 6% to do what we did?
OY~VEAH!!!!
I am not even a licensed Realtor yet and this just got to me!
So I asked her if I could explain why it is not a good idea for homeowners to FSBO their homes. She allowed me to share with her all the things that I learned in Real Estate school about why it is not a good idea.
While speaking with her, another women in the shop started asking me questions because she was going through a divorce and was selling her own home as well, but only after asking Realtors to come out and take a look at the property... uuugggg. She also shared with me that she is selling the house for $22,000 less than what the Realtor told her she could get for it, because she was afraid it would sit too long.
So, there I was asking God what lesson I needed to take away from this meeting. Three things are very apparent to me.
1. Some people really do think they know enough to sell their home, but really, they did it with the help of Professionals who helped for free.
2. If I had my license, I might have been able to turn the 2nd woman into a listing.
3.You never know who might need your services and where you might find them. There were 7 people in the shop, 3 of which were at some stage in the home buying and selling process. Two (husband and wife) sold and one selling who might be looking to buy a smaller home.
I am very aware of the fact that there is SO much business out there to be had if Realtors would just start talking to people!
After I left the nail shop, I started thinking about how I would have handled that situation differently if it ever happens again. Here are a few things that came to mind.
1. Put together a packet of info for FSBO`s who I run into to give them some factual information of why they should let ME assist them!
2. I would have asked better questionsto see if there was room for referrals or leads. ( I didn't do this because I didn't have my license.)
3. I would have given my card to the 2nd woman and asked her if she would be willing to let me assist her.
This interaction today gave a some idea of what to do to prepare for doing business once I get my license!
But the biggest thing that was there for me was that none of this would have happened if I had not started asking questions and talking to people!
So I am making a pledge that I will never be an undercover Realtor!
To your success!
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