Yet again, it’s time for the Tele-Seminar recap. Every month our very own Michelle Holt sits down with REDX All Stars to pick their brains about how they’re making a killing on prospecting with REDX along with what else they’re doing in their business that is helping them be successful. This month we cornered one of Burbank’s Top Agents, Larry Faris. If you want my main takeaways, keep reading.
Low Inventory Doesn’t Mean No Inventory
It seems like every blog post lately is banging the the low-inventory drum but here we go again. That’s just how the market is right now . . . everywhere. Burbank used to average 4 to 5 thousand on the market at a time. Now it’s down to about 1,500. The key for Larry in this type of climate is realizing that fewer houses for sale is an opportunity and not a curse. Instead of giving up on working expireds and FSBO’s in the face of Burbank’s low inventory market, Larry buckles down and makes sure to go after them even harder. Why? Because Larry doesn’t want to be a buyer’s agent who spends the majority of his time drafting at least 10 to 15 offers before he gets a single one accepted.
Even if inventory is tight, Larry says there are still always going to be people who don’t know how to price their house to sell, FSBOs and expireds alike. His job is to find them, find out their motivation for selling, and tell them why their last agent didn’t come up with the right price. This may sound tough but his pitch is actually really simple. Here’s what he says over the phone: “I understand exactly why you didn’t sell, and if you meet with me for 5 minutes, I can show you how your home can be sold.”
Larry Faris Likes the Phones
Larry has tried his hand at many marketing methods. He’s sent thousands of mailing pieces to a famed area, he used to knock 150 to 200 fifty doors in a two hour bursts on his segway, but while he had success with those methods, nothing him has given him the ROI that calling does. Larry has member of his team try to make about 100 calls and speak with 20 to 25 people in a 3-hour calling window. They do this 5 days a week. Out of those 20-25 people they speak with a day, they set 2 or 3 appointments. He converts about 50% of his listing appointments and closes nearly 100% of his listings.
Like anyone will, Larry does get some wrong numbers with REDX here and there but he doesn’t fault us for it. He said he has done some research into why he’s getting the wrong number and what he found is that he’s finding some of the numbers belong to people who had been in the property a year or two ago or that the property had already sold. Instead of saying “bye” immediately, Larry makes the most out of connecting with someone. He asks the wrong numbers if they are still looking to buy and sell real estate and he’s had success with it.
The Obvious Objections
We asked Larry to tell us about the main objections he’s getting and how to overcome them. According to Larry, expireds have their own set of concerns while FSBOs have another. For expireds, he doesn’t get commission-based objections. The concern he has to overcome is the idea that real estate agents don’t bring value. These owners trusted the last agent but they didn’t get the job done. Here’s what Larry says to that: “I understand that you’re frustrated and you’re probably wondering how a professional agent couldn’t get your house sold. Well I understand why they failed you. If you let me sit down with you for 10 minutes I can show you why. More importantly I can show you how you can get to your goal. I have 20 years of experience. Let me show you how can sell and get the right amount of money to let you make your next move.”
FSBO’s are a different ball game. Theirs is a commission based dilemma. Thus the angle Larry takes with these leads is all about netting more money in the end using an agent. Statistically, homeowners won’t sell their homes at their desired price without the exposure and marketing an agent can provide them. His job is to help them realize this. To do so, he says something along the lines of, “I understand why you’re doing this. You’re trying to save yourself money. I would too. If I could show you a way to save that commission and put another 20 to 30k in your pocket, would you list your home with me?”
These approaches are very simple but when you say them with confidence, believing yourself to be the best agent for the job, you’re going to have success.
To Be Continued
Larry’s call was jam-packed with incredible information. So much so that he we’re having a hard time just highlighting it in a single post. Ideally, you should just listen to the call by clicking here, but we’ll also be getting out another post to highlight some more of Larry’s call soon.
