Monday, September 18, 2006

Working with sellers can get you more BUYERS

I've heard many agents recently talk about how buyer leads are more valuable right now than listing leads. In a slower market, I can understand why that might look attractive. But by ignoring sellers, you might be walking away from a lot of money.

Let's look at the facts:

You already know that more than 70% of sellers are also buying a house. And according to the US Census, 85 percent of moves are local, meaning they're people moving to a new home in the same market.

The National Association of Realtors gives us even more compelling information. According to NAR, the average buyer moves just 15 miles away from their previous residence, and one out of every three sellers aged 18-44 is buying a LARGER home.

Keep in mind as well that listings ATTRACT buyers! Marketing a new listing is a highly-efficient way to meet prospective buyers. Your lawn signs, open houses, etc. all attract local buyers. When you control the listings, you control the inventory – and buyers come to you!

Even better? You can double and triple-dip on each listing. First, you get the listing. Then you find that seller a new home. THEN, you find a buyer for your listing. All of a sudden, you have THREE transaction sides, including two buyers, all from a single listing.

Before you say no to working with sellers, make sure you think about how those sellers could help you find even more buyers too!

Sept 19 Update: Click here and here to read two stories of Agent CEOs who have turned their sellers into buyers. You can do it too!