Why Hold an Open House, When You Can Hold Your Own Yard Sale?
The Sarasota Suncoast Team at Keller Williams Realty - Sarasota / 941.894.4063 www.SarasotaSuncoastHomes.com
Just a neighborhood yard Sale, and I found gold in my own yard! You may have heard the prospecting suggestion to stop at neighborhood yard sales and chat with the owners because they may be preparing to list their home. Well, I stayed home and held my own neighborhood yard sale, ending up with two solid home buyer leads (including numbers and email addresses). I even prequalified one couple and showed them a house on my block, all while still working the yard sale! We're going to meet and get serious about finding a home this week. So how did this happen???
The results of scripting and coaching
This was one of those days where I was so thankful for people in the past coaching, pushing and training me to be well scripted and to know my numbers. Because of the continuous training, I was able to naturally flow with my garage sales shoppers and, however unintentionally, eventually engage them in conversations about real estate. What could have been drudgery, turned out to be a fabulous event!
Open house vs. Neighborhood yard sale
So, why hold an open house, when you can hold a yard sale and pick up buyer and seller leads? Let's compare the differences and see where this leads.
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One of the best descriptions of successful prospecting by holding an open house is
the 7th level open house in the book SHIFT by Gary Keller, Dave Jenks & Jay Papasan. It goes something like this where each level is progressively added to the previous one to increase the agent's success. An agent could stop at a level 1 prospecting job as some do, or they could add several levels to each step ensure a successful prospecting day:
1) Sign in Yard+
2) Sign in yard +Balloons and riders+
3) Professional directional signs at all key corners with balloons and riders+
4) Fliers readied the week before, with email invites and posted on all websites+
5) Go out and invite 100 neighbors by door knocking and leaving fliers+
6) Get on the phone that morning of and remind everyone about the open house+
7) Hold 4 other open houses in your area in various price ranges.
The best equivalent I can come up with for the 7th level home yard sale method of prospecting is to simply "borrow" the methods used by the great minds as described above (smart agent tip: don't re-invent the wheel):
1) Buy or make garage sale sign and place in yard+
2) Sign in yard + Balloons on mail box with rider stating, "$1.00 surprise bag specials"+
3) Set out hand made directional signs at all key corners (and maybe some balloons)+
4) The week before clean out the garage and house to find some junk to sell, then make fliers and deliver them to the neighbors, send email invites to friends and posted on all free web sites+
5) Go out and invite 100 neighbors to come by or post in your neighborhood association page before the yard sale+
6) Day of sale set out all the "great bargains", price them, get the cooler full $1.00 soft drinks and water to sell (a real money maker) get on facebook and remind everyone about the open house+
7) Get 4 other neighbors on your block to join in and hold a neighborhood yard sale+
So the differences here, not much but there are some:
- With your yard sale, you'll have potential clients coming to your door rather than you going to set up at someone elses home (you still have to set it up and work it)
- You can wear jeans at home rather than business attire. However...the art of transitioning from garage sale worker to real estate agent during a conversation, while standing over the pile of used $0.50 clothes and the old coffee maker, takes plenty of scripting practice (and courage)!
- At home you'll make a small profit for the day and you may get a client...or not, you have to work it and you need some good stuff to sell.
- Getting out and door knocking to draw folks in to a yard sale is mentally easier than doing it for an open house. Its a soft sell where you'll get to know 100 neighbors on their door step and they really won't mind. It's a great way to break the ice. In fact , try this line, "Hi, I'm your neighbor and neighborhood real estate agent and I'm having a yard sale on ___day. Would you like to be part of the neighborhood yard sale too?" It's that easy to get the ball rolling and to come from contribution.
Its still hard work if you want to be a success and draw people in to meet you. Anything that you expect to have results in requires preparation and a plan. At the end of the day, if you work either a yard sale or an open house, it can work out to similar results, new clients and friends. The point is to work it and don't expect to just stick a sign in the yard and hope they come to visit...It's work. Its fun work, but its work,
so...WORK IT!
Learn more and have a great life!
Learn more about the scripts, training and coaching the Sarasota Suncoast Team uses every day to capture leads, gain market share and become great neighborhood agents.
Contact John Buetergerds of the Sarasota Suncoast Team at Keller Williams Realty Sarasota / 941.894.4063 www.SarasotaSuncoastHomes.com
