In my last email I suggested that the referrals you might receive from homeowners selling their homes themselves could actually far exceed the value of the listings missed out on by not listing the home they are attempting to sell. You are more likely to receive value from these referrals if you leverage your resources through a system. Such a system for leveraging FSBO referral relationships would involve putting together packages of vendors for the homeowners in such a way that you are solidifying your own synergy partnerships.

Every real estate sales professional should have partner relationships comprised of vendors of the real estate industry. You should have reciprocal referral relationships with each of these vendors. When you present these partners as a package to FSBOs, there will be several advantages for you:

•You are providing additional value for the homeowner, solidifying your relationship. Any value you add makes it more likely that they will list with you when the time comes.

•If they work with your partners, you can be sure that their vendors will not be referring other real estate professionals when and if the time comes.

•Referrals that arise from FSBOs may flow through these vendors. For example, you may suggest that any prospects obtain a pre-approval through a lender so that the owner is sure they are dealing with a solid prospect. If your lender is accomplishing this task, you can make sure you will get a call if they do not have a Realtor.

•You are providing value to your partners, invoking the law of reciprocity.

What vendors will a homeowner need when they try to sell on their own? In addition to a lender, they might need an appraiser, home inspector, pest control company, moving company, tax advisor, insurance company, marketing company, and more. Your package should include as many vendors as possible because it will broaden your own relationships and may convince the homeowner that they would be better off with a real estate professional running the show.

Capturing more listings by targeting the FSBO market is more likely to happen with a game plan including value offerings and leveraging the resources at your disposal. As a major area lender servicing listing agents, I would be happy to work with you to provide pre-approval services for your FSBOs relationships. Every prospect pre-approved is a potential real estate sale.