Does anyone actually like cold calling?  I’m definitely not a natural cold caller.  And I’m assuming there are a fair number of you out there who would rather generate listings through other methods.  So, I’m focusing on providing the best tactics for you get more listings, listing leads, and ultimately more money all without you having to do cold calling.

by Easy Agent Pro

1) Target Divorcees

This is a slightly taboo topic but presents a great opportunity for agents looking for listings.  Did you know that most judges mandate that couples sell their current property?  This is part of the reason for the huge number of divorcees that list their homes each year!

Over 31% of people going through a divorce will list their home within 6 months of filing for their divorce.  This gives you a huge opportunity!  Not only can you list their property, but you can garner two buyers from the transaction.

If 31% of people going through a divorce end up selling their home and there are 1.2 million divorces in the United States a year, that means over 300,000 people list their home within 6 months of filing.

That’s a lot of transactions in a very short period of time! And a list of VERY motivated sellers.

There is very little competition for being the divorce listings expert! You can easily setup Facebook ads like this that target these home sellers:

And then use landing pages to collect their contact information:

This method will make you the divorce listings expert in no time! You should even place a section on your website or blog about this topic to start collecting leads.

2) Inherited Homes

Did you know that over 1 million people inherit a home every year?  That’s an amazing opportunity for agents!

Think about it, would you want to move into a home that you recently inherited?  Probably not. It might not be in the right location. Maybe it needs too many repairs.  A huge majority of these new homeowners end up selling the property.

You need to target these people! And here’s how:

1) You’ll first want to find an online search for all the local cases in your county.  This is typically held on a “county clerk’s” website. And you are looking for cases in regards to “inheritance.” A simple Google search will do the trick:

Then, you’ll have access to search public data and records.  You should be able to secure the name of the former property owner. At this point, you head over to YellowPages and click “Search People.”  Enter the person’s name into the form:

You should be able to find the address of the property that was recently inherited.  Now, simply prospect away!

Another tactic for attracting sellers of inherited properties is through Real Estate Farming.  You can learn how to farm in real estate with SEO here.

3) Send Letters To FSBO

Do you mail FSBO’s?  I’m sure a lot of you answered yes to that question.  But how many of you have a pre-thought out series of mailers that you send once every 4-7 days?  The percentage of realtors that follow up with their mailer is very small.  In fact, over 65% of sales people never follow up with a marketing idea.

That’s bad.  It takes between 5 and 12 points of contact for someone to be interested in doing business with you.  You have to nurture these people along and get them warm to the idea of doing business with you.  One way of doing this is sending FSBO’s a series of mailers.  How many pain points does the typical prospecting session for FSBO’s contain? It’s usually 3-7 different pain points!  You can think of 5 different things you’d like to explain to a FSBO, write them out in letter format, and then mail them to the home owner.

The marketing costs for this are incredibly low!  Maybe 5 stamps, a Real Estate Logo, and some paper?  The thing with FSBO’s is that they’ve probably been burned by a realtor before.  So, you’re instantly standing out from the crowd by being the most persistent person out there.

I can’t stress enough the value of following up with your marketing actions.  This is the key to experiencing great success in real estate.

4) Vacant Homes

The US Census Bureau shows that there were 104 million vacant homes at the end of the 1st quarter in 2014.  By the end of the second quarter, there were only 93.2 million vacant homes.  By the end of the third quarter, 96.1 vacant homes. And by the end of the fourth quarter, 94.5 vacant homes.

That’s a lot of transactions taking place!

If I were a realtor, I’d hire an admin or local college student to help prospect vacant homes.  You can pay them hourly or work out a commission based arrangement for finding properties.  This way, you save your time while still being the first realtor to find the vacant properties!  Once you find them, it’s just a matter of time before the previous homeowner wants to sell.

You can use your local county clerk’s website to prospect for homes that might be vacant.

5) Look Into Property Taxes

Speaking of the county clerk’s website again, you can research homes that are behind in paying their property taxes while you are there!  These houses give you an enormous opportunity! Did you know that over 23% of homes that are sold in any given year have some type of back tax to pay?

The fact that this many sellers are behind on property taxes is a critical determining factor in finding motivated sellers!  You can prospect for these buyers in several ways.

1) Launch a niche SEO Campaign for keywords related to property taxes and selling your home.  Look at this:

2) Start advertising online: Google Adwords and Facebook ads are very expensive if you target: Dallas Homes For Sale.  But if you’re targeting “Sell A Home Quickly In Dallas Due To Taxes” there is a lot less competition!

3) Mail Individuals You Find On The Clerk’s Website: You can create a series of mailers you send to people who are behind on their taxes!

6) Partner With Small Local Banks Or Small Builders

Finally, you aren’t in this battle alone!  Small local banks, builders, mortgage providers, plumbers, electricians, marriage counselors, dentists, etc., etc., etc. are all looking for business just like you.  They are entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses.  And most of them probably wouldn’t mind a realtor giving them referrals.  Why not start with the YellowPages and find a business in each major category to be your recommended provider?

Now, this won’t help you if you just spend 1 hour once talking with that person.  Be sure to put them into your CRM, and follow up with them every month.  Maybe even get coffee with them once a month.  Figure out concrete ways for the two of you to work together! Incorporate this spirit of working together into your entire real estate brand and real estate slogans.