Editor’s Note: This is a sneak peek of our upcoming “Underground Strategies” series – eBook, downloadable templates, and a complete course for anyone who wants to sell a house, condo, apartment, co-op or vacant land – and doesn’t think they need a broker. Pre-order the whole megillah using the link below.
Thing one: I come from a family of real estate agents. Thing two: Some Realtors are really good at their jobs. Thing three: you don’t need one.
This is going to sound counter-intuitive coming from Area 224; after all, we did write the book on Social Media Marketing for Real Estate. But, after working with Realtors on marketing for the better part of the last 18 months, watching their mistakes, weeding through the home selling clutter, etc., we can safely say that most of you can sell your home without using the services of a broker.
And the great thing is this: a good chunk of the tools that will help you sell your house without a broker are free.
Start Writing Killer Copy NOW.
Ah, the counter-intuitive approach. You have a home that might need a little work, and maybe you’re 90 days away from being able to actually list the darn thing – if you focus on fixing that creaky stair, or painting the porch, or whatever.
So why do we want you to start writing?
We want you – actually we NEED you – to get in the right mindset for selling your house. And the right mindset means you need to focus on WIIFM. “What’s In It For Me.”
And the “me” is your target – the person you want to buy your house.
Go ahead, start writing for them. Here’s the approach:
1. Write an email headline that will have a good chance of getting opened.
“Buy my house” is not what we’re going for here. In order to get yourself in the WIIFM mindset, you have to figure out why on earth someone would want your home. Then you need to focus on a couple of the attributes of your home that are attention-grabbing.
Five-minute walk from the train, lots of kids in the neighborhood, so why are we selling our home?
Notice that the email headline leaves the reader guessing.
2. You’re now ready to whet the appetite by being personal.
Any schmoe can talk about price here. You are not a schmoe, and there are scores of sites out there that will talk about price FOR YOU. That’s not the direction we’re headed with what the industry would call killer real estate sales copy.
Back to WIIFM. You don’t have to be all syrupy; but you do want to appeal to the senses.
When Bob and I first moved here, we couldn’t imagine looking out the kitchen window and being able to see our kids playing at the park. And the office upstairs was really an office – not a room with bunk beds in it. Having a beer on the front porch swing was replaced with a cup of coffee while the school bus pulls up.
Are you there yet? Imagining what made this house a home? That’s where you need to get the reader. A few paragraphs that go into details about the place – not granular stuff, just the basics, like when you replaced the furnace, or what you’ve done to the bathrooms.
3. No price, just permission.
The most counter-intuitive portion of the program is this: you are not selling your home with this email. In fact, you are not even talking price. Your whole point is to lay the groundwork for your underground marketing program.
You do this by asking permission.
Although it’s hard to believe, given all the history we have at this place, but we’re getting ready to sell our home. If it’s okay, we’d like to send you the listing information before we send it out to the rest of the world. Click here to confirm that it’s okay.
You’ve begun the process of circumventing the broker by putting yourself in the right mindset, and by writing some killer copy. So now what?
Yes, the rest is part of the Underground Strategies series, and, like we mentioned above, you can pre-order it below.
