Hi All, new agent here, working part time until I get the nerve to go full time.. Anyway does anyone know a good place to find tips about FSBO's? I would really like to start working these leads but I am not sure where to start. Call, go over, mail stuff??? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

open up the newspaper and start calling. i know of a technique that most agents dont use, so they lose the potential business right off the bat.

ok agent 007 what is the technique if you dont mind sharing?

I was wondering the same thing myself..care to share??

Sure. Most agents that call FSBOs introduce themselves on the phone to the seller and ask if they can list their home right off the bat. Wrong move! These sellers have already had probably 15 other agents call up and ask the same thing. You have to make yourself stand out from the crowd and there are only a few ways of doing that on the phone. Asking to list the home right away is not one of them.

Do we have to guess what it is that you do? LOL! What I am wondering is just how to stand out in the crowd. Any tips would be helpful.

Before you call, make sure they're not on the Do Not Call List or you risk a fine. Your office probably downloads an updated list every month.

I am new and haven't dealt with a FSBO yet, but does the Do Not Call list apply if they put a sign in thier yard with thier phone number on it asking people to call?

Yes it does TexasJeff because they are not putting a sign out there asking agents to call to try to list the property. The only time it's ok to call a FSBO is if you *genuinely* have an interested buyer.

Define 'genuine'.

I hear this all the time but my thinking is this: how do you know if you have a buyer who might be interested unless you see the home? You don't. For all you know, you might be interested.

But, everyone is so scared of the DNC that they look for any reason to not call to see the home.

Here is what our training manual says...

"You may call a FSBO Seller if you are a buyer’s agent with a client who has
interest in the property. However, the substance of your discussions with such a
FSBO Seller should be limited to the interest of your buyer client in the Property.
This is the case regardless of whether or not the Seller is listed on the “Do Not
Call” Registry because your contact as the buyer’s agent is not an attempt to
solicit the Seller’s business by obtaining the listing."

And I stil say that if I am calling solely to view the home, I am in no way soliciting a listing.
And on my first visit, I do not even mention the word listing.

sounds to me like you are with a company that doesn't want you to try and convert FSBOs. your company's training manual means nothing to us anyway. it is only to try and protect your company. if a seller advertises their home and their number is present, it does not apply to the DNC list.

When I call a FSBO, I genuinely want to find out how much they are listed at, questions ab the property, etc. I do take notes and find out if they pay a Buyer's commission. If they do, I tell them that I would put them on my list, so that when my clients do search, they have a list of houses that meet their criterias, including those FSBO. When they wont work with Buyer's commission, I put that on the note too.

We share this information with the company.

Here is the interpitation from the NAR. Also your broker does not care about a fine you are an independant contractor and in this for yourself. The broker is not giving you lists of people to call you find them yourself. It's your fine if it comes to a court battle.

Justin B sounds like your broker is trying to save you a 10K fine.

http://www.realtor.org/rmoprint.nsf/pages/featurenov03faq

There are two instances when a real estate professional would call a FSBO seller. The first would be a real estate professional seeking of a FSBO listing, and the second would be a buyer's representative who believes his/her client might be interested in a FSBO property. NAR does not see any problem with a buyer's representative contacting a FSBO owner whose number is listed in the Do-Not-Call registry about a client's potential interest in the property, as this call is not a telephone solicitation by the buyer's representative. Note that the buyer's representative can only discuss his/her client's interest in the property and not use a purported client's interest as a way to also discuss the possibility of the FSBO owner listing his/her property with the buyer's representative.

However, a real estate professional would be prohibited from initiating a telephone call to a FSBO seller whose number is listed in the Do-Not-Call registry in an attempt to obtain a listing. The rules prohibit anyone from making telephone solicitations to telephone numbers that are registered in the database, and a call initiated to obtain the listing falls within that definition. NAR is seeking clarification from the FCC for calls made to consumers in response to a yard sign or an advertisement in the newspaper that provides a telephone number. Until this clarification is provided, it is advisable to take a conservative approach and check the registry first for the telephone number, and refrain from calling if the number appears on the list.