As you may know, in addition to custom real estate copywriting for individual clients, I offer more than 40 different sets of pre-written prospecting and staying in touch letters.
While I haven’t created any charts or kept exact track, I do watch the trends and see which letters are most popular at a given time. At one time, nearly half of the sets sold were for short sale prospecting.
Now I’m seeing a trend toward sales of the probate prospecting letters. Agents are reaching out to the owners of homes that are now vacant and showing the executors the advantages of selling prior to close of probate. They’re also reaching out to attorneys, so my probate letter set includes messages to both.
Agents who can establish working relationships with probate attorneys can provide themselves with a good source of new listings, without much, if any, competition. It seems that a lot of agents think those listings will involve too much red tape – or they don’t even realize that homes CAN be sold before probate is finished.
I know listings are scarce in many communities. Is this because homeowners are holding back, waiting to see if prices will rise? Or is it because they’re afraid that if they sell they won’t be able to find a replacement home?
If price is the issue, it’s silly. When their home’s price goes up, so will the price on a replacement home – unless they “move down” or choose a less expensive community. In their place, I’d be more concerned with making a new purchase before interest rates rise.
The other recent trend has been toward the property management letters. Are agents seeking new revenue sources through rental management?
The trend I’d like to see: More agents keeping in touch with past clients.
Agents across the country are crippling their own chances for success by letting people forget about them. My first few years as an agent I was one of them. I didn’t think about it and my broker didn’t mention it – probably because she didn’t do it either. Then I started studying about real estate marketing and realized how foolish I’d been.
Past clients are the people who know you, like you, and would probably feel very good about referring friends to you – if they remembered. Or if your contact information was handy.
People in your sphere of influence are another rich source of business. But unless you talk with them regularly, even they forget to call when they need you, or when a friend mentions needing a good agent.
My site offers two keeping in touch sets – one for getting back in touch with people you’ve ignored for a while, and one for staying in touch for the next two years.
If you’re among those agents who have let these valuable contacts slide, get your letters today and begin bringing those people back into your circle!
Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
