Working with leads from Open Houses

This is Part 1 in a series about working with leads from open houses. I have held an Open House every Sunday since receiving my license. I held one this past Sunday at 1520 Saratoga Drive in Van Buren`s Heritage Heights Community . I only had 2 couples show up for this one but out of them I found a qualified buyer ready to buy a home.

This couple in their 60`s didnt even want to come inside the front before they asked how much the home was. I invited them in out of the heat and we stood in the entry way. The husband was very standoffish. He said he didnt want to waste my time because the house was more than they had been approved for.

Ahhh Haaa!!! Light bulb moment!

I knew at that moment that I had a lead and if I worked it right, I could turn them into a client. I immediately asked them what kind of loan they were appoved for and who their lender was and also if they were working with a Realtor yet. I explained I was also a Licensed Loan Officer and that helped break the ice.

The husband kept trying to get out the door but the wife had chimed in with the answers to the questions I was asking so I started to direct my attention to her, while giving the husband an occassional nod for good measure.

I invited them in the house to sit down and talk about their loan and what options they had available to them. I offered them some fresh baked cookies and they sat at the kitchen table and enjoyed their snack as I continued to ask more questions to qualify them.

I proceeded to dig deeper into what they were looking for and trying to keep the conversation flowing that direction. The husband is a piece of work! He has story after story to tell about his life, politics, religion etc. I gave him my attention and interjected a few times, but mostly I let him tell his stories and affirmed him when I could.

The wife keep trying to get him back onto the business of finding a home. She proceeded to show me her House Hunter book. It was a compostion book with pages full of clippings from the newspaper and RE magazines. She shared with me that they have looked at about 20 homes and they have worked with at least 1 other Realtor. This Realtor did not get a BBA and the wife confessed to me that she didnt like "taking up so much of my time". She felt guilty for having ONE Realtor show her all around.

I saw my opening to explain Agency to them. They were not aware that is how Realtors work.

Clue...... Educate your customers! 

It is all about asking questions, listening to your customers, not backing down when they say they dont want to come in., and following up with them.

After an hour and half went by... mind you they didnt even want to come in..... they left shaking my hand and me telling them I would search for some homes for them.

I called them the next day and set up an appointment for them to come into the office. Only the wife came and we looked at what was available on the MLS. We narrowed it down to 7 homes and made appointments to tour them tomorrow.

I will be picking them up and you can bet I will have my BBA ready to get a signature.

I will do more posts as this process continues to share how it goes with you. I hope this will help someone along the way!

This post was birthed out of a post by our own Broker Bryant about BBA`s and also Brett Noel`s blog about Open houses.

Stayed tuned and wish me well!

Contact Susan Davis, Realtor®, Exit Realty Fort Smith. Licensed Realtor® in Arkansas at 479-806-6390 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in Van Buren, Fort Smith, Alma, Barling, Greenwood and the rest of Crawford County Arkansas and Sebastian County Arkansas. I am currently accepting referrals.

Contact me by email if you prefer by clicking on email me on the right side of this page under my profile.

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