RISMEDIA, October 29, 2009—If you ask most real estate professionals what their number one business asset is, you’ll get a variety of answers. Some answers may include their office, their listings, their agents or subagents, their marketing materials etc. All of these are good answers but in this humble real estate entrepreneur’s opinion they would all be wrong. It is my strong belief that an active buyers list is the most valuable asset to have for your real estate business (when you think about it, this probably holds true for any business). In fact, I believe a buyers list is the closest thing to a money machine there is in the game of real estate.
Let me give you a couple of examples illustrating my point. I recently had a former client call and tell me that he had a rehab property to sell. I had sold several of his properties for him in the past and so I was the first person he called. We came to terms and the very first thing I did, before even getting the property on the MLS, was send it to my own in-house buyers list. Here are the results: I had nine people respond to the email in less than 12 hours; three of them saw the property the very next day; one came to see the property the day after that and the rest viewed the property that very weekend. This is all before even putting the property into the MLS.
Here is another illustration of how valuable this asset can be to your business. Do you think having a strong and active buyers list could make a difference in a listing presentation? You’d better believe it. How many other Realtors in your market do you think would be able to make that same claim? This immediately makes it a no brainer for that seller to work with you. In fact, I recently had a seller call me to come take a look at his house. I went out, took a look and went through a presentation. At the end. I asked why he called me. He said: “Well, I am on your buyers list and get your emails and I figured you have a big list of buyers already, so it would only make sense to work with you versus someone else without a buyers list.”
Let me give you one last reason why a buyers list is a cash machine. Do you think there are other products and/or services that you have access to that might be of interest to your list? Find something that is a fit for your list and offer it out to them. In fact, with this strategy, you can make money with your list without even selling them a home. Of course you need to take into account any rules, stipulations or disclosures you must make, but this is a great way to add revenue streams to your business and make money from an asset that you have already built. Some examples would be home warranties, lawn care, pest removal, radon, contractor services, credit repair services, etc.
If you aren’t building a buyers list, what are you waiting for? Start building one today. If you have one, keep building your list and your relationship with the list as well as trying to add some revenue streams.
Josh Schoenly has “cracked the code” to lead generation on Craigslist. Over the last three-plus years, he has generated over 7,000 leads using his own system. For a limited time you can download Josh’s Craigslist Marketing “Cheat Sheet” and accompanying 30 minute video explaining his system at www.CraigslistMarketingMatrix.com.
