Last week, I shared five tips for working with buyers in your Potential Income Tracker. Here are four suggestions for SELLERS.  Why only four?  It’s because my first suggestion is actually multiple pieces of information, packaged into one!  (Note: these suggestions are intended for potential sellers, not sellers you have a listing agreement with).

1. Show your sellers that you are keeping an active eye on what is happening in their neighborhood by sending a report on all the active listings, pendings, and solds in their neighborhood and note the trends you are seeing in each. Is there an increase in pendings? Increase in listings?

• Did the homes that sold have a history of price reductions? What are the original list to sales price ratios?
• How are the days on market numbers trending? Are they on the increase or headed down?
• Review the price per square foot in each category and note how this might affect the market for the potential seller’s home.
• Pay close attention to house style and amenities.  Are you noticing homes with daylight basements are in demand? Ramblers? Fireplaces? What are the “hot ticket” items?

2. Next, track the listing-to-pending ratios in the seller’s neighborhood, or price range (or find similar styles style of homes), and prepare a report incorporating that data. When you look at the listing to pending ratios each week you can easily measure demand, because listing-to-pending ratios show what is actively being consumed. For example, if you have 10 listings, and 2 of them pend, you have a 20% listing-to-pending ratio.  Anything under 45% is indicative of a buyer’s market (plenty of inventory, and generally prices stay low). However, if you have 10 listings and 8 of them pend, you have an 80% listing-to-pending ratio..  Anything above 55% indicates a seller’s market (inventory is being snapped up and there can be multiple-offer situations). Is demand in a potential seller’s neighborhood increasing? That could spell opportunity!

3. Provide a Move-Up Scenario mailing. If you know the approximate value of the seller’s home and monthly payment, down payment, amount of the mortgage and percentage rate, you can show what “buying up” at today’s historically low interest rates could look like. In the below scenario, I am showing what the difference in the monthly payment would be to “move up” and how this potential seller could get a whole lot more home for not that much more monthly payment.

4. Follow up with one call – or two! I am a big believer in the phone calls. Calls really add a personal touch.  You can build anticipation when you call beforehand and let the seller know a report is on its way to them. Follow the report with a second phone call after you have given the seller some time to receive and digest the information.  It’s as simple as,  “Hi Jane, I hope you have had an opportunity to look through the xxx report. Was there anything in there that caught your eye? I thought you might find the xxx on page xxx interesting because <whatever your reasoning here>.”

Look at the sellers in your Potential Income Tracker this week and ask yourself what each one needs, and how you can meet those needs with unforgettable service.

• Watch Denise’s video on the Potential Income Tracker >
• Read more about how to put this powerful tool to work! >
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