Do You Want To Help Drowning Sellers?
“Short Sale” is a very common term used in many different media today. A more common occurrence in home sales than any of us would like to admit, but what is a “Short
Sale” really.
Something that many of us (veterans) in the real estate business and mortgage industry forget is that of all the people that hear the term, very few understand what it means. Some have no idea, some think they know, but don’t and others understand a single part but not the entire process. I would even go out on a limb, after being in the real estate business for 24 years and say that at least 50% of real estate agents fall in one of these three categories. Please note that there was no scientific study done to come up with that number, it is only my best guess from observations, daily conversations and experience. If I were a gambler, which I am not, I would bet that it is fairly accurate.
With that said, this article is not about the lack of knowledge of what a short sale is, because most people do not need to know. A detailed overview of the process can be found in another article entitle Short Sale What You need to Know, The Process. This article is about real estate short sale training (marketing). Who are we trying to reach and are they getting the message.
Short Sale Specialist, Short Sale Consultant and Short Sale Strategy are phrases that many of us use to market ourselves and our service to try to target sellers in need of this expertise. The problem, if what I have said is true, they are not finding us because they do not know to look for us. For example, I get listing referrals from a friend that deals with bankruptcy and many of these are short sales. Each homeowner knows that I am coming to talk to them about doing a short sale on their home, but when I ask the question, “do you understand what a short sale is?” the answer is almost always “no”. Which is the motivation behind this article because I consider myself an excellent marketer but it took many “no’s” before the light went off in my head that the people that needed this service the most, do not even know it.
I hope what I am saying is making sense to you, because it is critical in the 21st century that you get inside the head of your customer. Forget about your specialty (YOU) and understand the problem the customer has. In this case they need to sell their home, have no equity and don’t think they can. So what would this person look for or type into google (these are the actual top searches queries for this topic)
i owe more than my house is worth
what if i owe more than my home is worth
what are my options if i owe more than my house is worth
what can i do if i owe more than my house is worth
i owe more than my home is worth what can i do
I hope that you get the point and that is, all of the people that entered the searches above were homeowners looking for a short sale specialist (your target market), but they didn’t know it. All they know is they have a problem and they are trying to find the solution. So if you are a “Short Sale Specialist” that’s great, but you need to understand the problem you are solving and what questions the people with this problem are asking. There are many that need your help and my wish is that this article helps you to find them, solve their problem and put some peace and stability back in their lives.
As always, to your success and happiness my friend.
Maryland home short sale Harford County Realtor Baltimore Specialist. First we need to understand what a MD short sale is. The wikipedia definition “A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the sale proceeds fall short of the balance owed on the property’s loan.[1] It often occurs when a borrower cannot pay the mortgage loan on their property, but the lender decides that selling the property at a moderate loss is better than pressing the current debtor. Both parties consent to the short sale process, because it allows them to avoid foreclosure, which involves hefty fees for the bank and poorer credit report outcomes for the borrower.”
