I am looking for advice on what you all think of this maketing project I am working on. Keep in mind that I am new and need as many leads as I can get my hands on. Myself and 2 other agents are doing this together. Every two weeks I go down to the county court house and pull a list of pending forclosures. I then take all the information and enter it into a database. One of the other agents makes post cards saying things like. Save your credit, don't loose your home and things of that nature. We sent out 160 post cards 2 weeks ago and have got 1 listing in responce. We plan to send at least 4 different post cards 2 weeks apart from each other. One of the agents that I am doing this project with is experinced in Short Sales. The other agent and myself are relitivly new. The way it works is the experienced agent splits the listing with either myself or the other new agent. We are spliting them one at a time since we could use the experience. What do you think? Is this a wast of time? Are there better projects I could be doing to get leads?

Well IMO in at the end of the day many methods of prospecting work well for various agents. Many people would say in this day in time stick with internet and SEO, while very true, especially the way REW does it and many on this forum are experts at it (thats why I try and hang out here and learn from those much better than me) you are in a different spot being brand new and on a budget I would assume. That being said...

I think the idea is a good one as more foreclosure hit the market and 2009 will be bigger yet in that arena. I would guess it may be allot of work for what may appear to be little return though as most "pending foreclosure" people I would guess are just done with the deal and want out, others are to embarrassed to call someone and want to be hush hush about it while others want to ride out the redemption period and don’t want to sell it as they can really live for free, the rest or balance will be the short sales. I would say there must be an easier way to get the "pending foreclosures" that literally going to the courthouse etc but if its close and not a problem, run with it. I see nothing wrong with what you’re doing.

I would also recommend as a newer agent to do opens, go on listing appointments with other good agents to watch them, read, flyers, door knock, cold call, 800# may be a "cheap" way to go and place little classifieds or ads on Craig’s List to get the phone to ring and capture the lead and so on, use something like proquest for that. I was Coldwell Banker Burnet's Rookie of the year at over 7 1/2 Million my first year in 2000 and did it all by mailers, door knocking, opens and calling calling calling (averaged 4,000 minutes a month) - you can do allot with little money as your doing it now.

Think outside the box and do what most agents won't do and you will be fine. Another way on the foreclosure side may be to look at specific areas or neighborhoods in your farm area are there more that turn foreclosure than others? Send a mailer or flyer perhaps, how about contact the smaller local banks, they don't get as many but they will have some at one point or another. Hope that helps a little, best of luck :-) Oh and dont forget the power of pure, simple and free - calling your friends, family, s.o.i and farm area.

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Derrick Monroe
Realtor - Owner - 612-282-7653
The Derrick Monroe Group
Minneapolis Real Estate
Minnesota Real Estate
Rockford MN Real Estate

"True leaders are not those who strive to be first but those who are first to strive"

Knocking on doors and sticking flyers still work for the people who believe in them. It's your belief and dedication to this project that will make it work. I think it's a great idea and worth doing. If you just get 3 or 4 closings out of this in a month then it would really be worth it. Set realistic goals and believe in the process and it will work.

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Tampa Bay Florida Real Estate | Tampa MLS | Northern Virginia Homes

It really doesn't matter what form of marketing you do, as long as it works for you. I find that most Agents give up their marketing before it has had time to actually take hold. Make sure you give it at least 6 months on whatever you do to see if it works correctly. With that said, you should still add other marketing to the mix as foreclosures are a short term market. For instance, I have worked on the Internet for buyers for the past few years. This year we are adding listings as the market is seeing a slow down in listings. I know by 2010 the listing market will be back and I will spend this year getting prepared for that. That's my two cents. Good luck!

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Mitch Ribak
The eHomes Realty Network
www.ehomesrealtynetwork.info
100MPH Real Estate Marketing Book
www.100mphbooks.com
(321) 258-4150