The Easiest Way to Sell a Listing

While there is a stigma around selling your own listings, you can have some advantages once you realize that it’s your right to do this – and as long as you’re professional in doing it, there won’t be any issues. 

You can go on a listing appointment and talk yourself up all day, but the seller won’t care. They care about whether you can get them to where they want to be and help them accomplish their goals. I think one of the most satisfying things – and the thing that is more likely to seal the deal – is when you can genuinely tell a seller that you already know someone, or even multiple people, who would be interested in buying their house. 

A seller wants to feel confident about your abilities to sell their house, and what better way to prove that than by telling them exactly what you have to offer in terms of the real people in your database? 

For example, if you know people who have been looking to buy in the seller’s neighborhood specifically, or if there are specific features a home has that you know someone is looking for, that’s an easy way to sell yourself. It proves to the buyer that you’re active in the market, and that you already know people who are ready to buy, and it can move the process along much faster than what other agents might be able to offer. 

If a seller feels like you can get in your car immediately after getting the listing together and meeting with them, call someone up, and let them know you’ve found a perfect house for them, that’s valuable. When I talk about being a market maker, this is what I mean. 

This quality adds value to your business – and your brand – and makes people feel confident in your abilities to get the job done for them within their timeline, or even sooner, if possible.

How to Sell Your Own Listings

Many real estate professionals are squeamish about selling their own listings. Depending on the state you work in, your broker may feel the same way. We do most of our business in Ohio. In Ohio, agency laws allow us to represent a seller, a buyer, or both parties in the same transaction. This is called disclosed dual agency. I sat through a law class at the Columbus Board of Realtors, and the instructor said not every state allows a disclosed dual agency. 

For three hours, we heard about the dangers of selling your own listings. Or, rather, the dangers of running afoul of a dual agency situation. Agency laws – at least in Ohio – have a lot of people scared to death. It’s like a scarlet letter. 

I am somewhat bothered by that attitude because I think it presumes bad intent. If you’re counting your commission dollars before you earn them, it can put you into a difficult situation – but if you’re doing the right thing and acting in the best interest of both your clients, it’s a win-win. 

Let’s compare this to how ROOST does business in Florida. In Florida, we have transactions – but it isn’t agency at all. Instead, it’s a transaction situation. 

• In this case, you don’t owe a fiduciary duty to either party, but there are certain laws regarding how you treat all involved parties. 

In other states, it’s not as big of a deal to sell your own listings – but some people still shy away from doing it. Everything we were told in the CFE course for continuing education was about people who got in trouble in dual-agency situations. However, in every situation, it’s important to note that this was due to incompetence, laziness, and disorganization and not about whether or not they did their fiduciary duties. We want to be consummate professionals, and if that’s you, likely, you wouldn’t run into these issues. 

Going back to my motto – Connect, Practice, Track, and Grow – illustrates how practice is important. We want to always be improving our craft and getting better at what we do as professionals.

Here are some areas to consider as you continue growing your practice and honing your skills:

• Solid communication skills
• Excellent follow-through and organizational skills
• A fantastic support team (brokers, partners, lenders, title comp people, etc.)
• The ability to know how much business is enough vs. too much to handle
• Clients who align with your professional goals and values

Ultimately, if you’re going to sell both sides of the house, and get both sides of the commission by representing a buyer and a seller, you have to be realistic about the workload and whether you can handle it appropriately. Selling your own listings and representing both sides is often twice if not three times the amount of work. 

Selling your own listings is a right – but it’s a powerful one. As Spider-Man says, “With great power comes great responsibility.” You’ve got to do an incredible job, and you have to be professional. Many real estate professionals do sell their own listings, and it’s a badge of honor. 

Why wouldn’t we want to sell our own listings, if given the chance? Let’s discuss a situation where someone has hired us to sell their house, and they understand there’s a multiple listing service. We do our part by telling them that we’re inviting over every other realtor in town to bring their buyer. That’s a great practice, but if that’s what you’re hanging your hat on, you’re no different than every other realtor in your town. 

How do you become a market maker? This is what you need to figure out and carve a niche for yourself. Think about the people in your database who would want a specific property. Think about ways to bring all the people you know together. All of this comes down to relationships, which is central to how an agent who works by referral conducts their business. 

You weren’t hired to put up a sign and ask someone else with a license to sell their house. That said, we’re still getting 6% in Ohio, and that’s a beautiful thing. Some agencies are getting 7%, and other people are discounting their fees because they have little to nothing to offer. But if your listing expertise is worth 6% to that seller, I’m here to tell you, it better be worth 6% to you. 

Why should you think, “Okay, they’re paying six, so I’m going to take three and run.” You’re a professional – and you deserve to be paid adequately for your professional experience and knowledge. If you’re not bringing a lot to the table, take the 3%. However, if you’re functioning as a fiduciary, a true professional, and an advocate for your clients, you deserve to get paid. 

• To reiterate, your seller is trying to incentivize you with a commission to work for them. They don’t want you to discount your fee and wait for someone else to sell their house with a Zillow lead. 

You owe it to your client and yourself to find a buyer for that house. New home builders don’t hedge their bets that if they don’t have something a buyer wants when they walk in, they’ll just send them down the road to a different builder. Instead, they create an inventory that caters to a specific market and meets their needs. 

You have to be a market maker, and you have to be aware of what people are looking for – who is buying and who is selling – and then connect those people. Listing and waiting for a buyer is for losers. Professionals market their listings and they sell them too. 

Passion and Professionalism in Practice

I get very passionate about these topics because I truly care about our agents and I want every last one of them to be successful. That said, I don’t want anyone to confuse being a good person and having a good heart with what a professional is or does. The fact is, there are a lot of real estate agents who have great intentions and good hearts. These are wonderful people with fantastic personalities – but they don’t create a career. These people don’t create an asset, and oftentimes, they barely can make a living. 

When I talk about professional practice and professional behaviors, I don’t want anyone to misconstrue the meaning that these people don’t have good hearts. The secret sauce is a combination of all of the above: Professionals have a practice, routines, behaviors, standards, and goals for themselves. Plus, they have good hearts. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. 

Take for example someone who is more transactionally oriented. These agents are fantastic in the technical aspects of what they do, but they’re not as focused on maintaining or building client relationships. They don’t care if they see those clients again, and they’re not going to put in the work to maintain those relationships. I don’t think that’s the way to go, either. I think you need to have both. 

• Be a professional with your technical expertise and knowledge, embrace your drive and ambitions, set yourself up to succeed, and work hard – but don’t forget to have heart. 

I think the combination of passion and professionalism is what has allowed us to surround ourselves with and work with the best real estate agents in the business. 

Final Thoughts

Because listings are so hard to come by, it’s essential to take advantage of the ones you acquire. You owe it to yourself and your clients to see the sale through to the end. Remember, you’ve made connections with these people. Your clients are people who know, like, and trust you. If you’re passionate about what you do, but have the ability to remain professional and act in a professional nature regarding your client’s listing, you shouldn’t run into any issues with selling that property yourself. 

Acting in the client’s best interest must always be at the forefront of how we conduct ourselves as real estate agents. Become a market maker – and be prepared to show your work. Sell yourself, sell your skillset, and make sure your clients know the value of what they’re getting: You are fantastic at what you do, and you should be ready to prove it. 

Real estate agents who work by referral know the value of all the names in their database. These connections are ultimately what lead to the development of a strong, lucrative practice. However, part of that practice involves rolling up your sleeves and doing the hard, but necessary work of following through to maximize the potential of every single listing you get. Practice with heart and professionalism, give your clients 100% and don’t be afraid to work both sides of a listing (buyer and seller) to your own advantage. After all, that’s what the client is paying you to do – not someone else.