RiTA is constantly monitoring the portals and she is aware of all the new listings coming to the market, and in most cases she will be able to tell you when something has moved to the Sold section. It takes her a lot of processing power to do this, and it is something that takes agents and even homeowners a lot of time to maintain knowledge around.
Advanced common sense tells us that when you own a property – that is that you have a large amount of your personal wealth in the bricks and mortar of a dwelling on a particular street – there will normally be a curiosity about what the property would be worth, over time.
Sometimes this curiosity is really focused – like when someone wants a detailed CMA because they are thinking of selling – and sometimes it is more of a background curiosity that can be sparked by ‘new’ news about similar properties coming to market or selling.
RiTA matches the ‘new listing event’ of a property coming to market near a property owner that you have in your CRM as a prompt to have a conversation.
The conversation has a dual objective – to see if this baseline curiosity can be converted to a desktop or an in-person presentation OR to defend the relationship you have built over time by providing your contact with relevant and up to date market information that positions you as an expert.
“Hi there it is Sarah from Delta Real Estate and the reason for my call today is to see whether the appearance of a ‘For Sale’ sign at number ## in your street has sparked any curiosity about what your home might be worth now?”
“If there was some kind of an appetite to know about how the value is tracking I can help you in one of two ways: I can give you a report on some general trends in the area in terms of what is selling or I can come out and give you some research that takes into account the more specific features of your property. I am happy to do either, but it probably depends on whether you are simply curious or if there is a small part of you that is entertaining the idea of selling?”
“Of course, it is not the time for you and I can understand that. In any event, shall I keep an eye on that property that I mentioned and let you know the result of that sale?”
If they answer ‘YES’ to be notified of a result, then you would use the ‘Remind Me About This Later’ option and select a date in a few weeks time (depending on days on market in your area) and then you can reach out and let them know if it has sold then. RiTA will bring the opportunity back on the day that you have selected.
The worst thing that can happen is where you know a property owner and you have invested in their relationship over time, but then they come on the market with a competitor who has met them via a listing on their street. Maybe they have put DLs in the letterbox and capitalised on the curiosity of their listing. Maybe they doorknocked the neighbours and invited them to the open home. Maybe the neighbours came through the open home and struck up a conversation with the competitor agent. The point is – the relationship was lost because it wasn’t defended.
So in the worst case that the property owner you know on the street of a new listing doesn’t want an appraisal – you have at least had the opportunity to step in and secure the relationship from being taken away by a competitor and this will position you for the business when the time is right.