How Wiley Agents are Conning FSBO Sellers
I got a call the other day from a Listing Door user who said that she had received over 20 phone calls after building her listing with us and having it pushed to Zillow.
Marketing seminars are now promoting a clever real estate strategy to agents: showing them how to approach FSBO sellers on Zillow with sales techniques aimed at getting them to switch to a real estate agent.
I appreciate the ingenuity in that, although in my perspective, it borders on sleazy marketing. Snap up FSBO sellers where they advertise? Resourceful. Agents want and need new business to be successful. What’s interesting is that their sales tactics are indistinguishable from one another. The spiel is the same. It’s as if they had all gone to the same seminar – and they probably did!
But canned sales pitches are not what make this tactic sleazy. The cheap shot is what I’m about to tell you. What agents are learning in these seminars is akin to a sleight-of-hand magic trick: here one moment, gone the next. Here’s how it works.
The agent makes contact with an FSBO property that is on Zillow. The script goes something like this:
Agent: “Did you know Zillow has your house listed for $200,000? (The house was listed for $860,000 in this case.)
FSBO Home Seller: “No,” confusion in her voice, “I didn’t.”
After about the third phone call from different agents trying to get them to list the home, the home seller – getting wise – asks, “Can you screenshot that and send it to me?”
Agent: “Oh, after I hit the refresh button your home came up with the correct price.”
I can assure you that Zillow’s website programming is state-of-the-art, using some of the best technology, if not the best. The house was never listed at $200,000. It was just a slick trick to rattle the confidence of an FSBO seller, an attempt to get them to cross over to assisted selling, resulting in a big fat commission for the agent.
So FSBO sellers, beware. Tricksters are out there. If you get a phone call from an agent who pulls that stunt, just say no. Tell them you’re not interested. Then move on to the next caller, who just might be your buyer.
Key Takeaways
- Know the tricks that agents may pull to try to rattle your confidence and get your business.
- Don’t believe it when you are told your house is listed on Zillow for a price lower than it’s
supposed to be.
