Have you ever heard the saying, "He who controls the listings, controls the market"? That was the mantra which was preached to me when I first came into the world of real estate. We all know that buyers remain pretty scarce currently, so let's expend our energy on getting listings. Wouldn't you rather have all of the REALTORS^® working for you trying to sell your listings, than you working so hard trying to sell the other REALTORS^®' listings?

Let's take a look, first, at what you should have in your Listing Presentation Package.

1. A Comprehensive Market Analysis.
   This should include comps of sold properties, a list of currently listed properties, and a list of all properties which might be considered "the competition."
2. A Marketing Plan.
   If you don't have one, put one together. How do you do this? Just make a list of all the things you do to market a property. Put a nice border around it, add some color, your photo, your company logo, and print it on brochure paper.
3. A Personal Resume.
   If you don't have one, put one together. You can use Word or Publisher to put together a list of your credentials and your background.
4. CIS Disclosure form, Lead Based Paint Disclosure form, Radon Disclosure form, Seller's Disclosure form.
5. Listing Agreement.

You may want to consider putting together a Listing Presentation Binder wherein you present your Company, yourself, and then the process that a Seller will go through when listing their house with you. Once again, you can use Word, Publisher, or Power Point to put these pages together, print them on brochure paper and place them in a binder. With those three steps you achieve a great tool to help a Seller visualize the process of listing with you and selling that house.

Now that you're ready, where do you go to get listings? Here are some ideas:

1. FSBO's
2. Expired Listings
3. Withdrawn Listings
4. Farming
5. Call ins to the office
6. Ads in the paper
7. Flyers in communities
8. Rental lists (targeting the owners of rental properties)
9. Community organizations
10. Seller Seminars

Here are some of the benefits that I see if you become a Lister:

1. Price the listing right, and you will maximize your per-hour commission.
2. Your sign in someone's yard will give you more exposure than having someone in your car as a Buyer.
3. Advertising the listings you have will bring you more buyers who call on the ads.
4. The more signs people see with your name on them, the more chance those signs will bring you more listings.

So, who's going to get some listings? Who's going to control the market? Hope all this information helps you to accomplish this.

See you next week.

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