Sellers of real estate generally have one complaint when it comes to their agent - poor communication. You’ve heard the stories from sellers about how an agent listed their home and then never heard from them again. I’d like to think I do a pretty good job when it comes to keeping my sellers informed.
My secret weapon is The Seller Communication Binder. I present the one inch binder to the seller at the time I take the listing.
The binder is separated by dividers into 5 sections:
Listing Docs - This section is used for a copy of the listing and disclosures which I have 3 hole punched in advance.
Advertising - Copies of print advertising as well as hard copies of internet advertising are mailed every two weeks to the seller. (Again, 3 hole punched.)
Reports - Along with sending the advertising every two weeks, we send sellers copies of Homefeedback.com and Realtor.com reports as well as other website traffic reports.
Closing Information - Here’s where a copy of the sales contract and our “Here’s what happens next” letter goes.
Miscellaneous - This is a “catch all” place for everything else. We include information on closing customs in our county. During the listing period we mail interesting articles from the newspaper or the internet about local market conditions.
We also include a plastic sleeve that holds 20 business cards of local vendors that a seller might need, like a carpet cleaner, plumber or chimney sweep. We do use attorneys in our area at closings so we add the cards of 3 local attorneys.
I touch my sellers in other ways through email and the internet but almost without exception, sellers arrive at the closing with my secret weapon in hand.