How Dennis Hecker gets 25 to 30% of FSBOs to hire him by offering free open houses

Dennis Hecker00:00

I’m gonna write this bestselling book on how to be successful in real estate, and it’s only gonna be two pages. The first page is talk to 10 to 15 people every single day. Vulcan7 is a great resource for that, by the way. They’ll provide you names and numbers, but talk to 10 to 15 people every day. Page number two is figure out some sort of a cool happy dance to the bank.

00:17All kidding aside, you really have to find people to talk to. Start with the people that you know. If you’re struggling in real estate, that is the best way to start. Start with people you know, call everybody on this crazy little apparatus called a phone.

Loida Velasquez00:35

Hi everyone. Welcome back to a brand new episode of Vulcan7 Coaches and Mentors, where we bring you some of the best in the industry to share with you their tips and strategies so that you can implement them in your business immediately. If you haven’t caught up on our previous episodes, make sure to check them out on YouTube or listen to them on your favorite streaming platforms.

00:55Now, with that being said, today we’re gonna be talking about For Sale by Owners. And for that, I have an awesome guest, and I’m gonna go ahead and bring him on, Coach Dennis Hecker. Welcome, Dennis.

Dennis Hecker01:05

Thank you. Happy to be here.

Loida Velasquez01:07

Yes. So for everyone that’s watching that is maybe not too familiar with you, go ahead and give us a little bit about your background.

Dennis Hecker01:15

Absolutely. I have been in the real estate industry for over 34 years. More to the point, my father and my family have all been in real estate since the early 70s. I have sold tons and tons of homes using for sale by owner techniques that we’re gonna talk about later today. Also, I am a mastery coach with Tom Ferry for the last nine plus years.

Loida Velasquez01:37

That’s awesome. A question that I love to ask all of my guests as well: it sounds like you come from a background where there was a lot of real estate, realtors going on, but did you do anything before you became an agent yourself?

Dennis Hecker01:51

Oh gosh, yes. Very few real estate agents, it’s their first career.

01:56Oh, I was a metrologist for an aircraft company. I was a coach for a sports team in high school. I hung wallpaper. You name it, I probably did it.

Loida Velasquez02:05

Oh, okay. Awesome. So what made you get into the real estate business, or how did that transition happen?

Dennis Hecker02:12

Mostly it was because of my family. My aunt got involved in the early 70s in Southern California and did extraordinarily well.

02:18And she convinced her brother, who’s my father, to get involved in real estate in the mid-70s, 77 to be exact. And because of his success, and me kind of working with him a little tiny bit when I was a teenager, believe it or not, I kind of caught the bug. And so when I was in my mid-20s, I went to school, got my license, and here I am today.

Loida Velasquez02:39

That’s awesome. No, that’s exciting to hear. I love to ask because everyone has a different background and a different story. But obviously on today’s episode, we’re gonna talk about for sale by owners. And I know that that lead source, some agents love it, some agents are afraid of it. So let’s get started with why do you think agents need to go after this lead source?

Dennis Hecker03:01

Well, as you probably already heard the acronym, it’s the fastest source of business opportunity. And it really was for me, but there was an evolution behind it, and hopefully we’ll be talking more about what it evolved into for me as a professional.

Loida Velasquez03:16

Yes. So share with us kind of how your journey was.

Dennis Hecker03:20

Well, like everybody else, I would call for sale by owners. And one of the reasons why I did that was, who wants to sell their home? Well, it was either expired listings, which I wasn’t necessarily interested in, although a good viable source, or it was for sale by owners. These are the two sectors of the real estate community that said, “I wanna sell my home.”

03:40One understands the value in real estate agent relationships and commissions, and the other one maybe not so much, but I chose for sale by owners, and like everybody else, I basically asked for listings all day long from these people and wasn’t horribly, horribly successful. So that evolved into something a little bit different, which was the preview appointment.

04:01I said to myself, “I can talk pretty well to people. I wanna get in front of more people.” And I wasn’t having a great amount of success the other way. So I tried the preview appointment and did fairly well. That evolved into something different, because I wanted to be unique, and I wanted to set myself apart from every other real estate agent that was doing the exact same thing.

04:20Either they were lying about having buyers or they were trying the direct appointment setting script, and I wanted to be different. Thus, I came up with the idea of a free marketing technique that’s super simple, but it’s multifaceted, and it was very well received.

Loida Velasquez04:38

That’s awesome, because yeah, just like you said, especially going after that lead source, you have to know how to stand out.

04:44A lot of agents, they’re just talking and trying to set that appointment, and it turns off a lot of for sale by owners. So can you kind of share that strategy and what that looks like, what you came up with?

Dennis Hecker04:57

Absolutely. First of all, it starts with the script. When you’re on the phone with the for sale by owner, the first thing that I evolved the conversation into being was, “I’m not like everybody else.”

05:07So here’s really the script. And if you guys wanna write this down really quickly, if you know shorthand, awesome. Or stop and pause. Anyway, here’s the script. “Hi, my name is Dennis Hecker with Hecker Real Estate. Before you hang up, I wanna let you know that I’m not calling about a listing. I wanna be able to offer some free, absolutely no obligation marketing.

05:25In exchange, if I find a buyer for you, then hopefully you’ll pay me a buyer side commission.” That’s basically the script. There was nothing more to it than that. The idea behind it was I wanna get in front of them, literally in front of them, and be able to set the appointment. And if I came into it with the idea that I wasn’t looking for a listing, wink, wink, wink, maybe I was down the road, but not initially.

05:48I would tell them that I wanna give you free marketing, and I’d love to discuss it more with you, but I need to see your home to find out what’s entailed. So I would set these appointments and then show up at the property, do my normal tour like everybody else does, write about a thousand pages of notes, scribbling feverishly like you’re supposed to, asking questions throughout the process.

06:12When are you moving? How long before you have to move? Things of that nature. Love your tile, love your curtains, gotta sprinkle everything in, writing notes, and then sitting down with them and explaining the process. And here’s the process. I’d like to schedule a series of open houses for you.

06:30I’ll take care of all the marketing. I’ll take care of all the costs associated with that. I’m gonna get buyers through here because of my extraordinary marketing to get buyers into my open houses. And I’m gonna do a series of these until the property gets sold or you sell it on your own, one or the other.

06:45And that’s the process. And through that, I was able to, number one, gain trust, because I wasn’t asking for a listing and I wasn’t doing a bait and switch. I didn’t tell them I didn’t want a listing and then ask for it. Never asked for the listing. My job was to do the open houses, build rapport, and through the open houses, maybe I find some of my own clients.

07:06When I sell their home, once in a blue moon, let’s just be honest, about 12% is the statistic that people see. But I was doing a series of them, and I was building rapport along the way. That gave me the right to ask them these questions. So, Mr. and Mrs. For Sale by Owner, and I didn’t call them that, I would assume that you’re doing some of your own marketing to get people through the home.

07:31Yes, I am. Great. I would also imagine that some of them are coming without a realtor. They’re not attached to a real estate professional, because we don’t wanna steal anybody. That would be unethical. And they would say yes in most cases. Could I come by once every few days, gather those names and numbers of those people you have no use for, but maybe I can sell them a home?

07:52Of course. So A, I’m doing open houses. B, I’m building rapport with people that are difficult to build rapport with sometimes. C, I’ve got a ready-made lead source of buyers potentially. They’re coming through their property unattached. And who do you think that they’re gonna call in two weeks, three weeks, four weeks?

08:15Who are they gonna call when they’re tired of it and they wanna hire a professional? More than likely me. And that’s the whole idea behind this program. It’s multifaceted, and it’s different, and it’s easy. There’s nothing to it.

Loida Velasquez08:29

That’s awesome. So let’s say, for example, you find a for sale by owner where maybe the property’s tenant occupied, or maybe the owner lives out of state.

08:40What do you do in those cases?

Dennis Hecker08:43

Well, if the owner lives out of state, I try to find a way to get in. And I don’t mean breaking in. I try to find out if they can mail me the keys, if they trust me enough, if there’s a lockbox already on the property, and sometimes tenant occupied properties or second homes, as you kind of alluded to, might have a lockbox.

09:01And if I can’t see it and I can’t get in, maybe it’s not a candidate for this program. So that’s entirely possible. Now, if it’s tenant occupied, then I have to coordinate with the tenant. I’m certain by this point they already know the property’s for sale in some manner, and I try to coordinate with the tenant, and maybe I can convince them to buy it, or maybe I can convince them to move out and buy something else while I make the landlord rich.

09:28I mean, there’s all kinds of ways to go about that.

Loida Velasquez09:30

Yes. Yes. There’s a lot of different ways to get creative with it once you are familiar with how to take things and what directions to go in. That’s awesome.

09:39Yes. So obviously, you’ve been doing this for a really long time, and you are very successful with it.

09:46Typically, what do you see from the moment that you initiate the conversations with the for sale by owner? How long does it typically take for them to say, “You know what, Dennis, we’d rather just hire you to sell the…”

Dennis Hecker10:00

It’s on average about three weeks, ballpark, give or take a few days.

10:07That’s kind of the statistic that I’ve been looking at, is it’s been about three weeks. I’ve also noticed, because I keep pretty good records, that about 25 to 30% of the for sale by owners that I engage with and that allow me to do open houses will eventually hire me. So it’s pretty big. So my job is to be in front of as many of these people so that 25 to 30% represents something substantial, right?

10:3325% of one is not much of a listing, but 25% of 100, as an example, would be quite a bit. So it’s about volume.

Loida Velasquez10:45

Yes. So is there a certain amount of for sale by owner appointments and previews that you try to schedule every week?

Dennis Hecker10:53

As many as possible. As many as possible. My business is dictated…

11:00My business was dictated. I am a full-time coach and brokerage owner at the moment, but when I was in heavy, heavy production, my job was to set as many appointments as possible. That was my only job. And this was one of the ways I did that, and other things.

Loida Velasquez11:14

That’s awesome. So for an agent that right now maybe hasn’t gone after for sale by owners, maybe they haven’t been consistent with it, what would be the first thing that they need to start either practicing or doing to get comfortable with executing this?

Dennis Hecker11:32

If you’re gonna use this method, I gave you the script, in a sense. I would practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. And I would find role play partners, your peers. If you’re part of the coaching body, Tom Ferry is who I coach with. We’ve got technology to help you role play by yourself, in essence, with AI technology.

11:54If you wanna know more about that, let me know. But it’s imperative that you practice that script and then understand what the objections might be. If you go into this prepared, knowing what they’re gonna say in terms of an objection, and you practice handling that objection, it becomes a lot easier.

12:13And then the other thing that’s really important, you have to understand that it’s never, ever, ever 100% success. There’s always gonna be failure involved with everything that you do as a real estate agent. The key is you learn from the failures, you grow from the failures, and you keep on working in terms of volume.

12:32The more people you reach out to, even if you’re gonna have an 80% failure rate, that 20% success rate, if you increase the number of people, will be a substantial number. So practice the scripts, practice the objection handling techniques, and then get on the phones and call those people.

Loida Velasquez12:51

Yeah, absolutely. And I’m sure that someone watching this is probably asking themselves, and I think you already answered it, but if you wanna just one more time: are the sellers signing anything when they give you the opportunity to go into the open house, or what does that conversation sound like?

13:09Because I’m sure maybe you hear where they tell you, “Well, we’re not gonna sign anything. We’re not looking to hire an agent,” so…

Dennis Hecker13:15

Sure, sure.

Loida Velasquez13:16

Talk about that.

Dennis Hecker13:17

So number one, first and foremost, this is being broadcast all over the country. And so you need to check with your broker about local and state laws.

13:24That’s imperative. Some states require a listing agreement to do this, others don’t. Some would require an irrevocable commission agreement. That’s what we call it here in Nevada. Others may not. Check with your broker about what is needed for your brokerage and state requirements. That’s really important, but there’s nothing wrong in most cases with signing a one-day listing agreement every time you do one of these open houses, which would include a commission agreement, right?

13:54So that might be a tactic. But again, check with your broker. That’s really important. I don’t wanna go state by state and…

14:02That would be irresponsible.

Loida Velasquez14:04

Yes, yes. No. Well, I’m glad that you cleared that up, because I’m sure that maybe some agents are like, “Wait, do I have to do anything?

14:10It sounds very easy, and if Dennis is having success, I need to go do it this weekend,” type of thing.

Dennis Hecker14:17

You could, actually, but check with your broker about legalities.

Loida Velasquez14:21

Yes. Yes. So tell us a little bit more about the coaching that you do, the agents that you train, in case anybody that’s watching might be interested in coaching with you.

Dennis Hecker14:30

Absolutely. First of all, if you wanna know more information above and beyond what I’ll tell you in the next few seconds, go to the website you see beneath my name, and it has everything. It’s all about coaching and how to get in and what it costs and all that good stuff. But in essence, if you want a free, absolutely no obligation, no, you’re not a for sale by owner, coaching assessment or a coaching session, I’m very happy to do one for you, absolutely free, just so you understand how it works and what’s involved.

15:03Again, I’ve been coaching for over nine years. Currently I’m coaching about 35 agents. I coach people that are brand new. I coach people that are highly trained and experienced, everything in between. Teams, I coach brokerages, brokers, managers, you name it. And the goal is being able to achieve your greatness, whatever that happens to be for you.

Loida Velasquez15:27

So as we wrap up, what would you say are three things that agents need to start doing right now if they wanna have a successful 2025?

Dennis Hecker15:36

Absolutely. Number one, it starts with your dedication to finding people to talk to. I always kid around about I’m gonna write this bestselling book on how to be successful in real estate, and it’s only gonna be two pages.

15:52The first page is talk to 10 to 15 people every single day. Vulcan7 is a great resource for that, by the way. They’ll provide you names and numbers, but talk to 10 to 15 people every day. Page number two is figure out some sort of a cool happy dance to the bank. But all kidding aside, but I was serious, all kidding aside, you really have to find people to talk to.

16:14Start with the people that you know. If you’re struggling in real estate, that is the best way to start. Start with people you know, call everybody on this crazy little apparatus called a phone. We all have a lot of contacts. Ask them for the business, don’t be afraid. Number two, start using the for sale by owner technique.

16:33They’re out there all the time. Highly recommend that. And number three, you gotta be patient and you gotta be diligent. Those are two really important qualities of a great real estate agent, being patient, knowing that the results are gonna come as long as you put in the work and you talk to enough people.

16:51That’s my advice.

Loida Velasquez16:53

Awesome, Dennis. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show. We’re gonna make sure to put all of your links below. And for everyone that’s watching this, you’re gonna have to watch it maybe two to three times and write down the script and everything that you mentioned on the process.

17:06But yeah, once again, thank you so much for doing this.

Dennis Hecker17:09

Absolutely my pleasure. It was a lot of fun.

Loida Velasquez17:11

Yes. All right. And for everyone that’s watching, we’ll see you on the next one. Bye.