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The Secret of the Crumpled Letter!

It’s time to resurrect the Crumpled Letter! The concept has been around for a while now, but with the real estate market going thru some major upheavals, anything you can use to set yourself apart will have an impact on your business.

Ralph Roberts, a Detroit-area real estate agent who sells an average of 450 homes per year, uses this system for expired listings. The reason for using the Crumpled Letter is to solicit a seller whose listing has expired.

Why would you want to solicit expired listings? Because you are in a better position to list the home at a more realistic sales prices. Sellers believed that their homes where worth much more because of spiraling real estate prices. By soliciting expired listings, sellers are more willing to listen to your pitch because they had been unsuccessful in selling their home before.

The content of the letter explains that you know that the listing has expired and that you would like the chance to meet with the sellers to re-list their home. Here’s the twist: Within a few days, a crumpled letter arrives with the same request, but this time, it includes a hand written note at the bottom of the letter that says, “Don’t Throw Me Away Again”.

Here’s how it works: Compose a letter stating that you know that the listing is with ABC Realty (include the name of the real estate company) and you would like the opportunity to meet with them to re-list their home with you.

Print 2 copies of the letter. Send the first one in a regular envelope and hand write the address.

On the 2nd letter, write these words in blue (or red) ink that says, “Please don’t throw me away again!” Prior to sending it, you crumple it in a ball—so it looks crinkled—and refold the letter and insert it in a crumpled envelope with the hand written address (again). The 2nd letter is sent out 3 days after the first letter.

Assuming that the first solicitation letter had been thrown away, this gives you a second chance to ask for the listing. While your competitors are also soliciting expired listings, sending a crumpled letter sets you apart.

When clients end up re-listing their home with Ralph, they have commented that if he is this creative in getting his foot in the door, he may be just as creative in getting their home sold.