If it can work for the retailers can it work in real estate? Can having a sale in real estate really work with “the economy”, “interest rates”, and “foreclosures”? You know it can. The biggest retail day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving. Every store (or practically) has a sale and it lasted from 5:00 am to noon or sometimes all day depending on the store. Most had ads in the paper, others had commercials, and still others had commercials, website promotions, newspaper ads, and yes even sky writers to tell people about the sale. There was a funny thing though when you really looked at all the details.

The best store offers

Not EVERYTHING was on sale. Stores used a variety of offers to get consumers to their stores and offered tremendous deals on certain products. Some of the offers that I saw were:

• 30% off from 5-7am, 20% off from 7-10 am, and 10% off from 10-noon
• 56 in plasma TV for $1,400 normally $3,600 (limited to first 10 customers)
• $599 for a washer & dryer normally $1,299

The great part is that they brought people to their store. Do you think that they brought alot of people in? Do you think people that came for the items on sale also maybe bought a few other things as well? You bet that they did.

Now before I start getting e-mails, comments, and calls like “Joey that is just bait and swtich” let me be very clear that it is not. The stores are offering items and offers that are clearly explained but when people by things or after they get there they may find the deal they wanted is not the best deal for them.

Make them an offer

So what is the best deal that you can offer someone? I was visiting my in-laws in Fresno, CA this Thanksgiving weekend and you know what there are some great deals to be had. My in-laws who are successful real estate brokers mentioned there was a home for $98,000. That’s right $98,000. Sure it needed a kitchen but this is a tremendous deal and this home fixed up correctly would probably sell for $180,000. Not to bad if you ask me. Are there a lot of these deals, NO of course not. They come to those who are prepared and ready to go.  By the way if you want info on that home you can call Paul & Sue directly at 559-431-7060 and tell them you read it on Joey’s blog post.

What is the best offer in your town at the moment? Some deals that you might not have thought of.

• Is an owner you are working with willing to carry paper with some favorably terms?
• Do you have a friend in the office who has a few listings from 1 owner that he is willing to deal on if someone buys all of them?
• Do you have properties that would be great rentals and you would get them rented for FREE for someone who is out of the area if they bought with you?
• Are there properties people can buy, fix, and flip for a small profit and you can put it all together for someone out of the area?

Think outside your area

Sometimes we get so trapped in our own area we don’t realize that there are others outside who are willing to buy, lease, or rent to own just outside our area. A client of my father in law leased out properties on Craigslist for more than the going rate to someone coming from outside the area.

If the first offer doesn’t work make them another one

Companies test different messages, offers, and ads all the time and so should you. You can test out offers to your database, blog, and website and see which ones give you the most e-mails, comments, and calls. All of these will have you creating a sense of community.

Let us know what offer you are going to make to your clients for you