Why FSBOs Hate Realtors (And How to Win Them Anyway!)

I'd rather burn my house to the ground than list with an agent. That's a real objection that one of you got and posted it as a comment on one of my YouTube videos. And it was the wall that the agent hit. What do I say? How do I deal with that? Now, this is where for most agents, that's the end of the call. Okay? The agent gets defensive or they get— they argue or they hang up feeling totally defeated. They cross the seller off their list. And I'm telling you, that's exactly the backwards way to deal with it. And here's the reality: the angriest, most hostile for sale by owner or expired— those are not your hardest listings. They actually can be your easiest listings if you know the one move that nobody ever taught you. And today in this video, I'm going to give you exactly that move, the exact script, the approach, and exactly how to do it to flip the script, to make them go from being your greatest enemy to you all of a sudden becoming their biggest outlight. Now, if you want every objection hunter that I'm about to use word for word, the exact scripts, then get a copy of my new book, More Yes, More Success. And with it, one of the bonuses that you will get is the entire Book of Yes scripts, Vortex Edition, that has every one of these toughest objection handlers, every script, exactly how to approach it, exactly what to do to win the listing. So the agent that posted the comment, their question was— I had this for so many owners— said, I'd rather burn my house to the ground than list with an agent. And they said, is that a condition or is that an objection? Well, first I'm gonna tell you it's not a condition. What they're telling you is what, how they feel right now. So it's an objection. It's something to get rid of you. That's what it's designed to do. As I figured this out from the very first time when I started prospecting expireds, I remember the very first for sale by owner I ever went, knocked on their door, told me to get the fudge off their porch. And it's like, that was their script. And what you got to understand is whatever a seller throws at you, a for sale by owner or an expired or any other seller prospect, when they throw these kind of hard questions at you, it's their script. That objection is designed to do one thing, to get rid of you. They don't want pressure, they don't want to make a mistake, and they don't want to think about it, and they don't want to hire an agent. So they're just trying to figure out, how do I end this call? But the reality is, when you break through that resistance, you get on the other side of that resistance, they become sometimes your greatest ally, and they become the easiest listing to get. And here's the thing you got to realize, it's not personal. They're not attacking you personally. It's not personal. It's not personal. It's simply a pattern and it's simply their way of reacting to something they don't know how to deal with. See, here's the reality. You can help them get a better result. In fact, one of the funniest things is that there was a guy that founded a website called forsalebyowner.com. And when he founded it, it was 'cause he didn't wanna work with agents. And here's the funny thing. When he got ready to sell his own house, he actually tried to sell it for sale by owner. It did not work. He finally ended up hiring an agent and he sold the house for $150,000 more than he had been asking as a for sale by owner. You see, the reality is they need you, they just don't know it yet. All we got to do is get them to a point where they're willing to entertain a possibility that maybe their perception that agents are the enemy is misguided. And all you got to do is get on the other side of that resistance and you win them. And so I'm going to share with you now exactly how to make that happen with 3 core moves and exactly what to say and how to say it in that process. So how do you take someone who's basically told you to drop dead and turn it into a signed listing agreement with a seller that is happy to work with you? 3 moves. Number 1, don't take the bait. Don't take the bait that they are not going to work with you. This is not a condition. The hostility that you feel is simply their script. When they attack agents, they're not asking for a debate. They're just trying to get rid of you. The mistake is treating it as a personal attack or as a question that needs to be answered. It's not a question that needs to be answered. It is a deflection that you just simply need to absorb. Just take it. I remember hearing a for sale by owner tell me one time, I'm like, "So how much time will you take before you consider interviewing the right agent to sell your house?" And they go like, "Well, probably when hell freezes over." They're like, in other words, I'm not interested in talking to you. I'm not interested in hiring an agent. So no matter what they throw at you, you simply treat it as the most natural thing in the world. The second you get rattled, you lost. So just accept it. Accept it in all peace. Lesson number 2: never defend agents. Never defend your industry, okay? Because the moment you do that, defending your industry makes you the enemy. It makes you one of the things they hate, right? All you realtors are just the same thing. All you're after is a commission check, and they don't want to deal with that. Right? And so when you start going into defense mode, it validates you are part of the problem. You're the part of the profession that they don't like. So the moment you defend agents, you become the agent that they're angry at. So the counterintuitive move is to agree with them. Okay? I'd rather burn my house to the ground than list with an agent. And you just go like, oh, oh my gosh. So it sounds like you have not had a great experience with agents in the past. I hear you. I just agreed with them. I hear you. I get it. You hate agents. There are agents that I hate too. Okay. And what you're doing is you're getting on their side. I'm not going to try to defend that agent that burned you or an agent that you've had a bad experience with in the past, because that's not who you are. You're not that agent, but you can't defend that agent. You can't defend and say, well, we're not all that way. Because then you just became one of them. Right? Just say, I hear you. Oh, sounds like you've had some bad experience with agents. I hear you. I get it. Now, when you agree with them, you're now on their side. You're not defending agents or defending being a realtor. And this is where most agents still blow it. They stay stuck in the apology. Okay? You don't. So watch this. Here's lesson number 3. Acknowledge, reframe, and redirect the conversation to what they want. What do they not want? They don't want a real estate agent. What do they want? They want to get their house sold and they want to get the most money possible in their pocket. That's what they want. And so this is the switch. This is where you flip the script and the whole technique in one move. I hear you. Uh, so it sounds like you've had some bad experience with some agents. And then you can literally say, I'm so sorry that has happened. Okay. And when I do that, I'm not living in an apology. I'm just acknowledging, I hear you and I'm sorry that you've had that experience. I'm not apologizing for the industry, simply acknowledging their experience. And then affirm their feeling without arguing with it. So right now, it sounds like you really are not planning to hire an agent at all. I get it. Now, what I did is I reframed it. Okay, so I don't say, so you're absolutely never going to hire an agent. I don't say that because that's what they may thinking, but I don't want to buy into that story. My story is right now you don't have plans to hire an agent. You're accepting it, but I'm reframing it to say this is not a condition. This is not the way it's always going to be. This is just what you're thinking right now. So I'm reframing their objection from, "I'm never going to hire an agent," to, "Right now you don't really want to hire an agent. I get it." Okay, and then you redirect to the magic question. So let me ask you this. If I could help you get the property sold and still net you the money in your pocket that you need to make this move happen, would you consider interviewing me now? Would you be willing to talk to me about it? Well, how are you going to do that? I don't know. Well, I just don't think agents could do that. I don't think you're worth your salt. I don't think you're worth the— whatever. I hear you. But if I could, would you at least be willing to talk to me about it? No pressure. But if I could help you get a better result, would it be worth investing a little bit of time just to find out if there's a path that would get you a better result? And it's just a fair trade. If I could, would you at least be open to that possibility? And all I'm trying to do is open their mind to a possibility of a connection. And this is the magic word, the magic hook in the For Sale By Owner script. If I could help you get the result that you want and still net the money you need in your pocket to make this move happen and get your property sold for you faster and easier, would you at least be willing to talk to me about it? And it's just a simple fair trade. Now, there may or may not get you an appointment that time, but I'm going to tell you right now, there's a large percentage of time that that seller is going to go like, well, how are you going to do that? Great question. That's exactly what I want to go over with you when we get together. So, when would be the best time for us to meet? I could come out tomorrow at 2:15 or would like 4:15 be better? And all I'm doing is we're negotiating an agreement to just have a conversation. That's all we're doing, okay? Well, I still am skeptical. I hear you. I don't blame you for being skeptical. And when we get together, if after we talk we're still skeptical, then we'll shake hands and be friends, okay? Now, if they go, "I'm just not ready right now." Okay, then say, "No problem. I'm here for you. If anything happens or you need any help, please feel free to reach out to me at any time." Here's my number. Okay. And then you hang up. If you don't get the appointment, a lot of times you're going to get it and you have to expect you're going to get it. Believe that you're going to get the appointment. Believe that you're going to be able to help them get a better result and you're going to get past the resistance. Because once you get past the resistance, they'll literally tell you, I don't even know why I'm talking to you. I didn't talk. I've hung up on all the other agents. I said I was never going to talk to an agent and here we are. And you're like, I hear you. I get it. And I don't blame you. Okay? So you've got to just be connecting with their pain, connecting with their uncertainty, connecting with their fear, and then you can lead them to the other side of understanding that you can actually help them get a better result. And so if you don't get the appointment and they hang up, now you've got the segue to continue this conversation. As soon as I get off the phone, I'm going to immediately shoot them what we call a personal intro video. And again, all the exact scripts, the words, exact strategies right here in my book, More Yes, More Success. I'm going to send them a quick video. This just says, hey Martha, Kevin here. It was great to talk to you on the phone. I know right now you're not really ready to hire an agent and I understand your frustration that you've had with agents in the past, but I just want you to know that if I can help in any way, I'm happy to do that. If you still want to sell your house and get the most money, that matters to me. And so if you have any questions or anything, feel free to reach out to me and I'll look forward to talking to you soon. And that's it. Send them a quick video. I shoot that video on my phone, text it to them, and boom, that's done. And then a few days later I call them back, just say, hey, touching base, was thinking about you, touching base, see how things are going. Have you had any offers, where are we at in the process, and so forth. And I may just touch base 2 or 3 times over the next week. And then after a couple of conversations, I'm going like, so when do you think you'd be willing to have a conversation with me to see if we can get you a better result, if we can get your house sold and get you— and I want to find out where the motivation is. If they're moving to Austin or, you know, they're downsizing or upsizing or whatever, just say, you know, I'd love to sit down with you and have a conversation about how we can help you get to Austin. With more money in your pocket. When would be a good time for us to do that? And it's almost like there's no pressure, it's just invitation. And you show up like a professional, touch and base, and that's all you do. And here's the beauty of it. You're going to get either the appointment on the first conversation, second conversation, third conversation, or if not, and you just continue to touch base and that's it. The day comes when somebody they thought was going to buy the house, it falls out. And they're like, I'm done, I'm tired of this, and they give you the call because you're the one who's helped them see that you're not the enemy. So I hope this video has been helpful for you. So I want you to drop in a comment about what is the toughest objection that you're facing right now, the toughest objections that you're dealing with, because that'll help me know what I want to shoot my next videos on. And if you want the exact word-for-word scripts, the exact strategies, and exactly how to break through the resistance of any seller and get to yes. Just get my book, More Yes, More Success. Go to moreyesbook.com. The link is in the description. Get that. With that, you're going to get a bonus that is the Book of Yes Scripts 2026 Vortex Edition that has all the scripts, all the objection handlers, so you know exactly what to say and how to say it to get sellers, even the toughest ones, to say yes.