Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
Social media is a great thing for our business. We are connecting to more consumers than ever. It’s all fine and dandy. However, is what you portray online the real you?
Recently, I attended a #tweetup. There were a lot of social media “experts.” Nowadays, who isn’t an expert? Many of the people in attendance I had connected with in Twitter and felt as if I really knew them.
The first person I had the pleasure of meeting was Teresa Boardman. I had been connected to her for a couple of years but had never met her in person. The first thing she told me is, “You look exactly like you do in your avatar.” I felt confused and glad at the same time. I said, “That’s a good thing, right?”
This made me think of issue #1 in your social media. Don’t have a fake, glamourshots-style photo of yourself. While we all want to look good and our best, people should be able to recognize you in person. It’s generally a bad idea to have pictures that only show half of your face or give the impression that you are some supermodel.
When I first signed up for Twitter, I had an avatar of myself wearing big sunglasses that I called my “pimp” picture. Luckily, Greg Sax gave me gave me advice telling me to change my picture. I was glad I took his advice and changed my picture. More People started to recognize me more in public.
Another thing I noticed at this #tweetup, was that many people acted very different. Some seemed very shy. Some seemed like a completely different person that what I had originally thought. I was very outgoing and made an attempt to talk to everyone in the room. Many in attendance hardly moved around even though most of us were connected in some social platform. I didn’t get it. Continue reading »
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
Last summer, an agent in my office took on a listing with high hopes…the market in this particular neighborhood was moving fast and prices seemed to be pretty stable. Unfortunately, though, by the time the clients were ready to hit the market, some of the neighboring comps had slashed prices (assumably to try and get sold before the start of the school year). As time went on, the comps dictated that there was really no way we could sell for our asking price, which meant we were approaching the dreaded “short sale territory.” This was a major game-changer, and there were many occasions on which our clients thought it would be best just to pull the house off the market and maybe even stop making their payments.
At times we almost felt like this was going to be a lost cause, but two things came to mind: If that house didn’t stay on the market, there was no other way it was going to sell…and the sellers are in a position where they have a legitimate hardship and NEED to get out from under the house and move on with their lives. I also didn’t want my agent’s sign to come down from what is a very high-traffic neighborhood.
Long story short, the sellers agreed that keeping the house on the market truly was the best course of action to meet their goals. At press time, we are thick in the middle of a win/win situation: They have accepted an offer on the house from a buyer who is willing to wait out the short sale process and our negotiator is well underway with the lienholder in getting that approved. In the meantime, the agent received several sign calls on the house…each time knowing that there was little chance the house would sell to that caller given the short sale situation. No matter…they pursued the sign calls and are currently under contract with one of those buyers on another house nearby (scheduled to close later this month). Continue reading »
Brett Caviness
By Brett Caviness
I simply couldn’t wait two more years to graduate college before entering my dream career as a REALTOR®, so I didn’t. I went active as a real estate agent in Cedar Falls Iowa in 2009. Since entering the business, I have worked hard to manage my time. With class, work on campus, activities and friends I was able to make time to schedule showings, and close deals in-between. There are a lot of things I wish I knew before I got into the business; I mean this is hard work! So I made a list of a few things I wish they told me about the real estate world in my weekend classes.
1. A real estate license doesn’t mean sales. Your office doesn’t just hand you over some magic list of names of people ready, willing and able to buy or sell. You have to find them yourself.
2. Even if you are a part time agent, this is a full-time job. I didn’t realize between classes I would be on the phone with clients, offices, the abstract company, lenders and others while reviewing important documents on my Blackberry.
3. Starting a career in real estate is like starting your own company. I have quickly learned to be my own boss, marketing director, web master, public relations manager, and accountant while always working in research and development. Continue reading »
Toby Boyce
By Toby Boyce
I rolled up on the house like I always do, peering at addresses to verify the location with where the GPS was placing the destination.
However, this time I missed the house. And that’s where this story took a possibly tragic detour. With four years of experience processing broker price opinions I’ve developed a safety routine that goes back to my days working as a bouncer.
But on this day – ironically the same day that the Ohio Association of REALTORS® Communications Committee of which I’m vice chair introduced a motion for a year-long safety reminder and training course – I veered from my course of action and elected to walk back to the house for the photos. As I was taking a photo of the front of the house a tenant appeared at the door and inquired as to why I was there. I responded but obviously not to his liking as he asked me to leave and displayed a hand gun.
I walked briskly away from the scene before the realty of the situation hit me. I found a comfortable parking lot and just shook for about five minutes before getting myself back together. As the hours progressed I continued to think about the situation and what happened and how I should have handled the situation – and how I’d done just about everything wrong.
I’ve defused a lot of dangerous situations with words and avoided fisticuffs on most occasions (and I’m sure I deserved to get popped more often than I didn’t) with several key techniques. The YPN model is to share and work with each other to develop better agents. So, my five key safety techniques are:
1. Have a Game Plan – What will you do if you are put into a situation where you become uncomfortable? If you can’t answer that question right now, then you need to sit down and work out a plan – this is one time where failing to plan can be more damaging than just failing it could get you robbed or worse. You can’t be prepared for every situation, but if you know how to handle that “too friendly” guest at the open house or the angry dog on a BPO then your instincts will lead you in the right direction when it is time to rely on instincts. Continue reading »
Stefanie Hahn
By Stefanie Hahn
No more blogging excuses! Tumblr is a simple, easy-to-use platform that is perfect for everyone, from blogging beginners to multimedia aficionados. “One click to posting happiness,” is what I like to call it. This tutorial will walk you through the ins and outs of posting on Tumblr with a dashboard overview to get you started. Don’t forget to visit www.tumblr.com.
Stefanie Hahn is the education director for Coldwell Banker Hearthside, REALTORS® in Malvern, Pa. Visit her Web site: www.StefanieHahn.com.
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