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It’s a great way to connect with your clients, old and new, to give them a chance to transform their space into a truly home sweet home.
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Scott Newman
By Scott Newman
Real estate is back in 2012 in a big way. Many markets are seeing price increases in response to dwindling inventories as more and more buyers are getting off the fence every day. With that in mind — especially since it’s been so long since we’ve had the opportunity to use the phrase “multiple offer” — I felt it would be pertinent and relevant to go through some best practices for handling multiple offer situations to make sure you’re in line with ethical and fair business practices.
Don’t Forget Your Loyalties: This is a big one, and it’s obvious, but many agents forget that you can’t disclose information that your client doesn’t authorize. No where is it written that you must disclose whether or not you have other offers on the table. Unless your seller has specifically directed you to do so, you should not automatically answer that question if asked by a buyer’s agent or buyer.
I have seen situations where a buyer will pull out of a deal because they think there is too much competition, and you can be legally liable for any negative consequence that results from your disclosing information you shouldn’t have.
To summarize, don’t ever forget that your ultimate loyalties lie with your seller, and just because you’re asked a question doesn’t mean you have to answer.
Treat Everyone the Same: This is another obvious one, but it’s important and bears repeating. To avoid accusations, legal action, and overall negative impact to your reputation as a professional, it’s imperative that you treat everyone the same way.
If you’re sending out a request for highest and best, send the exact same e-mail, forms, etc., to all interested parties who have seen the property so there is absolutely no doubt that everyone was informed of the status and had a chance to make an offer if they wanted. It’s better to e-mail an agent that showed the place six months ago along with everyone else, than it is to have your deal blown up by a lawsuit from a buyer who feels they were unfairly kept from knowing the latest update and opportunity to place an offer.
Keep Unbelievably Good Records: Continue reading »
Dave Robison
By Dave Robison
All the top producers have something in common. Yes, they all have something other agents want, such as higher sales, more disposable income, and more free time. But how do they achieve this? It’s not by buying an iPad or iPhone. Can you guess what it is they have in common?
Assistants.
NAR reports 87 percent of agents don’t have assistants.
An agent recently asked how I came to the decision to hired an assistant. This agent is excited to grow their business and take the next step into creating a sales team. After thinking about it, I realized how my business expanded due to having assistants, and how my lifestyle is more enjoyable. Here is my advice for agents who are considering hiring an assistant:
When do you hire an assistant? There are two main, simple steps. Whenever I hire a new assistant, I do it after analyzing what I’m doing with my time. My first step is figuring out how much time I’m spending in each area of my business. My second step is deciding if there is a certain area I could focus more time, and whether that time would produce a large enough return for my bottom line while paying a new assistant.
For example, recently I realized I’m spending a ton of time on e-mails, answering simple questions from my clients and other agents. I have a transaction coordinator who I keep busy with 20 to 30 deals under contract at one time. She is already very busy, so I couldn’t add more to her plate. I figured if I can have a licensed assistant take care of all the routine e-mail and simple calls all day for me, then I could spend more time getting more listings. Now it’s time to do it. I hired my second assistant so I could focus on increasing sales.
How do you hire your assistant? Continue reading »
Jared James
By Jared James
I am a firm believer that you can only do so many things great. I guess you could say that I fall in line with the phrase, “jack of all trades, master of none.” Now, I do believe that some people can excel at more things than other people, but as a general rule you can only be great at so many things.
I bring this up because I fear that we are becoming a people who are being told we have to be good at everything.
A day doesn’t go by where I don’t get questions from people on Facebook, Twitter, and in e-mails asking me about how to use Pinterest, what are the best database, how they should use social media for business, what’s the best online lead generator, what apps I recommend, what’s the best way to work in the “cloud,” and on and on…
At some point I have to just say, ENOUGH ALREADY!!
Please do not get me wrong, every question I listed above is a good one, and they are questions that we, as professionals, should know the answer to. But I worry that we are becoming a people who are so obsessed with mastering everything that in the end we will end up mastering nothing. You see, I would rather be great at working my database or leveraging Facebook page than be good at everything there is to know about creating or managing a business. Being good doesn’t separate you, and separation is what it takes to stand out and actually see a real return on investment (ROI).
I can’t tell you how often I hear about people who are using social media and get no return on it. At the same time, I know of many people making a living off of it. So which opinion is right? The one that thinks social media is a waste of time? Or the one that thinks it is amazing?
One thing that I have learned as a speaker/trainer is that most of the time it is not the tool or strategy that is the problem in people’s lives — the problem is the implementation of the tool. And when you are a master of none, it is difficult to get the results that you see someone else getting without giving their same level of dedication. Continue reading »
Anand Patel
By Anand Patel
Now that I have your attention, let me explain!
Last month my wife and I took our three-year-old daughter to the Disney On-Ice show that came to our town (Tampa, Fla.). It wasn’t until the day of the event that my wife decided to tell me this show, which was called Disney on Ice: “Dare to Dream,” was going to feature various Disney princesses and their stories. I wasn’t too excited, but anything for your little pipsqueak, right?
As we were walking up to the arena entrance I saw a swarm of little girls seemingly attack a Disney vendor hawking all sorts of princess paraphernalia. I thought to myself – ok, this is strange. Once inside the arena as we were escorted to our seats, I again was confused and shocked as to why all these girls were dressed up from head to toe in princess clothing. Halloween wasn’t for another five months! Throughout the show, as the arena filled with screams of little kids cheering for their favorite princess, I sat there looking around in awe at the powerful business machine that is simply Disney. They had come up with a way to create a very profitable revenue stream from their old characters!
An Idea is Born
Being the business nerd that I am, when I got home I googled the Disney Princess franchise and discovered that the idea of the Disney Princess line came from a man named Andy Mooney. Disney hired Mooney in 1999 to help their consumer products division improve their dropping sales. At that time, while attending his first Disney on Ice show, he found himself surrounded by young girls dressed as princesses in generic, non-Disney costumes. That’s when the idea of capitalizing on Disney’s existing cast of princess characters hit him. The Disney Princess franchise was born. In my opinion, this was genius!
What’s the point?
What does any of this have to do with real estate? As I thought about it some more, I realized how many times I find myself (and many others fall into this trap as well) looking for an outside “shiny object” to help with our business. Continue reading »
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