Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
I recently attended and volunteered at the Minneapolis RE BarCamp. I was a BarCamp virgin. I knew the concept and felt excited about it. I also anticipated excitement among fellow agents. I didn’t, however, realize how amazing the atmosphere would be.
Agents came in early and could wait to view the session board. I saw many popping in and out of sessions just so that they could get a taste of everything. You would see excitement in their eyes once they realized the concept. The event was free and you learned way more than you normally would learn in the traditional CE course.
This made me look back at educational events I attended throughout the year. I remember just a few months ago realizing that I didn’t have all my continuing educations credits even though it seemed like I was constantly training throughout the year.
I chose the events that I attended based upon what I would learn. Not the CE credits I would receive. Many of the events were not even focused on real estate at all. I chose them to learn something I didn’t know or because of who was speaking.
My point is, don’t focus on your continuing education hours. What you learn should benefit you and your clients. Look into other business areas. There is a ton you can learn from other industries. Don’t be afraid to step outside the box!
Brooke Wolford is a real estate practitioner with Edina Realty, Hastings, Minn. Follow her blog at adventuresinrookierealestate.com.
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
I have gone through a recent run of buyers who seem to take an extremely long amount of time to purchase a property. I began to feel pretty frustrated. I understood that this was happening with many buyers outside of my own, but it still seemed to frustrate me.
I then found what seemed to be a perfect buyer. She was approved, knew what she wanted, and had a deadline of when she wanted to move. I couldn’t have been more excited.
I began to show her properties. We would find something she loved. She would take her parents and boyfriend through the property. I would expect her to put an offer in and then she wouldn’t return my phone calls or emails for days. This repeated itself several times before I finally sat down and had a talk with her. (I don’t know why I waited so long).
After speaking with her about this issue, she told me that she has a mental condition. This condition is called kainotophobia (Fear of change). I immediately felt horrible. Here I was getting all frustrated for months and all along she hand this condition that could completely prevent her from purchasing a property at all. Besides that, I had concerns about her feeling like she could or would make a poor decision.
This type of thing has to pretty common, right? Maybe we as agents need to get some of of specialized training in mental illness?
What I can say is that we need to be empathetic to our clients. We need to be able to communicate to them better. In my case, I should have spoken with her sooner.
Brooke Wolford is a real estate practitioner with Edina Realty, Hastings, Minn. Follow her blog at adventuresinrookierealestate.com.
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
Lately, there has seemed to be a lot of drama surrounding the world of real estate. We can’t seem to go a day without some sort of challenge. I have found myself getting emotional sometimes because I work so hard and I seem to frequently get a smack in the face.
This past weekend, NAR passed the REALTOR® Party Political Survival Initiative. I watched it happen live via Twitter. Soon after it was announced, the comments started rolling in. It was amazing how emotional many agents were about the issue. While many had different views on the issue, I did notice one amazing thing…agents were coming together. In my 11 years in the business, I had never seen anything like this. It seemed as if we were all working together, regardless of company affiliation. It was truly amazing.
As an 11-year veteran of the real estate industry, there have been many changes in our business and this is one of them. If you are like me, this is why you are in the business. We need to be able to adapt and evolve with all the changes. Use the challenges you face to help you grow as an agent.
“Though the road’s been rocky it sure feels good to me.” –Bob Marley
Brooke Wolford is a real estate practitioner with Edina Realty, Hastings, Minn. Follow her blog at adventuresinrookierealestate.com.
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
I recently chatted with John DiBiase, NAR’s Government Affairs communications director. We got into a discussion about YPN and how it changed my career. I though it’s a valid story to share.
When I first obtained my license, I began working in a large office. I started out by assisting a fellow agent. Within a month of me having my license, the agent I worked for business went downhill. My hopes of being able to learn from a veteran agent were gone. Besides that, the office I worked in was so large, that I got lost in the shuffle. I began to realize that this office was not the best place for me.
I ended up moving to a new company. I love the company and the technology tools it had. While I loved my new company, I still felt like I was missing something. I couldn’t seem to get on track and get my business going. I began to research ways to launch my business and I soon ran into the YPN website.
I couldn’t believe the information I found. I would read blogs in complete amazement of what other agents were doing. Some if the things I learned I had never even heard of before. I went on overload a bit. But I have to say, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.
I have been able to grow as an agent. My business has improved tremendously. Some people may say that I know what I am doing now. Outside growing my business, I have also become more involved with my industry at-large. Not to mention being able to connect with people at NAR like John who I have been able to get advice from and be able to voice my opinion to.
So if you ever had any doubts about YPN, I am a perfect example of why it works. I am not paid by NAR or YPN to say this; it’s the truth. If I hadn’t found YPN when I did, I can’t say that I would still be in the business.
Brooke Wolford is a real estate practitioner with Edina Realty, Hastings, Minn. Follow her blog at adventuresinrookierealestate.com.
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 »
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
Recently, at the Minneapolis YPN SquareTable event, I had a discussion with a few agents about what type of car you should drive to protect your image as an agent. It went back and fourth based on where you lived, who you served, etc. While I agreed with a lot of the responses, I also feel that having a certain type of vehicle does not make you a good agent. It’s all about what you do for your clients.
Take me for instance. I live very frugally. I have a nice car and all, but it’s really nothing special. When I go grocery shopping, I clip coupons. I rarely shop for novelty items and money really is not an issue with me. I worry about making sure I’m able to support my family and being able to retire some day — both are very important to me.
While discussing this with the other agents, someone suggested that you talk to your past clients and see what they thought about the vehicle you drove. I decided to survey some of my clients and see what they said. I sent an email out to them with the following questions:
1. Is there anything that would have deterred you from using me as an agent? Examples: If I had purple hair, tattoos or drove an ugly car, etc.
Client #1- “If you had purple hair, I might have run after meeting you in that open house, but I could care less about tattoos or the car you drove. “
Client #2-“Honestly, was impressed because you drove the same car as me. I know the quality of the vehicle you drove and I think it says a lot about a person by choosing a high quality vehicle. “
Client #3- “Well, I believe in first impressions. I didn’t know what type of vehicle you drove when we first met. I had the opportunity to work with you and my loan officer for a while before I started to view homes, so it really didn’t matter anymore. I was happy with you.”
2. What are the reasons you used me as an agent? Continue reading »
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
Recently, I have noticed how often you see a character on TV playing a real estate agent or the several hundred reality shows about real estate. It brings home the point that real estate has the interest of pretty much everyone. You can’t turn on the news and not hear some sort of real estate-related story. Let’s face it, real estate is sexy.
The fact that so many consumers have interest in real estate makes me happy. However, I sometimes wonder if I fall into some sort of stereotype that consumers have about agents. Some examples I have heard in the past are:
1. Everyone is a real estate agent - For those of us who are still active in real estate, we know this is no longer true. The days of people getting licensed just to make a quick buck are over.
2. Our job is easy – Not true. We make it look easy to spare our clients some stress.
3. We all make a bunch of money – I read somewhere that the average agent last year closed one transaction. I don’t need to say anything further.
4. We all drive big expensive vehicles and plaster our faces on them – False.
5. We are simply about making money – To me, it’s more important to have a happy client than to make a quick buck. If my clients are happy, they will refer people to me. Continue reading »
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
If you are reading this post and are still active in real estate, congratulations! You have survived a year of many challenges. You can pat yourself on the back remember how hard your worked. Feel a sense of accomplishment and embrace every challenge that was put in front of you.
We faced many challenges. We had good times and bad times. From all of it, I hoped you’ve learned something!
Now, let’s look ahead. Here are some things you should be doing in 2011:
Send out quarterly/yearly market updates to your clients. Market updates allow you to share accurate information based on factual data within your local area. I do this in an e-mail to my clients. Thank goodness for 10K Marketing’s “The Thing.” It’s one of my favorite tools to use to share local real estate information with clients.
If you read an article or hear a news story, share and comment on it. Post on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. Use your expertise to expand or argue the story. It’s also a great way to combat negative media attention.
Share your own success stories. I came across a blog that had pictures of their clients in front of their new home they just closed on. I thought it was a pretty neat idea. Continue reading »
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
I was recently in a task force meeting for the Minneapolis YoPros. It really got me thinking about the true value of YPN and what I feel it’s all about.
To me, YPN is about bridging the generation gap. Not to stereotype my generation, (which I am not quite sure where I fall…X, Y, Z…who’s keeping track?) but typically the younger generations are more knowledgeable about technology and communications. A lot of us feel like we have ADD and we are constantly moving to the next best thing.
With that said, there is a lot that can be learned from older generations. I thought about an agent in my office. She has been around for 30 years. She knows the ins and outs of the business. She has seen the good times and the bad and she survived.
She recently got her first Facebook account. It was cute. She seemed a little iffy at first. I would constantly see her replying to someone in her status update. It would make me chuckle a bit. But believe it or not, she is workin it! She is now posting blogs, articles and other valuable content to her page. I have been really impressed by her. Continue reading »
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
So, I have to be honest. I really didn’t get the gist of networking off the bat. I attended a couple of networking events, tweeted with some folks and simply tried to keep up. At first, it was a little much for me. I understood that maybe, if I exchanged a conversation and a business card, someone may end up using my services or asking me for advice.
The simple thing of exchanging information is not what it’s all about. It’s more about sharing, learning, and support. The dots finally connected with me recently when my business and some of my personal dreams began to sync together.
I realized how I got here. It was because of the support of people I networked with and the support I have given to them. I have huge aspirations of being a superstar agent but also being a resource for agents in my blog and my community.
My blog , on which I write my experiences as an agent, has hit home with people. I’m honest and willing to share it all. I have been getting a lot of comments about it and I think the people that read it, appreciate it.
Some of the people I have networked with have supported me professionally. Just to name a few… Continue reading »
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