Dawn Miller
By Dawn Miller
I didn’t think I would be that excited to get “rid of the old and in with the new!” It’s a new year with a renewal of focus. How was your first month of 2010?
I am fortunate to be a REALTOR® in a real estate company that is consistently on the NAR’s top private brokerage firms, as seen in REALTOR® Magazine annual issue. The company is committed to its agents and to top-notch training.
Mike Staver visited our company at the beginning of the January and his seminar stuck with me!
I want to share some of my notes from the seminar. I have embraced this philosophy. I am more openly accepting new challenges and creating new opportunities for myself.
Let’s ATTACK this new year with the following focus:
A
Accept circumstances
Accept circumstances as they actually are. Don’t make things better than they are. In real estate business, this means generating more leads, making more appointments until I meet a seller or a buyer that has the right criteria in place to sell or buy successfully. Most importantly–have courage to face reality. Continue reading »
Dawn Miller
By Dawn Miller
If you’re a new REALTOR® or if you’ve been in business awhile and re-evaluate your budget every year, I am here to reassure you there are only five tools you need to start or maintain your real estate business.
I’ve complied a short list of the must-have’s for those REALTORS® newer to the business who are questioning advertisements’ promising leads, great return on investment, and more. Hopefully I will re-energize other REALTORS® who have been in the business awhile to “get back to basics” and understand what we really need to make the best use out of the tools we have or how to do as much as possible with just a few good programs.
1. Contact Database
Whether you use MS Outlook, Excel (gasp), Top Producer, or even the contact manager through your MLS system, you really need some place besides your notebook or bar napkin to store contacts. I recommend a database that will do many functions, like Top Producer. It is a small investment that provides so many different tools, from e-mail programs, to drip e-mail campaigns, and more.
2. Blog
Notice I did not say website. Many REALTORS® are using their WordPress blogs as their main Web presence and even having IDX feeds so consumers can search homes. Get a free WordPress account today, or pay a little extra each month for additional features. Consumers are asking for hyper-local content and information. Blogging allows you to be the expert in your neighborhood.
3. Virtual Tour Program
There are many programs that are free, less than $10 a month, or charge per-tour. There is one that stands out among the rest–Visualtour.com. For $30/month, you can create unlimited virtual tours, advertise your listings on dozens of websites, and use the program to self-promote. Take still pictures and turn them into panoramic shots and video through their software. If you use this program right, it serves so many functions you might just have to cancel other programs or advertising you are paying for now. Check out a virtual tour I did while on an real estate trip in Dominican Republic: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?t=2038675&prt=10003
4. Realtor.com Advertising
For $11 a month, I tell prospective sellers their homes will show up every 8-9 pages of homes as a featured listing on Realtor.com versus one time in the 350+ pages of homes for sale. That’s powerful! New REALTORS® sign up for showcase advertising while they have few listings to save money–as the monthly charge is based on the number of listings you carry in a 12-month period. Then call sellers to tell them they will have a “premium advertisement” on the number one real estate website.
5. Niche
There are “riches in niches.” How do you set yourself apart from the other REALTORS®? Take the time in 2010 to educate yourself through a REALTOR® designation. Analyze your market, your past business, and what makes you tick to discover how to set yourself apart. If you’re reading this, you already have a niche. Remember, NAR statistics show the average age of a first-time homebuyer is 30 years old. As a YPN member, you may be in the position to relate to and communicate with that first-time buyer.
Dawn Miller is a REALTOR® from Virginia Beach, Va., and chair of her local YPN chapter. Visit her Web site: www.DawnMillerHomes.com.
Dawn Miller
By Dawn Miller, 2009 NAR Conference Blogger
In the real estate world where the average age of a REALTOR® is 52 years old, some may agree it’s a challenge as a young professional, or YPNer. I may have just added another challenge to the equation—trying to break into the international real estate world.
While myth has it that one should know another language besides English, travel around the globe, or live in California, Florida or Texas, this is not the case. Saturday I will be receiving my CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist) designation. I am here to diminish the myths and challenges of everything one thinks about getting involved in “international real estate,” including a former broker who once said, “As if you’ll ever use it!”
Serving in international real estate involves helping those in the your local area who were not born in the America purchase or sell in your own backyard, helping those in your area purchase or invest overseas, or helping someone living overseas purchase or invest in your local area.
We are living in a shrinking world. Gone are the elementary school days where one adopts a “pen pal” overseas, writes an actual letter and waits a month for a response back via mail. Here we are today, where I send a LinkedIn message to one of my international real estate groups looking for fellow colleagues attending the NAR Conference, and a day later am meeting Federico A. Marin-Schumacher, a builder/developer from Costa Rica at last night’s International Welcome Reception. The ability to connect with people in any part of world has exploded, and the amount of information available has as well.
Join me during the conference while I am recognized for obtaining my CIPS designation, and I’ll tell you more about the possibilities of serving your “international” market in your own backyard and the opportunities this conference offers in the international market. Meanwhile, I am off to catch up with @GerryCarillo7 to learn more about a new Hispanic real estate organization, at Booth 3309.
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