Paul Everett
By Paul Everett
The first indication from many home owners that they are seriously considering selling their home is often through a free listing on Zillow, Trulia, Craigslist, StreetEasy, or other regional and national For Sale By Owner sites.
With the expansion of FSBO advice companies as well as online listing tools—particularly Zillow and Trulia—an increasing number of home owners are feeling empowered to take a spin at selling their homes on their own, in order to cut out the potential fees associated with agent sales. As we all know, FSBOs most often learn after a few weeks that selling a home is hard work, and best left to professionals! Placing yourself and your real estate services in front of the home owner during this moment of realization is the key to securing listings from online FSBOs.
When the home owner starts feeling the frustration of selling on his or her own, this is the seed of your opportunity. Unfortunately, you won’t be the only one who knows the time is ripe. Rest assured that many like-minded and hardworking agents in your area will all be thinking the same thing at the exact same time. Therefore, timing and approach will mean everything if you want to be the one who gets the listing. Here are five tips for putting yourself ahead of the pack: Continue reading »
Jason O'Neil
By Jason O’Neil
I was going through our listing system the other day and became amazed at the amount of things we do to list a home. The list seems to get longer and more comprehensive as the years pass. One of these days, I may consolidate it and eliminate things, but for now it works and works well.
This exercise got me thinking of a key differentiator I discuss in my marketing consultations with sellers. I effectively let them know that I do not subscribe to “The Three Ps of Real Estate” — they get a quizzical look on their face, and I say, “You know: ‘Put out a sign, Put it into the MLS, and Pray.’”
A quick laugh or chuckle ensues, a little ice may be broken, and I begin to go through the laborious detail taken to list and effectively market their home. The discussion continuous and we begin to build rapport and see if we are a good fit for one and other.
My point for writing this is not to say that the specifics of what I do when listing a home is dramatically different than my competition. Different, yes; more than dramatically different, hard to say. One thing I do differently is communicate exactly what I am going to do, step-by-step, to get their home to market. Then I communicate when I am doing those steps, when they are complete, and I constantly communicate the results.
I had a professor in grad school once tell our class, “If you’re going to do something great, you had better let someone know. Otherwise, you’ll live in your boss’s (read client’s) mind along with those that did nothing great.” This is so important in our business, we do so much when representing our clients and their interests but we forget to communicate or progress and our results.
If you fail to communicate on an ongoing basis what you’ve recently done to perpetuate the sale of a client’s home, you’ll live in their mind as subscribing to The Three Ps of Real Estate.
Jason O’Neil is an associate broker with Encore Sotheby’s International Realty in Indianapolis. Connect with him at jasononeilrealtor.com.
Marianne Guenther Bornhoft
By Marianne Guenther Bornhoft
A new study just released from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism indicate that half of American adults have mobile Internet access via a tablet or smartphone. This is a major shift on how we as REALTORS® might want to review how we price our listings. Now more than ever, it is important to identify how potential buyers are using new technology to find their dream home.
At the center of this growth phenomenon is the tablet computer. The report states that nearly a quarter of U.S. adults — 22 percent — now own a tablet device-double the number from a year earlier. Another 3 percent of adults regularly use a tablet owned by someone else in their home. And nearly a quarter of those who don’t have a tablet, 23 percent, plan to get one in the next six months. In addition, 44 percent of U.S. adults have smartphones, which, according to the survey, is up from 35 percent from May 2011.
Most buyers start their home search by looking at listings online, or most often, on a real estate app specifically designed for a smart phone or tablet. This search tool allows the person to search for very detailed criteria. For example, the app will prompt the buyer to select the price grid they desire. For example, on the REALTOR.com® app, a typical price starts from a no minimum amount up to $300,000 with a $25,000 price spread between the two different price brackets. Most apps follow this rule. Some are only $25,000 between the price brackets and some real estate apps use a $50,000 price spread.
So let’s say you’re a seller and you would normally price your house at $224,999, now with the specific price brackets in mind, you might want to price it at $225,000 exactly. That way it will show up in both searches. Specifically, the search criteria a buyer might pick has house prices that go up to $225,000 or some would rather start from the $225,000 price bracket and search higher.
Remember, the real estate app only gives you exactly what you ask it to produce. So a seller might actually be losing a buyer who could afford a higher price home by pricing it out of targeted range. It would have been better if they would have priced it precisely the amount of one of the specific price brackets on the desired real estate app.
Rethinking how we expose the listings to the public is crucial as technology becomes more advanced and different ways to search for a house develop. We must learn to adapt to this change or be left behind.
Marianne Guenther Bornhoft is a broker at Windermere Manito in Spokane, Wash. Connect with her at www.SpokaneHouse.com , on Facebook at www.facebook.com/marianneguentherbornhoft or on Twitter @spokanehouse or www.linkedin.com/in/marianneguentherbornhoft.
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
It could just be me, but are you questioning why we still run into bad photos and poor property descriptions? It seems like a slight epidemic in my world lately. Every single time I run into this I always get a little frustrated and wonder how this happens.
A few examples:
1. A listing description that said, “Great starter home, just needs a little loving care.” When I arrived at the property, there was extensive fire damage and I would assume it was unlivable. The pictures shown were obviously taken prior to the fire, but when I spoke to the agent to schedule the showing, there was absolutely no mention of it.
2. A showing note: “Small/friendly dog (Tinkerbell) on the property.” When my clients and I walked in, the dog was not even close to small, it was a large Rottweiler and we were not able to view the property at all because the dog was in attack mode.
3. I once saw an agent do a drive-by to take a photo in my neighborhood. Get out of your car, people!
4. Some really great listing photos…
This was the main photo on the MLS. Not positive what this is.
Note to self...remember to turn the TV off prior to taking photos.
This needs some TLC...minor issues...notice the Febreze?
It’s frustrating to me that this still happens. How does this serve your seller? Nonetheless, how does any of this help the listing sell and get you paid? I provide the same basic services to all of my sellers regardless of price or condition. How does this help you get buyers? I just don’t get it! Take some time and do some work. It really shouldn’t be this difficult.
Brooke Wolford is a real estate practitioner with Coldwell Banker Burnet in Woodbury, Minn. Follow her blog at adventuresinrookierealestate.com.
Ryan Gervais
By Ryan Gervais
Do you suffer from ugly website syndrome? Does your website have a twin?
If you answered yes to either question, it is time to “get real,” as Dr. Phil would say, and develop a better brand image for your website. In my last article, I gave a bold statement: to try and help every reader get one more sale this year. Here is the first step in that process.
First, load up your current website. Now count the number of unique articles or stories you personally have written. If the answer is zero, that is probably the same amount of traffic you are getting from Google. If you are getting zero traffic from the largest search engine in the world, you are probably not converting too many online leads to clients.
Now, count how many calls to action you have on your website. A call to action is asking the visitor to do something specific on your site, such as sign up for a newsletter, give their personal information to receive listings, etc. If you do not give the visitor several different options to give up their personal information, you will not get many leads. Website users need to see variations, such as text links, banners, buttons, etc. If you are lacking calls to action, you will need to think about ways of adding them in so you can direct traffic to your conversion page.
Do you have a conversion page? This is the page that makes you money. If you do not have a conversion page, you should drop everything you are doing and create one. A conversion page is where buyers or sellers give you there personal information and allow you to call or email them.
If you have made yourself look like an expert by writing articles, you will be surprised at how many people will make an initial contact through your website. The main conversion page that most agents use is a “sign up for MLS listings to be emailed to you” page. Every person who signs up for this service should immediately be put into your contact system to start receiving emailed listings. These are the cream of the crop for leads, and it need to be harvested carefully (I will speak more about that in a future article).
Now that you know a few of the main things to look out for on your website, I will address how to create a unique website using a content management system in my next article, so stay tuned!
Ryan Gervais is a sales representative in Sarnia, Ontario with RE/MAX Sarnia. Connect with Ryan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SarniaRealEstate LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/ryan-gervais/a/222/3b or on the Web at www.sarnialistings.com.
Stefanie Hahn
By Stefanie Hahn
Realtors Property Resource® was recently introduced to my market and I am pleasantly surprised by how much I love this tool. For those of you not familiar with RPR, it is a database of 116 million homes nationwide that (once your MLS allows), you can access to search, compare, create reports with data from a myriad of sources (something like 330 pieces of data are parsed) and establish yourself as a subject-area expert for housing in the market where you do business.
While this tool is not available to all REALTORS® yet, by learning all you can about RPR now you will have a great “leg up” on your colleagues. Sound good? Trust me, it is. I’ve spent a significant amount of time sharing this tool with my agents and I believe that it is truly worth your time.
One thing to note – this tool is for REALTORS®. The only thing your consumers will have access to are the reports that you decide to share.
Why should you love it too? Let me share the ways …
1. Accessibility/Assistance The folks are RPR have made this system user-friendly. Help is around every corner and live chat is available at the bottom of every page. Additionally, they want you to make the system better – use the “Log a Bug” feature to let RPR know you had an issue with something on the site OR to just to make a suggestion.
If you haven’t already, check out: http://blog.narrpr.com for general information and then select – agents, brokers, commercial, association, appraisers or MLS for more detail. The agent section gives you the basics – what it is and how to use it, agent resources and news and information. The information is presented in printable PDF’s or video. You can also sign up for training here if you are ready to learn more.
2. Changes/Updates I love any tool that changes and improves to better suit my needs. Continue reading »
Jared James
By Jared James
As many of you know, I make my living as a speaker/trainer and have had the opportunity to speak to tens of thousands of REALTORS® and entrepreneurs over the last 12 months. My job is not just to communicate effectively, but to entertain and make the audience feel something. As Maya Angelo put it, “People will not remember what you do or say, but they will remember how you made them feel.”
About six months ago, I had the opportunity to keynote a large event in Texas, and it was one of those times when you feel completely connected with the audience and everything was going well. At the end of the event I had a younger guy come up to me and tell me how he loved my speech so much that he was ready to run through a brick wall. (Not a practice I recommend or condone.) He said that he loved everything I had to say, but there was just no business in his area. He said it didn’t matter what he did, there just weren’t any transactions.
I don’t usually have the time to do this, but on this day I did, so asked him to grab his computer and pull up for me every transaction that had happened over the last 30 days in his area according to his MLS. He did this and it turned out that there were 337 transactions! So much for NO transactions…
I looked him dead in the eye and I said that it seems that the problem was not a lack of transactions, the problem was that his name is not on those transactions! *friendly smile*
I am not mentioning this agent by name because he is not the point of the story. I bring up this point because I think this mindset is running rampant among many REALTORS® today. Continue reading »
Toby Boyce
By Toby Boyce
She’d been courting both of us, and promised that she’d let us know tonight who she chose. I waited patiently by the phone, but finally drove by her house.
That ain’t my sign in her yard.
I thought she was the “one” and that we’d be together forever – well at least the next six months – but she made her choice tonight.
And that ain’t my sign in her yard.
With every apology to country-music star Rhett Atkins and his “That Ain’t My Truck” hit from a few years back, we’ve all been in that same position. Court that potential listing with your pre-listing package, give a dynamite listing presentation, and follow up that’s top notch. Yet, you still find that there is another agent’s sign in the yard.
That initial feeling of betrayal and frustration gives way to the nagging question, “What did I do wrong?” And while you struggle with the question you’ll find a few old-fashioned break-up lines to help you out.
There are Other Fish in the Sea. Amazing how much less you worry about “the one that got away” when you have a net full of other listings to work on. While dating requires matters of the heart, the good news is that generating more listings is simply more prospecting.
It’s Not You, It’s Me. The favorite one of all time. When it comes to your real estate career, remember one thing – you can only control your side of the presentation. Did you do everything that you’ve done for the listings you earned? Did you follow through and make sure it was the best for them? If the seller interviews multiple agents they may have a magic trigger button. They picked the cutest agent, the one that showed up in the nicest car, the fattest one, or whatever it was. You can’t control that, so why bother trying.
So the next time you realize that ain’t your sign in her yard, don’t go getting the blues … just put the chin up and move on.
Toby Boyce, MBA, is a real estate practitioner with Keller Williams Consultants Realty in Westerville, Ohio. Visit his Web site: www.delawareohrealestate.com.
Rob Reuter
By Rob Reuter, YPN Manager
How many times have you been out showing a property or walking through a potential listing and stumbled upon something extremely strange or uniquely cool?
Here is your chance to share those on-the-job eccentricities with the world and possibly win a prize. From June 15 through July 15, 2011, we will be running the Eye of the YPN Photo Contest sponsored by Kodak.
It’s simple: send a photo to rreuter@realtors.org of your strange, cool, or remarkable in-the-field occurrence for a chance to win a Kodak PlayTouch Camera. At the end of the contest, the YPN Advisory Subcommittee will select a single photo that they considered the most unique.
Please download and review the official rules here.
After the contest, we will share some of the top vote-getting photos through a slideshow and follow-up blog where the photographers will receive credit for their images.
Brett Caviness
By Brett Caviness
I strongly believe in the power of positive thinking and live by it everyday. As a determined entrepreneur and recent graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, I am goal-oriented and envision my plans becoming a reality. I work toward my goals each and everyday.
I have been in the business since 2009, but recently began a new chapter, bringing my business home to the resort community of Okoboji in North-West Iowa. Excited about this new endeavor, I began marketing my diverse interests along with the areas both my office and I specialize in.
I began using the phrase “From country living to your back-yard beach, I’ve got you covered.” No later than two days after this phrase was published in a local newspaper, I was contacted to co-list my first two area properties. I was approached first to co-list a lakefront “Back-yard beach,” then later in the day to list an acreage “Country living.” I couldn’t help but notice the strange relationship between the vision and words that I convey each day and the reality that I was creating. I feel we play a critical role in the world we co-construct.
As I hit the pavement running on this new journey, I am focused on my physical actions as well as my mental motivation that help draw success in my direction. I’m not saying that by envisioning yourself being successful it will just happen. What I want to promote is an overall model of positive thinking and action combined to help propel your business and yourself in your desired direction. In challenging times it is important to remember all things are possible as we have the true power to create our own reality.
Brett Caviness is a REALTOR® in the resort community of Okoboji in North-West Iowa. Connect with him at www.BrettCavinessHomes.com.
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