Chris Nichols
By Chris Nichols
At his inaugural, NAR President Ron Phipps, issued a challenge to the members. He said, “We shouldn’t merely be the voice of real estate; we should be its architects and engineers.” I remember hearing those words and thinking about the responsibilities that architects and engineers have in the building process. Both refer regularly to a set of blueprints to accomplish the task of building.
As REALTORS® we have a set of blueprints that we need to refer to regularly. That set of blueprints would be the local real estate statistics for the market in which we practice.
Our clients are being bombarded by a barrage of negative statistics. Time Magazine’s September 2010 issue chose to attack the value of homeownership. The headline read, “RETHINKING HOMEOWNERSHIP: Why owning a home may no longer make economic sense.” This was the cover story they decided to focus on instead of the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
In response to this attack, NAR has quickly and effectively launched a public awareness campaign to combat the misinformation being spread by the media. It’s called the Home Ownership Matters campaign and you are at the core of its success. Please visit Realtor.org and download the flyer and learn about the facts of home ownership and how you too can spread the word. Home Ownership Matters to People… to Communities… to America! Continue reading »
Kelly Reark
By Kelly Reark
OK, I’m ready. Elections are over. The holidays are around the corner. Bring on the buyers.
Here in Florida, our season is just about to start. What are people expecting, and what are you going to do about it?
My advice is to study your market, and practice how you will handle objections from buyers and sellers. In our market, it’s not new news that some sellers still aren’t pricing realistically and that some buyers expect to get a million dollar listing for $200,000. You have to be able to stop them with black and white facts and statistics. Numbers are harder to argue with than your opinion of the market.
Let’s say someone asks you, “So, how’s the market right now?” You could answer, “Well, it is better than it was!” OR, you could answer, “MLS data shows that Neighborhood X has sold four times more properties than last year, so you tell me.”
There is a major bonus in showing data and asking the questioner to interpret it. With their own mouths, they will have to admit that the numbers show signs of positive market movement. Once they say it themselves, they will believe it!
The goal is to stop telling people what to expect and start asking them. They will persuade themselves if you learn to ask the right questions. Try it!
Kelly Reark is a native Floridian and e-PRO® with Gasparilla Properties, Inc. in Boca Grande, Southwest Florida. Visit her online at www.WaterfrontKelly.com or www.BocaGrandeRealEstateNews.com.
Kelly Reark
By Kelly Reark
What ways do you network with your fellow real estate agents? Do you walk away from a happy hour or business card exchange really knowing much about them or their business? Likely not. Do you ever wonder why?
Having a pocket full of business cards is one thing, but getting to know other real estate agents is another, and very beneficial. You want to broaden your referral network with more than just a name on a business card.
Recently, I made it my mission to take networking a step further. I had collected business cards from a real estate retreat that I had attended. I began with an agent I thought I could refer business to that is in a market about two hours from me. She brought in another agent, who brought in another agent… and on and on. The best part is that we all have specialty areas in which we work. We have spent a full day in many of our markets, learning about the areas from one another. The plan is to keep learning and growing. It is amazing how much we are able to teach each other. Frequently, our preconceived notions of an area were corrected.
I now know that I have a completely fabulous, intelligent, trustworthy, bright agent network to refer my customers to in a variety of market areas. I know that they will be taken care of, and so will I. I know that if they have sticker shock in one location, they can be referred out to another with similar lifestyle qualities. Or if their preferred lifestyle is not available in my market, I know which agent to send them looking with. Plus, I can call on them to tap into resources or fresh ideas for marketing, technology, and peer training. My network of international agents grows stronger by inclusion of each of their networks. Continue reading »
Heather Soldonia
By Heather Soldonia
It’s the secret that’s driving every client — social comparison.
The Social Comparison Theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and desires by comparing themselves to others in either an upward or downward direction.
An upward comparison example: “Our friends, the Joneses, purchased a brand new 3,000-square-foot home. We don’t want to consider anything smaller than 3,000 square feet.”
A downward comparison example: “Our poor friends have beautiful homes, but can you believe their commute is over an hour?! We’ll be much better off finding something smaller, but closer to the Bay Area.”
We’ve all heard clients irrationally comparing themselves to the Joneses — ignoring ALL the other factors that play a role in determining what home would be best for them financially, geographically, etc. It can be so frustrating!
But here’s the interesting part… We do it to as agents, too!
An upward comparison example: “Last week at the conference REALTOR(R) Jones was telling me that he closed 46 transactions this year… I’m as good as he is, so I better close at least that many this year!”
A downward comparison example: “Well, the newbie didn’t close a single transaction last year, so I could be doing much worse.”
Here is a reminder… Continue reading »
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