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 »
Melissa Krchnak
By Melissa Krchnak
You’re really lucky if this hasn’t gone down with a friend before:
Friend: Melissa, can you answer this mildly vague real estate question? *insert excitement*
Melissa: Of course, Friend. I’m happy to help with all of your real estate needs.
Friend: Awesome! So, we’re buying this house and our agent said… *insert face palm*
Have you ever had that go down? And, you know what killed me? The next time I saw them:
Friend: Hey, Friend 2, have you met our REALTOR®, Melissa? *your REALTOR®, Melissa?!?!?!*
That’s right. I’m happy to accept the title as *their* REALTOR® even though I — and I really do blame myself — missed the boat on helping them with their purchase.
You want to know a dirty, little secret? I didn’t think they were financially ready to purchase. That was such a valuable lesson. Not only did I learn I needed to get better at my follow-up/touches/dripping, I learned that I shouldn’t judge or assume anything about my clients (or my friends), including what I believe they can or cannot afford.
If you’ve yet to have a friend use someone else, please heed this lesson and learn from my mistake. I’m glad I was able to help my friend with her purchase. I just wish I would’ve been one of the REALTORS® getting paid at the end of the day.
Melissa Krchnak is the assistant team leader for Keller Williams Realty in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Connect with her at kwrancho.com.
Melissa Krchnak
By Melissa Krchnak
Jim Rohn asks, “What does the word ‘no’ mean to a child? Almost nothing.” He’s so right, too. I have two nieces under the age of 6 that I just spent last week with and they couldn’t understand “no” any less. No candy. No soda. No dessert until after dinner. No playing with your Happy Meal toy until you finish your nuggets. And yet, they still push. They’re relentless. They don’t give up until I give in. And, they always win. Not because I’m the cool, fun aunt. Because I get worn down to a place of exhaustion. It’s so energy-draining that it’s not worth the fight.
I’m not saying you should wear your clients down the way these two adorable rug rats do me, yet, why do we announce defeat at the first “no?”
I have a challenge for you: If you set out to make a certain number of calls today (say 100), set out to get 100 “nos” rather than make 100 calls. It’ll take a few more calls, and yet, that extra call might mean extra business.
Here’s to getting nos!
Melissa Krchnak is the assistant team leader for Keller Williams Realty in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Connect with her at kwrancho.com.
Dolores Esanu
By Dolores Esanu
I was at a friend’s wedding a few weeks ago. After a few moments of small talk, one of the guests asked, “Are all REALTORS® so personable?” I answered, “I like to think so, but one thing we are always is patient.”
Patience is probably the most pivotal catalyst towards managing clients and coworkers. We patiently wait on callbacks, patiently wait on feedback and patiently wait on documents. The one aspect the patience attribute I often find challenging is working with those who are not up to date with technology. Growing up in a generation where I can access the world through my fingertips is not only compelling, but can be challenging as well.
REALTORS® range in a variety of ages, from Millennials to Generation Xers to Baby Boomers. Being a Millennial who has adapted to the ever-changing world of technology can cause a lack of patience towards the more seasoned adults who are unaware of the tech resources that make daily transactions so much easier. The whole, “Why drive 20 miles to drop off a contract, when you can just scan and email?” mentality makes sense to me, but may not to agents who were raised without computers and scanners.
So what does one do when encountering agents lacking a general knowledge of technology? Teach ‘em! Living in a retirement community, I often find myself showing other agents how to set up Dropbox, download Realtor.com apps, and even discover the mysterious “spam” folder they didn’t know existed. It can be a little humorous. But the rewarding feeling of knowing that I helped make someone’s job easier by opening their eyes through the benefits of technology is worth more than gold.
Our industry is an ever-changing, fast moving business that we engage in. REALTORS® are movers and shakers, we get things done. Time is a luxury, and I find we do our best to utilize time management to its full potential. Prioritizing dates and tasks is crucial, but if you happen to encounter a fellow coworker, client, or friend who asks, “How do I upload these pictures, again?” Give them a little bit of your time, because in the long run, they may end up saving you a lot of time.
Dolores Esanu is a REALTOR@ and executive assistant for Trademark Real Estate in Hot Springs, Ark. Connect with her at: @doeesanu, www.trademarkrealestate.com, or doloresesanu@gmail.com
Jared James
By Jared James
We have come to that time of the year again, when you need to focus on your B.U.T. Not your butt – I am talking about your B.U.T., or Best Use of Time. It is amazing to me how many people will track their marketing dollars from the previous 12 months to see what actually worked and what didn’t, but won’t invest the energy to track their most invaluable resource of all… their time.
Time is your most valuable resource because it is the only thing that you can’t get back. If I lose money, I can gain it back. If I lose time, it is gone forever. We only get a certain amount of it within the totality of our lives. Think about that for a second – but not too long because you don’t want to waste any time.
Your best use of time has been the activities that you have done that have brought you the greatest return. Not just from a profit standpoint, but also from the perspective of what has brought you the most joy and peace in the last twelve months. I think we all can agree that we operate more often at our peak potential when everything seems to be in order in our personal lives as well. That is why it is important to understand that just like our cars need to stop and fill up on gas and have the occasional tune up, we need the same kind of maintenance if we expect to get the most out of ourselves. That may mean more time with your children or spouse, a renewed commitment to exercise, or just time alone to read or pray on a regular basis. For each person it may be different.
Having said this, I recommend that you write down your top four B.U.T.s for the last year. And instead of trying to implement 10 new strategies or tools into your business, just get better at what you already do well and scale those!
Last week, I wrote an article on my site about how your sphere of influence doesn’t make you money. It is actually all of the things that you did or continue to do to build your sphere of influence that make you money. The key is not to reinvent the wheel or completely change your business model. The key is to figure out what you are already doing well, what your top four B.U.T.s are, and increase your efforts in those areas in the coming year – and at least one of your B.U.T.s should have nothing to do with your profits in business at all!
Jared James is the CEO and founder of Jared James Enterprises (JJE) and travels around North America speaking to and coaching REALTORS®. Connect with Jared at www.jaredjamestoday.com, on facebook.com/jaredjamestoday, or follow him on Twitter @jaredjamestoday.
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.
Jason O'Neil
By Jason O’Neil
I believe that we as a country, a world, and a species are suffering a crisis of confidence. I know, that’s a bold statement. But the magnitude in which our world has changed over the past 25 years is nothing short of overwhelming.
Confidence used to be something that was a part of our fiber, woven into everything we did. People not only had confidence, but they instilled confidence in others. Confidence was derived from neighborhoods, communities, religions, political parties, long standing jobs, and pensions. But many of these have been derailed and forced, even the most ardent of supporters, to question some very core tenets. Rightfully so, skepticism tends to be the norm.
I have heard it said, and I believe, that confidence is the single greatest asset one can have. Do not confuse my use of confidence with overconfidence, arrogance, conceitedness, or big-headedness, because it is not. Confidence is what gives us the ability to do what it is we are good at. Without a bit of confidence the world would never have heard The Beatles., we would not know the name Bill Gates, and Phil Mickelson would be a really good country club player. It is scary to raise your hand, to stick your head out and make progress. It is confidence that moves us forward step by step.
But confidence, the type of confidence I am talking about, isn’t just results and dollar signs, or awards and progress. It is the way we make people feel. I’ll go further, it is what we bring — our passion. It is the value that we, as REALTORS®, add to a transaction, a deal, a negotiation. Jim Collins wrote, “Genuine confidence is what launches you out of bed in the morning, and through your day with a spring in your step.” We are, in fact, handling the transfer of a exceptionally large assets. While easy to forget, it’s important to remember that the average person will move every six to nine years. Extrapolated over a lifetime, the average person will sell maybe seven homes. Many of you reading this sell that many homes in a given month. The last time that the average seller in 2012 sold a home, nine years ago, the real estate market was drastically different than it is today. Zillow, Trulia, REALTOR.com and Red Fin did not exist, computer-based forms were in their infancy, and not everyone e-mailed. Continue reading »
Jared James
By Jared James
At almost every event where I speak, I try to include the topic of environment whenever possible. Some would probably question why I would do that when I am primarily talking to REALTORS®, salespeople, and entrepreneurs, but I always wonder why it is not discussed more.
A few years ago, a study was conducted to try and find common denominators among the top 100 salespeople in the world. They were expecting to get results like customer service, systems, or drive. Those are definitely important, but do you know what the No. 1 was commonality among the top 100 salespeople in the world? It was something called “the ability to manage or ability to control one’s state of mind.”
For any of you who have attended an event I have spoken at live, you know that I could talk about “state of mind” all day long, but that is not the specific point of this article. The common denominator found among the top 100 salespeople is interesting though. When was the last time that you saw a breakout session or keynote dedicated to this topic at your company or state convention? (Cue the cricket sounds in the background.)
So how do you do this? Let’s get practical about it.
Scenario No. 1 – Let’s say you went to a closing where you were representing the seller. At the closing, your seller decides that he/she is going to back out of the deal because they don’t like what the buyer is wearing that day. I would imagine that you would be pretty ticked off about this. While you are in this ticked off state, imagine that you receive a phone call from another one of your clients…
Scenario No. 2 – You are now at a closing where you represent the seller and the seller decides at the closing that you have done such an amazing job that they are doubling your commission. You leave that closing in a jubilant state and receive the exact same phone call as scenario No. 1, only this time you are overjoyed and happy.
Here is the question… Continue reading »
Jared James
By Jared James
I am going to keep this brief. I’m writing this article sitting in the West Virginia airport on my way home after speaking at the West Virginia Association of REALTORS®. I am right in the middle of what I call “convention season,” which consists of the months of September and October. During this time I will keynote more than 20 events for state associations and companies, requiring me to hit the road pretty hard.
In the last month I have spent a collective one week at home, which can be difficult with two adorable boys at home, ages 5 and 3. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I had just finished up speaking at the Texas Association of REALTORS® Convention and Xplode Conference and had to speak in Wyoming the next day. It seems like an easy flight from Texas to Wyoming, but instead I decided to fly back across the country, land in New York, drive home and spend 2 ½ hours with my kids and put them to bed, just to go back to the airport and fly back across the country to Wyoming to do my event. For the parents out there, you know that this was a small price to pay to be able to tuck my kids in at night instead of the usual Skype call before they went to bed.
While these two months are not the usual for me and my family, they are still a reality. While my job requires a lot of travel, it is also true that most events are not held on weekends so I am almost always home and able to coach my kids’ teams on Saturdays and Sundays – with exception of this last weekend when I had to miss my 5-year-old’s soccer game because I had to catch a flight.
I don’t write this so you will feel sorry for me. I have a great life and I’m able to inspire and have an affect on a lot of people, which is an amazing feeling and a great calling. I am more so writing this because my life is not normal, I admit, but I have the honor of working with a lot of REALTORS® and salespeople and the one thing I always hear them tell me is that their family comes first. While, for some, this may be true, actions speak louder than words. Continue reading »
Alex Milshteyn
By Alex Milshteyn
Unpredictability is a big part of our careers as REALTORS®. I have been selling real estate for nearly 12 years and as soon as I get comfortable with, the market the rug is pulled right from underneath me and my business is thrown into disarray.
After five years of negative media coverage on our market and a downward pricing of homes, I was used to the negativity. I was used to calling my sellers every week and not having anything to talk about other than the need to drop their price. I was used to buyers taking their sweet time with no sense of urgency to find a home. I was used to showing 50+ houses to a buyer just to get through the short list of houses meeting their criteria. I was used to negotiating the deal then renegotiating the deal after inspections then renegotiating the deal at the appraisal and then again renegotiating the deal prior to closing. I was use to apologizing for this market. And last but not least, I was use to being content with what my job had become.
Like many REALTORS®, I think we got use to the negativity and we did the best we could. I saw many friends go out of business, and the sad story is I saw some friends lose their homes like many of our clients because of this market and the economy.
All in all, what we all went through was sad. But we all knew things would eventually change. I am happy to report that the rug was pulled from underneath me once again. This time it’s for the better.
In my travels throughout the country, I am happy to report that it seems most markets are rebounding, especially in the hardest hit states like Florida, Michigan, Nevada, California, and Continue reading »
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