Dave Robison
By Dave Robison
It’s interesting to read REALTORS®’ social media posts because I’ve been seeing a lot of the same thing lately. Here is a typical agent Facebook post (or comment in person): “This market is going crazy. I’m so busy right now. I’m busier than I have been in years!”
Wow…they must be having success, right? Let’s look up their stats in the MLS and see what their sales are like.
First “busy agent” stats: Sold six homes in the last year.
Second “busy agent” stats: Hasn’t sold a home for 3 months.
Let’s be blunt here. To all those who think they are busy: You are fooling yourself! Stop focusing on being so busy and start focusing on creating results! This goes for anyone, even if you are selling 30 homes a year.
Chet Holmes talks about these “busy people” in his book “The Ultimate Sales Machine.” He has some great tips on time management. Here are some tips to overcome this syndrome:
1. Stop talking about how busy you are. You are just attracting busyness while pushing away business.
2. Create a list of “Big Rocks” to accomplish every day. Continue reading »
Rob Reuter
By Rob Reuter, YPN Manager
It’s official: 2012 has kicked into full gear. If you haven’t already, now is the time to start your business planning. Elizabeth Mendenhall, 2012 chair of NAR’s Strategic Planning Committee, recently asked YPN members what kind of statistics they consider when forming their annual business plan. From my former selling days, I focused mainly on two statistics:
- Absorption Rate: Focus marketing in areas/neighborhoods/price ranges that have high turnover rates and low time on the market.
- Frequency of Income-Producing Activities: Where does my business come from and how much time/energy do I put in these areas?
Several other YPN members have great ideas as well:
Dollars/Hour Earned (Brian Copeland): How much are you earning per hour? Take your gross annual income and divide it by the number of hours you worked. Increasing this number means you are making more and working less!
Months Supply/Inventory (Nobu Hata): Communicating this information to the consumer effectively will help ensure more accurate pricing.
80/20 Rule (Tiffany Curry & Kate Koplinka): Are you part of the minority doing the majority of the business?
Market Share (Lena Williams): Increase the percentage of your market share if geographical farming is part of your plan.
Average Sales Price (Kenny Parcell): Continue reading »
Stefanie Hahn
By Stefanie Hahn
Intimidated by video? Don’t be! There’s a plethora of ways you can incorporate video into your blog or website this year, without it being over-the-top promotional (and without your mug being the only thing in front of the lens). Here are some creative tips for video newbies.
Stefanie Hahn is the education director for Coldwell Banker Hearthside, REALTORS® in Collegeville, Pa. Visit her Web site: www.StefanieHahn.com.
TG Gallaudet
By TG Gallaudet
Wait…I’m totally lying. Is there anything more painful? 
It’s no mystery that short sales can be really tough because of all the variables involved:
* Unclear timelines from the bank.
* Undisclosed liens.
* Back HOA expenses the bank won’t pay.
* Non-straightforward buyer.
* Inexperienced listing agent.
* Cash contributions (increasingly more and more).
* Etc., Etc., Etc…
But the hardest side to represent as an agent is the buyer’s side of a short sale because the buyer’s agent has no control of ANYTHING, and has to hope for a solid listing agent who knows what they’re doing. Right?
I just ended a painful short sale transaction where I represented the buyer that lasted 7 months and went nowhere. Granted, it wasn’t the easy one-loan in equator kinda deal, but we had absolutely no worthwhile answer from the bank after 7 months, which is totally inexcusable in 2011 as far as I’m concerned. The main problem, in my opinion, is that the listing agent saw this sale as a small income producer and pawned the negotiation responsibilities over to his part time TC. The TC had little-to-no experience with short sales, or negotiating any deals, and therefore little experience in working with banks. Because of her inexperience, I think she had little confidence in dealing with the bank and their personnel and couldn’t push back or demand results when she was entitled to do so. After being a listing agent on several short sales, I’ve come to understand that the burden of success lies heavily on the listing agent and specifically how s/he communicates to both the buyers’ agent and buyer, how she sets expectations and what answers she deems acceptable from the bank. Continue reading »
Jennifer A. Klein
By Jennifer Klein
Follow these two rules during any negotiation and you’ll find success!
Jennifer Klein is a REALTOR® in Northern California who is experienced in short sales, investments, and property management. Connect with Jen at RosevilleAndRocklin.com, JenKlein.com, and @JenKleinSac.
Subhi J. Gharbieh
By Subhi J. Gharbieh
It is very obvious that the Internet has drastically changed the way we do business as REALTORS®. According to the 2010 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 99 percent of buyers started their home search online.
With that said, all the media that we display online can have a great say in whether a buyer will call you about viewing a listing, or not.
I recently shot my first video tour on a listing I have here in Dallas, and let me say: It was quite an experience. I learned many things that I wish I would have known before I was actually in front of a camera.
Here are 5 tips to help you shoot a successful video tour:
- Plan ahead. Make sure the weather is great on the day you record your video. You want it to be clear that you are a REALTOR® touring your listing, not a weatherman/woman out in the middle of a thunderstorm.
- Make sure the property will show well in a video. Staging the home if it is vacant will do wonders. Make sure the home is landscaped, neat, and tidy. You don’t want your viewers to catch any dirty socks on the floor while your showing the master bedroom!
- Mentally walk through the house and take notes on what you are going to say before the camera is rolling. It will make you sound a lot more professional, and people will notice it. Consult with your client. Ask them why they bought their home. Why they chose to live in the specific area. Talk about nearby parks, lakes, shopping, etc. Market the lifestyle of living in that specific area. Don’t just wing it!
- Have the video professionally edited. If you cannot do that, download a video editing software and do it yourself. There are many simple video editing programs available online and are fairly easy to use.
- Last but not least, BRAND YOURSELF! There is no point in producing a video tour if your viewers are not going to know who made the video, and who to contact to view the home if they are interested! Start a YouTube Channel and post your videos. There are also many other sites that can help you syndicate your video to the world.
Subhi J. Gharbieh is the broker owner of Gharbieh & Associates in Dallas. Connect with him at www.Gharbieh.com or on Twitter @subhig.
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
Last summer, an agent in my office took on a listing with high hopes…the market in this particular neighborhood was moving fast and prices seemed to be pretty stable. Unfortunately, though, by the time the clients were ready to hit the market, some of the neighboring comps had slashed prices (assumably to try and get sold before the start of the school year). As time went on, the comps dictated that there was really no way we could sell for our asking price, which meant we were approaching the dreaded “short sale territory.” This was a major game-changer, and there were many occasions on which our clients thought it would be best just to pull the house off the market and maybe even stop making their payments.
At times we almost felt like this was going to be a lost cause, but two things came to mind: If that house didn’t stay on the market, there was no other way it was going to sell…and the sellers are in a position where they have a legitimate hardship and NEED to get out from under the house and move on with their lives. I also didn’t want my agent’s sign to come down from what is a very high-traffic neighborhood.
Long story short, the sellers agreed that keeping the house on the market truly was the best course of action to meet their goals. At press time, we are thick in the middle of a win/win situation: They have accepted an offer on the house from a buyer who is willing to wait out the short sale process and our negotiator is well underway with the lienholder in getting that approved. In the meantime, the agent received several sign calls on the house…each time knowing that there was little chance the house would sell to that caller given the short sale situation. No matter…they pursued the sign calls and are currently under contract with one of those buyers on another house nearby (scheduled to close later this month). Continue reading »
Brett Caviness
By Brett Caviness
I simply couldn’t wait two more years to graduate college before entering my dream career as a REALTOR®, so I didn’t. I went active as a real estate agent in Cedar Falls Iowa in 2009. Since entering the business, I have worked hard to manage my time. With class, work on campus, activities and friends I was able to make time to schedule showings, and close deals in-between. There are a lot of things I wish I knew before I got into the business; I mean this is hard work! So I made a list of a few things I wish they told me about the real estate world in my weekend classes.
1. A real estate license doesn’t mean sales. Your office doesn’t just hand you over some magic list of names of people ready, willing and able to buy or sell. You have to find them yourself.
2. Even if you are a part time agent, this is a full-time job. I didn’t realize between classes I would be on the phone with clients, offices, the abstract company, lenders and others while reviewing important documents on my Blackberry.
3. Starting a career in real estate is like starting your own company. I have quickly learned to be my own boss, marketing director, web master, public relations manager, and accountant while always working in research and development. Continue reading »
Stefanie Hahn
By Stefanie Hahn
Starting a YPN group can be extremely rewarding, but also challenging. So I thought I’d share a few things I’ve learned after co-founding a successful network in my Pennsylvania market. The ultimate goal is forming strong relationships, learning, and growing as real estate professionals. From there, involvement in our communities and local/state associations will follow.
Stefanie Hahn is the education director for Coldwell Banker Hearthside, REALTORS® in Malvern, Pa. Visit her Web site: www.StefanieHahn.com.
Kelly Reark
By Kelly Reark
We were all standing around complaining about our feet hurting in the shoes we chose, wondering if it was our third or fifth cup of Starbucks that day, when the idea hit me that maybe I should put together a quick list of dos and don’ts for anyone attending one of our marathon REALTOR® conferences throughout the year. I have been to a half dozen of these events, and I should know better. With the REALTORS® Midyear Meetings & Trade Expo quickly approaching, here are my survival tips:
1. Wear comfortable shoes (or go ahead and show off those cute pumps but bring a big purse with a pair of flats just in case). Guys, just make sure you have on socks. Invest $3 for a stick of Band-Aid’s blister block. Shoes you’ve not walked in for awhile will do you wrong at a conference.
2. Take it outside. Now, I know this should be rudimentary, like arriving on time or not interrupting the speaker, but make sure you switch your phone to silent mode. If a call comes in, and you must answer it, go out of the room. Business is definitely important, so don’t gab in the middle of a room full of people. I sat in more than one class during the mid-winter event thinking, “are you kidding me?“ Oh, and the “looking around acting like it’s not you” thing while your phone plays your entire ring tone really doesn’t work.
3. Bring an extra cell phone battery. Twelve hours of checking voicemails and texting between events will leave you powerless.
4. Dress in layers. Even in sunny Florida, dressing in layers is critical. A few minutes in the sun will have you sweating, but the event center might have cranked the AC in anticipation of all of us hot-heads. It’s good to be versatile on the fly.
5. No time for a workout this trip? Says who? Don’t offer to hang on to someones stuff unless you really want to work your arms, back, and patience for the day. Even 5 pounds feels like 50 after you have lugged it all over an event. Continue reading »
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