Christopher's Blog

More Business Fast and Cheap!?

2007-07-17T10:56:24Z

Okay. let me break it down for the rookie mortgage folks just getting into the industry; not only is your timing bad, pursuing Realtors is not a very good strategy.

I've been pursued by title rep's, escrow rep's, home warranty rep's, insurance rep's, termite rep's and countless mortgage "pro's" and the bottom line is this - I DO THE SELECTING, NOT YOU!

I have two mortgage professionals who get all my business. One of them made a decent income last year off me, in fact, I made HIM more money than I made myself! I have chosen two mortgage professionals who never chased me because they understood the UNIVERSAL MAGIC SECRET TO SUCCESS IN ANY BUSINESS.

Rather than honing their pursuing skills and tactics such as co-op marketing strategies, pens with my name on them (wow!), four color flyers (with their name on them?) and tasty danish - they instead invested the time and energy to make themselves "pursuable".

Through the long and hard effort of self-examination, developing a high degree of personal integrity, becoming highly efficient, amazingly knowledgable, totally integrous (ethical) and developing a warm and pleasing (non-salesy) personality, I have decided to add them to my team!

Likewise, I have also selected the best Title Rep in town, the best escrow team in town and what I believe to be the best termite company.

All of these professionals represent MY business and me personally. They are my most valuable assetts, next to myself of course with my uncanny ability to choose great people to hang around and do business with.

Personal and professional development is what makes you survive and thrive in ANY business but particularly ours. It doesn't come fast and it doesn't come cheap.

Zen & The Art Of Real Estate

2007-06-27T10:48:18Z

It's true that what you think about you bring about, so be careful. If you're always thinking, "I need more business" or "I need this listing to sell", it's very likely that you'll just continue to feed the need by giving energy to it. The thought and feeling of needing means that you don't have something. Not having that something will only increase if you keep putting thought energy into the not having, and needing it.

Make sense?

I always pay attention to my "self-talk" and make moment to moment conscious efforts to shape it fit my intentions. By paying attention to the voices in my head I am able to correct them when they start to go needy on me. I say things not only to myself, but out loud to my clients all the time that sound like this, "The perfect house for you is right around the corner! If it's not on the market yet, it's coming soon" or, "the buyer of this house is going to have a large down payment, be willing to close according to our schedule and be a pleasure to work with - you'll see!"

Now, it's critical that when this "perfect" buyer comes along (the one I've attracted through the power of positive thought plus a little help from my bag of tools) that "I" show up in a way that makes them want to continue to be perfect and work according to my sellers tricky closing requirements - or whatever.

My coach, friend and mentor used to say it like this, "Chris, talk to me in a way that makes me want to serve you". Have you ever tried talking to the woman behind the mile long check in line at the airport whose obviously about to have a melt down in a way that would make her honored to serve you? I have, and I've gotten bumped up into 1st Class when the flight was full coming home from a business trip on the east coast!

"Who we be" and "how we show up" is, I believe, fundamental to a healthy real estate practice. Our clients notice and appreciate it so much so that they continue to not only use our services, but become actively involved in referring people to us because they want their referral to have the same experience they had.

I've studied the Japanese martial art of Aikido for many years. In aikido, there are zero attacks. In other words, you can't really walk up and "do aikido" on someone, yet is is extremely martial. If someone throws a punch or violently grabs you, aikido techniques could be used to instantly break an arm, hand, elbow or drive them into the ground face first. Aikido is a circular as opposed to linear art and is very beautiful to watch;perhaps the most technically difficult to learn of all martial arts.

The dojo mat where our training takes place is representative of the world we live in and our life in general. I've noticed that karate and other "striking" arts tend to create, or atleast reinforce a mindset of "I strike" - as opposed to "I will not be struck", which is Aikido. Again, the focus is on "who you be". I am not a striker or kicker of people; I am a person who will not be struck or kicked - it's very different. O'Sensei, the founder of aikido once said, "you can not wrap the world in leather but you can make leather moccasins".

How do we learn to walk in this often sharp and jagged world? The way seems simple enough to me.

If I want referrals, I be referrable. Want more business? Make the light of my authenticity and true desire to serve shine brightly and then put myself in front of people who need to buy and sell. I stop "needing" and start attracting through paying attention to who I be and KNOW that it is coming if I just keep knowing it.

Do I sound like someone you might like to hang around with?

I'll close this by saying that what I've just written is primarily a conversation with myself and to myself as I've been known to take offense when people "should" on me and do not wish to do so to others. If there is a ring of truth here or a little morsel you can walk away, you're free to have it!

Faith, Please Add Yours And Pass It On!

2007-06-25T11:39:46Z

I have faith in myself.
I have faith in all of us.
I have faith I will always continue to learn and evolve.
I have faith people will benefit from my knowledge.
I have faith people may succeed with my advice.
I have faith that the universe is an abundant one and that my needs will continue to be met as they have always been met in the past.
I have faith the universe supports my dreams.
I have faith in my love for others.
I have faith in others love for me.
I have faith that I can always work it out.

SURF THE SAN DIEGO MLS FOR FUN IF YOU'D LIKE

2007-06-22T19:21:06Z

MY CUSTOM (AND SPENDY) IDX SOLUTION IS ACTUALLY BETTER THAN OUR LOCAL MLS, WHICH IS PRETTY DARN GOOD! CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF AT HTTP://WWW.AREABEACHHOMES.COM AND PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT A) I DON'T REQUIRE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, ETC PRIOR TO LETTING YOU PREVIEW PICTURES OF HOMES AND B) THE CUSTOM SEARCH FEATURE FILTER WHICH IS LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF REALTOR.COM, ZIP REALTY, ETC... I THINK YOU'LL LOVE THE SITE. I RECOMEND CHECKIGN OUT ZIP CODES 92037 AMD 92069 JUST FOR FUN - YOU CAN SEARCH UP TO $35,000,000 AND FIND HOMES - WOW!

THIS REALTORS MANTRA

2007-06-22T13:25:42Z

I have faith I will always continue to learn and evolve. I have faith people will benefit from my knowledge. I have faith people may succeed with my advice. I have faith that the universe is an abundant one and that my needs will continue to be met such as they have always been met in the past. I have faith the universe supports my dreams. I have faith in my love for all people and all things and faith in others love for me.

Three Magic Words To Use With Your Clients

2007-06-19T22:55:24Z

These really do work so thank Joe Stumpf at http://www.ByReferralOnly.com and then repeat after me, "As your Real Estate consultant you can count on me to COMMUNICATE, NEGOTIATE and COORDINATE". Read my home page for more detailed use of these magic words. Make them part of your vernacular. Take them beyond mere words and make sure they truly represent what you do. Be able to back up those words with details and real life examples. Your clients will have a much better understanding of the value you provide when you're not holding their house open. Just my experience but I hope it plays out the same for you as well!

AMAZING OPEN HOUSE STRATEGY $$!

2007-06-17T22:08:42Z

I thought about titling this blog "How To Insure Your New Listing Generates Your Next Three Transactions" but it was to long.

As I reported in my last blog entry, my FREE CAR WASH OPEN HOUSE continues to work wonders. I've taken one new listing and secured three new buyer clients over the past three weekends. I repeated the process yesterday and scheduled another listing appointment for thursday evening.

There are several key things at play here I've noticed. The yellow signs promoting a FREE CAR WASH next to all of my open house signs definately draw more traffic. Initially, it drew all the neighbors, which was geat since these are potential sellers or people who may know a buyer for my listing. The best thing however is that it creates an atmosphere that allows for and even inspires visitors to truly engage in a meaningful dialogue with me. They seem to no longer see me as "sales person" and instead see me as a thoughtful and creative guy who works harder and smarter than the average Realtor for his seller clients.

I call this "conscious positioning" and it stems from my understanding that it's not "what we say we do" but what people "catch us doing" that builds lasting impressions. I imagine most open house / selling environments are pretty similar, where people seem to be withdrawn and not wanting to be engaged, let alone provide us with their email address and other contact information.

In the environment I've created I find visitors immediately walk in with a positive expectation of me and a genuine desire to engage.

Now, how many different ways can our ActiveRain community members find to "create the environment" that inspires people to engage with them at an Open House? I'd love to hear what others come up with!

I wish you all the best of success out there!

Your San Diego Native Real Estate Connection.

PS- Search more than 22,000 currently listed for sale all across San Diego County at http://www.AreaBeachHomes.com - don't keep it a secret!

A Great Open House!!

2007-06-07T10:41:27Z

Our notorious June gloom gave way to awesome sunshine this past Sunday and so I decided to take full advantage of the weather and offer a FREE car wash to any one attending my open house. I hired the sellers teen age son and his friend, provided a bucket, sponges, soap and chamoise. I stuck a yellow corrugated plastic sign in the ground that said "FREE CAR WASH" in large black hand written text next to all 10 Open House directional signs (with flags) leading to my listing.

With 29 people through the event, the kids made $25 each for 3 hours work and I impressed all the neighbors and scheduled two appointments for possible listings plus signed up several potential buyers to my automated Market Watch campaign.

I think I'll be doing car washes again. I believe strongly that when neighbors see extraordinary efforts and amplified results it positions us way ahead of the agent whose simply been mailing them area updates every month.

Try it and let me know how it works for you!

Spiritual Marketing

2007-04-21T19:42:02Z

I've spent a good ten years of my life letting go of my past. The result was more time available to appreciate being in "the now" and freed up space to worry about the future. I now practice not worrying about the future and am hopeful it will take much less than ten years to let those concerns go as well. I practice moment by moment.

As the depth of my understanding that the only real time is "now" grows, my future worries dissipate. Right now I choose to be happy and content with all my wonderful blessings. A fabulous son, incredible partner, wonderful clients and deep love for an awesome God that I have an all powerful faith in leave me in a constant state of awe and admiration for this beautiful, magical universe.

I feel joy in serving. I am open to receiving and know that the universe is an abundant one and everything I could ever desire is in front of me all the time and mine to embrace in every moment.

My light shines brighter all the time and therefore wonderful, appreciative, thoughtful clients are attracted to me like moths to a light. Solving their real estate challenges is a way of giving back to the world. I don't worry about getting. I focus on giving. It seems that there is an army of angels distributing my business cards throughout the universe for me - always.

The more I "be here now" and choose joy, the more joy is bestowed upon me. The market is always excellent. Business is always great. People are always wonderful.

Blessings to you all!

Zen & Real Estate Revisited...

2007-04-20T18:51:30Z

It's true that what you think about you bring about, so be careful. If you're always thinking, "I need more business" or "I need this listing to sell", it's very likely that you'll just continue to feed that need. The idea of "needing" means that you don't have something. Not having that "something" will only increase if you keep putting thought and energy into "not having it and needing it".

Does that make sense?

I always pay attention to my "self-talk" - and believe me, it's interesting! By paying attention to the voices in my head I am able to correct them when they start to go needy on me. I say things not only to myself, but out loud to my clients all the time that sound like this, "The perfect house for you is right around the corner! If it's not on the market yet, it's coming soon" or, "the buyer of this house is going to have a large down payment, be willing to close according to our schedule and be a pleasure to work with - you'll see!"

How do we learn to walk in this often sharp and jagged world? The way seems simple enough to me.

Do I sound like someone you might like to hang around with?

The Ultimate Real Estate Website Discovered!

2007-04-13T15:43:04Z

I invite you to log onto my site at http://www.AreaBeachHomes.com and pretend you're searching for a home somewhere in San Diego County. You'll find that you can easily search through more than 20,000 homes for sale across San Diego County - without being asked to provide ssn#, blood type, mothers maiden name etc...

When I recently started looking for yet another "new" website after being disappointed with the other new websites I had tested, I tried a new tack. I looked to see what the highest paid Realtors in the country were using. Realtors like Greg Neumann with Prudential in San Diego who sold more than $1Billion in residential real estate last year in San Diego. Yup! - that's billion with a B!! I noticed he used the same solution as Marty Rodriguez, the all time achiever in the history of C21 - whoa! Ditto for Marty & Maxine Gellens, #2 Prudential team and Chris Heller, a HUGE producer within the Keller Williams community. Come to find out, Mike & Tom Ferry have been heard on more than one occasion singing the praises of this company's internet marketing technology.

Now, what you won't notice when you log onto my site is what I notice when you log onto my site.

My site is called a SMART site, which stands for Strategic Marketing And Relationship Technology. It has a back office known as BOSS, or Back Office Support System. My SMART BOSS system works like a 24 hour sales assistant. It keeps tabs on who comes and goes, how much time they spend, what they look at, what searches they save, who they forward saved searches to and more. It automatically updates visitors with new listings matching their search criteria as they come on the market, holiday cards, monthly e-letter, and other drip campaign messages from me. It automatically notifies my cell phone with a text message when VIP clients log in, save searches or request CMA's. It even rates visitors with a 1-4 star scoring system based on how hot or cold they are according to some finely devised analytical alga-rythm thingamajigger jingy.

Besides doing all that cool stuff, what really makes this site so succesful is that the designers have perfected what they call "the art of the internet seduction" which I'll attempt to break down for you with a little mental visualization exercise.

Okay- imagine you've taken the day off to go sit in the park, read a book and and feed the squirrels. In order to achieve the greatest success in attracting these fine furry creatures (actually they are abhorred dirty little rodents here on the beaches of So Cal but never mind that), do you: 1) stand beneath the closest squirrel bearing tree shaking a bag of potato chips yelling "here squirrely squirrely!" or do you: 2) create a line of chips leading from the base of the tree and running over to the nearest bench where you sit plopped out with your book and three bags of Lay's (baked not fried!) chips ripped open and spilled all around you looking like a Green Bay Packer fan after the first 10 minutes of the 1st quarter of a pre-season game? If you choose step 1, you're in for a long day. If you choose step 2, you'll probably get bitten, trampled and chased from the park by a pack of frenzied and possibly rabid squirrels.

Buyers are like squirrels. You've got to "lead them with a giving hand" as my friend Dean Jackson likes to say and my site leads you to register your real email address by giving you more chips than you know what do with and then offering you a free ice cold coke. You'll register for the coke - I promise.

According to NAR, more than 80% of home shoppers are now starting their home search on line and they are doing this for three primary reasons. They want 1) to be empowered with information 2) convenience and 3) anonymity. Also according to NAR, 96% of them are looking for ONE thing - listings with PICTURES. N.A.R. statistics also show that these informed and educated home shoppers will still use a Realtor, the difference is that they will only need to preview an average of 9 homes instead of 109 homes.

By giving the people what they want in a way that makes it easy and enjoyable, the people will give you what you want - a relationship opportunity! Having an automated follow up system attached to a place that allows buyers to INCUBATE while thay take their time deciding what, when and where to purchase will ultimately position you as Momma Hen when the chicks start hatching! Further, having the technology to spy on their hearts desires allows you to positively manipulate the process by staying informed regarding their likes and dislikes before you even speak to them for the first time.

A Zero Cost Method For Dominating Your Farm!

2007-03-29T12:58:34Z

This is a very simple system for creating and nurturing a farm area. When you stop to consider that most agents "farm" by mailing, it makes even more sense. First, mail costs money. Second, what do you mail? Whatever it is it needs to be of value and delivered in a way that it gets read, otherwise you're wasting money, time and resources putting together your mailing. Instead, I suggest implementing this powerful and FREE strategy:

Have your Title Rep provide a "walking farm list". This list is in sequential order (house by house) with names so you know who you're talking to as you go house to house.
If you're nervous about door knocking, get over it and have your Title Rep. join you!
Introduce yourself and explain you've created a wonderful and FREE community service that your friends and neighbors all love.
Explain that your system updates area home owners via email every time a new home comes on the market in their immediate neighborhood. This update includes pictures, details and price information and is a great way for area home owners to keep abreast of neighborhood specific home sales and prices.
The system will also include a monthly e-newsletter. Easy to find and create!
Notify them that you never share their email addresses with anyone and that they can easily cancel their updates any time!

A couple of suggestions:

NEVER email anything other that what you promised or risk becoming a spammer and having people cancel their updates.
Include any "other" message you'd like to communicate as a PS.
Be sure your PS invites people to preview your website.
Quantify what your website offers in the PS - such as, search through more than 19,743 homes across the county at http://www.YourWebsite.com
Utilize your MLS (if possible) for these auto-updates or find a Real Estate website like the ones offered by 1Parkplace.com to set up these e-campaigns.
Consider sending out a letter to "prepare the ground" prior to walking it your first time. The letter can introduce you as a neighbor and long time community member who will be walking around in the coming weeks to meet your neighbors and offer your community service updates.

Remember, the agent who owns the e-mail addresses to a farm will eventually own the farm so long as they are ethical, warm, friendly and professional!

If you decide to go for it - please send me your results! It's worked wonders for me and I hope it does the same for you. You can contact me anytime via activerain community or through my website at http://www.AreaBeachHomes.com

Best of success!

Homes Are Selling And Pricing Is Key...

2007-03-27T09:04:18Z

I've just sold my last three listings here in San Diego in 8 days, 27 days and 17 days respectively. This, in a market where the average selling time can be 45 to 145 days! I've also gone on several list appointments where I chose not to list the home - period. While the homes I chose not to list were lovely and sell-able, I felt the sellers were attached to an unrealistic sales price. Rather than refusing to list the home outright, I requested they consider me as their "second agent".

In other words, when you hire a Realtor who tells you he or she can get you the price you want, I'll wish you the very best of success however, if you find yourself getting frustrated at the 60 or 90 mark, I'd like you to consider revisiting the conversation we had this evening and simply ask yourself if you feel like I had a better understanding of our current market conditions and if you feel like I was honest and knowledgable fromt he outset - as opposed to suggesting I had access to the eternal pool of frothing at the mouth to purchase at any price buyers. If you consider cancelling your contract and re-listing, then I'd love to be the one to serve you. By the way, unlike myself, most agents wont offer you an "Easy Exit Guarantee" that allows you to cancel your agreement at anytime, for any reason therefore, I'd advise you this evening to insist on it with the next Realtor you interview. It's in your best interest! BTW - I've been the "2nd Agent" now four times since employing this dialogue and I learned it from a highly respected and tremendously succesful huge producer from Malibu.

This strategy saves me from spending marketing dollars and valuable time baby sitting a home and appeasing a frustrated seller when all the while I have no confidence the home will sell. It also frees up my energy and $ resources to focus on selling my saleable listings.

If you're a Realtor in the Activerain community with your own success strategy for helping unrealistic sellers climb down off the ledge i'd love to hear your idea's and hope you wont be shy! Happy selling and may 2007 be your best year ever!

The Purpose Of A Highly Referrable Real Estate Consultant

2007-03-21T11:32:01Z

I'm very clear on my purpose - it's to win clients for life!

Follow this train of thought with me and I think you'll have fun!

Okay- since I'm acutely aware of my own BS-ometer, the natural mechanism built into my internal hard drive that tells me with precision accuracy when someone is feeding me a line of elephant dung, and since I'm no more special than you, it's safe to assume that every human being has this built in mechanism, therefore, I don't BS people and I don't allow people to BS me, or the clients whose interests I safe gaurd.

Now, you can study this for yourself if you're interested but I've already done so and can tell you with certainty that our words vibrate. In fact, everything in the universe vibrates however, what's important to understand is that truth vibrates at a higher frequency than dung. Human beings are able to detect both vibrations. One feels good and acts as a magnet, the other feels not so good and works to push us away or close us down to the message. You can even "feel" the truth in those words - correct? I know.

That being said, how does it apply to manifesting my purpose and creating clients for life?

Well, if I am not being authentic people can feel it. Likewise, if I am being authentic, people will feel it also. So, when I come from authenticity in all my communications AND I use words that attract, I can begin to build trust and win hearts and minds. Therefore, I BE authentic - always.

Authentic communication is like Miracle Grow for relationships.

Since I know that, I simply communicate with authenticity to my clients how much I desire to serve them and how much value I have to offer. I tell them that as their Real estate consultant, my job is threefold.

First, I am their CONSULTANT. This means I ask profound and insightful questions and then listen deeply to their answers in order to better understand their needs and desires. Since I'm actually a very good consultant, I help them to trust that I have heard them by repeating back to them what they've said.

Second, I am their NEGOTIATOR. This means treating their money as if it were my own. It also means having the communication skills and situational awareness that will allow me to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of the others sides offers and suggestions. In this role, I'm like an attorney representing my client in a court of law where the stakes are very high - I'm a pit bull in defending my clients interests and assetts.

In my third role, I'm a COORDINATOR. There are so many disclosures and forms in todays standard real estate contract it's ridiculous and every "i" must be dotted and "t" crossed - the legal implications of a mistake in this process can be quite high for my client. Also, with escrow, title, termite, appraisor, inspector, processer, transaction coordinator and more ALL having a role in the process (let alone the 100 to 150 calls generated from a single real estate transaction), somebody needs to diligently coordinate all of these details.

When I communicate this message with authenticity, I win clients for life.

By the way - If you have a client considering relocating to San Diego I promise to take great care of them. They can visit my site at http://www.AreaBeachHomes.com to start seaching for homes in advance. If I sound like someone you'd like your relocation clients to work then please don't keep me a secret!

Are You A Sales Person In Consultants Clothing?

2007-01-10T21:50:32Z

Sales people talk. Consultants listen. Sales people are looking for what they can get. Consultants set out to determine what they can give. Sales people play king of the hill and constantly monitor the sales board. Consultants play rising tides and strive to create a work place environment where everyone is learning, growing, assisting and winning together.

Life is short. The lessons we don't learn in this present experience will be forced upon us in the next - again and again until we "get it". Making money is great but changing lives is better. Exchanging our real estate knowledge for money is healthy; Closing people is not. Setting out to see how many "deals we can do in a year" is not the same as setting out to "see how many people we can help" and is, I believe, totally unconscious. I don't think anyone in their heart of hearts wants to get without giving because deep down, we all know it doesn't feel good.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where many people are unconscious. It's not hard to fall asleep in a consumer based society where the jones' are all around us flaunting their fancy BMW's and acting as if the only success in life is financial; Fortunately, it's never to late to wake up.

Peace, health and success to all in 2007!

Expired Listings At An All Time High, Got A Good Approach?

2006-12-23T18:08:49Z

I'm being challenged by my coach to start going after the expired listing market. He's laid out what appears to be a beautiful strategy for going after them which includes but is not limited to, calling them and knocking in their doors.

The "real" strategy here he say's it not to obtain listings but rather, to build a callous around cold calling. The logic is this, once you make enough cold calls and knock on enough doors, you'll no longer be afraid of making cold calls and knocking on doors and that in itself will be a major victory.

Wait....what?

The theory is this; if you can get to a point where calling on cold prospects or knocking on their doors at 7:30 in the morning to apply for the job as their new consultant no longer bothers you, even excites you, then you can go anywhere in the country and start making money right away.

Sounds good. My only problem is that I forget all my best dialogue skills and/or talking points when I drive by the house and so I never actually make it to the front door. Try calling then you say? Same thing.

I know some agents make huuuuuge profits doing this. I also know that I'm a great consultant and truly do have a desire to serve to the very best of my ability and believe in my heart of hearts I'm a great option for these folks.

Does anybody out there have advice and/or experience they might be willing to impart? I'd loooove to hear what's worked, what hasn't and what your experience is in this particular endeavor if you've got some!

Trust that your expertise and knowledge will go along way toward helping others besides just myself no doubt and that what goes around will surely come back around so, let the comments fly!

Also, have a heck of wonderful holiday season and may your 2007 be your best, most productive year ever!

The Value Of A Good Buyers Broker

2006-12-21T09:39:32Z

It seems like some buyers these days consider the value of a buyer broker based on how much of his or her commission he or she is or isn't, willing to "share". I believe that this has occured because weaker agents who lack a referral base, solid systems for generating new leads and the consulting skills neccesary to provide 3% of the purchase price in value end up resorting to the "I'll pay you to work with me!" strategy, which is no strategy at all. Unfortunately, buyers may see these ad's and think, "Cool! I'll take it" and in so doing, do a disservice to themselves.

I believe that a good buyers broker is worth his or her weight in gold. If an agent is getting a steady stream of referrals from past clients and members of his or her network, it's usually because they have demonstrated a professionalism and skill level that creates trust. If this same agent also has the ability to generate new leads every month and the skill required to convert those leads into new clients, and then the knowledge and professionalism required to get even more referrals from those transactions (based on providing stellar service), then you're not likely to see them running ad's offering to pay you half their commission.

While I've certainly contributed funds from my commissions over the years to help pay closing costs, buy a new appliance or help buy down the interest rate for my buyer, it was never a promise made up front and always presented in the form of a "gift". The dual benefit of this "gift" is that it ends up being truly appreciated, as opposed to expected, and generates even more client appreciation and advocacy.

What makes a good buyer agent?

They know the market conditions today. The busier an agent is writing offers and staying "in the game", the greater sense they have of price/time trending. In other words, how much a house will likely sell for and how long it will take to sell.
They take the time up front to probe deeply into discovering what's most important to their clients about buying a home and why it's important. "Why is it important to you about living in this neighborhood? And why is that important? And why is that important?"...
Like a consultant and unlike a sales person, they listen to understand as opposed to listening to respond.
The only outcome they are attached to is insuring that when the transaction is complete, the buyer client feels a deep sense of appreciation, trust, respect, satisfaction and a desire to tell more people about the positive experience they had working with them.
They invest dollars and time into improving their skills through continued education and constant never ending learning in order to always bring more value to the relationship.

If you or someone you knows is considering a move to San Diego and you'd like them to have an exceptional experience, please don't hesitate to pick up the phone and call me. I'll do my best to make you a proud and satisifed referrer!

What I Recently Learned From Some HUGE Producers!

2006-12-14T21:15:41Z

An interesting thing happened to me recently when I attended a two day event in La Jolla, CA to sit and learn from some HUGE producing Realtors and Lenders - it's called a paradigm shift.

The event was sponsored by By Referral Only Inc ( http://www.byreferralonly.com/ ) and was called the 2006 Strategic Leadership Forum. Most of the agents and lenders here have anywhere from 70% to 100% BY REFERRAL ONLY business - literally. Talk about quality clients and great life style! Many earn big 6 and 7 figure incomes in 30 hour work weeks, ALL referral.

Theses B.R.O. members have been taught to segment their business into three categories called: Before, During and After.

Before is everything they do to get a new client and would include running ad's, signs, whatever. These are referred to as the BEFORE systems.

The During unit is all the systems they have set in place to generate a referral while in the process of working with a client, since this is the time most people are thinking about buying and selling, this is when they most notice it and are most likely going to be able to refer someone to you.

The After unit is everything they do to stay in touch with past clients in a meaningful and valuable way to generate referrals and repeat business.

Here's the interesting thing; having spoken to dozens of these agents at length, I was stunned to learn that all of them bar none were getting the bulk of their business from their AFTER unit. Past clients!

They didn't need to run ad's - they simply needed to stay in touch with their past clients. They had all sorts of creative ways to consistantly "wow" these valuable past clients and generate consistent business from them.

Imagine not having to spend money on marketing. Imagine only working with people who knew you, liked you and trusted you! Imagine your work day consisted of doing drop by visits to people who were happy to see you, invited you into their places of business and handed out your business cards while singing your praises as they did it?

The question that begs to be answered is, am I showing up and serving people in a way that would make them want to help me? If I am, am I asking for help from these people and then taking it one step further and showing them how they can help me?

Interesting to think about isn't it? How about if every single client generated you one piece of new businss in the DURING process and then referred a minimum of two people a year to you through the AFTER systems?

I went home, sat down and wrote a humble apology letter to all the people I'd abandoned and was surprised to learn that many were very happy to hear from me. This month, I've been referred a $2million home buyer, some first time buyers looking at $300k condos this weekend and perhaps a $7million commercial listing - waiting to find out on that one still.

Meaningful newsletters, personal notes, drop by visits, phone calls - amazing!

I know many of you are doing this already and can probably contribute some fantastic idea's to our community and I truly look forward to hearing your replys!

Will You Cut Your Commission?

2006-12-14T09:01:44Z

Here's another way of phrasing that question, "Will you buy my business?" Think about it for a second, by cutting the standard commission, you are either a) telling the consumer that your services aren't worth the standard fee b) telling the consumer that you're desperate and will do anything to get paid (including a strong likelihood of not representing their best interests entirely in order to simply close a deal) and c) placing yourself in the "commodity category".

There's only one way to avoid this trap and that is to have incredibly strong consulting skills.

What do "incredibly strong consulting skills look, taste, smell and feel like?" We need to know the answer to this question because potential buyers and sellers are taking us in with all of their senses. They won't know why they chose (or didn't) choose us after leaving the initial consultation other than "the sense" they got from us during that inital meeting.

I think incredibly strong consulting skills start with our ability to dialogue. My coach says, "you need to make the words that come out of your mouth 5 to 10 times as interesting as what they just heard or are about to hear from the next person they interview". In this market place, dialogue skills are EVERYTHING.

Next, "social proof". Who else will testify for me? Neighbors are a great place to start. Why not call my toll free hotline and listen to what your neighbors have to say about me?

If anybody out there is interested in learning to develop the skills of a highly referrable real estate and/or mortgage consultant I highly recomend you check out this blog at http://www.JoesJournal.com . You can also meet the man who has mentored me and thousands of top producing agents and lenders around the country at http://www.byreferralonly.com/ .

Happy holidays to all and to all a great day!

Real Estate & Zen.

2006-12-13T18:05:54Z

It's true that what you think about you bring about, so be careful. If you're always thinking, "I need more business" or "I need this listing to sell", it's very likely that you'll just continue to feed that need. The idea of "needing" means that you don't have something. Not having that "something" will only increase if you keep putting thought and energy into "not having it and needing it".

Does that make sense?

How do we learn to walk in this often sharp and jagged world? The way seems simple enough to me.

Do I sound like someone you might like to hang around with?

So Cal RE Market Finding It's Bottom

2006-12-11T23:25:11Z

The San Diego Chargers appear headed to the Super Bowl and the San Diego housing market appears to have found it's bottom. Forecasting what will happen next is anybody's guess however homes that are a) not condo's and b) not cookie cutter, seem to be selling faster and close to or even above asking price. Today is Monday, December 11th and the interest rate decreases we've been seeing over the past two weeks may be driving some of the recent activity.

As an active, full time real estate consultant with listings and buyers, I can speak from my own experience in saying that business has picked up however, I wouldn't start crowing about it like this unless I was hearing the same thing from the other professionals I interface with at the office, at open houses, on caravans and on the phone.

Due to the fact that condo's have no other way to compete in this market other than by reducing the price, I still feel like there are some great investment opportunity's in this market for buyers with savvy and local knowledge. As a San Diego native and son of a home builder/investor, I've watched massive home value gain and incredible price corrections occur before.

Just when you think, "there's no way those hunks of junk will ever fetch more than $600,000" - there they go! Todays $500k "starter" home in San Diego can reasonably expect to sell for $1,000,000 in the not to distant future when you stop to consider that a buck is no longer worth a buck, it's more like .75 cents. Just wait until a buck is worth about .45 cents and a million dollars for a hunk of junk won't seem like much at all!

Now is a great time to buy if you buy smartly. Smart always has and will always continue to mean location. For those folks seeking to plop down some cash and invest "ahead of the growth curve" Oceanside seems to be a popular and reasonable gamble these days. It's one of (the only actually) coastal city left where you can get reasonably close to the beach (west of I-5) for under a million dollars and even have a yard! Plus, the City is seeing fabulous investments like the Sprinter new light rail train running west to east, a high rise Westin water front hotel and accompanying boutique shops, new bio-tech firms and business parks that are actually filling up with higher paying, white collar jobs and an influx of Orange County buyers who've apparently decided to cash out on their over priced condo's and move down south!

Got a different perspective? I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions!