real estate prospecting: Is the Market Still Hot?
- 03/01/24 04:50 PM
Is the real estate market still hot? Conflicting news reports sure don't tell the story, so I thought I'd ask the people who know: Real estate professionals who are out there helping buyers and sellers every day. Are there still too few homes for the buyers, or has new construction taken up the slack? And - are there enough buyers since interest rates went up? I thought about this today when cleaning up my website and thinking about removing a letter entitled "What Today's Home Sellers Need to Know." It's a letter - or actually 2 versions of a letter (short and long) -that I wrote
(10 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Be careful when using autoresponders…
- 11/02/23 01:13 PM
Do you use autoresponders to send marketing messages out to people on your list? If so, you may have some pre-loaded campaigns. I always suggest that agents who use my prospecting letters in email campaigns pre-load the whole series and automate it to start at the beginning when a new person opts in. That just means one less step that you need to take after your initial response to a prospect who opted in. It saves time and ensures that your messages will go out at the right intervals, even when you're busy. If you have more to say, you can also include their lists
(11 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Will rising interest rates gain you more listings?
- 04/20/22 01:16 PM
For quite a while now I've been thinking that ever-rising housing prices could not be sustainable. They would eventually reach a point where home buyers simply could not afford to go higher. But - the experts were all saying I was wrong. They predicted that prices would continue to rise, often by double-digit percentages. That is, until about 3 or 4 weeks ago. Now, faced with unprecedented inflation and rising interest rates, they're changing their tunes. While there are still more buyers than sellers, experts are saying that housing affordability is at its lowest since 2007 or 2008 (depending upon which expert
(17 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Prospecting or blogging for lead generation?
- 07/15/21 04:34 PM
Should you choose prospecting or blogging for lead generation? I suggest you should do both. Why? Because they complement each other, with each providing a different function. Blogging attracts people who are searching the Internet, looking for homes or researching agents to determine who might do the best job selling their homes. It also attracts people who want information about your community or advice on how to proceed when buying or selling under different circumstances. For instance, they may want advice about selling during a divorce, selling during probate, or buying a home on the Historic Register. For every niche in real estate there is specialized
(11 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Try to remember: It's not about YOU
- 11/11/20 12:24 PM
This morning a gentleman who uses my prospecting letters mentioned where he used to purchase letters. He had found me when he was looking for something better. Because I'm always curious about my competition, I visited their website and read some samples. Now I know why he was looking for something better. The letters break the very first rule: Don't begin a prospecting letter with "I." In the sample letter, the first 3 paragraphs were littered with I, I, and more I. The "rule" is that the "yous" should outnumber "I's" by 3 or 4 to one. This letter had that backwards.The
(31 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Real Estate Prospecting Can’t Be a One-time Shot
- 07/11/20 03:03 PM
Choose your target, then market consistently. Over the years I’ve met agents who mistakenly felt that direct mail for real estate prospecting was the same as direct response marketing. They thought they “should” get results from just one mailing. Unfortunately, marketing studies show that if they have the right list they might get a 1% response. Real estate prospecting is not at all the same as direct response marketing.Direct response marketing fits into the “instant gratification” category. You’re selling a product and people either want it or don’t want it. They order today or possibly tomorrow, and that’s that. Quite often, the purchase
(15 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: If your marketing isn’t working, is this the reason why?
- 02/08/20 04:10 PM
This morning I started looking back through quotes I’ve collected, and I found this bit of wisdom: "90% of marketing doesn’t work because it doesn’t get done." Neil Bradman It reminded me of someone I worked with once upon a time. He came into the office and found me typing prospecting letters. (Yes, this was years ago, and I typed them one by one.) He asked if that’s what I was doing and when I said yes, he said “I’ve tried it. It doesn’t work.” I went on with my typing, and later learned why it hadn’t worked for him. He wrote
(35 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: A Prospecting Letter That Fails - big time!
- 10/11/19 08:59 PM
If you read many of my posts and/or comments, you know I believe in prospecting – by both email and direct mail. You may also know that to receive any kind of prospecting letter in our community is a rare occurrence. That said, I always read the ones that do arrive. This week I got a doozie. I will give this agent credit for trying, by oh my – the letter she sent! For starters, it broke the first rule in writing prospecting letters. It was all about her. After that, it went downhill. She began by making some silly, unbelievable claims – while using language
(91 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Do you bother with trying to list FSBO’s?
- 03/29/19 11:06 AM
Many agents don’t bother with trying to list FSBO’s. They’re convinced that it’s a waste of time because those people have already decided they can sell without an agent. In addition, “they probably want too much for the house.” I’ll agree that there are some FSBO’s you won’t budge, and some who would be a waste of time. It would be silly to bother with trying to list FSBO’s whose owners simply hate real estate agents. It would also be silly to bother with them if the house is a filthy wreck and they want a price that’s far beyond market value
(8 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Help! Another agent is farming in "your" territory!
- 03/02/19 04:00 PM
You’ve got a territory – or you’ve been working on developing a territory – but now there’s another agent or two moving in on you. They’re marketing to “your” homeowners. What should you do? The first impulse might be to “go political” and tear down the competition – but that would not be wise. Years ago, market researchers learned that naming your competition in an ad brought an unwanted result. It made people remember the competition instead of the advertiser! In addition – when you tear down someone else, it makes you look bad. So eliminate that idea. Instead, keep marketing, keep being visible, keep sending those
(7 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Will Your January Sizzle or Fizzle?
- 12/16/18 04:10 PM
Will January be a productive month for you, or will you spend your time trying to re-start your real estate business? Unless you already have your pipeline filled with referral clients or from ongoing prospecting efforts, it will all depend upon what you do over the next couple of weeks. Right now, some homeowners are thinking “As soon as the holidays are over, we’ll get this house on the market.” Those listings will go to the first agent who approaches them with the right message, then follows up with another good message every few days. What is the right message? One that is focused on
(41 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Can a part-time real estate agent succeed?
- 12/08/18 10:59 AM
Can a part-time real estate agent succeed? As you know, there’s controversy over part-time real estate agents, and I’m sure you have an opinion. You may be one yourself, you may know one you enjoy working with, you may partner with one, or you may be one who thinks they should be banned. Whatever your thoughts, the question remains: Can a part-time agent succeed? First, we need to define which part-time agents we’re talking about. I’ve known quite a few licensed individuals who had no other employment, but were definitely part-timers. Even when they sat in the office on their floor
(67 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: It’s a casual world these days, but…
- 11/15/18 04:31 PM
Since the advent of the Internet, email, and texting, communication has become more and more informal. Many people no longer address each other by Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms, or even Doctor. That’s probably fine – but it depends upon the person you’re addressing. I think of my Mom – and how steaming mad she used to get if a doctor or nurse presumed to call her by her first name. They weren’t friends of hers, she hadn’t given them permission, and in her view, it was an insult – a put-down. That’s pretty much the way I feel if some stranger calls me honey,
(44 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: If you send prospecting letters...
- 11/11/18 08:15 PM
If you send prospecting letters… Do you use postal mail or email? This week a real estate agent who had purchased some of my real estate prospecting letters called to ask whether she should send them by postal mail or email. I told her that I hadn’t heard from any agents who had done a split test on that, so I couldn’t give her any statistics. However, I did have some thoughts on it. If the list is cold, then postal mail is the way to go. If you get a list of email addresses and just begin mailing to them, you can be labeled
(33 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Summertime, and the livin’ is BUSY
- 06/04/18 02:35 PM
How the heck can you keep up? Between serving clients who want to find a home or get moved while the kids are out of school, to monitoring your own children’s summer activities, to entertaining out of town guests, to trying to maintain your own home and find a smidgen of “you” time, it can be hectic. If you happen to grow a garden, your time is even more stretched. Something has to give, right? Unfortunately, for many, what gives is prospecting. After all, prospecting isn’t in your face, demanding attention. It’s easy to let it slide when you’re trying to
(8 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: What’s the difference between prospecting and farming?
- 05/10/18 01:05 PM
While the two terms are usually used interchangeably, and my Prospecting Letters page really contains more farming than prospecting letters, there really is a difference. Think about it. A prospector goes out into the hills, the desert, or the river beds in search of gems, gold, or other precious metals. He (or she, of course) sifts through tons of rock, sand, or dirt in search of the prize. If the prospector is lucky and has chosen the right place to prospect, he hits pay dirt. It’s a whole lot like fishing, where you cast the line out into the water and hope a fish
(43 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Real estate prospecting: letters or postcards?
- 03/12/18 12:56 PM
When you prospect for new real estate clients, should you use letters or postcards? Real estate prospecting letters allow you to say a bit more than you can say on a postcard. They let you enter into the mental conversations that your prospects may be having as they read your message. They let you offer up a bit of free information and allow you to demonstrate your expertise. The drawback – those who aren’t interested in a message from a real estate professional will toss the letters without opening them. Does that matter? People who aren’t interested in real estate are not your potential prospects. Real
(19 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: Help! Another agent is prospecting in my territory!
- 03/11/18 01:04 PM
You’ve got a territory – or you’ve been working on developing a territory – but now there’s another agent or two moving in on you. They’re marketing to “your” homeowners. What should you do? The first impulse might be to “go political” and tear down the competition – but that would not be wise. Years ago, market researchers learned that naming your competition in an ad brought an unwanted result. It made people remember the competition instead of the advertiser! In addition – when you tear down someone else, it makes you look bad. So eliminate that idea. Instead, focus on what you do well. Toot your
(11 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: I think “Giving Tuesday” is misplaced
- 11/28/17 12:51 PM
For the past week we’ve been getting ads for Black Friday and Cyber Monday – and today my mail is full of extensions of those sales. Now, after we’ve been urged to spend every last dime and then some, along comes Giving Tuesday. It seems to me that it might have been wiser to put the giving day ahead of the multiple spending days. Hopefully, we all have a little something left to give to our favorite charities. And hopefully, we’ll all give wisely. I’ve eliminated a few “causes” after visiting sites like Charity Navigator and learning that the bulk of the money they
(10 comments)
|
real estate prospecting: What two disasters result from failing to market yourself?
- 11/11/17 02:27 PM
Yes, if you fail to market your services consistently and give up prospecting during busy times, you’re opening the door for two disasters. You probably already know the first disaster I’ll mention: A roller-coaster income. What’s the second one? Bad decisions. I know all the excuses. I was a real estate agent myself for 19 years, remember, so I’ve used them myself. But excuses don’t lead to commission checks, so they do us little good. Consistent marketing, even during busy times, leads to a consistently full pipeline of new business. It gets you off that roller coaster and into a steady
(6 comments)
|
|
|
|