Here is my disclosure on this very sensitive subject.  I am not suggesting a commission schedule to any of you and I am not a lawyer in Massachusetts where this took place but I thought it was a discussion that was worth having with other professionals.  I was recently involved in a transaction outside of my normal working area.  I got a referral from a friend and they wanted my personal attention so I agreed to help them find a home.

 Everything was fine until my buyers submitted and offer.  In that offer my buyers requested that the seller pay additional commission to them at closing so the buyer could fulfill their buyers agency contract with me.  The agent on the other end of the transaction was upset that my buyers where changing the buyers agency commission as listed on the MLS.  This agent then told me that I was violating my contract with the MLS by allowing my buyers to request a change of commission. The agent went on to explain that the way real estate worked in the area was that if you wanted to change the commission you had to ask permission from the seller before showing the property. Then they instructed me to go ask MAR and the MLS about this and assured me that I would see that the agent was correct. 

Being a licensed real estate trainer for Massachusetts I was shocked by these claims.  I have been practicing real estate for years and never had such a passionate objection to an offer before so I did what the agent suggested and called MAR and the MLS.  Here is a link to the article that clarifies this subject Bay State Realtor March-April 2007 AntiTrust Article. To sum up the article it says that is perfectly legal for a buyer to ask a seller to change the commission in an offer and that the offer must be presented. It also clarifies that the seller does not have to accept the offer and that buyer and seller are free to agree on whichever terms that they want in their contract. In talking with the MLS they stated that they have no authority over what a buyer and seller agree to or don't agree to in a contract.

I am wondering if there was a change in the law at some point that would have led this agent to think the description above was accurate? Has anyone else has had this experience before?

Topic: Powerful Proactive Prospecting

Click Here To download the MP3 for This Episode I am very excited about this topic because it is the most important thing that you can do in your business on a regular basis. As all of you know by now I am a Realtor. What I am about to present to you is a overview of a training I attended at Keller Williams Realty. It quite simple changed the way I do business and I am sure you will find it just as valuable as I did. If you are looking for the ultimate 20% activity in your business you have found it in prospecting. If you will dedicate your self to becoming a good prospector you can double or triple your business in 12 months. I feel confident saying this because I know the benefits of prospecting first hand. If you where going to be good a just one thing in your business let it be your lead generation activities. Almost everything else in your business can be very bad but if your lead generation is working then you will always have people to work with. I guess my point is very few business would be hurt by an overabundance of high quality leads. Even if you where bad at converting them the quantity of them would give you practice so you would get better just by handling clients. Remember the 80/20 rule where you get 80% of your results from 20% of your activity. Well you can think of prospecting as the most important activity of your 20% activities.

I have a couple of examples to share with you:
• Liz and I where attending a press conference with the major of Springfield a couple of weeks ago and we helped a fellow Realtor find a BNI Chapter to join. This help came back to me via a referral to a buyer client I am currently working with. Just interacting with people gives you a chance to find more prospects if you are looking. Now if I told you I have recieved 4 referrals from other Realtors this year would that shock you? People in your profession are some of the best lead generation sources that you will ever have. Go out and help them today.
• This past weekend Liz and I where doing pop bys to our clients that just purchased homes. We spontanously stopped by to talk one of my clients for a referral and we discovered a business opportunity. My client can get granite counter tops really inexpensivly. It just so happens that one of my other clients is looking for a way to install granite counter tops in homes. This could lead to a very profitable niche with my investor clients.

What is it about asking for help that is so difficult for us to do as adults? When it comes to lead generation this always stumps me. If you where looking for a plumber because your water pipes where broken you would not hesitate to ask everyone you knew for a good plumber but, when you are looking for a new client everything seems to change.

KeyPoint - If you don't get yourself out there then the people are not going to be served correctly. It is your duty to make sure you give people a choice in the marketplace.

Prospecting VS Marketing

Prospecting is proactively finding people that need your product or service.

Marketing is what drives the leads that you find. It attracts customers to you through your material. For the most part marketing is passive and indirect.

Remember it is the combination of these and they way prospecting and marketing activities support one another that yields a bounty of leads. Think of this as a conveyor belt. You take your prospecting and marketing skills, we are going to call them P&M skills, and apply them to "strangers" to turn them into "friends". Then you apply the same P&M Skills to these "friends" to cultivate and convert them into "clients".

Myths and Truths about Prospecting

1. Myth1 - Prospecting = Cold Calling = Rejection
   Truth - Prospecting = Meeting People and Building Purposeful Business Relationships = A Strong Business
2. Myth2 - Prospecting means contacting people you don't know
   Truth - Prospecting means contacting people you know as well as those you don't know.
3. Myth3 - Prospecting is what you do to launch your business. Only new employees have to prospect.
   Truth - Prospecting is what you do to keep your business running and growing. You should never stop prospecting.

Five benefits of Prospecting

1. It is inexpensive and yields immediate results
2. Puts you in control of filling your pipeline of leads
3. Increases your confidence and skill
4. Yields quantity leads which yield quality leads
5. Keeps you in direct contact with the market and protects against market changes

Exersize1: Organize these benefits in your own words and prioritize them. Now take a minute to write your reasons why you ordered them in this way.

Here are the basics of Prospecting:

1. Approach - Your Mindset and attitude not everything but it is pretty darn close to everything
   1. Be proactive - dont' wait for people to come to you
   2. Be willing to break the ice
   3. Be friendly, caring, and most importantly, be real
   4. Be curious about hem and their concerns
   5. Be ready to give positive feedback
   6. Be confident in your pace and posture
   7. Be ready to connect
2. Connect - Be a giver: Always come from contribution
   F.O.R.D - Family, Occupation, Recreation and Dreams
   You can connect with people by calling, visiting or attending and/or Hosting Events. My favorite technique is hosting events. It gives you an excuse to contact people at least 5-8 times. The most important thing to remember about connecting with people is to have fun. Have a relaxed open mind read to entertain ideas that might shock you. You can use positive self talk or affirmations to help you easy into this mindset.
3. Ask for business
   • Are you or someone you know thinking for buying X?
   • Are you or someone you know in need of X?
   • You know how it is always a problem when Y? Well my service X solves that problem?
   • Example: You know how difficult it was coming up with the down payment for you first home?Well my service solves that problem. If you know of anyone looking to buy a home....

This information is great but if you don't use it we are just wasting our time. If you take nothing from me but this:

Above all else take action everyday!
1. Assemble call list
2. Prepare handouts for visits
3. Prepare and mail invitations for events
4. Make phone calls
5. Add Two new people to your database every day!
6. Host and/or attend events

Finally - Track, Measure, Evaluate, Tweak and Repeat for all the days of your business life!

TEST

 

 

Lately, I have been grinding out my business.  I am doing my business activities by shear force of will.  I call it the "blood and guts" system.  What I have found is if you can have a plan to remind me of my goal when I am less than motivated I can shift my attitude.  I have a mp3 player on my nightstand.  As soon as my alarm goes off I press play on this puppy.  It has all of my exercise goals recorded in my voice at a time when I am motivated.  This helps me Just do it and Just do it happily.  To my surprise this works for just about any goal you can think of at any time of the day.  My business goals are now on the mp3 player and the walk around with me all day long.  When I shot of motivation I press play and just do it. 

Welcome to the Real Estate Pre-Licensing Course.

    Please take some time to download the "MASSLICENSELAWSUMMARY" pdf  by clicking here and print it out and bring it with you to the next class. 

    Feedback from former students has been that learning the vocabulary and reading through the book are most challenging factors in preparing for the test.  I have tried to prepare the material so that people with various learning styles can benefit.  I have recorded the book on MP3's so you can listen to the content at you leisure.  You can download the first module's recordings by clicking here.  As we cover material I will post the other modules recordings.    I have also scanned the book into a text files in order to facilitate speed reading of the text which I will review in class later this week.

    If you have any questions or feedback please do not hesitate to contact me.

                    

Timothy E. Frangioso Realtor Broker and Licensed Trainer Keller Williams Realty - HomeSquad Team Member (413)726-2080, Tim@HomeSquad.net 300 Pleasant Street, Northampton, MA 01060

 

  I just wanted to let the community know about this great tool for getting through all of the reading that we have to do in our industry. I have dyslexia and have studied speed reading and other study methods and the major drawback is that you have to do practice to keep your skills sharp.  Rapid Reader 6 takes care of all the issues related to eye movement and keeping your pace.  Please check it out if you want to try speed reading.

 

 

 

Professionals meet at Panera Bread in West Springfield to discuss Web2.0 technologies.

 They have been demonstrating BLOGGING tools, online communities and aggregtors.  Among the topics where the following:

Word Press

Blogger

Type Pad

Active Rain

Podcasting

BLOGGING (RSS Feeds)

NetVibes

 

This is one of my favorite tools.  My background is photography and computer graphics so I have all the cool software like Photo-shop and Dreamweaver but I have to admit I use this little $35.00 utility much more just because of its ease of use.  I can capture anything on my screen to a file with the click of a button and the dragging of a mouse.  It really is cool when you want to make educational material because you can go through what the computer screen will look like every step of the way.  You can check it out at Hyperionics's Website.  I highly recommend it for getting images for Blogging.

 

120 West Canton Cir, Springfield, MA

	Price: $174,900
Springfield, MA : East Springfield 01104-1443
Hampden County
Style: Ranch	Color:
Total Rooms: 5	Bedrooms: 3
Full/Half/Master Baths: 1/0/	Fireplaces: 0
Grade School:	Middle School:
High School:

Directions: Take St. James Ave to Canton St to West Canton Cir

Come see this beautiful ranch home in East Springfield. Newer heating and air conditioning system, security system, pass/drive through garage for easy back yard access, Full deck and above ground pool and a partially finished basement with a bar area.