With football season in full swing it reminds me how similar the game of football is to real estate. You say what does football have to do with real estate? Plenty!
Think about this....Players that sit on the bench on the sidelines and never play in the game are never remembered by anyone other than their friends and relatives. Players however that are out in the middle of the field week after week and are involved in most of the plays are remembered by tens of thousands.
Realtors that sit in the office and work on the latest and greatest software program for hours and love the company of their co-agents never become top producers and never put up big numbers.
I have seen this year after year. The Realtors that sit in the office day after day and are either working on the computer or chatting with their best friends in the office or the secretaries barely pay their bills, if they do that at all.
Realtors that are out working hard and "Networking" day in and day out are the ones that put up big numbers and have good results year after year.
When I joined Re/Max at the end of 1997 I knew I had to start making money fast and I knew I was not going to make it sitting in the office taking floor time and waiting for buyers to walk in or call. I needed to get out and work and the results speak for themselves.
I drove around new subdivisions and looked for affordable homes for my buyers. I remember calling one builder from my car and asking for more specifics on a particular home I thought my buyer might be interested in. The builder was so excited that I called him with enthusiasm in my voice that he decided to do co-op advertising with me. This builder became the #1 builder in Idaho and for years I sold 25-30 homes of his each year.
I then drove around town looking for commercial buildings. I did some research and found a vacant 7-11 store in my hometown. After 7 phone calls I contacted the parent company, Southland Corp. They in turn turned me over to their corporate Realtor. That Realtor and I hit it off big time. The result is I have sold 3 closed 7-11 stores in Idaho and Oregon and have the contract with this corporate Realtor to sell every closed 7-11 store in Idaho and Oregon over the next several years.
These two examples are only 2 of many. I have not taken floor time since I started with Re/Max in 1997 and yet my volume numbers have increased every year. Why? Because I spent my days calling a lot of people and constantly was searching for new business. I have always looked for listings because I want to get my name out. When I take a new listing I always put up as many directional signs as I can to get the exposure. This in turn brings in buyers.
In todays market I am looking for vacant and abandoned homes and commercial buildings and contacting the recorded owners. The owners of these properties whether they are individuals or banks are motivated to sell and are anxious to work with someone that is motivated to help them. These motivated sellers will drop their prices untill the properties sell. Also, when the market turns I want to be the one playing in the game with all my signs out there.
So my recommendation is to "Get off the sidelines and get into the game" if you want your community to know who you are and if you want to grow your business beyond your wildest dreams.
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