It was just one of those beautiful Portland Oregon days. Clean air, Warm Sunshine, (no rain ) and a couple of Open Houses. AHHHHH! All is right with the World.
Now these two Open Houses are the very two Homesthat I have been talking about in my last couple of blogs about FIXERS, FLIPS, and REHABS, in the Alberta Arts Neighborhood, here in Portland Oregon. And when I say Fixers that is what I mean.
I have only had these listings for a few days and today was the first opportunity to get inside or even to show them to a prospective client. I don't no about where you live but the Fixer market in Portland is Hot. In fact it has been Hot for the last 18 years that I have been in business and most assuredly before that as well.
Because of the pent up demand for buyers wanting to get into these two properties See_Them_Here I pretty much had to stand outside and greet the buyer's on the way in Giving them a Business card and introducing my self as they wandered in and around the property.
This whole process for the 3 hours that I was there started me thinking. When I think anymore I tend to think in Blog. What was going though my mind was the Internet and its profound changes that it has made in the evolution of real estate as a business. Just how do we interact with potential clients today as opposed to yesteryear.
Throughout much of my Real Estate career I was taught and learned through the lessons of hard knocks, how to quickly take control of the conversation and gain a potential clients trust. A lot of Real Estate speakers have devoted their entire careers to teaching and selling to Real estate agents these very techniques.
The Internet however has made a fundamental change in all of that. By virtue of the medium a certain amount of anonymity can be achieved by the consumer. For the most part the Internet consumer does not want to be bothered or sold to at all preferring to keep their contact information private. The benefit to us ( Real Estate Sales People) is a larger pool of potential clients actively looking. The down side is that most do not want be found or have anything to do with us except on their own grounds.
Internet savvy marketing experts have quickly caught on to this and have begun to market to Realtor's the concept of providing the consumers with a one stop shopping experience while visiting your web site. The Theory is that the longer they stay the more likely that they will contact you.
Blogging has given us the ability to provide the consumer our voice. Hence all of the blog gurus suggest that a successful Blog should be written in a manner that lets the reader get to know you through your blog. Once they feel comfortable then they will reach out.
While thinking this over I began analyzing how I was working with the People who had come to see my open house's . A year or two ago I would have been all over these people with my canned presentation designed to pick out the tire kickers from the true Investors. Instead what I found myself doing was a mirror image of how I market myself on the Web.
- First I greet and welcome them
- I hand them a Business card
- I invite them to preview the home
- Upon exit I ask " are there any questions that I may answer for them "
- When they are prepared to leave, I suggest if they have any questions later to give me a call or email
The tire kickers move on. The Buyer's who have Agents may ask questions and offer fairly quickly in the conversation that they are working with an agent. The unrepresented serious Investor will generally come forward and initiate conversation. I always take this person seriously but never push myself on them, preferring that they offer up their contact information.
Today was a Good day. I had about 2 dozen people through. About a third were tire kickers, the majority of the rest were represented by buyer's agents. Four were unrepresented, of those 3 volunteered their information.
Has the Internet changed the way you do business ? If so, how so?
Herb Hamilton is a Real Estate Broker associated with RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors
My web site at www.portlandrealproperty.com provides Portland Oregon information and Real estate Listings
" A Real Estate Experience with Herb is one YOU will Profit from "
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