new real estate agent training: It's Okay Not to Be the Smartest One in the Room
- 03/11/14 09:55 AM
Have you ever been to a conference or a training session where there were one or two people who had to comment on everything the speaker/trainer said? Even when they had nothing new to add, they still felt compelled to comment. Pretty annoying right?
It Takes All Kinds As real estate agents we run into these types of people constantly. Some of them are our clients and others are the real estate agent on the other side of the transaction. To say these people are annoying would be an understatement. They seem to go on and on about the same thing … (1 comments)
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new real estate agent training: It's Not a Waste of Time It's Practice
- 03/10/14 10:47 PM
It's Not a Waste of Time As I listened to the agent tell his tell of woe I couldn't help but smile. He didn't get the listing. The agent was angry with the home owner. He felt the owner was arrogant, rude and a bit of a slob. He also felt that if the owner knew which agent he was going to use he didn't think he should have wasted his time. And this is where I had to stop him. It's fine for you to be angry with the home owner for whatever reason. It's also fine not to … (50 comments)
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new real estate agent training: Clean Up Your Act - Real Estate Agent Training
- 03/03/14 10:52 AM
Are you the being the best real estate agent you can be or have you gotten lax in your business practices? Cleaning up your act can not only improve your current business, but enhance your referral business.
Don't Take Your Clients for Granted All of your clients deserve your best at all times. To get things started on the right foot, meet with them to explain the home buying or selling process, how you work, what they can expect from you and what you expect from them. Don't take it for granted that they know. It doesn't matter how many houses … (1 comments)
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new real estate agent training: 3 Things That Make Selling Real Estate Hard
- 02/27/14 11:20 AM
Being a real estate agent is not for everyone. Yes, the good agents make it look easy but it is hard work. Not manual labor hard, but hard none the less. However, if you can get over the 3 things that make selling real estate hard you can achieve great success.
No Money For all of you just starting out in the business this is the number one reason selling real estate is so hard. While the start up costs to becoming a real estate agent are fairly low, they can start adding up very quickly when you don't have any money coming in. … (2 comments)
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new real estate agent training: How to Covert a For Sale by Owner
- 02/24/14 09:53 PM
What is the best way to convert a For Sale by Owner into a client?
Know Your Audience First and foremost you need to know that the owner is trying to sell their property themselves because they are frugal...they want to save the commission. They often times do not respect what a real estate agent does. They have researched how to sell a house and truly believe they have what it takes to get their house sold. For these reasons it is imperative that if you go after a for sale by owner to become the listing agent you will need … (2 comments)
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new real estate agent training: Thinking About Purchasing an Investment Property? Do Your Homework
- 02/20/14 09:33 PM
Being a real estate mogul is a lot like being a real estate agent. People think it's what they want, but when they actually get in it it's a lot more difficult than it looks. Investing in real estate is NOT for everyone. If you have a client thinking about purchasing an investment property, they need to do their homework.
What to Buy What type of property should they buy...single family home, multi-unit or condominium? Each type of property has pros and cons. The deciding factor may be based on the amount of experience they have being a landlord. If this … (0 comments)
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new real estate agent training: Top 10 Questions to Ask at Your Open House
- 02/17/14 09:53 PM
One of your goals when you hold an open house should be to pick up clients. In order to do that you need to find a way to engage visitors quickly...without sounding or being annoying.
Greet Your Visitors The first step is to greet all of your visitors with a warm smile and a firm handshake. Introduce yourself, thank them for stopping by and ask them to sign in. While they are signing in is a prime time to start asking questions.
"How did you hear about the open house"? "How long have you been looking"? "When are you looking to move"? … (3 comments)
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new real estate agent training: The Spring Real Estate Market is Now
- 02/10/14 10:00 PM
Despite the polar vortex and all of the cold weather much of the country is experiencing, now is the time to convince your sellers to put their house on the market. I realize there is something about the "Spring real estate market" that gets sellers in the mood to sell, but there is no need to wait.
Multiple Offers? Although it is freezing outside, buyers are everywhere! When you have open houses in freezing temperatures and have 50 or so visitors you know there is a lot of pent up demand. Sellers need to realize that if they put their property … (1 comments)
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new real estate agent training: A Lender Cheat Sheet for Home Buyers
- 02/06/14 09:49 PM
We know the importance of getting our home buyers pre-approved before taking them out to look at houses. Although most lenders have the buyers start the process with an online application, the buyer will still need to pull together the documents needed by the lender to issue a full commitment letter. The following cheat sheet will help prepare your buyers.
The Cheat Sheet One month's pay stubs covering 30 days Two years W2's Two most recent filed and signed Federal Tax Returns Two months bank statements (all assets, checking, savings, investments and retirement) - any large deposits over $1000 that appear … (5 comments)
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new real estate agent training: We Don't Have Anything in Common
- 02/03/14 10:26 PM
It's not enough to be a knowledgeable real estate agent. Why? Because people buy people before they buy product. With that being the case, we need to find some common ground with the people we work with.
How Do You Connect? I was just asked by an agent in her mid 20's how she should go about connecting with potential clients who are in their 50's and 60's. Her feeling was that they didn't have anything in common and she didn't want to be disingenuious. While I understand her concern I was taken aback because I generally find it pretty easy to connect with … (3 comments)
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new real estate agent training: The Best Part of Being a Real Estate Agent
- 01/29/14 10:32 PM
The cases and blogs we talk and write about most often are those that involve difficult, unreasonable and sometimes abusive clients. But if we are completely honest, that probably only makes up a small percentage of our business...maybe even as low as five percent. The other 95% of the time we are working with delightful people and for me, that's the best part of being a real estate agent.
The People We Meet The people we meet come from all walks of life and all parts of the world. Each of them has such a unique and fascinating story to tell. I love hearing about … (4 comments)
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new real estate agent training: 6 Inexpensive Bathroom Improvements
- 01/27/14 09:44 PM
You are excited about your listing appointment in a very exclusive neighborhood. The updates the sellers have made are tasteful and the house shows well. Then you get to the master bathroom...the only area in the house they never quite got around to renovating. Since they are looking to move, they don't want to put a great deal of money into a renovation. What do you advise?
Don't Break the Bank We all know that buyers love updated kitchens and bathrooms...especially a master bathroom. But we also know how sellers feel about renovating a home they are leaving. So we do what … (44 comments)
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new real estate agent training: Do You Price Hoping for Multiple Offers?
- 01/22/14 09:55 PM
Are you one of those agents who prices the listing hoping for multiple offers?
What Happens If... Notice I said "hoping" for multiple offers. What happens if you don't receive multiple offers? What do you tell your seller when you only get one offer at the list price? Do you tell them to make a counter offer at the price they really wanted in the first place? Do you advise them to wait for a "better" offer? Or do you advise them to take the offer?
Manage Expectations I ask all of these questions because selling real estate is all about … (4 comments)
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new real estate agent training: When the Pre-Approval Letter Isn't Enough
- 01/20/14 09:50 PM
What do you do when the listing agent tells you that your buyers' pre-approval letter isn't enough? So you'll have a better understanding of this scenario, let me provide a few of the details.
The Buyer's Point of View You submit an offer on behalf of your buyer for a property that has been on the market for about a month. The listing agent calls to let you know the offer has been received and requests that the buyer fill out a Financial Information Sheet which would show the buyer's income, assets and liabilities. Upon speaking with the buyer, the buyer … (0 comments)
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new real estate agent training: Attention Listing Agents - Check Your Vacant Listings
- 01/13/14 09:41 PM
This should be a no-brainer but during this extreme cold weather it bears repeating. If you are a listing agent, you need to check your vacant listings...at least weekly.
Water, Water Everywhere Just this past week I know of two cases where the freezing cold weather caused water pipes to freeze. Once the pipes thawed...water, water everywhere. Although these were owner-occupied properties, it was still a huge mess. In the first case the pipe burst late in the evening and the homeowners were able to shut the water off relatively quickly and clean up their basement where the cracked pipe was … (2 comments)
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new real estate agent training: 5 Easy Ways to "Water Your Grass"
- 01/06/14 09:42 PM
"The grass is always greener on the other side of the street"...at least that's how the old saying goes. Around this time of year real estate agents seem to think that it's time for a change...time for some greener grass and that typically means changing brokerages.
Why Are You Moving? Deciding to change brokers is not an easy decision and is a disruption to your real estate business. And I am not against change. But I have a question for all of those real estate agents who are considering making the big move for greener pastures. What exactly do you hope … (4 comments)
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new real estate agent training: Stop Fooling Yourself and Get to Work
- 12/11/13 10:00 PM
Are you frustrated because you thought being a successful real estate agent would be a walk in the park? Or perhaps you are feeling a little anxious because the one transaction you had is falling apart right before your eyes...and you have no other clients lined up.
You Are Not Alone If you answered "yes", the sad news or perhaps comforting news for you is that you are not alone. There are hundreds, probably thousands of agents who find themselves in this very same predicament. And truth be told, the only reason you find yourself in this situation is because you … (3 comments)
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new real estate agent training: Help Your Home Buyer Understand What They Can't Do
- 12/09/13 09:51 PM
Have you ever had a home buyer do something you felt was really dumb right before settlement? If you haven't you probably haven't been selling real estate long enough, but if you have, than you have learned some valuable lessons in communication.
Don't Assume Anything It's easy to take for granted that our buyers know what they should do before and during the home buying process. But experience has taught me that what is common sense to us isn't necessarily common sense to our buyers. To prevent some missteps, here are a few things to include in your buyer presentation.
Don't … (2 comments)
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new real estate agent training: 12 Must Do's If You're a Listing Agent
- 12/04/13 09:55 PM
The seller is paying us to sell their property for the highest price, in the shortest amount of time with the least disruption to their lives. That's the bottom line. So why is it that some listing agents do such a poor job representing their client? I'm sure you come across one or two in your career. So if there is any doubt as to what should be done when you have a listing, the 12 Must Do's below are for you.
12 Listing Agent Must Do's Take the time to input the property into the Multiple Listing Service properly and … (39 comments)
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new real estate agent training: When Do You Tell Your Buyer No?
- 12/02/13 10:38 AM
After ratification of a contract, how many times should a seller allow the buyer to enter the property?
What Do You Think is "Reasonable"? Within the past few weeks, I have heard from several agents in my office that they are having issues with other agents when it comes to having access to properties after the contract is ratified. In our jurisdiction, the contract states that the seller will allow the buyer "reasonable" access to the property for purposes of a home inspection, pest inspection, appraisal...that sort of thing. As a listing agent I usually take the lockbox off the property … (2 comments)
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Have you ever been to a conference or a training session where there were one or two people who had to comment on everything the speaker/trainer said? Even when they had nothing new to add, they still felt compelled to comment. Pretty annoying right?
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