Leveraging Knowledge and Expertise in Your Real Estate Specialty
WHY?
That's the big question that must be answered in any real estate industry related profession. Why should someone do business with you or partner with you? The ability to effectively answer the "why?" question is in the knowledge and expertise you possess that sets you apart from everyone else.
I heard a friend recently say that in order to set yourself apart, you must develop a market opinion that people are willing to pay money to get. Part of the beauty of this philosophy is that it requires that you possess special knowledge. In order to have a valid market opinion, you must have a high level of command of facts. And in order to get facts, you must educate yourself to a degree that nobody else does.
Why does having a valued opinion matter? It's simple - people listen to people who have valid opinions. Your opinion is one of the few things that can really set you apart. In the Realtor® community, everyone has access to the MLS, everyone can put up yard signs, everyone knows the general range a house can be bought or sold for, everyone can market through the internet, etc. Whatever your specific line of work, your level of knowledge is what will differentiate you.
In my profession as a Real Estate Home Mortgage Planner, I have become very focused on the end-client whom I wish to serve. Any halfway decent lender can put together a loan for someone. In my home town of Castle Rock, Colorado, the client base whom I serve is very savvy. They require more than just low mortgage rate and fees. I have taught myself very sophisticated aspects of finance in order to serve my chosen client base, which is move up and affluent home buyers. (By the way, if you are still in the "I'll take whatever business I can get" mode, you may want to take some time to read my other blogs on Real Estate Mastery - Parts I, II, and III.)
I have learned to take facets of people's lives that are affected by their mortgage that they may not even realize are so affected and integrate those elements as part of my service. Let's start easy; the mortgage affects taxes. But home mortgage financing also affects financial planning, college education, estate planning, retirement, unemployment issues, life insurance, and many other facets that people may NOT realize. I gain my clients and partners by educating and integrating as many facets as are relevant into the consultative process. As I address these factors with them, they quickly begin to realize that I 1) have a level of expertise that they don't have (or, in the case of partners, allows me to complement them professionally), 2) that I have a level of expertise that a typical lender doesn't have, and 3) because of those two things, they'd better do business with me.
Every day, we hear, see, or read things that impact our business. There are two facets of this that are important. First, learn to discern - daily we hear things from the media about our business and we tend to accept those things as facts. The housing bubble is a recent example. But where does this hype come from? - the answer is the media. To call a spade a spade, the media is made up of journalists. Since when do they possess expert levels of knowledge about the economy, housing, or the price of tea in China? Please know that I am not disparaging the media industry; all I'm saying is that if you're getting your cues from that medium, you are looking at it all backwards. That leads to facet #2 - They are not the expert in the Real Estate industry; we are. If you are not as knowledgeable as you should be, start setting aside one hour a day, EACH day, to become knowledgeable. Get facts from proper sources, not just the media. Whenever you hear something, question it. Find the real resources from which to gain factual knowledge.
Knowledge and expertise is power. And learning and discerning are the keys to gaining that power. In the end, your clients and partners will work with you for that reason and your business will improve as a result.
Real Estate Mastery covers many facets. Knowledge, expertise, and an opinion worth paying money for are of vital importance.
Greg Polashock is a Real Estate Home Mortgage Loan Consultant and Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist with Cherry Creek Mortgage and resides in Castle Rock, Colorado. He can be reached via email at Greg@GregIsFinancingSolutions.com, by phone at 303-887-0672 or on the web at http://www.gregisfinancingsolutions.com/.
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