I recently read a wonderful article from Christina Horton entitled, “If you don’t like your results, you need to change your system.” Amazingly simple, but very wise advice. In the real estate world, “systems” are the promised path to success. “Use this system and you’ll receive 20 new leads in 24 hours.” “Our system will increase your closings 200% in the first six months.” “This system is used by top producers from coast to coast.” My email often feels like walking down the row at a carnival with hucksters yelling out trying to get me to play their game with promises of a stuffed teddy bear as a prize.
One of the things I encourage my new agents to do is not spend a dime on systems in their first few years. Why? Because they do not know what is real, what is hype and what is flat-out fraud. Competition is fierce in the real estate business. If you do not do something to stand out, you will get smothered by those on carnival row. It can be expensive. It can be demoralizing, and it can be misleading in that it promises a flood and delivers a drip. What do I do, and what do I encourage my agents to realize, to think, to do?
Most agents start at the same place. When you are new to the business, it is easy to be excited and clueless at the same time. Where do your clients come from? How do you attract clients? What do you say when you meet a ready seller, willing buyer, ready tenant? It is dangerous to look at the top producers and assume they started there. What you may not see is the demanding work they put in behind the scenes, the hundreds of emails and phone calls they make each month or the money they spend on mailings, cyber-ads, billboards, and micro-advertising. Most agents start at the same place.
Reach out to your SOI. You might be surprised to find out your friends and family want you to succeed as much as you want to succeed. Call them, send them business cards to hand out if an opportunity arises. Ask them to refer you to friends and family.
Follow-up at every opportunity. My contracting company often hears, “You were the only one to answer the phone.” “You were the only one to call back.” People realize that busy professionals may not be able to answer the phone every time, but they expect a return call. I cannot tell you how many return calls I have been waiting for over the past decade. I have a short timeline for return calls. If a contractor, lender, home inspector, closing agent does not return my calls within a reasonable time, I move on. Answer the phone, return calls and follow-up at every opportunity.
Stand out by standing up. When you have a client, be all in. Today, I mostly list homes. Because of that, I use my years as a realtor and decades as a contractor to make sure every house I sell is ready when it hits the market. Every listing starts with a thorough walk-through the home looking for distractions that might show up on a home inspection report or might scare a buyer off. I make a list of changes that should be made. On occasion, my sister company, Cornerstone Real Estate Services, will do the repairs or improvements for the client. The company is paid at closing saving the seller out of pocket expenses prior to closing. A home that is ready to sell is likely to sell for more quickly. That is not always the case, but it is not uncommon for my company to have the highest sale in a neighborhood for the year. It happens most of the time when we prep the house. My goal is always to see my clients succeed. Stand out by standing up.
Be honest, even if it costs you listings or buyers. I am often amazed when a potential client tells me what someone else has told them about their home. I recently had friends who wanted me to list their house. They had done their online review through all the major third-party real estate sites. They concluded their house was worth about $65000 more than the market. They also wanted me to reduce my commission. I have sold seven houses for them and to them in the past decade. Logically, I should have dropped my commission and took the listing, but I have been in the business long enough to not discount my services or discount my value in a deal. I declined their offer and encouraged them to hire another agent, and they did. They listed $40000 less than they wanted based on the other agent’s opinion and then lost an additional $30000 before closing. I was honest with them, and now they know I was right. It was not worth my time, or emotional stress, to deal with them as their house did not sell. If you do take their listing, you will find yourself being the target of their frustration. Afterall, it must be something you are not doing that is causing their house to sit. Being honest can cost you listings or buyers, but it can also save you unnecessary stress. Plus, the time you would waste trying to pacify an unrealistic client could be better spent helping a wonderful client. Do not sell yourself for pennies on the dollar. Know your value and be honest.
There are many more things I do and share with my agents, but these are critical in my daily real estate life. I have enough years in the business to have a regular flow of clients, but I still follow these principles with every client.
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