Buyers are Liars? Maybe you should be asking some different questions.

Once in a while we get caught up with buyers that don’t perform the way they are supposed to perform.  Is that really the case or did we get a little soft in the interviewing process?  What you need to think about is what is your system for qualifying buyers and do you follow it with each prospect you encounter?  The best way to get buyers who ultimately buy a house is by asking a lot of questions at the outset of the relationship.  Once you have their needs established be sure to get them qualified financially.  If their financial house is not in order they are not going to be able to close. 

A great way to get the “good” buyers is to do a lot of prospecting.  Whether it be conducting open houses, working the customer service desk in the office or through your incessant networking efforts you must be on the lookout for buyer leads.  As you have the opportunity to speak with more prospects you will get better at asking the real questions as well as developing the sixth sense about the reality of their intentions and capabilities. 

I have attached an outline of questions for your use as well as an outline to give your buyer prospects so they have a clear idea of what they are getting into with the home purchase.  I hope you find them informative and put them to use with your buyer qualification system. 

How to get that “New Price” rider on your listings

Getting a new listing is always exciting and very important in gaining name recognition as an associate in both the public and Realtor community.  Once you take the listing and begin the marketing process you will find out, almost immediately, how the price of the listing is in relation to location and condition.  If you are not getting a steady stream of showings and good activity on the listing during the first 3 weeks it is time to approach the owners to discuss price.

 

The key to getting the house sold is to modify the price until you start getting a consistent flow of showings and then an offer or two.  The challenge is getting the owner to go along with a price adjustment.  Many times they will say “bring me an offer and I’ll talk” meanwhile they are not getting the showings necessary to have the right buyer make an offer. 

Below are 2 great outlines for how to go through the process of approaching and speaking with your property owners from the outset of presenting the market analysis to having various follow up conversations regarding adjusting their price.  Keep in mind every time you adjust the price it is like getting a new listing!!  Stay focused and feel free to reach out with questions or comments.  

 Why \”Pricing it Right\” works in getting a house sold, Ideas from Jeffrey Otteau

How to approach the property owners about adjusting the price of their property

 

 

Turning “Floortime” into “Productive, Business Development” Time

Some say it is a necessary evil, others look at it as a great opportunity to convert incoming calls on company listings while others work efficiently and do all sorts of projects that do not require talking on the phone.  We want you to look at Floor Time / Customer Service Time as a productive, business development opportunity.  If you know what to do it can be a very productive time for you to develop your business. The following list of activities can be done while you are covering the phones.

 

All of these activities can help you to develop your business without being on the phone, therefore, when the phone rings, you are able to answer it.

 

Update/edit your prospects in the MLS email notification program.

 

Update/edit your databases either for email, farm mail, or your sphere of influence.

 

Design and send out your farm mailer through Quantum Mail.

 

Research newspapers including www.app.com, www.nj.com/starledger, www.wsj.com, www.nytimes.com, and various websites for FSBO listings including www.betterbyowner.com, www.forsalebyowner.com, www.fsbo.com, www.byownerinyourtown.com.

 

Research MLS for expired listings.

 

Put together and mail out packages for FSBO’s and Expired listings.

 

Clean up and organize your email inbox and sent boxes.

 

Communicate with all your active clients via email.

 

Promote your listings through the reverse prospecting system in the MLS.

 

Go through all your active listing and under contract files to check if any paperwork needs updating or tasks need to be done, for example; request any deposit checks Pruzack may be holding for your upcoming closing, fax out the commission bill, fax your Seller’s Disclosure to MLS so it is put in with your listing’s photos, etc.

 

Visit www.prea.prudential.com for education, marketing and Prudential information.

 

Create e-cards through www.prea.prudential.com.

 

Update your active listings photos and write new remarks to refresh the listing.

 

Learn how to us MS Word, Excel, Outlook, Publisher, Adobe Acrobat. Go to www.njar.comto learn how to create online contracts if you are unfamiliar with how to use it. (You will need your NRDS number to get into njar.com).

 

Research real estate topics to learn more about various aspects of the business. A good source is to go to www.realtor.org and www.Rismedia.com   

 

Write handwritten notes to people you have come in contact during the past week, the personal touch goes a long way in this day and age.

 

We hope you find these ideas interesting and look forward to discussing all the programs available at Prudential Zack Shore Properties. 

Top 10 Trends in Real Estate for 2008: The Swanepoel Report

One of the most interesting researchers in the world in relation to real estate is Stefan Swanepoel.  Since 1977 he has been tracking, analyzing and interpreting what makes the real estate market rise, fall, twist, turn and curve.  Please take the time to check out his website www.retrends.com I think you will find it very interesting. 

Being a subscriber to his annual report is a great way to keep ahead of the proverbial real estate curve.  Here is what he is focusing on as the most influential trends in our industry in 2008. 

10.  Shattered Glass: Women, the Youth and Minorities Step up to Leadership Roles

9. Thought Reform: The DNA of a New Breed of Real Estate Professional

8. Clash of the Titans: Power Brokers Flex Their Muscles

7. The Tug of War Has Started…Again: The Evolving and Changing Real Estate Business Model

6. Gone in 60 Seconds: Identity Theft and Data Security Runs Rampant

5. In Search of Productivity: Growing Market Share on a Slippery Slope

4. Four Weddings and a Funeral: The Changing Borders and Boundaries of MLS

3. The New Digital Currency: Livestock, Land, Gold, Oil and Now Information

2. Pop Goes Weasel: The Housing Bubble Tightens its Grip on the Real Estate Market

1. Two Worlds; One Industry: The Evolution of Online Communities and Networks

As you can see Stefan really covers it all.  These topics are all on the cutting edge and to continue competing in the real estate market we want to help you stay in tune with what the key areas in the industry are.  Many of these topics are discussed in office meetings, management meetings and in the various training classes provided by Prudential Zack Shore Properties. www.pruzack.com   Look over this list of  trend subjects and feel free to reach out with any questions or comments.  www.pruzack.com/rmartel

The Organization of Information and Schedule Precedes Success

An area that we constantly work on with our associates is in relation to how they organize all of the information they have as well as their business and personal schedules.  Let’s face it you have a lot of “stuff” coming at you every day and the only way to navigate through all of it is with some systems and discipline.  A very good system is Microsoft Office: Outlook, http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx .  With this system you can organize all of your contacts including addresses, emails and comments plus your calendar including reminders and links plus all of your email communications.  It is just fantastic.  You can go with buying the software and setting it up on your desk/laptop computer or you can go with Office Online and use it in a  web based fashion. 

Another great system is Act! http://preview.act.com/new/default_b.aspx?WT.srch=1&srch=google&source=A2D7BACB4DE94BBEBDF03035706A83A5 .  This is a program that allows you to it all from one application as well.  It is easy to set up and use and I know you will be able to take all of those little pieces of paper with scribbled notes and put them into Act! to get yourself streamlined. 

One other application that has been a staple to Realtors is none other than Top Producer.  The latest version is Top Producer 8i http://www.topproducer.com/ .  Many associates use this sytstem and the way it operates is online which has it’s plusses and minuses.  A great feature of Top Producer is that it was designed for Realtors so all the little bells and whistles are included specifically to our profession.

The key to managing more transactions, the flow of information and your schedule is doing it all in one easy to use, organized place.  We firmly believe any of the recommended systems above will help you get to where you want to go!!

Be sure to write property descriptions that cause an emotional response

Headlines for properties near water, beach, sand and sun

Headlines for your listings Listing   Headlines, body copy and closing lines 

When you are describing your listings, it is vital to have a interesting and detailed property description.  Many times this is the first impression made to a potential buyer about your property.  Think about the opening headline, the body copy and a strong close, just like any author does when writing a paragraph, a chapter or an entire book.  Attached are some great headlines, body copy, and closing remarks that should help you jazz up your listings.

As the old saying goes, “You never get a second chance for a first impression.”  Make every word count!

 

Tips on networking: It’s not what you know…

It’s who you know and who knows YOU!! 

Working as a real estate professional provides a constant challenge with regard to finding new prospects, clients, buyers and sellers.  There are many ways to drum up new business with the popular activities of sending various postal and electronic mailings, doing open houses, working internet leads, running print and web advertisements, hosting buyer/seller seminars and working “up-time” in your office but none produce the results of networking within your circles of influence. 

Think about it, when doing most prospecting activities you are building relationships from a “cold” position.  Hence the name of most prospecting, “cold calling”.  When you network within your circles of influence you are already warm, in most cases you are trusted and well liked, now there is a good position from which to build your business.  My suggestion is to analyze who you know and where you know them and then make a concerted effort to promote yourself to your various circles.  The key with doing this is having tact and respect, gently introduce your services and be available to discuss real estate matters as they arise in conversation.  Once you start providing accurate and timely information you will see the referrals begin to flow.  Be patient, consistent and professional to insure you are perceived as the go to real estate source within your circles of influence.

Personal Marketing Makes a Difference

There is no question that a consistent, clean and precise personal marketing campaign will get your name and real estate marketing services into the minds of potential clients.  The trick is where do you start?  What we have found is there are 3 areas to get your personal marketing program up and running.  They are with your circle of influence, your business sphere and a geographic farm area.  What must you do to earn business from these areas?  The angle of attack is going to be a combination of mailings, calls and personal visits on a round-robin basis so you are consistently in front of them.  When they have a need for a real estate professional your name must come to mind. 

What you should mail out will be various items of interest such as your personal brochure, postcards covering interesting topics or market data and newsletters outlining some of your services, achievements and activities.  Mailed consistently with face to face and phone follow up will make your every mailer a money maker. 

At Prudential Zack Shore Properties we not only help you design and coordinate all your mailings but have workshops on using productive prospecting dialogues and techniques.  Please contact us with any questions about how to turn yourself into a personal marketing expert. 

Keeping Real Estate on Course! www.pruzack.com/rmartel

Broker Open Houses, when done properly, really sell homes

One of the best ways to get a new or price adjusted listing into the eyes of the prospects is through a well planned and organized broker open house.  Here is the reality of selling a house, you have to sell it two times.  Once to the buyer’s agents and again to the buyer.  The reason I say this is because the buyer’s agents have a tremendous impact on what properties they show their buyers.  If you do a thorough job of getting your listing information in front of the buyer’s agent as well as getting them into and through your listing you have a higher likelihood of them showing the property.

Here are some tips on setting up and conducting a productive broker open house:

Send out an email to all of the buyer’s agents who come up in the reverse prospecting earch for the town and price range of your listing.

Call each of them the day before the open house as a reminder of location, price and condition

Post the open house in the broker open house section of the MLS

Provide food and drinks.  If you provide tasty and/or interesting food you will draw agents to your properties for both the opportunity to check out the house as well as to have a little snack.  My suggestion is to not provide food if it isn’t really good.

Offer to show the property to buyers during the broker open house and honor all buyers from buyer’s agents

Schedule a 1-hour open house for the night of the broker open so the agents can bring their buyers back to the property or send them through on their own.  Once again, honor all buyer’s agents buyers.

Make sure the house is detailed, immaculate and if possible, staged.  You never get a second chance for a first impression.

All questions or comments are welcome, I look forward to hearing from you.

Open House season is upon us. Here are some tips on conducting a productive one.

Please click on this link: The buyer interview, list of questions 

A very productive way to meet new clients is through an open house.  The key is having a method to your madness and doing them consistently throughout the year.  As you work your target areas you will get a clear understanding of how you should approach each visitor, how to handle their questions, probe for details about what they really want to accomplish and while doing this you will become an absolute expert at showing properties. 

I believe you will become an expert because of all the people you will be guiding through the property.  Your ultimate goal is to sell the house you are holding open but along the way you should be able to develop an impressive list of new clients who will do business with you in the future. 

 Please review the 2 attached outlines of How to conduct a productive open house and The patterned interview.  The patterned interview is an outline of questions to ask the new prospects you meet.