Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment Part 12: Preparation (con’t)

In areas where there are additional FSBO properties, make notes on the report to include the details that you’ve discovered about these properties.  If you need other details that you may have not been able to find out from your brief visual inspection, feel free to call competing FSBO’s.  Simply identify yourself as a real estate agent and inform the homeowner that you deal with a lot of buyers and that you may have some that are interested in homes in their area.  Make sure that you ask if they are willing to pay a Buyer’s Agent and if so, find out what percentage commission they are willing to pay.  This will help you later during your Listing Presentation.

While the comparative analysis is certainly a critical element of your listing presentation, it is not the only tool that you will need when meeting your client.  You will also need a ‘Listing Kit Folder’.  Most times your Broker will have these folders prepared in advance.  They will include the listing contract, property disclosure statement, lead paint disclosure, commission structure as well as various other documents that might outline the myriad of services that your Broker offers.  They should also include a Sellers Expense sheet on which you can outline an approximation of the expenses that your seller will be responsible for.  It is vital that your Seller know in advance an idea of the expenses they will be responsible for at the property closing.

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment Part 11: Preparation (con’t)

Now that you’re back in your office you can begin to compile all of your preliminary notes into the outline of your Listing Presentation.  The first thing that you’ll obviously want to do is create a comp report (comparables) detailing all of the properties in the area that: are for sale, have sales pending, have sold and listings that have expired.  It’s imperative that you add in other expired listings as well among the variables.  Try to go back at least six months and possibly up to a year but nothing beyond a year.  Due to the fact that the market is constantly fluctuating, pulling the report for the past 6 months will give you the highest rate of accuracy.  In some rare and unlikely cases though, if there haven’t been any homes for sale in that period, you’ll have to go back a year.

Important factors to make sure you include in your comp are: home style (Colonial, Ranch, etc), square footage, number of bedrooms, and number of baths.  These are the key components from which you’ll begin to build your comparable report.  After these critical elements, you’ll include garage size and style, fireplaces, decks, pools and all the extras.  These secondary elements aren’t necessary but they will provide for a much more accurate outcome on pricing structure.  Once your comparable report is complete you should have the proper price for the property worked out for your homeowner.

Having the accurate comparables for the potential listing, it’s important that you study them carefully and thoroughly.  Make two copies of this report: one to give to your clients and one to keep for your own records.  Your copy may very well come in handy in areas where there may be more than one FSBO or expired listing on the market.

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment Part 10: Preparation (con’t)

If the homeowner is calling about the possible listing on an expired listing property, then you’ll also want to try and drive by to take a look.  While it is true that the majority reason that homes that are listed by real estate agents become expired listings is because the property is priced too high to begin with, there may also be some other factors involved.  Driving by the expired listing property and seeing it first-hand will help you in your efforts to convince your homeowner that a property reduction needs to be taken.  These factors may include a roof that is in poor condition, windows or doors that may be outdated and in need of repair or replacement or simple cosmetic issues that could be off-putting to buyers.

Make notes on anything that may need to be changed or updated.  You’ll be addressing these concerns during your listing presentation so it’s best that you have your reasons for a possible price reduction well thought out in advance.

You may come across a situation where your potential client has their home for sale on a street or in a neighborhood where there are one or two or even multiple other FSBO properties.  These homes will not be in your ML system so it’s important that you also make a few notes on these homes as well.  If the competing FSBO properties have brochures available, make sure you pick one up.  Keep in mind again that your homeowner is more than likely already well informed on his or her direct competition so it’s important that you be equally educated.

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment Part 9: Preparation (con’t)

You’ve finally set a day and time for the Listing Presentation.  Now, the real work begins!  If the property is a FSBO listing then it’s highly recommended that you drive by the property as soon as possible to get a better feel for the house and the neighborhood where your homeowner lives and / or is selling their property.  Make notes on the outside condition of the property, the yard, etc.  If you have time and the conditions are right, you might also consider taking a few quick pictures of the exterior of the home.  You’ll be able to add these pictures to your comparisons later.

Also take a drive around the immediate neighborhood a few streets up and down from where the property is located.  Remember that your homeowner is extremely familiar with their own neighborhood and having at least some knowledge will help you answer any questions or concerns that may be brought up during the Listing Presentation.

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment Part 8: Preparation (con’t)

More than likely you’ll be sending out dozens of solicitation letters each month.  While names and addresses may seem familiar, after a while it’s quite possible — in fact very probable — that you may not remember all of the homeowners that you solicit.  An easy way to combat this is to keep a simple log of every letter that you send out.  It can be as simple as the homeowners name with the property address or even a little more complex with such details as square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and the price that the property is listed at either when it expired or was listed by the owner.  Obviously the more information that you have in your log, the more prepared you’ll be when the homeowner calls you.

Keep this log in your briefcase that you carry with you and whenever you’re in your car, simply take the log out and set it on the seat next to you.  You can pull over and refer to this information when needed and even though you in reality don’t actually remember each and every property out of hundreds, relating a few facts back to the potential client will lead them to believe that you do.  A trick to keeping the log easier to use is to put them in order by the first letter of the client’s last name.  This gives you a quick-glance capability because the homeowner will tell you their name when they call.

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment Part 7: Preparation

There is no factor more important to being a successful real estate agent than preparation.  Most everything you do and say should be well planned out in order to ensure success in implementation.  Your Listing Presentation will become the backbone of your business and it’s vital that you feel comfortable during the process and that your actions come off as natural.  Even if you’ve never been on a Listing Presentation before, proper preparation will prevent you from looking like a novice and will go a long way towards making sure that you secure your listing every time you meet with a new client.

More often than not, you’ll make initial contact with your potential client over the phone.  If your marketing tools are strong enough, most of your clients will call you with questions or the desire to set up a meeting.  Strong marketing to FSBO’s and expired listings should always be designed with the goal in mind of the customer calling you.  If you’re fortunate enough, when your client calls you’ll be in your office.  Of course, being in your office and having access to your computer or even a pen and paper is the most ideal situation and probably the situation you will least often encounter.  So, the first step in being a prepared real estate agent is to make sure that you have what you need on hand when you need it.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to always carry a small pad of paper in your pocket along with your pen.  Or better yet, carry a few pens.  You can even get a pad of paper that mounts to your dashboard for taking notes on the fly if you don’t have access to a PDA or cellular phone capable of keeping notes.  No matter what system you use, make sure you have the ability to jot down addresses and phone numbers as well as client’s name and any other information they may give you.  If you find yourself constantly repeating the phrase, ‘can you hang on a minute, I have to find something to write with,’  then you’re not prepared.

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment: Part 6 Attitude

A healthy attitude is paramount to the success of all real estate agents.  No matter why you started out in the Real Estate profession, maintaining the proper positive attitude will help secure your future success.

Positive attitude can be directly linked to Time Management.  If you as a real estate agent, have the proper handle on how you’re using your time, you’ll feel less frustrated and less rushed.  Remember, if you have an important event in your life it’s perfectly fine to take the day off and leave work behind.  As with any other career, days off are part of the territory.  If you have an important event that you know is coming up, simply schedule yourself OFF!

Having the right attitude as a Real Estate professional can be a much more complex issue than many agents realize.  If you have not already learned, you soon will: every single client that you meet will be different.  This means that the simple cookie cutter approach will not work with everyone.  However, there are a few key things to remember that will help you not only in your initial Listing Presentations but in subsequent meetings as well.  Maintaining the proper attitude from the get go will also help you with the times that you may need to give your client bad news.

Your client or potential client wants to know that they are dealing with a professional at all times that will listen to them, take them seriously and answer all of their questions and address all of their concerns.  When speaking to a client on the phone, try to remember to smile.  Although your client obviously can’t see you, the difference will be noticeable in your voice.  To hear the difference for yourself, try saying a phrase while smiling and then repeating the same phrase without smiling.  Hear the difference?  So can your client.

It’s important to be confident and exude confidence but remember that there is a fine line between confidence and cockiness and no one likes someone who is cocky.  If your answer to every question or concern that your client might have is to remind them that you’re the ‘Real Estate Agent and they’re the client,’ that’s a sure sign that you’ve slipped into a cocky mode of behavior.  Instead, make sure that you listen closely to each and every concern or question that your client may have and address each one.  No matter how trivial you may think these questions and concerns are.  Oftentimes there will be an extremely good chance that the concern is unfounded but until you carefully point out the ‘why’ your client will have no idea.  If you instead of answering the concern merely brush it off with a: ‘don’t worry, I’ve seen this before’ or ‘trust me, I’ve been an agent for a long time’ you’ve done absolutely nothing to alleviate the concern.  In the end, your client may feel that you’re dismissing them or simply not listening.  Confidence comes from knowing the facts up front and admitting when you may not.  This can be as simple as saying, ‘I’m not sure but I’ll find that out for you’ or ‘That’s a great question, let me find out’.  In both instances you’ve validated your clients concern and made a compact to address that concern in the near future.

Smile and more importantly, maintain eye contact.  Keeping eye contact with a client — and especially a potential client — is crucial.  Eye contact is the very first step to forming any sort of relationship.  Continuously looking away can be seen as weakness or lack of knowledge and in extreme cases, dishonesty.  Keeping eye contact and smiling put you in the ‘power position’ and conveys knowledge, warmth and trust.  These form the bedrock foundation of a successful relationship with your client.

Project your confidence through your tone of voice.  It’s important to always remember that even though the internet has made many clients feel as if they’re ‘real estate experts’, many times you will be telling your clients things that they don’t know or you might speak in terms that they’re not familiar with.  When having any conversation with a client make sure that you are speaking clearly and in a confident tone.

When answering calls on your cell phone it’s best that you come up with a standard answer to use each and every time you take a call.  For example, you might answer your phone, ‘Hello, this is Jane Smith with ABC Realty, how may I help you?’  Get in the habit of using this greeting whenever you answer your phone and avoid answering it with just a ‘Hello?’  This shows your client and potential clients that you take your business seriously.

Remember that your image is extremely important in the Real Estate business.  What you wear and how you carry yourself everyday send the constant message of,  ’Here I am, this is me, this is what I do and this is why you should choose me as your Real Estate Professional.’

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment: Part 5 Time Management (con’t)

The key to successful time management begins with setting up a workday schedule.  This can be as involved or as abstract as you want it to be.  The basic schedule should include an outline or overview of each day.  Perhaps you’ll spend the morning working on your marketing and the afternoon making follow-up phone calls with clients.  However your schedule turns out or works best for you, make it and follow it!  For professionals that move out of their field to become real estate agents, one of the biggest pitfalls can be all the free time you suddenly seem to have on your hands.  The Real Estate profession should be treated just like any other job.  Only, this time YOU are the boss and you only have to answer to yourself.  (Of course, you also have to answer to your broker but most real estate brokers realize that they cannot micromanage their agents and so outside of the weekly meeting and occasional one-on-one meeting, will generally leave you to yourself.)  This can be good or bad depending of course, on your ability to manage your time.

The following is an example of a daily schedule:

9:00am - Noon: Spend your mornings working on your marketing plan.  This can include sending out mailings to your COI and SOI, checking the internet or newspaper for new FSBO listings and checking the MLS for any Expired Listings that you may want to send solicitation letters to.  (For more information and great marketing plans for FSBO / Expired Listings as well as Geographic Marketing kits, visit: www.GetThoseListings.com )

Noon-5:00pm:  You may wish to set this time aside for showings or follow-up phone calls with existing clients.  Many clients will want to see properties after 5pm but there are many clients that may want to take off on their lunch break to see listings.  You may also want to make a quick stop at your broker’s office during this time period to check on messages, your mail or to see if there’s anything of particular interest going on that you need to know about.

6:00pm-8:00pm:  Generally this is the best time during the week to meet with new clients for Listing Appointments.  They’re home from work and ready to hear what you have to offer!

Granted, the above is a very, VERY loose schedule but if you get into the same routine every day as to when you’ll be doing your marketing etc, you’ll soon find yourself doing these tasks as force of habit.

Now that you have your daily schedule worked out, you should realize that in Real Estate, nothing will ever be set in stone.  This means that despite your best intentions there will always be a late night that a contract has to be signed, a holiday in which an offer will be presented.  For the most part however, you will be able to follow your schedule and you will learn early on that not only is it vital to make a schedule but it is just as vital to stick with it.

If you are on time or early for your appointments, ALL of your appointments, you’re going to score high marks in the mental grade book of your clients.  Think about it: how many stories have you heard agents tell about not getting a client to list that started out “…I was running late…”  Of course, life happens and despite our best intentions there may very well come a time when you are running late for your appointment.  Whether it’s traffic or your schedule is booked solid with showings or whatever the reason is; CALL AHEAD.  Let your client know that you’re running late as soon as YOU know that you will be running late.

Being on time is by far one of the easiest things to manage and one of the most important tips for any real estate agent.  Whether you’re new or you’ve been in the business for a while, always try to be as punctual as possible!

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment: Part 4 Time Management

In the real estate agent’s world, time seems to have absolutely no meaning whatsoever.  A Listing Appointment that starts at 5:00 means that the average real estate agent might show up at 5:10.  If you’re lucky.  Here’s a true story that puts it into a little bit of perspective.  Agent A set up a showing for their listing with another agent (Agent B) and their clients that was supposed to start at noon.  The listing was brand new and Agent A hadn’t yet put a lock box on the door, so they agreed to meet Agent B at the property and unlock the front door and put the lock box on all in one trip.  Agent A arrived at 11:45, unlocked the property, turned on all the lights and placed sell sheets on the kitchen counter.  At about 11:55, Agent B’s clients pulled into the driveway, minus the agent.  Agent A met them, shook their hands and made small talk for a bit.  When Agent B still hadn’t shown up at 12:15 it was clear that the potential buyers were starting to get a bit annoyed so Agent A took them on a tour of the exterior of the home and then finally, through the entire interior.  At 12:40, Agent B finally arrived, apologizing for their tardiness.  The agent was a full 40 minutes late and by reading the demeanor of the potential home buyers, Agent A could tell they were clearly irritated and a sale had probably been lost.

Purchasing a home is a highly-charged emotional process for the potential home buyer.  Most of the time, the decision on whether or not they will purchase a listed property is actually made within the first 5-10 minutes of touring the home.  Anything that happens or is seen, smelled or heard during this crucial time period is either a deal maker or a deal breaker.  Something extremely minor such as a strong pet odor may have them wrinkling their noses in disgust and will put the potential property at the bottom of their list or take the home off their list entirely.  It may be a small thing but home buyers can have totally visceral responses that seem to make no sense at all sometimes.  The fact is, its purely emotional and emotional decisions can be the hardest ones to overcome.

Just as old carpet or wallpaper is an easy work-around for the average to experienced real estate agent, showing up on time is the easiest work-around of all.  There is no more important time to be punctual than your initial Listing Appointment.  It’s important to stress that the professional real estate agent should ALWAYS be on time for all appointments and showings.  Showing up on time for the initial Listing Appointment is absolutely VITAL!

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment: Part 3 Your Image (con’t)

Having a professional wardrobe means that you probably have a closet full of suits in a wonderful array of basic colors.  Blacks, grays, blues and even the occasional brown or green thrown in for good measure.  Putting on a pair of slacks or donning a skirt more than likely is going to mean putting something on your body that happens to fit into one of the aforementioned ‘basic color’ categories.  This is fine.  In fact, it’s more than fine.  It’s great.  This means that you have amassed a wardrobe of professional clothing that you can mix and match and wear all week long.  But what does this mean for your Listing Appointment?  Simple.  It means that you will look just like every single other real estate agentand Realtor that your potential client will be interviewing.

The xolution for this dilema is simple.  Brightly colored but tasteful shirts and blouses fit the bill perfectly.  While the majority of male real estate agents may be wearing a classic white shirt or maybe an oxfor blue shirt and conservative tie, add a splash to your suit with a lavender or even a pink shirt.  Remember, you want to stand out and this little trick works wonders.  Be careful, however, to avoid loud and obnoxious patterns that may distract your potential client from your message as they will be too busy trying to drown out all the noise your shirt is making.  For the female real estate agent, brightly colored blouses do the job as well and you can even add a matching scarf or other accessories as well.

By using your shirt to add some color to your wardrobe you really can set yourself apart from other real estate agents the moment you first meet your client and shake their hand!

One of the last facets in the Dress category is your grooming.  Make sure that your hair is cut and styled neatly, your nails are trimmed and free of any dirt and lastly, make sure that if you wear perfume or cologne that it is extremely subtle and not overpowering.  Keep in mind that many people are sensitive and even allergic to strong perfumes and colognes.  Even if YOU think you smell great and the more scent you wear, the better: a little goes a long way.  You DO NOT want to be remembered as the stinky real estate agent!!!

This may all sound like common sense but it’s amazing to see how many real estate agents present themselves in a slovenly manner or reek of some overpowering fragrance.  Take a few moments to evaluate your wardrobe and the payoff for this simple everyday task can be huge!

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment: Part 2 Your Image

Image — If you haven’t already figured it out, your image is your lifeblood in Real Estate.  Keeping your image exactly where you want it may seem to be a time consuming and tedious task but there are fewer things in the business of real estate that are more important.  Image is a complex idea that encompasses a wide spectrum of ingredients.  It is critical that you identify all of these components and use them to your advantage.

Dress

Seemingly a no-brainer, the old adage of ‘dressing for success’ is an oft-overlooked element of Image.  While how you dress to mow your lawn may not be that important, how you dress for a Listing Appointment is extremely important.  Every bit of clothing, right down to your socks, tells a story of who you are and conveys a message of how you will represent your client and their property.  Dress like a slob and you can expect to drive home very disappointed time and time again from every Listing Appointment you go on.

One of the keys to Dressing for Success is making it a part of your every day routine.  All Real Estate Agents should have a set schedule.  Whether you have to go into the office every day or not, you should act as if every day is a work day.  Dressing for Success doesn’t mean getting up and putting on a suit every morning or always wearing your Sunday Best but keep in mind that even though you might only be running to the grocery store for a carton of milk you may run into an existing client.  And you’ll always surrounded by potential clients.

Get That Listing! Tips And Tricks To A Successful Listing Appointment: Part 1

Congratulations!  Your marketing plan has worked!  Whether it’s cold-calling, sending out postcards, farming expired listings, or receiving a phone call from your Sphere of Influence, you have a listing appointment with a potential client.  So … now what?  How do you turn a simple appointment into a listing that you can add to your inventory?  No matter if you’re a new real estate agent or a seasoned real estate veteran, you know by now that having a Listing Inventory is the key to sales and ultimately the key to making money.  The larger your Listing Inventory, the larger your potential annual salary becomes.

While getting the Listing Appointment in the first place may seem to be the hardest part, getting your new client to sign on the dotted line can sometimes be much harder.  More often than not, you’ll have competition.  You may find out that your potential client has lined up 2, 3 or maybe even half a dozen interviews with other real estate agents.  Sometimes you’ll be vying for clients with other Realtors right out of your own office.  With all of the competition that you potentially face, how can you be assured that you’ll be able to get that listing?

This series of articles will help you hone the skills you may already possess as a Real Estate Agent as well as provide you with tips and tricks giving you a briefcase full of fresh tactics that will have clients clamoring to sign up with YOU!  You’ll learn how to come out of the gate already ahead of the pack and leave the competition trailing in your dust.  It doesn’t matter if you’re going against real estate agents that have 10 or 20 years experience and you’re on your very first Listing Appointment.  YOU will be the real estate agent to beat.

Welcome

Congratulations! It's official. You're finally a licensed real estate agent. So, what do you do now?

Newly licensed real estate agents all over the country face the same dilemma; life after real estate agent licensing exams.

Truth is there are more real estate agents than you can shake a stick at, but only a few fully embrace the opportunity to distinguish themselves from the others.

Simply being licensed is no longer enough and there are no guaranteed shortcuts to success.

Well, save your money because there are no guarantees; only hard, focused work coupled with products that'll enhance your success, which begins and ends with 2 simple things;

1. getting prospects, and
2. converting them to paying customers

Getting Prospects

Getting prospects is easier said than done and only when you have some you will you have an opportunity to blend your knowledge, charm and personality to close them.

But the key remains getting them. How do you do that?

Having a real estate listing system is one good way and should be every newly licensed real estate agent's top priority; veteran agents, too if they never had one.

Although you can find real estate listing systems a dime a dozen there is nothing that helps you achieve the level of real estate marketing and sales "success" you want quite like a proven one, whether they're complicated ones at outrageous prices, or simple ones at reasonable cost.

Generally, the more complicated and cumbersome the systems are the more expensive they are.

They aren't necessarily better because, just costlier.

The type of system you chose can be as simple as mailing pre- written real estate marketing letters to owners of expired listings, some of which are extremely effective.

Prices range from under $9 - 10 to over $4,000.00; several can be found for less than $50.00.

But as you grow in experience and ability incorporating call in 800 number lead generating systems and websites are almost a must if you want be competitive and ensure your success.

Let's face it - real estate agents need listings and the more they have the more money they're likely to make through their real estate marketing efforts. On the other hand agents who can't get listings don't last in the profession too long.

Real estate listing systems help agents get listings. They can help new agents get off to good starts and recharge the careers of veteran agents who have been around for awhile.

Also, with a good system, expired listings, fsbo's and whatever it might be, newly licensed real estate agents can gain significant marketing exposure in months, rather than years.

Signs with your name on them dotted throughout your community will give you instant credibility and generate more listings. Everybody likes doing business with successful real estate agents, which you'll be thought of as when you have lots of listings.

Another nice thing about farming expired listings is that the sellers are typically Realtor friendly, eager to sell their properties and willing do what it takes to get them sold.

So, if you don' have one, get one. And don't worry if you can't afford the most expensive one. Just get the one the seems best suited to you that you can afford now. You can always upgrade and add to it as time goes by.

Good luck and happy listings!