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Tuesday, March 26, 2019

“Before I got an agent, I would try to inquire about their services … and I’d say 90% of the time agents did not return my call,” complains a real estate client (Trulia reviews).

If some agents can’t respond to a hot lead, how can a client expect them to communicate effectively during the listing period?

Agents have come up with a lengthy list of excuses for why they don’t call. They run the gamut from “I don’t call if nothing is happening,” to “I didn’t get your message.”

Which is why the biggest client complaint against agents is lack of communication. 

So why aren’t agents working harder to provide this most in-demand aspect of customer service?

Communicating with your client helps dispel the oft-repeated complaint that real estate agents don’t do anything to earn their commissions. It builds trust and it makes for a more relaxed working relationship.

Here’s how NOT to be that agent.

Examples go a long way
Let them know you’re on the ball (available in the postcard section under Get More Listings)

Explanations, walk-throughs, and examples go a long way in helping a client understand the complicated selling process, especially when working with first-time home sellers.

“We didn’t know there were all these things we had to pay for,” says a real estate client at a Hear it Direct event (pity they aren’t doing these any longer).

The gentleman went on to complain that his agent “never brought it up.”

Yet another client was so disgusted by her agent’s lack of an explanation of the process that she won’t use any agent’s services in the future.

“We’ll probably just do it on our own – we kind of feel like we are already,” she said.

A real estate client who feels isolated during the sale of such a huge investment is not only in a sad situation, but it’s uncalled for in an industry that prides itself on “building relationships.”

Take a tip from buyers agents who hold buyer consultations before showing homes. Take the time to walk your listing client through the entire process, from what happens immediately after signing the listing agreement to the closing table.

Outline the costs of selling the home, what might go wrong during the process and their responsibilities.

Explain the following during your consultation:
  • What happens after they sign the listing agreement – detail the process beginning to end. Don’t assume they know.
  • Describe your marketing plan and when and how you’ll implement it.
  • Explain what a broker’s open is and how important it is.
  • Show them a lockbox and explain how it works, what to expect from buyers’ agents and everything else they need to know about the marketing period.
  • How offers are presented.
  • The period after an offer is accepted. Explain the escrow process, the paperwork they’ll encounter, disclosure duties. Remind them that they’ll need to be accommodating to the appraiser and home inspector.
  • Explain the closing process.

    Keep them in on area real estate action (available in the postcard section under Content postcards)

Even the smallest aspects of the home sale process may be completely foreign to a client, so don’t assume that you don’t need to explain them.

Aside from an actual, sit-down seller consultation, there are a number of other ways to provide this information, from a book or e-book to a video or the plethora of information on your website (you have a plethora, right?).

Ask and listen

Ask questions—lots and lots of questions. How do they prefer to communicate, by text, email, phone? How often would they like to hear from you? Is once a week okay or do they want more frequent contact?

How do they feel about open houses? What are their biggest fears about the process? Is there anything about it they would like to know more about?

One home seller who vented his frustrations at CityData.com complained that “I figure an email a week telling me how many hits I’ve gotten on the various real estate sites, calls about my property (if tracked) and general market conditions would work, but I shouldn’t have to chase my agent down to hear what’s going on.”

Asking questions isn’t enough. You need to listen to the answers and ask for clarification if needed. Ensure there are no misunderstandings about their expectations.

Communicate often

Toss the old advice about not saying anything if you don’t have anything nice to say. Homeowners crave communication so provide it as often as possible.

Even if you have nothing to communicate, reach out to your client and let them know. I bet you can come up with something of value to communicate:

  • How many people toured the home during the past week?
  • How the open house went.
  • What type of feedback did they, or their agents leave?
  • Anything going on with the overall real estate market that they should know?
  • If under contract, let them know how escrow is progressing.
  • Find out if they have any questions such as, what comes next.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines “consultant” as “one who gives professional advice or services.” These homeowners could have chosen to sell the home without an agent but chose to go with you because of your professional knowledge.

By consistently communicating with your clients throughout the sales process, you’ll make them very happy they chose you and, hopefully, more likely to recommend you to others.

An effective way to communicate with and encourage prospective clients is to offer the Free Report “5 Sure-Fire Tips For a Quick Home Sale”.
Include it in all of your marketing and offer it as an opt-in on your website.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free ways we can help you have an INVINCIBLE 2019!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here 

 

 

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

 

“Get MORE Listings & Begin to Dominate Your Market!” Free online webinar. Learn the 3-7-27 strategy for explosive growth, why 95% of agents have less than 20% market share, and how to become the agent everyone competes against. – Click Here

 

 

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. – Click Here

 

 

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan.  – Click Here

 

 

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

As the market changes and your listing is still for sale 24 hours after they hit the MLS, it’s time to resurrect some of the old-school methods to market it.

One of the best is the broker’s open. Done right, you’ll get the most important eyes on your listing – those of other agents.

Sure, it’s usually a cattle call, with agents spending as little time in each home as possible. But yours will be different.

Yours is one that will slow them down.

It’s all in the planning

It takes careful planning to pull off a successful event, and your broker’s open should be considered “an event.” The higher the price of the home, in fact, the more eventful your broker’s open should be.

Don’t let being low on cash stop you from throwing an awesome brokers open. Enlist the assistance of your favorite title rep, stager or loan officer.

Determine the menu. Yes, you need to come up with a way to slow these agents down and stopping into the kitchen or dining room for a snack is the ideal way to do it.

We’re sure you’ve seen what’s popular at your local brokers open, but here are a few suggestions we got from agents across the country:

  • Platters of sandwiches on various types of bread, cut in quarters, bowls of chips, fruit and/or green salad, bottled water.
  • At morning open houses, consider two or three types of quiche (cut in squares or wedges) small breakfast burritos, fruit and/or a green salad and juice and/or coffee and tea.
  • An assortment of appetizers on platters. You can purchase downright delicious frozen appetizers at Costco and Sam’s Club, or have a caterer create them.
Showcase your property in a memorable way. (available in the “Flyers” section under Property Flyers).

After coming up with the menu and shopping list (plates, napkins, etc.), make an agent feedback form.

Include all the questions you know your sellers would like answered by other agents in your agent feedback form:
  • What do they think of the price?
  • Rate the home’s interior condition on a scale of 1 to 10.
  • Rate the home’s exterior condition on a scale of 1 to 10.
  • How does this home stack up to other homes the agent has viewed in this price range?
  • Anything the home seller (or listing agent) has missed that should be remedied?

The chances that agents will fill these out are best if they’re near the food and you ask them to fill them out.

If there’s an incentive, though, the chances are even better. Come up with an interesting prize (even a gift card can be compelling) to raffle off to all those who threw their completed feedback forms into a designated and prominent “drop your entries here” bowl.

This is a great way for your title rep, stager or loan officer to get involved. Have them sponsor the prize.

Finally, ensure you have enough directional signs available for that day and determine where you will place them.

Get the word out

At one time, broker’s opens were listed in the MLS. Even if that’s still true, in a changing market you may need to do more to get the maximum number of agent boots through the door of your listing.

Free ways to get the word out about your broker’s open:

  • Announce it at the office sales meeting and, if you attend the MLS meetings, announce it there as well.
  • Make up flyers and get to the aforementioned meetings early. Place a flyer on each chair.
  • Put flyers in the office mailboxes for each agent.
  • If you belong to local real estate groups on social media, post about it. Mention all the cool things they’ll experience if they attend.
  • Send an email to the mega-agents in town. They’re the ones that are typically too busy to hang out on social media. Make your email a visual delight, with eye-catching photos and, again, promises of the cool stuff on offer (food! A drawing!) at the broker’s open.

You might also want to create a special invitation that you can snail mail to the top buyers’ agents in town and to agents with whom you’ve built a solid professional working relationship.

Enhance your listing with multiple image and copy opportunities (available under the “Brochure” tab in Luxury Brochures).

Direct mail is far more powerful in the digital age than at any time in its history.

Play nice with other agents

Put your phone away and vow to not pick it up during the duration of the brokers open. Greet everyone individually as they come in and thank them for coming as they leave.

Invariably, agents who are also friends will show up but don’t get so involved conversing with them that you ignore the other guests.

The fortune is in the follow-up

Yes, even with other agents. You never know how one simple phone call or email to thank them for attending will endear you to other agents. You never know how it might prompt their memories just when they picked up that new buyer.

If you choose to do a mass email, don’t forget to congratulate the winner of the drawing.

Send panoramic luxury postcards and stand out in the mail (available in the postcard section under Luxury postcards).

Finally, ensure that you attend other agents’ broker’s opens. They will be far more likely to reciprocate if they’ve seen you at theirs.

Send Panoramic Luxury postcards from the Luxury Market Series to announce your newest listing, Open House or Sold in style!

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free ways we can help you have an INVINCIBLE 2019!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here 

 

 

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

 

“Get MORE Listings & Begin to Dominate Your Market!” Free online webinar. Learn the 3-7-27 strategy for explosive growth, why 95% of agents have less than 20% market share, and how to become the agent everyone competes against. – Click Here

 

 

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. – Click Here

 

 

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan.  – Click Here

 

 

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

As a new agent, you no doubt learned that, in many states, home sellers have a legal obligation to disclose known problems with the home.

As well, home buyers have an obligation to perform due diligence. The law, however, understands that home buyers, even with the best due diligence, are inexperienced and may not understand what to look for.

Enter, the real estate agent – the third side of the disclosure triangle. While states differ in their agent disclosure requirements, most make it pretty clear that an agent has a duty to disclose any known material facts that may impact the value of the home.

In California, for instance, the Civil Jury Instructions state that:

“A broker must disclose these facts if he or she knows or should know that the buyer is not aware of them and cannot reasonably be expected to discover them through diligent attention and observation.”

Legal duty aside, helping your client make a wise buying decision is basic, good customer service. The stuff that referrals and glowing testimonials are made of.

As you advance in your real estate career you’ll learn that most houses have problems, from the tiny to the gigantic. Yes, even newly-constructed homes.

Some are obvious, while others lurk behind very scant evidence of their existence. With experience, you’ll get to know the clues – the red flags that something isn’t right.

Compel fence sitters to call (Available in the postcard section under Fence Sitter Buyers Series)

In the meantime, we’ve gathered some of the more common clues to look for when showing homes to your buying clients.

The electrical system

Old homes are notorious for their electrical system problems. Outdated or damaged wiring, too few electrical outlets and burned out or loose connections are common.

Before buying into your client’s desire to buy a home that needs to be rewired, let him or her know that they can “expect to pay $8,000 to $15,000 to rewire a 1,500- to 3,000-square-foot home,” says Angie Hicks of AngiesList.com.

A chief complaint of many owners of old homes is that there aren’t enough electrical outlets to meet their needs. While the cost of adding new outlets isn’t as high as replacing the home’s wiring, it can still be costly, depending on the electrician’s hourly fee.

“. . . adding a new electric outlet can range from $100 to $800, with the average cost around $350,” according to the pros at ImproveNet.com.

As you tour a home, especially if the home is more than 50 years old, do a bit of snooping. Flick all the switches in the home to ensure they’re operating.

Help the move-up market understand the process (available in the postcard section under Move-Up Market)

Take a look at the electrical outlets for obvious signs of trouble (scorch marks, etc.). Run your hand over the outlets. They should be cool to the touch. Warm outlets are “strong indications of an unsafe wiring condition,” according to Donna Boyle Schwartz at BobVilla.com.

How’s the plumbing?

Don’t be shy – turn on the water at the taps and check the pressure. Low water pressure may signify a leak somewhere in the lines.

It may also be a sign of less serious problems, including:

  • A water softener that needs servicing
  • A pressure reducing valve that isn’t set properly
  • Clogged aerators

Check the pressure while running the hot water only. If it’s lower than the cold-water pressure, there may be a problem with the water heater.

Press your toes on the flooring surrounding the toilet. If it feels soft, the toilet may have a leak.

Finally, in multi-level homes, look at the ceilings on the floors beneath bathrooms for signs of discoloration. This may indicate a leak somewhere.

Maintenance Red Flags

You’ll be hearing the term “Deferred maintenance” a lot during your real estate career. Some folks find home maintenance too easy to put off. As the years go by, problems don’t go away, and many tend to get worse.

Deferred maintenance is often easy to spot. It’s the overflowing gutters, the chipped paint, the dripping faucet and the toilet that rocks when someone sits on it.

While some of these may seem like minor fixes, taken as a whole, you’ll need to wonder what else was deferred that you can’t see. It’s something that you definitely need to share with your client.

Check out the floors

While your home-buying client is marveling over the gorgeous hardwood floors in a home, you should be checking to see if they slope.

Especially if the home isn’t vintage, sloping floors may indicate foundation problems.

The two most common include “ . . . uneven settling in the outer foundation, or uneven settling of the support columns beneath the floor system. Either way, it’s not a problem that fixes itself, but it is a problem that will get worse over time,” warns the experts at BDry.com.

Buying a home with foundation problems isn’t something you want to encourage. HomeAdvisor.com claims that the national average cost to repair a foundation is $4,158.

Centex Foundation Repair in Central Texas gives us a better idea of cost by looking at their client’s bills: $2,162.42 on the low end to $13,705.19 on the high end.

“. . . so far this year our average price of repairs has been $5,911.70,” they claim on their website.

Excite Fence Sitters to take the first step (available in the postcard section under Fence Sitters Series)

Run this by your client before he or she falls madly in love with those Brazilian walnut floors.

Send at least 100 The Time is Now postcards from the Fence Sitter Series to an area where you want more buyers.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free ways we can help you have an INVINCIBLE 2019!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here 

 

 

 

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

 

“Get MORE Listings & Begin to Dominate Your Market!” Free online webinar. Learn the 3-7-27 strategy for explosive growth, why 95% of agents have less than 20% market share, and how to become the agent everyone competes against. – Click Here

 

 

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. – Click Here

 

 

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan.  – Click Here

 

 

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

 

 

That period from winter into mid-spring is typically akin to a drought followed by a raging storm for real estate professionals.

It’s just as the drought is ending, however, that our fingers ache from clinging to our wits and our wallets.

Yes, it will end. Business will pick up, if it hasn’t by the time you read this.

We have some suggestions to consider if you’re still dealing with a snail’s pace real estate market.

1. Take action

Regardless of how few clients you have right now, there are actions you can take to advance your business that don’t involve showing homes or chasing listings.

In fact, taking just one action each day can get you out of the doldrums and into motivation.

A good first action to take is getting away from your desk. A change of scenery is an excellent way to get your brain moving in another direction.

Take a walk (in a different location every day). Take a few hours off just to think. Or, work from your favorite coffee shop that offers Wi-Fi.

Make lunch or coffee dates with former clients or vow to meet colleagues after work for cocktails.

If you must remain tied to your desk, get back to the basics that have kept you in business. Think back: which activities have delivered the most successes?

If you once did well with door-knocking but ditched it for the next shiny object, pick it up again, dust off your skills and start knocking for dollars.

2. Get help from the great motivators

Some of the world’s greatest motivational speakers are just a book, DVD or CD away.

If you prefer reading, check out some of our favorites:

  • “Shift: How Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times” Gary Keller
  • “The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure” Grant Cardone
  • “Better than Good: Creating a Life you can’t wait to Live,” Zig Ziglar

Turn off the radio in the car and pop in a CD or listen on Audible. Here’s a few we think you might like:

Ditch the TV for one night a week and watch a motivational video instead:

 3. About that stuff you’ve let fall through the cracks

 As a small business owner, you know that even when you’re not working directly with clients or on ways to do so, there is still work to be done. When you’re busy, those are the things that typically fall through the cracks.

Website – how are those neighborhood pages coming? Is it time to localize your home page and feature a testimonial or two? Also, don’t forget to add a Free Report offer on your website in exchange for an email address.

Testimonials — Do you have a system to generate them? Agents use various methods, from hiring a company who specializes in collecting your testimonials to putting together a questionnaire that you offer your clients at closing.

While the latter is a good way to collect testimonials for your website and other marketing materials, aim to convince them to leave you one at the online review sites.

Then, consider reaching out to past clients who didn’t leave a review. This contact also serves to put you back on the front burner of their memories.

Buyers’ consultation – Does yours need some work? Update any area that needs it. Anything you can do to add value to your consultations helps boost your customer service.

The key to pricing your listings right (available under our Objection Handling Flyers tab)

Listing presentation – If your listing presentation is hit-or-miss, consider taking some time to fine-tune it. Don’t know where to start? You’ll find a goldmine of ideas online, from coach websites to YouTube videos to social media groups where other agents hang out.

Don’t forget the magic of using a Merchandise Review at your listing appointment to help get your listings priced right the first time. Download the Merchandise Review now and keep copies on hand to use as part of your listing presentation.

Get involved – In case you haven’t heard, the generations aging into the real estate market say they check a business’ level of social responsibility before deciding to work with them. What are you doing to better the community at large?

Start small if you need to. Find a cause you can put your heart into and volunteer your time. Plan on promoting your cause on your website, social media and anywhere else you can.

The market is changing from what we’ve grown accustomed to over the past few years. Who knows what the spring and summer market will bring? At least now you won’t be at wits’ end should you experience a lull in business.

Free offers drive interest (available in the postcard section under Free Offer Series)
Start stirring up activity by sending at least 100  Free List of Homes postcards from the Free Offer Series to an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free ways we can help you have an INVINCIBLE 2019!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here 

 

 

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

 

“Get MORE Listings & Begin to Dominate Your Market!” Free online webinar. Learn the 3-7-27 strategy for explosive growth, why 95% of agents have less than 20% market share, and how to become the agent everyone competes against. – Click Here

 

 

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. – Click Here

 

 

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan.  – Click Here

 

 

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

Cut Through the Clutter & Stand Out

Think back to the recession when homeowners were deep underwater in their mortgages, when many walked away and others tried short-selling their homes.

Seemingly overnight, every other real estate agent on the planet became a “short sale expert.”

We now know how dangerous that was. Homeowners represented by agents who hadn’t a clue about the intricacies of the process littered the internet with their stories of failure.

While calling yourself a “neighborhood expert” when you truly aren’t isn’t as potentially damaging to a client as pretending to be an expert in short sales, it’s still dishonest.

And, if you are a member of NAR, you know that dishonesty is an ethics violation (Article 12).

We think it’s rather impossible that the vast majority of agents are true neighborhood experts, yet they label themselves as such. So, how do you, the true expert, cut through their clutter and stand out?

Become the area expert with the Market Dominator (available under the Market Domnator System tab)

It takes more than a statement on your website or business card. Let’s consider some ways to prove to potential clients that you are what you say you are.

1. Prove it in your marketing materials

True neighborhood experts, by and large, market to farm areas. Whether that is a condo community, a ZIP Code or by subdivision, focusing on a smaller pool of homeowners is a brilliant way to become known as the expert in a community.

The best way to reach these homeowners or tenants or whomever you are targeting is via direct mail. It’s quick, it’s inexpensive and it works.

Neighborhood sales update marketing

Here’s an idea of what to send to your chosen neighborhood: Neighborhood Update postcards that include current neighborhood home sale details – information homeowners value. It shows them that you know your stuff and are on top of what’s happening in their area.

When sending neighborhood updates or CMA reports, ensure that your explanation is in plain English. Unless you explain the meaning, avoid insider jargon, such as:

  • “absorption rate”
  • “months’ supply of real estate inventory” (what does months’ supply and “inventory” mean?),
  • “the median price range” (explain median vs. average)
  • “time on market” or “days on market” (why is this important to the average homeowner thinking of selling?)
We found lots of other examples online of what to avoid in your updates or CMA reports. Here’s one:

“In January, sales dollar volume increased year over year by 3% to $599,080,374. New listings rose 22% to 2,820, active listings increased 21% to 5,840 and pending sales increased 11% to 2,452. Monthly housing inventory increased by 0.4 months to 2.3 months.”

“Sales dollar volume” is meaningless to a homeowner. We would reword the paragraph to read more like a narrative than a dry list of statistics:

In January, 22 percent more homeowners put their homes on the market here in Any town than in December. As quickly as they’re listed, however, buyers snap them up. One indication of that is the increase in pending sales, which were up 11 percent more than pending sales in December.”

Send Free Market Analysis Offers (available in the postcard section under Call to Action Series)

Since potential home sellers are your primary audience when farming, leave out the increase in inventory unless it’s significant (0.4 months isn’t). And, if you must express inventory in “months,” do the readers a solid and explain what that means.

Additional farming pieces include:

2. Prove your neighborhood expertise on your website

 Your website provides the ideal platform to strut your neighborhood expertise. Start by ensuring its localized.

So many agents pay the big bucks for a professional website and fail to remove or change the template text that comes with it.

Add your market area everywhere possible, starting with the above-the-fold area on your home page. Don’t make visitors wonder where on earth you sell real estate.

Create a neighborhoods section on your site and fill it with valuable, hyper-local content. In-depth neighborhood descriptions, quotes from folks who live in the neighborhood about why they love it, links to listings and lots of photos are the bare necessities for neighborhood pages.

Finally, if you don’t have a blog, start one. It’s the ideal place to post local content and, if promoted across your social media platforms, it will help drive traffic back to your site.

3. Prove it in person

 Get your face known around your chosen neighborhood(s). There are many ways to accomplish creating visibility. Here are a few:

  • Hold home seller seminars in the area.
  • Join the PTA.
  • Sponsor a community sports team and, in exchange, ask that your banner be displayed at games. And, do attend the games.
  • Join the neighborhood YMCA or gym.
  • Attend the HOA meetings.
  • Host a monthly coffee-and-pastry or happy hour events at the neighborhood café or watering hole.
  • Patronize neighborhood merchants and introduce yourself. Become a repeat customer.

Your aim is for people to think that they see you everywhere they go. Talk to folks, hand out your business card.

Realtor marketing postcards for neighborhood updates
Keep them informed with Neighborhood Update postcards (available in the postcard section under Neighborhood Update).

If you are truly the neighborhood expert, you need to prove it. It’s a brilliant way to stand out among the pretenders.

Send at least 100 Neighborhood Update postcards to an area where you want to brand yourself as the “True” neighborhood expert.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free ways we can help you have an INVINCIBLE 2019!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here 

 

 

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

 

“Get MORE Listings & Begin to Dominate Your Market!” Free online webinar. Learn the 3-7-27 strategy for explosive growth, why 95% of agents have less than 20% market share, and how to become the agent everyone competes against. – Click Here

 

 

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. – Click Here

 

 

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan.  – Click Here

 

 

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

 

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