Listing Agent Alert: Do You Remember How to Work With Buyers?

Nov 11, 2019

It’s not as if listings were a dime-a-dozen over the past few years. You worked your rear end off to even generate seller leads, let alone actually list them.

Sellers had it so easy – fielding multiple offers and selling lightning-fast and for major bucks.

But the times they are a-changin’, and you may need to dip a toe or two into the buyer pool in the future.

It naturally depends on if increases in inventory outpace demand. And, there’s a whole bunch of stuff that could happen to impact that scenario.

Just in case the “experts” are correct in assuming we’re headed for a buyers’ market; do you remember how to work with them? Let’s take a crash, refresher course.

“Buyers are liars” – or are they?

Sure, it’s a common saying since real estate agent caveman (and women) days, but it’s still creepy.

First, don’t we all pretty much lie when we’re thinking of buying anything? Think about it: you may know exactly what you want when you walk into Macy’s.

Say what’s on a home buyers mind (Available in the postcard section under Fence Sitter Buyer Series)

Even when you can’t locate the item or even which department it’s located in, you’ll tell a salesperson that no, you don’t need help, because you’re “just looking.”

Americans, by and large, don’t like salespeople. We don’t trust them.

When will real estate agents get it that the vast majority of consumers consider you salespeople? Every year when that “most disrespected” professions list comes out real estate agents rank among the most despised.

Yeah, it sucks, because we know better – we love you. But they don’t know you, so don’t take it personally. Again, people don’t like being sold to (which is why used car salespeople rank on that list every year as well).

So, when a buyer tells you that he or she isn’t “ready” yet or is “just looking,” it’s not fair to think of him as a liar.

Your best defense here is to do everything in your power to banish the perception of real-estate- agents-as-sharks. Take off the sales and promotion hat for starters.

Buyers are time and labor-intensive

Listing agents have it made. Breeze in, get a signature on the contract, stick a sign in the front yard and let all the town’s buyers’ agents sell the home.

Help a renter become a home buyer (Available in the postcard section under the First Time Buyer Series)

Yeah, I know, that’s pretty simplistic and not entirely realistic, but you have to admit that a listing agent’s job (especially if he or she is good at it) is a whole lot easier than a buyers’ agent.

While other agents are working on selling your listing, you’re out taking more of them.

Compared to listing clients, buyers are time and labor-intensive. And first-time buyers will gobble more of your time than repeat buyers.

The key to saving some of your precious hours is by putting the proper systems in place:

Prepare a buyers’ consultation that nails it. Create handouts or website content that walks the buyer through the process, step-by-step and answers every possible question he or she could have.
Consider creating in-depth buyer guides – one for How to Buy a Fixer, How to Buy a Newly Constructed Home, How to Buy a Waterfront Home, How to Buy a Home on a Septic or well or whatever.
And, don’t forget Mortgage 101 guides on the various government-backed loan programs.
Get your preferred vendors lined up so you won’t waste time trying to round up a lender or home inspector or contractor for your buyers.
Stick all these valuable guides on your real estate website to make it even easier for buyers to access them. Education is power (and a time-saver for you).

These things not only provide a better client experience but save you time in the long run.

Buyers have totally unrealistic expectations

Don and Joan want to buy a condo in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. High on the wish list is panoramic views “We need lots of natural light, low fees and on-site amenities, such as a gym, pool, and a pet spa,” Joan said.

Don chimes in with some of his must-haves: “We also really want heated floors, a gourmet kitchen with granite countertops, a wine cooler, and a walk-in pantry,” he says.

“We would love a media room, a sauna, and a fireplace in the master bedroom. Our lender says we can pay up to $250,000,” adds Joan.

Yes, uneducated home buyers tend to be unrealistic. Sadly, when Don and Joan actually lay eyes on what that $250k will buy them (it won’t be in Beacon Hill, where the lowest-priced home right now is $1.5 million), they’ll be crushed.

Although “buyers are unrealistic” may be an accurate statement, whose fault is it? They don’t, after all, work in the real estate market every day so naturally, they don’t understand it.

It’s why the pros create a buyers’ consultation

Back to that, again, huh? A consultation should be the backbone of every real estate agent’s buyer’s system.

With the market potentially changing, as a listing agent, you’ll also be facing unrealistic expectations from your listing clients. They will no longer have the luxury of demanding top dollar for homes that need work.

2020 is going to be an interesting year in real estate.

Help them take the next step (Available in the postcard section under the Move-Up Market Series)

Send at least 100 Considering a Move postcard from the Move-Up Market Series to an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l 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 killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

October $250 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card Winners!

Nov 4, 2019

We have two winners!

A first-place $250 Gift Card winner & a second-place $100 Gift Card winner!

1. Congratulations Krista Nelson on winning the 1st Prize $250 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card

Krista shared the following feedback with ProspectsPLUS!,

“I have loved using extra postcards in my pre-listing packets as samples. They have been great conversation pieces and look so professional my listing prospects love them.”

Krista’s latest marketing pieces she’s sent out include – Holiday, Just Sold, and Just Closed postcards.

Just Sold, Just Closed and Holiday Postcard

2.Congratulations Ronald Stewart on winning our 2nd Prize $100 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card!

Ronald shared the following feedback with ProspectsPLUS!

“As an independent broker, I can produce quality brochures, flyers, and postcards that look better than the big franchise companies I compete with. Thanks, ProspectsPLUS!”

Ronald’s latest marketing pieces include – Just Sold postcards, Free Reports, and Get More Listings postcards.

Free Reports, Just Sold, and Get More Listings Postcards

Take the lead from Krista and Ronald send at least 100 marketing pieces to an area where you want more buyers and sellers!

You might also like:

Tips to Stay Focused Over the Holidays

Looking For Real Estate Leads, Target Landlords

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!

Three Common Myths About Things That Impact Home Values

Oct 30, 2019

You work hard to establish your bona fides as a real estate agent. Hopefully, you work as hard at keeping in touch with past clients and prospective clients.

So, what happens to the perception of you as an expert when one of these people learns that you’re promoting real estate myths?

Embarrassing, right?

Because something sounds as if it should be true doesn’t necessarily mean it is. Homes on busy streets aren’t always worth less than others and a new professional sports stadium in town doesn’t mean property values will explode.

Today we expose three home value myths that, quite frankly, we thought had been busted a long time ago. Yet, we still find agents writing about them as if they’re a reality.

1. Cemeteries drag down values

“Although living near a cemetery doesn’t automatically affect the home’s price, it does have the potential to drive down home prices,” says an unnamed writer at a site that promises to be “your trusted source of information on real estate market news, trends, and advice.”

The article was updated in January of this year and still contains this erroneous information.

A 2013 study by Redfin found that “Homes Near Cemeteries Sell for More.” According to Christin Camacho on Redfin’s blog, “. . . on average, homes near cemeteries are slightly smaller, but sell for more per square foot.”

The Home Staging Mistakes postcard is available in the postcard section under the Content Card Series tab

Those closest to the graveyard (within 500 feet) sold for an average $162 per square foot, while those “located more than 500 yards away sold for $145 per square foot.”

2.The NFL effect

It’s easy to assume that property values will increase when an NFL team (or any professional sports team) takes up residence in your town. Especially when the real estate community dangles the team’s move as an incentive to homebuyers.

The most recent example of this is Las Vegas as the new home to not only the Raiders but a brand-new professional hockey team, the Golden Knights.

Brokers and agents were all over the local news, wringing their hands in glee at how much home values were poised to rise because of pro sports coming to town. This, despite various research studies finding that, overall, the stadiums just don’t correlate to a rise in property value.

In fact, Trulia’s study concluded that “New stadiums built in the last decade, by and large, have failed to lift the fortunes of nearby neighborhoods.”

They looked at homes within a 2-mile radius of pro football stadiums across the U.S. Earlier studies by others came to the same conclusion.

Despite this, agents continue to claim otherwise, with one going so far as to say, on his website, that “housing prices are expected to go up considerably once Las Vegas finishes construction of its stadium.”

Don’t buy into the hype. It’s simply untrue.

3. Your pets are going to cost you

The Low Listing Inventory postcard is available in the postcard section under the Content Card Series

I dare you to find (on an agent’s website) an article about preparing the home for the market that doesn’t warn people about how many homebuyers won’t buy a home that has pets.

“If you truly want to get top dollar for your house, pay attention to how much you might lose with a dog or cat in residence,” cautions Elizabeth Weintraub at TheBalance.com.

“Like other forms of home staging, removing extra pet clutter is an important consideration when you are selling your property,” suggests Bill Gassett on his website, MaxRealEstateExposure.com.

At one time, this was excellent advice. But time marches on, people’s tastes change, and to give 1990s advice in the 21^st century doesn’t make much sense.

If I were an agent, I would tell all of my listing clients to take all those dog toys and other paraphernalia and use them to stage the backyard. Why?

“Pet owners make up 80 percent of recent homebuyers,” according to research from Realtor.com®, released last August.

Three-quarters of these buyers also claim that they would “would pass on an otherwise-perfect home if it wasn’t right for their animals.”

Ask to prioritize the features they were looking for in a dog-friendly home:

Large yard
Any outdoor space
Garage
Large square footage
Dog run
Dog-proof or “sturdy” flooring
Close proximity to outdoor spaces

If you have a listing that ticks any of those boxes, be sure to let buyers’ agents know. In fact, why not hold a dog-friendly open house? Let buyers can bring their pooches to let them try out the backyard.

Just a thought.

The bottom line is that if 80 percent of buyers are pet owners, it’s a safe bet that a little dog aroma won’t negatively impact your listings.

The Appealing to Equity postcard is available in the postcard section under the Content Card Series

In fact, if your listing has dog-friendly features and is located where people are playing down their pets, it may just be worth more.

Send at least 100 Appealing For Equity postcards from the Content Card Series to an area where you want to stir up more listings.

You might also like:

Go From Home Showing to Sold in Lightning Speed

Avoid These 4 Common Real Estate Marketing Mistakes

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 killer tools to help your success this year!

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

Want More Closings? Follow the Law of Branding

Oct 29, 2019

The 3-7-27 Law of Branding.

It takes 3 memorable touches (direct mail, phone call, in-person, commercial) for someone to remember your name.
7 touches for them to put your name with your business.
27 for your name and business to become a brand.

Think about the number of times you watched the following popular commercials (below) before their jingles become a permanent fixture in your mind for long after the commercials stopped.

Oscar Mayer “I Wish I Was an Oscar Mayer Weiner”
State Farm “Like a Good Neighbor”
Lucky Charms “They’re Magically Delicious”
Alka Seltzer “Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz”
Band-Aid “Stuck on Band-Aid”

Now THAT’S BRANDING!

How many people in your Sphere of Influence and Farm can you reach out to today to get closer to your goal of being branded?

Remember, people do business with people they know, like, and trust.

Start the process of becoming branded today, by launching a marketing campaign to your Sphere, Farm, or a specific niche.

GO NOW

Tips to stay focused over the holidays

Oct 28, 2019

It’s a rare home buyer or seller who isn’t highly motivated if they’re willing to buy or sell in winter. Even in parts of the country with balmy weather, there are still the winter holidays to consider.

Who wants people in and out of their homes when trying to get ready for family visits? Who has time to house hunt when there’s so much shopping, cooking and schmoozing to do?

While it may be the slowest of real estate seasons, the players on the winter field are highly motivated to buy, sell and move.

The Call To Action postcard is available in the postcard section under the Call To Action Series.

That’s the good news.

Between working with these clients, keeping up with lead generation, preparing your 2020 business plan and squeezing in time with family and friends, winter can be distracting for the real estate agent.

It’s far too easy to let the merrymaking consume us over the holidays. Unfortunately, as a self-employed, small businessperson who typically wears most of the hats in the business, letting your real estate business’ fundamentals slide can be disastrous to your 2020 bottom line.

Make a plan for the winter market that will ensure that your business doesn’t dry up when spring rolls around.

Priority uno

Even when business is good, lead gen should be your priority. In winter, however, you may need to change your tactics a bit.

People are busy, people are traveling, so cold calling and door knocking efforts may be fruitless.

A NAR survey a while back found that 75 percent of seller leads and 65 percent of buyer leads come from referrals and contacts. Go through your CRM and concentrate on nurturing your sphere in November and, especially, December.

Think newsletters, holiday cards or postcards, and small gifts for past clients that you want to keep in touch with.

The Determining Value postcard is in the postcard section under the Content Card Series.

Giving yourself a break from the pressure to generate new leads allows you to focus on drumming up business from referrals. Hopefully, just in time for the spring market.

Follow-up

Any new leads you’re able to generate during the holiday season need a quick response and consistent follow-up.

And by “quick,” I mean within five minutes, if at all possible.

Forbes published study results that found that salespeople who responded within five minutes were more likely to actually reach the lead (and the lead is more likely to convert) than those who waited longer.

If you wait a half-hour to respond you may as well kiss the lead goodbye, according to the study.

Schedule time for the personal stuff

Agents with assistants can delegate some of the more mundane winter tasks (research to help you with your 2020 business plan, year-end clean up your CRM, etc.)
If you haven’t hired an assistant, consider doing so now.

Even if it’s just seasonal help via a virtual assistant, delegate some of your end-of-year tasks so that you can free up time to spend with friends and family.

Realtor marketing postcards for neighborhood updates — The neighborhood Update postcard is available in the postcard section under the Neighborhood Update Series.

Winter slows down for many agents but that’s no reason to lose your focus. Your business depends on building and maintaining relationships and the winter holidays present plenty of opportunities to do just that.

Send out the Neighborhood Update postcard to an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l 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 killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

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

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

BROKERS: GET YOUR AGENTS 3 EXTRA CLOSINGS A YEAR GUARANTEED*

Oct 27, 2019

Schedule a One-Year SOI Campaign

Imagine if each agent in your office brought in an extra 3 closings this year. What would that mean for your company’s revenue growth?

Statistics show that 66% of the business generated by top agents nationwide (closing 50+ transactions a year) comes from family, friends, close acquaintances, and referrals generated by the first 3 groups.

Consistently marketing to these groups is the key to the growth of your agents’ real estate businesses. And a Scheduled SOI Campaign does this while freeing up your agents’ time for more important tasks, like listing appointments & closings.

*Our 3 Extra Closings a Year Guaranteed

We believe so much in the power of scheduled campaigns and what it will do for your agents’ businesses we’re offering a guarantee.

Order a pre-defined SOI Campaign from www.prospectsplus.com with these minimum requirements:
1. A minimum of one (1) mailing per month
2. A minimum of 150 people in each mailing (these mailings must be sent to an SOI list of people you know such as friends, relatives, neighbors, past customers, etc.)
3. A campaign duration of at least 12 months
4. A Jumbo size or Panoramic size postcard, mailed standard class
5. Incorporate the Free Businessbase system.
There is no requirement that the user notify the Company that he/she has started a Campaign.
After six (6) mailings, if the user has not closed at least one (1) transaction as a result of the SOI Campaign, then the user must contact a ProspectsPLUS! Campaign Specialist at 877-351-3663 for a professional review and recommendations.
After 12 mailings, if the user has not closed at least three (3) transactions as a result of the SOI Campaign (after following the criteria outlined above), then the Company will refund the total amount spent on the scheduled campaign, up to $1,800.00 plus sales tax (if any). The maximum amount is equivalent to 150 panoramic postcards, mailed standard class, × 12 months.

Launching a Scheduled Campaign is FREE!

No contracts
Pay-as-you-go
Change or cancel at any time up to midnight the night before the postcard goes out (including changing the list).
Schedule a campaign from 3 months to 5 years in length.

Ready to start increasing your company’s revenue growth? Call Mike at 877-351-3663 to learn more!

Mike is also available for office webinars, where he demonstrates just how easy it is to launch a scheduled campaign and goes into more detail about the 3 extra closings a year guarantee.

Or if you are ready to get started now, just click the “GO NOW” button below.

Because WHAT GETS SCHEDULED – GETS DONE!

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**SCHEDULE A QUOTE SERIES SOI CAMPAIGN**

Inspire and engage your Sphere with thought-provoking quotes from the Quote Series.

Schedule any length SOI campaign using the Quote Series. Or schedule a one-year SOI campaign and take advantage of the 3 Extra Closings a Year Guaranteed.

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**SCHEDULE A CONTENT SERIES SOI CAMPAIGN**

Educate and inform your Sphere while providing valuable content with the Content Series.

Schedule any length SOI campaign using the Content Series. Or schedule a one-year SOI campaign and take advantage of the 3 Extra Closings a Year Guaranteed.

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Reinforce your values and build trust with your Sphere with the Definition Series.

Schedule any length SOI campaign using the Definition Series. Or schedule a one-year SOI campaign and take advantage of the 3 Extra Closings a Year Guaranteed.

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**SCHEDULED AN ANIMAL SERIES SOI CAMPAIGN**

Use humor and engaging images to connect with your Sphere with the Animal Series.

Schedule any length SOI campaign using the Animal Series. Or schedule a one-year SOI campaign and take advantage of the 3 Extra Closings a Year Guaranteed.

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Ready to start increasing the revenue growth of your company by having your agents take advantage of our 3 EXTRA CLOSINGS A YEAR GUARANTEE?

Call customer support at 877-351-3663 to learn more!

Or if you are ready to get started now, just click the “GO NOW” button below.

Because WHAT GETS SCHEDULED – GETS DONE!

GO NOW

Has technology killed the real estate business card?

Oct 23, 2019

I recently read an online article that gave 42 examples of “real estate business cards that help you close the deal.”

Because, you know, your business card is a deal closer. At least in somebody’s universe.

In the real world, your real estate business card does serve several important functions, but closing deals isn’t among them.

Agent Introduction postcards are available in the postcard section under the Agent Introduction Series.

If it’s been a while since you’ve updated your cards, dive into the tips below to be ready for your 2020 real estate leads.

Start with the basics

The name of the game with business cards in 2020 is “simplicity.” This means dumping the fax number, paring down the superfluous and including only the basics necessary for a lead to contact you. At the least, include your:

Name
Title
One phone number
Email address
Company logo
Website URL — dump the protocol and prefix (https://www.) using only your domain name (ProspectsPLUS.com).

Reconsider adding your physical address; it isn’t necessary and it takes up gobs of space.

Here’s an example of simplicity in action that we found at 99Designs.com.

Don’t pinch pennies

Like your website and other marketing materials, your business card is a reflection of your brand image. Often, it’s among the first impressions you’ll give to a potential client.

You counsel your selling clients about the importance of curb appeal to their home’s first impression, right? The same holds true about marketing you and the services you offer.

Kick down the money necessary to create a professional, aesthetically-pleasing real estate business card.

If you’re creating one from scratch, be prepared for how intimidating a 3.5×2-inch blank slate can be. It’s tempting to fill every part of it with something – anything – but resist the temptation.

Lacking inspiration? Turn to your website’s branding concept and considering using those elements on your business card.

Pay close attention to font choice and use lots of white space.

Your final decision will be card stock. Naturally, you don’t want it to be flimsy, but how thick is thick enough?

The printing experts at Staples claim that most business cards are printed on 14 to 20 pt. card stock. They also suggest that you don’t go any lower than 14 pt. if you want your card to feel professional.

About that mug shot

“We’ve all seen those cheesy real estate agent business cards that always seem to have a photograph of them next to their contact information,” begins an online article about whether or not to include a headshot on a business card.

“It’s so common in this niche that you could practically make a template of what to expect … What’s the value when everyone else is doing it?” the author wonders.

Ouch.

There are good arguments on both sides of the issue, including the results of a test performed by an attorney and adjunct professor Eric Bryn.

His group sent 2,000 postcards containing identical messages. The only difference is that half had photos of a real estate agent and half didn’t.

Nearly 200 recipients responded to the mailing. All of them from the group that received the photo-less postcard.

Not one response came from a recipient of a card that included the agent’s photo.

The professor went on to explain that they’ve used this same testing method on other types of real estate agent marketing, such as business cards and websites. The results are always the same – pieces lacking an agent photo get better responses than those that include the photo.

If you decide to use a photo, check out our agent photo tips.

Technology has killed many old-school business practices, but the business card isn’t yet among them.

Sure, you can easily swap contact information with someone you meet at a convention via a smartphone, but swapping brand information requires something more.

Something like a real estate business card.

Order business cards with QR Codes and make it super easy for recipients to add your contact information.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l 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 killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

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

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Choose the Right Real Estate Keywords for Better SEO

Oct 21, 2019

Who knew that decades after Sumner Redstone first declared it, that content would still be king?

Consumers want content that helps them make a more informed buying decision, whether they’re shopping for sneakers or homes.

Content that meets their needs is therefore not only of value to the consumer but to your brand as well, by positioning you as the trustworthy expert in real estate.

Even the most valuable content is wasted, however, if it can’t be found online. For that, you need the right keywords.

So, how do you find these nuggets that will hopefully propel you toward the top of search engine rankings?

The Just Listed postcard is available in the Postcard section.

Understanding what’s important to your audience – what truly matters to them (not to you or what you assume matters to them).

Who are you targeting?

Can we all agree that working with real estate clients is easier when the field of clients is narrower? To shoot an arrow, hoping it hits “anyone who wants to buy or sell a home” isn’t a strategic business move.

Generalists have a tough time getting to know their audience. Specialists, on the other hand, will find that task ridiculously easy.

Determine who you are targeting, right down to their age, marital status, and income. This is the only way to figure out their intent when they hit the internet to search for real estate-related topics.

Their intent?

Semantic search.

If you want to watch smoke come out of your ears, dive into the meaning of that phrase.

Boil down all the tech jargon, however, and “semantic search seeks to understand natural language the way a human would,” according to Aleh Barysevich at SearchEngineJournal.com.

It involves, among other requirements, an understanding of searcher intent. Google uses your location (much to our dismay, often) and searches history to come up with what the engine assumes is our intent when we type in a query.

Google’s Hummingbird update (2013) aimed to ensure that pages that better match searcher context and intent will rank better than pages that repeat context-less keywords ad nauseam,” according to Barysevich.

Two years later, Google released RankBrain, which sought to add to the search engine’s understanding of user intent when conducting a search.

The Just Sold postcard is available under the Postcard section.

Obviously, the days of packing vague keywords into content are long gone. Today, agents need to know their audience and incorporate the keywords that they use.

Keep it local

You do realize that all the common real estate keywords lead to Zillow, right?

Despite knowing this, agents are still trying to outrank the behemoth for broad real estate terms, such as “how to sell a house.”

Plug that term into Google and not one of the results on page one is from a real estate agent’s website, despite agents being the most knowledgeable about the process.

And, is the process of selling a house the same nationwide? Of course not. Many aspects of the home sale vary by region. In California, for instance, the seller must provide a California Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement to the buyer. This isn’t required in other states.

Which brings us to the importance of local keywords. Even if you made it to page one for “how to sell a house,” the chances are high that most of your visitors won’t live in your local market.

Aim strategically, starting with local keywords.

Choose your words carefully

Real estate agents tend to refer to homes in various ways:

Real estate
Property
House
Home

From our experience, most agents prefer the word “home.”

How do real estate consumers describe an abode?

“Sell my house” is searched more than twice as often as “Sell my home,” according to Google Trends.

“Sell my house” also receives more than three times the clicks as “Sell my home.”

The same holds true for buyers; “Buy a house” gets twice the clicks of “Buy a home.”

See? It pays to know your audience and how they search.

But we put our research to the test by choosing a random city, Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Buy a house in Charlotte, North Carolina” is an impossibly competitive keyword phrase. All the usual first page hogs dominate page one of the search results.

Add a tail to that already longtail search term, however, and there is hope.

The search phrase “Buy a house in Providence Park, Charlotte” includes two real estate agent websites.

Here are two more very basic real estate keywords to get you started:

How much does it cost to sell my house in [localizer]
How to buy a house in [get hyper, hyper-local here, with subdivision and city name]

The Just Listed Property postcards are available under the Postcard section.

In the end, the best way to find out the words your visitors are using to find you is by checking your site’s analytics. Then, feed them into Google Ads to determine which variants receive the most clicks.

Send out the Multi-Photo Just Listed postcard in the surrounding area of your newest listing.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l 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 killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

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

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Looking for real estate listing leads? Target landlords

Oct 16, 2019

Reading housing market news is an exercise in frustration.

For every so-and-so “sees stronger housing market this fall” and stories of the various “hot” real estate markets across the country, there’s a “Housing Market will Probably Slow” and “Housing Market may be at Risk in Recession” article.

The fact is, the housing market is sitting pretty right now, according to agents we’ve spoken with. Who knows better than those wearing the boots on the ground?

Remember, many of those who bought homes during the lowest point during the recession were investors – something the folks at CoreLogic refer to as the “investor buying fury of 2012 – 2014.”

Yes, many of these buyers were institutional investors, but the so-called “mom and pop” investors, bought a lot of homes as well.

Core Logic claims that small investor activity in the real estate market increased their share of the investor buying pool from “48% of all investor-purchased homes in 2013 to more than 60% in 2018.”

There’s your target audience: absentee owners who bought the property from 2012 to 2014.

While homeowners may be loath to list during fall and winter, landlords are not. Especially after receiving your brilliant and laser-targeted marketing pieces, convincing them to sell.

They have tons-o-equity

Want to hear something surprising?

People “who purchased a home following the Great Recession have seen their home equity climb by 261%,” according to Alcynna Lloyd at HousingWire.com.

She calculates that the average homebuyer in 2012 “is now sitting on $141,000 in equity.”

Let that sink in. That’s a whole lot of equity, especially for a tenant-weary landlord who just wants out from under his or her investment.

The market is perfect for sellers

It’s only natural to assume that when prices skyrocket, owners sell. This market over the past year or so proves what happens when we make assumptions.

Homeowners aren’t selling.

The reasons are plenty: they’re afraid they won’t find a replacement home, they think their value will continue rising, they’re scared a recession is looming and they have no idea how much equity they have in their homes.

Investors, however, are in an entirely different situation and the bottom line for them is money.

“Investors who don’t have the longest investment horizon, who only want to do this for another five or 10 years may not want to wait and see when the next cycle comes,” Doug Imber, president of Essex Realty Group in Chicago tells Debbie Carlson at USNews.com.

Costs of owning are going up

When home values increase, property taxes do too. That’s a hunk of money that can easily turn a cap rate from good to bad.

ATTOM Data Solutions claims that in 2017, property taxes rose by an average of 6 percent in 2017 and an additional 4 percent last year.

With home prices continuing to skyrocket, it’s a safe bet that the new appraised values will bring an additional hike in taxes.

Just Listed postcards are available in the Postcard section under Just Listed Series.

Then, there’s that recession on the horizon

Landlords who needed to sell their properties during the last recession and had to sit on them instead may be nervous about a coming recession.

Never mind that home values have gone up in all but the last recession (which was largely caused by the bursting of the housing bubble). When it comes to our pocketbooks, common sense leaves the building.

Although most economists don’t expect the coming recession to impact the housing market, nothing is guaranteed.

A recession could very well impact their profit margins. If the competition is lowering rents, it puts pressure on all landlords to follow suit.

And, if mortgage rates remain low and rent high, it makes more sense for their tenants to buy a home instead of rent.

Rents won’t rise forever

Our research into how much rents have risen yielded numbers that were all over the map. ApartmentList.com claims that the national average, year-over-year rent growth is only 1.4 percent.

“Our national rent index fell by 0.1 percent month-over-month,” the report claims. “This is the second straight monthly decline in the index following robust rent growth through the summer, indicating that this year’s peak rental season has come to an end.”

Other points to highlight include:

Rents are outpacing income and that’s not sustainable
Building costs will soon outpace rental rates
The market is set to change, and supply could catch up with or outpace demand

The bottom line in all of your marketing pieces is one question: “Does this particular real estate investment still make sense?”

How to lure landlord leads

The first step in drilling down into the landlord niche is to choose a farm area. This might be a condo community or two or it could be a subdivision or even a ZIP Code.

Then, come up with a strategy:

Ensure your online presence shines.
Determine which marketing vehicles you’ll use to reach out to landlords. Think old-school on this one – postcards are ideal (and, no, not just because we sell them!).
Ask your title company rep for a list of absentee owners in your chosen farm area and take a look at our mailing list options.

Your first mailing can be anything from a current neighborhood update report to a just-listed or sold postcard.

The most important aspect of this lead gen method is to come up with a follow-up plan and then keep to it, consistently, at least once every two months.

The Tired of Being a Landlord postcard is available in the Postcard section under the Rental For Sale Series.

Happy prospecting!

Send the Tired of Being a Landlord postcard to a targeted mailing list of landlords.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l 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 killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

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

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Three Brilliant Ways to Remain Productive as the Season Slows

Oct 9, 2019

As the season begins to slow in the coming months, one way to remain productive is to spend your time reflecting on your marketing efforts and determine what’s been working and what hasn’t. This way, you’ll have all your ducks in a row to kick off 2020 with a brand-new and ultra-strategic marketing plan.

Stop being a generalist

One of the most interesting dichotomies apparent in real estate professionals is between the longing to stand out and the strict adherence to the standard way of doing business.

This results in marketing messages that are nearly identical, which is why the public claims “all real estate agents are alike.” If you truly want to stand out from everyone else you need to do something different. Start with your business structure.

Instead of trying to convince potential clients that you’re good at everything, why not concentrate on being THE BEST in one area? Ditch the rookie mentality that too many agents hang on to – that you are an all-purpose generalist who “specializes” in all areas of real estate. There’s nothing unique about that.

Be great at one thing

Decide that you’ll stop trying to be good at everything and concentrate on being GREAT at one thing. Be productive during your slower time and think long and hard about becoming the true expert in a niche area of real estate.

Think about what you like best about your current practice. Are there certain clients you enjoy working with more than others? Buyers? Sellers? First-timers, Baby Boomers, families?

Are there certain properties that you’ve worked with more often than others? Maybe waterfront, ranches, condos or vintage homes.

Speak the same language

If all else fails, imagine your ideal client and then create a profile of that person. For example, suppose I’m a veteran and I’ve always felt most comfortable assisting other veterans in their real estate transactions.

After all, we have shared experiences and speak the same “language.” There’s my niche right there.

Maybe you’re an equestrian and love working with other horse owners. Horse properties may be what you should specialize in.

Now you have someone specific to speak to. You understand their needs and can speak directly to them, instead of speaking in vague terms to all real estate consumers. Your content then becomes more valuable, your brand is better defined and your entire real estate practice is unique.

I once interviewed Steve Israel, owner/broker of Buyer’s Edge in Bethesda, MD. Notice his niche is in the brokerage’s name – buyers.

But, not just any buyers. Israel specializes in condos in downtown D.C. I asked him how he came up with this specialization.

He told me that his clientele was, by and large, first-time homebuyers. He also realized that “the condo market is a very vibrant part of the local market and that it lends itself well to being a niche.”

His first productive step was to create a website packed with information and details about the various condo communities. Yes, it was time-consuming, which is why we suggest that you use the slow season to get this started.

Niching your real estate practice works best if you work in a medium to large market. Those in small markets may not find it quite as valuable.

The Demand is High postcard is available in the Postcard section under the Content Card Series

We are rapidly approaching a new year. Consider being productive and using the slower times to create something unique and prosperous that results in a powerful jump-start for the new year.

Send at least 100 of the Demand is High & Inventory is Low postcards from the Content Card Series to an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l 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 killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook