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Generate MORE LISTINGS by Going After the Probate Market

May 13, 2021

Probate is the legal process “through which a deceased person’s estate is properly distributed to designated beneficiaries. If any debt is owed it is paid off to creditors,” according to the experts at LegalZoom.com.

The probate process varies according to state. For instance, your potential new “listing client” is considered the contact person for the decedent in a probate case. However, the term used to define this person is just one of the aspects of probate that varies based on where they live.

In Hawaii, he or she is called the decedent’s “personal representative.” In California, you’ll need to find the name of the executor or executrix.

This representative is tasked with coming up with an inventory of the deceased’s estate and the disposal of the assets, including the home, according to the decedent’s wishes.

Findlaw.com offers a handy chart that displays specific probate laws and terms for each state, here.

Probate real estate is a growing niche

You, as a real estate agent experienced in probate sales (which you will be after your first probate transaction), are the decedent’s biggest assets.

All housing market eyes are on members of the baby boomer generation when it comes to potential, future probate cases.

And the interest is justified, considering that older Americans currently own 40 percent of the country’s housing stock.

Fannie Mae calls this the “departure of older adults from the homeowner market.” What they mean is their departure from the earthly realm, but they’re far too kind to put it that way.

Get More Probate Clients by Launching an *Agent Definition Series* Scheduled Campaign. Learn More, **HERE**

While Baby Boomers are living longer than previous generations, they will “exit homeownership” during this new decade. Statistics show they will exit at a rate of 42 percent higher than the previous decade, according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group.

The learning curve for real estate agents

If you lack enough first-hand knowledge of the process to get you started, you’ll need to learn all you can about the probate process in your area.

Start by visiting the Findlaw.com link we mentioned earlier. Then, call your MLS or local association to find out if they offer probate educational opportunities.

For instance, the Orange County Association of Realtors, in California, at one time offered probate training by a local probate attorney (not sure if they still do).

If you’re willing to pay the cost of online probate real estate courses, you’ll find them offered at AllTheLeads.com. They also have a podcast on the topic. We know nothing about the courses, so perform your due diligence before signing up.

Some of us prefer the self-taught method of learning. If you’re among this group, you’ll find loads of information online:

Then you’ll need to generate probate leads

Starting out, you may opt for buying leads, and that’s ok. While we don’t know anything about the following companies, it may be worth it to check them out.

DIY agents should know that probate records are public. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to access them.

There are two ways to approach the search, initially:

Choose a county you’re interested in working in. Call the probate court for that county and ask how you can obtain a list of probates. Can’t find a “probate court” in that county? Call the circuit court.
Do an online search for “[Name of County] probate records.” This should help you find the .gov site that will outline the steps to get copies of the court records.

An additional source for purchasing probate prospect lists is with Rebogateway.

Probate clients aren’t like other real estate clients

You’ll meet a variety of clients when you start specializing in probate real estate. Some will be grief-stricken over the loss of a parent and the loss of the family home. Others are happy to help you sell the home in the shortest amount of time possible.

Often, it becomes a group undertaking, where all the details need to be ok’d by all siblings.

Emotions may run high so if you aren’t good at dealing with them, you may want to reconsider this niche.

If, on the other hand, you’re not afraid of others’ emotions, probate real estate can be a lucrative and rewarding specialty.

Ready to generate more listings by going after the probate market?

After you grab your prospect list, launch a weekly Get More Listings Scheduled Campaign to let them know you’re ready to help them sell their home.

FARM, Get More Listings Campaigns are currently on sale 10% OFF the first month. But ONLY for 3 MORE DAYS! (sale ends 5/15/21).

*FARM, Get More Listings* Scheduled Campaign (shown above). Learn more, **HERE**

TO LAUNCH A FARM CAMPAIGN:

Hit “CLICK HERE”, below, to get started on your FARM, Get More Listings Scheduled Campaign (from a desktop or laptop computer).

And, remember, YOU DON’T PAY for each mailing until it actually goes out (cancel or change each mailing up until the night before it goes out. The price shown at check out is per mailing, not campaign total).

Launch a FARM, Get More Listings Scheduled Campaign now, CLICK HERE!

Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you with your success.

PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

1. The Free 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

2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here

3. Become a Neighborhood Brand

Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

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The Real Estate Mailing List Guide outlines the top tools for generating targeted prospecting lists including Baby Boomers, Empty Nesters, Investors, Lifestyle Interests, High-Income Renters, Move-Up Markets, and more. The Guide also defines done-for-you marketing campaigns to match these markets. –Click Here

5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

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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

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

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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

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

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The “Crush It” Guide includes easy steps to launching an effective direct mail marketing campaign, how to create a targeted prospect list, the perfect way to layout marketing materials for success, seven opportunities available to target in your area right now. –Click Here

How’s your digital real estate marketing plan working for you?

Apr 13, 2021

Here we are, four months into the new year, in the midst of the spring real estate market. Have you stuck to your marketing plan? If so, and it’s a good one, you’ll have no shortage of folks to work with this spring.

If you’ve been slacking, take the time now to tweak the plan. Start with the digital aspect of your real estate marketing plan.

Take a critical look at social media

Since it’s vital that you connect with potential clients where they spend most of their social media time, re-evaluate how each social media platform you use is working for you.

If you’re not getting a decent return on your investment (of time or money) for any platform, dump it and try something else.

Facebook

A good Facebook strategy, even if it’s just to get organic leads, is always worth your time. Users are, by and large, in the buyer/seller age range. Engagement, if pursued strategically, is easier than on most of the other platforms.

A decent Facebook strategy includes posting a couple times a week. If that’s too much for your schedule, post at least once a week and make sure the post is strong.

What’s a strong Facebook post? One in which you are aiming for engagement and shares. For instance, if your city or state is among the many “Best places” (to retire, to get a job, to buy a home, etc.) chosen each year, link to the article.

You can find these types of articles by entering the name of your city or state into a search engine, followed by “named best” or “chosen best.”

As an example, “Scottsdale named best” returned a ton of very cool articles that a Scottsdale agent might want to repost on Facebook.

People love proof that where they live is the best on the planet and tend to share these types of posts.

Instagram

If you are among the few (very few) agents who get real estate leads from the time-suck-that-is-Instagram, congratulations. If you aren’t seeing a return on the investment of your precious time, dump it. And, don’t feel bad. There’s a reason it isn’t working.

In December of 2019, Statista published the results of a study that found that nearly 71 percent of U.S. Instagram users are between the ages of 13 and 34.

Let that sink in: The majority of Instagram users aren’t within every real estate agent’s target audience.

Sadly, only 12 percent of users are in the typical buyer and seller age range. Marketing your real estate business on Instagram is like an actor playing to an empty house.

YouTube

Video production companies love to tout YouTube’s “more than 1.9 billion registered users.” What they don’t tell you is that it’s a worldwide figure, so it’s useless to real estate agents.

Unless, of course, you sell real estate worldwide?

Of those 1.9 billion users, nearly 185 million reside in the U.S. Most of these users turn to the video channel for entertainment, not tutorials.

Males, according to Statista, primarily watch soccer or other sports while beauty videos are the most popular among women.

Real estate is missing from the list of the 25 most-watched verticals, as of February 2020. To get an idea of what people in the United States are tuning in to watch, check out Vidooly.com.

It should come as no surprise that YouTube isn’t the ideal digital marketing platform for most agents.

Videos can be expensive and time-consuming to do right.
The NAR’s statistics show that video isn’t always an effective way to market listings as well.

Keep in mind, however, that walk-throughs are more popular than video among buyers. Try to talk your listing clients into a 3-D walkthrough instead.

Just don’t rely on the platform as an awesome way to market your business, because, again, you’re playing to an empty house.

Your website

Nearly half of all Google searchers are looking for local information, according to Hubspot, and slightly more than 80 percent of smartphone users search for local businesses.

This is a strong signal that your best ROI of your time is ranking in organic search for your local market.

Start with our site’s keywords. If you’re having trouble coming up with some, research the competition – those agents who are ranking on the first page of search engine results for local searches.

Yes, you can then use them on your site, but there’s more to it. Create content around these keywords and phrases and ensure that your content is “bigger and badder” than your competition’s.

Marketing plans shouldn’t be set in stone, but evolve. Take a look at yours periodically throughout the year and make the changes necessary.

RIGHT NOW! FARM Scheduled Campaigns are on sale 10% OFF the first month (sale ends 4/17/21).

19 Different FARM Campaigns to Choose From!

Launch a FARM, Empty Nest Scheduled Campaign, **HERE**

TO LAUNCH A FARM CAMPAIGN:

Launch a FARM Campaign by clicking the “GO NOW” button, below (from a desktop or laptop computer).

And, remember, YOU DON’T PAY until each mailing goes out (cancel or change up until the night before each mailing. The price shown at check out is per mailing, not campaign total).

Launch a FARM Scheduled Campaign now, CLICK HERE!

Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you with your success.

PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

1. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

3. Become a Neighborhood Brand

Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

Need More Buyers? Consider Marketing to Veterans

Mar 30, 2021

There are an estimated 18 million U.S. military veterans, an undisclosed number of surviving spouses, and 1.4 million men and women currently serving on active duty.

This means that there are in excess of 20 million Americans who may be eligible to take advantage of the VA home loan program.

The good news for an agent who specializes in VA buyers is that millions of veterans feel that 2021 is a good time to buy a home.

Nearly 60% say they intend on buying in the next five years and 34% say they will definitely buy a home this year, according to research conducted by data and consulting company Kantar (for Veterans United Home Loans).

Sounds like a lucrative niche market, right? Not so fast.

“Real estate agents who aren’t familiar with the details of the VA loan program could waste time showing you properties that have little chance of meeting VA and lender guidelines,” warn the pros at veteransunited.com.

If this is a niche you are considering in your real estate business, get up to speed on the VA loan now, because half of the veterans surveyed say they will definitely consider applying for one.

How to become a military-friendly real estate agent

No, you don’t need a background in military service to work effectively with military homebuyers. Sure, it helps when it comes to communication. The real knowledge you’ll need, however, is about the nuts and bolts of the VA loan program.

You’ll also want to get to know the needs of this group of people. Many, for instance, don’t know that they are offered a unique home loan program as part of their benefits. In other words, they are completely unaware of the VA loan program.

“If you have not used the VA home loan program, what was the main reason you did not?” was a question put forth to veterans for the VA’s 2010 National Survey of Veterans. Nearly 34% responded that “I didn’t know about the program.”

Your first job, then, is to create a direct mail piece letting these folks know about the VA mortgage guaranty and singing the praises of its benefits.

Learn what’s important to veterans

Nearly half of the aforementioned survey respondents who did use a VA loan in the past said they did so because there is no down payment required.

Another big handful of them chose the loan for its “favorable interest rate,” and, coming in third, one group said that they felt their loan was more likely to be approved if it was guaranteed by the VA.

Since these features of the program are of such high value to applicants, these are points you need to feature in your marketing pieces.

Especially when it comes to comparing the FHA-backed mortgage with that of the VA (which a substantial number of veterans do), the lack of private mortgage insurance is a biggie.

Although they didn’t mention closing costs (as is typical with most homebuyers), let your leads know that the VA puts limits on the amount that the lender can charge the borrower.

It’s not all rosy, however. The VA loan comes with a funding fee. The amount varies and you can learn more at va.gov.

There is a lot to learn about the VA loan, but it’s all well-worth knowing. The VA makes it easy for you to learn by devoting a section of va.gov to real estate professionals. You’ll find that information at benefits.va.gov.

RIGHT NOW! Absentee Owner Scheduled Campaigns are on sale 10% OFF the first month (sale ends 4/3/21).

Launch an Absentee Owner Scheduled Campaign, **HERE**

TO LAUNCH AN ABSENTEE OWNER CAMPAIGN:

Launch an Absentee Owner Campaign by clicking the “GO NOW” button, below (from a desktop or laptop computer).

And, remember, YOU DON’T PAY until each mailing goes out (cancel or change up until the night before each mailing. The price shown at check out is per mailing, not campaign total).

Launch an Absentee Owner Scheduled Campaign now, CLICK HERE!

Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you with your success.

PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

1. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

3. Become a Neighborhood Brand

Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

Shifting Your Real Estate Marketing Strategy to Work Under Any Condition

Jan 28, 2021

It’s a new year and if one of your strategies is to create a real estate listing generating system to fit the “new normal,” consider a mix of the old-fashioned and the new-fangled.

The best marketing plans include both direct mail and digital marketing, and linking the two is even better.

We’ve come up with some safe ways to get closer to potential clients during the pandemic – some ideas to kick around as we move through 2021.

Forge stronger links with your community

Real estate agents generally tend to be quite generous with their money, frequently offering to give a percentage of each commission check to a favored charity.

Other agents are a bit more hands-on and feel that cutting a check, while admirable, isn’t enough. These are the agents who host school supply drives, winter sock collections for the homeless and actively volunteer their time and labor to local charitable organizations. The list is long and impressive.

And, they have a point, especially during the pandemic when consumers need and actively search out “warm and fuzzy” stories.

Yes, giving should be altruistic. And, we agree that using it to generate leads seems a bit mercenary.

But, it’s a win-win. Charities that are clamoring for help receive it and, if promoted appropriately, giving your time to a worthy cause can also be good for business.

Find a local group with a philosophy and cause that you can get behind and join them. Let your social media followers know how they can help too. Be passionate about the cause by letting consumers know about your acts of humanity.

But do avoid an overly-promotional “look-at-me” approach.

Who are you marketing to?

Launch a *Renter Scheduled Campaign*, Click **HERE**

“Right now, the ability to forecast is a superpower for business leaders as consumer sentiments and behaviors change,” notes Sam Acuna and Sofia Kluch at gallup.com.

They add that “Some of these changes are likely permanent but many changes are temporary … and localized.”

Thankfully, the real estate industry is quite hardy right now and forecasted to remain this way.

In fact, the folks at mansionglobal.com say that 2021 will bring “… the most robust housing market in 15 years.”

They also mention a Redfin forecast that more new homes will be built this year than during the past 16 years.

Leverage your listings

While coaches advise that agents door-knock around new listings, this isn’t an appropriate time to do so.

Direct mail, on the other hand, is not only safe but rising in consumer popularity during the pandemic.

Listing agents should send at least three cards to each household in their target audience for each listing taken:

Just listed
Open house (if you’re holding one)
Just sold

Each postcard should include the URL to the home’s dedicated landing page and, to your virtual open house, if you’ll be hosting one.

The home’s landing page should clearly communicate your contact information and a lead magnet. A popular choice for a lead magnet is the “Mortgage Options With Low Down Payments” Direct Response Report, click HERE.

We love Tom Ferry’s brilliant addition to the typical “Just Sold” postcard.

“… add a section that says ‘How we did it’ that lists out all the steps you performed to generate offers, AND all the details of the results your efforts created… how many showings, how many offers, sale price vs. list price, etc.”

View an example of what Ferry’s referring to at tomferry.com.

*Mortgage Options with Low Down Payments* Report

People haven’t changed. Some priorities have, many of our lives may have, but inside, we’re still the same human beings with the same wants and needs, with just a few new ones added to the mix.

Download the Direct Response Report, “Mortgage Options with Low Down Payments“ and keep copies on hand for listing appointments and open houses.

Also add as an opt-in/free offer on your website, your emails, and all of your direct mail.

Need help targeting a specific niche of buyers or sellers? Use our prospect list tools 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 some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

1. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

3. Become a Neighborhood Brand

Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

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