customer service

Instill Calm in Your Prospective Clients Instead of Fear

Jan 28, 2022

If only I had a dollar for every online article and blog post I’ve read about home buying and how “difficult”, “scary” and “challenging” it is.

“Buying a house is exciting, intimidating, and, honestly, a bit complicated,” says one agent.

“The first time you undertake a home purchase, the complexity of the transaction can be particularly frustrating because there are a number of unknown rules and procedures that you are generally forced to learn through ‘the school of hard knocks,’” says another.

The combination of highfalutin’ words and the imagery of the “school of hard knocks” is enough to scare any real estate consumer into staying put.

My initial reaction to these fear-inducing blog posts and articles is, “If the process is this difficult, scary, or complex, it may be time to find another agent.”

Be the expert who soothes their fears

If clients aren’t completely familiar with the buying/selling process going into it, the best agents counsel them so that they learn and ultimately feel more comfortable.

Unfortunately, there are agents that think scaring potential homebuyers about the complexities of real estate is a way to win their business.

The first quote above is from a national real estate company’s website. It’s fine to caution folks that buying a home because it’s an unfamiliar process, might be challenging. However, a better statement would be to mention that it won’t be challenging if they work with you.

Because you, the superhero of the real estate world, will teach them what they need to know and be with them every step of the way.

You are an awesome communicator who wouldn’t dream of allowing your client to enter into the process without being armed with all the information he or she needs.

You are the expert and are happy to share your expertise with your clients. Want proof, you might ask? “Here’s my testimonials,” (list of former clients saying how amazing you are and how you explained everything and made the process so easy).

Think what a breath of fresh air your website, blog posts, and other marketing materials will be to a consumer who has surfed all the negative and scary agents’ sites.

When they land on your website and read words of encouragement and simplicity they will breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking for the right words to instill confidence? How about:

“Buying (or selling) a home doesn’t have to be scary, intimidating, confusing, or challenging. Allow me to show you how it’s done.”

Imagine THAT phrase added to all of your real estate marketing materials.

6 Reasons to Go After Baby Boomers Right Now

They own 26 million homes in the U.S.
They control 70% of all wealth in this country.
They hold more than 50% of all owner-occupied homes.
41% state they will definitely purchase another home.
They are almost completely ignored by the real estate industry.
And, we’re giving you the first 100 prospects on a Baby Boomer list for free right now!

That’s Right, Discover Baby Boomers in Your Area and GET THE FIRST 100 FREE!

To get the first 100 on a Baby Boomers Prospect List FREE USE PROMO CODE: BOOM100.

CLICK HERE to create your list (From a desktop/laptop computer) with the Demographic Search tool.

This offer expires on January 29th, at midnight.

Do You Need Help Creating Your Baby Boomer List? Watch This How to Video Below.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some helpful tools 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 Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – 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

The Contact Manager Tutorial

Oct 18, 2021

STEP ONE: Send a List to the Contact Manager

To send contacts from a list to the Contact Manager, click on your email address from the horizontal black navigational bar in the upper right-hand corner. A drop-down menu will appear. Choose “Mailing Lists.” from the menu.

Once in your mailing list section, decide which mailing list of contacts you want to move over. This list will also still remain in the “Mailing List” section as well.

Once you decide on your list, click the blue “Options” button for that list and choose the option “Send List to the Contact Manager” (see screenshot below).

STEP TWO: Add Tags to Your Mailing List

A window will pop up after you complete STEP ONE, allowing you to add tags to the list you are sending to the Contact Manager.

You can type in one tag or multiple. There are some tags already available in the tag drop-down menu. If you don’t see a tag you want there, you can create a tag by typing it into the provided space.

Once you are done adding tags, click the yellow “Import” button, and your contacts from this list will be imported into the Contact Manager.

STEP THREE: View Contacts in Contact Manager

You can now go to your Contact Manager and view contacts from this list. You will not see your list title from the mailing list section in Contact Manager, only the contacts from the list.

To get to Contact Manager, click on your email in the upper right-hand corner of the website and choose “Contact Manager” from the drop-down menu (see screenshot below).

Once in the Contact Manager, you can filter the contacts listed by using the “Tag Filter” located at the top center of this section to see how many tags there are with a specific tag title.

You can also add a new contact name to your Contact Manager by clicking the yellow button that says “Add Names.” Be sure to complete the new contact’s birthday and home anniversary date if there is one.

The “Add Names” yellow button can also be used to download your entire “contact Manager” list with tags and export it from the website.

STEP FOUR: Send a Postcard to a Specific “Tag” of Contacts

To send a postcard to a specific “tag” of contacts, choose your postcard from our postcard section.

Once you are on the postcard series screen, select the blue button titled “Add List’ (see screenshot below).

A drop-down menu will appear. Select the “Contact Manager List” and hit the “select” blue button (see screenshot below).

STEP FIVE: Add Specific Contact “Tags” to Your Mailing List for Your Postcard Mailing

Now add the “tags” you want to use to create your super-targeted mailing list in the box provided (see screenshot below). As you add the tags you want for this mailing list, they will appear in blue (see screenshot below). The screen will also give you your new quantity of contacts for this “tagged” mailing list.

Once you are done adding your tags, you are ready to continue editing your postcard and send it out to your new targeted list.

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

2 Easy Ways to Raise the Bar in Real Estate

Jul 22, 2021

While many agents are working hard to redeem and protect the real estate profession’s good name.

Consumers seem to have a never-ending list of complaints about some real estate agents demonstrating a lack of honesty and integrity.

Take the REALTORS® Code of Ethics (1-3), for instance: “REALTORS®, in attempting to secure a listing, shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value.” Yet how many times a month do you hear about an agent who tried to buy a listing?

Read on for two simple tips to raise the bar in real estate.

1. Apply professional ethics to even the small stuff

If a house is the size of a shoebox, it isn’t “cozy.” Yet, for some reason, that word is too frequently used to describe these homes.

Exaggerating, obfuscating, and withholding the truth in listing information is unethical and it ticks off real estate consumers. Jay MacDonald, writing for Bankrate.com, calls these “lying listings.”

He tells a story about an agent in Michigan who showed his clients a home described in the listing as a “stunner.”

“The only thing that would ‘stun’ anybody about the house was how bad the previous owner did the work to ensure that every room would need to be redone. I don’t know what was going through the listing agent’s mind to say that.”

It’s frustrating for both the buyer and the buyer’s agent to have relied on a listing’s description to take the time to visit such homes. Too much frustration leads to anger and then the entire industry ends up with a black eye.

2. Be responsive

Enter the following phrase into Google: “real estate agents don’t return phone calls.” The titles of the results are embarrassing:

“Home Buying: How do you handle agents not returning calls?”
“6 Signs of a Crummy Real Estate Agent.”
“What is it with agents not returning phone calls?”

There’s even an instructional video for agents titled “Returning Phone Calls for Real Estate Agents.”

This is arguably the most common complaint against real estate agents. Sure – it doesn’t apply to all agents, but again, it’s the bad apples that spoil it for all.

In a California Association of REALTORS homebuyer’s survey, the majority of respondents said they chose the agent that was the “most responsive.”

Many of these buyers said they were willing to wait 30 minutes for a return call. Sadly, only 3% of agents met or exceeded this expectation. Of course, 30 minutes is a heartbeat to a busy agent, but if you are that busy you can most likely hire an assistant to return calls.

Based on the survey above, if you are interested in growing your real estate business it is definitely worth your while to make quick and ongoing communication a number one priority.

Stir Up More Listings With a FARM Fence Sitter Campaign.

They’re Currently on SALE 10% OFF the First Month – FOR 3 MORE DAYS!

FARM Fence Sitter Scheduled Campaign (shown above). Learn more, HERE

TO LAUNCH AN FARM FENCE SITTER CAMPAIGN:

Hit “CLICK HERE”, below, to schedule your 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).

Launch a FARM Fence Sitter 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

3. Become a Neighborhood Brand

Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a NEW 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically every month to an exclusive carrier route (membership includes your own online Homes & Life Agent Magazine). Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Real-Estate-Mailing-List-Guide2-3-D-999x1024.jpg

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

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

New Agent University: Use Caution When Referring Vendors to Clients

Jul 8, 2021

The first steps in starting a new business are akin to trying to take a sip of water from an open fire hydrant. The number of tasks the new agent must undertake to assure success added to the learning curve can be somewhat overwhelming.

At some point, someone will recommend that you compile a vendor list. This list includes tradespeople that you will refer to clients, such as:

Stager
Home inspector
Cleaner
Landscapers
Pest inspectors
Contractors
Painter
Plumber

You get the idea, right?

Most agents refer to these folks as “vendors,” but we’ve also seen them referred to as “affiliates.” We think the latter better reflects their relationship to you. After all, they are an extension of your brand and your real estate business.

Their customer service, or lack of, will reflect on you

One agent we spoke with told us a story about his early days in real estate. He put together a vendor list based on recommendations from another agent. His first listing was a lovely home that needed new flooring and the owner was amenable to having luxury vinyl plank installed before the listing went live.

The flooring contractor he was referred to by his fellow agent claimed 30 years of experience in the flooring installation business so he felt confident in referring him to his client.

Big mistake.

The job was botched, from start to finish. Our agent’s client sent photos to the agent of floor planks with gaps between them, broken planks glued in place with caulking, ragged cuts and flooring glue spread throughout the home.

The entire floor would need to be pulled up and, since it was glue-down vinyl, there was no guarantee the planks could be reused.

It turns out that our veteran flooring contractor left the job in the not-so-capable hands of two trainees, without his supervision.

Needless to say, our agent friend was horrified and his client took the botched job out on him.

It’s crucial to carefully vet anyone that you will be referring to clients. Don’t rely on just one interview. Check the person’s references, read Yelp and BBB reviews, check with the state contractor’s board to vet those vendors whose craft requires a license.

Finally, check each vendor’s social media pages. Yes, it sounds a bit like stalking, but it’s not. It is basic due diligence and required if your reputation and trustworthiness is on the line.

Set a reminder to re-vet your vendor list every six months or so.

Don’t stop there

Call anyone to whom you refer a vendor to follow up. Ask how the job went and ask if they would hire that particular vendor in the future. Negative reports should be run by your vendor to get his or her side of the story.

Never remain loyal to a vendor that does subpar work or provides less-than stellar customer service to your clients. If you feel even a smidge of discomfort with any of your vendors, rethink referring them.

Your professional reputation is on the line so be scrupulous when vetting vendors for your referral list.

SOI Animal Series Campaigns are Currently on SALE 10% OFF the First Month – FOR 3 MORE DAYS!

SOI Animal Scheduled Campaign (shown above). Learn more, HERE

TO LAUNCH AN SOI ANIMAL CAMPAIGN:

Hit “CLICK HERE”, below, to schedule your 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).

Launch an SOI Animal 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”

Are You Providing Testimonial-Worthy Customer Service?

May 4, 2021

The bare minimum. Every profession includes those who work just hard enough to be considered “doing their job.” Real estate is, sadly, no exception.

It’s the “list and pray” listing agents who feel a sign in the lawn and an MLS listing is sufficient. It’s the buyers’ agent who skips the counseling and doesn’t listen to the clients’ wants and needs in a new home.

Agents like these cast a cloud over the profession, even though the real estate industry is populated with many customer-service-oriented agents who go the extra mile with each client.

Take a look at some ideas contributed by agents with clients who love them.

Explain EVERYTHING

Buyer counseling is a vital aspect of your job. Buyers who understand the process and paperwork and are aware of some of the pitfalls they may face along the way are more relaxed. They are thus easier to work with and come out of the transaction feeling positive about their agent.

Although we rarely see this same counseling suggested for sellers, it should be.

Explain to your buying and/or selling clients, in detail:

The mortgage process, start to finish, in plain English
The entire selling or buying process
The paperwork they’ll be asked to sign
What is expected of them during the process (sellers need to leave the home, buyers should be punctual and respectful of the sellers’ time, etc.)
What happens at closing

Then, ask what they expect of you. It’s hard to go above and beyond something you aren’t aware of.

Service add-ons to consider

Whether your client is the buyer or seller, they’ll both face the huge task of moving. You can make it easier on them while making yourself memorable.

There are many things you can do, including turn your assistant into a concierge-for-a-day. Some of the services he or she can provide include:

Ensuring the utilities are scheduled to be turned off at the old home and on at the new.
Cancelling landscaping, pest control, pool and housekeeping services at the old home.
Draw up a list of the area’s best of everything, such as park, daycare, gym, veterinarian, plumber, electrician, gardener, restaurants, handy person. Find them on Yelp.com.
Supplying them with moving boxes. One agent we know has the boxes printed with her branding.

Always provide updates

If you only handle a few transactions at a time there really is no excuse for your clients to not receive update calls from you or your transaction coordinator.

Keep them abreast of what’s happening with the transaction. Unresponsiveness is one of the things clients most complain about.

For agents who handle many transactions simultaneously, consider purchasing client communication software that they can log into online and follow the transaction’s progress.

The relationship shouldn’t end at closing

Clients also appreciate a closing folder with all of the pertinent paperwork organized inside. Sure, they’ll receive one from the lender, but yours should be different—far more user-friendly. Include the listing, all marketing materials, and all paperwork involved in the transaction.

Finally, plan at least one annual or biennial client appreciation event to help you remain top-of-mind with former clients. Going “above and beyond” is something to which many agents merely pay lip service. Make client satisfaction your top priority for each client and enjoy the payoff: Loyal, referring, and returning clients.

Ready to add more clients to your roster? Launch a FARM, Fence Sitter Campaign in just minutes.

They’re currently on sale 10% OFF the first month – (sale ends 7/24/21).

FARM, Fence Sitter Scheduled Campaign (shown above). Learn more, HERE

TO LAUNCH A FARM, FENCE-SITTER CAMPAIGN:

Hit “CLICK HERE”, below, to schedule your campaign (from a desktop or laptop computer).

Use promo code: FENCE10 to save 10% off the first month.

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).

Launch a FARM, Fence Sitter 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”

4 Ways You May Be Turning Off Your Clients Without Realizing it

Apr 8, 2021

Referrals should be the lifeblood of every real estate business. Sadly, they aren’t. It truly isn’t difficult to provide the customer service that will leave your clients raving. It’s also easy to turn them off to the point they warn others not to use your services.

When a client leaves you or doesn’t use your services for future transactions, you may be guilty of committing one (or more) of the Four Cardinal Sins of real estate.

1. You turn into Amelia Earhart

One of the most common complaints from consumers about their real estate agents is that they disappear. And they don’t have an out-of-fuel twin-engine Lockheed to blame.

The practice is so prevalent that Google offers up these suggestions for searches:

Realtors…why don’t they answer their phones???
What’s with agents who don’t answer their phones?
Why are most agents so unresponsive?
What to do when your realtor ignores you
Realtor not responding to emails
Real estate agent not responding
Real estate agent not getting back to me
Am I annoying my realtor?

We find that last one especially sad. The solution is to get clear on communication expectations on the very day that a client agrees to become a client. Not only should you learn their preferred mode of communication (phone, text, email, etc.) but how often they expect to hear from you.

If they call, answer. At the very least respond within a reasonable amount of time.

2. You haven’t mastered the art of listening

All of us have heard about the agents who show homes to clients that are out of their price range or lacking in their wish list “must haves.” Both are a result of not listening.

Are you guilty of letting your mind wander, of multitasking in your brain while a client is speaking to you?

Sherrie Bourg Carter at psychologytoday.com suggests:

Good listeners don’t jump in with answers.
Your client should be speaking 80% of the time. The 20% of the time that you speak should be spent asking clarifying questions.

Tune out the grocery list, the angst over your next appointment and everything else that rattles around up there and listen to your client.

3. You’re a cut-corners-penny-pinching agent

It’s amazing that, in this day and age, there are still amateur listing photos in the MLS.

As a listing agent, the most important job you have is to market the home. Photos that don’t present the home in the best light possible are not acceptable. Especially when one considers how much that seller is paying in real estate fees.

If you can’t afford a professional photographer, you can’t do your job properly. Stop taking listings and become a buyer’s agent.

4. You are a listing-buyer

A common complaint that we read online is about the listing agent who beats the client up, repeatedly, over lowering the listing price.

Then, there are the listing clients who complain that their homes sat on the market while others around them sold.

Either condition can result when an agent “buys” the listing.

Your job as a listing agent is to recommend a list price that is close to or matches the current market value. As a real estate advisor, your job is also to counsel a client or potential client what happens to homes that are overpriced.

To take an overpriced listing with the hopes of a price drop, later on, is shoddy customer service. If you’re guilty of committing even one of these “sins,” you may be losing clients. Think about the best customer service you’ve ever received and vow to mimic it with every single client.

Hurry! SOI Scheduled Campaigns are on sale 10% OFF the first month for ONLY 3 MORE DAYS! (sale ends 4/10/21).

One of Seven SOI Scheduled Campaign Designs (shown above). Learn more, **HERE**

TO LAUNCH AN SOI CAMPAIGN:

Hit “CLICK HERE”, below, to get started on your SOI 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 an SOI 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 t

o 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”

How to Help Your Clients Get Their Boomerang Kids Out and Building Equity

Aug 19, 2020

Gen X – those born between 1965 and 1976 – was the hardest-hit cohort during the 2007 Recession, with a nearly 60% drop in median household net worth. Blaire Briody, at BusinessInsider.com says that this is “the largest drop of all age groups.”

Amazingly, this is also the generation who has seen the greatest comeback since then.

Between 2010 and 2018, “… the median net worth of Gen X households has risen 115 percent,” according to Andrew Soergel at USNews.com, citing a researcher at Pew.

Today, we have a new crisis (the pandemic) and it’s impacting members of two generations: Millennials (age 25 to 43 this year) and Gen Z (age 24 and younger).

To deal with closed college campuses and the financial impact, many of these younger folks have gone home, to Mom and Dad.

Many of their parents want to help. If you have clients who are parents of Millenials and Gen Z the following are ideas you can share with them to get their kids to finally and forever leave the nest to feather a nest of their own.

*Rent By Number Series* with custom sub-heading

How to structure the deal

Many parents fear creating a financially-dependent, adult wanna-be by helping their Millennial or Gen Z child purchase a home.

If their son or daughter is generally mature and responsible and just needs a bit of temporary help, parents most likely have nothing to worry about.

A lot also depends on how they structure their assistance, and this is where you come in, offering solutions.

The different forms of “help”

Helping an adult child realize the dream of homeownership comes in many forms. Naturally, if your clients have the means, they may just want to purchase a condo or starter home outright and gift it to their child.

But there are alternatives, including:

Loaning the money, at a lower rate than lenders charge, which will help make the mortgage payments more affordable.
Buy a home using a share-equity agreement.
Gift the child the down payment and closing costs for a condo that he or she purchases.

The “Bank of Mom and Dad”

The best advice you can give your clients is to meet with their financial advisor, accountant and/or attorney to obtain advice about loaning the adult child the money for the home – either the down payment or the purchase price.

This way, they’ll understand all of the ramifications and have legal documents drawn up to protect themselves.

Whether they will charge interest on the loan is up to them, but, again, urge them to get the advice and assistance of professionals.

The co-ownership option

Co-ownership of a condo or starter home offers parents the opportunity to share in the equity that is built up over the period of ownership.

This option isn’t without its pitfalls, however. For instance, when the home is eventually sold, it may subject you to a capital gains tax.

“However, if parents are going into the purchase simply to help the kids qualify for the mortgage and intend their contribution to be a gift, they can structure ownership so that their interest is nominal, and work with a lawyer to place that interest in a trust for the benefit of the kids,” according to Derrick Penner of the Globe and Mail.

The operative words there are “work with a lawyer.” We cannot stress enough the importance of ensuring your clients get professional financial and legal advice.

Mom and dad own it and lease it to the kid

If your clients have been contemplating buying an investment property, this may just be the ideal way to get their child into homeownership. Your clients will retain the tax benefits of owning the condo and the rental agreement can be structured so that they gift a percentage of ownership annually until the child owns the condo outright.

There are a number of ways to help an adult child move into homeownership. Go through your CRM and make some phone calls to parents of young adults. You may just have found a goldmine.

Send a postcard from the Rent By Number Series to a prospecting list of empty nesters and get them excited about another solution for their boomerang kids.

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

1. 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.

2. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

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

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4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Business-Plan-3D-Book-New1-270x300.png

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. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

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

How do you Keep Your Real Estate License Active? Start with Honesty

Aug 12, 2020

To get a real estate license in most states all you need do is attend a certain number of hours at real estate school and then pay for and take a licensing exam and, possibly, have your background checked via your fingerprints.

Voila! You’re a real estate agent, able to counsel consumers on how to buy and sell what may be their biggest asset.

If you think it’s fairly easy to become an agent, you’re right. Compare the process to what a taxicab driver goes through to get his or her permit:

Secure a referral.
Take the required classes.
Complete the Driver’s Awareness Program.
Submit the referral to the State Taxicab Authority (NTA) and take their exam.
Submit to the NTA’s fingerprint process to check for any criminal history.
Submit to a physical examination, vision exam, mental health evaluation, and drug test to ensure you meet the health requirements.

It’s true, you do have someone else’s life in your hands as a cab driver, so maybe some of these hoops are necessary. Whereas there’s rarely a life-or-death situation involved in helping real estate consumers.

The fact is, as easy as it is to get a real estate sales license, it’s almost just as easy to lose it. And, surprisingly, you don’t have to be a hardened criminal for it to happen.

Something as simple as unintentionally leaving out a material fact about a listing could land you in a lot of trouble with your state licensing board.

That board, by the way, sets the rules under which they will pull an agent’s license. Although each state sets its own regulations for agents, they are all quite similar.

1. Always be honest

While we all know that life is unfair at times, the fact that politicians, journalists, and others can lie with impunity and real estate agents can’t is a bit unfair.

Not that you would lie to a client even if other agents were (and getting away with it), but if you do, and you are caught, you may lose your license.

The state boards don’t call it lying, though. They have other words for it:

Omission
Exaggeration
Misrepresentation
Ambiguity

They’re all types of lies and Beakley says that if you are caught doing any of them … often enough, or big enough … you will lose your license.”

2. Stay law-abiding

If you have an active real estate license, you likely don’t have any prior felonies because it’s not possible to get a real estate license in any of the 50 states if you do, according to Paul Beakley at RealtorMag.com.

So, what if you are convicted of a crime after your licensed? If you live in the right state and are convicted of a crime you won’t lose your license.

In most states, however, you will. In Texas, for instance, moral turpitude is enough to get your license pulled.

In Minnesota, your license can be suspended or even revoked for “outstanding tax or child support obligations.”

3. Keep your client’s money separate

We’ve all heard the stories about the hapless agent who “borrows” a client’s funds, fully intending to pay it back.

Then, there’s guys like this:

[Name has been omitted}, “… a real estate agent and broker from Washington, D.C., was sentenced to prison on a theft charge stemming from the embezzlement of over $100,000 of his clients’ money …” (Justice.gov)

This particular agent was asking buyers for huge earnest money deposits and then depositing them in his operating account instead of escrow.

Although he assured the clients the money was safely tucked away in an escrow account, “… he spent their money on himself and his expenses within a few weeks or months of receiving the funds.”

Yes, he lost his license, and served one year and one day in prison.

Commingling your client’s money with your own, even temporarily, is a recipe for disaster.

Stay out of trouble with the state board, be honest, take your time when completing contracts, and get your clients’ money out of your hands quickly. This should ensure you have a long and healthy life as a real estate agent.

Send the Photo Introduction Series postcard to an area where you want to introduce yourself as the neighborhood expert.

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

1.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.

2. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

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

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

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

Start Planning for Your Fall Buying & Selling Season Now

Aug 10, 2020

Traditionally, the market wakes up in September, after a summer lull while folks are vacationing and enjoying the kids’ time off from school.

But once September and October roll around, agents get busy and stay busy until the winter slowdown.

So, if the past is any indication of what we can expect in the future, you’re about to get busy again (or even busier depending on where you are in the country).

Here’s how to plan for your fall buying and selling season, starting now.

Offer a pre-fall photo promotion

Plan a pre-fall photography blitz. Let your potential autumn selling clients know the best way to stand out from other listings in fall. Which is to show how their homes looked when the trees were still green and the flowers were blooming.

Use a Community Newsletter or a Football Schedule postcard to conduct a postcard blitz and offer a “free, no-obligation exterior photo session” before everything turns brown. State the following message,

“For the next few weeks, our professional photographer will be roaming the area. He will be taking exterior photos of our listings that will be hitting the market in fall.”

“Just think how your home, with its sun-lit green landscape, will stand out as a buyer scrolls through listings online this fall!”

By the way, you’ll know who is serious about selling by the responses you get from your postcard photography blitz.

Be focused, move quickly

“Time is of the essence” is never truer than it is during the fall real estate market. The time between putting a home on the market and that big old brick wall known as the holidays is short. Everything you do to sell the home will be condensed.

Remind your clients that this means coming up with the appropriate price right out of the gate. An informative and helpful Direct Response Report you can provide your clients with is, “The 6 Pitfalls of Overpricing”. It will help them understand just what they have to lose by not pricing their home right the first time.

If they refuse, let them know that if the need for a price reduction becomes evident, they’ll need to act immediately – not wait a month.

Yards get messy in autumn, so remind your listing clients to keep up the home’s curb appeal on an ongoing basis.

Remind your clients that leaves will need to be raked more often and dying annuals yanked from the soil. Suggest they hire a gardener to do once weekly yard cleanups if they don’t have the time to do it themselves.

*Dangers of Overpricing* Direct Response Report

Finally, if the home is still on the market as Thanksgiving approaches, your listing client has some decisions to make. Primarily, does he or she want to remain on the market over the holidays or put the listing on hold until the beginning of the year?

Yes, we understand that you’re hoping to high heaven they don’t yank the listing. If you can convince them to remain on the market, let them know that closings near Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve are typically slow going. This way, they can make moving plans accordingly.

A report that makes an ideal piece to leave behind during a listing presentation is, “Moving Made Easy”. It’s available under the Resources tab on our website. Yes, this report is free for you so get a bunch of copies made and keep them on hand to give to your clients.

Help out your buyers

To avoid butting up against Thanksgiving, most homeowners who list their homes in the fall put their homes on the market in the early part of the season. Urge your buying clients to be prepared to be the early bird and get their loan pre-approval out of the way as soon as possible.

They should also narrow down their choice of neighborhoods so that when a home is listed in the area, they can be among the first to view it.

Warn your buying clients not to give in to the temptation that fall appliance sales offer. This year’s models typically go on sale in September and October to make room for next year’s. These bargains may seem irresistible additions to their soon-to-be new home.

Let them know that the lender may pull their credit once more before closing. A large purchase on credit may either slow down closing or cause loan denial.

You’re the expert that your clients rely on to help them navigate the real estate process. While buying or selling a home is primarily the same in fall as in the other three seasons, there are subtle differences they need to be aware of and you need to prepare for to make the season a success.

Send out Football Schedules to your Sphere and Farm now and they’ll arrive just in time for the first NFL game of the season (September 10th).

Even better, add a magnetic back for their frig, so the schedule (and your contact info) will stay in front of your audience all season long.

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

1. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

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

3. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

4. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

5. The Market Dominator

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.

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

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

The Biggest Client Complaint & How NOT to be That Agents

Feb 12, 2020

“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 killer tools to help your success this year!

1. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan – NEW 2020!

2. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan – NEW 2020!

3. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

4. The Free Online ROI Calculator

5. Get the ALL-NEW Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

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

Brilliant Real Estate Closing Gifts

Customer Care

Oct 9, 2018

Whether or not to give gifts to real estate clients at or after closing is an often-debated topic.

Those in the “yes” camp struggle with coming up with a gift that is personal, but not too personal, and whether or not the gift should include the agent’s branding.

It’s a tall order, but, thankfully, we’ve checked with our agent network and, as usual, have some brilliant real estate closing gift ideas to share.

Stop hating on gift cards

No, a gift card isn’t highly original and whether or not to choose one as a gift depends on your relationship with each particular client. But, it is sure to be a welcome and much-appreciated closing gift for clients on a strict budget (maybe your FHA buyers?).

You can’t go wrong with a gift card from Lowe’s or Home Depot or any of the large home décor stores. If your client is an avid gardener, check if your local nursery offers gift cards. And, if you’re still stuck for ideas, how about a gift of delivery service with an Instacart or Uber gift card? The latter can also be used for Uber’s ride-sharing service.

Artwork

Snap a photo of your clients and their kids and/or pets standing in front of their new home. Then, send it to an artist who can turn it into something family-room-wall-worthy.

Or, have the portrait made into “Just Moved” cards for the clients to send to friends and family. Pre-stamping the envelopes, by the way, is a thoughtful step that they won’t expect.

The internet is the best place to find talented, reasonably-priced artists who specialize in creating portraits from photographs. And, you can often find one who will do so in your preferred medium, from pencil to watercolor to oil.

Here are several websites I found while doing some online sleuthing:

Paint your Life
Portrait Painting
Instapainting
Portraits on Demand
A number of artists on Etsy offer portraits from photos

The gift that keeps on giving, keeping you top-of-mind

How can a former client forget you when, each month, something amazing is delivered to their door?

No, they aren’t cheap (although some are surprisingly affordable), but subscription boxes are appreciated.

Meal boxes (there are a number of choices, such as Blue Apron, Plated, Hello Fresh)
Fresh flowers
Bagels
Bark Box or Rescue Box (for the dog “Mom” or “Dad”)
FilterEasy (yes! No more schlepping to Home Depot to pick up HVAC filters)
Gardening
Beauty items (for female clients, Birchbox is among the most popular)

Find other popular subscription services at impactbnd.com.

Consider keeping it local by gifting several hours of services that you know your client will use. These include:

Dog walking
House cleaning
Landscaping
Pool cleaning and servicing
Handyman
Organizing
Errand running

Techster clients will love these

I joined my neighborhood’s forum on NextDoor.com and the most popular conversations among neighboring homeowners involve home security. Most of the homeowners either own or are interested in purchasing the Ring video doorbell. They’re offered at a variety of price points, with the least expensive starting at about $100.

Google Home Mini for less than $50 (a smart speaker with Google Assistant built in) is so popular that the folks at Google say they’ve sold “more than one device every second since they started shipping in October” of last year.

Instead of the keys to their new home, imagine handing your homebuying clients a smart lock instead. Yes, they’re pricey, but the popular 3rd generation of the August Smart Lock sells for only $129 and the Kwikset Kevo Blue Tooth Deadbolt is priced at slightly less than $150.

While the topic of whether or not to gift your clients at closing seems to be a matter of personal preference, most agree that if you will be giving a closing gift, keep your branding off of it.

Then, put some thought behind it. If it’s a gift card your clients truly need, then, by all means, gift them with one. If not, we hope our list helps guide you to the perfect real estate closing gift.

With client appreciation on your mind, right now is the perfect time to all of your incredible clients with a Customer Appreciation postcard.

Send the All My Thanks postcard to all of your past clients and let them know just how much they mean to you.

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 2 free ways we can help you STILL CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. 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, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator.

Also…check out these cool tools

Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

Want to Refer a friend or colleague? Refer them, Here. THEY get a Free $25 Gift Card and YOU become their hero. BTW, you also get a $25 Gift Card too (now that’s what I’m talking about)!

Dazzle with Customer Service: Explain the Mortgage Process

Customer Service

Sep 12, 2018

Win Them Over With Mortgage Savvy

Remember real estate school? What fun it was to learn about such thrilling topics as riparian rights, avulsion, and tenancy by the entirety. Unless you were planning on selling ranch, investment or water-front property, these topics were quickly pushed to the back of your mind once you got your license. Then came the real learning: how to generate leads, work with buyers and sellers and the anatomy of a mortgage.

While you may have had a broker or mentor who walked you through the fine art of generating leads, the mortgage process is typically something we learned on our own, piecemeal.

If, as newbies, we were confused over the mortgage process, think about how clueless your first-time buyers might be.

Get them up to speed

Only 30 percent of them are familiar with the mortgage process according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Finance Housing Agency (FHFA) survey. That’s a whole lot of buyers who are blindly entering a huge financial transaction.

The mortgage profession, like real estate, boasts a workforce with a variety of backgrounds, education, skills, and experience. Like our industry, there are those who work hard at providing customer service and there are those who seemingly couldn’t care less.

Sadly, as they do when choosing a real estate agent, the vast majority of homebuyers (77 percent, according to the survey above) choose the first lender they speak with.

This offers the customer-service-oriented agent a brilliant opportunity. Make explaining the mortgage process, from start to finish (and in plain English) a part of your buyer consultation meetings. It’s customer service on steroids.

Go beyond referring your clients to a lender

Surf the internet for home buying advice and agent websites typically offer some form of “See a lender.” This is skimpy advice that adds nothing of value to the reader.

Providing answers to their most frequently asked questions is valuable. What does DTI stand for and how is it determined and what role does it play in the mortgage process? Explain what “mortgage origination” means. What are “discount points?”

Explain the different players who work behind the scenes for a typical borrower. For instance, what does an underwriter do? An infographic or even a text walk-through of the life cycle of a home loan could do the trick here.

And, don’t neglect counseling your buying clients about protecting their credit during escrow (not making large purchases on credit, not changing jobs, not moving money around).

How to get the word out

While a basic explanation during your buyer consultation is a must, your website is another vehicle for spreading the word about the mortgage process. From articles in the “Buying” or “Financing” section of your site to blog posts about different aspects of mortgages (down payment assistance, what to expect at closing, etc.) can all help educate your client.

Getting back to the buyer consultation: use handouts to cut down the amount of time it takes to explain the mortgage process. Start with an explainer sheet or infographic that walks them, step-by-step- through the process. Include a glossary of mortgage terms that they can refer to when needed.

Include a page on various mortgage programs, such as FHA, VA and USDA and another on down payment assistance programs in your area. Then, package them all up in one of our presentation folders for them to take home with them.

Explaining the mortgage process to your buying clients does more than add to their customer service experience. Knowing that they need to hold off on that appliance-shopping trip to Lowe’s or Home Depot prevents a common mortgage disaster.

Also, knowing what to expect during the process allows them to relax into it. And, we’re sure you’ll agree that relaxed clients are the easiest to work with.

Order the Free Report Chop $24,000 Off Your Mortgage and give out everywhere as a Free Offer on your direct mail pieces, at Open Houses, and in your community.

Make sure everyone knows who the expert agent is who will be there for them, answer ALL their questions and guide them in the right direction.

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 2 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

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

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator.

Also…check out these cool tools

Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

Want to Refer a friend or colleague? Refer them, Here. THEY get a Free $25 Gift Card and YOU become their hero. BTW, you also get a $25 Gift Card too (now that’s what I’m talking about)!

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