Jen Dollar's Blog: Florida Real Estate News

Archive for June, 2010

Day 1 from ORRA’s Agent Profitability Workshop:

Statistics to remember: 56% of on purpose activities don’t make you any money, only 44% make money.  Decrease your non-productive time, increase your productive time.. MAKE MORE MONEY!

Six Elements of Success are Passion, Vision, Winning Differences, Creativity, Technique Mastery and Take Action.  You have to have passion, it drives you.  Passion causes you to do things you normally wouldn’t do.  Passion motivates you.  Vision/Goals are your direction, goals, plans, etc.  You need to know where you are going.  Make them short-term and attainable.  Short-term goals give you passion.  Winning Differences, what are yours?  What do you bring to the table?  Know your winning differences and use them to help you sell real estate.  Example would be an expert at short-sale listings (a real expert) – you know you can sell short sales better than the other agent – USE IT.  You must be creative.  With creativity there is always a way and it helps to fix most problems.  Adversity comes to everyone which is a good excuse for failure for the average agent.  Master your Technique, do you have the skills to get the job done?  Ask yourself this question.  Finally, take action!  If you don’t take action the 5 elements before mean nothing.  How fast you get there is not as important as how are you getting there?  Take a step everyday.  If you don’t you will always be on the sideline.

I will have more information for you as the week goes on – but please borrow this information from me and use it!

It's better to burst the bubble than it is to create an unhappy customer later.

As realtors, we have a propensity to focus on precisely what the client wants – and rightfully so. We’re rewarded with sales if we live by that strategy. Our business is based on helping our customers find exactly what they’re looking for, and the realtor that’s there at the right moment showing the customer what they want gets the sale. What’s the harm in that, right? We have to give the bad news and skepticism that could in some cases ruin a deal, but generates a stronger sphere of influence. That honest assessment is what creates an appreciative customer and a relationship built on trust. Bursting the bubble isn’t fun, but we all know how thankful we were when someone told us a hard truth.

We have to remember that our job is more than closing a deal. It’s more than giving the customer exactly what they want. We’re the professionals in a position to save our customers from the things they don’t know. We should act in a manner to find what the customer wants, and protect them from the problems they don’t know as consumers, but that we do as realtors. We answer the questions they don’t know to ask, because we’ve seen the pitfalls of hasty purchases.

In Lake Mary we have condo associations that are having a tough time remaining solvent with foreclosures piling up, just like other cities all over the country. This is something I tell my clients to be aware of upfront. If they’re on a strict budget and buying a bargain foreclosure in Lake Mary is still a stretch for them – they have to be aware that they could get an assessment at any moment. Now, most associations are doing fine, but our brokerage has seen one particular association give an assessment of hundreds of dollars, and a monthly fee double from what they originally charged. The client also has to know that an unknown situation can cause tension if they like to be involved with their neighborhood. I’ve had customers want a condo, but afteranalyzing the situation for them on resale value and fees – they found out buying a house and hiring a landscaper was a better solution.

Know the property you show. Tell your customers about what they don't know to ask.

This kind of honesty might kill a deal for you, but the customer will thank you for the honesty and they’ll trust you as an advisor and not just a sales person. You may lose a deal with your honesty, but our focus should be on the customer. If you placed a customer on a shoestring budget in a foreclosure that was at the highest point of their approval, at best they could rack up fines if they can’t pay, and at worst they could have a lien or be stuck in a situation they can no longer afford. Guess who they wouldn’t be going to see when they want to rid themselves of the place, and what they’ll tell all their friends about how the transaction went?

So many Realtors have become driven by the mantra “push to close as soon as possible, and hope it appraises.” That’s not a great thing for the profession. Unfortunately, that’s the economics of the situation. What we as agents need to remember, is that we should plan for happy customers that thank us for popping the dream bubble.

New construction can’t have problems because it’s new, right? An HOA/COA can’t charge me assessments when I just moved in, right? The builder can’t use the clubhouse as a sales area forever right? There isn’t a major difference between block and wood frame, right? We know the tough questions, and we need to answer them - even if they aren’t asked.

Every property has its own unique situation, and it’s our job to be informed enough to tell the client what they don’t want to hear. Don’t be afraid to burst a fantasy bubble because your customer will reward you with not just a transaction, but the trust to widen your sphere.

iHOUSE Web Solutions announced today that they have been selected as a Registered Supplier for Realty Executives International. As a Realty Executives Registered Supplier, iHOUSE Web Solutions is pleased to offer global Executives current web based marketing tools to enhance their business and listing exposure. Realty Executives associates will be able to enjoy IDXPro MLS search solution, Spotlight Single Property Websites and ConnecTel real estate hotlines as approved Realty Executives product choices. iHOUSE Web Solutions will participate in various meetings, events, and trade shows throughout the year, including the Realty Executives International trade show in San Diego, CA this March, aiming to provide the valued executives with product knowledge and online opportunities they can add to their marketing plans.iHOUSE and Realty Executives Team Up! - click this link to find out more!

Yesterday a fellow agent stopped me as I was leaving ORRA and asked me the following, “I am new to the real esate business, how do I become successful?” I simply said, “business plan, business plan, business plan.”  It is imperative for anyone selling real estate to have a working business plan, regardless if you are brand new to the business or a veteran.  With so many changes in our market we are constintaly having to adapt and re-evaluate the way we do business and without a business plan it is easy to get lost in the minutia.  Study after study has shown that most agents that fail did so because they did not have a comprehensive business plan to follow. Realty Executives International provides a very inexpensive specific business plan for agents (www.createaplan.com) so that agents are equipped with the necessary tools to develop a realistic business plan and accountability system.  If you are currently an Executive with Realty Executives Create a plan can be found on Executive Access otherwise you can visit createaplan.com – Remember to operate from Profit not Fear!!!