Vancouver Wa Real Estate - Elite Realty NW

365 Tips To Becoming A Successful Realtor®

Tip #37 - Buyers Step 2 - Setting Expectations

Once you have verified the buyer's lender and have determined what price range they will be working in, it is time to set their expectations. It is very tempting to say something along the lines of, "Now its time to go out and find your dream house!"

Don't do it!

As soon as you set the expectation at the "Dream House" level, no real house in the area will compare. Everyone knows that there is no "perfect" home. Even people who hire architects and contractors to design and build full custom homes would make changes if they had it to do over again. Don't fall into the trap of setting expectations too high.

It is also dangerous to lead them to believe that there money will go farther than it really will. Inexperienced agents will play up the buyer's market in order to get a client. They will tell the buyer that they can find deal for pennies on the dollar. When the "Dream Home" at a "30% discount" fails to show up, they usually lose the buyer to a more experienced (and honest) real estate agent. Be real with your clients and let the market speak for itself. There are some really great deals out there. Rather than telling your clients, take them out to visit the great deals.

Photo by Magda

Tip #36 - What Do I Do With All Of These Leads?

If lead generation is the heart and soul of any successful real estate business, then a good lead follow up system is certainly the brains of the operation. Your system will be comprised of two parts: 1) a database to store and track all of your contacts and leads, and 2) a turnkey series of touches (contacts) that is scheduled and implemented for each of your contacts.

The Database - Your database can be as simple as a shoebox filled with recipe cards that contain the contact information for your contacts. That would be cheap and simple but I don't recommend it. Your database could also be sophisticated and elaborate. The upper end systems are usually referred to as Contact Management Systems. There are dozens of them that are available online and are specifically designed for Realtors. Top Producer®, Wise Agent®, and My Red Tools® are three contact management systems that will get the job done. The key here is to build good habits early. There is nothing like taking the cheap route for the first two years while you grow your business and then having to transfer all of your contacts out of that shoebox and into a contact management system!

Series of touches - These are a series of predetermined messages and calls that will go out to each of your contacts. I use a system called an "8 x 8" which is based on the system in Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller. (For those of you who prefer the Cliffnote version, it is the chart at the bottom of page 146) It is 8 touches in eight weeks. The idea is to stay in the front of a client's mind by sending a reminder each week. A touch can be a phone call, a letter or postcard, and email, or any other source of communicating with the potential client. Whether you use Gary's 8x8 or design something of your own, it is crucial to your business that you have a system in place.

The 2010 Clark County Parade of Homes is getting near and the excitement is building. Builders are working feverishly to get their masterpieces finished in time for the event. The Building Industry Association of Clark County is putting all of the finishing touches on and getting ready to host the thousands of people who will be attending this year's show.

In true Elite Realty NW fashion, we have discount coupons to the Clark County Parade of Homes and are putting them here for you to use. Feel free to print them out to get your discount at the gate.

As sponsors of the 2010 Clark County Parade of Homes, we will be on site and manning the Tour of Homes booth. Be sure to stop in to say Hello.

365 Tips To Becoming A Successful Realtor®

Tip #35 - Play a Little. Learn a Little. Get a Tan!

Some of you "A" types are having a tough time with my coaching sessions that cover taking the day off. You probably haven't been without your cell phone in years and your active files are with you in the trunk of your car (or closer) at all times. I know that I can't order you to take a day off with any success. Cold turkey won't work for you. We will need to take baby steps.

Baby step #1 - Go out side. It won't hurt you and your business won't blow up. Don't believe me? Try this, leave your cell phone in the house and take a walk around the block. It will just take a few minutes. You will see.

Back yet?

Good! See, it wasn't that hard was it? Check your cell phone. Miss any calls? No?

Baby step #2 - Pack up the kids, your spouse, the dog, or whoever it might be in your life who is important to you and drive to someplace fun. A park, the beach, a picnic, it doesn't matter, just go someplace fun. Yes, you may take your cell phone!

Are you there yet? Good! Now leave your cell phone in the car and go out and spend time with your family. If you absolutely have to check it, then you can check for messages once an hour or so. No more than 5 minutes of phone time per hour while you are out with your loved ones. Tell them what you are doing and have them keep you honest. Guilt is a powerful tool.

I am having fun with this but there is alot of truth in what I am telling you. I am working with another agent who hasn't taken a vacation in over 4 years. I gave her the above steps as a homework project a few weeks ago and she called me the next day to thank me for giving her her life back!

The learning portion of this post:

Hopefully you have learned that you don't have to keep your cell phone with your 24 hours a day in order to be a success. Most of the calls that you receive each day are junk calls that waste your time. 

365 Tips To Becoming A Successful Realtor®

A Week in Review - Week 5

Tip #28 - All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Realtor® -  Taking time off can increase your performance. 

Tip #29 - Lead Generation. It's a Numbers Game - The more contacts you have, the more business you will get. Period.

Tip #30 - Buyers Step 1 - The Lender - Without a good lender, the sale will fail. Be sure they have a good one!

Tip #31 - Negotiations and the Game of Give and Take - Use this tactic to keep the other side from bullying you during negotiations.

Tip #32 - Buyers Who Would Like To Visit Every Short Sale On The Internet - Sort sales really are the buyers worst friend. 

Tip #33 - Networking. Where To Go And How To Find It - Don't look so hard!

Tip #34 - Script for Warm Seller Lead - Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to... 

For the over achievers in the group, you can go straight to all of the 365 Tips To Becoming A Successful Realtor® blogs to date by following this link:

365 Tips To Becoming A Successful Realtor®

365 Tips To Becoming A Successful Realtor®

Tip #34 - Script for Warm Seller Lead

Some of you will feel cheated by this script. You may think that it is too simple. You may think that you already know this and that there is nothing cutting edge or new here. At some time in the future, you will look back and change your mind. You will thank me.

Others who have been following along, I am sure that you know that I am direct and to the point with my scripts. I believe that clients appreciate us more when we are succinct with our message and we don't waste too much of their time. All of the script that I use have one goal, get an appointment. It is rare to take a listing without meeting the seller so the sooner you meet, the better.

Warm sellers are anyone who is planning on selling their home in the next 30 days. They can be FSBO's, phone leads, past clients, or referalls. The one thing they all have in common is that they are selling soon. You mission is to get an appointment.

" Hi, my name is Mark Hall with Keller Williams. I understand that you are selling your home. When is a good time to meet so that we can discuss it?"

A large number of my seller leads come disguised as buyers. Someone will call to inquire about a listing and I ask if the need to sell a home before buying the new one.

"So you need to sell your home first? When is a good time to meet so that we can discuss it?"

Dirt Bag Builder Finally Makes Good On Deal - Vancouver WA Real Estate

It was the first week of January 2010. Our clients had seen most everything out there and didn't like any of it. They came to us with a flyer for a new subdivision where the builder was pre selling homes that were right in their price range. They couldn't believe that they could own a new home at the same price as some of the older homes that we had visited.

Having worked with dozens of builders in the Clark County area, we counseled our clients as to what they should expect during the experience. They were up for the challenge and we wrote an offer. My clients were renting an apartment and they were very concerned about timing. They has a clause in their lease that imposed large penalties for staying in the property without a long term lease. Tenants who are on month to month leases incur monthly rate increases. OUCH!

The builder claimed to be able to finish the home by April 17. Just in time for our clients to vacate their apartment before the deadline of April 30. Just to be sure, we wrote a clause into the contract triggering a $8,000 price reduction if the home was not move in ready by April 30. Everyone was in agreement and we moved forward.

My anxious clients drove past the site on a daily basis. Weeks passed and they were disappointed to see that there had been no work performed on their new home. The builder claimed that there were permit problems but we could see that there clearly had been 5 other homes started in the neighborhood. Four of them were for deals that were signed after theirs. The builder finally broke ground and poured the foundation during the 2nd week of April.

April 30 came and went and the contract extensions filled our files. Visits to the build site revealed unhappy framers, plumbers, and electricians complaining about not being paid.

Everything came to a head last week. The builder missed yet another closing date and when we were working on, what was supposed to be, the last contract extension, his Realtor called and told us that the builder was refusing to sign it. She informed us that he wasn't aware of the addendum for the price reduction and that he was going to let the contract expire and sell it to someone else!

After a few well founded threats of lawsuits, a friendly chat between our broker and their broker, and a not-so-friendly phone call between their broker and the builder, we got it all sorted out. The buyers got their home and their discount and no has to deal with messy courtroom appearances and nasty newspaper articles. Our clients were thrilled to get their keys last night and are moving into their beautiful new home this weekend. All is right with the world!

 Or is it?

In subdivisions like this, the model homes draw a huge amount of walk in traffic. The builders enjoy the advantage of controlling both sides of the deal when unsuspecting buyers wander in off the street and buy a home directly from their agents. What would have happened in this case if our clients didn't have us to fight for them?

365 Tips To Becoming A Successful Realtor®

Tip #33 - Networking. Where To Go And How To Find It

Realtors have a habit of over analyzing things. They don't want to start something until they have all of the pieces in place and they are perfectly 100% ready to launch. They end up with half finished projects that never get off the ground because it is never "perfect" enough. It is called analysis paralysis. I have agents come into my office asking about networking all the time. Where do I go? How do I find the best group? How do I know if it is a good group?

They will over-think it until they never leave the house. They waste valuable networking time sitting at home trying to find the perfect venue.

Love the one you're with!

The fastest and most effective method of networking is to just stop and look around you. Todd Clark, blogging guru and networking extraordinaire, is the most creative networker alive. And guess what? He doesn't hang out at "networking" events. He is involved with his local community and networks in his everyday life. He gets more leads by attending his son's baseball game than most of us could get in a years worth of Le Tip meetings.

The point is this, Make it simple! Don't spend a lot of money. Don't spend a lot of time away from your family. Just slow down and look around you. There are opportunities everywhere.

As we were preparing for a listing appointment todayin Vancouver Washington, I was reviewing our sales portfolio for the past 12 months. We always take a print out of all of the homes that we have sold in the past year to show the sellers. I see this as our performance score for the year. Would you rather hire a Vancouver Washington real estate agent who sold 6 homes last year? or 60?

As I scanned through the sales I noticed an interesting trend. For the whole of the years, we handled 7 deals where we were dual agents. 5 of them were in the past 3 months. On top of that we wrote 2 dual agency deals this week. Hmmm... am I seeing a trend?

I quickly compared the clients involved with my database. Just As I suspected! Of the 9 buyers involved, 7 of them were leads generated via the internet and 6 of those were people who found me through my blog. 7 of them were since RainCamp in Seattle last year.

I printed the stats and added them to our listing presentation. I doubt that any other Vancouver Washington real estate agents will be able to show results like this. This is powerful stuff.

365 Tips To Becoming A Successful Realtor®

Tip #32 - Buyers Who Would Like To Visit Every Short Sale On The Internet

The internet has created some great tools for agents. Dripping new listings on to prospective buyers has been a great way to stay in touch (even if it is virtual) and it has saved agents hours of time screening every home that gets listed. On the other hand, it has also created a few pitfalls.

A major pitfall has been that buyers have access to view properties that don't contain all or the relevant information.

Bill and Barbara Buyer hire you to be their buyer's agent. They are preapproved up to $300,000 and they have a list of 37 homes that they like in the area. They tell you that there are at least 5 that they would be willing to buy today. When you scrub the list you find that 32 of those homes are short sales and 25 of them have multiple offers with the bank. The few that are left are probably fixers.

When you break the news to Bill and Barbara, they are still upbeat. Against your counseling, they want to see them and agree that they have what it takes to make it through the short sale process. With some strong negotiation skills you manage to get the to cut out the homes with multiple offers. They decided to cut the fixers on their own.

You all know where this is going. They find one they really like and beg your to write an offer. You write it, you sit and wait for 3 months (if they make it that long) and your buyers disappear. Probably mad at you for getting them into the whole mess.

Next time you find yourself in this situation, try this:

1. Go to ActiveRain and print 3 or 4 short sale nightmare stories.

2. Include them as part of your buyer interview process.

3. Explain to them that a huge percentage of these deals fail and the buyers end up missing out on the home that they really want because they were tied up in the short sale contract.

4. Ask them if they would like you to help them avoid those deals and to just show them homes that are actually available at the listed price.

You will get a "yes" answer every time. You will save yourself a huge headache, save your clients a gient heartache, and they will thank you for it in the end!