Image is Everything in Real Estate?
In the real estate community it is all about image. Let’s look at the industry closer and you tell me who YOU would like to deal with.
Let’s say for example a potential buyer of a home you call an agent’s sign after seeing it in your neighbor’s yard. When you call you get a voice mail and leave a simple message to detailing you would like to buy a home in a new area of town. Ten days later the agent calls you back for a meeting. Instead of the agent coming to your home he wants you to meet him at a satellite office. Thirty minutes late your new agent arrives looking like he has been in the New York City marathon driving an old beat up Buick. OK STOP! Do you get my point yet? Everything in real estate is about details and image. As a real estate agent you need to treat people as if they are the last home buyers in the world. I really hate getting e-mails from agents who never think they have time for a client. If you don’t have time then you are either the busiest real estate agent in the world, you need extra help, you are juggling too many clients or you don’t know what your doing ( I lead to the you don’t know what your doing part most of the time).
Take it slow. Your attention to detail needs to be at the highest. Do you own an old car? If so you really should think about leasing a nice one, something that you would like to be riding in the back seat of while you show clients homes. This is an investment that I can’t stress about enough. People trust you to find their dream home and a rusted car doesn’t scream dream to me.
Dress to kill. If you are a male wear a suit. If in the heat you can at minimum wear a shirt and tie. Enough with the polo collar shirts with your brand logo on it. Not only does this look cheap but it makes you look like a normal Joe. Females can also wear professional dress, no high skirts. I realize that some markets in California this might be a common practice but I can tell you that you will immediately make buyers wife very upset if you are wearing something that you should be wearing to the club on Saturday night.
Be on time and do something special. Never and I mean never show up late to a meeting, never be unprepared and always do something that will leave a lasting impression. Give them a few dinners to a local restaurant as a gift or better yet send them a gift basket so when they arrive back home they get a nice card. If it is a higher end sale and you have been working on finding a home for a client for weeks send them a note stating “I want you to worry only about how to enjoy this basket and let me worry about finding you a home. One will come around that will be perfect for you.”
The bottom line to all of this is play the part. If you are new to the real estate industry don’t fall into the trap of doing what everyone else is doing. Have a good mentor that can show you the correct way of doing business and grow from there. I always would sit back at the end of the day and think to my sell about every major decision or meeting that took place and think about ways I could have done it better or think about if I were wearing the shoes of someone else would I like “me”.
Pictures can be worth millions to a savvy real estate agent
Do you own a website and promote your properties, take pictures for brochures or make flyers for your rentals? If so then you know the importance of a good picture. Well apparently some of you have forgotten about the fine art of photography. I recently got a full page color flyer showing this real nice $475,000 home. The text was OK but the real shocker was the photo’s were probably the worst I’ve ever seen. I went to the home to take a look for myself and I found this amazing house. Nice wooden floors, new landscape, plush living area. I couldn’t have been more surprised.
Well to make long story short I sold the house to one of my clients. Of course I did, the ones on the MLS were junk and no wonder no other agents were looking at the home because everyone though it was overpriced because of the pictures.
As a newbie real estate agent I strongly suggest investing $400-600 on a nice digital camera with at least 5.1 mega pixels. Try to get one where you can put on new lenses if necessary for landscape shots. You can upgrade to larger memory cards at a later date but what ever you do don’t just buy a $50 from the local penny store and go cheap. A $500 investment can be recovered in one sale.
Take pictures of what people want to see. Take nice pictures of the kitchen and living areas. No need to take pictures of the garage (unless it is amazing). Take tons of pictures of the outside of the home if on acreage. If in a condo show the view. Bring out the beauty of the home and don’t settle for the normal pictures. I’ve even taken pictures of the current family with the home. People like to see how owned the home originally and they feel comfortable knowing they had 2 kids and a dog. Be creative.
Technology Blues got your down? How the real estate industry is taking advantage.
Please send me over by PDF the document and CC by Blackberry if you could. I have WiFi access and will take it and then pink-pong message you back with my answer. Does this sound familiar? Well if it does then you’re not along. I’ve received many e-mails from customers that say starting out is more difficult than taking their real estate license for the first time.
What you need and what you want are two different things. What is need is a business phone and digital answering machine or service, a cell phone that works everywhere a laptop with internet and perhaps an organizer (unless you want to use your laptop). The phone is a must. What I do is use my business phone for new customers inquiring about my services. Then I switch them over to my cell phone as I want them to be able to get a hold of me when they need me. My laptop never leaves my side. I can print out contracts; show properties, show pictures, do research. Basically I can do everything with my laptop. As a real estate agent you need simple tools to make your life easier. Remember technology shouldn’t be hard. If you have problems with technology, ask yourself if you really need it. I love agents who have a cell phone, pager, palm and Blackberry. Funny thing is the Blackberry can do it all but is more advanced and most people only use it as a phone and simple text messaging (waste of time and money). Instead of using 4 devices take the time to use 1 of them real good.
If you have been an agent for years then you might have a cell phone and that is all. My advice s they better wake up and join the new era or you will get left behind. If a client wants to see something you should be able to show them instantly. Here is nice new trick for you new real estate agents. Buy a camera phone. Don’t tell your client you are taking pictures but when you get back in the office download the images to your phone and give them a CD of what they looked at. Nothing is better for your client than a CD so they can sit down and discuss the homes than saw later than night.
TOP 10 WAYS YOU CAN MAKE MORE MONEY IN FLORIDA REAL ESTATE WHEN IT COMES TIME TO SELL YOUR HOME
- FOR GOODNESS SAKES CLEAN IT
Sounds like common sense, but you would be shocked in the number of open houses I visit and the place is a dirty and trash is thrown everywhere.
- DON’T LIVE IN THE HOUSE
This can be a problem for many but if you can manage it I recommend you move out of your home and let the real estate agent have full access 7 days a week. Nothing worse than a home buyer wanting to see your home and you haven’t had a chance to freshen up the house
- MAKE IT A MODEL HOME FEEL
Ever walked in a model home and went “WOW” now this is nice. They way they pull it off is then store all of their junk. You should enter a home and instantly say “this is clean and I love the decorations”. You shouldn’t say “oh look at the spoon collection and pile of shoes in the closet”.
- HAVE MANY OPEN HOUSES
If people can’t see the home they can’t buy it. Make your real estate agent have open houses on Saturday and Sundays. Make them work for their commission. Remember every week you don’t sell is money out of your pocket. Quick hint: Make a batch of cookies the morning of the open house and put them out for the clients. Nothing is better than walking into a home and smelling fresh cookies.
- TAKE THE DOG AND PETS OUT OF THE HOUSE
If you have pets you need to get them 100% out of the house and take them to your friends or family members home until you sell. Nothing worse then looking at a home with 3 cats, especially if you are allergic to cats. Do a professional clean if possible. Don’t have your home be devalued because of a pet.
- PAINT, PAINT AND THEN PAINT SOME MORE
With good paint at a whopping $15-20 per gallon please spend the money and do a nice paint job inside your home. Please cover over that pink room or they green laundry room with light, natural or neutral colors. This way you won’t taint the buyer into making a decision on the house just because of the colors.
- KITCHEN AND BATHROOM
This is for all of your ladies out there. Reports have shown that if you have a nice kitchen and bathroom you are more likely to sell your home. This is true because you spend most of your time in these 2 areas. It might be worth doing those small upgrades in these areas as you’ll probably get the money back when you sell.
- LET THE AGENT TALK
If you are home when a possible client arrives with the agent either leave or don’t talk. Your agent is a trained professional and you might say something the buyer doesn’t want to hear. Let the possible new owners make up their mind about the house.
- DON’T UNDERVALUE YOUR HOME
If you know what homes are going for in your neighborhood don’t let an agent talk you into selling for a cheaper price. To an agent the difference in $10,000 - $20,000 isn’t that much as they might only get 2-3% of that when they sell, but to you it is hard cash.
- HIRE THE BIG GUNS
If you own a premium house in a great neighborhood then don’t hire a newbie green agent that only has a few houses under their belts. Go with a good broker that can properly advertise your home and get top market value. You can also consider hiring a company that moves all of your junk out of your house and replaces it with model furniture. The cost can be high but many claim that you’ll be able to recoup that with the higher price you’ll be able to sell your home for.
