Provided By KW Blog
He looks forward to the day when all transactions are conducted entirely online and all signed contracts are stored electronically—no more paper—and can be accessed online, from any location. He has been looking at DotLoop as a possible solution, but faces the challenge of not every local MLS supporting electronic transactions yet.
Ben makes the most of what technology has to offer and avoids tools that don’t generate a sale or lead. A few of his favorite tools are listed below.
•Zendesk is a trouble-ticket system which also stores answers to frequently-asked questions in a wiki. Ben’s team uses Zendesk to free up admin time.
•Mojo can increase productivity by 300% by reducing downtime during lead generation time blocks. Its auto-dialer calls 3 numbers at a time, sending only the live calls and leaving a custom voice mail for the others.
•Flowtown lets you import your contacts’ email addresses and find out how to contact them via all of their social media accounts. This is a great tool to help you incorporate social media into your 8 x 8 or 33 Touch campaigns.
•Nearby Tweets finds Twitterers located near you. You can specify the search radius as well as include keywords in tweets.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Drumming up Business in a Down Market
Provided By Realty Times
The real estate market has ups and downs. When it's good, buyers and sellers flock to the market. When it's down, the game changes. Newer agents who began their careers during the boom era are finding this out the hard way. Seasoned agents, on the other hand, knew that this time would come again. They know when the going gets tough, you must get creative.
Yet, much has changed over the past few decades. Technology has revolutionized the way people shop for and buy homes. How can you drum up business in a down market?
The first rule of a down market is to network. Social media sites have made certain aspects of this task more accessible. Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with local businesses, old clients, colleagues, and friends (who can turn into new clients). You're able to keep a pulse on what's happening in their lives. Who is in the market to move? Who needs more space in their home?
Twitter is another way to get your name out into the community. You could update your Twitter with weekly interest rate news, local market reports, as well as new homes you have listed for sale. Past and present clients would have direct access to your daily or weekly news feed!
Being a part of your local community is integral to networking. Volunteering and attending social functions, community gatherings, and local school events is a good way to get your face and name recognized. Real estates agents base their business on who they know.
You can also have a market presence online with an up-to-date website. Template sites or do-it-yourself sites (unless you're a professional) are not recommended. Buyers and sellers Google search for their local agents. Not having a website could mean you'll get passed over. Having an amateur website could mean the same thing. Invest a little time and money into maintaining a professional and useful website.
Useful websites include links to the most recent listings, recent advice articles or newsletters, webcasts, your background information, and local information for new residents. Give them access to local city phone numbers and locations for the DMV, hotels, and popular restaurants.
Spread the word about your website and business by carrying business cards with you at all times. These cards should be simple designs that provide your contact information, location, and website.
The final tip in today's article is to treat people kindly and with respect. This means treat the waitress at the restaurant, the worker in the gas station, the customer rep who provides you a service (cable, phone, catalog orders, ... everything) with respect, patience, and kindness.
Word gets around if you are difficult to deal with. Most people don't want to reward that sort of behavior with their business. So, be kind to everyone you meet and treat others with respect from the moment you meet them. You never know who will be your next client.
The real estate market has ups and downs. When it's good, buyers and sellers flock to the market. When it's down, the game changes. Newer agents who began their careers during the boom era are finding this out the hard way. Seasoned agents, on the other hand, knew that this time would come again. They know when the going gets tough, you must get creative.
Yet, much has changed over the past few decades. Technology has revolutionized the way people shop for and buy homes. How can you drum up business in a down market?
The first rule of a down market is to network. Social media sites have made certain aspects of this task more accessible. Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with local businesses, old clients, colleagues, and friends (who can turn into new clients). You're able to keep a pulse on what's happening in their lives. Who is in the market to move? Who needs more space in their home?
Twitter is another way to get your name out into the community. You could update your Twitter with weekly interest rate news, local market reports, as well as new homes you have listed for sale. Past and present clients would have direct access to your daily or weekly news feed!
Being a part of your local community is integral to networking. Volunteering and attending social functions, community gatherings, and local school events is a good way to get your face and name recognized. Real estates agents base their business on who they know.
You can also have a market presence online with an up-to-date website. Template sites or do-it-yourself sites (unless you're a professional) are not recommended. Buyers and sellers Google search for their local agents. Not having a website could mean you'll get passed over. Having an amateur website could mean the same thing. Invest a little time and money into maintaining a professional and useful website.
Useful websites include links to the most recent listings, recent advice articles or newsletters, webcasts, your background information, and local information for new residents. Give them access to local city phone numbers and locations for the DMV, hotels, and popular restaurants.
Spread the word about your website and business by carrying business cards with you at all times. These cards should be simple designs that provide your contact information, location, and website.
The final tip in today's article is to treat people kindly and with respect. This means treat the waitress at the restaurant, the worker in the gas station, the customer rep who provides you a service (cable, phone, catalog orders, ... everything) with respect, patience, and kindness.
Word gets around if you are difficult to deal with. Most people don't want to reward that sort of behavior with their business. So, be kind to everyone you meet and treat others with respect from the moment you meet them. You never know who will be your next client.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Why Start a Blog When “Blogs are Dead”
Provided By KW Blog
“Blogs are dead.” I heard this headline in 2008 when Wired made the declaration that Facebook and Twitter had made blogs “so 2004.” Since then that headline has floated around across the blogosphere, which seems fitting. In its State of the Blogosphere, Technorati said that, although blog postings had slowed, blogs weren’t going anywhere.
No predictions have stood out to me this year, but with the popularity of “micro-blogging” on Twitter and Facebook’s similar status updates, it is no doubt that people are spending a more time on social media sites to get information. Yes, fads come and go, but we will always need quality information. Even in real estate we are seeing an increase in agents utilizing blogs instead of Websites. Blogs are essentially blurring the lines between what is a Website and a blog.
A blog isn’t a blog without quality content, so on this blog you will see posts from a variety of people at Keller Williams. Although it won’t be all real estate all the time, it will be a place for you to come and know you are hearing from some of the most talented and passionate voices in our industry. Whatever your belief – whether blogs are dead or alive, we hope that you will find this to be a great resource for educational information on our industry and an inside peek into KW.
Although I love Twitter and Facebook, I for one hope that blogs SHIFT through this ever-changing social media world and emerge even stronger.
“Blogs are dead.” I heard this headline in 2008 when Wired made the declaration that Facebook and Twitter had made blogs “so 2004.” Since then that headline has floated around across the blogosphere, which seems fitting. In its State of the Blogosphere, Technorati said that, although blog postings had slowed, blogs weren’t going anywhere.
No predictions have stood out to me this year, but with the popularity of “micro-blogging” on Twitter and Facebook’s similar status updates, it is no doubt that people are spending a more time on social media sites to get information. Yes, fads come and go, but we will always need quality information. Even in real estate we are seeing an increase in agents utilizing blogs instead of Websites. Blogs are essentially blurring the lines between what is a Website and a blog.
A blog isn’t a blog without quality content, so on this blog you will see posts from a variety of people at Keller Williams. Although it won’t be all real estate all the time, it will be a place for you to come and know you are hearing from some of the most talented and passionate voices in our industry. Whatever your belief – whether blogs are dead or alive, we hope that you will find this to be a great resource for educational information on our industry and an inside peek into KW.
Although I love Twitter and Facebook, I for one hope that blogs SHIFT through this ever-changing social media world and emerge even stronger.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
5 Ways to Put Some Punch in Your Buyer and Seller Presentations
Provided By KW Blog
At a gathering of the KWU International Master Faculty last year, improv comedian Les McGehee told us about an icebreaker where three people volunteer to share a story about their lives. But there was a twist: Two were instructed to lie. The attendees then had to decide who was the truth-teller. Here’s the strange thing: Audiences almost always picked a bogus story. Why? Because when we share facts, we tend to believe the facts will speak for themselves. We don’t put any energy into the presentation.
This got me thinking about our buyer and seller presentations. Even though we may have a firm grasp on the market, a cold recitation the facts will probably not be enough to empower our clients to make the best decisions. Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a license to mislead. On the contrary, we need to power up our presentations and here’s five proven ways:
1. Make it Real
Chip and Dan Heath, in Made to Stick, tell us about Art Silverman of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and how he communicated the evils of movie popcorn. You see, back then popcorn was cooked with coconut oil, and a medium bag had a whopping 37 grams of saturated fat (almost a two-day supply in one serving!). “The challenge, Silverman realized, was that few people know what “37 grams of saturated fat” means…And even if we have an intuition that it’s bad, we’d wonder if it was “bad bad” (like cigarettes) or “normal bad” (like a cookie or a milk shake).” So Art called a press conference and shared that ‘A medium-sized ‘butter’ popcorn at a typical neighborhood movie theater contains more artery-clogging fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch, and a steak dinner with all the trimmings—combined!” He even laid out all the food to drive his point home. Fatty popcorn became a national story, moviegoers stopped eating it and theaters were forced to offer a healthier product!
So instead of telling your buyers and sellers that home prices are down 11.4 percent, say that the average home price has dropped $32,000. That’s a number they can feel, viscerally. Buyers might just get off the fence and sellers may think twice about shooting for the moon.
2. Avoid Jargon
Jargon is not real. Many people make the mistake of employing industry jargon and acronyms to appear more knowledgeable, but most jargon tends to be unintelligible to anyone outside the industry. At my first and only corporate job, they talked about “CTB forms” which left my head spinning until I finally had to the courage to ask what they were talking about. It stood for “Call to Bob.” No lie.
So avoid jumping into discussions of absorption rates (how quickly homes sell) or cap rates (a fancy measure of cash flow) and take a moment to make sure your client will understand you. Simply put, never use a fifty-cent word when a five-cent word will do.
3. Use Visuals
You may have noticed that the books and course we write are chock full of tables, graphs, and diagrams. At heart, Gary has always been a teacher. Give him a flip chart or a white board and he can make just about anything clear. Research shows that as many as six out of ten adults are visual learners—seeing, after all, is believing.
So, instead of telling your buyers and sellers about how overpricing can lead to chasing the market down, pull out SHIFT and walk them through the graphic on page 146 or use the dialogue and images on pages 150 to 153 which can easily be drawn on a napkin.
4. Ask Questions
As sales professionals, we know the importance of asking questions and then really listening to the answer. Questions have the power to open minds, change the direction of a conversation, and provoke thought. If you are presenting market trends on a graph, ask the seller, “So when you look at this trend, what does it tell you about how we should price your house?” When we ask questions, our buyers and sellers get a chance at self-discovery.
How much more powerful would your presentations be if your sellers and markets really understood how the market works?
5. Tell a Story
So we come full circle to stories. Not the fabricated kind, but rather true stories that help us make better decisions. In The Upside of the Downturn, Geoff Colvin talks about firefighters. Researchers showed both groups pictures of a fire and then asked each to describe what they saw. The novices noted the facts anyone would notice: where the fire was burning, the color of the flames, the amount of smoke. The veterans told a story about where the fire had started, what it was doing at the time of the photo and where it was likely going to spread. Colvin’s point was this: veteran firefighters instinctively placed the facts in the context of a story. They did it to save lives because we make better, faster decisions when we base our actions on stories (which mirror our real life experiences) than we do on a collection of facts.
This is why we role-play. This is why we trumpet our success stories. This is why the best agents weave past buyer and seller experiences into their presentations.
So for your next buyer or seller appointment, try using one of these tried-and-true techniques when making an important point. It may just put some extra punch in your presentation and help your client make the right choice.
At a gathering of the KWU International Master Faculty last year, improv comedian Les McGehee told us about an icebreaker where three people volunteer to share a story about their lives. But there was a twist: Two were instructed to lie. The attendees then had to decide who was the truth-teller. Here’s the strange thing: Audiences almost always picked a bogus story. Why? Because when we share facts, we tend to believe the facts will speak for themselves. We don’t put any energy into the presentation.
This got me thinking about our buyer and seller presentations. Even though we may have a firm grasp on the market, a cold recitation the facts will probably not be enough to empower our clients to make the best decisions. Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a license to mislead. On the contrary, we need to power up our presentations and here’s five proven ways:
1. Make it Real
Chip and Dan Heath, in Made to Stick, tell us about Art Silverman of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and how he communicated the evils of movie popcorn. You see, back then popcorn was cooked with coconut oil, and a medium bag had a whopping 37 grams of saturated fat (almost a two-day supply in one serving!). “The challenge, Silverman realized, was that few people know what “37 grams of saturated fat” means…And even if we have an intuition that it’s bad, we’d wonder if it was “bad bad” (like cigarettes) or “normal bad” (like a cookie or a milk shake).” So Art called a press conference and shared that ‘A medium-sized ‘butter’ popcorn at a typical neighborhood movie theater contains more artery-clogging fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch, and a steak dinner with all the trimmings—combined!” He even laid out all the food to drive his point home. Fatty popcorn became a national story, moviegoers stopped eating it and theaters were forced to offer a healthier product!
So instead of telling your buyers and sellers that home prices are down 11.4 percent, say that the average home price has dropped $32,000. That’s a number they can feel, viscerally. Buyers might just get off the fence and sellers may think twice about shooting for the moon.
2. Avoid Jargon
Jargon is not real. Many people make the mistake of employing industry jargon and acronyms to appear more knowledgeable, but most jargon tends to be unintelligible to anyone outside the industry. At my first and only corporate job, they talked about “CTB forms” which left my head spinning until I finally had to the courage to ask what they were talking about. It stood for “Call to Bob.” No lie.
So avoid jumping into discussions of absorption rates (how quickly homes sell) or cap rates (a fancy measure of cash flow) and take a moment to make sure your client will understand you. Simply put, never use a fifty-cent word when a five-cent word will do.
3. Use Visuals
You may have noticed that the books and course we write are chock full of tables, graphs, and diagrams. At heart, Gary has always been a teacher. Give him a flip chart or a white board and he can make just about anything clear. Research shows that as many as six out of ten adults are visual learners—seeing, after all, is believing.
So, instead of telling your buyers and sellers about how overpricing can lead to chasing the market down, pull out SHIFT and walk them through the graphic on page 146 or use the dialogue and images on pages 150 to 153 which can easily be drawn on a napkin.
4. Ask Questions
As sales professionals, we know the importance of asking questions and then really listening to the answer. Questions have the power to open minds, change the direction of a conversation, and provoke thought. If you are presenting market trends on a graph, ask the seller, “So when you look at this trend, what does it tell you about how we should price your house?” When we ask questions, our buyers and sellers get a chance at self-discovery.
How much more powerful would your presentations be if your sellers and markets really understood how the market works?
5. Tell a Story
So we come full circle to stories. Not the fabricated kind, but rather true stories that help us make better decisions. In The Upside of the Downturn, Geoff Colvin talks about firefighters. Researchers showed both groups pictures of a fire and then asked each to describe what they saw. The novices noted the facts anyone would notice: where the fire was burning, the color of the flames, the amount of smoke. The veterans told a story about where the fire had started, what it was doing at the time of the photo and where it was likely going to spread. Colvin’s point was this: veteran firefighters instinctively placed the facts in the context of a story. They did it to save lives because we make better, faster decisions when we base our actions on stories (which mirror our real life experiences) than we do on a collection of facts.
This is why we role-play. This is why we trumpet our success stories. This is why the best agents weave past buyer and seller experiences into their presentations.
So for your next buyer or seller appointment, try using one of these tried-and-true techniques when making an important point. It may just put some extra punch in your presentation and help your client make the right choice.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
NAR releases 2011 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, and the numbers may surprise you!
Provided By KW Blog
Recently, I was reading through The National Association of REALTORS 2011 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey and I got to thinking: With the opportunities that this market is affording us, how much of the buying population is going to be investors? Let’s start with some interesting stats: Total home sales for 2010 was 5.2 Million new and existing homes, keeping close pace with 2009 sales. The beginning of the year saw a large amount of first-time home buyers in the median and below median price range, followed by a slight lull of sales after the tax credit opportunity ended, ending the year fairly strong with continued low mortgage interest rates.
None of this is really news.
What IS interesting is that investor purchases were 17% of that amount, roughly 884,000 home sales, with an average sales price of $94,000, down from $105,000 in the previous year. This is actually a smaller percentage than in years past … in 2005, investors were buying about 25% of all residential properties sold. The decline has much to do with the tightening of the mortgage requirements, and of course was influenced by the decreasing home values.
Historically, the investor has been a relatively ignored piece of the market. Some agents have considered them too much work, because they perceive that investors only want “steals”; and want commissions to be discounted; and many other unreasonable demands. Other agents have stated that investors are very “numbers”, or “models” oriented, and require a great deal more time in analyzing properties, as opposed to more emotional purchase of a typical buyer. To the first issue, NAR reports that over 50% of the investors were simply seeking to diversify their investments and saw a great opportunity in the real estate market. In other words, 50% of investors didn’t really consider themselves investors per se, just individuals seeking safe harbor for a portion of their wealth. That means approximately half of those who purchased investment properties are unskilled investors who would benefit a great deal from professional representation; and the other half are those who may buy multiple properties, have business models and speak of “ROI, and Cap Rates, etc…” Either way, they all deserve quality representation from an educated, well-informed agent. With 52% of the investors in this survey indicating they were likely to very likely to buy another property in two years or less, the opportunity is clear.
This underserviced investor market is responsible for at least $83 billion in volume last year according to NAR, with most forecasters estimating that will increase this year. Their reasoning is that since the first-time home buyers won’t be out in full force, as they were in 2010, more investment homes will be available, coupled with the fact that many consider the down turn in home prices to be over, or at least close to the bottom. With average rents going up everywhere due to the influx of renters who can no longer purchase, cash flow is almost guaranteed in every city, every property, everywhere. In essence, it’s investors heaven! The question is, what are agents going to do about this opportunity? Here are a few ideas:
1. Get Educated! Read the Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller, to better understand the investor mind.
2. Get certified! There are a number of certifications available for the investor agent, Certified Investor Agent Specialist (CIAS) and OwnAmerica Investor Certification Program (OICP) to name two.
3. Get connected! Join your local Real Estate Investor Association (REIA) and get into community with Investors and Investor servicing networks.
Even if investor activity holds the line at 17% of the more than 5 million residential sales expected this year, there are still more than 850,000 transactions out there, just waiting for representation! Get your unfair share of the potential $2.5 billion in commissions available in the real estate investor niche market – this could be the Market of the Moment!
Recently, I was reading through The National Association of REALTORS 2011 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey and I got to thinking: With the opportunities that this market is affording us, how much of the buying population is going to be investors? Let’s start with some interesting stats: Total home sales for 2010 was 5.2 Million new and existing homes, keeping close pace with 2009 sales. The beginning of the year saw a large amount of first-time home buyers in the median and below median price range, followed by a slight lull of sales after the tax credit opportunity ended, ending the year fairly strong with continued low mortgage interest rates.
None of this is really news.
What IS interesting is that investor purchases were 17% of that amount, roughly 884,000 home sales, with an average sales price of $94,000, down from $105,000 in the previous year. This is actually a smaller percentage than in years past … in 2005, investors were buying about 25% of all residential properties sold. The decline has much to do with the tightening of the mortgage requirements, and of course was influenced by the decreasing home values.
Historically, the investor has been a relatively ignored piece of the market. Some agents have considered them too much work, because they perceive that investors only want “steals”; and want commissions to be discounted; and many other unreasonable demands. Other agents have stated that investors are very “numbers”, or “models” oriented, and require a great deal more time in analyzing properties, as opposed to more emotional purchase of a typical buyer. To the first issue, NAR reports that over 50% of the investors were simply seeking to diversify their investments and saw a great opportunity in the real estate market. In other words, 50% of investors didn’t really consider themselves investors per se, just individuals seeking safe harbor for a portion of their wealth. That means approximately half of those who purchased investment properties are unskilled investors who would benefit a great deal from professional representation; and the other half are those who may buy multiple properties, have business models and speak of “ROI, and Cap Rates, etc…” Either way, they all deserve quality representation from an educated, well-informed agent. With 52% of the investors in this survey indicating they were likely to very likely to buy another property in two years or less, the opportunity is clear.
This underserviced investor market is responsible for at least $83 billion in volume last year according to NAR, with most forecasters estimating that will increase this year. Their reasoning is that since the first-time home buyers won’t be out in full force, as they were in 2010, more investment homes will be available, coupled with the fact that many consider the down turn in home prices to be over, or at least close to the bottom. With average rents going up everywhere due to the influx of renters who can no longer purchase, cash flow is almost guaranteed in every city, every property, everywhere. In essence, it’s investors heaven! The question is, what are agents going to do about this opportunity? Here are a few ideas:
1. Get Educated! Read the Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller, to better understand the investor mind.
2. Get certified! There are a number of certifications available for the investor agent, Certified Investor Agent Specialist (CIAS) and OwnAmerica Investor Certification Program (OICP) to name two.
3. Get connected! Join your local Real Estate Investor Association (REIA) and get into community with Investors and Investor servicing networks.
Even if investor activity holds the line at 17% of the more than 5 million residential sales expected this year, there are still more than 850,000 transactions out there, just waiting for representation! Get your unfair share of the potential $2.5 billion in commissions available in the real estate investor niche market – this could be the Market of the Moment!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Arm Yourself with the Facts
Provided By KW Blog
Are your clients ever stuck on one piece of information – one statistic, one headline, or one anecdote – that threatens to get in the way of taking positive action and moving forward?
The culprit might be a recent headline suggesting that home prices are going to continue to drop, or a conviction that this is a bad time to sell, or a story about a friend or family member who got burnt on a recent real estate transaction.
The shifted market has given rise to some raw emotions and difficult conversations as clients try and make sense of the market and get a handle on what to do next. Our job is to help them to see the big picture, and decide within the context of all the facts how they are going to move forward. That’s what separates good agents from awesome agents and there is only one way to get there: spend some time with the numbers.
Early in my career, I made a commitment to digging beneath the surface and understanding the critical interactions that drive the real estate market. I’ve never lost my fascination for the facts behind the headlines, and today I believe that Keller Williams Realty’s sharp focus on research and an understanding of the big picture is central to what sets us apart as a company. It was also our motivation behind the creation of the KW Market Navigator. In one volume we have interpreted a year’s worth of KW Research findings for both the United States and Canada, and combined it with the data from my annual Vision Speech – in a graphically compelling format that’s actually fun to read.
When clients come to the table with concerns and opinions, you need to be in position to move the conversation forward with facts – facts on subjects such as how to beat the odds in a buyers’ market, the degree to which “green” features enhance the value of a home, staging strategies, and the prevalence of distressed properties in the current market.
If you haven’t already done so, I strongly urge you to order a copy today – at the bargain price of $5 for KW Associates – and keep a few extras on hand to share with your sphere.
More so than ever before, our clients are looking to us for knowledge, expertise and reassurance.
The 2011 KW Market Navigator offers a wealth of all three, and it’s the fastest way I know for real estate professionals to get briefed on the big picture.
ONWARD …
Are your clients ever stuck on one piece of information – one statistic, one headline, or one anecdote – that threatens to get in the way of taking positive action and moving forward?
The culprit might be a recent headline suggesting that home prices are going to continue to drop, or a conviction that this is a bad time to sell, or a story about a friend or family member who got burnt on a recent real estate transaction.
The shifted market has given rise to some raw emotions and difficult conversations as clients try and make sense of the market and get a handle on what to do next. Our job is to help them to see the big picture, and decide within the context of all the facts how they are going to move forward. That’s what separates good agents from awesome agents and there is only one way to get there: spend some time with the numbers.
Early in my career, I made a commitment to digging beneath the surface and understanding the critical interactions that drive the real estate market. I’ve never lost my fascination for the facts behind the headlines, and today I believe that Keller Williams Realty’s sharp focus on research and an understanding of the big picture is central to what sets us apart as a company. It was also our motivation behind the creation of the KW Market Navigator. In one volume we have interpreted a year’s worth of KW Research findings for both the United States and Canada, and combined it with the data from my annual Vision Speech – in a graphically compelling format that’s actually fun to read.
When clients come to the table with concerns and opinions, you need to be in position to move the conversation forward with facts – facts on subjects such as how to beat the odds in a buyers’ market, the degree to which “green” features enhance the value of a home, staging strategies, and the prevalence of distressed properties in the current market.
If you haven’t already done so, I strongly urge you to order a copy today – at the bargain price of $5 for KW Associates – and keep a few extras on hand to share with your sphere.
More so than ever before, our clients are looking to us for knowledge, expertise and reassurance.
The 2011 KW Market Navigator offers a wealth of all three, and it’s the fastest way I know for real estate professionals to get briefed on the big picture.
ONWARD …
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Shattering the Multitasking Myth
Provided By KW Blog
Even on the final day of Family Reunion, the energy and eagerness to learn more and become more seemed without limits as attendees crowded into Gary Keller’s 7 a.m. session by the hundreds.
“You’re a bunch of sick people … And it looks like some of you even shaved,” Gary Keller said jokingly in reference to such high attendance at the crack-of-dawn session — setting the tone for an hour of straight talk on a topic that he’s passionate about: “The Power of One.”
“We live in a culture that idealizes multi-tasking, but the fact is, multitasking is a lie. Science has proven that you can task switch, but you can’t do two tasks at once.”
Countering the popular notion that success is a function of cramming as much as possible into a day, Gary advocated a laser-sharp focus on doing the one thing that matters most.
“How large a life you lead will be in direct proportion to how small you can make it – determining what’s essential and what will cause everything else to fall into place.”
Even on the final day of Family Reunion, the energy and eagerness to learn more and become more seemed without limits as attendees crowded into Gary Keller’s 7 a.m. session by the hundreds.
“You’re a bunch of sick people … And it looks like some of you even shaved,” Gary Keller said jokingly in reference to such high attendance at the crack-of-dawn session — setting the tone for an hour of straight talk on a topic that he’s passionate about: “The Power of One.”
“We live in a culture that idealizes multi-tasking, but the fact is, multitasking is a lie. Science has proven that you can task switch, but you can’t do two tasks at once.”
Countering the popular notion that success is a function of cramming as much as possible into a day, Gary advocated a laser-sharp focus on doing the one thing that matters most.
“How large a life you lead will be in direct proportion to how small you can make it – determining what’s essential and what will cause everything else to fall into place.”
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Build Your Real Estate Business with Seminars
Provided By KW Blog
One of my favorite interviews at our recent Mega Camp was Gary’s chat with Jim and Jeff Reitzel of Kitchener, Ontario. Among the Reitzels’ best business-building tools is holding investor and first-time home buyer seminars—a lead generation strategy that helped them do more than 120 transactions and over $67 million in business in 2009. And they are on pace to have a much better 2010.
So what are the keys to success?
1. Be Predictably Consistent – More than anything, the Reitzels attribute their success to predictability and consistency. For example, they hold their monthly investor seminar at the same place, at the same time on the third Tuesday of each month. After a while, interested buyers don’t need an invitation or directions. They just show up. It’s like the old Batman show: “Tune in tomorrow—same Bat time, same Bat channel!”
2. Persistence Pays Off – The Reitzels count on word of mouth to market their seminars. They invite every client. They invite fellow agents to bring guests. They invite just about anyone they meet. Over time, this simple message of “every third Tuesday” has sunk in, and the numbers have grown from the early days when Jeff might have gotten the opportunity to practice the ninety-minute presentation for Jim alone, to today when their investor seminars average 80 to 120 attendees!
The repetition of our marketing for these events combined with the word of mouth they can generate can be quite powerful. Jeff shared that one investor bought 22 townhomes on their second meeting. The investor had never actually made it to one of the seminars but, because Jeff was always holding them, he felt like Jeff must be the expert.
3. Big Audiences Are Great, Motivated Audiences Will Do – Even when only a handful show up, it can still be a success. Jim shared that this summer he taught a first-time home buyer seminar and only three people showed up. “I thought, ‘Oh great!’ but you know, one of those three became a buyer!” Similarly, you don’t have to start with a 100-seat training room. A coffee shop will do. When my wife Wendy started her business, she used
Facebook to send monthly invites to talk wealth building through real estate over a morning coffee at “Millionaire Mocha$.” Some weeks, she has a crowded table; others, she has a hot cup of joe and works her database. Regardless of the attendance, in just a year the messaging has sunk in—everyone now knows she’s in real estate, and sometimes a friend of a friend will show up who Wendy didn’t personally invite.
4. Build on the Success of Others –Jeff began teaching investor seminars in 2003. He created his own material based on his investing experience. After seeing an hour long presentation on The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, he adopted The Millionaire Real Estate Investor Client Workshop and made it his own. When the Your First Home Seminar became available, he adopted it as well. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Adopting an existing presentation is much easier than creating your own from scratch. The same for marketing materials like the brand new 7 Reasons Why Now is a Great Time to Buy a Home.
Similarly, Jeff coached another agent to simply tell Jeff’s investing stories since he didn’t have any of his own. It worked. For the record, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor has more than investor profiles at the back of the book, and Your First Home tells a different tale of first time home buying between every chapter.
5. Follow-Up Matters – Don’t get people excited and just cut them loose. In 60 to 90 minutes, you likely won’t get far beyond the basics which means motivated buyers are likely to have questions. Get them on the phone and set a time for a personal consultation. When Gary taught seminars, he would stand by the exit with his calendar setting appointments as attendees left the room. That’s following up for the appointment!
The last time the National Association of Realtors posted their numbers, 38% of buyers were first-time home buyers and 19% were investors. By the way, that’s more than half the market. Astonishingly, going back to October 2008, these two groups average 59% of the market! Don’t miss out. Start using seminars to market yourself as the expert.
One of my favorite interviews at our recent Mega Camp was Gary’s chat with Jim and Jeff Reitzel of Kitchener, Ontario. Among the Reitzels’ best business-building tools is holding investor and first-time home buyer seminars—a lead generation strategy that helped them do more than 120 transactions and over $67 million in business in 2009. And they are on pace to have a much better 2010.
So what are the keys to success?
1. Be Predictably Consistent – More than anything, the Reitzels attribute their success to predictability and consistency. For example, they hold their monthly investor seminar at the same place, at the same time on the third Tuesday of each month. After a while, interested buyers don’t need an invitation or directions. They just show up. It’s like the old Batman show: “Tune in tomorrow—same Bat time, same Bat channel!”
2. Persistence Pays Off – The Reitzels count on word of mouth to market their seminars. They invite every client. They invite fellow agents to bring guests. They invite just about anyone they meet. Over time, this simple message of “every third Tuesday” has sunk in, and the numbers have grown from the early days when Jeff might have gotten the opportunity to practice the ninety-minute presentation for Jim alone, to today when their investor seminars average 80 to 120 attendees!
The repetition of our marketing for these events combined with the word of mouth they can generate can be quite powerful. Jeff shared that one investor bought 22 townhomes on their second meeting. The investor had never actually made it to one of the seminars but, because Jeff was always holding them, he felt like Jeff must be the expert.
3. Big Audiences Are Great, Motivated Audiences Will Do – Even when only a handful show up, it can still be a success. Jim shared that this summer he taught a first-time home buyer seminar and only three people showed up. “I thought, ‘Oh great!’ but you know, one of those three became a buyer!” Similarly, you don’t have to start with a 100-seat training room. A coffee shop will do. When my wife Wendy started her business, she used
Facebook to send monthly invites to talk wealth building through real estate over a morning coffee at “Millionaire Mocha$.” Some weeks, she has a crowded table; others, she has a hot cup of joe and works her database. Regardless of the attendance, in just a year the messaging has sunk in—everyone now knows she’s in real estate, and sometimes a friend of a friend will show up who Wendy didn’t personally invite.
4. Build on the Success of Others –Jeff began teaching investor seminars in 2003. He created his own material based on his investing experience. After seeing an hour long presentation on The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, he adopted The Millionaire Real Estate Investor Client Workshop and made it his own. When the Your First Home Seminar became available, he adopted it as well. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Adopting an existing presentation is much easier than creating your own from scratch. The same for marketing materials like the brand new 7 Reasons Why Now is a Great Time to Buy a Home.
Similarly, Jeff coached another agent to simply tell Jeff’s investing stories since he didn’t have any of his own. It worked. For the record, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor has more than investor profiles at the back of the book, and Your First Home tells a different tale of first time home buying between every chapter.
5. Follow-Up Matters – Don’t get people excited and just cut them loose. In 60 to 90 minutes, you likely won’t get far beyond the basics which means motivated buyers are likely to have questions. Get them on the phone and set a time for a personal consultation. When Gary taught seminars, he would stand by the exit with his calendar setting appointments as attendees left the room. That’s following up for the appointment!
The last time the National Association of Realtors posted their numbers, 38% of buyers were first-time home buyers and 19% were investors. By the way, that’s more than half the market. Astonishingly, going back to October 2008, these two groups average 59% of the market! Don’t miss out. Start using seminars to market yourself as the expert.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Kick Your Credit Card Debt to the Curb!
Provided By KW Blog
The financial challenges we’ve faced as an industry over the past four years have been nothing short of difficult. We’ve saved, skimped, sacrificed and cut back to the most necessary necessities. We’ve been to the battle lines and back and have shifted our real estate businesses in order to not just survive but to thrive, and it has paid off.
Looking at our financials at the Keller Williams Service & Support Center here in Austin, I am proud to say that we remain a financially solvent company. Not only is that statement an anomaly within the realm of real estate, it’s a significant accomplishment in any industry.
Which is why I got to thinking: how can we apply the same business-savvy saving strategies to our own lives?
If ‘leading with revenue’ works in our business lives, why can’t it also be just as effective in our personal ones? It’s time to kick credit card debt to the curb with some help from the tips and tricks below!
START THE CHANGE
If you’ve read Gary Keller’s book, SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times, you know that the first tactic is dedicated to Mindset and Action. Tackling your debt is no different. In order to win the battle against the bulge you’ve got to set an end-goal. First, start by filling in the blank to the following sentence: I will be free of credit card debt in ___ days/months/years. Focus on this goal. Hang it on the refrigerator, in your bathroom – whatever it takes to remind yourself that a debt-free life is a good one that you’re prepared to achieve.
READY TO CUT BACK?
It’s time to take a good look at your current spending habits. Where are you spending the most money and where can you cut back? Are you spending on necessities, or are you trying to live up to a certain lifestyle? What often surprises most people is the amount of money dedicated to discretionary spending. Is your love for lattes putting a damper on your debit card? One too many trips to Nordstrom? Are you driving a car that takes up so much of your income that you are forced to use a credit card for daily living expenses?
If you’re really aiming to be debt-free, take a close look at your budget to figure out where you can cut back. Then set smaller goals to remove spending in each area. It doesn’t have to be much, but the more you cut back, the quicker you will reach your goal. The new credit card regulations require disclosure of the time required to pay off the balance when making just the minimum payment – it can be very eye-opening (and motivating to pay more)!
CONVERT TO CASH
While you are paying down your debt, make a commitment to yourself that you will not add to the balances unless absolutely necessary (and cute shoes on sale are not an absolute necessity!). Set a budget for your weekly spending, withdraw that much cash, and when it is gone, it is time to stop spending for the week. It is easy to lose track of how much you are spending when you are swiping a debit or credit card.
SNOWBALL
What does a snowball have to do with debt? Well for one thing, it might be how you got in a position where you have too much debt. But it’s also a great way to get out of it, says financial expert Dave Ramsey.
His method: Start by paying your smallest debt first. This can be an outstanding bill or a credit card from your favorite store. Pay it off as fast as you can, while maintaining minimum payments on your other cards of course. When that debt has been removed, shift your focus and the money freed up to the next smallest debt. The sense of accomplishment in paying off even a small portion keeps you motivated and focused on the end goal and reminds you that it is possible!
Note that if you have one credit card that is carrying a much higher interest rate than the others, you might want to focus on that one first if it is an achievable goal.
CASH IS KING
Look for cash savings anywhere and everywhere. (Seeing a trend here?) Get creative about your spending. Vacation close to home; search for coupons online; cut back on dining out and plan and prepare healthy meals at home; rent instead of going out to movies. Organize a clothing, home décor or toy swap – an outfit that has never felt right to you may be just the ticket for a friend. It may be tough at first, but get creative and have fun with it!
As real estate agents, you are also in the unique position where you can approve your own raise. What can you do to fuel your career forward, and earn more money along the way?
Here’s the bottom line.
No one is born chief financial officer of a company – and the same can be said for you as you work to build (or even rebuild) your financial well-being. It takes work, discipline and in some cases sacrifice. I commend you for taking on the challenge of being debt-free and wish you the best on your journey to having your dream life.
What strategies are you implementing to drive down debt?
The financial challenges we’ve faced as an industry over the past four years have been nothing short of difficult. We’ve saved, skimped, sacrificed and cut back to the most necessary necessities. We’ve been to the battle lines and back and have shifted our real estate businesses in order to not just survive but to thrive, and it has paid off.
Looking at our financials at the Keller Williams Service & Support Center here in Austin, I am proud to say that we remain a financially solvent company. Not only is that statement an anomaly within the realm of real estate, it’s a significant accomplishment in any industry.
Which is why I got to thinking: how can we apply the same business-savvy saving strategies to our own lives?
If ‘leading with revenue’ works in our business lives, why can’t it also be just as effective in our personal ones? It’s time to kick credit card debt to the curb with some help from the tips and tricks below!
START THE CHANGE
If you’ve read Gary Keller’s book, SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times, you know that the first tactic is dedicated to Mindset and Action. Tackling your debt is no different. In order to win the battle against the bulge you’ve got to set an end-goal. First, start by filling in the blank to the following sentence: I will be free of credit card debt in ___ days/months/years. Focus on this goal. Hang it on the refrigerator, in your bathroom – whatever it takes to remind yourself that a debt-free life is a good one that you’re prepared to achieve.
READY TO CUT BACK?
It’s time to take a good look at your current spending habits. Where are you spending the most money and where can you cut back? Are you spending on necessities, or are you trying to live up to a certain lifestyle? What often surprises most people is the amount of money dedicated to discretionary spending. Is your love for lattes putting a damper on your debit card? One too many trips to Nordstrom? Are you driving a car that takes up so much of your income that you are forced to use a credit card for daily living expenses?
If you’re really aiming to be debt-free, take a close look at your budget to figure out where you can cut back. Then set smaller goals to remove spending in each area. It doesn’t have to be much, but the more you cut back, the quicker you will reach your goal. The new credit card regulations require disclosure of the time required to pay off the balance when making just the minimum payment – it can be very eye-opening (and motivating to pay more)!
CONVERT TO CASH
While you are paying down your debt, make a commitment to yourself that you will not add to the balances unless absolutely necessary (and cute shoes on sale are not an absolute necessity!). Set a budget for your weekly spending, withdraw that much cash, and when it is gone, it is time to stop spending for the week. It is easy to lose track of how much you are spending when you are swiping a debit or credit card.
SNOWBALL
What does a snowball have to do with debt? Well for one thing, it might be how you got in a position where you have too much debt. But it’s also a great way to get out of it, says financial expert Dave Ramsey.
His method: Start by paying your smallest debt first. This can be an outstanding bill or a credit card from your favorite store. Pay it off as fast as you can, while maintaining minimum payments on your other cards of course. When that debt has been removed, shift your focus and the money freed up to the next smallest debt. The sense of accomplishment in paying off even a small portion keeps you motivated and focused on the end goal and reminds you that it is possible!
Note that if you have one credit card that is carrying a much higher interest rate than the others, you might want to focus on that one first if it is an achievable goal.
CASH IS KING
Look for cash savings anywhere and everywhere. (Seeing a trend here?) Get creative about your spending. Vacation close to home; search for coupons online; cut back on dining out and plan and prepare healthy meals at home; rent instead of going out to movies. Organize a clothing, home décor or toy swap – an outfit that has never felt right to you may be just the ticket for a friend. It may be tough at first, but get creative and have fun with it!
As real estate agents, you are also in the unique position where you can approve your own raise. What can you do to fuel your career forward, and earn more money along the way?
Here’s the bottom line.
No one is born chief financial officer of a company – and the same can be said for you as you work to build (or even rebuild) your financial well-being. It takes work, discipline and in some cases sacrifice. I commend you for taking on the challenge of being debt-free and wish you the best on your journey to having your dream life.
What strategies are you implementing to drive down debt?
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