Agent Success Club

Proactive vs. Reactive Selling

Are you getting “no’s” bleed from buyers and sellers saying no too often?  Try asking questions that can’t be answered with a no.  Try proactive selling.

Reactive Selling

Much of the time, we adopt a reactive posture with our customers. We “lob” a statement or benefit over the fence and wait for the customer to respond to the statement or benefit. Then we react to their response. Reactive statements include:

• “I’m calling to see if there’s anything I can help you out with today.”  lob … wait … The response usually is “No, not today. Thank you.”  Our reaction is “Well, if something comes up….”

• “Last week I sent you several new listings and I’m following up to see if you’ve received it.” lob…wait…  The response usually is “Yep. But I am not sure about them…” or “I don’t remember.” Our reaction is, “Well, call me if you have any questions or want to see any of them…”

At the very best, many reactive sales calls end with the agent – not the customer – doing something.  Reactive sales calls result in the agent sending information or setting up another phone call.

With reactive sales calls, you give up control of the conversation and reduce the possibility of making something happen.

Proactive Selling

Bring the customer into the conversation with an open-ended but specific question:

• “What did you think about the back yard at 123 Main Street?”

• “Which houses would you like to look at this week?”

• “How familiar are you with this neighborhood?

This question should be targeted towards the customer needs but can be very effective for cold-calling as well.  You retain control over the conversation and build the opportunity to qualify the customer.

Also don’t forget to:

• Begin each call with a specific Initial Value Statement.

• Confirm that you’re addressing each of the decision makers needs.

• Ask if this is a good time to talk for a few minutes.

• If the buyer or seller was referred to you, be sure to mention the referral source.  This will solidify the relationship and help establish credibility.

And Finally…

Proactive selling won’t work for everyone and won’t work all the time.  But when you’re feeling like you’re getting “no’s” bleed, try proactive selling.

Where To Go To Learn Important Information When New In Town

When Sally was looking to make a long distance move, she contacted a licensed Fort Lauderdale real estate agent agent. She felt sure this would be a wise decision. She wasn’t sure whether she would be looking at traditional properties in the area or if she would take a look at the many Fort Lauderdale foreclosures that were available. No matter her selection, she knew she needed someone to guide her in her home buying selection. Sally was unfamiliar with the Florida area. She was feeling the stress of moving to a new city, and felt slightly intimidated by her unfamiliar surroundings. She wanted to use all the resources that were at her disposal to get acclimated. She found several valuable resources where she could turn to get better acquainted with her new town.

As Sally did, many relocating individuals and families maximize the services of a home buyer’s representative for home purchase advice. Sure, a buyer’s representative can provide invaluable information regarding the housing market, but they can also give much information about the communities where properties are for sale. A valuable representative will readily realize that their clients are interested in purchasing much more than a house. Most assuredly, a client is purchasing a community, and yes, even a lifestyle. Buyer’s representatives usually know plenty of useful statistics that might be of interest to their clients. It is not unusual for a representative to have at hand community crime statistics, school system rankings, and local points of interest, be they historical, cultural, educational, or recreational.

Another excellent resource for those making a long distance move is to consult with the local chamber of commerce. The chamber of commerce provides extensive information. Whether one is accessing the chamber’s website or utilizing, in person, the knowledge of the chamber’s helpful people, one can quickly gain valuable facts. From weather information to a calendar of events, to local church listings, it can be accessed quickly. Also sure to be compiled is a listing of local businesses. One should also be able to find area specific maps as well. Best of all, their services are a courtesy to the public.

Perhaps one of the most natural ways to get acquainted with a new community is to simply visit some local establishments. It could be well worth one’s time to spend a couple hours visiting a local coffee house nearest one’s home. View all of the bulletin board postings, talk with the baristas, and visit with fellow patrons. If not the coffee house, how about the library, the doughnut shop, the dog park, or even a community church or synagogue? Good old fashioned word-of-mouth is sometimes the best way to get connected with all scheduled events around town. Those who have lived in an area for a number of years are often more than pleased to educate newcomers. Most of the time lifelong residents are proud of their town and it’s offerings. Plus, they can share many useful facts.

Real Estate Market in Vancouver: Let’s look back

The housing market in Vancouver BC was very strong for almost seven years in a row. It was one of the Canadian records among market growths, and one of the longest and fastest too. Average house prices between years 2001-2007 almost doubled, whereas inflation in the mentioned period was less than 14%. Of course, affordability of properties in Vancouver, especially for first time buyers, was seriously lowered by this combination of factors.

After the US housing market got into trouble, its Vancouver relative still worked fine for some time and managed to grow until the beginning of 2008. Anyhow, the market slowed down as it’s been influenced by the pressure of affordability demand, and the market freeze persisted for a few months. At first, the average price stabilized, but later dropped, and under the influence of the global economic crisis in the autumn 2008, the housing market of Vancouver got into record-low values in January and February 2009. People were generally worried of the deep and long taking real estate crisis as the one in the USA.

If you believe the same, look at the graphs around – February 2009 was the moment of rebound, not the beginning of stagnation! And from that moment on, all the key figures concerning the Vancouver BC housing market are telling us that things are going fine. Sales in June 2009 were almost 6 times higher than in February and almost double compared to the last summer. In concrete numbers, the sales in June 2009 were 75.6% higher than in the same month previous year. Average price decline stopped in December 2008, remained flat till March, since then continues to grow steadily again. The price level of October 2008 was achieved again in June 2009.

Is this amazing? Not so much, if you follow the numbers carefully. Let’s examine the graph of new listings change. New buildings kept flowing to the market till October 2008, then the general inflow began to decrease.

This has a simple explanation, which lays in the basic advantage of residential real estate, which is that people just need a house to stay. People do really need a home, while they can quite well live without cars, hairdressers or holidays. Demand can decrease, but this drop hardly can reach zero, even for a short time. Some regulations should be followed at the supply side. Real estate items mostly represent the most valuable part of your personal property. When prices are declining, it may be a good decision to hold your home and refuse selling it, but then this kind of approach helps new housing starts. Eventually, an agreement has to be reached at some moment both for sellers and buyers, and the sooner the better.

So what are the underlying factors behind Canadian market’s fast recovery, regarding that the US market is still struggling with the crisis? Canada managed to avoid the most severe event – wave of foreclosures. Compared to the financial health of institutions and individual house owners in the USA, the Canadian ones are doing much better. Canadians don’t necesssarily have to be better off, but apparently they are more ready to cope in case of any sudden financial problems. Subprime mortgage sector (the most affected one in the United States) is much more limited in Canada; our economic fundamentals are not in the best condition now, but still quite stabilized.

What future shall property market in Vancouver BC expect? We can expect solid sales and average price growth in the next few months. Nevertheless, the situation will calm down after reaching the pre-burst level, due to general economic slowdown. Next year the interest rates should still be low and prices still under the recent peak, which will make properties very affordable and thus a wonderful opportunity especially for first time buyers!

Real Estate Market In Toronto: Miracle Recovery

When the US real estate bubble burst some two years ago, innumerable Canadian house owners, perspective buyers and professionals began to ask: ”What will happen to the real estate market in Toronto or Canada in the future?”

The concerns were based on two basic thoughts. One of them is the mighty attachment between the Canadian economy and real estate market and the circumstances in the USA. The second reason is originating from the progress of the housing market in Canada between the years 2006 and especially 2007. The situation showed a possibility for a similar bubble to occur here. Now let’s look at things almost a year after that.

The situation around the turn point of years 2008/2009 intensified the opinions of many pessimists, on the contrary to us, optimists. If we look at the monthly year to year sales statistics, we can identify a significant drop with its peak in January 2009: -47% compared to the same month last year. Apparently, the “depression panic” from fall 2008 came to Canada. People were worried to make any radical financial decision and our housing market almost froze. Looking at these facts, no wonder that some “experts” predicted that Canada would end up in the same collapse as the USA. Nevertheless, the truth doesn’t confirm these prophecies. Let’s focus on the 2009 numbers.

Number of sales and year-to-year change

The most representative and closely monitored figures. We can clearly see how the market froze in during the winter. Nevertheless, the sales volume between December and June grew more than four times. Sales began to grow again in May 2009 compared to May in the previous year. And the June results indicated clearly that the Toronto housing market is back out in the clear.

Days on market

This is another crucial number. Whereas the before mentioned ones illustrate the market volume, the “days on market” is showing the speed and freshness. These are crucial characteristics, since if we had only the overall market volume numbers available, we wouldn’t be able to predict how long any property would be out on the open market. It is like another side of the same coin. During the most difficult days in January, it took just 14 days more to sell your house. In comparison to other places such as South Florida or Detroit, it shows that our market was still quite working, because there it took even 120 – 150 days to sell a property.

Active listings flow change

This figure expresses the atmosphere of the real estate market. If the number of new listings is increasing, it usually tells us that house owners are scared that their property price would decrease and they want to save their investment. The opposite situation means that the dominating opinion is that this is a favourable time for buying property. The future of other market’s indicators can be predicted from the active listings flow change. For instance the positive change after January was interpreted as a market turn signal.

Average price

Price usually interests my real estate clients in the first place. Their dwelling forms the largest part of their general property, meaning that every change in the market means losing or gaining thousands of dollars. When the prices fell in autumn 2008, already the next April they got back and higher.

Why the outcomes are so positive?! Even now, negative news about the state of our economy are printed almost daily. So why has such a fast improvement of the housing market occurred? There are two basic reasons:

1. Failed expectations

Many Canadians saw the collapse of US housing market and presumed the same scenario at home. But we have to realize the crucial problem of United States was in the subprime sector. Some unresolved problems and failures at the beginning resulted in a chain reaction of bigger trouble later. It started with a price decrease, and as a result foreclosures and short sales were not covering all the toxic loans, so the banks were pressed to put even more foreclosured properties on the marked, which lowered the prices even more. The subprime sector in Canada is quite narrow with a minimum of foreclosures. If we add it up with a healthy (and we can spell it out and say extraordinarily healthy) financial system, we get the result that our real estate market has been secured by this. Homeowners realized this fact very soon and relaxed.

2. Stabilized economy and buying opportunities

Have a quick look at inflation, unemployment, GDP predictions and interest rate data. If we focus on the real estate prices explanation, we can clearly see the importance of these numbers for the housing market. Although I can imagine much more favorable numbers for employment or economic growth, our economy is slowed, stagnating, but definitely not collapsing. The winter real estate panic was also stopped after people started to be aware of all these facts.

Conclusion and the future

Toronto housing market has first very well endured the pessimistic mood during the winter months, and then it has got well very quickly. Now it is increasing again and condo resale market can be even evaluated as hot in the present. Low interest rates and good prices after “one year break” present terrific opportunity especially to first time buyers. It’s also great time for investors to pick some cherries, which prices haven’t recovered till now. Sellers can be calm too – the market is quick and their property will be sold probably within a month for a reasonable price. On the other hand, slower labor market and pertaining level of uncertainty will prevent abrupt price burst and bubble creation in next years. June’s 27% was extraordinary, but this means the market is trying to catch the weak months and we can expect stabilization soon. Toronto housing market forms a firm base of stability for Ontario’s economy in wild times.

Why Hire a Real Estate Lawyer

Large cities usually have Real Estate Lawyers able to deal variety of transactions including negotiations for purchase or sale of property. The property may be Residential, Commercial or Industrial or Condominiums, yet the Toronto Real Estate Lawyers ready to provide assistance. The services of Real Estate Lawyers not limited purchase or sale of the properties and they also provide in another important area i.e. leasing. Unlike other attorneys, the Real Estate Lawyers provide service in connection with Title Insurance, Notary related, Wills, condo status review, power of attorney etc.

If the real estate transaction exists, it is always better to hire Real Estate Lawyer Toronto which is more suitable for real estate transactions in Toronto.. The Real Estate Lawyer review the offer made by the purchaser. The buyer include many provisions that favor to buyer. In such situation, the Real Estate Lawyer ensures to remove or alter such clauses so that the opposite party may be in comfortable position. The Real Estate Lawyer is a specialist and able to give advice for the real estate property.

Advice in financing in respect of real estate can be provided by the Toronto Real Estate Lawyers. When the property is about to sell what is the need of finance? The mortgage rules do not permit the properties to be sold out. With the advice of Toronto Real Estate Lawyers, the borrowers able to take the finance and release the property from lien thereby able to sell the property. But no rule or law exists in connection with hiring of Real Estate Lawyer when real estate transactions continued. Hiring the Real Estate Lawyer protects rights of buyer or seller.

In North America, Toronto real estate market is more familiar than other areas of business. The Toronto real estate market has all levels of market that may be related family, home, commercial real estate or condo type. People making investment on Real Estate in Toronto as Toronto has many facilities, amenities etc. The speculators interested in the real estate market as subprime market crisis in United States. Considerable transactions of selling and buying are existed in real estate properties and simultaneously the role and importance of Toronto Real Estate Lawyers increased unreasonably.

Since the Toronto Lawyers are registered with Law society, they are eligible to practice in Toronto, Ontario and Canada. The Toronto Lawyers are members of various associations such as Toronto Lawyers Association, Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, Criminal Lawyers. Hence the Toronto Lawyers provide services in Real Estate and as well as other areas too. In anticipation of danger debts, the Toronto Real Estate Lawyers provide to advice to mortgagors and mortgagees.

Which Cities are Good for Buying a Vacation Home Now

Right now is the best time to buy real estate anywhere in the United States, but when thinking about buying vacation homes, now is an even better time to buy Orlando commercial real estate or Orlando vacation homes rentals. Property values and interest rates on loans that come with buying property are extremely low during these tough economic times. It is good to purchase a house now while prices are low, so you can make a profit in the future. Not to mention, the city of Orlando offers many attractions that are still fun even after years of going. And, if for some reason you do get bored with your home you can always decide to rent the home to other vacationers. If you were thinking about buying a home before, now is the time to make the purchase.

Now is a really good occasion to buy any kind of property, especially in vacation cities, where homes are normally much more expensive than they are now. It is right now a buyers market for housing. If you are able to get your home at a lower cost than its worth and you fix it up and rent it out when you are not there, you are almost guaranteed to make a profit. You will make a profit even more quickly if you purchase the home at a low price. Now, when you get a property at a lower price, you may have to put some work into it, but it will still cost less than buying the home when the economy gets better and the property values increase again . Also, when you sell a home that has high property value and was bought at low property value, the profits may be huge .

The city of Orlando is a good location to purchase a vacation home. There are so many things to do in Orlando that tourism continues to grow constantly year by year. Also, more and more vacationers are staying in the United States instead of traveling abroad because of the economic recession. Therefore, there are more tourists in Orlando than there normally are . Sometimes there aren’t even enough hotels and vacation homes for those who wanting to vacation in Orlando. If you have a vacation home that you can rent to others, you will be making money, which is good during difficult economy. If you decide to sell the property after having rented for awhile then you should, again, still gain a profit if the economy has begun to recover when you sell your home.
If you have always wanted to buy a getaway property and you have the money, now is the time to do so. While the property values are low, you should think about getting a home now, so when the property values increase again, you will make a bigger profit when you sell or rent the house. Also, Orlando has lots of places to visit , so you shouldn’t have a problem with people wanting to rent your home. So, while the economy is not doing well now, invest money in something that will most likely earn you more money in the future when the economy recovers.

If You Can Afford to Buy a Second Property, It is A Wise Investment

The falling stock market has shaken a lot of people this past 12 months from the fast food worker that earns minimum wage to the wealthy investor who has lost a great deal of money in his stocks . The one solid thing for a good investment has always been in Telluride real estate and even though houses are currently selling at a slower pace and are selling for less than they would have a couple of years ago , that will improve with time. Purchasing another house or Telluride properties in various locations is better than it has ever been before and something you should consider.

The amount of foreclosed homes or bank owned properties is at a record high right now due to the struggling economy and people not being able to afford their mortgages due to losing their jobs or having adjustable mortgage rates that have climbed to a higher monthly mortgage than even the home initially cost . This has created a largecaused a huge market of available properties for sale and with that saturation , comes more competition and great dealswonderful bargains .

One of the biggest kind of foreclosure properties are those that were bought as vacation homes. Owners are hurting financially and they are desperate to keep their main home but often times can not afford the expense of their second property any longer . This is why, if you have the finances and also a bit of a risk taker and positive disposition , you may want to purchase one of these vacation homes which will earn you a great amount down the road . Certain states that are typically considered more vacation type states like Florida, California and Arizona are leading the numbers in foreclosure properties. If those states do not appeal to you , getting a great real estate bargain throughout the country right now is doable .

The reasons it is a wise investment to buy another home is the amount of earnings it will make you over time . Real estate professionals are all predicting that the real estate market will improve and get back on track maybe as soon as one year from now. The nice thing about purchasing a property in a vacation or resort kind of area is you can help to pay your mortgage by using it as a vacation rental unit . You can use a rental management company if you do not live near or if you want to do all of the logistics of renting yourself , then you can post your property on a website specific for renting from owners directly . Once you get a steady flow of vacationers renting your place, the overall expense of buying the property is not such a scary task and one that may be a good investment in years to come.

If you are getting near the age of retirement , it may also be a good idea to buy your retirement home now even if you do not plan on retiring for several years. Then when it is time for you to retire, you will already own a wonderful place for a lower cost .

Buying Property in Vancouver – Informative Guide for US Buyers

Since the Real estate habits differ from state to state, I decided to write a short informative guide for US buyers that would like to purchase a property in Vancouver, Canada. If you’d like to find out more, please don’t hesitate to visit my Vancouver BC Real estate website.

Finding the suitable property

Before your agent starts their research for the right house for you, he or she will make you aware of the way the agency works and also will familiarize you with the ‘Working with a Real Estate Agent’ brochure, which you will be requested to sign.

After that the agent is ready to start the big hunt for the house of your choice. If you are used to spontaneous showings, forget about them in Vancouver – here 3 people usually attend the showings (of course you as the buyer, the listing agent and your agent as well), which means organizing three schedules of usually very busy people. After your agent finally finds the home that suits your wishes, a document called The Contract of Purchase and Sale has to be prepared by your agent, which is basically an offer to the seller. You will not be able to bring in the right price to the seller without some background information, so your agent will get them and together you come up with a price offer. Because multiply offers on properties are very common in Vancouver, don’t be surprised if you’re not the only interested person.

Closing the contract

Once the seller accepts the offer, the deposit has to be wired to him. It’s usually 10% of the final sale price. One must keep in mind that it can take up to 2 weeks before your payment reaches the Canadian bank. You might choose to use some solid third party services (e.g. House Global Foreign Exchange) that would guarantee a timely delivery of the deposit, since that’s part of the contract. The contract could be subjected to many issues as financing in place or home inspection report and so on. Once everything has been dealt with, you can remove the subjects. About the closing date – as a rule it is set two days earlier than the possession date, to which also all amendments has to be finished.

Legal arrangements

The contract then moves onto the lawyers or notaries for preparation of legal documents to transfer the title to you, the buyer. The federal and provincial taxes must be addressed at this time. Don’t forget to arrange your schedule because you have attend Vancouver to signing the contract. Or if that doesn’t suit you, you could have the documents delivered to a law office where they can be signed under seal. The funds to close the property will have to be wired to the Vancouver lawyer’s trust account.

Property Investment : Tips for Buying a Bargain

You can earn a lot of money with property investment if you do some legwork in the beginning. If you do the required legwork and follow the advice of experts, there is no reason why you cannot get rich in this niche. Those who do not follow this route may find themselves losing a lot of time and money in the process of learning. Here are some tips you can use to build some cash via investing in real estate. Read on to find out how to get in touch with one of the best providers of advice for property investment. Further resources about properties sydney best positive cash flow are located there.

Firstly, you need to discover a great buyers agent to be successful in property investing. You can rely on such a professional to find great real estate for you, plus guarantee that you receive only the best offers for them. A buyers agent can greatly inform you regarding possible investment properties in the locale you’re interested in. He will also teach you how to select the properties that really suit your investment goals. In property investment, buyers agents make the processes of finding, settling, and acquiring properties a tad easier. Go to this site for further information on how to invest in real estate.

Locating the best real estate investment also needs the help of a property coach. These professionals have gone before you in buying investment properties and they will be the best source of information for every aspect of the process. A good property coach will move beyond the basics of finding the properties to financing and managing them as well. They will also give advice on how you can find properties with the makings for great profit and how to procure them at the best rates possible. It is important to select your property coach to guarantee you get nothing but excellent tips.

Two things to keep in mind when it comes to positive geared property: the expected growth of the district and the price of the property. In-demand cities will not only seem to provide you with great investment opportunities, they will also usually have the right intrastate set up to help limit any risks. You can usually find these areas just beyond city borders, and they entail various types of properties. However, do not ignore the lower end of the market too as it has proven to be more durable than the middle market at times. These factors will aid in your search for the piece of real estate that offers the highest profits possible.

Also, focus your efforts on only a few suburbs at once. This will enable you to really appreciate what real estate is really worth in those regions. If you limit your search and concentrate on specific regions only, you will be in a better position to discover property bargains as soon as they become available.

Property Investment How to Spot and Get Bargains

If you do your legwork well, property investment can be rewarding. To be successful in real estate investing, you must first find the property that offers the best potential for your time and money. This article presents 4 tips to locate that great property so you can get great returns for your money. You’ll also find out the name and phone number for a first-rate adviser for property investment.

Investment property is abundant, but not all properties are the same. Property investing can be complicated, so it’s probably best to get expert assistance from a property coach. Property coaches can help with many things, from selecting positive cash flow property to ways you can best supervise your property. You can also get investment property advice from buyers agents who know a lot about great locations and bargain properties. Learn about best property investment seminar.

It’s important to really know the correct values of properties in a given suburb so to focus your search to only a few suburbs at a time. That’s the best way to find bargains as soon as they hit the market. The most comprehensive information on positive cash flow property can be found on that website.

Property investment also requires you know the best locations for your property procurements. While new and/or on the rise locales are enticing undertakings, suburbs with well-set infrastructures generally offer less risks for your investment. Buying real estate in developing areas is a good idea as prices are inclined to be on the upward trend. Usually, acquiring property areas with a reputation for good real estate rates are the best options for you.

When it comes to how to invest in property, most newbie investors get confused on whether they should buy units or homes. Units may look like great investments because you can earn right away from rental fees, in the long run though, you may be better off investing in houses. One key difference between the two is land. When you purchase a house, you own the land that goes with it. Units don’t usually proffer the same gain. Land influences the appreciation potential of a property and how much renovation you can apply to it.

Property investment seminars instruct investors how to take into account renovation expenditures and how to factor this in when calculating the value of a property. In general, not scrimping on renovations means long-term tenants and better appreciation potential. On the other hand, quality property alterations can get be pricey and the costs must be incorporated in your initial investment. If you procure properties smartly and spend on quality renovations, you’ll greatly increase your chances of seeing great returns.

Property investment can be a well-paid endeavor if you’re smart about it. If you believe that you could benefit from investment property advice, contact the experts at Property Secrets. Dial 1234567.