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.

Using The Internet With Your Realtor

The Internet is often used for browsing new properties, especially when there is distance involved. Statistics tell us that 80% of all home buyers will start their search for a new home by browsing the Internet. While looking at the Internet gives a general feel for areas and prices, for obvious reasons, at some point you will need to involve a realtor.

In today’s market, one of the key requirements to being a skillful realtor is familiarity with the Internet. This not only speeds up the property finding, it also means that the computer can do the compilations for you, and you can get the perfect home without getting out of your chair!

Once you have chosen the area you wish to live in, then choosing the right real estate agent for you will be your first priority when buying a new home. The emphasis here is on ‘choosing the right real estate agent for you’. This is because it is not difficult to find an efficient and willing realtor, but the ideal is to find one that is suited to your personality

If you are a ‘let’s get this show on the road’ type of person, then you will want an up and at’em type of realtor. One who is slower and very precise may drive you up the wall! You also need to feel that the realtor that you choose knows exactly what you are looking for in a home and will not waste your time (or their own time) offering you property that is unsuitable. This will only happen if you communicate accurately to your realtor exactly what you really want.

If you are looking at vacation property, there is often a ready made realtor who knows everything you need to know about the property involved. This is often the case with vacation homes and beach front properties that have been built to attract investors wishing to buy second homes. Often these are large blocks of condos with recreational facilities included.

If you are the type of buyer that says ‘when I see it, I will know it’, then the Internet, with all its choices of homes to buy is invaluable.

One of the questions to ask a realtor, is how familiar they are on the Internet. Make sure they can contact you by email and that they can turn up the MLS listings for you to look at. Sit with your realtor and get the virtual tour on a couple of homes.

Often, realtors will actually state in their profiles that they are internet proficient. This may often mean that they may know more about market trends and economic indicators in the business world as well as having all the realty facts at their fingertips,

If you want to save time, money and frustration, then take the time to find a realtor that knows exactly what you want and who knows exactly where to find it on the Internet.

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Stop Renting! Go For A Home!

There is a major misconception that homes are unattainable by many people. With the amazing variety of mortgages that are available in today’s financial world it has become easier for people to get that first home that they have always dreamed about. But, no matter what your financial situation is, you will need to do some research and investigate the mortgages that are available to you. Only then can you make an educated choice about what will be right for you now and in the future.

Some of the facts that you will have to consider are things like monthly payments. How much can you make without putting other bills and responsibilities in jeopardy? You need to carefully plan your financial future to be ready for any emergencies or expenditures without affecting your ability to make your mortgage payments. Now, take some time and really shop the market for a mortgage that is right for you. Beware of mortgages that sound like they are too good to be true, they usually are.

Think of this in terms of how long you plan to be in the home. A longer mortgage, amortized over 30 years will end up costing more in interest but should make the monthly payments more manageable then a shorter term mortgage. One of the most important things that you should remember in setting up financing for a home purchase is that it should be done long before you start looking for a home. There is nothing worse than having your heart set on a home only to have it snatched out from under you by another buyer who had their home loan ready to go while you still needed to get yours. Don’t let this happen to you, get out there and get approved for a mortgage and get the home of your dreams.

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Albert Bor is a certified and professional Arizona realtor representing Choice Group Realty. The Choice Group specializes in Chandler Arizona real estate. Contact Albert for more information on Phoenix real estate or visit the Choice Group at www.arizonachoicerealestate.com.

Making Use of a Bad Real Estate Market to Build Fortunes

Too often people believe everything they see, read, or hear rather than trusting their own instincts and calculating capabilities. This is true during real estate market scares, where the media makes a big issue of interest rates and housing costs. Instead of listening to talking heads, use your own and make money while others are running away in fear.

If you have received the proper training as a real estate investor, you realize there is no such thing as a “bad” real estate market. The real estate market fluctuates cyclically, driven mostly by the laws of supply and demand. As you probably learned in grammar school, supply and demand drive prices and opportunity based on availability and desire, and this is true in most areas of business. Therefore, in the real estate market, when there is a greater supply of real estate than there are buyers demanding it, you have a buyer’s market. When the opposite is true and there are a number of buyers demanding property and few for sale, you have a seller’s market.

Unfortunately for the typical self-proclaimed real estate investor, the media drives his or her decisions based on reports that are unfounded and full of sensationalism and hype meant to drive ratings. On the other hand, a real estate investor who has the proper training will ignore what is said on the news, following the trends and using his or her own wits to make important decisions. Of course, the fear that the media can strike into the hearts of the uneducated can easily lead to your profit as a skilled investor.

Take, for example, the occurrence of a buyer’s market. What this means to the uninformed is that, because there are too many homes on the market, the value of their property is going to plummet due to a lack of interest. Therefore, in order to get out from under the property before they “lose money”, they will be willing to sell the real estate for what you can offer. This means you can get into some great properties at low prices all because of media hype.

Had these individuals received proper training as a real estate investor, they would have realized it would have made more sense to sit on the property and wait for the real estate market to cycle again, creating a seller’s market in which they could have demanded any price they liked for the property or get better trained from qualified sources on how to move properties in a slow market.

As a savvy real estate investor, you have several options. You can sit and wait for the next seller’s market, demanding a high price and turning over a large profit on the property, or you can set up the property in a manner that allows you to turn it right back around, even in a buyer’s market, and make a profit. While any real estate investor can come in and buy up properties during a buyer’s market, it is still quite difficult for the average aspiring homeowner to purchase a home, especially since the majority of potential buyers don’t have what it takes to qualify for a traditional mortgage loan. Therefore, you can offer lease purchases and seller financing options on the home, both of which actually draw a higher price for the property than straight financing.

Such an option offers a solution to someone who can’t get the help they need elsewhere and allows you to draw income from the property. It’s a win-win situation, one which was created because you made use of what the media felt should be dubbed a “bad” real estate market.

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For additional information on real estate investing and the hot foreclosure market, I recommend joining Ron LeGrand’s Millionaire Maker Newsletter at http://www.MillionaireMakerNewsletter.com. The newsletter itself is loaded with great tips and resources, and he’s usually giving away something free like a CD or something that generally has a lot of great information on it.

How Does the Media Affect the Real Estate Market?

You’re constantly hearing news about the real estate market, no matter where you turn. Media likes to sensationalize everything, and this includes potential media scares and frenzies regarding real estate. How trustworthy and accurate is the media in reporting on market trends, and how does the media affect the general population’s understanding?

A trained eye knows how to read the real estate market without listening to talking heads that provide general news. Media often hypes any story to sensational levels in order to gain attention, building ratings for whatever network running the program. That means that, whether talking about a good or bad housing market, the story is most likely going to get blown out of proportion. How does this affect the general public?

For those who have not had the proper training, listening to media hype can cause a huge reaction. In fact, the average individual will listen to what the news anchor repeats and become excited or scared, based on the news that the anchor has to offer. In a buyer’s market, when there are too many available properties and not enough buyers, many who call themselves investors but have no proper training in how to truly make money in the real estate market will run scared and sell short, hoping to get out from under what they feel is a property that is bound to lose value.

The same so-called investors will receive a scare in a seller’s market, feeling there is no way they can afford to invest in any real estate without spending a fortune. However, if you have taken the time to get the proper training, you are aware of what’s going on in the real estate market without the “help” of media icons. You can gauge what to do based on your own experience, avoiding all the hype and general fear that causes people on both sides of the trade to live in fear of their investment ventures.

In fact, the sensationalism of the media, which causes the ignorant to be afraid to make a move, can actually be a blessing to you, giving you more options for your own investment dealings. This is the beauty of being “in the know” as an investor – no dependence on uninformed sources to get your bearings in the real estate market.

If you carefully observe your real estate market and refuse to buy into the media frenzies, you will already be one step ahead of others who call themselves real estate investors. Follow up with proper training, and you’ll have no problem buying into the real estate market, despite what media says, earning your fortune without the scares that others suffer as the market cycles back and forth.

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For additional information on real estate investing and the hot
foreclosure market, I recommend joining Ron LeGrand’s Millionaire Maker
Newsletter at http://www.MillionaireMakerNewsletter.com. The newsletter
itself is loaded with great tips and resources, and he’s usually giving away
something free like a CD or something that generally has a lot of
great information on it.