The following is a chapter from the book REAL: A Path to Passion, Purpose and Profits in Real Estate. The author of this chapter is Vanessa Bergmark, partner at Red Oak Realty.
Picture this: It’s 2001. The place is the [San Francisco] Bay Area. The economy is booming, dotcoms occupy every nook and cranny, and the only thing inflating faster than the Internet bubble is the price of homes. From Berkeley to Saratoga, demand far exceeds supply. It’s a seller’s market. Multiple bids, outright bidding wars, and overbids are commonplace. For even the most stalwart buyer, house hunting is exasperating. But I loved it.
"If a client feels cared for, she’ll be far more likely to refer you to others."
“My parents are 88. OK? I have a good relationship with my parents. They live in Florida. Let’s say my parents live to be 92. I hope they live longer, but let’s say they live five years. I don’t have 5 years with my parents. I see my parents twice per year. That means I have TEN VISITS with my parents. So when I started to look at [things] like that, I made significant changes, like ‘OK I’m going to get on a plane and see my parents.’ And when I’m in those moments, my feet are on the ground. That’s where I am, because I only have a limited amount of time with them.”
-Jesse Itzler, on his relationship with time.
BOOM! POP! BANG! CRACKLE! Before you know it, the 4th of July is just a week away. Do you have a marketing plan ready to take advantage of this summer holiday?
As a real estate agent, it’s important to be on everyone’s radar at this time of celebration and community. Here are a couple of quick and simple ideas to make your Independence Day marketing remarkable.
Unlike homebuyers of decades past (those poor Internetless saps who didn't have access to Google or Yelp or greatschools.org), today's real estate consumers have countless resources for information. The web is full of bloggers offering their best home-buying tips, news articles about the current state of the real estate market, unfiltered agent reviews, and property listings galore.
Today's homebuyers come to the table well-informed. They can spot a pushy, deceptive sales tactic from a mile away.
For the real estate industry, this is good news all around. It means clients don't get manipulated and swindled. And for agents, it means the good guys—the genuine, hardworking, honest, ethical real estate agents who put their clients' interests first—always get to win.
In my experience, almost all real estate agents are good guys. But there are a few bad apples out there who put their own interests ahead of the people they're supposed to be helping. These real estate agents provide us with a great list of what NOT to do. So take a gander at this post and make sure you're not unintentionally engaging in any of these pushy, manipulative, or downright deceptive sales tactics.
Last year I had a blast during my webinar discussing how to optimize the real estate funnel from top to bottom. During my webinar, I received a lot of questions about calculating conversion rates for real estate leads. And one of the biggest issues I hear each day after talking with Realtors is that they have no idea what the conversion rate is with their marketing efforts or marketing channels.
If this is you, don’t worry. I can walk you through the calculations I use every day when I analyze our marketing efforts here at Realvolve!
Pilot or Passenger II - How Real Estate Agents Can Differentiate: The Sequel
A couple of weeks ago, in the first post of my Pilot or Passenger blog series, I wrote about how real estate agents can differentiate themselves (differently). I suggested that everyone has their own unique gift—something that no other competitor could ever truly copy.
