11 Reasons to List During the Holidays

11 Reasons To List During the Holidays – by Mike Ferry* 

 

This is the time of year that we hear the common objection to listing: “I don’t want to list my home during the Holidays.”  Below is a list of 11 compelling reasons to convince a Seller to list with you NOW!

1. People who look for a home during the Holidays are more serious buyers! 
2. Serious buyers have fewer houses to choose from during the Holidays and
less competition means more money for you!

3. Since the supply of listings will dramatically increase in January, there
will be less demand for your particular home! Less demand means less money
for you!

4. Houses show better when decorated for the Holidays!

5. Buyers are more emotional during the Holidays, so they are more likely to
pay your price!

6. Buyers have more time to look for a home during the Holidays than they do
during a working week!

7. Some people must buy before the end of the year for tax reasons!

8. January is traditionally the month for employees to begin new jobs. Since
transferees cannot wait until Spring to buy, you must be on the market now to
capture that market!

9. You can still be on the market, but you have the option to restrict showings
during the six or seven days during the Holidays!

10. You can sell now for more money and we will provide for a delayed closing
or extended occupancy until early next year!

11. By selling now, you may have an opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer
during the Spring, when many more houses are on the market for less money!
This will allow you to sell high and buy low!

*Reprinted from Mike Ferry: http://www.mikeferry.com/main/files/11ReasonstoListDuringtheHolidays.pdf 

Happy Thanksgiving: Questions to Propel Your Confidence

Happy Thanksgiving: Questions to Propel Your Confidence – by Dana Sparks

This week of Thanksgiving gives us pause to reflect. We spend this time with family and friends bringing gratitude to the forefront of our focus. What a fabulous time of year to thank all of our past and present clients for their business, co-op agents for the deals, lenders and closing attorneys for their service and our spouses and loved ones for supporting us! Be thankful for the blessings in your life and the blessing that you are to so many others.Following are inspirational questions to re-focus your power and propel your confidence to re-energize your motivation!
• What am I happy about my life right now?
• What about that makes me happy?
• How does that make me feel?
•
• What am I excited about in my life right now?
• What about that makes me excited?
• How does that make me feel?
•
• What am I proud of in my life right now?
• What about that makes me proud?
• How does that make me feel?
•
• What am I grateful for in my life right now?
• What about that makes me grateful?
• How does that make me feel?
•
• What do I enjoy most in my life right now?
• What about that do I enjoy?
• How does that make me feel?
•
• What am I committed to in my life right now?
• What about that makes me committed?
• How does that make me feel?
•
• Whom do I love?
• Who loves me?
• What about that makes me loving?
• How does that make me feel?
•
• What have I been given today?
• In what way have I been a giver?
• What did I learn today?
• How has today added to the quality of my life?
• How have I added to the quality of life of others today?
• How can I use today as an investment in my future?
• How can I use today to be a blessing to others?

Consider sending a “Happy Thanksgiving” card to your past clients with the following sentiment:
“This is a time of year for remembering everything that makes us grateful. That’s why I want to be sure you know how much I appreciate your business and the privilege of helping you address important concerns in your life.”

Recipe for Success in Real Estate

  

Recipe for Success in Real Estate – by Dana Sparks 

While preparing for the Branch Thanksgiving luncheons at Maximum One, I have been scouring through cookbooks and recipes looking for the perfect dish to bring to each office.  While choosing a dish to prepare, it occurred to me how similar preparing a delicious dish from a recipe is to creating a successful real estate business.

 Ingredients:

Excitement

Goals

Plans & Routines

Persistence

Determination

Persistence

Innovation

Motivation

Ongoing Education / Knowledge

Leadership

Confidence

Focus

Discipline

Pinch of luck

Humor

Patience

Secret Ingredient: Accountability

Directions:

Preheat your mindset.  Get fired up about your career, about helping people, about your abundant prosperity.  Set your goals for the year for the number of transactions you wish to close and the amount of money you wish to make.  Create a business plan to achieve your goals and schedule a daily routine in reference to your plan.

Mix together your means of prospecting with some determination and persistence.  Stir in some lead-generating websites, phone prospecting of Expired and Withdrawn listings, and some referral requests of past agents and sphere of influence.  Spice it up with innovation by finding new ways to have conversations with people about their real estate needs.  There are so many creative ways to reach out – YouTube, Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Telephone, Pinterest, etc!

Apply some heat with motivation and continuing education.  Have as many conversations about real estate as you can.  Schedule as many appointments as you can. Attend as many listing and buying appointments as you can. Take as many listings as you can.  Negotiate as many contracts as you can. Go to many many closings.  Show your clients the leadership they crave.  Add the secret ingredient of accountability.  Find an accountability partner, let them know your goals and plans, ask them to ask you daily if you did your job.  Cook with some confidence and stay focused on your responsibilities every day!

Serving:

Cool with steely discipline to do the same thing every day!  Top it off with patience, a pinch of luck and an ever present sense of humor.  Serve with a smile, professionalism, courtesy and customer service.

Find a way to have fun and enjoy your profession.  Your clients will rave about the dish you serve up and will want to “share your recipe” with everyone they know!  Stay in action every work day by repeatedly making this recipe!

So when looking for something fabulous to prepare this Thanksgiving, follow this recipe for success in real estate and I guarantee you’ll get rave reviews!

Real Estate Lessons from Veteran’s Day

 

  

Real Estate Lessons from Veteran’s Day – by Dana Sparks 

 

Veteran’s Day is celebrated on Monday November 11th.   This is the day we honor all of America’s veterans both living and dead. Each year on November 11th, we demonstrate how much we appreciate all the sacrifices that our veterans have made to keep our country free.  Thank you to veterans everywhere and especially to all of our veterans at Maximum One!

As we think of the concepts of sacrifice and honor if we can relate these concepts to our clients and co-op agents and lenders and attorneys, we can not only enjoy our careers more but we can enjoy more business as well.

People Are Doing the Best They Can in the Moment – People are who they are in the moment given the situation in which they find themselves.  So if you find that a client is being difficult to deal with, take a step back and try and view the situation from their perspective.  Is your Buyer’s frustration level mounting because they have lost out on their third offer for their “dream house?”  As an agent, you are familiar with the market, the inventory, the prices, etc… your client continually hears on the news that we are in a “Buyer’s Market” and they should be able to get the “deal of the century.”  Consider that perhaps it is easier for your client to vent their frustration on YOU rather than take out their anger and confusion on their spouse or children.  When you co-op agent is rude and uncooperative with you, perhaps they just received some bad personal news or just had to put a beloved pet down.  Instead of being offended, compassion may be the emotion that would serve you best in this situation.

People Hire You to be the Professional – Your clients hire you to guide and lead them through this process.  Honor their intelligence and maturity although they may not be familiar with the processes, procedures or terminology of real estate.  It is YOUR duty to educate them about real estate rather than getting upset with them when they think you are fibbing about the availability of inventory.  As the professional, you know the true status of particular listings in an area; you also know that the websites that public has access to (Zillow, Trulia, etc.) does not reflect the current status of the market.  So your Buyer calls you up and wants to go see houses this weekend, you tell them that there is nothing available to show.  They go home & look online and see PLENTY of active listings.  So they drive around on the weekend, call on another agent’s sign, that agent meets them after lunch to show them that listing.  Agents know that the house is under contract but agents also know that fewer than 1% of Buyers actually buy the first house about which they call.  The listing agent gets a new Buyer and you get the boot!  Your Buyer thinks that you were simply being “lazy” and didn’t want to show them houses this weekend.  When they fire you, you are the one to direct your anger and frustration towards… not your Buyer! This is your profession and it is your responsibility to educate them about the market, the current level of inventory and it is up to you to future pace them on what they will see online on the public websites.  When you scratch your head as to why your co-op agent is not presenting your client’s counteroffer, maybe that agent is not as confident and skilled as you are and does not how to deal with their very headstrong client.  Instead of getting upset and thinking how inept the other agent is, perhaps you could give them a way to present your counteroffer to their client.  Start your conversation with, “Obviously you are aware that the due diligence period expires tomorrow and I’m sure you have reminded your clients of the consequences of…..”

People May Be Making Sacrifices of Which You are Unaware – The majority of our clients are relative strangers to us.  They tell you what they think you need to know to assist them with their real estate needs; they do not necessarily tell you everything that is going on in their lives (at least most of them don’t!)  You may have clients that have to sell for an undisclosed financial reason and selling may not be their first option but perhaps their last resort.   Perhaps a couple needs to buy a house to accommodate their grandson that they are raising.  This couple obviously loves their 8-year old grandchild but they were just set for the time in their lives where they were “foot loose & fancy free” and now they are thrown back in time ten years.  This couple will be all smiles and light to you but perhaps deep down this move represents a huge sacrifice on their behalf and a huge alteration of their life.

In conclusion, honor your clients and co-op agents for their position and the stressors they may be experiencing at the moment.  Don’t be offended or get frustrated by their behaviors or comments; consider a different way to present your information because their reactions may have nothing to do with you.  Just like we honor our Veterans on Veteran’s Day, honor your clients and colleagues with patience and compassion and you will achieve greater rewards in your business, feel a sense of grace and enjoy this crazy real estate market we are experiencing!  Afterall, we are all working towards the same ultimate goal in each transaction.

The Mayonnaise Jar & Two Cups of Coffee

The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee – Internet Inspiration circulating since 2004

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the two cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things – your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions – and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

“The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house and your car.”

“The sand is everything else – the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.

“It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

Dana’s Comments:

Consider the mayonnaise jar of your business… what are the golf balls of your job?  the pebbles?  the sand?

The Golf Balls are your Lead Generation, Listing & Buyer Presentations, Negotiating Contracts.

 The Pebbles…. administration work, scheduling closings, scheduling your day, etc.

 The Sand… all the other “busy work” that takes up so much of your day but does not produce any income.

Always remember that you need to make time for a cup of coffee with a friend!