Month: December 2012

Holiday Prospecting –
With the year winding down, you’ve earned a little R and R. Sure, you’ll probably end up eating a little too much, sleeping in a little bit too long, but it’s the Holidays- you’re supposed to take it easy, right? WRONG. If you’re not taking advantage of the prospecting opportunities inherent to this time of year, you just made it onto our Real Estate Agent Naughty-List. Here are REDX’s top 3 reasons for real estate agents to prospect during the Holidays.

1. Low Competition and High Motivation
You can count on the fact that many Realtors are planning on taking an extended break. With an excuse like the Holiday’s, you can pretty much assume only the most dedicated agents are actually still out there, hitting the pavement. With fewer working this is your window to make a new foothold in your market.
When you find sellers willing to talk, make sure you focus on the fact that buyers during this time of year are highly motivated. If you meet buyers willing to talk, tell them why they should be highly motivated to buy now instead of Spring. The crew over at KCM (www.KCMBlog.com) has a few points you could bring up-
Inventory is shrinking- The best homes will sell first and the longer they delay the more likely they are to miss out on their once and a lifetime buy.
You’ll pay more later- Many of KCM’s sources indicate that prices this winter should be bouncing around the bottom but will only begin to rise as we get closer to Spring.
Rising interest rates- KCM points out that the Mortgage Bankers Association predicts that next year’s 30-year interest rate will be about one full point higher than today’s.
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By Jefferson Snow
In November’s Tele-Seminar, our very own Michelle Holt sat down with REDX Power User, John Scheffer to pick his brain on everything from his real estate prospecting routine to why he got into real estate in the first place. John’s been a Realtor since 2004 and a REDX user since 2007. For the most part, he works as a one man show but that’s not stopping him from aiming high for 2013. John’s plan for next year is to list 50 properties and do it without working buyers and without a team pulling his weight for him. During our interview with John, he laid out several methods he’ll employ to reach this goal. In case you missed it, we want to pass those specifics onto you.
Be a Morning Master
In John’s own words, he’s striving to be a “Morning Master.” What is that? Well a Morning Master is someone who makes the absolute best use of the morning hours to prospect and to lay a foundation for more business. Being a Morning Master starts the night before. John makes an effort to get enough sleep, to eat right, and not have too much drink. He does this so he can get into his office every morning at 6:30am. This means that while the rest of his colleagues are wandering in bleary eyed and yawning, John is already hard at work and getting listing appointments.
When he lays out his routine you start to wonder if he has cyborg DNA or something because he is extremely regimented.  By 7am he’s got his expired leads into Mojo, by 7:45 he’s roll played with multiple partners, by 8:00 he’s calling, and hopefully by 8:10 he’s got his first listing. The ritual seems almost daunting but you should ask yourself, but maybe it’s worth being a little robotic to get 50 listings a year.
Usually his android-like discipline pays off.
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