Month: June 2015

Prospecting in real estate is all about numbers. The more people you contact, the more you increase your chances of finding quality leads that result in signed contracts.  When you increase your prospecting power, you increase your income.

One powerful way to bump up your prospecting is to use a dialer.  In fact, 94% of realtors who make $250K or more a year use an auto dialer in their business.  Without the help of a dialer you will spend way more time manually punching numbers in your phone versus actually connecting with your leads. (more…)

As any experienced agent will tell you, working with preforeclosures can be a tricky business. Your client is in a difficult financial situation and likely to be under enormous pressure, so you need to use all the tact and sensitivity you have at your disposal.  People in dire circumstances tend to be anxious to get out of them, they may not be entirely forthcoming about anything that could make their property a less attractive prospect – it is up to you to get the full story and make sure you know how to price their home correctly.  Make sure you know enough in the following three areas:
#1: Costs 
Ask your client about the outstanding balance of the loan and any liens on the property, but don’t leave it there. Do your homework and head over to the public records office to check for yourself. Remember to subtract this amount, as well as any insurance costs, from your valuation of the property so that you have an accurate figure.
#2: Repairs
The upkeep of any building costs money, and if a homeowner is being foreclosed upon, chances are they haven’t had a lot of cash lying around to make basic or even essential repairs upon their property for quite a while. Make a thorough inspection of the property, keeping careful note of any repairs that a potential buyer would need to make. You could even bring along a contractor to help you make estimates of the likely costs. Like the overheads, these necessary repairs will affect your bottom line.
#3: The Devil’s in the Details
Get to know your client’s situation. This is a basic part of any realtor-client relationship, but it becomes even more essential when working with preforeclosures. What are your client’s current circumstances? How did they end up in the position of defaulting on their loan? What steps have they taken and, more crucially, are they taking any steps to  remedy the situation? Being properly informed will protect you from being hit with any unpleasant surprises down the line.
Above all, remember to be sensitive. Your client is in trouble, but with a thoughtful approach, you can turn their preforeclosure to both your advantage.

Have you ever held an open house that fell absolutely flat? Where no one showed, or those who did show didn’t produce any leads at all? As a real estate agent, it can be disappointing and discouraging to feel that your hard work hasn’t paid off.
Don’t despair. If done right, an open house can be an extremely effective sales tool. Here are 4 tips to help your next open house be a smashing success.

1. Advertise strategically.
Promote your open house in the place where most buyers are currently looking – on the web. Post your open house on both national real estate sites and local classifieds like Craigslist and often there are local Facebook groups for neighborhoods. Send a note to everyone on your list of current or prospective clients. They might not be in the market right now, but they probably know someone who is.

2. Place signs everywhere.
Signs might seem old-school, but they still bring people in. House hunters who want to buy in a particular neighborhood will often drive around that neighborhood looking for houses for sale. Also, residents in the neighborhood may have relatives or friends who are looking to buy a home and will tell them about your open house when they see your sign.

3. Get leads without making visitors feel pressured.
Often people who come to an open house just want to look around. They don’t want to commit to anything, and they certainly don’t want to answer questions from a pushy realtor. But that’s no reason to let those opportunities slip through your fingers. Instead, have a sign-in sheet or a guest book near the front door that asks for the following:

• Name
• Phone number
• Email address
• Check boxes with the option of yes or no:
  • Do you have a lender/funding lined up?
  • Are you pre-approved?
  • Do you have a real estate agent?
  • Do you have a home to sell?

Allowing people to check yes or no lets them give you information for future use without having to discuss it with you. It also frees you up to make friendly conversation, point out the great features of the home, and make those all-important personal connections.

4. Make sure visitors leave with a packet of information.
Include neighborhood information and a local market data report with recent sales activity and average selling prices. Give them your business card and other contact information in the packet. Consider adding a thank you note or small gift for attending. This is a minor gesture that can have powerful results.
The open house is here to stay. Even with more buyers doing their own research on the web, nothing can substitute for actually walking through and getting the feel of a home. And these savvy shoppers, more than ever before, will appreciate and respond to an open house that provides them with a personal experience that they just can’t get through the internet.

Anyone who’s been a realtor for a few years has witnessed some fundamental changes to the way we do business. In a lot of ways, we are still working under the shadow of the Global Financial Crisis, which had major implications for the housing market. In 2006 housing prices peaked and then started declining until they hit their lowest in 2012. Economists generally concur that it was the bursting of the United States housing bubble that led directly to the 2007- 2009 recession.

Many believe that the lending practices of large financial institutions caused the bubble. The fallout when bubbles burst was a big increase in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. This affected the economy more broadly, but has been of particular importance for working real estate agents.

When a homeowner defaults on their loan, the bank allows for a grace period between the serving of an eviction notice and the eventual sale of the property at a foreclosure auction. This grace period is given so that the owner has the opportunity to do whatever it is they need to do in order to get them out of trouble, including selling the property.

During this pre-foreclosure period a person’s best option is usually to sell, although they may not always realize it immediately. When you as a realtor approach someone in this position with an offer to represent them in the sale of their house, there is one main point you should emphasize: If the seller can sell the property before it goes to public auction, the seller will have minimized the damage to their credit rating and equity, making it a little bit less difficult to move forward with their lives.

As another bubble begins to form in the property sector, now is a good time to remember the advantages of pre-foreclosure listings: lots of investors in the market, lots of highly motivated sellers, and a ready list of where to find them with prospecting tools like REDX.
So don’t wait—sign up for REDX today!