Telephone Tactics for Making a Great First Impression

1. Speak clearly. Superstars make a point of slowing down on the phone, enunciating clearly, and avoiding the shorthand real estate lingo that can often confuse a real estate client. This shows that they are completely interested and engaged in the conversation.

2. Smile. In training real estate agents to prospect, we often use the age old wisdom of “smiling while you’re dialing.” Why? Because when you smile, your whole body, posture, voice, and attitude change. Amazingly, you can sense these subtle changes over the phone.

3. Prepare to take calls. Real estate agents should expect that they will receive hundreds of calls a month from their listing, marketing, and prospecting activities. Wise agents prepare for these calls by keeping copies of their advertising, prospect inquiry logs, appointment books, and any other necessary tools at their fingertips. Read more…

December 20th, 2007 | Real Estate Deal | No Comments

 

Why Property is So Much Better Than Other Investments?

  1. You do not need much of the purchase price in cash to buy a property.
  2. You can buy many dollars’ worth of property more than you are paying for.
  3. You can massively increase the value of a property without spending much money.
  4. You do not need to sell a property to reap the benefits of any growth.
  5. You do not need to monitor your properties from moment to moment like a hawk.
  6. Property prices tend to increase relatively smoothly and consistently.
  7. Property is very forgiving of mistakes.
  8. Property has exceptional tax advantages.
  9. The fluctuations of any one property relative to the national average are very low.
  10. It is incredibly simple to do better than the national average for property.
  11. It is the simplest, most reliable, and most consistent vehicle I know to convert even a little financial intelligence into a lot of cold, hard cash.

November 4th, 2007 | Basic Knowledge | No Comments

12 Real Estate Prospecting Tips

Build a wide sphere of influence through regular prospecting. There’s no time like the present to improve your skills with these handy tips.

1. Add a memo field to your contacts database to store pertinent, personal information about prospects. For example, planned retirement in two years, children going to college, or a big promotion.

2. Conduct a phone survey. Choose a topic that’s likely to be of interest to your prospects—the impact of recent school reform or how the current economy is affecting the neighborhood. Then offer to e-mail the survey results. Voilà, you have an instant e-mail marketing list. Read more…

October 20th, 2007 | Real Estate Deal | 1 Comment

 

Ten Ways to Locate Great Properties

1. Real estate brokers and agents

Having several real estate agents scouting properties for you is one of the most effective ways to quickly and efficiently identify potential properties that can be flipped. I must stress that it is critical to your success to ensure the competency level of the brokerage team you put together. I have worked with many brokers and agents whose range of expertise and experience varies greatly.

2. Classified advertising

Almost all newspapers carry a section in their classified advertising specifically for selling real estate. Most homes listed for sale in the newspaper by agents are active listings and will typically be priced at full retail. You might notice some ads that use keywords like “motivated seller” or “must sell, owner transferring.” These types of classified advertisements are worth following up on.

3. Real estate publications

Almost all areas periodically publish books or magazines specifically designed for residential real estate sales. These real estate publications can be a very good source for locating potential deals. You will also find many helpful real estate–related advertisers in these publications — real estate agents, mortgage companies, appraisers, surveyors, title companies, real estate legal services, and insurance companies. Read more…

September 12th, 2007 | Investment Analysis | 1 Comment

When Real Estate Bubbles Form and Burst?

How to determine whether real estate bubbles form and burst? Definitely, it is not easy to answer. But I have some suggestions to recognize it.

Market tends to slow down.

Real estate very rarely “explodes” upward in value or “crashes” downward. In other words, there are seldom any true “bubbles.” When prices go up, they tend to go up over time as each price increase builds on the last. When they turn down, many sellers convert their properties to rentals, take their homes off the market, or make other arrangements. Rather than crash, the market tends to slow down and prices slowly drift lower. Read more…

September 8th, 2007 | Real Estate Market | No Comments

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