Luxury Clues

Banish These Four Myths that Can Destroy Your Luxury Real Estate Business

Success in real estate sales, especially in the luxury market, is tied to your mindset. Unfortunately, most of us have what one author called a "gremlin" that constantly tells you that you can't do the job or something is about to go wrong. Four of the most dangerous myths that your gremlin likes to use are the four listed below: 

Myth #1: "I have to be available 24/7 in order to be successful."

This is one of the most pervasive and dangerous mythis in the real estate business. The reason is that it is fear based. In other words, you fear that your connection with your customer/client isn't strong enough to withstand you not being available the moment they want you.

To change this pattern, take the initiative of being in regular contact with your clients so they don't have to contact you. Use email or text messaging to update them on showings, the latest listings, or what is going on in their transaction. The biggest complaint about real estate agents is that they don't stay in touch regularly with their clients--not that they weren't available the moment the client called.

Myth #2: "No one can do the job as well as I can do it!"

Are you doing minimum wage work such as taking brochures to brochure boxes, picking up keys, picking up your cleaning, etc. Consider hiring someone to do these routine tasks. For example, if your office has a transaction coordinator, try using the service on at least one transaction. Also, consider going paperless using a system such as Cartavi that does a fantastic job of tracking your transactions and keeping everyone in the loop as well. It also sends a very clear message that you are tech savvy--luxury clients expect this. The result is that making these shifts free you up to have time off as well as creating more opportunities to spend your time with Buyers and Sellers.

Myth #3: "I can't afford to take time off."

If you are stressed out and running on adrenaline, your business and your life can start to fall apart. You may get a ticket for speeding, yell at a client, come down with a cold, etc. Since we "attract who we are," when we're in chaos, so are our transactions and our clients. To break this cycle, take a minimum of one day a week off and at least one weekend a month. If you're worried about being available for emergencies, pair up with someone in your office you trust. You cover for them on their days off and they cover for you.

Myth #4: "My business will decrease if I take time off."

 This may surprise you, but the exact opposite is true. Have you ever noticed that the moment you plan a vacation (i.e. create lots of space in your schedule), your business immediately increases? The strategy here is to "create more space" in your life. "Creating space" can be clearing your schedule for a vacation, cleaning your closet, catching up on your filing, etc.  

 

If you would like to learn more about what you can do to make your business more effective, visit the following post on our RealEstateCoach.com blog that addresses specific steps that you can take to attract better quality clients into your real estate business. 

Posted by Bernice Ross, CEO, RealEstateCoach.com

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Are you ready to upgrade your social media and web marketing skills? If so, check out our 7 minute demo of our new 14 session online Real Estate Dough® Experienced Agent Online Training program that covers blogging, web and social media marketing, as well as the best of the tried and true strategies you need today to master how to be a wildly successful real estate agent tomorrow.

 

When Are the Three Best Times of the Day to Post to the Social Media?

If you want to get the greatest amount of return for your social media marketing efforts as well as for any ads that you post online, the most recent research on this important subject reveals some very clear cut patterns among web and social media users.

First, in terms of the best times to do a Facebook post or to post an on-line ad to a site such as Craigslist--the best times are actually based upon when people have breaks from work. Here are the three best times to post your Craigslist ads as well as any of your social media posts. 

1. 8:30-9:00 in the morning

This is when people are first getting to work. Many people arrive early and they'll pop up on their computer to search for new listings or for other items they may want to purchase before the beging work for the day.

2. 11:30 to 1:00

This is lunch hour time. Your potential lead finishes eating or, if they're like many web surfers, they will eat as they peruse their Facebook posts or review the latest ads on Craigslist.

3. After dinner

An important point to note here is that after dinner means between 7:00-7:30 in the winter time and between 9:00 to 10:00 in the summer time. 

Now you may be thinking you don't want to have to be sitting at your computer everyday managing these ads and posts. One of the best solutions is to use a dashboard program such as Hootsuite. Hootsuite allows you to schedule your posts throughout the day, week, or month. There's no need to spend hours at the computer doing separate posts. Hootsuite will handle them for you.

There's another great reason for using Hootsuite--it's their "hootlet." Once you install the application,the Hootlet will appear in your navigation bar. To post an article to Twitter, all you have to do is to click on the Hootlet and it automatically creates a Twitter post including the link. This is super easy and makes posting a breeze.

Posted by Bernice Ross

Are you ready to upgrade your social media and web marketing skills? If so, check out our 7 minute demo of our new 14 session online real estate sales training program that covers blogging, web and social media marketing, as well as the best of the tried and true strategies you need today to master how to be a wildly successful real estate agent tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America's Most Expensive Homes for 2012

Would you like to take a look at some of the most expensive homes in the U.S.? If so, Forbes has just published a photo gallery of some of the most expensive homes that have either sold or been listed recently. 

One of the most interesting facts about the ultra luxury market is that many of the most expensive homes are never marketed on the Multiple Listing Service. Instead, these properties are said to be "discreetly marketed." The agents who handle these homes market them privately through their own network of personal contacts. In fact, many of them provide concierge type service coordinating not only the various aspects of the sale, but the move as well. 

There are a variety of reasons that the ultra wealthy choose to market their homes privately. First, people who have this type of wealth are often targets of kidnappers and/or thieves. Allowing someone to see the artwork, the floor plan, or where the kids' bedrooms are can put the family at risk. 

Second, many of them don't want the publicity about what they are doing, where they are moving, or anything else having to do with their private lives. In fact, one of the quickest ways to kill a luxury client relationship is to say anything about your client. Furthermore, I've seen business managers and attorneys require agents to sign a non-disclosure agreement before they were ever allowed to know who the client was or where the property was located. 

Even if you don't work the luxury market, a fun tool to share with your clients is the Zillow Widget that identifies the most expensive homes in your area. 

Posted by Bernice Ross

Preview the most Comprehensive, Interactive ONLINE Real Estate Sales Training ever!

Here's just a sample of what's in this 14 session training that covers everything you need to know to be a stellar success in your real estate business:

1. How to zap the 5 myths that block peak performance using the 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success.
2. Profit from little known social media and web marketing secrets to generate and convert lead after lead for your business.
3. Use our digital and print Pre-Listing packages to convert more listings, Expireds, and FSBOs at the right price and a full commission.
4. Effortlessly convert more buyer leads and negotiate more effectively, including overcoming the toughest objections.
5. Integrate traditional marketing strategies with the latest social media and technology tools.

Click on the link to preview this program now:

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Order today to make more Real Estate Dough(R) in your business tomorrow!

 

Two Hot New Apps for Your Real Estate Business

If you want to stay ahead of the competition, especially in the luxury real estate market, it's important that you are aware of the latest tools and apps that can help you better serve your clients. Here are two very useful tools that you be great resources for your real estate business. 

1. ThingLink: This is a new tool for Facebook that allows you to make your images and your videos on Facebook interactive. With Thing Link you can also post captions on your pictures. For example, if you get a price reduction on one of your listings, take a new photo and use the ThinkLink app to post a "Price Reduced $17,000" on top of the picture. 

According to the ThinkLink Website, you could also "use the tool to place a SoundCloud recording on a house image that introduces the for-sale home." 

One of the most powerful aspects of ThingLink is that it allows you to track metrics on what you post. You can tell how many page views your pictures and videos have had on Facebook. Right now, most agents don't track this type of data. ThingLink makes it simple.

The basic program is $5.00 per month for up to 500 images or $20.00 per month for an unlimited number. 

2. Real Estate Blog Ideas:This is a free tool that provides you with a list of ideas from various news articles that you can use in a wide variety of ways. For example, you can use these ideas to create a blog post, be the basis for a marketing post card or newsletter, as well as for creating a special report. The list constantly changes as news stories change, so you always have a wealth of ideas from which to choose.

Now here is an extremely important point. DO NOT copy an article and claim it as your own. If you are doing a blog post, the correct etiquette is to do a one or two sentence summary and then link to the article. If you want to use the article in print form, you must obtain written permission from the person who wrote the article and/or controls the copyright.  

Also, if you just want a quick update about what is happening in the real estate industry (as well as in the general news as well), this is a great way to have everything aggregated into one place.

Posted by Bernice Ross.

Don't miss this week on Real Estate Coach Radio as Terri Murphy joins us for a five part series called, "The Power of a Red Hot Pre-Appointment System. Terri consistently sold 100 properties a year without the help of an assistant. Her Pre-Listing package is an important key. Here's what Terri will be covering: Monday: How to Stand Out from the Competition; Tuesday: Creative Ways to Deliver Your Pre-List Package; Wednesday: The Power of Strategic Alliances; Thursday: What to Include in Your Pre-List Package; Friday, Special Marketing Tools to Set You Apart

 

 

 

Four Great Prospecting Tips for Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Whether you are single or heading for your 60^th Wedding Anniversary, it’s a great day to say a special thanks to those you love. If you are alone, have you thought of volunteering to visit someone who is elderly and alone or perhaps just making cookies or brownies for the neighborhood kids?

A great way to stay in touch with past clients is to call to wish them a Happy Valentine's Day. If you don't want to talk to them, you can use "Slydial" which allows you to leave a message for them and goes directly into their voicemail.

One of the coolest gifts I’ve seen a Realtor were heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies on a lollipop stick. Wrap them with cellophane, tie them with a red ribbon, and attach one of your business cards. It’s a great way to express your gratitude to your clients.

Another way to have a great Valentine’s Day is to go to a local florist and make arrangements for your clients to pick up a beautiful rose as your Valentine’s gift to them. If the florist is willing to include a coupon for a special Valentine’s arrangement, that can be a win for you both.

Finally, for those who are chocoholics, check out this recipe  for chocolate chip cookie dough truffles. While dipping the cookie dough in the chocolate can be tricky, the result is well worth the effort.

Posted by Bernice Ross.

Join us this week on RealEstateCoachRadio.com as Jimmy Mackin shares how to "Take Advantage of Facebook to Grow Your Business." Jimmy is one of the leading young voices in the real estate industry and is an expert on how to create Facebook groups. This is an awesome series of shows--don't miss it!

 

The "Cabernet Law" and How to Attract Real Estate Clients Using the Social Media

One of the best sessions at Real Estate Connect was one that featured Jeff Jarvis. Jeff is the author of the book, "What Would Google Do?" In it, he asks how Google would go about changing the real estate industry. 

While Google has no plans to take over the industry, Jarvis had several great suggestions on how you can use social media platforms to make more money in your real estate business. Here are the key suggestions that Jarvis made during his talk. 

1. The Social Media Sites All Rely on Sharing

The key commonality among all social media sites is that they exist to share information. The key point to note here is that the old broadcast approaches of the past fail miserably when you use them on the social media. This is one of the reasons it's not smart to post your listings on your Facebook personal profile or on your Twitter Feed. Instead, engage people in conversations and build a relationship over time. Earn the right to do business with them. As Jarvis describes it, "Sharing yields trust." 

In fact, the process is to share first. This "disarms the stigma of being a stranger." In other words, people can engage with you online and feel they have gotten to know you. This in turn leads to trust, which ultimately canlead for business. 

2. The Cabernet Law

Never post anything when you have had one too many glasses of Cabernet. The real point here is to never flame another person. The good-old-fashioned Golden Rule has it right--if you can't say something nice, don't say anything. 

3. The social media enables collaboration. 

One of the major trends that will reshape our future is collaborative design. Right now groups of people are designing cars collaboratively--not the engineers at the car companies, but the consumers. 

4. Have a conversation, don't broadcast.

One of the biggest mistakes most people make on the social media is to broadcast their messages using the old 20th Century advertising model. Jarvis, like many other speakers at the conference, argues that your message must be focused on what the consumers want and need as well. It must also be highly focused on hyperlocalism--the things that matter to consumers about the specific area where they live. 

The key is to leverage your hyperlocal posts into hyperlocal relationships that will generate business. As Jarvis says, "Content is a tool that lets us hyperlocalize online relationships." 

5. Add value

This is the notion of "give to get marketing." In other words, give of yourself, share links, videos, whatever matters to your audience. When you give to others, others will give to you.

Posted by Bernice Ross. Join us this week on RealEstateCoachRadio.com and hear top technology speaker Amy Chorew on "iPad Apps for Buyers' Agents." Here's what Amy wll be covering on this week's shows: Monday: Working in the Cloud; Tuesday: Buyer Counseling Apps; Wednesday: Digital Signature Software; Thursday: How to Use an iPad on Showings; Friday: Third Party Apps

 

 

 

 

A Secret Way to Profit from Another Real Estate Agent's Luxury Sale

Happy 2012! I have a really interesting case study for you today. Suppose that you just listed or sold the most expensive condominium in Miami ever at 21.5 million in one of the most prestigious condo projects in the world. Furthermore, this story is going to be picked up nationally including being highlighted on the Drudge Report. 

Unfortunately for the agents who actually listed and sold this property, they both missed a tremendous opportunity because they didn't (1) know what is needed to leverage this story into more business for them online or (2) they didn't care.

The person who landed all the PR from this story was Kevin Tomlinson. You know how he did it?

First, Kevin specializes in Miami condos and has a blog dedicated specifically to that topic. Kevin blogged about the sale in detail. You can see his post here. 

Here are some key points to note. First, notice that he had 139 comments and 114 reactions. That's a tremendous response.

Second, notice how he has watermarked the photo of the project in two different places with his name as well as his tagline. 

Third, he reported plenty of the details about the sale as well as a comparison to New York City prices, the closest competition on the East Coast for this type of sale. 

Finally, he invites his blog visitors to see more photos of the property. 

The result was Kevin's blog post was the one that appeared on The Drudge Report (note the link the lower right hand corner that goes directly to Kevin's blog.) 

Kevin followed this up with another marketing piece. This is a brilliant illustration of how to use luxury blogging in your luxury real estate business. 

Consequently, if you have a blog, there's nothing wrong about blogging about a property that sold, especially if it's a historical property or major sale. Just make sure that any pictures you post are yours or approved by the owners. In most cases, the listing and the buying agents do not have a blog, so chances are you will be the only one who is posting about the sale. 

Posted by Bernice Ross, Please join us this week on RealEstateCoachRadio.com to hear Stacey Harmon, the author of Strategies for Real Estate Facebook pages, 125 content Strategies that Work. Here's what she will be covering: Monday: Name Your Facebook Business Page Correctly; Tuesday: Choose the Right Type of Business Page; Wednesday: How to Attract Likes and Fans for Your Facebook Business Page; Thursday: Top Producer Secrets for Facebook Lead Generation; Friday: How to Market Your Listings on Facebook without Aggravating Your Friends

Photo credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Decade of Timeless Tips to Grow Your Luxury Real Estate Business

I just marked my tenth anniversary as an Inman columnist and thought it would be fun to take a look back at the hot topics, how the industry as changed, as well as the themes that are as relevant today as they were yesterday.

A Decade of Change and More of the Same

In many respects, the issues we faced a decade ago are still with us today. Key examples include how to utilize new marketing technologies, how to stay profitable during a shifting market, as well as how to cope with economic and natural disasters over which we have no control.

 FSBOs

In 2003, an interesting trend was emerging. Web marketers were convinced that they would soon disintermediate (eliminate) agents from the purchasing process. In a column called, Why FSBOs Need a Web Savvy Real Estate Agent More than Ever,

I outlined the reasons that FSBOs would have a much tougher time marketing their properties online, even though FSBO companies were springing up everywhere. The quote below references research that was an early harbinger of a startling trend:

Despite the lowest interest rates in 30 years and one of the hottest sellers' markets in history, the number of FSBOs who ultimately list their house with an agent has increased from 76% to 80% (CAR study January, 2001). Inman News reports that ForSalebyOwner.com experienced a 7 percent decline in traffic during the month of June (2003) alone. When the real estate market shifts from a sellers' market to a buyers' market, these numbers will probably be even higher.

In other words, 24 percent of the sellers were able to sell their properties by owner in 2002 vs. 20 percent in 2003. According to the latest NAR Profile of Buyers and Sellers, that number is down to about 12 percent, half of which are intra-family transfers generated by marriage, death, or divorce. Sellers do indeed need a web savvy agent more than ever.

Defending Your Commission

My first column on how to defend your commission ran in 2002. As the market became superheated in 2004 and 2005, I wrote another 13 articles on this topic. 

Jessica Sweesey, the Inman editor at that time, decided to change the title for my series from “Defending Your Commission” to “Waging War on Real Estate’s Discounters.”

The title alone set off a firestorm of debate that led to my first book. The discounters trumpeted how they were going to put the full service folks out of business while the full service companies desperately searched for ways to compete on value rather than price.

My position was that most discount brokerages fail in a market downturn and that history would probably repeat itself. With the collapse of most discount brokerage models in today’s market, history did do exactly that. Chances are that in the next upswing, however, discount models will gain momentum once again.

The strategy for defending a full service commission really hasn’t changed much. The research from a decade ago is still true today: up to 85 percent of all sellers will pay for Premium service provided the agent can demonstrate how their approach helps the seller achieve the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time.

Furthermore, commission objections are still best addressed by asking questions rather than trying to hard close the seller on your value. For example, instead of telling the sellers they should list at a full commission because buyers’ agents will show the listings with the highest commissions first (which probably violates the law), a better approach is to ask the following question,

To obtain the highest price possible for your property, you need someone who is a powerful negotiator—isn't that correct? (The obvious answer is "Yes.") So if you hire an agent who can't even negotiate a full commission on their own behalf, how effective do you think they will be in negotiating the maximum price for your property?

The shift from telling to questioning is still one of the most important fundamentals in all types of negotiation.

How to Win More Listings

In 2001, what would the tech savvy agent offer a seller to make their services standout from the competition? This list from “Do You Have a 2001 Listing Presentation?” would benefit many agents today that have yet to adopt these proven tools.  When agents describe how their Premium Marketing Plan is unique, here’s what they could use back in 2001.

1.  Your listing will be posted on my personal web site, my company web site, Realtor.com, and will include a "360" tour.

2. Your listing will be advertised in my email newsletter that reaches my past clients and my sphere of influence.

3. Your yard sign with have an 800-phone number that allows me to obtain valid phone numbers of people who call for information on my listings.

4. You will also have access to our on-line tracking system that allows you to check the status of your transaction 24 hours per day.”  

The last point is important. Transaction tracking systems have been around for a decade and yet they’re just now starting to become commonplace as more agents move to doing paperless transactions.  

Need more timeless tips? If so, don’t miss art 2 of this Part Series.

Posted by Bernice Ross, Join us this week on RealEstateCoachRadio.com as Coach Patti Kouri shares her Insider Coaching Secrets to Make Your Business Soar. Here's what Patti will be covering: Monday: How to sell anything from pencils to penthouses, Tuesday: Seven Ways to Stay Connected with Your Sphere, Wednesday: Are You Battling Time and Losing? Thursday: Secrets to Creating a Winning Attitude, Friday: Get Rid of Worry Lines without Plastic Surgery.

 

 

 

Two Simple Ways to Stage Your Luxury Real Estate Listings Online

Properly staging a property for sale and taking plenty of pictures of the interior, is one of the most powerful ways to generate web leads as well as to ultimately get the property sold. When it comes to staging, there are essentially three primary levels: decluttering and working with existing items, making simple improvements and repairs, and full out remodeling. 

The issue becomes what to do when they owners either don't want to stage the property or simply don't want any photos taken of the interior. 

When you represent luxury properties, getting a major estate can be both difficult and often quite pricey. To illustrate this point, can you imagine telling the owner of a $5 million home that the decorating that they paid big bucks for is actually going to make their home difficult to sell?

Another time that staging can become an issue is when your sellers may have beautiful art work or other fine objects in their home and they simply don't want pictures of their property online. In other cases, especially if they are extremely wealthy, your sellers and other family members may be concerned about kidnapping. 

The question becomes what can you do to market their property online when you may be unable to take interior photos of the property. You can now virtually stage your properties using one of these two virtual staging tools. 

1. 3-D Open House

The product from United Lane allows you to take a 2-D floor plan and completely stage the house without ever stepping inside. In fact, when I first saw the demo of the product, they actually took a picture of me and posted it on the living room of the house we were staging. This powerful tool is a great listing as well as a great lead converter. The great news is that once you do on the online staging, the system produces a 3-D photo realistic picture of the rooms you have staged. The picture at the top of this post shows you how effective this actually is. Keep in mind, all of this was generated from a floor plan--no photos.

2. Obeo's V-Stager

If you can get the sellers to move their furniture around where it's out of the shot (or if the property is vacant),Obeo's V-stager provides an amazingly realistic staging of your listing. If your buyers are having trouble imagining what a property would be look like in their colors and with the furniture they select, this tool also provides a terrific way to stage online without ever having to go through the process prior to the sale. The two photos below illustrate how this works: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each of these tools can help you convert listing appointments into signed listings and even better, get that not so attractive property sold because both you and your potential buyers can decorate it online. 

Posted by Bernice Ross, Join us this week on RealEstateCoachRadio.com with New York Times Best-Selling author Don Hutson, the author of the One-Minute Negotiator. If you want to negotiate more effectively, you can’t afford to miss this incredible two weeks of shows with Don. Last week Don did five great shows on the topic of: The Selling Style that Works. This week Don does five more shows that include the following topics: Monday,     Your Database Is the Currency of Your Future. Tuesday:  The Seven “P’s” of Entrepreneurial Success. Wednesday: Four Negotiation Styles You Need to Know. Thursday: How to Overcome Negotiaphobia. Friday: The “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of Compromising. 

The Secret to Attracting Your "Ideal" Luxury Real Estate Client

Whether you are looking for the ideal luxury real estate client, a life partner, or if you simply want to attract more people in your life who support who you are, having clarity about what you want to attract is critical.

A number of years ago I was leading a coaching call and we were discussing how to attract the ideal client for your business. One of the people on the call had built a $300,000 per year business (that's net income to him) in just six months. I asked him what he had done to achieve this level of success. Here's what he said: 

"I made a 16-page list of all the characteristics of my ideal client, right down to the belt and the tie he wore."

When I asked him if his ideal client had appeared in his business yet. His answer was,

"No, but a lot of his brothers and sisters sure have." 

If you're interested in attracting your "ideal," the first and most important step is to have clarity about who your ideal client actually is and what is important to him or her. To "attract" this individual, you must have the same core values and characteristics. Putting it a little bit differently, you attract who you are. Consequently, if you want to attract clients who are fun to work with, you must be fun to work with as well. If you want clients who are honest and reliable, you must be honest and reliable as well. Whoever you are as a person, your client's will mirror both the best and the worst of those characteristics.

In addition to having clarity about what you want to attract, you must also have clarity about what you are unwilling to accept. One of my clients had a 25-point list of what her "ideal" man would be. As we worked together, the quality of men she attracted continued to increase, until she attracted someone who had virtually everything on her list. The only problem was, he was still legally married, even though he and his wife lived in different states and had been separated for several years.

Why did she attract this person? She had forgotten to put that being "emotionally available" and "not married" on her list. She added "being single" to her list and is now in a serious committed relationship.

When you have clarity about what you want in your ideal, sometimes you may have to "pass" on those who don't fit what you need or how you conduct your business. For example, a good friend may want you to help her with a short sale on her house, but you don't really work with short sales. In this case the best move you can make is to refer her to someone who specializes in short sales and has an outstanding closing record with that type of transaction. 

When it comes to attracting more clients, if your schedule is already packed to capacity, there's no room for new business. To make room for better quality clients, you must free up your schedule. A great way to illustrate this point is to take a vacation. Agents who do this are almost always inundated with new clients and people who want to write offers. 

A great way of looking at this is that if you have a beat-up old car in the garage, there's no room for the shiny new red convertible. In other words, get rid of the buyers who won't buy, the sellers who won't get realistic on their price, and take time off. Not only will you feel better for doing so, you'll be surprised at how many more great clients show up in your life. 

Posted by Bernice Ross, Join us this week on RealEstateCoachRadio.com with a very special guest, Chris Smith, the chief evangelist for Inman News and one of the sharpest younger minds in the real estate industry.  If you live in Austin you can see both Bernice and Chris live at Agent Reboot on Tuesday October 4 from 8:00 to 3:00 at the Palmer Event Center. If you aren’t in Austin, you can still hear Chris and Bernice doing this five part series this week called A Blueprint for Facebook Success. Here’s what Chris will be covering: Monday: Groups of Pages: Which Is Best to Build Relationships? Tuesday: Better to Be Best than First, Wednesday: Best Times of Day to Post on Facebook, Thursday: What Types of Content Generate the Best Response? Friday: Pull, Don’t Push