100's of CRS's attended Sellabration this year to hear industry leaders share how to Thrive in today's real estate environment.
Here are some ideas I took notes on.
Sellabration 2010
Ira Serkes
Graph – percent of asking versus original asking
X is days on market and Y is percent of asking
Sam Miller
Kodak Zi8 Video
RED Scarlet 3K Video – Higher Priced
Canon 7D DSLR – Video and Still Camera
So watch for the Sony
iPad – think of it as a consumer device. Because it is so small
WiFi or 3G
Lenovo S10 3T Tablet – about $1000
Smart phones
Palm Pre –
Blackberry Tour – good keyboard, good email, weak browser
Droid X – Verizon based – can shoot video, droid & Google app creator
WiFi cards
Verizon 2200
Sprint will be going to a 4G, it is already out
iPhone – 4G
Can do video
Face to face
Financial Calculator App is available
Mortgage Calculator – razlaze
Trulia iPhone
Homes.com
Zillow.com it has very good mapping
iPod into a Hard Drive – Google this
Network File Server – Buffalo Terastation Server – remote login
Solid State Drives – Longer Battery Life
Huge Flash Drives – 250 Gig flash drives are available
Dropbox is great for virtual assistants and sharing data
Cloud computing – Real Pro is that
David Knox and send a view of the video
Realestateconsumervideos.com
QR Codes Ideas & Uses
Facebook using QR codes
Qrcode.kaywa.com to get one
Fijitsu USB Scanner-creates all the paper work
Portable Printing – Hp 470
PC best - Lenovo X201 Tablet
Slydial
Social Media and Beyond – Deborah Madey
Youtube.com – good seo and googlejuice
Video cities you live in
Twitter –
Foursquare – location based social networking site
Flickr – great place to put your photos
Kristal Kraft has done a lot with photos
Yelp – trip advisor to see what others have to say
Postris.com- blogging account and also networking your phones
Taking it Offline – IRL – Face to face
Meetup.com – zip code and see the meet up groups
Real estate related
CRS – blog, FB, LinkedIN
NAR –LinkedIN
Trulia
Zillow
Active Range
James Nellis – Social Fusion
The cost of it is time.
What are the 2 items you want to accomplish?
Complete transactions because of this
Social selling
It is a consultant approach
Lose the salesperson hat
Be consistent
Disciplined with it, using proper time
Be yourself rather than sell your real estate
Use the FORD concept on your posts
Keep your posts of 10 for personal and 1 for business
Target market your people – look at your profile name, profile photo, profile bio!
Bio – hobbies, business commitments,
Status comments – keep it social, engage others,
LinkedIN – not listing, about the area
Facebook – it’s a marketing brand of your firm
Create a list of personal, business, client, vendors, Realtors,
Referral Realtors, relatives,
If you do photo in of your area of landmarks. If you do 2 a week after a year you
would have over 100.
Real Estate Group or Business
Business Page - customize your business page – sending
Facebook.com/nellisgroup
LinkedIn is a business to business network, a personal connection
Be sure to get your recommendations this
See if you can get 1 recommendations a week
Establish 10 new connections a week
Flowtown.com – put email in and you will see the medias they are in.
Twitter – direct message to a person or @username you want to connect with
Search.twitter.com
Tweetgrid.com
Twitpic.com
Make 10 posts a week
Customized posterous page on your web site
Calljuice.com – put all the phones of team with the money line directed to for the 1st acceptance.
The Extreme Future: Reshaping of Real Estate – James Nellis and panel
Kill Your Future – What will happen and what will we be
The New Consumer
Being ready instantly
The boomer with retire later, staying in homes longer
Unconsumption Generation – Trade, Rent, Auction
Adapt technology quickly
Brokerage Change
A mobile agent- the mobile office
Bricks and mortar are not needed
Buy your space by the day
Open office between Starbucks and Kinko’s
People – Systems – Technology
Education of your agents with online and in-house
Building team
Technology
Hype Cycle – a great book – Gartner Hype Cycle
Second mover advantage – analyze and then adapt
Woopra.com – it allows you to see how is on your website live
Referrals
The Seven levels of Communication
7. 1 to 1 meeting
6. Events and seminars -
5. Phones calls – Hour of Power
4. Handwritten notes
3. Electronic communication
2. Direct mail
1. Print media
Private client party
Brian checks his models every 30 days
Julie Beall does a radio show
Buyer Future System
Lead organization – social media, realtor.com, websites,
Asking the buyer how they want to be communicated with
Email to email, text to text, phone to phone, whatever the communication
they use.
Pipeline Management to Grow Your Business
A Lead
B Lead
C Lead – three calls and no response then to a drip campaign
DISC – now that in your emails
Different campaigns for the D I S C
Understand people because we are in the people business
Excel
Name Buyer/Seller Contact Date Most current Motivation Source
Real Pro Backend to help with the leads
Heidi Hines idix site look at from Real Pro
Kubek’s site has weather from wunderground
Professional design ads to stealth sites through newspapers, Craig list,
Promotes bank owned on Craig’s List
Demand the phone number
Lead on iPhone from Real Pro looks good
By leaving out the something like the garage it gives the opportunity to talk to the client about that so that you can talk with them.
Heidi has the Platinum Level
Newsletter with statistics, giving them information. Send them real stuff about real estate.
The letters should be looked at by an email is a writer that is not a Realtor.
You could use Market Snapshot from Top Producer
Calendar System on the back end of Real Pro, it will work with outlook.
Call all prospects within minutes, who is your agent, take lots of notes, be assertive
Ask open ended questions.
Listing Power Panel
Bolin, Morris, Rawls, Shaw
Talking a lot about on the front end questions? Ask what they are thinking of the market. Mortgage, payments, motivation, when did they buy, etc
You need to know the submarkets within your market.
Presentation – short sale – the price shouldn’t matter them
Russell is not interested in listing upper bracket unless they are interest in
Sellers today needs to be have to sell
4 months supply is seller, 6 months is balanced, 8 months is buyers market
Have you seller initial your price so that they are on the line, probably doing a
Net sheet with buyer closing costs if applicable
We are in price war and a beauty contest
3 types of sellers – Want, Must, Banks
Hire an appraiser for the seller to get the reality of value
Cost does not create value, value in use e.g. swimming pool $80000 to put it yet
Valued at $15000
Definition of Marketing
Managing your sellers expectations
Be selective on what you take
Lending guidelines harder, inspections with buyers asking for a lot
In a rising market you are a hero, in a declining market you must let them know
the circumstances
Scripts and dialogs
I don’t make the market
I work hard to help my sellers out perform the market
I don’t list houses just to have them sit.
I list house is to help my sellers get their homes sold
What do you think of the real estate market?
Brenda is going to personally meet with each seller each month
I don’t have to take their listing.
I don’t need the practice of listing
I am not sure I can meet your expectations
The reason for the listing appointment that I can get the right price, I can work
with the seller, then can I get it.
Do you think it is the right time to sell?
When do you think you have should have sold?
Improvements add to your property in two ways
Helps sell the houses
Debbie has What is the Buyers market!
Have you refinanced your home recently?
Do you have more than 1 mortgage?
Are you current with your mortgage payments?
You must ask a lot of questions, asking the tough questions
Market update – some do it every 30 days
Does bookashowing let us know how many showings by price range
Brenda is doing neighborhood tours that they put on their website. Good to show prospective sellers, help in SEO,
Supposedly you can change #1 Expert can click to the different language
Brenda has gone back to having people register
Russell shortsale site is very good. Look at it.
Buyer Power Panel
Lead generation
Leads coming from everywhere – SEO, Social Media, Signs, Trulia, Calls
When they come in you have to get them into a system
Twitter and Facebook and My Space for getting neighborhoods.
Dale Chumbley does this on neighborhoods on Facebook
Working a select group of people – direct contact with people that you know
and you want to work with. They only work with people that come
as a referral
Buyers are online and looking at local information. They are searching Google.
Buyer Incubation
One person said it is 17 to 21 months before they raise their hand.
Trying to give something good every day.
If a web site is static, what will keep them coming back – blog
Using a homefinder system that gives them properties daily
Teaching people about the process instead of concentrating on houses
5 1st time homebuyer mistakes
Pros and cons of condos
Property wish list
LOOK AT YOUR WEBSITE UNLESS YOU LOOK AT IT AS A GARDEN
AND WATER IT EVERY DAY OR 2.
Lead Dash Board – Platinum shows the lead incubator
Call people within 8 minutes of the call
Use top producer letter system via email – one year campaign every week
Buyer Loyalty
You must earn loyalty – a student of your profession
With 1st time buyers they do a Practice Offer
Respond to people how they want to want to be treated
They request loyalty, they don’t demand it, they use non exclusive buyer agency
Leads Power Panel
MacCullum, Kelly, Maher, White
Leads – building relationships
Handwritten note, phone call, attending events, one to one
Spend 4 hours on the phone each day
If you are not out there you are out of business
Relationships trump all other items
Keeping in the relationship pool
75% of Shane’s business comes from clients – tail gate party at high school games
They would do hot dogs
Large client events of for Christmas in Nov, now client parties at the house.
Summer event at the house with the moonwalk set up
VIP service like free conference room, free fax, free notary, free color copies
Giveaways – blankets, towels, cups, reusable grocery with logo
Websites
Shane built a custom site with ProStep – 28% from the internet
Radio
Got 100 sales for Kelly. Better than billboards or TV. It gets you in the door.
Managing Your Trust Network in the Digital Age – Jeff Turner
Being a trust agent – do you know why people do business with you.
What can you add to make you unique?
Messages that people will see, are the ones that make you human.
Don’t act like a marketing agent. Have a proper behavior online.
One simple key- reach for each other. Find people you can help, find people you enjoy.
Look at your social media posts and make a reason for them to be there. There needs to be a why not just a post.
Social Media
Spend time on it twice a day, in the morning and evening
Put quotes up on post
Friending and unfriending – friend local agents I like,
Not serious about real estate on Facebook.
Status update – talk about the dead raccoons in the listing, find creative and interesting real estate to talk about.
Fan Page –
They are fun, what will they take identity in, on communities with events of what
is going on. Do the context with a tiny url to your real estate blog or
community area.
Posterous.com is a free service. Go and check it out.
Write down a good url.
Get a good url
Print new cards
Own the content
Interview
Video Live Music – Youtube it and then put it on your website or Facebook
Follr.com you can connect all your social networks.
Logos of your social media on your website.
When you advertise put you are on Facebook or LinkedIn
Facebook friend lists
Out of town agents
In town agents
Friends
Relatives
Business Owners
Sphere of Influence
Business Page
TwinCitiesUSA maybe on Facebook
Tag yourself
Never tag your clients without their approval
Flowtown.com
Niknik.com
Hashtag – doing a fund raiser for what you believe in
Emerging media are that are on your radar-
iJot.com doing video
Keep it social system – Mike does Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn
Expired and FSBO Listings
Snagit the listing picture of the expired and sends out an invitation card with a wow. With
2nd mailing – unique marketing, single property website, and well shot photography
3rd piece – Use a snagit of the old lising
4th piece - a bad pic snagit showing the difference
5th piece – a reference letter of testimonial
Delegate, delegate your system
Take the photos out of your expired listings
The first mailing has to give hope plus a wow.
Expired Listings Specialist Brochure
100% success on relisted properties
Ten reasons why their property may not have sold!
11 Page expired book. Content book.
FSBO Book – 17 page book to selling your home for sale.
Byownerlafayette.com for
First Aid Kit – from Star Power Homeseller’s First Aid Kit
Doing it consistant. Keep doing it.
Have buyer agent call the fsbo – cathy is a listing agent but can help you to where you are going to and can I help you.
Every call or mail is money in the bank.
Expired postcards for 4 a month
Personal contact by going by the house that expired
Short Sales, foreclosures and risk reduction
What steps do you take to successfully negotiate short sale?
Do go fact finding.
Know who the mortgage on the property
Get seller expectations in line
Make sure you are not wasting your time.
People need to be edgiblity
What do buyers agents do to make their offer more appealing to the lender on the short sale?
Find out how the agent works on short sale
Keep the offer clean, no work orders
Explain how to write the offer on a short sale. Cunninghamoffers.com
What do you do with the listing agent that is clueless, has a series of 10 questions.
Sherman Smith look at website
What would you say are the two biggest mistakes agents make in negotiation with banks on short sales?
Misinformation to the client on lingering liabilities – tax, assn,
Allegations by the listing agent that are misrepresented about conditions that the
Agent didn’t make aware of.
Refer your client to legal counsel and make that in writing to minimize your
Liability
The HUD statement is so important to do properly with the your closer, you need
a great escrow officer to deal with this
Make sure you have your client take the letter from lender to CPA or attorney
Always counter the offer so that you show the bank that you have
Have the client pay the HOA
What is the number 1 issue that arises in trying to get short sales closed?
The second trust deed is the biggest problem. Work it out before you ever list the property.
Share information with other short sale specialists. Exchange information.
The 2nd is always the biggest problem. Watch out for them making a default
judgement. Let your sellers no the options.
Telling your client what can happen, talk to an accountant & attorney.
Have a form that says that they have given them that info that they initial.
In short dale risk reduction, What action do you feel realtors need to focus on doing correctly?
Short sale consideration
Giving reliable info – CDPE web site
Aaronline.com – Arizona assn on short sale information
Shermansmith.com
What kind of documentation would you recommend
Short sale advisor with options that is a sign off
Short sale addendum to the listing contract
Any doc that says to get legal or tax advise
Phone notes or emails
Equator – Bank of America – right click the plus and copy
What can we do to avoid short sale Fraud?
Everything you do must be on the HUD. It has to be upfront.
If buyer wants to negotiate the sale on the control of the seller
If buyer is an LLC
If a buyer or agent asks for a low BPO
Go with your gut. – You are asked to do something wrong, walk.
Watch out for whapping – google what whapping is.
What is the one thing you they need to implement their business
Upside down or need a loan modifications
The easiest listing to get is the short sale listing
Policy matching the seller financial situation need to be properly safeguarded
Shred it when it is done.
Consider how you market yourself for short sales, don’t say you are an expert but show your education and designations.
You must keep the buyer agent informed with what is going on in the transaction. Take back up offers and keep them in the loop also.