Tag Archives: Rookie

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Get To Know and Respect Your Collegues

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One of the issues with out jobs is that sometimes we have no control over what another party does in any transaction we have.  While we still continue to do everything we can for our clients, there are just some things “acts of god” that we can never predict happening.

 

However over the years, one important thing that I have learned is to get to know agents, loan officers and closers in the communities which I serve.  I do a ton of networking. I can honestly say that I have developed some great connections and made some new friends.  It’s an awesome thing.

What this ultimately does for me is this… I have a relationship with another agent. We have respect for each other. Deals happen with these agents and I know that there is a trust factor involved.  We are then able to have open communication with each other about transactions we are involved in together.  Its my own “circle of trust” with colleagues. 

So get to know others in the industry and take the time to communicate with them. Be genuine and authentic.  Share stories and ideas.  We all have the same goals in mind so why not help each other!

The Great Debate-Open Houses-Yay or Nay

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So when you get into this business many things are thrown at you, especially being at a young age.  It is ten different social networking sites you must be on, a webpage, a Facebook fan page plus running an ad, blogging and the list goes on.  Then add to that you need a slogan, a mission statement and of course a business plan (which is hard to do when you have nothing to really go on.)  And did I mention all the non-social media marketing you need to do-farming, FSBO’s (I have not had any luck with that), expired listings (haven’t had much luck with that either), post cards, expos, networking events, committees you must join, floor duty and this list goes on as well.  As you can tell there is a lot thrown at you that you are told you must do in order to succeed.  However there is one other marketing and lead tool that I have realized stirs up much debate-Open Houses.  Do they or do they not work?  I have done many open houses in this past year and a half, and while I still want to stay positive and say that they will work I have not had much luck with them.  People do come by and take a look at the listing, but when I follow-up with them it is like they have no idea who I am and what I am talking about or I just never hear from them again.  I have yet to gain a lead that actually goes anywhere from an open house.  But many people reading this will completely disagree with me and say that they have gotten a lot of business from open houses.  And some reading this will say that open houses are just a waste of time.  However, there was one open house I did where this nice, sweet old woman accidentally brought me pot brownies and got me higher than a kite.  But of course I did not get any business from her either.  Brownies where good though.  Some days I think I should go and get her recipe and serve them to my clients who are sticks in the mud and the people who stop by at my open houses.  But back to my point-do open houses really work or not?  And if they do work for some-how do you make them work? I would love to know other people’s opinion on this, because I myself am not at the point where I can answer this question.

Reflection of being a rookie in real estate

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When this blog says Adventures in Rookie Real Estate, for me that is completely true-I am a real rookie.  I have only been in the business for a little over a year and a half.  My background is in Engineering sales and business development and life insurance.  I went into this thinking how hard can this be.  Well a year and a half later I can answer that question-VERY HARD.  I have never been in a business where you end up working so much for little return.  Yes people, even my husband, see us working from home, having a flexible schedule and think we have it so easy.  I swear I really think my husband thinks when I am working from home I am really sitting on the couch eating bon bons and watching Ellen and Dr Phil.  Well here is some news, from morning until night I am always working on something.  This has to be the hardest job I have had with little payoff.  May be after I have in this business for a while it will get easier, but right now it is not.  My anxiety level over this job can sometimes be through the roof.  It is not just getting clients that can be a problem-it is getting them to buy that can be the problem.  I have lost many deals simply because no matter how much urgency I put into the situation, for one reason or another they want to wait and then it is too late.  You can bring a horse to water, know and convince them that they are thirsty, but you still cannot make them drink.  It can be quite frustrating.  I have some clients I would like to hit them over the head to get the deal done.  So the question is with all this work for the past year and a half with little pay-off really worth it? Do you walk away or do you keep working hoping that change is right around the corner.  It is a gamble.  And being so new I cannot answer that question.  I just know that I feel like I have put so much into this job to make it work that I want to see a pay off and somewhere inside me I really believe I will.  But if you are new like I am or even thinking about going into this business-make no mistake, it is a hard business.  When you are new, there is nothing that is easy about it.  I was asked recently if I regretted getting into real estate.  To be honest, I am not.  I have a strong belief in myself and know that all I am doing will pay off at some point.  I honestly never in a million years this would end up being the hardest job I have ever had.  And the most expensive.  So that is my reflection being a rookie in real estate

2012 Self-Evaluation

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In the early stages of my career, I never took the time to see what was really working for me.  However at the end of 2011, I made the decision to hold myself completely accountable and frankly….kick ass in 2012.

I spent the last couple of weeks of the year self evaluating every detail of what I did in my business.  Obviously, 2011 was a little different due to my little hiatus I took over the year.  But nonetheless, there were some victories and some failures.  I took a step back and learned from them all. This helped my create my plan for 2012.

This is what I decided I have to do in 2012:

1. Blog every day starting today.  Blogging has always been my thing.  I was blogging before blogging was cool. I slacked of within the last year and I had to deal with the consequences. My many blogs have brought me a lot of successes and I am committed to making it a priority.

2. Continue to be active within the local and national associations.  I have found that by being apart of association committee’s has helped me be able to serve my clients better.

3. Get back to the basics.  Yes, social media has worked for me. But it’s not everything. In November and December I really focused on calling my sphere. It has helped my land a new listing coming on the market and 2 pending sales in the last week or so. I guess it really does work. I have also been sending weekly emails to my investor clients. There are so many amazing deals and my emails include the best of the best deals. From the responses I have received from them, I can tell its sparking their interest.

4. Learn something new. I am so over the whole social media stuff.  I get it. I need to focus on finding new ways to grow my business that doesn’t involve updating my Facebook status.

5.  Be Thankful. I’m still here and kicking.  I have a lot of cool people on my side

I can honestly say 2011 ended well and its flowing thru into 2012. This is going to be a great year!  I am going to push myself as hard as I can to make all my goals this year come true. Cheers to 2012!

The Effects Of Positivity

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I recently made a huge change and went to a different brokerage. Prior to meeting my broker, I hadn’t even thought about a change. I was perfectly content where I was.

We got the chance to connect at a couple of events and really got to know each other.

After getting to know each other, I felt it would be the perfect move for me. My broker was just this super happy, positive and supportive person. I felt I needed that.

I always see these somewhat obnoxiously happy people and wonder how that can be real.  How can you be that happy all of the time?

After being with my new broker for a little over two months now,  I get it. This has been the best couple of that I have had in a long time. I am thinking big. I am being more creative and I feel refreshed.  The biggest change I have notices is this:  I am more connected to my clients, friends, family and tweeps. Being positive and being in a positive environment has completely helped my confidence.  If you were to see me in my office, my chin would be up and I would have a smile on my face.

So this has to mean something right?  Being positive, brings positive things? I have to think that it does. My business is already improving just because of me simply having a positive attitude.

So my plan is to keep the positive attitude. It can only get better from here.

My office VP recently told me a this and I thought it applied to my current situation:

“I do truly believe that attitude is 90% of success.”-Brian Bolier

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BREAKING NEWS! Going back to my roots!

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Ok…So I seriously wanted to use “Breaking News” just once in my life and well…here’s my excuse.

As many of you know, I have been taking a deep look at my career path. I’ve gone back and forth about whether or not I should stay in the business. It weighed on me deeply.

However, a couple of months ago, I ran into Brian Bolier at Rebarcamp.  I had known him since my title days but honestly never knew what he was all about.  We had the opportunity to chat a bit. We seemed to have the same ideals as far as our business goes.

After many conversations with Brian, I felt that Coldwell Banker Burnet-Woodbury would be the perfect fit for me. I feel that Brian will be a great mentor for me and can help me improve my business. In return, I hope to share my knowledge with him as well.

I look at this as a fresh start. I feel it’s a good, positive change.

I do want to thank everyone who contacted me recently and offered to help. It was truly humbling and I can’t even begin to express my appreciation. I am so lucky to have such a great group of friends and colleagues.

I also want to thank Edina Realty for all the support over the years.

I am looking forward to my new adventure. I have a feeling that there are great things to come!

New Focus, New Attitude, New Drive

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There are many things that I have let hold me down in the past. I let this happen by my own choosing. I have now made the choice to not let the mistakes I have made in the past leave a shadow over what I am doing now.

Its time for me to reinvigorate my business.  I have a new focus. Not to be selfish, but its all about me. I’m not scared to start over.

Lucky for me, I have so many colleagues available to give me advice .  Dont be afraid to ask for help.  There are plenty of people out there that are more than willing to give you a push.

If there is something not working in your business plan, re-evaluate it and make changes as you go a long.  Look at people who are successful and try to see what they are doing.  Look at your failures and makes sure you don’t repeat them.  People in any business fail from time to time, so don’t be hard on yourself.  Be confident in yourself and don’t give up.

Impossible Clients

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Ever have those clients who are either all over the board on what they are looking for or so specific you just want to sell them land and let them build a house? Well I have two clients who fall into this category.  One has no clue what he wants.  He says he knows what he wants, but he doesn’t. He wants a house between 200k-500k, somewhere in our market (which is huge) but doesn’t matter what city, doesn’t matter how many bedrooms or bathrooms or whether it has a garage or not, or even the square footage of the house.  Really has no specifics at all.  In our market we have over 2,000 homes that are in his price range.  And on the other hand I have a client who wants a condo on a golf course, with one bedroom facing the golf course, a patio or deck, three bedrooms, at least 2 ½ baths, a pool in the complex near the condo, a good size kitchen with breakfast bar, hard wood floors and if all possible a wet bar.  And can come with a golf package.  Both say they are motivated to buy now, but their actions do not say so.  So they have me running around searching places and calling places to see if they offer golf packages to owners, and I know in the back of my head that they are not really motivated buyers.  But they keep wanting me to search here and there, all while wasting my time when I could be spending even more time with clients I know are going to buy.  So what exactly do you do with clients like these?  You want to just dump them on the door of another agency, but you can’t do that.  Yet you cannot waste all your time on people like this.  Especially when one is so up in the air that he can’t make a decision on anything you show him from the MLS or even come close to narrowing down his search.  All he says is he will know the house when he sees it.  The other is so specific it is impossible to find him something that meets all his needs.  Did I mention he even wants the kitchen cabinets a certain color and the master bathroom to have a jetted tub and stand up shower?  That is the impossible find.  Especially when he wants it to come with a golf package.  I would love to strangle both.  And of course both call or email me at least once a day to check on progress.  I am very good with follow up and keeping my clients informed on what I am doing for them.  But I normally do not check in every day when I have nothing to report.  So on one hand they seem like eager buyers, but truly eager buyers are not this up in the air or this narrow in specifics.  I have noticed that the more eager ones have an idea of what they want, but they are willing to not get exactly everything they want and realize that if they want hardwood floors, then they will install them if their dream house does not come with them.  This gentleman doesn’t want to do any work on the condo.  He wants it to come exactly as he has stated.  Impossible clients, nightmare clients-you can’t really afford to kick them to the curb, but you can’t also work too hard for them since you have a stack of better clients you need to be working with.  Somehow I always get the nightmare clients or situations.  Beginners lack of luck.  All I can do is try my best, not work too hard on them but n0t forget about them either. They may buy at some point, just not anytime soon. I have better clients to deal with who will be buying soon, so I can’t waste all my time with people won’t be buying anytime soon.  Even if they seem eager, they are not.  Unfortunately I have been down this road before, so I have learned the hard way who is really eager and who just says they are eager and have you running around in circles for them.

Whose Advice Do You Listen To

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For me when starting out in real estate there is no end to the questions about the best way to getting up and running in this business; that is how I found this blog in the first place.  So if you are like me, you get a mentor, get some books, join networking groups, get on the internet and start asking questions.  Small problem-everywhere you turn someone has a suggestion that counters the one you just heard.  Open Houses work; open houses don’t work.  Expireds work; expireds are a waste of time.  FSBO’s are a great source of possible clients; FBSO’s will get you nowhere.  There is more do this, do that, don’t do this, don’t do that and this will be a waste of your time than I ever imagined.  So the question is who do you listen to?  Everyone’s ideas are good ones and all have a valid points as to why things do and do not work.  The problem is if you are like me, you are so busy with so many other aspects in your life that you can’t try it all at once.   I have tried Open Houses during the week and one during the weekend, but they are not panning out.  Although our office weekend one was on the same weekend as the men’s basketball ACC Championship; so that could have affected no one turning out.  I am trying FBSO’s but aren’t really going anywhere, and I don’t know where to begin with expireds.  I have to agree-aren’t they expired for a reason?  Do I want to get caught up in that mess? I am not sure, I will keep searching the internet and asking questions about this one. But despite my wondering if I know what I am doing, I am learning that you have to least try everything a few times to see if what you are hearing is right or wrong.  One way or another you have to find the time to make it happen.  Which means may be losing sleep and being overloaded, but you still have to try. I have been told that once you figure out what works and what doesn’t, your time can become more manageable.  And hopefully instead of spending your time trying different things, you are spending a lot more of your time selling homes.  I may question if I can make it in this business.  Based on a LinkedIn group I am in, it seems everyone in these past few in these past few years has thought at one point or another about throwing the towel in, especially in the beginning of their career.  So my wondering if I should quit seems quite normal. But I am not a quitter.  I never have been. So I am going to keep doing Open Houses for people in my office, posts other agents’ listings on Craig’s list, keep reading How to List and Sell by Danielle Kennedy and other books and follow their suggestions, keep trying FSBO’s and try to figure out how to market to expireds and see where this all leads me. If some of this works, than great; if it doesn’t, then I will move on. Plus I will still keep in touch with my target market every 90 days, my Facebook fan page, my LinkedIn groups, my church activities, my Realtor committees, my young professional committees and going to Chamber Members Nights Out.  Sounds like a lot but when you do break it down it can be managed. Although I am not doing as much social media to the extreme as you are told to-it was getting to be too much and not really getting me anywhere.  Although I do still have a strong presence out in the world of social media. I am still new, so all I have is to try a little bit of everything.  So who do you listen to-everyone.  You ask questions, hear what they have to say, keep it in the back of your mind and go out and try it.  If it doesn’t work, then that person was right and you move on. If it does work, then that person was right, and you keep doing it.  A few things to new agents I would suggest is getting involved with LinkedIn groups about real estate, finding a mentor or two with different levels of experience in the field and handing out about 10 or more business cards a day in the process of networking.  And of course where your Realtor pin when you are not working (yes, everywhere you go, even on the weekends) and wearing your name badge as much as possible. With the LinkedIn groups, I have gotten a lot of great ideas on how to get started and thoughts on what works and what doesn’t. Plus I have gotten into a few exclusive referral groups that has given me at least 1 referral so far. And well, when it comes to mentors-you cannot have enough in the business to help you out.  I have chosen someone who has been in the business for close to 30 years now, and then someone successful in my office who has been doing this for four years now. I have gotten great ideas from both. And with networking, between going to networking events and getting involved in the community and wearing my name badge or Realtor pin and handing out cards, I have gotten some leads. Yes like I have said before and will probably say again, this is the hardest sales job I have ever had. There seems to be more upfront work with no pay than any other sales job I have had before.  But from what I am told by more experienced agents I am now in a business where hard work up front pays off in the long run. So yes, I may finally have a listing (which surprisingly already has an offer on it) but I still do wonder if I know what I am doing and just got lucky with the listing. Although, from what I am learning wondering if you know what you are doing in the beginning or thinking about quitting is normal.  So listen to everyone-all the people am listening to have been in the business longer than me, so someone is bound to be right.  Or at least that is what I am hoping.

Death To the Auto-Blogs!

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To begin this post, I would like to clearly state that I am no expert in blogging. Its something that I simply enjoy. I have spent the past couple of years learning and growing my blog and doing everything can to make it original. It’s the one thing that is universally important.

As of late, I have noticed several blogs that seem to have the same content. I love to see what others write. But I do not need to read the same blog post over and over again.

I think, as a blogger, people appreciate that I write something that’s original and that’s interesting. Not only that, but as a blogger, you tend to make yourself more credible by using your own content and writing about something that you are an expert on.

This also with help potential consumers find the information they need. Having a blog that you simply fill in your name and contact info is pretty much worthless. How does this drive potential customers to your blog? If you are trying to improve your SEO, how does duplicated content help you?

It’s true that having “fresh” content on your blog will help your SEO, but isn’t having a blog more about gaining subscribers and people actually staying on your site and reading your entries?

I took a poll via Facebook. Everyone who commented had the same feelings as I did.  Why automate your blog and take away the personal aspects of it. Generally people will respect you more knowing there is a real person writing those blog posts.

I have actually seen some of my old blog posts duplicated.  Some would say that’s a compliment. However is bugs the crap out of me.  I work hard to write them and do not enjoying seeing my posts being used by someone else.

I strongly believe that if you can’t come up with you own blog content, then why even blog at all? Your blog should be about the user experience.  Is important to get users to read your posts and actually stay on the site long enough to see what else you have to offer.  When you auto-blog, you are basically stealing someone else’s work. Besides that, you are losing track of the whole purpose of your blog, driving traffic to your site.