We are all under the gun every day in real estate sales.  Most of us get up every morning unemployed.  We need to go out and find a person to buy and sell with everyday.  How do we “pressure proof” our business?  We must put ourselves in the position where we are always winning.  When we are on a listing appointment, and we are struggling with the seller, we must believe they will sign the listing before we leave.  We must know during our prospecting block that we will turn up a new listing or new buyer every day.  Let me share with you a few ideas to make your business “pressure proof” and successful daily. 1.      Trust Your Skills and Abilities We all go through droughts or slumps in our business.  I s

In my last post I discussed the difference between yesterday’s pull marketing and today’s push marketing. I explained how pull marketing is reactive — “If you build it they will come.” Push marketing, on the other hand, is pro-active — “If you build it they won’t come so you have to go get them.” (Click to view previous blog post.) Many agents today have experienced that very phenomenon: doing lots of advertising and getting little if no results.

When CNN’s Pulse on America program featured us two years ago, they were investigating an interesting phenomenon in our industry. Click to view video. It seems that today there are two real estate worlds coexisting simultaneously. Like in the movie The Matrix, there was the “perceived” world and then there was the “real” world. In our industry there is much the same today. Those agents who are practicing real estate this new way, are doing quite well — many better than ever. But those who are hanging onto the old-school real estate model are finding themselves working harder and harder and making less and less money.

Salespeople love referrals. They’re the sincerest form of compliment and a remarkably cost-effective route to new business. The idea of attracting referrals is so popular that sales trainers who bill themselves as referral gurus make fortunes promoting magical systems that supposedly deliver more referrals than an agent can handle, all in return for tuition at a three-day seminar. What they talk about for three days is a mystery to me.  Referrals are really pretty simple stuff.  A lot of it you can only acquire through perfect practice of your scripts, over and over, of referral-generating and referral-cultivation tactics.  

Referral Truths and Consequences

"Goosey Lucy said that Ducky Lucky said that Henny Penny said the sky is falling." From reading and listening to the media you can't help but think of Chicken Little. Okay, well I've finally heard enough! I'm so weary of hearing one person after another bemoan the sad state of real estate today that I'm about ready to scream!

Every time it's told it gets worse! "The end of real estate is near." "The mortgage industry is doomed." "Give up and get out now while you still can." "The lead aggregators have ruined our business." "The banks are taking over our business." On and on it goes. No doubt, you've heard it too. Well I say poppy-cock! The sky is not falling!

For 2 yrs I have avowed this correcting market to be the biggest opportunity we have experienced in over 2 decades.  Some of you have agreed and some of you looked at me like I had “luny” written on my forehead.  I still believe this is the window of opportunity we pray for.  To prove my conviction, I have ventured into a new real estate company in Tucson, AZ.  We just opened a new 5,000 sqft upscale office in the foothills of Tucson.  I believe this new office is a model for future real estate companies.

I just love the youth – their enthusiasm, their energy, their eagerness and their burning passion for life. 

It’s true that generations come and go and each one is unique – each reacting and changing what previous generations have done over time.   

And now it is time again. Baby Boomers are slowly making way for the next generation to assume leadership of the industry. Not that this is a one–day event, but rather a decade of transition. One that we are already part of. 

It is important to note that the impact of both Gen X and Gen Y outside real estate is already very significant – just think of MySpace, Dell Computers, eBay, Yahoo, Google, You Tube and Facebook – all legacy of that generations’ alumni. 

The culture of a company is highly dependent on how much interaction there is between agents and staff and how nurturing that interaction is.

NO HOUSE LEFT BEHIND ought to become the mantra of every real estate agent.   As we deal with the consequences of a sluggish market, it becomes essential that a certain degree of renovation should take place prior to the listing of every home.  That is if you’re hoping to attract the selective buyers who have an over abundance of choices.

As i was researching the current market in the USA I came across this and found it to be wonderful new's.

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1. Salt Lake City

Median Home Sale Price: $246,700
Percent Change: 14.1%

Prices in Salt Lake City continued to climb as the city remains largely unaffected by the nationwide housing downturn due to low unsold inventory and a stable lending environment. This median-priced, ranch-style home was built in 1993 and has views of the surrounding mountains. There are five bedrooms and two baths across 1,800 square feet of interior space. The home also features a two-car garage and a rear patio. It is listed for $245,000 through Secure Real Estate.