Too many people think that selling is talking with their mouth, but the reality is this can waste a lot of time when you are not able to get your point across.

STOP WASTING TIME

I often hear agents say they work really long hours. Too often they are working long hours because they are not efficient with their time. I know they are not being efficient with their time when they tell me they are spending an hour or more on the phone talking to a client about a specific issue without making any...

Many people may think that Google ME is the same as People Believe the Internet (PBTI), but PBTI is more about understanding your entire web presence. Google ME is the process of specifically working on the most important things that show up when you’re Googled. This includes having a Google business page and YouTube videos. Google ME will also help you understand the ranking of sites and help make sure your website ranks on top. Once you understand the rankings, you will be able to...

Why do I call this CMA Mania? Because I am looking to the evolution of the CMA (Comparative Market Analysis.) Frankly, there are too many elaborate CMAs being used by real estate agents today. Elaborate CMAs were necessary up until the early 2000s before Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com existed. Today, the consumer has access to all of these sites to easily learn how many homes in their neighborhood have sold and for how much. So, it’s really no longer necessary for realtors to spend...

When starting in real estate, it can be hard to identify the best path for you. Your best path in real estate is to work with people you connect with. Think about where you grew up and where you live now, this is your “lane” on the path to being successful in real estate. Your “lane” is where you will easily be able to connect and build relationships with the most people.

One of the most common ways to build your real estate business is through open houses and...

Pricing a house can be difficult because too often agents feel pressured to list the house at a price the sellers want. Yet, the best agent for the seller is an agent who tells the seller what the house will actually sell at. Over the last 500 houses I have sold, my listing price has been within 2% of the sales price 98% of the time.

AGGRESSIVE, PASSIVE, AND NON-COMPETITIVE

I like to use three prices when pricing a house; a low, medium, and a high price that I call aggressive, passive, and...

One of the hardest things for real estate agents to accept is that the internet affects people’s opinions three times more than a personal referral. 

I find it very odd that we research stuff online and get so consumed with information that it affects the direction in which we chose how we spend our time and money. Yet, agents don’t think people Google them and believe the information that comes up. They still believe real estate is solely a word-of-mouth...

I’m truly shocked that this is not understood more now that we’re in 2022. When I entered real estate in 2003 I was shocked even then about how little real estate agents knew about the internet. I guess it’s because real estate is an entrepreneurially led business based on relationships. Meaning, for example, people often use realtor friends for their real estate transactions, but I believe this practice of using realtor friends is decreasing.

REAL ESTATE IS CHANGING

People...

Photo seduction is trying to entice buyers to get out from behind their computer, to leave work or home, to get out from their car, to want to come to see the house in person. Currently, I find, especially a listing with a lot of functional obsolescence, you need more people to come in the house.

Photo Seduction

Photo Seduction is the ability to get more traffic to the house. The more buyers you get to come to look, the more buyers you get interested in, thus increasing demand. Also, getting...

The number one skill set of a new agent or a buyer's agent is to be a #1 house finder. You can not wait for your buyer to find the house, you need to find the house for the buyer. The “super-agent” does this and makes the most amount of money selling the most amount of houses. The “super-agent” is able to do this because he or she is not waiting for the house to be picked off from the leftover inventory on MLS.

I’m going to give you a few tips on how to be a #1...

For many buyers, agents are a strategic partner who helps with many aspects of the process. There is no part of the process where buyers work alone except more determine on their own whether a home is right for them.

WHERE THE AGENT COMES IN

Most buyers start the home buying process on their own before working with an agent. Buyers ofter begin to research homes and obtain pre-approval for a mortgage before contacting an agent. For buyers who use an agent, 43% of Gen Z and Millennial buyers,...