Generate Thousands of Leads with Expired Listings

Expired listing letters are a simple and powerful marketing tool.

Quick question:


How long does it take you to mail a letter? Exactly, almost no time at all! And you can have an assistant do it.


Today, I’m going to show you the exact steps to take to turn these frustrated sellers into your listings. We’ll use expired listing letters, postcards, and show you tons of free expired listing letter samples to amp up your marketing!


The first thing to understand about expired listings letters is that you must get into the mindset of a home seller before writing.


Here’s the deal:

Sellers with an expired listing are very upset! They’ve been through countless showings, open houses, excuses from their old Realtor, and more. They are very frustrated!


But why didn’t the home sell? It’s usually one of these reasons:

1) Price: The number one reasons properties don’t sell is due to pricing. You have to address this in your expired listing letter. There are numerous factors that go into pricing: the client, number of buyers, market activity, and marketing. This is a key discussion point for you to address with every expired listing.

2) Short Sale: Will the house sell for less than the debt owed? If so, you may run into a short sale.The process to overcome this can be long and turn away buyers.

3) Staging: Open houses and showings can be hard on families. It’s your job to make sure the condition of the house is not significantly impacting the value perceived by buyers.

The Insanely Crucial Thing You Need To Understand About Expired Listing Postcards And Letters:

The key with every expired listings letter is that you need to understand all the potential needs. Your understanding is directly related to your ability to relate with the seller. The deeper you feel the pain and frustration they feel, the better you will be at converting expired listings into your listings.

To fully understand this, I find it best to write down exactly what the seller is thinking and feeling. Here is a worksheet to help you write a great expired listings letter:
Download the worksheet

The Simple (But Profitable) Expired Listings Scripts, Letters, And Postcards:

Now:
You already understand the huge value that exists in expired listings. There are over 1200 expired listings in the average metropolitan area each year. And assuming even the lowest conversion numbers this can give you an addition 12 transactions per year. That’s a lot of potential! But how do you get it?

First, you need to pull a hot sheet from the MLS every morning. Second, put these contacts into a CRM of your choice. I like Top Producer, Contactually, and Base.
Now that you have their contact information, the goal becomes converting them into a listings appointment.


I recommend a 10 touch follow-up system using as many different methods of contact as possible. Why 10 followups? Because it will make you stand out. Most Realtors will give up after one expired listing letter. This is exactly what the seller is trying to avoid. They’ve already been burned by a Realtor who failed to do their job properly. You need to show that you are different. An organized 10-part marketing follow-up system is a great way to separate yourself from the crowd of other people calling on them.

These leads need to be nurtured.

Step #1 – The First Impulse – How You Use Expired Listings Letter And Postcards

The first touch of your 10-point system should be a drop-by. I find these a lot more memorable than the other letters Realtors will be sending. Remember, your true competition is the average Realtor. The average Realtor will place a call or send an email. You need to be better than that. Here are some ideas for your drop-by:

1) Starbucks gift card – Invite the seller out for a drink at Starbucks with you. Explain in the letter, with a gift card inside, that you are sorry the property didn’t’ sell. But would be more than happy to explain why it didn’t sell over a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

2) Paper towels with a letter talking about the absorption of their market.
Remember that you always need to include a call to action with these letters. The Starbucks card in step one is just to help you stand out. Your true calling card will be the call to action you place with your attention getter. The free gift is to help them remember you weeks from now when you’re still calling on them to get their business.

You’ll want to make sure you drop this off the morning their home expires. The seller will learn from day #1 that you are prompt and a creative marketer. Unique selling points is how you win expired listings. These two things will set you apart instantly.

Step #2 – Mail An Expired Listings Letter

The average agent will mail a letter on the day the house expires or the next day. You’ve beaten them by dropping off the gift yourself. Now, it’s time to follow up with your first interaction. This letter should be more standardized and mention the gift that you left for the homeowner on day one. Here’s an example:

You’ll want to send this letter the same day you drop off the gift. This way the letter arrives 1-2 days after they’ve received the gift. Remember, the call to action and empathy are the two main components in any expired listing letter.

In addition to this standard letter, it helps to supplement the mailer with a free market report. Maybe you have a newsletter you send your clients about market activity? Include that. Or maybe you can pull a detailed value analysis from the backend of your office software? Print that and mail it to them.

The key is to go above and beyond a simple letter.

Step #3 – Expired Listing Letter

The next step is to show them the marketing plan. There were three main reasons why their house didn’t sell, and a few other reasons why the seller probably doesn’t like Realtors. This third step actually shows the seller why you are different and shows them that you’ve cared enough to put in the work before a listing appointment.

If you don’t know what type of marketing plan to put together, check out these tips on using social media to sell a home.

Free examples for your expired listing letters:

Sending expired listings letters is all about creativity and substance. You need to be creative enough to be noticed, but you need to be based in fact enough to be trustworthy. These sellers have had a very recent bad experience with a Realtor. It’s your duty to fix that. Here are some ideas for the remaining 10 steps:

1) Follow Up Letter – The simplest letters are the ones that convert the best. Did your big packet containing the value analysis not yield a call? Follow up with a simple card saying: “Dear Mr./Mrs. Seller, when’s a good time to discuss the value of your property? – Tyler”

2) Testimonials – Your testimonials can be gold when converting expired listings. Social proof is great for people who have recently been burned by another Realtor. This type of listing should relate to the prospect, transition, and then explain the testimonial. Finally, include a call to action at the bottom of the mailer.

3) Your Brokerage Information – Why do you work for your brokerage? Almost every brokerage has a selling point! Use this to your advantage. You should be able to easily craft a letter explaining this advantage to the seller. After all, you bought into that selling point yourself.

4) Community and School Information – Does your website have a tab for their community or school? If not, make one! This is a great selling point. You can show the buyer that your website actually has a page dedicated to their specific neighborhood and gets SEO traffic because of it. This also makes you look like a neighborhood expert.

5) Sample Flyers – Do you create unique flyers for your listings? Great! Send a sample flyer to the home owner. This will show marketing initiative and give you an opportunity to highlight the way you see their property. Remember, these people love their house. They have so many memories attached to it. You can create a flyer that makes their house look special.

6) Charity Events – Send expired listings letters about what you do for local charities. You will instantly stand out from the crowd! Realtor letters to expired listings typical sound like this: “I’m the best. You must list with me.” Nothing breaks down the “Me” talk like charity work.
Finally, it’s hard convert any of these leads without a great website.

Example Expired Listings Letter:

BONUS Content: Farming Expired Listings

Most Realtors are farming a specific neighborhood or region, right?
You should be farming expired listings in all your specialty neighborhoods!
For example, have you sold every property you’ve listed in that neighborhood?

Awesome!

That’s exactly what the expired listing wants to hear. You really need to follow up either with a phone call or expired listing letters to let the home owner know about your track record.

Is a cloud-based brokerage the right one for you?

The real estate agent’s recipe for a successful cloud-based business By Gill South (inman.com)  Key Takeaways Doing well as a cloud agent takes the right mindset and mental toughness, according to Derrick Ruiz. Choose your first cloud brokerage based on the right leader, training and access to an online community. Cloud brokerages are not for new agents; they should start with the real thing first. Los Angeles broker Derrick Ruiz is grooming his 12-year-old-son to be a real estate agent. Kenneth sees his dad working from his home office, never wearing a suit and coming out to say “hi” when he and his sister come home from school. “I don’t have to commute to work; I can help with the Little League stuff; my professional life and family life are all enmeshed. I could be barbecuing in between writing a presentation,” said Ruiz. “We go look at properties, I take my camera. Real estate is a really good lifestyle if you do it right.” The real estate veteran of 30 years makes a good financial argument. “We make more than lawyers and doctors now — I’m working on a deal for a 16-unit apartment building for $5.5 million and will make a $275,000 gross commission, while the trust lawyer on the deal is earning $6,000 to set up the trust,” noted Ruiz. The author of the new book, “Cloud Agent: How Real Estate Agents Can Combine Cloud Technology With A Powerful Mindset To Produce Extraordinary Results,” Ruiz is enthusiastic about how his life has changed since he took his business completely to the cloud, working from home full-time and joining the cloud brokerage eXp Realty three years ago. He was previously with Keller Williams for seven years. The cloud mentality of doing deals Ruiz likes the immediacy of his work now. “Last night I had a call from a buyer who wanted a flier sent to him on a property. “ Ruiz sent off the marketing package, which gave him the property’s cashflow figures, expenses and taxes via his phone. The investor was standing at the for-sale sign at the time. Later that night the buyer texted, saying he wanted to make an offer. “That’s the the mentality of being in the cloud — for me, there is no way go back to working in an office,” said Ruiz. Choosing your cloud brokerage wisely “I left after another eXp associate showed me the idea of working for a cloud brokerage. I saw a big opportunity creating revenue share and attracting other agents to eXp Realty,” Ruiz explained. Take care choosing the right cloud brokerage, warns Ruiz, something he talks about in “Cloud Agent.” “Since joining eXp, there has been a proliferation of virtual offices or cloud brokerages — I get pitched to all the time.” He writes: “I do not understand how a 100-percent broker can afford to provide the proper technology infrastructure and training by only collecting a transaction fee.” “At eXp, we have a virtual office where we conduct training and interviews — you need to get an avatar set up and it’s like you are walking around in a (virtual) office meeting,” he said. It’s very collaborative, he added. The campus-like platform used by eXp Realty came from a gaming engine from University of California, San Diego. Ruiz is hopeful the book, published by Black Card Books in Ontario, will help himself and fellow eXp Realty agents “attract” more to the business, which is on an aggressive expansion path. “Part of the reason I wrote this book was to create a tool that my fellow agents could use to attract other agents to their team,” Ruiz explained. “I’ve offered my colleagues a greatly reduced price if they buy in bulk so that they can send the books out to other agents they want to attract.” EXp Realty’s growth EXp Realty has a seven-tier revenue system for agents who are successful at attracting new people. Glenn Sanford,  eXp Realty CEO and chairman, also formerly from Keller Williams, said: “Last year at this time, we were around 650 agents; now we are 1,400-plus agents. We’ve doubled in size and will double again over the next 12 months.” Currently in 41 states, he expects to be in 50 by the end of the next 12 months and has set a target of 10,000 agents by 2020. Sanford has strongly endorsed “Cloud Agent,” writing the foreword in the book. “Derrick is pioneering — he’s just a powerhouse of information. He understands the business of prospecting — it’s really a mindset book,” said Sanford. Sanford wrote in the book’s foreword: “We now live in an uber-connected world and physical brick and mortar businesses are fading in value in favor of the cloud, but none of this means anything without the proper mindset.” Delve deeper than the financial package at your cloud brokerage Ruiz, who has been averaging $10 million to $15 million in production a year and is at $8.5 million year-to-date for 2016, warns against moving to a cloud brokerage for its tempting 100-percent commission splits — yet limited support. “I know the agents who go to these cloud brokerages who compete on price — they are not productive; they are complainers,” he said. “I have done discount earlier in my career — and the clients that you attract are focused on saving commission and are the worst clients you could ever have. They also have unrealistic expectations.” The split at eXp Realty is more like 80/20, said Sanford. “Because we invest a lot in the agent experience. We have 30 people who are willing to do anything to help the agent do business — from their marketing, building a website, training. We have got all of the trappings of a solid bricks and mortar operation,” he said. There is also dedicated lead generation expertise. Sandord adds that the virtual office allows people to “come into a space with their avatars and they get that social piece in. In my opinion, that’s a big value add of bricks-and-mortar — agents can be social. And real estate agents, by their nature, are social beings.” EXp Realty provides all agents with a Regus HQ blue card membership so they can operate out of a shared physical office space environment if they prefer. Ruiz, however, is not interested in any kind of office outside his home. As far as he is concerned, all he needs is his phone. “Every single one of my files is on Dropbox — I can access every single piece of data that I own via the iPhone 6+,” he said. He writes: “When I worked in a busy Keller Williams office, there were constant interruptions and requests. Office and agent leadership meetings, birthday parties, requests to speak at those meetings, visits from the copier repairman … not to mention the occasional drama between agents and staff.” The busy real estate office is changing, he added. “When you walk into a bricks-and-mortar brokerage office there may be 10 people out of 150 who work there. Most agents are probably working from home or at a coffee shop. So if you’re already one of those agents who works from home, you might as well be with the cloud brokerage,” he said. Cloud brokerages are not for new agents New agents should start with a regular brokerage for the first two or three years, where they are introduced to the real estate business and are immersed in the culture, said Ruiz. “It’s not impossible [to start off in a cloud brokerage], but there are so many lessons you learn being at a real estate office, day in, day out,” he said. As cloud brokerages become more prevalent, newbie agents will be partnered up and become part of a virtual team, said the broker, who says he has trained a lot of agents. Ruiz is a big believer in training, no matter what level you are. He advises readers to make sure their cloud brokerage takes training seriously, offers in-house trainers and runs classes regularly. EXp Realty runs 25 to 30 hours of classes a week. “We have weekly training in the virtual office space with dedicated trainers,” said Sanford. “Also, agents around the country who have specialized expertise will often do training in the cloud office as well.” Visitors are welcome, added Sanford. Agents interested in joining can visit and be active on the eXp Realty campus, including sitting in on meetings. “One of our core values has been total transparency for the industry — we let you walk in and attend a meeting. You can attend anything on campus, talk to our agents about onboarding.” It appeals to the millennial, Sanford said. Staying connected with local agents though working in the cloud Of course, real estate is a social industry, and relationships with other agents are important — but cloud agents can make it work. Working with a cloud brokerage does not negate these activities, said Sanford. “In a lot of cities, agents are getting together almost nightly for something or other,” he said. The eXp “agent attraction” program gives eXp Realty agents financial benefits from socializing with agents from other companies, too. Ruiz recommends that cloud agents start a local Realtor Facebook group, if one doesn’t already exist in their area. He writes: “I belong to several. Even though I work from home and don’t talk to many agents in person, these keep me in the loop and connected to what’s going on in the market.” They share pocket listings, buyer needs, advice and referrals for vendors. He is also on the KW Alerts email list. Tech is good, but you still need the fundamentals Though an enthusiastic techie — who cites some of his favorite cloud tools as Top Producer, Skyslope, and NotaryCam — Ruiz is an advocate of traditional habits, like cold-calling and always working on building the client database. “There is nothing like picking up the phone,” he said. Ruiz, who specializes in selling multi-family apartment buildings, spends time finding long-term owners of apartment buildings and other people who are more likely to be thinking of selling. He writes in the book: “Agents, you better get comfortable being uncomfortable; otherwise go get a corporate slave job.” Ruiz is a big fan of writing thank-you notes. Older clients, especially, remember and appreciate them. “Thank-you notes have made me hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said the broker. EXp Realty provides all agents with a Regus HQ blue card membership so they can operate out of a shared physical office space environment if they prefer. Ruiz, however, is not interested in any kind of office outside his home. As far as he is concerned, all he needs is his phone. “Every single one of my files is on Dropbox — I can access every single piece of data that I own via the iPhone 6+,” he said. He writes: “When I worked in a busy Keller Williams office, there were constant interruptions and requests. Office and agent leadership meetings, birthday parties, requests to speak at those meetings, visits from the copier repairman … not to mention the occasional drama between agents and staff.” The busy real estate office is changing, he added. “When you walk into a bricks-and-mortar brokerage office there may be 10 people out of 150 who work there. Most agents are probably working from home or at a coffee shop. So if you’re already one of those agents who works from home, you might as well be with the cloud brokerage,” he said. Cloud brokerages are not for new agents New agents should start with a regular brokerage for the first two or three years, where they are introduced to the real estate business and are immersed in the culture, said Ruiz. “It’s not impossible [to start off in a cloud brokerage], but there are so many lessons you learn being at a real estate office, day in, day out,” he said. As cloud brokerages become more prevalent, newbie agents will be partnered up and become part of a virtual team, said the broker, who says he has trained a lot of agents. Ruiz is a big believer in training, no matter what level you are. He advises readers to make sure their cloud brokerage takes training seriously, offers in-house trainers and runs classes regularly. EXp Realty runs 25 to 30 hours of classes a week. “We have weekly training in the virtual office space with dedicated trainers,” said Sanford. “Also, agents around the country who have specialized expertise will often do training in the cloud office as well.” Visitors are welcome, added Sanford. Agents interested in joining can visit and be active on the eXp Realty campus, including sitting in on meetings. “One of our core values has been total transparency for the industry — we let you walk in and attend a meeting. You can attend anything on campus, talk to our agents about onboarding.” It appeals to the millennial, Sanford said. Staying connected with local agents though working in the cloud Of course, real estate is a social industry, and relationships with other agents are important — but cloud agents can make it work. Working with a cloud brokerage does not negate these activities, said Sanford. “In a lot of cities, agents are getting together almost nightly for something or other,” he said. The eXp “agent attraction” program gives eXp Realty agents financial benefits from socializing with agents from other companies, too. Ruiz recommends that cloud agents start a local Realtor Facebook group, if one doesn’t already exist in their area. He writes: “I belong to several. Even though I work from home and don’t talk to many agents in person, these keep me in the loop and connected to what’s going on in the market.” They share pocket listings, buyer needs, advice and referrals for vendors. He is also on the KW Alerts email list. Tech is good, but you still need the fundamentals Though an enthusiastic techie — who cites some of his favorite cloud tools as Top Producer, Skyslope, and NotaryCam — Ruiz is an advocate of traditional habits, like cold-calling and always working on building the client database. “There is nothing like picking up the phone,” he said. Ruiz, who specializes in selling multi-family apartment buildings, spends time finding long-term owners of apartment buildings and other people who are more likely to be thinking of selling. He writes in the book: “Agents, you better get comfortable being uncomfortable; otherwise go get a corporate slave job.” Ruiz is a big fan of writing thank-you notes. Older clients, especially, remember and appreciate them. “Thank-you notes have made me hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said the broker.

How To Use Snapchat Geofilters To Market Your Real Estate Business

The newest marketing tool for Snapchat users is the introduction of geofilters, which are highly underutilized for how incredibly versatile and useful they could be for businesses.
Geofilters can be used to market your real estate business. If you’re not familiar with the term, let’s break it down into its parts for an easy explanation, before we examine how you can use geofilters for your real estate business.

What is a Snapchat Geofilter?

A Snapchat filter is a skin that can be placed over any Snapchat photograph. Users can add backgrounds to their photos, add funny hats to their selfies, or, in a popular new filter recently, give themselves a feminine makeover with a flower wreath for their hair.
Snapchat Geofilters are filters that are only available when a Snapchat user is in a specified location. For example, if a local pub wants to advertise their game day sale, they can upload a custom geofilter to Snapchat. Then, any time a group of patrons Snaps a photo while at the pub and adds the filter, all of their viewers get a small nudge to come join the fun.

Who Uses Geofilters?

Snapchat geofilters are a very simple way to use social media for advertising, relying on the farther, more diverse, and wider reach of clients rather than your own.
Snapchat’s archives of geofilters show that the feature has been used by sports teams on game day; by airports; by universities during rush week; and by scores of towns and cities all across the world. It’s an easy way to simply let the world know that your location, or event, exists, all through a personal tour guided by their friends and favorite Snapchat users.

How can Geofilters be Used in Real Estate?

There are many ways that Snapchat’s geofilters could be used for your real estate business. Here are two ideas:
During an Open House
One of the most obvious and advantageous is during an open house event. As guests and potential buyers show up for a tour and snap photos of the view or a unique house feature, encourage them to add your Snapchat geofilter to their pictures.
Their viewers may see the dream house they’ve been looking for, and know exactly where to come to make an offer.
To Farm a Neighborhood
But there are other ways a Snapchat geofilter can be used when it comes to home listings. For example, if your real estate business has a high volume of listings in a particular area, why not upload a geofilter for the area?
If a potential buyer takes a photo of a house they, or someone they know, might be interested in, and shares it via Snapchat, they’ll be presented with an option to add your geofilter, which gives them yet another way to find your company and get in touch.
And what about house hunters who are scoping out a potential neighborhood? Your geofilter could give them some ideas about the area and who to contact to live there, making them feel right at home.
Use your geofilter to show local team pride to advertise a tight-knit community or brand the neighborhood as the home of the best apple pie at the local diner.
All of these are ways to show a potential homebuyer the kind of community they want to see.
Real estate advertising is often expensive, sometimes prohibitively so. Geofilters are inexpensive compared to the total number of views they receive, and reach out to millennial home buyers, who you may have previously had trouble targeting.

How do I Upload a Geofilter?

Uploading a custom Snapchat geofilter is easy, but it does take a little foresight. Here’s a checklist that you can use to get your geofilter ready for clients.

1. Go to https://www.snapchat.com/on-demand to create your on-demand geofilter. Sign in with your account to get started.
2. Upload your geofilter art assets. Use Snapchat’s uploader to submit your geofilter. If the geofilter is rejected, Snapchat will let you know why so that you can fix it and try again.
   • Follow Snapchat’s guidelines. Geofilters can’t include phone numbers, email addresses, URLs, or any kind of social media handle. Instead, add a physical address for your open house or home listing. Even just your real estate business name would work, as its easy for users to Google.
   • Filters also need to be under 300KB in size, saved as a .PNG file, and have a transparent background. They should be 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels. Try to ensure that you won’t cover more than 33% or so of a user’s photo; fewer users will want to apply your geofilter if it covers up their image.
   • Important: Be sure to check your geofilter design for errors. Once your geofilter is uploaded and approved, you can’t make any changes. You’ll have to delete the geofilter, and start all over with the approval process.
3. Choose the dates your geofilter will be available. The maximum is 30 days, and once again: the shorter the clock, the less you’ll pay.
4. Determine where you want your geofilter to apply. Snapchat calls this “drawing a fence”. User the Snapchat map powered by Google Maps to draw a fence around the area you want your geofilter to be available. Remember, Snapchat does not allow filters to exceed five million square feet, and the smaller your range, the more affordable the price will be.
5. Check out and pay for your geofilter. Plan for at least two days, but possibly a few extra, for your geofilter to be approved. Snapchat requires at least 24 to 48 hours to accept geofilters, but you may want to give yourself some wiggle room.

Now You’re Ready

You can change the length and reach of the approved geofilter up to one full day before it goes live. Watch the metrics tab of your business account to see how often the geofilter is used, and how many views it generated.

Snapchat geofilters allow you to reach out directly to the consumers where they already are, enabling you to open your real estate business up to an entirely new crowd of potential customers.

How To Effectively Work With A Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants provide a wealth of benefits to you and your real estate company if the collaboration is executed properly. If you are trying to decide if a VA is right for you, you need to keep the following tips in mind to make sure you make the most out of your newest addition to the team.

Communicate the Duties and Responsibilities

A virtual assistant typically doesn’t require extensive training, but you will need to spend some time with them just as you would an in-house team member. Don’t expect them to come fully equipped with your systems and desires understood, you will need to communicate your needs and expectations. Creating daily lists and goals, with deadlines, will ensure the most important tasks are completed in a timely manner.

Determine the Highest Priorities

n real estate, priorities often change quickly, and this can be problematic if you don’t communicate how you want them to be handled. Provide a list of priorities over a monthly or quarterly period then have follow-up meetings to see if anything has changed and whether the goals are being met.

Let It Go – Just like the movie Frozen

It’s daunting to give up control in your business, but if you want your virtual assistant to do what you hired them for, you have to explain your needs, and back off so he or she can do it. You can always check in on certain projects, but constantly interrupting them means the work won’t get done and means that you are taking yourself away from your priorities. Once you’ve explained what you expect, let the VA come to you if there are any questions – that’s what you’re paying for.

Develop Specific Scripts

Real estate can be repetitive, but this can be a good thing. Creating scripts for certain responses will make sure your virtual assistant responds in the same manner that you would, so every client receives the same information. This is also a helpful way to make sure that someone in another state or country who may not be familiar with all the laws in your state always provides correct information.

Use Your Virtual Assistant

Handing over the reins on anything you’ve been doing yourself is difficult, but you should always consider your VA’s abilities. If they have the experience and knowledge, you should always delegate more responsibilities. This will free up your time, and make better use of your virtual assistant.

Feedback Is Important

The virtual assistant/broker relationship is unique when compared to traditional employees, but some things are the same. Feedback is the only way that your virtual assistant will know if there are things he or she can improve on, or if there are things that are done beyond your expectations. Successful collaboration has to be built on mutual respect, and providing feedback is a great way to make that happen. Make sure to ask the VA for feedback as well – there could be slight changes that would be beneficial for both of you.


Working with a real estate virtual assistant allows you to grow your business. Follow these tips, and your assistant will be a valuable asset to your team.
Give us a call today 405-928-8467 to get started!

Characteristics of a Good Real Estate Agent

There’s a big difference between a mediocre real estate agent and a good real estate agent. Knowing what separates the two can make or break a real estate career. Good real estate agents get all the clients and sales.

 

There’s a lot of competition out there in the real estate field, so it’s crucial that you do everything possible to rise above the rest. To point you in the right direction, here’s a list of characteristics of good real estate agents:


♦ Good real estate agents are good listeners. They don’t judge the client or assume what type of property they are looking for. They listen closely to what the client has to say and show them properties based on what they discussed.

♦ Good real estate agents are educated on every aspect of real estate transactions. They know how to write contracts, show property, negotiate offers and secure a sale.

♦ Good real estate agents know how to find new clients. They work hard to drum up new clients no matter how many clients they currently have. They are always calling clients, placing ads and canvassing the area for new business.

Characteristics of a Good Real Estate Agent

♦ Good real estate agents have a backup profession. They know how difficult and fickle the real estate market is and, in their free time, will line up a potential career in a related profession such as termite inspection, home inspections and appraisals.

♦ During land deals, good real estate agents stay in constant contact with the surveying company so the survey is finished quickly.

♦ Good real estate agents learn how to use the internet to their advantage. They are proficient at social media and know how to drive traffic to their website.

♦ Good real estate agents only list marketable properties and tend to work with clients who are pre-qualified and prepared to buy.

♦ Good real estate agents take floor calls in their broker’s office.

♦ Good real estate agents limit the number of clients they work with at a given time in order to give each client the time and attention they need.

♦ Good real estate agents do their homework. They know the market in their geographic area inside out, including its market trends, values, schools, neighborhoods, restaurants, pros and cons, legal issues, and any hidden gems an area may have.

♦ Good real estate agents have a vast network of connections. Their list of connections includes other real estate agents and brokers, appraisers, mortgage loan officers, home inspectors as well as potential buyers and sellers.

♦ Good real estate agents are organized. Juggling multiple clients, properties and transactions is difficult but successful real estate agents find ways to keep everything in order.

♦ Good real estate agents are aggressive but polite. They know how to competitively market and sell a house and are quick to adopt new techniques and strategies.

♦ Good real estate agents are tenacious. They never falter and they never give up until they succeed.

♦ Good real estate agents are problem solvers. They don’t take no for an answer and come up with creative solutions to whatever problems or issues they may encounter.

♦ Good real estate agents are self-motivated entrepreneurs. Although they work for a broker, a good sales agent knows they are their own boss and must be self-disciplined, focused and determined to succeed.

♦ Good real estate agents are honest. The key to a long and successful career in real estate is a good reputation which can only be earned by always being honest and straightforward with your clients.

Know that you know what it takes to be a good real estate agent, get out there and get started!

MAY DAY - MAY DAY! Marketing Mania

 

In today's digital age, realtors have no option but to be tech savvy. Getting a buyer's, seller's, and investor's attention is more and more difficult. In addition to proving that you know your turf, and growing your database, you must get your name and face out there. If they can't Google you, you simply don't exist. Unless realtors figure out ways to automate and outsource some of the client engagement and lead generation work, it will be impossible to run a viable real estate business.

It is very loud and noisy out there and you have to create a Brand that stands out from the rest.

You need to be on all Social Media Channels. If you're going to be on Twitter, Snapchat, or Periscope, really BE on those platforms. Not having a powerful online image is no longer an option. You can't just leave it up to Trulia and Zillow. If you Build your Brand Online utilizing a Blog, Social Media, and Generating Leads building your email list, you will have a solid presence online.

This month we're offering a special social media network marketing deal to help give you a more powerful online presence. 

Call 24/7 Digital Nomad© 405.928.8467 to discuss your specific needs and more details and a complimentary consultation.

Lead Generation On Steroids

Lead Generation Tips For Realtors - Learn everything about blogging, social media, cold calling, branding, and more. This is the place for free real estate lead generation tips.

Have you ever thought about why everyone tells you to cold call?
Or about why you’re supposed to call your sphere?




This recommendation goes back YEARS because it was the most personal and efficient way to reach everyone.
It kind of looked like this…



It was a really reasonable thing to cold call and call your sphere from the 1950’s through the early 2000’s.
Because it worked!

::: BUT THEN :::

The cell phone happened.
And soon there wasn’t one phone number per house but many…
And soon people simply started screening their calls.
And now, even your mom probably screens your phone calls.




Here’s the thing:
Whether you’re trying to cold prospect or touch base with your sphere…
PHONE CALLS ARE NO LONGER AS EFFECTIVE!

So, what can you do to replace those personal phone calls?
Easy.

Think back…what was and still is more effective than phone calls?
Answer: Face-to-Face meetings
Your cold prospects and sphere get to see you. They see your face…your body…hear your voice.
This type of marketing is the best. It’s even better than phone calls used to be.
But, we couldn’t meet face-to-face with everyone because it’d take too much time.
Here’s the thing:
Video gets across most of the benefits of face-to-face marketing while letting your leads or cold prospects view it on their own time!
You can now replace some of those phone call touches to people in your sphere with video marketing! And get better results!
You can now replace some of that cold calling with video marketing! And get great results.

Here are…

3 Ways To Save 300+ hours of cold calling with FB Video

Tip 1) Upload Your CRM/Contact List To Facebook And Show Them Videos

Here’s the coolest thing about Facebook Videos…
They Autoplay!
This means that when people are scrolling through their Facebook feed and they see your video ad, it will play automatically!

One of the best ways to use this technology is by hooking up your CRM to Facebook Ads.
Here’s how you do that:
Step 1) Export Your Leads As A CSV



Step 2) Upload Your Leads To Facebook’s Custom Audiences



 


That’s it!
Now you can sit back and run Facebook Video Ads that only your sphere will see

: Ideas For This :::

Is it close to a Holiday?
Great! Record a quick holiday greeting video… Upload it to Facebook… And run a video that only your sphere sees!
Would you usually call your sphere this month and talk about home valuations rising?
Great! Make a video discussing the same topic… Upload it to Facebook… And run a video ad that only your sphere sees.

You can use this tactic for nearly every type of touch you used to give to people in your sphere.
It’s a great way to replace hours and hours of calling. And to make sure that people are actually seeing your face and remembering you!
The best part is that these ads can link to your LeadSite. And you can start capturing them when it’s time to buy a home.
Instead of calling people for hours trying to wish them a Happy Holiday or inform them about the market, you can make one video. And then advertise specifically to your sphere on Facebook!
Here’s a pro tip:
When you run these video ads, monitor the frequency number Facebook gives you.
The frequency is the number of times everyone on your list saw your ad.
If you get a frequency number above 2.0, that’ll ensure that everyone on your CRM list has seen your video!

Make Community Videos And Target ‘Likely Movers’ Nearby

Finally, one of the coolest things about Facebook video is it lets you run your ads against people likely to move.
Want to sell more houses in a zip code?
Simply make a video describing your past success selling houses in that zip code… and run Facebook ads for likely movers in those areas.
Set it up like this:

You simply put the zip code into the area that you are talking about in your Facebook video.
And then target people who are likely to move!
It’s that simple!

Calling leads in real estate can take up so much time! And its effectiveness is seriously dropping.
Should you stop calling leads entirely? Of course not!
But this list of ideas should help you boost the touches you’re able to accomplish with your leads…while boosting the quality.
This should lower the amount of calls you have to make in a given year. And can save you well over 1 hour per day. If you’re saving 1 hour per day, you really can save well over 300 hours per year just by implementing some quick and easy Facebook video strategies!

Need more qualified leads?

This Lead Capture Website Is Making Waves:

Real estate lead generation is changing. This is no longer 1980 where cold calling will get the job done.

You need a strategy for your website that changes the game in your favor. This under-the-radar solution helps you corner your market and get more leads.

Have you ever felt like this?


If you’ve been in real estate for any amount of time, you’ve probably felt like this.
A client emails you at 8pm and expects a response within minutes…
Or a client calls you at 11pm and expects you to answer…

This can be super stressful!

You only get paid when they finish the deal. And so it’s hard to not take every notification you get as a life threatening event!
This can create a self-feeding cycle where you as an agent slowly let real estate consume you. And can also lead to burn out.

But let’s peek behind the curtain and figure out “why do your clients call at night?”

::: HERE’S THE THING :::

Most of these problems are solvable with preventative action.
The four steps below will help you build systems that create that preventative action.
But why’s this matter?
Because being in real estate is kind of like this:



You simply can’t build a stable business without every one of those steps.
And you can’t expect the number of phone calls you get late at night to decrease until you successfully implement a system that replaces you answering those late night phone calls.

Here are the four steps you need to take to prevent those late night calls:

Step 1: Generate Leads

The first step towards not answering the phone at night is generating leads.
Real estate is the business of lead generation.
It’s that simple. If you don’t have leads, you don’t have a business.
And if you don’t have a business, you are so dependent on every freaking deal that you have to answer the phone at midnight.

Why?

Because you don’t have enough cash flow coming through your real estate business to hire assistants without leads.
Here are several ways to generate enough leads to start working on systems to prevent late night calls:

1. Get a LeadSite and use it daily
2. Try Cold Calling Daily
3. Join a real estate team
4. Use Social Media with this give-away trick
5. Call your sphere while using SEO to grow your sphere

Honestly, the tactics here are endless. The key is picking 2-3 that you can commit to doing everyday for the next year.

Generating leads (using any method) is similar to investing into a 401k. 

You’ll see little immediate returns. But over the course of a year, the returns start to get compounding effects.

Look at this:

Image Found On Financial Planning

Over a 1 year period, you are putting in the effort of the blue line. And you get the reward of the red line.
Let’s take blogging as an example….
If you write 1 blog post per week, you’ll have 50 at the end of one year.
Given the law of compounding returns, you’ll actually reap rewards like you wrote 150 blog posts.

The cool thing is that these results (and the leads that come with it) help you generate enough business to hire people.
And then these people you hire can prevent you from having to work 24/7. Building incoming funnels of leads is the first step towards freedom of time.

Step 2: Build Great Systems

After you’ve generated enough leads and business, the next step is systematizing your business.
For example, what emails get sent to what clients? When do they get sent? What needs to happen before the closing date? And when does that need to happen?
You will personally handle all these details for the first few clients. But, as leads grow, this work slowly overwhelms you.
The key here is this:

You must document every part of your business.

Try documenting everything in SkimWiki:
SlimWiki is this awesome service you can use to flesh out your internal guides.

You can create standard procedures for nearly everything. You can easily edit pages. And add team members.

Step 3: Opposites Attract

The next step of outsourcing yourself from late night client phone calls is to find a real estate partner.
The key here is to find someone who is opposite of you.
Why?
Because you need two types of thinking in a real estate team…
You need the typical sales person and the business developer.
The sales person is always hunting for more leads and working on the sales process. This includes things like blogging, marketing, follow up process, and more.
And the business developer is always working on the internal client process. They need to build systems so that the paperwork is always completed 100% properly. And sellers are staying up to date on the progress of their listing being sold.
These two activities are very different. And require different types of thinking.
You’ll never fully be able to separate yourself from clients calling you unless you perfect both systems.

Step 4: Build The Machine That Builds The Machine

Your goal as a business owner is simply to put something in place that makes your assistants, sales representatives, other agents, and clients lives better tomorrow. Here are what 8 agents do on a daily basis to build their businesses.
The ultimate version of this is building something that makes itself better.
For example, if your assistant discovers something wrong with the way you’re filing paperwork for certain mortgages….
Do they fix the system?
Do they alert you to fix the system?
This final step is how you create a business that can fully operate without you. And prevent clients from calling you at night.

What’s the hardest thing to create as a real estate agent?

…

………

………………………

Think about it:
Every other business can invent its way out of this problem…

• Uber made an app that’s easier than taxis.
• Amazon introduces drone delivery.

But in real estate, you largely have to compete with people who can “SAY” they do the same things you do. So how do you compete?

Here’s a way that in 60 seconds you can start standing out against the competition, and converting more passerbys into clients.

It starts with this:

No one will care about you until they trust you.
So, your sole goal is to make them trust you more than the next agent.

BUT there’s a problem:
People are now figuring out who to trust by doing research online. They AREN’T asking you questions, or contacting you.
They’re stalking you and 2-3 other agents before contacting everyone. It’s kind of like a glacier:



So:

How do you build extra trust with all these people who are searching on Zillow?

Zillow…

ZILLLOW…

ZILLLOW...

Here’s how:

You’ll notice that when it’s time to make their move, they start to scope you out.
And your sole goal at this point in the transaction is to make them trust you.
 

But it doesn’t stop there!

Trust is built primarily through repetition.
People need to see you over and over again. And the more they see you the more likely they are to do business with you.
Most normal agents will focus on converting the most amount of people that visit their site from Zillow.

But you want to capture them, and show ads to them over & over again.