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Louis Cammarosano Continue reading this post

Sorry I haven’t been writing much lately, I have been swamped between helping new members of The eHomes Realty Network, which has been very fun and running Tropical Realty. On top of that our software is almost ready for release so I’ve been working with my staff to get all the bugs out. Now I know how hard it is to release software….who would have thought!

One thing I am learning as I’m helping Agents and Brokers around the country is the lack of diversity. I talk to Agents that only want to work on the Internet. I talk to others that don’t understand the Internet so they put all their resources into the old school way of doing business.

Recently I sat down with my most successful Agent in my office who is right around $8 million in sales (avg $168k per sale) and will end up around $11 or $12 million this year. This is an amazing number for our area right now. I wanted to figure out what she was doing versus most of my other Agents. Even though they are all doing ok, she is double my next best Agent. Her answer was very simple when I asked her. She said, “I just do everything you taught me to do.”

It was that easy. I have had other Agents Continue reading this post

A teacher is better than two books. (German proverb)

An extremely effective way to convert a lead is with the “Nutshell Speech”. I used it with great success in the practice of real estate law. It is almost 100% effective with first time home buyers.

What is the Nutshell Speech?

The Nutshell Speech is a summary of the real estate transaction, from start to finish. It explains each step of the process. And I mean step by step. You inform, ask questions (do you know the difference between a condo and a co-op?), answer questions, give away some inside tips (condos are easier to sublet than co-ops). You do not explicitly sell yourself. The goal is to educate.

Why Is It So Effective?

The reason for its success is at least four-fold.

1. First, it’s not a sales pitch. People immediately tune out the sales pitch. But they will listen to information that can help them. I always prefaced the speech by telling prospective clients, “Whether or not you hire me, I want you to understand the process”. I took the sales pressure off them to hire me. And this helped them listen… and then hire me.

2. It shows your understanding and expertise in real estate. People want to hire experts. It’s a fact. Knowing that you know makes people comfortable. They will trust you.

3. It shows you care. A great way to reveal yourself & create rapport is by giving a seminar. And that’s what the Nutshell Speech is, in a nutshell—a mini-seminar. People will not hesitate to hire someone they feel they know is looking out for them. After the speech, you are no longer a stranger selling a service. You’re a caring human being helping another human being understand this complicated thing called real estate. And heck, if you didn’t have a caring personality, what the hell are you doing in the business?

Continue reading this post

Posted on behalf of Steve Hamilton of Fonville-Morisey Realty in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The Wake county real estate market experienced a 31% drop in sales August 08 vs August 07 for detached homes. Despite this significant drop in the number of sales the average sales price for a detached home only dropped 0.19%. Inventory is up approximately 25% and there is approximately a seven month supply of housing. In most areas and in most price points, it is a buyer’s market.

I now have all of my listings staged before going on the market and continually remind my clients that they need to price their home aggressively or it will not sell.

For more regional updates, click here.

Click to learn more about Raleigh real estate, Raleigh home prices and Raleigh homes for sale.

It goes without saying that anyone in sales should track their leads: Where they’re coming from, how much they cost, and how many close.

Why is this so important?

If you’re spending $500/month on a lead source, and you only close one deal per year from that source, then you paid $6,000 to close one deal. If the lead source provided you a $1MM closing, then it was definitely worth it. If, however, the closing was a $250k home, then your money is probably better spent elsewhere.

While detailed lead tracking is always a great idea, it can become a bit complicated, unless you have sophisticated software to help you with the process. However, tracking return on investment is relatively easy, and is a great place to start tracking leads, if you haven’t already.

If you’re a real estate broker, manage a team of agents or a solo agent, the first step is to itemize your lead sources.

Common sources include referrals, sign calls, ad calls, purchased leads, and web leads. It’s a very good idea to be as detailed as possible when categorizing lead sources. If you purchase leads from multiple sources, you obviously want to know how much each source produces.

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This month’s Agent Success Newsletter features Bill Eiseman of Prudential Decker Realty in Virginia.

In our exclusive interview with Bill, he advises other agents on best practices for handling short sales. With the market full of short sales and foreclosures this year, Bill delivers strategies from approaching a short sale with homeowners, to working with banks, to recognizing warning signs and how to end the short sale successfully.

Listen to this great interview with Bill Eiseman:

To hear more HomeGain Radio interviews, plus find real estate articles, survey results and more, visit ourMedia Center!

Continue reading this post