To grow a city you need infrastructure. To grow a Real Estate team you need the same thing.

I say this because my wife Donna and I tried to grow a team before we were ready. I see other Realtors do the same thing we did. They are successful right out of the gate so they want to duplicate that success with a team. The problem is that they do not have the systems and other key growth factors in place to make a “team” successful.

A team needs 4 key items in place before they will be able to grow successfully.

1) A team needs systems in place to handle leads, client care, and all the problems that are inevitable in Real Estate. Without systems the ball will get dropped a lot and everyone will get frustrated. One agent may do very well without systems because of their force of personality or their contact base but this is not something that is easily duplicated. To grow a team you need systems that will allow everyone to duplicate success if they just follow the system!

2) The team needs an adequate amount of leads to keep everyone busy. Without leads Realtors die on the vine. Again, they will get frustrated and begin to drift. Your team needs leads and/or the tools to acquire leads or they will become a group with a bad attitude and it is downhill from there. Continue reading this post

The property manager will be taking on significant responsibilities with the owner’s real estate. You will be effectively handing your property over to another.  It is important to look at the contract, at a minimum it must:

1. Name all parties to the contract
2. The legal property address
3. Define the responsibilities of the manager and the owner
4. Enumerate all  fees and commissions for leasing or real estate sales.
5. Define the term of the contract
6. Both parties must sign and date the contract

Agency — What Is It? Continue reading this post

Many property owners that would like to sell now find they have to hold and manage. If you own far from where you live or you simply aren’t interested in managing a second business, you should consider a professional property management.

Does One Size Fit All?

No. Property Management companies come in all sizes, some manage 20,000 units and others 500. Many property management companies are a small or family business’s. A large management company should have more resources available, but service may not be personal and it’s easy to get lost there unless you have a large portfolio. That’s the first point to consider; which size management company will give you personal service.

Interview smaller companies that would bend over backwards for your business. You may get better service and price leverage.  If you choose this route, try to assess whether the company can absorb new business quickly, it’s a litigious business and they must be responsive day one.

If you have a single family home or a smaller rental property it’s just not that attractive to many companies. Not much income and although a larger company may welcome you, they may not give you much service. You may find that suddenly, you have many more little maintenance items than ever before as they maximize income within house maintenance and repairs.

How Do You Find Them?

Word of mouth is best. If you don’t have a personal resource then: Continue reading this post

A much cited statistic tells us that nearly all home buyers start their home search online. Many consumers type in “homes for sale” on Google or Yahoo! or visit sites like HomeGain. 

With home listings available in many places on the Internet some consumers may consider buying a home without using the services of a professional real estate agent.

This  would be a mistake.

A local Realtor understands current market conditions and home prices. Automated valuation tools like those found on Zillow and HomeGain can only serve as a starting point for assessing home values in a particular area.

A local Realtor acting on behalf of a home buyer can give real insight on home prices based on local, up-to-the-minute analysis of the market.

In addition to helping buyers understand home prices, buyers’ agents do a lot more.

HomeGain member Mitch Ribak, who is on track to sell more than 350 homes this year, recently provided us with these 50 reasons to use a buyer agent: 

  1.   Analysis of your real estate needs and determine housing criteria

  2.    Research properties

  3.    Send you listings that match your needs

  4.    Provide information pertaining to your move or relocation and short-term stay options

  5.   Educate you about home buying processes

  6.   Provide information on market conditions, schools, communities, employment, and more

  7.   Discuss your financing needs

  8.   Recommend qualified mortgage brokers

Continue reading this post

Bad advice number 1

“Dont pay for leads.” “You are crazy if you pay for leads.” “The leads you receive are worthless.” “You can generate your own leads if you are worth your salt in real estate.” 

I listened to this one for awhile. It did make sense, at first. I was working day and night to try to generate my own leads and I got plain burned out. So, I decided to give HomeGain a try. Technically, yes, I am paying for leads. Oh it is so nice to have leads come to me instead of spinning my wheels. Now I have time for other things like, meeting people!

Bad advice number 2

This one is very controversial. “Don’t pay for enhanced listings on Realtor.com.”

I listened to this one from some very well respected folks in the industry. Well, I got a really nice listing and I gave in and got the enhanced listing package. I grew very tired of trying to explain to sellers why their listings aren’t showing multiple pictures. “Suzy Seller down the street has an enhanced listing.” Sellers don’t care about the politics of Realtor.com. They just want to ooh and aah over the listing on Realtor.com. They will go there to check on it. Even if you give them a hundred other websites to look at, they WILL check Realtor.com. And I do get leads from Realtor.com. Good ones.

Bad advice number 3

“Blogging is a waste of time.” “You are a Realtor not a blogger.”

Ok, I admit I am not a blogger. I try to blog. I am a real estate broker who happens to blog. I blog my listings and real estate news. Maybe a few jokes and community news now and again. It is very eclectic. It is MY blog. I can do whatever I want, darn it. Now I am even blogging on multiple sites. And the sweet majic is…..SEO! Can you say number one on Google? Continue reading this post

If you can’t use a professional to take your listing photographs, avoid these visual mistakes.  The photographs below were chosen to emphasize errors.

1. Exterior photo with distracting elements

These include cars, bicycles, trash cans, pets, children, etc. This example also has several other mistakes — it doesn’t capture the entire house exterior; the angle does not flatter the house; and trees obstruct the view. Are you selling the house or the car?

2. Subject too far away

Get as close as to can to your subject.  This common mistake can easily be corrected by cropping.  The objective is to have the image fill the frame.  Use Photoshop or any of the many free photo editing tools like Paint.net or Picnik.com. Many computers come with a basic photo editor.  Mine has Micrsoft PictureIt! and it works great.

Continue reading this post