Most of my business comes from the internet but I still cherish referrals. In my opinion they really are the best and most inexpensive leads. If you look most markets you will probably notice that the Realtors who focuses on referrals are usually the largest producers. These leads generally don’t come in vast quantities like internet leads but the quality is much better.

Here are 5 tips to help get more referrals:

1)    Satisfied Customers

You won’t get too many referrals if you don’t provide good service. Clients who are happy with your service are more likely to refer people to you. Keep your name in front of your past customers consistently. They will forget about you if you don’t touch them often enough. Unfortunately, I have found this out the hard way.

2)    Networking

Do you spend time at networking events? This can be a successful way to generate referral business. People do business with people they know and like. It is not uncommon to see several Realtors at networking meetings. Make networking fun and not a chore. If you get some business out of it that is great, if not at least you had a good time. Continue reading this post

HomeGain rolled out its January/February 2010 newsletter for real estate agents, called “Agent Success Newsletter“.

The digital real estate newsletter included:

• Feature Story: The 2009 Top Performing AgentEvaluator Agents by Highest Home Sales Volume and Highest Dollar were announced last month by region, nationwide and by state. We were pleased to also recognize two Rookie Agents of the Year and honorable mentions. Congrats to everyone for a successful 2009!
• Agent Question of the Month: “I have uploaded my listings to other web sites like Zillow and Realtor.com. I know I can upload them to HomeGain, but why should I do that?” Get answer
  
• HomeGain News:

HomeGain Realtor members are invited to attend HomeGain Nation Live Real Estate Forum on Monday, March 1 in San Francisco.

The top 9 do it yourself GREEN home improvements were announced, based on survey results from nearly 1,000 Realtors.

• Agent Success Awards: We congratulated the newest AgentEvaluator Platinum Club, Gold Club and Silver Club members (10 real estate agents inducted).

Sign up here to receive HomeGain’s FREE Agent Success Newsletter

Read past real estate newsletters

Transportation costs may soon become a recognized expense for mortgage applications if the Natural Resources Defense Council study holds up.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the study showed that higher transportation costs resulted in a higher foreclosure rate:

The draft report looked at trends associated with 40,000 mortgages in San Francisco, Chicago and Jacksonville, Fla.

The release date for the final study has not been announced. The research included borrowers’ income and expenses, credit scores and loan-to-home value ratio.

It focused on the average number of vehicles owned per household in a neighborhood, and through a complex formula, found that the likelihood of mortgage foreclosure increased as neighborhood vehicle ownership rates rose.

If transportation costs were as much as 17% of a household budget, as the study suggests, a $5/gallon price for gasoline could negatively impact a family’s budget. Recent years’ foreclosure activity suggests that compunction towards making mortgage payments has given way to liquidity concerns. Moreover, a legal scholar suggests that any moral consideration associated with a strategic default is passe.

Let’s consider the hypothetical case of a family, with jobs in Los Angeles County, who purchased a $400,000 Riverside, CA home in 2007. The home price has withered to $300,000 and the family has “lost” their $80,000 down payment; they are $20,000 “in the hole”. This has them feeling despondent about the future of the property as an “investment”. Continue reading this post

This is my first contribution to HomeGain and thought what a better place to start then at the beginning – the importance of home staging and why it is such a hot industry in the real estate market.

In 2009 HomeGain released its national survey results for the top Return on Investment (ROI) for home sellers. HomeGain surveyed over 1,000 realtors across the country and found that the number one home improvement ROI was cleaning and de-cluttering. These two are inexpensive and truly the first two necessary steps in preparing any home for sale. The second best ROI was home staging — followed by lighting and landscaping.

The previous survey released by HomeGain was in 2007 and placed home staging behind lighting and landscaping. HomeGain estimated a 585% ROI, with average costs under $5K, and I am not surprised given the importance and success in this growing industry.

Although many have claimed starting the idea of home staging, the industry really was born out of necessity for realtors who were selling run down and cramped houses. Back then there just was not a name for it.

Savvy realtors realized that some homes needed serious help before they could put the home on the market. Continue reading this post

If I wasn’t constantly being told be the TV, radio, newspaper, and magazines that we are in a financial downturn, would I know that from my every day life experiences over the last year?

My answer is no.

My life has gone on pretty much unchanged from what it was prior to this “down turn.”  No, that’s not right.  Truthfully, it is much better. My business has remained very good. As a matter of fact, the last couple of years were the best in my career.  There have been a lot of eager buyers — eager to buy a home, and eager to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit.

In some ways, business is much easier now.

Sellers are much more willing to deal and try harder to put a sale together and keep it together.  Also, builders are paying nice bonuses for selling their homes — homes that I probably would have sold anyways to the buyers that I have.  Everyone seems much more appreciative of my efforts — co-op agents, builders, mortgage lenders, title companies, etc.

As far as listings go, sellers have been less likely to try to cut commissions. Continue reading this post

We are pleased to announce the HomeGain AgentEvaluator® Top Performers™ of 2009.

Many HomeGain real estate agents and brokers had successful years, despite the downturn in home prices nationwide. We are proud to recognize these agents for their high level of accomplishment in association with HomeGain’s AgentEvaluator marketing program.

In addition to highlighting the 2009 Top Performers Nationwide, by Region, by State, and Rookie Agents of the Year, HomeGain recognizes agents who had impressive results and are deserving of honorable mentions. (Read the PRWeb press release)

HomeGain is proud that we can quantify the many successes of our AgentEvaluator agents in 2009. We look forward to continued success for all of our member agents in 2010.

Before announcing the Top AgentEvaluator Performers below, here are some 2009 AgentEvaluator highlights:

2009 AgentEvaluator Highlights:

• HomeGain recognizes 53 of its member real estate agents who have received Top Performer awards based on nationwide, regional and state achievements.
• Overall, in 2009 HomeGain’s top five Realtors earned an average of $146,885 in gross closed commissions from their HomeGain AgentEvaluator business and an average of 21 closed home sales (transactions).
• We now have a  total of 895 member agents in the AgentEvaluator Silver, Gold, Platinum and Million Dollar Clubs based on the following criteria:

- 2 agents are Million Dollar Club honorees, having earned over one million dollars in gross lifetime commissions from HomeGain business
- 22 agents are Diamond Club honorees, having earned over $500,000 in commissions
- 352 agents are Platinum Club honorees, having earned over $125,000 in commissions
- 282 agents are Gold Club honorees, having earned over $75,000 in commissions
- 237 agents are Silver Club honorees, having earned over $50,000 in  commissions

And the 2009 Top Performers for AgentEvaluator are…

Continue reading this post