KWUs new self-study guides will help you tackle Tactic 11 of SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times: "Listing REOs," "Working with Buyers," "Listing Short Sales." Each is packed with vital information and exercises to help you succeed in markets of the moment.
Showing posts with label Shift book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shift book. Show all posts
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Kick Your Credit Card Debt to the Curb!
Published By Ann Yett CFO
Source KW Blog
The financial challenges we’ve faced as an industry over the past four years have been nothing short of difficult. We’ve saved, skimped, sacrificed and cut back to the most necessary necessities. We’ve been to the battle lines and back and have shifted our real estate businesses in order to not just survive but to thrive, and it has paid off.
Looking at our financials at the Keller Williams Service & Support Center here in Austin, I am proud to say that we remain a financially solvent company. Not only is that statement an anomaly within the realm of real estate, it’s a significant accomplishment in any industry.
Which is why I got to thinking: how can we apply the same business-savvy saving strategies to our own lives? If ‘leading with revenue’ works in our business lives, why can’t it also be just as effective in our personal ones? It’s time to kick credit card debt to the curb with some help from the tips and tricks below!
START THE CHANGE
If you’ve read Gary Keller’s book, SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times, you know that the first tactic is dedicated to Mindset and Action. Tackling your debt is no different. In order to win the battle against the bulge you’ve got to set an end-goal. First, start by filling in the blank to the following sentence: I will be free of credit card debt in ___ days/months/years. Focus on this goal. Hang it on the refrigerator, in your bathroom – whatever it takes to remind yourself that a debt-free life is a good one that you’re prepared to achieve.
READY TO CUT BACK?
It’s time to take a good look at your current spending habits. Where are you spending the most money and where can you cut back? Are you spending on necessities, or are you trying to live up to a certain lifestyle? What often surprises most people is the amount of money dedicated to discretionary spending. Is your love for lattes putting a damper on your debit card? One too many trips to Nordstrom? Are you driving a car that takes up so much of your income that you are forced to use a credit card for daily living expenses?
If you’re really aiming to be debt-free, take a close look at your budget to figure out where you can cut back. Then set smaller goals to remove spending in each area. It doesn’t have to be much, but the more you cut back, the quicker you will reach your goal. The new credit card regulations require disclosure of the time required to pay off the balance when making just the minimum payment – it can be very eye-opening (and motivating to pay more)!
CONVERT TO CASH
While you are paying down your debt, make a commitment to yourself that you will not add to the balances unless absolutely necessary (and cute shoes on sale are not an absolute necessity!). Set a budget for your weekly spending, withdraw that much cash, and when it is gone, it is time to stop spending for the week. It is easy to lose track of how much you are spending when you are swiping a debit or credit card.
SNOWBALL
What does a snowball have to do with debt? Well for one thing, it might be how you got in a position where you have too much debt. But it’s also a great way to get out of it, says financial expert Dave Ramsey.
His method: Start by paying your smallest debt first. This can be an outstanding bill or a credit card from your favorite store. Pay it off as fast as you can, while maintaining minimum payments on your other cards of course. When that debt has been removed, shift your focus and the money freed up to the next smallest debt. The sense of accomplishment in paying off even a small portion keeps you motivated and focused on the end goal and reminds you that it is possible!
Note that if you have one credit card that is carrying a much higher interest rate than the others, you might want to focus on that one first if it is an achievable goal.
CASH IS KING
Look for cash savings anywhere and everywhere. (Seeing a trend here?) Get creative about your spending. Vacation close to home; search for coupons online; cut back on dining out and plan and prepare healthy meals at home; rent instead of going out to movies. Organize a clothing, home décor or toy swap – an outfit that has never felt right to you may be just the ticket for a friend. It may be tough at first, but get creative and have fun with it!
As real estate agents, you are also in the unique position where you can approve your own raise. What can you do to fuel your career forward, and earn more money along the way?
Here’s the bottom line.
No one is born chief financial officer of a company – and the same can be said for you as you work to build (or even rebuild) your financial well-being. It takes work, discipline and in some cases sacrifice. I commend you for taking on the challenge of being debt-free and wish you the best on your journey to having your dream life.
What strategies are you implementing to drive down debt?
Source KW Blog
The financial challenges we’ve faced as an industry over the past four years have been nothing short of difficult. We’ve saved, skimped, sacrificed and cut back to the most necessary necessities. We’ve been to the battle lines and back and have shifted our real estate businesses in order to not just survive but to thrive, and it has paid off.
Looking at our financials at the Keller Williams Service & Support Center here in Austin, I am proud to say that we remain a financially solvent company. Not only is that statement an anomaly within the realm of real estate, it’s a significant accomplishment in any industry.
Which is why I got to thinking: how can we apply the same business-savvy saving strategies to our own lives? If ‘leading with revenue’ works in our business lives, why can’t it also be just as effective in our personal ones? It’s time to kick credit card debt to the curb with some help from the tips and tricks below!
START THE CHANGE
If you’ve read Gary Keller’s book, SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times, you know that the first tactic is dedicated to Mindset and Action. Tackling your debt is no different. In order to win the battle against the bulge you’ve got to set an end-goal. First, start by filling in the blank to the following sentence: I will be free of credit card debt in ___ days/months/years. Focus on this goal. Hang it on the refrigerator, in your bathroom – whatever it takes to remind yourself that a debt-free life is a good one that you’re prepared to achieve.
READY TO CUT BACK?
It’s time to take a good look at your current spending habits. Where are you spending the most money and where can you cut back? Are you spending on necessities, or are you trying to live up to a certain lifestyle? What often surprises most people is the amount of money dedicated to discretionary spending. Is your love for lattes putting a damper on your debit card? One too many trips to Nordstrom? Are you driving a car that takes up so much of your income that you are forced to use a credit card for daily living expenses?
If you’re really aiming to be debt-free, take a close look at your budget to figure out where you can cut back. Then set smaller goals to remove spending in each area. It doesn’t have to be much, but the more you cut back, the quicker you will reach your goal. The new credit card regulations require disclosure of the time required to pay off the balance when making just the minimum payment – it can be very eye-opening (and motivating to pay more)!
CONVERT TO CASH
While you are paying down your debt, make a commitment to yourself that you will not add to the balances unless absolutely necessary (and cute shoes on sale are not an absolute necessity!). Set a budget for your weekly spending, withdraw that much cash, and when it is gone, it is time to stop spending for the week. It is easy to lose track of how much you are spending when you are swiping a debit or credit card.
SNOWBALL
What does a snowball have to do with debt? Well for one thing, it might be how you got in a position where you have too much debt. But it’s also a great way to get out of it, says financial expert Dave Ramsey.
His method: Start by paying your smallest debt first. This can be an outstanding bill or a credit card from your favorite store. Pay it off as fast as you can, while maintaining minimum payments on your other cards of course. When that debt has been removed, shift your focus and the money freed up to the next smallest debt. The sense of accomplishment in paying off even a small portion keeps you motivated and focused on the end goal and reminds you that it is possible!
Note that if you have one credit card that is carrying a much higher interest rate than the others, you might want to focus on that one first if it is an achievable goal.
CASH IS KING
Look for cash savings anywhere and everywhere. (Seeing a trend here?) Get creative about your spending. Vacation close to home; search for coupons online; cut back on dining out and plan and prepare healthy meals at home; rent instead of going out to movies. Organize a clothing, home décor or toy swap – an outfit that has never felt right to you may be just the ticket for a friend. It may be tough at first, but get creative and have fun with it!
As real estate agents, you are also in the unique position where you can approve your own raise. What can you do to fuel your career forward, and earn more money along the way?
Here’s the bottom line.
No one is born chief financial officer of a company – and the same can be said for you as you work to build (or even rebuild) your financial well-being. It takes work, discipline and in some cases sacrifice. I commend you for taking on the challenge of being debt-free and wish you the best on your journey to having your dream life.
What strategies are you implementing to drive down debt?
Thursday, May 13, 2010
5 Ways to Put Some Punch in Your Buyer and Seller Presentations
Published By Jay Papasan, VP of Publishing and Executive Editor
Provided By KW Blog
At a gathering of the KWU International Master Faculty last year, improv comedian Les McGehee told us about an icebreaker where three people volunteer to share a story about their lives. But there was a twist: Two were instructed to lie. The attendees then had to decide who was the truth-teller. Here’s the strange thing: Audiences almost always picked a bogus story. Why? Because when we share facts, we tend to believe the facts will speak for themselves. We don’t put any energy into the presentation.
This got me thinking about our buyer and seller presentations. Even though we may have a firm grasp on the market, a cold recitation the facts will probably not be enough to empower our clients to make the best decisions. Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a license to mislead. On the contrary, we need to power up our presentations and here’s five proven ways:
1. Make it Real
Chip and Dan Heath, in Made to Stick, tell us about Art Silverman of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and how he communicated the evils of movie popcorn. You see, back then popcorn was cooked with coconut oil, and a medium bag had a whopping 37 grams of saturated fat (almost a two-day supply in one serving!). “The challenge, Silverman realized, was that few people know what “37 grams of saturated fat” means…And even if we have an intuition that it’s bad, we’d wonder if it was “bad bad” (like cigarettes) or “normal bad” (like a cookie or a milk shake).” So Art called a press conference and shared that ‘A medium-sized ‘butter’ popcorn at a typical neighborhood movie theater contains more artery-clogging fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch, and a steak dinner with all the trimmings—combined!” He even laid out all the food to drive his point home. Fatty popcorn became a national story, moviegoers stopped eating it and theaters were forced to offer a healthier product!
So instead of telling your buyers and sellers that home prices are down 11.4 percent, say that the average home price has dropped $32,000. That’s a number they can feel, viscerally. Buyers might just get off the fence and sellers may think twice about shooting for the moon.
2. Avoid Jargon
Jargon is not real. Many people make the mistake of employing industry jargon and acronyms to appear more knowledgeable, but most jargon tends to be unintelligible to anyone outside the industry. At my first and only corporate job, they talked about “CTB forms” which left my head spinning until I finally had to the courage to ask what they were talking about. It stood for “Call to Bob.” No lie.
So avoid jumping into discussions of absorption rates (how quickly homes sell) or cap rates (a fancy measure of cash flow) and take a moment to make sure your client will understand you. Simply put, never use a fifty-cent word when a five-cent word will do.
3. Use Visuals
You may have noticed that the books and course we write are chock full of tables, graphs, and diagrams. At heart, Gary has always been a teacher. Give him a flip chart or a white board and he can make just about anything clear. Research shows that as many as six out of ten adults are visual learners—seeing, after all, is believing.
So, instead of telling your buyers and sellers about how overpricing can lead to chasing the market down, pull out SHIFT and walk them through the graphic on page 146 or use the dialogue and images on pages 150 to 153 which can easily be drawn on a napkin.
4. Ask Questions
As sales professionals, we know the importance of asking questions and then really listening to the answer. Questions have the power to open minds, change the direction of a conversation, and provoke thought. If you are presenting market trends on a graph, ask the seller, “So when you look at this trend, what does it tell you about how we should price your house?” When we ask questions, our buyers and sellers get a chance at self-discovery.
How much more powerful would your presentations be if your sellers and markets really understood how the market works?
5. Tell a Story
So we come full circle to stories. Not the fabricated kind, but rather true stories that help us make better decisions. In The Upside of the Downturn, Geoff Colvin talks about firefighters. Researchers showed both groups pictures of a fire and then asked each to describe what they saw. The novices noted the facts anyone would notice: where the fire was burning, the color of the flames, the amount of smoke. The veterans told a story about where the fire had started, what it was doing at the time of the photo and where it was likely going to spread. Colvin’s point was this: veteran firefighters instinctively placed the facts in the context of a story. They did it to save lives because we make better, faster decisions when we base our actions on stories (which mirror our real life experiences) than we do on a collection of facts.
This is why we role-play. This is why we trumpet our success stories. This is why the best agents weave past buyer and seller experiences into their presentations.
So for your next buyer or seller appointment, try using one of these tried-and-true techniques when making an important point. It may just put some extra punch in your presentation and help your client make the right choice.
Provided By KW Blog
At a gathering of the KWU International Master Faculty last year, improv comedian Les McGehee told us about an icebreaker where three people volunteer to share a story about their lives. But there was a twist: Two were instructed to lie. The attendees then had to decide who was the truth-teller. Here’s the strange thing: Audiences almost always picked a bogus story. Why? Because when we share facts, we tend to believe the facts will speak for themselves. We don’t put any energy into the presentation.
This got me thinking about our buyer and seller presentations. Even though we may have a firm grasp on the market, a cold recitation the facts will probably not be enough to empower our clients to make the best decisions. Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a license to mislead. On the contrary, we need to power up our presentations and here’s five proven ways:
1. Make it Real
Chip and Dan Heath, in Made to Stick, tell us about Art Silverman of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and how he communicated the evils of movie popcorn. You see, back then popcorn was cooked with coconut oil, and a medium bag had a whopping 37 grams of saturated fat (almost a two-day supply in one serving!). “The challenge, Silverman realized, was that few people know what “37 grams of saturated fat” means…And even if we have an intuition that it’s bad, we’d wonder if it was “bad bad” (like cigarettes) or “normal bad” (like a cookie or a milk shake).” So Art called a press conference and shared that ‘A medium-sized ‘butter’ popcorn at a typical neighborhood movie theater contains more artery-clogging fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch, and a steak dinner with all the trimmings—combined!” He even laid out all the food to drive his point home. Fatty popcorn became a national story, moviegoers stopped eating it and theaters were forced to offer a healthier product!
So instead of telling your buyers and sellers that home prices are down 11.4 percent, say that the average home price has dropped $32,000. That’s a number they can feel, viscerally. Buyers might just get off the fence and sellers may think twice about shooting for the moon.
2. Avoid Jargon
Jargon is not real. Many people make the mistake of employing industry jargon and acronyms to appear more knowledgeable, but most jargon tends to be unintelligible to anyone outside the industry. At my first and only corporate job, they talked about “CTB forms” which left my head spinning until I finally had to the courage to ask what they were talking about. It stood for “Call to Bob.” No lie.
So avoid jumping into discussions of absorption rates (how quickly homes sell) or cap rates (a fancy measure of cash flow) and take a moment to make sure your client will understand you. Simply put, never use a fifty-cent word when a five-cent word will do.
3. Use Visuals
You may have noticed that the books and course we write are chock full of tables, graphs, and diagrams. At heart, Gary has always been a teacher. Give him a flip chart or a white board and he can make just about anything clear. Research shows that as many as six out of ten adults are visual learners—seeing, after all, is believing.
So, instead of telling your buyers and sellers about how overpricing can lead to chasing the market down, pull out SHIFT and walk them through the graphic on page 146 or use the dialogue and images on pages 150 to 153 which can easily be drawn on a napkin.
4. Ask Questions
As sales professionals, we know the importance of asking questions and then really listening to the answer. Questions have the power to open minds, change the direction of a conversation, and provoke thought. If you are presenting market trends on a graph, ask the seller, “So when you look at this trend, what does it tell you about how we should price your house?” When we ask questions, our buyers and sellers get a chance at self-discovery.
How much more powerful would your presentations be if your sellers and markets really understood how the market works?
5. Tell a Story
So we come full circle to stories. Not the fabricated kind, but rather true stories that help us make better decisions. In The Upside of the Downturn, Geoff Colvin talks about firefighters. Researchers showed both groups pictures of a fire and then asked each to describe what they saw. The novices noted the facts anyone would notice: where the fire was burning, the color of the flames, the amount of smoke. The veterans told a story about where the fire had started, what it was doing at the time of the photo and where it was likely going to spread. Colvin’s point was this: veteran firefighters instinctively placed the facts in the context of a story. They did it to save lives because we make better, faster decisions when we base our actions on stories (which mirror our real life experiences) than we do on a collection of facts.
This is why we role-play. This is why we trumpet our success stories. This is why the best agents weave past buyer and seller experiences into their presentations.
So for your next buyer or seller appointment, try using one of these tried-and-true techniques when making an important point. It may just put some extra punch in your presentation and help your client make the right choice.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Seeing is Believing
Provided By My KW
The Keller Williams culture is oftentimes the reason someone joins Keller Williams Realty. The culture is powerful – it can inspire personal and professional growth. It can even lead to careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living. But just how do you encapsulate our powerful culture in only so many words? You don’t! The key is to get your potential recruit to experience it – to see it with their own eyes.
Invite them to a Keller Williams signature educational event, such as Masterminds, Mega Camp or Family Reunion. Chuck Fast, regional operating principal at Michigan-Northern Ohio, brought 32 people to a signature event and 27 of them made the decision to affiliate with Keller Williams Realty over the course of that same year.
The Dallas Preston Road market center brought 42 people to a signature event, and over the next two years, saw 36 join Keller Williams Realty.
If you’re in the beginning phases of growing your profit share tree, a big event may be hard to fund. Instead, invite them to regional or local training. Begin by sharing SHIFT. Then say something similar to, “Keller Williams Realty is dedicated to growing the careers of all its associates. It would be an honor if you would join me for this powerful educational event we call Mega Camp. You’ll love it, it will increase your business, and you’ll get to see for yourself what I’m talking about!”
For more methods on maintaining meaningful relationships, check out the Grow your Profit Share Tree course, here.
The Keller Williams culture is oftentimes the reason someone joins Keller Williams Realty. The culture is powerful – it can inspire personal and professional growth. It can even lead to careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living. But just how do you encapsulate our powerful culture in only so many words? You don’t! The key is to get your potential recruit to experience it – to see it with their own eyes.
Invite them to a Keller Williams signature educational event, such as Masterminds, Mega Camp or Family Reunion. Chuck Fast, regional operating principal at Michigan-Northern Ohio, brought 32 people to a signature event and 27 of them made the decision to affiliate with Keller Williams Realty over the course of that same year.
The Dallas Preston Road market center brought 42 people to a signature event, and over the next two years, saw 36 join Keller Williams Realty.
If you’re in the beginning phases of growing your profit share tree, a big event may be hard to fund. Instead, invite them to regional or local training. Begin by sharing SHIFT. Then say something similar to, “Keller Williams Realty is dedicated to growing the careers of all its associates. It would be an honor if you would join me for this powerful educational event we call Mega Camp. You’ll love it, it will increase your business, and you’ll get to see for yourself what I’m talking about!”
For more methods on maintaining meaningful relationships, check out the Grow your Profit Share Tree course, here.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Plug Into Your Profit Share
Provided By Keller Williams Realty
Source MyKW
For referrals that matter, seek recommendations that matter
Did you know? You can make a referral to any team leader in the Keller Williams Realty system. So, how do you begin growing your profit share tree outside your backyard? Think about the people you love and trust.
Where does your mother, brother or best friend live? Give them a call. Ask them, “If you were going to buy or sell a home today, who would you contact in your area?” If that person isn’t a Keller Williams agent, you’ve got a powerful opening statement to potentially initiate them on that path.
Give that person a call and say, “Hi, my name is Jay, and I’m in the real estate business out of Austin. I was just talking to my mother and she said that if she were to list her home today, she would list with you. That means a lot to me about the kind of reputation you must have in town as a businessperson who can get things done. I’ve just read a career-changing book by Gary Keller called SHIFT. It propelled my business in ways I didn’t expect. Would you like me to send you a copy?”
Then follow up. Add them as a friend on Facebook. Make a follow-up call. Ask the question, “I’d love for you to meet the team leader in your town. They are the best in the business and you just have to know them. Would it be okay if I asked Bob Smith to give you a call?”
For referrals that matter, seek the recommendations that matter. Look to your family members and friends who are beyond your backyard and power your profit share tree growth forward.
Want more tips like this one? Check out the entire archive of Profit Share Tips, more videos included!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The industry has spoken SHIFT is a national bestseller!
Provided By Keller Williams Realty
No. 1
Real Estate Book on
Nielsen's Bookscan for 2009
No. 3
on the
USA Today Money List
No. 4
on the
Wall Street Journal Business List
No. 10
New York Times Hardcover
Advice/ How To List
No. 14
New York Times Hardcover
Business Bestseller's List
Last month alone, more than 10,000 of your colleagues began reading and implementing the tactics from SHIFT. Did you? Click here to get your copy!
Want the latest on all things SHIFT? Be sure to become a fan on Facebook!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Business Development: The Hottest CRE Skill for 2010
Published By: Buddy Norman, President of KW Commercial
The commercial real estate market has changed – and is changing. Although many believe the market still hasn’t hit bottom, one thing is certain, commercial real estate brokers need new skills in order to thrive in the face of current market realities. Beyond the tried and true relationship strategy, I believe commercial real estate brokers need to focus primarily on honing their business development skills.
Just because the commercial real estate market is shifting doesn’t mean brokers should shift into panic mode. As Gary has shown us in SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times, there are always opportunities in the midst of challenging environments. So, if you maintain a business development mindset and keep your foot on the accelerator, you are more likely to discover and leverage those opportunities to your advantage.
Before you can hone your business development skills you need to understand what business development is – and what it isn’t. Business development is not merely sales role, it combines sales, marketing, strategic analysis and negotiations to accomplish one goal…building new relationships with potential clients.
With an ever-shifting market, you need to begin to think creatively about the opportunities that lie before you and how you might approach them. Here are a few steps to get you started:
Identify local market opportunities: Stop and ask yourself, “What are the opportunities in my local commercial real estate market?” If your local market is like most, things are pretty quiet right now. Capital is sitting on the sidelines waiting for the right timing to invest. Therefore, investment sales are soft and will remain soft into 2010. Few are placing bets until unemployment stops rising because much of commercial real estate velocity relies on job growth. Many distressed property owners are holding on tight. It is imperative for you to know your market! That’s why you should focus on landlord leasing and management, tenant representation and SBA/user transactions, as well as building relationships with key banks.
Realize new and emerging trends: Foreign investors are entering the U.S. market to play against a weak dollar, and bank foreclosures on commercial properties are setting the stage for fire sales. Real Estate Investment Trusts are going to make their moves at the right time. And with market lease rates so low, tenant representation brokers are staying busy helping negotiate blend and extend deals or upgrades from Class B to Class A properties. Think creatively about the trends you are seeing. Find a new angle and execute your strategy.
Prepare for 2010: For some, the New Year will mean a shift into tenant representation. For others, it may mean working with banks on REOs or commercial property management. For still others, that may mean aggressively marketing to foreign investors or private equity firms with massive hedge funds of cash waiting for the bottom. As you identify new and emerging market opportunities, SHIFT your business practice to prepare for the coming commercial trends.
You might also want to look at ramping up your training and coaching if you haven’t, and join networking groups or form strategic alliances. Whatever it takes, once you’ve identified a valid business opportunity, begin taking steps toward developing that business. Although cost cutting is wise and relationship-building is a must, business development is a key skill that will pay off in the up and down cycles of commercial real estate. And, right now has never been a better time to hone these business development skills.
The commercial real estate market has changed – and is changing. Although many believe the market still hasn’t hit bottom, one thing is certain, commercial real estate brokers need new skills in order to thrive in the face of current market realities. Beyond the tried and true relationship strategy, I believe commercial real estate brokers need to focus primarily on honing their business development skills.
Just because the commercial real estate market is shifting doesn’t mean brokers should shift into panic mode. As Gary has shown us in SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times, there are always opportunities in the midst of challenging environments. So, if you maintain a business development mindset and keep your foot on the accelerator, you are more likely to discover and leverage those opportunities to your advantage.
Before you can hone your business development skills you need to understand what business development is – and what it isn’t. Business development is not merely sales role, it combines sales, marketing, strategic analysis and negotiations to accomplish one goal…building new relationships with potential clients.
With an ever-shifting market, you need to begin to think creatively about the opportunities that lie before you and how you might approach them. Here are a few steps to get you started:
Identify local market opportunities: Stop and ask yourself, “What are the opportunities in my local commercial real estate market?” If your local market is like most, things are pretty quiet right now. Capital is sitting on the sidelines waiting for the right timing to invest. Therefore, investment sales are soft and will remain soft into 2010. Few are placing bets until unemployment stops rising because much of commercial real estate velocity relies on job growth. Many distressed property owners are holding on tight. It is imperative for you to know your market! That’s why you should focus on landlord leasing and management, tenant representation and SBA/user transactions, as well as building relationships with key banks.
Realize new and emerging trends: Foreign investors are entering the U.S. market to play against a weak dollar, and bank foreclosures on commercial properties are setting the stage for fire sales. Real Estate Investment Trusts are going to make their moves at the right time. And with market lease rates so low, tenant representation brokers are staying busy helping negotiate blend and extend deals or upgrades from Class B to Class A properties. Think creatively about the trends you are seeing. Find a new angle and execute your strategy.
Prepare for 2010: For some, the New Year will mean a shift into tenant representation. For others, it may mean working with banks on REOs or commercial property management. For still others, that may mean aggressively marketing to foreign investors or private equity firms with massive hedge funds of cash waiting for the bottom. As you identify new and emerging market opportunities, SHIFT your business practice to prepare for the coming commercial trends.
You might also want to look at ramping up your training and coaching if you haven’t, and join networking groups or form strategic alliances. Whatever it takes, once you’ve identified a valid business opportunity, begin taking steps toward developing that business. Although cost cutting is wise and relationship-building is a must, business development is a key skill that will pay off in the up and down cycles of commercial real estate. And, right now has never been a better time to hone these business development skills.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Handbook For Survival In Tough Times
Rave Reviews: SHIFT touted as a “handbook for survival”
REAL Trends and RISMedia.com weigh in on SHIFT
As SHIFT continues to make waves throughout the real estate industry, interest among notable media outlets continues to grow.
The August Issue of REAL Trends reviewed SHIFT, highlighting three tactics: "Get Real, Get Right;" "Re-Margin Your Business;" and "Do More with Less." In the article, REAL Trends states that the book is useful for "all real estate professionals at any level," and that it "covers significant ground" focusing on the real estate business as well as new markets such as short sales. The article goes on to say that SHIFT is "a realistic look into the future of residential brokerage and sales management from someone who has lived through such times before. We highly recommend it as a well-written and organized handbook for survival."
SHIFT was also featured on the front page of RISMedia.com in an article entitled "New Book Empowers Real Estate Agents with Proven Tactics for Success in Tough Times." To read the full article, click here.
REAL Trends and RISMedia.com weigh in on SHIFT
As SHIFT continues to make waves throughout the real estate industry, interest among notable media outlets continues to grow.
The August Issue of REAL Trends reviewed SHIFT, highlighting three tactics: "Get Real, Get Right;" "Re-Margin Your Business;" and "Do More with Less." In the article, REAL Trends states that the book is useful for "all real estate professionals at any level," and that it "covers significant ground" focusing on the real estate business as well as new markets such as short sales. The article goes on to say that SHIFT is "a realistic look into the future of residential brokerage and sales management from someone who has lived through such times before. We highly recommend it as a well-written and organized handbook for survival."
SHIFT was also featured on the front page of RISMedia.com in an article entitled "New Book Empowers Real Estate Agents with Proven Tactics for Success in Tough Times." To read the full article, click here.
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