Provided By KW Blog
Kevin Kauffman and Fred Weaver of Tempe, AZ (near Phoenix) live in the middle of one of the nation’s most distressed markets. In 2009, they helped more than 150 individuals and families avoid foreclosure with a short sale. They are among the select few short sale agents in America who close more than 90% of the deals they take on.
Today Kevin and Fred led a presentation on Short Sale Offers and Contracts That Win. Here are some of the things we learned in the session:
•The real estate boom of the mid-2000s was followed by a precipitous drop in values in many regions of America.
•Today, in half of all US states, 30% or more of all real estate sales involve a foreclosed or foreclosure-threatened property.•This “distressed property” phenomenon first grabbed the nation’s attention about two years ago.
•The dramatic market shift continues—though recently, the first signs of “light at the end of the tunnel” appeared.
•One reason for the recent positive shift has been the diligence and passion of short sale specialist real estate agents. These professionals reach out to homeowners in financial distress and help them avoid foreclosure through a short sale.
Their secret to their success:
•Attracting offers that banks accept the first time, and negotiating with the bank efficiently and effectively to close the deal.
•A high success rate closing short sales requires a great mindset—a determined, independent, and very well-informed agent and team.
•You must truly know the short sale process, and you must be familiar with the unique requirements of the different lenders you encounter.
•On the buyer side of short sales, you must prequalify the listings you show—by pre-screening the listing agent! You want to bring offers to agents who know the ropes and have proven track record of success—whenever possible.
•Present one and only one offer to the lender on a given property.
•Never take “no” for an answer!
Showing posts with label kw blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kw blog. Show all posts
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Thursday, December 23, 2010
What Motivates You?
Provided By KW Blog
The following animated video is about the best-selling book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink, a featured speaker at Family Reunion in Anaheim.
For great blog posts and more information about Pink, you can visit his Website. Click here for more information about Family Reunion.
The following animated video is about the best-selling book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink, a featured speaker at Family Reunion in Anaheim.
For great blog posts and more information about Pink, you can visit his Website. Click here for more information about Family Reunion.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
How to Get High-Quality Inbound Links
Provided By KW Blog
One of the fastest ways to improve your search engine rankings is to build high-quality inbound links—links from other websites to your website. In fact, successful search engine optimization (SEO) demands a focus on inbound link building, also called backlinking.
Here’s why: Although Google (and other search engines) evaluate scores of factors as they rank your site against the thousands of other agent sites on the Internet, inbound links are among the most powerful determinants of where your site will show up in the list of results.
And here’s another reason to focus on inbound links: Getting more relevant links to your website also increases the chances that real estate consumers looking for your type of services will find you as they naturally surf the web.
How Not to Build In-Bound Links
Before I give you the eight ways to get inbound links, let me warn you of a tactic from the early web days that could backfire today: link trading. Also known as reciprocal linking, trading links with relevant peers can be helpful to your efforts. But joining a link farm could be SEO suicide.
A link farm is a collection of websites that each link to every site in the group. Don’t be enticed by automated programs that promise to get you hundreds of links. The links are bound to be irrelevant and the search engines will punish you for trying to outwit their algorithm. In fact, Google may even ban you. Build inbound links the right way and you will gain credibility with the search engines.
The Right Way to Build In-Bound Links
Here are eight KW-sanctioned strategies you can begin using today.
1. Launch a Blog
You can use a free service like Blogger or Wordpress. Blog about your particular niche, i.e. luxury condos, foreclosures, vacation homes, or trends in your city or region. Linking from your blog to your website offers relevant inbound links.
2. Craft Strong Content
Content is still king online. If you produce interesting, relevant content, people will link to it. Let your service providers and partners know you are blogging or adding content to your site and invite them to share it with their customers in exchange for a link.
3. Consider Pay-Per-Click
Narrow in on your niche audience, choose a budget and launch a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. The text ads link to your site, giving you a potential boost in the rankings while also driving qualified leads.
4. Submit to Directories
There are many web directories you could list your site on, like Merchant Circle and DMOZ. There are free and paid web directories. You can find them by doing a simple search online.
5. Join Organizations
When you join organizations like the Better Business Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce and industry associations, you can often get the group to link back to your site.
6. Employ Article Marketing
Have you seen sites like ezinearticles.com? You can repurpose your blog content to submit to article marketing sites, position yourself as an expert, and get reputable in-bound links.
7. Get Social
When you join communities like Facebook and Twitter and post links to your site in status updates, you set the stage for high-quality links and relevant traffic to your website.
8. Write an E-book
With Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can include links back to your site in an e-book and post it on sites that host e-books, either as a free offering or for a small fee. This also positions you as an expert in your niche.
A final note: The text of the link makes a difference. Ask those who link to your site a to link on relevant terms like “Chicago real estate expert” rather than “click here.” The more descriptive the text is, the better Google likes the link.
One of the fastest ways to improve your search engine rankings is to build high-quality inbound links—links from other websites to your website. In fact, successful search engine optimization (SEO) demands a focus on inbound link building, also called backlinking.
Here’s why: Although Google (and other search engines) evaluate scores of factors as they rank your site against the thousands of other agent sites on the Internet, inbound links are among the most powerful determinants of where your site will show up in the list of results.
And here’s another reason to focus on inbound links: Getting more relevant links to your website also increases the chances that real estate consumers looking for your type of services will find you as they naturally surf the web.
How Not to Build In-Bound Links
Before I give you the eight ways to get inbound links, let me warn you of a tactic from the early web days that could backfire today: link trading. Also known as reciprocal linking, trading links with relevant peers can be helpful to your efforts. But joining a link farm could be SEO suicide.
A link farm is a collection of websites that each link to every site in the group. Don’t be enticed by automated programs that promise to get you hundreds of links. The links are bound to be irrelevant and the search engines will punish you for trying to outwit their algorithm. In fact, Google may even ban you. Build inbound links the right way and you will gain credibility with the search engines.
The Right Way to Build In-Bound Links
Here are eight KW-sanctioned strategies you can begin using today.
1. Launch a Blog
You can use a free service like Blogger or Wordpress. Blog about your particular niche, i.e. luxury condos, foreclosures, vacation homes, or trends in your city or region. Linking from your blog to your website offers relevant inbound links.
2. Craft Strong Content
Content is still king online. If you produce interesting, relevant content, people will link to it. Let your service providers and partners know you are blogging or adding content to your site and invite them to share it with their customers in exchange for a link.
3. Consider Pay-Per-Click
Narrow in on your niche audience, choose a budget and launch a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. The text ads link to your site, giving you a potential boost in the rankings while also driving qualified leads.
4. Submit to Directories
There are many web directories you could list your site on, like Merchant Circle and DMOZ. There are free and paid web directories. You can find them by doing a simple search online.
5. Join Organizations
When you join organizations like the Better Business Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce and industry associations, you can often get the group to link back to your site.
6. Employ Article Marketing
Have you seen sites like ezinearticles.com? You can repurpose your blog content to submit to article marketing sites, position yourself as an expert, and get reputable in-bound links.
7. Get Social
When you join communities like Facebook and Twitter and post links to your site in status updates, you set the stage for high-quality links and relevant traffic to your website.
8. Write an E-book
With Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can include links back to your site in an e-book and post it on sites that host e-books, either as a free offering or for a small fee. This also positions you as an expert in your niche.
A final note: The text of the link makes a difference. Ask those who link to your site a to link on relevant terms like “Chicago real estate expert” rather than “click here.” The more descriptive the text is, the better Google likes the link.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
How Rising Interest Rates Will Impact Affordability
Provided By KW Blog
In a recent Forbes blog post, multimillionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson declared that today’s record-low interest rates made this the best time to buy homes in fifty years. “If you don’t own a home, buy one,” Paulson said. “If you own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes, buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home.” Why should we care what Paulson thinks? Well, he was among the few to accurately predict the subprime collapse and, while no one has a crystal ball, a closer look at the numbers supports his call to action.
Historically low interest rates are the key…and they aren’t likely to hang around for long.
As we wrote in SHIFT, buyers who “choose to wait until prices come down more” are gambling that interest rates will hold steady or drop. The truth is even a 10 percent drop in home prices is nullified by a 1 percent increase in interest rates. The figure below illustrates how this works for a $250,000 home purchase and the relative likelihood of each scenario.
To figure out which was a smarter bet–counting on home prices to fall further or interest rates to rise–our research department took the last ten years of monthly home price and mortgage interest rate data and ran the numbers to see which was more likely: an increase in mortgage rates or a further drop in home prices. Here’s what we found:
A one percent increase in mortgage rates is ten times more likely to happen than a ten percent drop in home prices.
A one percent rate increase more than offsets a ten percent reduction in home prices.
When interest rates fall by one percent, the total interest paid is almost three times more than the interest savings from a ten percent drop in home prices.
The probability of both happening at the same time is ridiculously small, and homeowners would still pay 15 percent more in interest over the life of the loan.
Interest rates have dominated the news in recent months as we’ve shattered record low after record low. Potential home buyers need to understand the positive financial impact low interest rates have on the cost of home ownership and the thousands of dollars that can be saved over the life of a typical mortgage loan. For those who can afford to buy, trade up, or invest, our current market presents a lifetime opportunity.
In a recent Forbes blog post, multimillionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson declared that today’s record-low interest rates made this the best time to buy homes in fifty years. “If you don’t own a home, buy one,” Paulson said. “If you own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes, buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home.” Why should we care what Paulson thinks? Well, he was among the few to accurately predict the subprime collapse and, while no one has a crystal ball, a closer look at the numbers supports his call to action.
Historically low interest rates are the key…and they aren’t likely to hang around for long.
As we wrote in SHIFT, buyers who “choose to wait until prices come down more” are gambling that interest rates will hold steady or drop. The truth is even a 10 percent drop in home prices is nullified by a 1 percent increase in interest rates. The figure below illustrates how this works for a $250,000 home purchase and the relative likelihood of each scenario.
To figure out which was a smarter bet–counting on home prices to fall further or interest rates to rise–our research department took the last ten years of monthly home price and mortgage interest rate data and ran the numbers to see which was more likely: an increase in mortgage rates or a further drop in home prices. Here’s what we found:
A one percent increase in mortgage rates is ten times more likely to happen than a ten percent drop in home prices.
A one percent rate increase more than offsets a ten percent reduction in home prices.
When interest rates fall by one percent, the total interest paid is almost three times more than the interest savings from a ten percent drop in home prices.
The probability of both happening at the same time is ridiculously small, and homeowners would still pay 15 percent more in interest over the life of the loan.
Interest rates have dominated the news in recent months as we’ve shattered record low after record low. Potential home buyers need to understand the positive financial impact low interest rates have on the cost of home ownership and the thousands of dollars that can be saved over the life of a typical mortgage loan. For those who can afford to buy, trade up, or invest, our current market presents a lifetime opportunity.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Team Leaders: Your Perfect Day Makes a Difference
Provided By KW Blog
Mega Leadership 2010 was the best yet! Each panel and presentation provided superb practical tools leaders could immediately employ in their businesses. I especially loved the power panel of Mary Tennant, President and COO, KWRI, Gene Frederick, Team Leader at Austin Northwest, and Melanie Kennemann, Team Leader at Reno North. This exceptional group ran through the impact and construction of a Team Leader’s perfect day.
Gene Frederick began by pointing out the Team Leader job description is essentially to make a difference in people’s lives. He said that when Team Leaders spend 80 percent of their day focused on their 20 percent, they’re consulting their great agents, interviewing new talent, training both to build bigger businesses, and investing in their own education. With this high-minded focus, he ends his work day energized and excited to take on the next day.
Melanie Kennemann said she focuses on mindset on Monday mornings to get herself and her Market Center ready for a week of results. She’ll send a short message to everybody like, “Do you have an indomitable spirit?” Their mindset in check, the remarkable agents in this Market Center then do what needs to be done with determination and zeal. Melanie also makes a point of starting every day the night before. Before she leaves the office, she writes down her 20 percent for the following day. When she gets in the next morning, she has a quick, focusing meeting with her staff, and then they’re off, taking the actions that lead to positive impact.
Mary Tennant said that when she was a Team Leader an extraordinary staff enabled her to grow the Southwest Market Center from 142 to 800 agents. Surrounded by A+ talent, Mary empowered her staff to deliver superior service to each associate in the Market Center, while she focused on taking the Market Center to new heights through training, coaching, recruiting, and community building. Though her Market Center was large, the associates in it felt connected through smaller groups, like investment and cooking clubs. Mary added that they also bonded through shared joy. She said practical jokes in this office were abundant! Whether the furniture was upside down, Mary’s relaxation fountain had bubbles in it, an office was filled with balloons, or an ALC member was presenting a ballet in full costume during a team meeting, associates in this Market Center were smiling while they were achieving.
If you’re planning your perfect day as a Team Leader, look to what matters most. First help those around you succeed at the highest levels—and then plan your retaliatory practical jokes!
Mega Leadership 2010 was the best yet! Each panel and presentation provided superb practical tools leaders could immediately employ in their businesses. I especially loved the power panel of Mary Tennant, President and COO, KWRI, Gene Frederick, Team Leader at Austin Northwest, and Melanie Kennemann, Team Leader at Reno North. This exceptional group ran through the impact and construction of a Team Leader’s perfect day.
Gene Frederick began by pointing out the Team Leader job description is essentially to make a difference in people’s lives. He said that when Team Leaders spend 80 percent of their day focused on their 20 percent, they’re consulting their great agents, interviewing new talent, training both to build bigger businesses, and investing in their own education. With this high-minded focus, he ends his work day energized and excited to take on the next day.
Melanie Kennemann said she focuses on mindset on Monday mornings to get herself and her Market Center ready for a week of results. She’ll send a short message to everybody like, “Do you have an indomitable spirit?” Their mindset in check, the remarkable agents in this Market Center then do what needs to be done with determination and zeal. Melanie also makes a point of starting every day the night before. Before she leaves the office, she writes down her 20 percent for the following day. When she gets in the next morning, she has a quick, focusing meeting with her staff, and then they’re off, taking the actions that lead to positive impact.
Mary Tennant said that when she was a Team Leader an extraordinary staff enabled her to grow the Southwest Market Center from 142 to 800 agents. Surrounded by A+ talent, Mary empowered her staff to deliver superior service to each associate in the Market Center, while she focused on taking the Market Center to new heights through training, coaching, recruiting, and community building. Though her Market Center was large, the associates in it felt connected through smaller groups, like investment and cooking clubs. Mary added that they also bonded through shared joy. She said practical jokes in this office were abundant! Whether the furniture was upside down, Mary’s relaxation fountain had bubbles in it, an office was filled with balloons, or an ALC member was presenting a ballet in full costume during a team meeting, associates in this Market Center were smiling while they were achieving.
If you’re planning your perfect day as a Team Leader, look to what matters most. First help those around you succeed at the highest levels—and then plan your retaliatory practical jokes!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Home is Where the Heart is
Provided By KW Blog
Published by Mo Anderson
This past spring my husband Richard and I moved into our newly built “dream” home. We bought our first home in 1966, and at the time, I thought no other homeowner experience could ever match the thrill of that very first one.
However, through the years I have learned that one’s home is indeed even more than their castle – it is the spirit of their heritage, the expression of their principles, the warmth of their hearts and their hope and vision for the future. It provides an avenue for sharing their hospitality. It becomes their shelter from outside storms and further, it often offers a safe haven for family and friends. When embraced, being a homeowner is a blessing beyond compare and an opportunity to make a difference in our neighborhoods, our communities and our world
Unfortunately, home ownership worldwide is not as attainable as it is for those of us living in the United States and Canada. As so often happens with such amazing opportunities, we often find ourselves taking this gift for granted. Now, more than at any other point in our history, home ownership is within reach and can become a reality.
In fact, the U.S. national average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.36% in August…which is lower than it’s been in the past half century!
Taking advantage of the existing remarkable home ownership opportunity creates a positive, far-reaching ripple effect within our society and nation. On a personal level, the joy of owning and creating a home that reflects our character and provides a backdrop for sharing our hospitality helps build a sense of stability and a desire to enrich our lives through reaching out to those around us. Nationally, home ownership allows us to be part of the solution to our country’s current economical situation as we help re-build confidence within our own communities.
Often as I am drinking in all that I love about our home – how it warms us from the outside cold or cools us from the heat; provides peacefulness from outside hostilities; offers comfort and rest when we are weary; contributes to precious memories; and always welcomes our presence, I am reminded of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz when she decidedly declares, “There’s no place like home.” That is so true because most definitely, “Home is where the heart is!”
Published by Mo Anderson
This past spring my husband Richard and I moved into our newly built “dream” home. We bought our first home in 1966, and at the time, I thought no other homeowner experience could ever match the thrill of that very first one.
However, through the years I have learned that one’s home is indeed even more than their castle – it is the spirit of their heritage, the expression of their principles, the warmth of their hearts and their hope and vision for the future. It provides an avenue for sharing their hospitality. It becomes their shelter from outside storms and further, it often offers a safe haven for family and friends. When embraced, being a homeowner is a blessing beyond compare and an opportunity to make a difference in our neighborhoods, our communities and our world
Unfortunately, home ownership worldwide is not as attainable as it is for those of us living in the United States and Canada. As so often happens with such amazing opportunities, we often find ourselves taking this gift for granted. Now, more than at any other point in our history, home ownership is within reach and can become a reality.
In fact, the U.S. national average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.36% in August…which is lower than it’s been in the past half century!
Taking advantage of the existing remarkable home ownership opportunity creates a positive, far-reaching ripple effect within our society and nation. On a personal level, the joy of owning and creating a home that reflects our character and provides a backdrop for sharing our hospitality helps build a sense of stability and a desire to enrich our lives through reaching out to those around us. Nationally, home ownership allows us to be part of the solution to our country’s current economical situation as we help re-build confidence within our own communities.
Often as I am drinking in all that I love about our home – how it warms us from the outside cold or cools us from the heat; provides peacefulness from outside hostilities; offers comfort and rest when we are weary; contributes to precious memories; and always welcomes our presence, I am reminded of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz when she decidedly declares, “There’s no place like home.” That is so true because most definitely, “Home is where the heart is!”
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Build Your Real Estate Business with Seminars
Provided By Keller Williams Blog
Published By Jay Papasan
One of my favorite interviews at our recent Mega Camp was Gary’s chat with Jim and Jeff Reitzel of Kitchener, Ontario. Among the Reitzels’ best business-building tools is holding investor and first-time home buyer seminars—a lead generation strategy that helped them do more than 120 transactions and over $67 million in business in 2009. And they are on pace to have a much better 2010.
So what are the keys to success?
1. Be Predictably Consistent – More than anything, the Reitzels attribute their success to predictability and consistency. For example, they hold their monthly investor seminar at the same place, at the same time on the third Tuesday of each month. After a while, interested buyers don’t need an invitation or directions. They just show up. It’s like the old Batman show: “Tune in tomorrow—same Bat time, same Bat channel!”
2. Persistence Pays Off – The Reitzels count on word of mouth to market their seminars. They invite every client. They invite fellow agents to bring guests. They invite just about anyone they meet. Over time, this simple message of “every third Tuesday” has sunk in, and the numbers have grown from the early days when Jeff might have gotten the opportunity to practice the ninety-minute presentation for Jim alone, to today when their investor seminars average 80 to 120 attendees!
The repetition of our marketing for these events combined with the word of mouth they can generate can be quite powerful. Jeff shared that one investor bought 22 townhomes on their second meeting. The investor had never actually made it to one of the seminars but, because Jeff was always holding them, he felt like Jeff must be the expert.
3. Big Audiences Are Great, Motivated Audiences Will Do – Even when only a handful show up, it can still be a success. Jim shared that this summer he taught a first-time home buyer seminar and only three people showed up. “I thought, ‘Oh great!’ but you know, one of those three became a buyer!” Similarly, you don’t have to start with a 100-seat training room. A coffee shop will do. When my wife Wendy started her business, she used Facebook to send monthly invites to talk wealth building through real estate over a morning coffee at “Millionaire Mocha$.” Some weeks, she has a crowded table; others, she has a hot cup of joe and works her database. Regardless of the attendance, in just a year the messaging has sunk in—everyone now knows she’s in real estate, and sometimes a friend of a friend will show up who Wendy didn’t personally invite.
4. Build on the Success of Others – Jeff began teaching investor seminars in 2003. He created his own material based on his investing experience. After seeing an hour long presentation on The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, he adopted The Millionaire Real Estate Investor Client Workshop and made it his own. When the Your First Home Seminar became available, he adopted it as well. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Adopting an existing presentation is much easier than creating your own from scratch. The same for marketing materials like the brand new 7 Reasons Why Now is a Great Time to Buy a Home.
Similarly, Jeff coached another agent to simply tell Jeff’s investing stories since he didn’t have any of his own. It worked. For the record, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor has more than investor profiles at the back of the book, and Your First Home tells a different tale of first time home buying between every chapter.
5. Follow-Up Matters – Don’t get people excited and just cut them loose. In 60 to 90 minutes, you likely won’t get far beyond the basics which means motivated buyers are likely to have questions. Get them on the phone and set a time for a personal consultation. When Gary taught seminars, he would stand by the exit with his calendar setting appointments as attendees left the room. That’s following up for the appointment!
The last time the National Association of Realtors posted their numbers, 38% of buyers were first-time home buyers and 19% were investors. By the way, that’s more than half the market. Astonishingly, going back to October 2008, these two groups average 59% of the market! Don’t miss out. Start using seminars to market yourself as the expert.
Published By Jay Papasan
One of my favorite interviews at our recent Mega Camp was Gary’s chat with Jim and Jeff Reitzel of Kitchener, Ontario. Among the Reitzels’ best business-building tools is holding investor and first-time home buyer seminars—a lead generation strategy that helped them do more than 120 transactions and over $67 million in business in 2009. And they are on pace to have a much better 2010.
So what are the keys to success?
1. Be Predictably Consistent – More than anything, the Reitzels attribute their success to predictability and consistency. For example, they hold their monthly investor seminar at the same place, at the same time on the third Tuesday of each month. After a while, interested buyers don’t need an invitation or directions. They just show up. It’s like the old Batman show: “Tune in tomorrow—same Bat time, same Bat channel!”
2. Persistence Pays Off – The Reitzels count on word of mouth to market their seminars. They invite every client. They invite fellow agents to bring guests. They invite just about anyone they meet. Over time, this simple message of “every third Tuesday” has sunk in, and the numbers have grown from the early days when Jeff might have gotten the opportunity to practice the ninety-minute presentation for Jim alone, to today when their investor seminars average 80 to 120 attendees!
The repetition of our marketing for these events combined with the word of mouth they can generate can be quite powerful. Jeff shared that one investor bought 22 townhomes on their second meeting. The investor had never actually made it to one of the seminars but, because Jeff was always holding them, he felt like Jeff must be the expert.
3. Big Audiences Are Great, Motivated Audiences Will Do – Even when only a handful show up, it can still be a success. Jim shared that this summer he taught a first-time home buyer seminar and only three people showed up. “I thought, ‘Oh great!’ but you know, one of those three became a buyer!” Similarly, you don’t have to start with a 100-seat training room. A coffee shop will do. When my wife Wendy started her business, she used Facebook to send monthly invites to talk wealth building through real estate over a morning coffee at “Millionaire Mocha$.” Some weeks, she has a crowded table; others, she has a hot cup of joe and works her database. Regardless of the attendance, in just a year the messaging has sunk in—everyone now knows she’s in real estate, and sometimes a friend of a friend will show up who Wendy didn’t personally invite.
4. Build on the Success of Others – Jeff began teaching investor seminars in 2003. He created his own material based on his investing experience. After seeing an hour long presentation on The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, he adopted The Millionaire Real Estate Investor Client Workshop and made it his own. When the Your First Home Seminar became available, he adopted it as well. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Adopting an existing presentation is much easier than creating your own from scratch. The same for marketing materials like the brand new 7 Reasons Why Now is a Great Time to Buy a Home.
Similarly, Jeff coached another agent to simply tell Jeff’s investing stories since he didn’t have any of his own. It worked. For the record, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor has more than investor profiles at the back of the book, and Your First Home tells a different tale of first time home buying between every chapter.
5. Follow-Up Matters – Don’t get people excited and just cut them loose. In 60 to 90 minutes, you likely won’t get far beyond the basics which means motivated buyers are likely to have questions. Get them on the phone and set a time for a personal consultation. When Gary taught seminars, he would stand by the exit with his calendar setting appointments as attendees left the room. That’s following up for the appointment!
The last time the National Association of Realtors posted their numbers, 38% of buyers were first-time home buyers and 19% were investors. By the way, that’s more than half the market. Astonishingly, going back to October 2008, these two groups average 59% of the market! Don’t miss out. Start using seminars to market yourself as the expert.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Real Estate in the Electronic Age
Provided By Keller Williams Blog
Ben excels in effectively managing expenses while increasing the effectiveness of marketing and lead generation budgets. He uses a virtual staff to perform tasks such as data entry into Craiglist and blog posting.
He looks forward to the day when all transactions are conducted entirely online and all signed contracts are stored electronically—no more paper—and can be accessed online, from any location. He has been looking at DotLoop as a possible solution, but faces the challenge of not every local MLS supporting electronic transactions yet.
Ben makes the most of what technology has to offer and avoids tools that don’t generate a sale or lead. A few of his favorite tools are listed below.
Zendesk is a trouble-ticket system which also stores answers to frequently-asked questions in a wiki. Ben’s team uses Zendesk to free up admin time.
Mojo can increase productivity by 300% by reducing downtime during lead generation time blocks. Its auto-dialer calls 3 numbers at a time, sending only the live calls and leaving a custom voice mail for the others.
Flowtown lets you import your contacts’ email addresses and find out how to contact them via all of their social media accounts. This is a great tool to help you incorporate social media into your 8 x 8 or 33 Touch campaigns.
Nearby Tweets finds Twitterers located near you. You can specify the search radius as well as include keywords in tweets.
Follow at twitter.com/benkinney to see what he’s doing with technology today!
Ben excels in effectively managing expenses while increasing the effectiveness of marketing and lead generation budgets. He uses a virtual staff to perform tasks such as data entry into Craiglist and blog posting.
He looks forward to the day when all transactions are conducted entirely online and all signed contracts are stored electronically—no more paper—and can be accessed online, from any location. He has been looking at DotLoop as a possible solution, but faces the challenge of not every local MLS supporting electronic transactions yet.
Ben makes the most of what technology has to offer and avoids tools that don’t generate a sale or lead. A few of his favorite tools are listed below.
Zendesk is a trouble-ticket system which also stores answers to frequently-asked questions in a wiki. Ben’s team uses Zendesk to free up admin time.
Mojo can increase productivity by 300% by reducing downtime during lead generation time blocks. Its auto-dialer calls 3 numbers at a time, sending only the live calls and leaving a custom voice mail for the others.
Flowtown lets you import your contacts’ email addresses and find out how to contact them via all of their social media accounts. This is a great tool to help you incorporate social media into your 8 x 8 or 33 Touch campaigns.
Nearby Tweets finds Twitterers located near you. You can specify the search radius as well as include keywords in tweets.
Follow at twitter.com/benkinney to see what he’s doing with technology today!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Local Real Estate Board Overrun by LG1Z1 Virus
Provided By KW Blog
By Jay Papasan
Austin-area REALTORS expressed shock and dismay when it was discovered that many of their coworkers were infected with the noxiously virulent and business-threatening strain of the LG1Z1 virus, commonly called the “lead generation zombie syndrome.” One local real estate board executive who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity reported, “This is a problem of pandemic proportions, not just in Austin, but throughout the industry – infected agents simply won’t ask for business.”
News of the zombie virus outbreak broke after the local Multiple Listings Service (MLS) hosted a series of meetings for agents and brokers to exchange old for new datakeys or “dkeys”, the electronic keypads that provide access to listed houses. One MLS employee—recently relocated from Colorado and in need of a real estate professional—facilitated exchange and met thousands of real estate agents without being asked if she needed an agent or even for a referral.
“This was the last day to exchange your equipment,” said KW agent Colin Platt. “I know for sure she had seen thousands of REALTORs over the previous few days.” Platt engaged her in conversation, established rapport and discovered she was new to town and thinking of buying. Platt asked for her contact information and got her commitment to meet about buying a home. “I really believe now that if you don’t ask, you don’t get,” he summed up.
Local board members called in specialists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta who issued an urgent call for KWU training and MAPS coaching. Said one CDC official, “The great tragedy of the LG1Z1 virus is that, although it is the leading killer of real estate businesses, it’s completely preventable with regular training.”
How do I know if I have LG1Z1?
You may have the lead generation zombie syndrome if you have some or all of these symptoms:
1) Infrequent or irregular closings
2) Sphere of influence deficiency notable by a lack of referrals
3) Commission atrophy and client loss
4) Long periods of boredom, restlessness or inactivity
5) Irritable spouse syndrome
6) Increased Ramen intake
With other epidemics, quarantine is often an effective strategy, however with the LG1Z1 virus, experts are advising exactly the opposite. Congregating with like-minded agents in training and coaching forums seems to be the best medicine. In test subjects, regular exposure to scripts training and coaching effectively bolstered immunity to the virus. Alexis MacIntyre, director of KWU training and faculty development, explains, “The answer to an unasked question is always no. When agents arm themselves with proven scripts and dialogues, they have more confidence to ask for business and the ability to overcome common objections. We encourage everyone to get inoculated today so we can eradicate this virus!”
By Jay Papasan
Austin-area REALTORS expressed shock and dismay when it was discovered that many of their coworkers were infected with the noxiously virulent and business-threatening strain of the LG1Z1 virus, commonly called the “lead generation zombie syndrome.” One local real estate board executive who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity reported, “This is a problem of pandemic proportions, not just in Austin, but throughout the industry – infected agents simply won’t ask for business.”
News of the zombie virus outbreak broke after the local Multiple Listings Service (MLS) hosted a series of meetings for agents and brokers to exchange old for new datakeys or “dkeys”, the electronic keypads that provide access to listed houses. One MLS employee—recently relocated from Colorado and in need of a real estate professional—facilitated exchange and met thousands of real estate agents without being asked if she needed an agent or even for a referral.
“This was the last day to exchange your equipment,” said KW agent Colin Platt. “I know for sure she had seen thousands of REALTORs over the previous few days.” Platt engaged her in conversation, established rapport and discovered she was new to town and thinking of buying. Platt asked for her contact information and got her commitment to meet about buying a home. “I really believe now that if you don’t ask, you don’t get,” he summed up.
Local board members called in specialists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta who issued an urgent call for KWU training and MAPS coaching. Said one CDC official, “The great tragedy of the LG1Z1 virus is that, although it is the leading killer of real estate businesses, it’s completely preventable with regular training.”
How do I know if I have LG1Z1?
You may have the lead generation zombie syndrome if you have some or all of these symptoms:
1) Infrequent or irregular closings
2) Sphere of influence deficiency notable by a lack of referrals
3) Commission atrophy and client loss
4) Long periods of boredom, restlessness or inactivity
5) Irritable spouse syndrome
6) Increased Ramen intake
With other epidemics, quarantine is often an effective strategy, however with the LG1Z1 virus, experts are advising exactly the opposite. Congregating with like-minded agents in training and coaching forums seems to be the best medicine. In test subjects, regular exposure to scripts training and coaching effectively bolstered immunity to the virus. Alexis MacIntyre, director of KWU training and faculty development, explains, “The answer to an unasked question is always no. When agents arm themselves with proven scripts and dialogues, they have more confidence to ask for business and the ability to overcome common objections. We encourage everyone to get inoculated today so we can eradicate this virus!”
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
A Peek into the World of Short Sales and REOs
Provided By KW Blog
Want a quick peek under the tent at the large and very different world of short sales and REOs (bank owned foreclosures)?
Four top distressed property agents chatted with Gary this morning, sharing some views into a world that a relative few agents know well, and one that a growing number are learning.
Foreclosures have been growing across America in the past several years and nothing has changed about that reality. What’s new is that more agents in places like Pennsylvania and Minnesota are learning what the most distressed markets like California, Arizona, and Florida have known for some time. Distressed property is here to stay, for years to come.
The panel was short sale specialists Brian Gubernick from Phoenix, AZ, Jeff Payne from Panama City, FL, as well as REO masters Kristian Peter of San Diego, CA, and Andrew Monaghan, from the Phoenix-area. Between them, these agents listed and sold more than 1500 short sale or bank owned properties in 2009, and their businesses are all growing!
Their focus was on key business realities that define what they do. Here’s a short list of key messages they shared, and the huge crowd listening in:
Short sale lead generation is much like traditional lead gen. Gubernick and Payne use the same techniques to prospect that work in traditional markets. They make themselves very visible in all their target markets as “the short sale expert.” Said Gubernick, “The difference is we ask just one very direct question in our lead gen, “Are you behind in your mortgage payments? Are you underwater? If so, we can help you.”
Seller qualification is very important in short sales. “These homeowners are in serious financial pain, or headed that way fast,” said Gubernick. “For the best chance of selling short, homeowners need to be motivated to cooperate with their agent all the way–fully disclosing their financial status and providing all the documents including tax records that banks want to see. Gubernick does a brief qualifying phone interview (less than 30 minutes) and then emails the necessary documents from him–and also a list of what the homeowner must provide. “If I don’t get a completed document set back in about 48 hours, chances are that party is not going to work with me successfully,” Gubernick emphasized.
The all important negotiation of offers with the lender is the part many agents dread. The best alternative? Refer a short sale lead to an expert in your area, and stay focused on your own lead generation. “When an offer is received, that’s when the hard work really starts,” said Payne. Both agents confirmed the key to success is negotiating the offer to an acceptance from the bank or asset manager is “not taking no for an answer” and “being willing to escalate quickly and forcefully to higher-ups in the bank when unreasonable no answers are given.”
Homeowners are more likely to be forthcoming about their distress these days. “There’s been so much written and broadcast about short selling now that people seem less afraid to move forward,” Gubernick said. “And there are people who are planning to sell short even before they’ve missed a payment.” Payne reported more than 20% of his closed sales there days are for homeowners who were not behind in payments when they made their decision to sell.
REO agent Monaghan and Peter emphasized they live in a process-driven foreclosed property world. Their institutional clients, also banks and asset managers, insist on fast turnaround and precision from the moment a listing is assigned to an agent–that includes property inspection, rekeying and security, accurate pricing, property cleanup, and efficient cash for keys exchanges to move out occupants (tenants or former homeowners).
The institutions who hold foreclosures are expecting more from agents than ever before. “Were scored by either manual or automated systems on almost everything we do,” said Monaghan. There’s a lot at risk. A well-regarded REO agent receives listing in batches–anywhere from several to ten or more at a time. “My inventory has gone from as high as 700 listings to less than 150 in the last year or so,” said Peter. You have to be very cost conscious and have a great staffing game plan to manage it.”
REO agents make big financial commitment to have their business with lenders. “Ninety percent of expenses are reimbursable,” said Monaghan, “but I estimate my out of picket on a typical listing runs almost $4,000.” Top REO agents have full time accountants working for them.
Lead generation for REO is not unlike ordinary lead generation. The difference is who the clients are. “These are institutions. People change jobs, and it’s a world of policy and process,” Andrew said. “I spend almost all my time networking with my institutional contacts. I used to have as much as 80% of my business with one client. Now, that’s changed a lot.” Both Peter and Monaghan said they regularly work with more than 20 banks or asset managers at a time–and each one has their own systems and requirements.
Want a quick peek under the tent at the large and very different world of short sales and REOs (bank owned foreclosures)?
Four top distressed property agents chatted with Gary this morning, sharing some views into a world that a relative few agents know well, and one that a growing number are learning.
Foreclosures have been growing across America in the past several years and nothing has changed about that reality. What’s new is that more agents in places like Pennsylvania and Minnesota are learning what the most distressed markets like California, Arizona, and Florida have known for some time. Distressed property is here to stay, for years to come.
The panel was short sale specialists Brian Gubernick from Phoenix, AZ, Jeff Payne from Panama City, FL, as well as REO masters Kristian Peter of San Diego, CA, and Andrew Monaghan, from the Phoenix-area. Between them, these agents listed and sold more than 1500 short sale or bank owned properties in 2009, and their businesses are all growing!
Their focus was on key business realities that define what they do. Here’s a short list of key messages they shared, and the huge crowd listening in:
Short sale lead generation is much like traditional lead gen. Gubernick and Payne use the same techniques to prospect that work in traditional markets. They make themselves very visible in all their target markets as “the short sale expert.” Said Gubernick, “The difference is we ask just one very direct question in our lead gen, “Are you behind in your mortgage payments? Are you underwater? If so, we can help you.”
Seller qualification is very important in short sales. “These homeowners are in serious financial pain, or headed that way fast,” said Gubernick. “For the best chance of selling short, homeowners need to be motivated to cooperate with their agent all the way–fully disclosing their financial status and providing all the documents including tax records that banks want to see. Gubernick does a brief qualifying phone interview (less than 30 minutes) and then emails the necessary documents from him–and also a list of what the homeowner must provide. “If I don’t get a completed document set back in about 48 hours, chances are that party is not going to work with me successfully,” Gubernick emphasized.
The all important negotiation of offers with the lender is the part many agents dread. The best alternative? Refer a short sale lead to an expert in your area, and stay focused on your own lead generation. “When an offer is received, that’s when the hard work really starts,” said Payne. Both agents confirmed the key to success is negotiating the offer to an acceptance from the bank or asset manager is “not taking no for an answer” and “being willing to escalate quickly and forcefully to higher-ups in the bank when unreasonable no answers are given.”
Homeowners are more likely to be forthcoming about their distress these days. “There’s been so much written and broadcast about short selling now that people seem less afraid to move forward,” Gubernick said. “And there are people who are planning to sell short even before they’ve missed a payment.” Payne reported more than 20% of his closed sales there days are for homeowners who were not behind in payments when they made their decision to sell.
REO agent Monaghan and Peter emphasized they live in a process-driven foreclosed property world. Their institutional clients, also banks and asset managers, insist on fast turnaround and precision from the moment a listing is assigned to an agent–that includes property inspection, rekeying and security, accurate pricing, property cleanup, and efficient cash for keys exchanges to move out occupants (tenants or former homeowners).
The institutions who hold foreclosures are expecting more from agents than ever before. “Were scored by either manual or automated systems on almost everything we do,” said Monaghan. There’s a lot at risk. A well-regarded REO agent receives listing in batches–anywhere from several to ten or more at a time. “My inventory has gone from as high as 700 listings to less than 150 in the last year or so,” said Peter. You have to be very cost conscious and have a great staffing game plan to manage it.”
REO agents make big financial commitment to have their business with lenders. “Ninety percent of expenses are reimbursable,” said Monaghan, “but I estimate my out of picket on a typical listing runs almost $4,000.” Top REO agents have full time accountants working for them.
Lead generation for REO is not unlike ordinary lead generation. The difference is who the clients are. “These are institutions. People change jobs, and it’s a world of policy and process,” Andrew said. “I spend almost all my time networking with my institutional contacts. I used to have as much as 80% of my business with one client. Now, that’s changed a lot.” Both Peter and Monaghan said they regularly work with more than 20 banks or asset managers at a time–and each one has their own systems and requirements.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Does Your Social Media Mislead?
Provided By KW Blog
Published By Julie Lane
Are your social media marketing efforts infringing on a corporate trademark? If your marketing efforts are confusing customers—if they are misled to believe that you are affiliated with a known brand because of your URL, Twitter or Facebook name—then you could be liable. At the heart of the matter is an effort to fool customers.
Start by looking at your URL. If you have chosen a URL for your Web site or your blog that is similar to a large corporation, you could be infringing on a trademark—and you could lose your domain name.
Surprisingly, even some large corporations haven’t yet claimed their name in the social media world, including Facebook fan page names and Twitter handles. But that doesn’t mean you can cybersquat on it to win followers or traffic to your sites.
You may build a fast following, but you’ll lose it overnight if the corporation files a Uniform Domain Name Dispute with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or files a trademark complaint with the social networking site in question.
You can check on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s online database to determine if a name is trademarked. You can also do a Google search for similar domain names and check to see if there are companies with the name you want to use. Where there are trademarks, it’s wise to choose another domain name.
You can also get into trouble using a corporate trademark in your Meta Tags. The Meta Tag is a code embedded in your Web page that helps search engines identify the content. This issue is finding its way into courts because it drives consumers to your Web site when they are really looking for your competitor’s Web site.
Finally, an emerging area of trademark infringement online is in the area of keyword advertising. You can infringe on a brand’s intellectual property rights if you bid on trademark protected words in your Google ad campaigns. The safest way to avoid a trademark suit in this area is to avoid using a competing real estate company’s name in your keyword campaign, either by bidding on the term or by using it in the ad copy.
Published By Julie Lane
Are your social media marketing efforts infringing on a corporate trademark? If your marketing efforts are confusing customers—if they are misled to believe that you are affiliated with a known brand because of your URL, Twitter or Facebook name—then you could be liable. At the heart of the matter is an effort to fool customers.
Start by looking at your URL. If you have chosen a URL for your Web site or your blog that is similar to a large corporation, you could be infringing on a trademark—and you could lose your domain name.
Surprisingly, even some large corporations haven’t yet claimed their name in the social media world, including Facebook fan page names and Twitter handles. But that doesn’t mean you can cybersquat on it to win followers or traffic to your sites.
You may build a fast following, but you’ll lose it overnight if the corporation files a Uniform Domain Name Dispute with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or files a trademark complaint with the social networking site in question.
You can check on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s online database to determine if a name is trademarked. You can also do a Google search for similar domain names and check to see if there are companies with the name you want to use. Where there are trademarks, it’s wise to choose another domain name.
You can also get into trouble using a corporate trademark in your Meta Tags. The Meta Tag is a code embedded in your Web page that helps search engines identify the content. This issue is finding its way into courts because it drives consumers to your Web site when they are really looking for your competitor’s Web site.
Finally, an emerging area of trademark infringement online is in the area of keyword advertising. You can infringe on a brand’s intellectual property rights if you bid on trademark protected words in your Google ad campaigns. The safest way to avoid a trademark suit in this area is to avoid using a competing real estate company’s name in your keyword campaign, either by bidding on the term or by using it in the ad copy.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Why Some Houses Sit While Other Houses Sell
Provided By KW Blog
Published By Jay Papasan
Even in the hardest hit markets, there are still properties priced well enough and in good enough condition to interest buyers. Those houses attract offers and sell. Houses that aren’t priced and staged competitively sit. It’s not complicated. It’s really that simple.
For your house to stand out from the crowd, you’ll have to listen to what buyers are telling you and make sure your house is priced well enough and in good enough condition to stand out from the competition. Here’s a quick video explaining how it works. Good luck!
Published By Jay Papasan
Even in the hardest hit markets, there are still properties priced well enough and in good enough condition to interest buyers. Those houses attract offers and sell. Houses that aren’t priced and staged competitively sit. It’s not complicated. It’s really that simple.
For your house to stand out from the crowd, you’ll have to listen to what buyers are telling you and make sure your house is priced well enough and in good enough condition to stand out from the competition. Here’s a quick video explaining how it works. Good luck!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Big Picture and YOU
Published By Gary Keller
Provided By KW Blog
I learned long ago that being steeped in the business of real estate does not necessarily translate into grasping the big picture. So I made a commitment to digging beneath the surface and understanding the critical interactions that drive the real estate market. As I did so, I realized how hungry my clients were for solid information.
I’ve never lost my fascination for the facts behind the headlines, and today, I believe that Keller Williams Realty’s sharp focus on research is central to what sets us apart as a company.
Nearly every client enters into a conversation about buying or selling a home with a lot of preconceived notions and anecdotal information. It’s our job to be knowledgeable of the actual facts and to step up as the local economist of choice. That’s what our clients are looking to us for, and it’s the basis for the trust they place in us.
But having walked several miles in your shoes, we recognize that in-depth research probably doesn’t fall in your “20 percent.” In fact, most agents aren’t trained to conduct the kind of analysis that the KW Research team is known for. So this year, we’ve compiled the results of our most recent research studies into the KW Market Navigator: Vision and Opportunities.
It’s filled with facts, stats and perspectives (see the example below or click here for a sneak peek) that you can draw from on a daily basis. And believe it or not, it’s fun to read.
Of course any observations on my part concerning the importance of research and market statistics would not be complete without my overriding perspective on the topic: The market determines the number of people who will be successful, not which ones. You get to decide if you’ll be one.
(KW agents can click here to order the KW Market Navigator)
Provided By KW Blog
I learned long ago that being steeped in the business of real estate does not necessarily translate into grasping the big picture. So I made a commitment to digging beneath the surface and understanding the critical interactions that drive the real estate market. As I did so, I realized how hungry my clients were for solid information.
I’ve never lost my fascination for the facts behind the headlines, and today, I believe that Keller Williams Realty’s sharp focus on research is central to what sets us apart as a company.
Nearly every client enters into a conversation about buying or selling a home with a lot of preconceived notions and anecdotal information. It’s our job to be knowledgeable of the actual facts and to step up as the local economist of choice. That’s what our clients are looking to us for, and it’s the basis for the trust they place in us.
But having walked several miles in your shoes, we recognize that in-depth research probably doesn’t fall in your “20 percent.” In fact, most agents aren’t trained to conduct the kind of analysis that the KW Research team is known for. So this year, we’ve compiled the results of our most recent research studies into the KW Market Navigator: Vision and Opportunities.
It’s filled with facts, stats and perspectives (see the example below or click here for a sneak peek) that you can draw from on a daily basis. And believe it or not, it’s fun to read.
(KW agents can click here to order the KW Market Navigator)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Being Patient with SEO Pays Off
Provided By KW Blog
Unlike pay-per-click (PPC) advertising that may literally drive traffic to your site overnight, search engine optimization (SEO) strategies take time to pay off. That’s important to understand so you don’t become frustrated or discouraged and abandon your SEO efforts while you are on the brink of success.
In the last article in my SEO series, we’ll explore four important time-related SEO factors: the age of your domain, the age of your site, the age of your content the age of inbound links. Understanding these issues will help you stay patient while you wait for the reward.
How Old is Your Domain Name?
Domain registration age is important to your SEO efforts. That’s because spammers tend to have new websites with new domain names. When an ISP shuts one site down, they just launch another. Google can’t tell the difference between your brand new website and a spammer’s brand new website, so search engines proceed with caution with new domain names.
Search engines are looking for stability and credibility. As your domain name ages, it gains credibility online. Likewise, the longer you’ve reserved your domain name, the more trust you build with search engines. Spammers aren’t likely to pay for a domain name 10 years out. Just like in the real world, age associates with authority. A 35 year old has more authority than a 10 year old.
How Long Has Your Site Been Live?
Domain registration age and how long your site has been live are two altogether different animals. You may have purchased your domain name a year ago, but your website may be brand new. Google typically doesn’t give you a page rank—a value or importance assigned to your web page—for up to four months after your site launches. This is known as the “sandbox effect” and it’s one way of proving to Google that you aren’t a spam site.
How Long Has Your Content Been Posted?
Every page on the web has a date of inception. The search engines calculate the age of your page and factor that into your ranking. Google gives more weight to pages that have been posted to your site for months or years than it does pages that are brand new. That’s not to say that new content isn’t valuable. It may even be more relevant or timely. You need a blend of both if you want to keep the search engine spiders crawling your more frequently.
The point is this: When you change or add new keywords to your content—or you add new pages to your site—the results of your SEO copy may not take effect overnight, especially if you are using highly competitive keywords. That shouldn’t stop you from adding new content or continually optimizing your existing content. Just realize it takes time for the search engines to move you up in the rankings based on those changes.
How Long Have You Had Inbound Links?
When it comes to inbound links, it’s all about relevance and reputation points. Reputation points are given based on the popularity, quality and relevance of the sites linking to you. Sites with long-standing domain names have a better reputation than sites with new domain names, for example, and links that have been pointing to your site for long periods of time gain more reputation points than newer links.
Liken your SEO efforts to launching an exercise program. You won’t see results the first day. In fact, you may not see results the first week or even the first month. But it’s just a matter of time before you see the inches that were lining your waist begin to appear as muscles on your arms and legs. The same is true of SEO. It takes time, but if you use the proven strategies it works.
Unlike pay-per-click (PPC) advertising that may literally drive traffic to your site overnight, search engine optimization (SEO) strategies take time to pay off. That’s important to understand so you don’t become frustrated or discouraged and abandon your SEO efforts while you are on the brink of success.
In the last article in my SEO series, we’ll explore four important time-related SEO factors: the age of your domain, the age of your site, the age of your content the age of inbound links. Understanding these issues will help you stay patient while you wait for the reward.
How Old is Your Domain Name?
Domain registration age is important to your SEO efforts. That’s because spammers tend to have new websites with new domain names. When an ISP shuts one site down, they just launch another. Google can’t tell the difference between your brand new website and a spammer’s brand new website, so search engines proceed with caution with new domain names.
Search engines are looking for stability and credibility. As your domain name ages, it gains credibility online. Likewise, the longer you’ve reserved your domain name, the more trust you build with search engines. Spammers aren’t likely to pay for a domain name 10 years out. Just like in the real world, age associates with authority. A 35 year old has more authority than a 10 year old.
How Long Has Your Site Been Live?
Domain registration age and how long your site has been live are two altogether different animals. You may have purchased your domain name a year ago, but your website may be brand new. Google typically doesn’t give you a page rank—a value or importance assigned to your web page—for up to four months after your site launches. This is known as the “sandbox effect” and it’s one way of proving to Google that you aren’t a spam site.
How Long Has Your Content Been Posted?
Every page on the web has a date of inception. The search engines calculate the age of your page and factor that into your ranking. Google gives more weight to pages that have been posted to your site for months or years than it does pages that are brand new. That’s not to say that new content isn’t valuable. It may even be more relevant or timely. You need a blend of both if you want to keep the search engine spiders crawling your more frequently.
The point is this: When you change or add new keywords to your content—or you add new pages to your site—the results of your SEO copy may not take effect overnight, especially if you are using highly competitive keywords. That shouldn’t stop you from adding new content or continually optimizing your existing content. Just realize it takes time for the search engines to move you up in the rankings based on those changes.
How Long Have You Had Inbound Links?
When it comes to inbound links, it’s all about relevance and reputation points. Reputation points are given based on the popularity, quality and relevance of the sites linking to you. Sites with long-standing domain names have a better reputation than sites with new domain names, for example, and links that have been pointing to your site for long periods of time gain more reputation points than newer links.
Liken your SEO efforts to launching an exercise program. You won’t see results the first day. In fact, you may not see results the first week or even the first month. But it’s just a matter of time before you see the inches that were lining your waist begin to appear as muscles on your arms and legs. The same is true of SEO. It takes time, but if you use the proven strategies it works.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Are You Committed to Your Dreams?
Published by Alexis MacIntyre, Director of KWU
Provided By KW Blog
Are you committed to your dreams? I thought I was. Then I had a mindshift.
My husband and I had our first child, Violet, in December last year and I came back from maternity leave in March. Shortly after my return, I attended Leadership and Motivation with Master Faculty Trainer John Davis. In that class, you write down your dreams, without limitations, in order to translate them into goals. I started writing…”Be completely debt free…Travel to Italy…”
Then, things started to get intense. I began thinking about Violet and all the dreams I had for her. I had aspirations before about starting a family and our life together. But now she was here. She was a real person in my life – for whom I now have more emotion than four silly little letters in the word “love” could ever describe. And the dreams I starting writing for her and for her life were powerful. I had trouble holding back tears as I wrote—I was so deeply, emotionally invested.
I wrote down many dreams for Violet. I dream for her to grow up to be an intelligent, self-confident woman, who stands up for what she believes in, and always does the right thing—even when no one is looking. But I also recognized that some of our life worth living dreams would need to be funded. I want to create memories with her on family vacations, to send her to any college she wants to go to and to role model the importance of donating to causes we believe in.
I started thinking more strategically. I had to admit to myself that despite all the training our University provides on growing your profit share tree, there was a lot more I could personally do to really focus on growing my tree. I no longer needed to do it just for me and my husband anymore, I owed it to Violet. I’ve now recommitted myself this summer to growing my tree and becoming more purposeful about attracting talent to our wonderful company.
Through this summer’s profit share initiative, we’d like to help you grow your own tree. I’ll be sharing some of the whys and hows on this blog in the coming months. One of the best starting places is to recognize your own dreams. Dig deep and think without limits. Write them down. Share them. And find someone to hold you accountable. By the way, two of the best ways to do that are by attending (or starting) a Wealth-Building Workshop in your market center and signing up for the Fast Track Profit Share Coaching Program with MAPS and coach Brian Combs.
Are you 100% committed to your dreams and are you taking necessary action to build your own profit share tree? If not, what would it take to get you there? We’d love to hear about your journey.
Provided By KW Blog
Are you committed to your dreams? I thought I was. Then I had a mindshift.
My husband and I had our first child, Violet, in December last year and I came back from maternity leave in March. Shortly after my return, I attended Leadership and Motivation with Master Faculty Trainer John Davis. In that class, you write down your dreams, without limitations, in order to translate them into goals. I started writing…”Be completely debt free…Travel to Italy…”
Then, things started to get intense. I began thinking about Violet and all the dreams I had for her. I had aspirations before about starting a family and our life together. But now she was here. She was a real person in my life – for whom I now have more emotion than four silly little letters in the word “love” could ever describe. And the dreams I starting writing for her and for her life were powerful. I had trouble holding back tears as I wrote—I was so deeply, emotionally invested.
I wrote down many dreams for Violet. I dream for her to grow up to be an intelligent, self-confident woman, who stands up for what she believes in, and always does the right thing—even when no one is looking. But I also recognized that some of our life worth living dreams would need to be funded. I want to create memories with her on family vacations, to send her to any college she wants to go to and to role model the importance of donating to causes we believe in.
I started thinking more strategically. I had to admit to myself that despite all the training our University provides on growing your profit share tree, there was a lot more I could personally do to really focus on growing my tree. I no longer needed to do it just for me and my husband anymore, I owed it to Violet. I’ve now recommitted myself this summer to growing my tree and becoming more purposeful about attracting talent to our wonderful company.
Through this summer’s profit share initiative, we’d like to help you grow your own tree. I’ll be sharing some of the whys and hows on this blog in the coming months. One of the best starting places is to recognize your own dreams. Dig deep and think without limits. Write them down. Share them. And find someone to hold you accountable. By the way, two of the best ways to do that are by attending (or starting) a Wealth-Building Workshop in your market center and signing up for the Fast Track Profit Share Coaching Program with MAPS and coach Brian Combs.
Are you 100% committed to your dreams and are you taking necessary action to build your own profit share tree? If not, what would it take to get you there? We’d love to hear about your journey.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
SEO-Making the Most of Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
Published By KW Blog
Written By by Cary Sylvester, Executive Director of Technology
Now that you understand how to pick keywords that will help your target audience find your Website (from my earlier post), it’s time to move on to the next phase of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts: creating page titles and meta descriptions.
Peppering keywords in your content is important, but it’s not good enough to get the attention of search engines that drive targeted traffic to your site. Once you understand the importance of page titles and meta descriptions—and once you learn to use them strategically—you’ll be well on your way to increasing your prospects.
What Is a Page Title?
A page title appears in the browser at the top of each web page. It’s important to choose your page title wisely because Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines put an emphasis on the keywords in your page titles when they crawl your site. Your page title will also appear as the link for that page in search engine results. That makes page titles a critical aspect of your SEO efforts.
Page Title Dos and Don’ts
Do use natural language in your page titles.
Do make your page titles interesting and engaging.
Do include a strategic keyword in your page titles.
Do use your keyword as the first word of your page title, if possible.
Do make your page titles different for every page.
Do include your brand name at the end of the page title.
Do not underestimate the importance of page titles.
Do not stuff your page title with keywords.
Do not write page titles longer than 67 characters.
Good, Bad and Ugly Page Titles
Need some examples of page titles? Keep the dos and don’ts above in mind as you review the page title suggestions below. You can adapt these for your own market.
(Good) South Beach Real Estate
(Bad) Your Best Realtor
(Good) Condos for Sale in South Beach, Miami Beach, Fischer Island
(Bad) John Doe (Don’t use your name unless everybody knows you.)
(Good) Real Estate/ Foreclosures/ Fort Lauderdale
(Bad) Experienced Real Estate Agent
What is a Meta Description?
Also vital to your SEO efforts, the meta description puts the power in your hands to tell Google how you want them to describe your web page. In other words, it’s the description search engines pick up and run under the page title in the search results. Not all search engines use the meta description, but Google does.
Meta Description Dos and Don’ts
Do include your keywords in your meta description.
Do write a compelling description that entices visitors to click.
Do maintain credibility and honest.
Do place your most important keywords near the beginning of the description.
Don’t use the same meta description on more than one page.
Don’t use more than 160 characters.
Don’t replicate copy from your page title or your Google Adwords ads.
Don’t use your keywords excessively.
Good, Bad and Ugly Meta Descriptions
Still not sure how to translate all these dos and don’ts to your meta tag descriptions? Here are some models you can adapt based on your market—and some you should never use.
(Good) “Looking for condos for sale in South Beach? Professional real estate agent Max Jones specializes in high rise and luxury condo sales in Fischer Island, Star Island and Miami Beach.”
(Bad) Call Max Jones of Keller Williams Realty. Max Jones is a real estate agent licensed in Florida and Georgia. He has been in the industry for five years.
The key difference between the good and the bad (we’ll skip the ugly) is that the good offers locally relevant information and descriptive keywords like condos, high-rise and luxury. It still mentions the words “real estate agent” and offers the agent’s name, but the focus is on what’s most important: location, location, location.
Written By by Cary Sylvester, Executive Director of Technology
Now that you understand how to pick keywords that will help your target audience find your Website (from my earlier post), it’s time to move on to the next phase of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts: creating page titles and meta descriptions.
Peppering keywords in your content is important, but it’s not good enough to get the attention of search engines that drive targeted traffic to your site. Once you understand the importance of page titles and meta descriptions—and once you learn to use them strategically—you’ll be well on your way to increasing your prospects.
What Is a Page Title?
A page title appears in the browser at the top of each web page. It’s important to choose your page title wisely because Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines put an emphasis on the keywords in your page titles when they crawl your site. Your page title will also appear as the link for that page in search engine results. That makes page titles a critical aspect of your SEO efforts.
Page Title Dos and Don’ts
Do use natural language in your page titles.
Do make your page titles interesting and engaging.
Do include a strategic keyword in your page titles.
Do use your keyword as the first word of your page title, if possible.
Do make your page titles different for every page.
Do include your brand name at the end of the page title.
Do not underestimate the importance of page titles.
Do not stuff your page title with keywords.
Do not write page titles longer than 67 characters.
Good, Bad and Ugly Page Titles
Need some examples of page titles? Keep the dos and don’ts above in mind as you review the page title suggestions below. You can adapt these for your own market.
(Good) South Beach Real Estate
(Bad) Your Best Realtor
(Good) Condos for Sale in South Beach, Miami Beach, Fischer Island
(Bad) John Doe (Don’t use your name unless everybody knows you.)
(Good) Real Estate/ Foreclosures/ Fort Lauderdale
(Bad) Experienced Real Estate Agent
What is a Meta Description?
Also vital to your SEO efforts, the meta description puts the power in your hands to tell Google how you want them to describe your web page. In other words, it’s the description search engines pick up and run under the page title in the search results. Not all search engines use the meta description, but Google does.
Meta Description Dos and Don’ts
Do include your keywords in your meta description.
Do write a compelling description that entices visitors to click.
Do maintain credibility and honest.
Do place your most important keywords near the beginning of the description.
Don’t use the same meta description on more than one page.
Don’t use more than 160 characters.
Don’t replicate copy from your page title or your Google Adwords ads.
Don’t use your keywords excessively.
Good, Bad and Ugly Meta Descriptions
Still not sure how to translate all these dos and don’ts to your meta tag descriptions? Here are some models you can adapt based on your market—and some you should never use.
(Good) “Looking for condos for sale in South Beach? Professional real estate agent Max Jones specializes in high rise and luxury condo sales in Fischer Island, Star Island and Miami Beach.”
(Bad) Call Max Jones of Keller Williams Realty. Max Jones is a real estate agent licensed in Florida and Georgia. He has been in the industry for five years.
The key difference between the good and the bad (we’ll skip the ugly) is that the good offers locally relevant information and descriptive keywords like condos, high-rise and luxury. It still mentions the words “real estate agent” and offers the agent’s name, but the focus is on what’s most important: location, location, location.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Don’t talk about it. BE about it.
Published By Keller Williams Realty
Source KW Blog
“Never underestimate the transformative power of a ball,” Kevin Carroll asserted during this morning’s keynote address.
The founder of Kevin Carroll Katalyst LLC, and a renowned author, speaker and agent for social change, Carroll captivated attendees with his compelling life story that began with a “dysfunctional, nomadic childhood” and abandonment by two drug-abusing parents. Salvation bounced into Carroll’s life at the age of 6, when he found a red rubber ball in an abandoned lot. After playing alone for a few hours, he heard “the words that changed my life: ‘You want to play with us?’”
Carroll says he’s been chasing his “Red Rubber Ball” ever since and encouraged attendees to do the same. Carroll challenged attendees, “What’s your red rubber ball? What gets you so excited every day that you can’t wait to start chasing it?”
Source KW Blog
“Never underestimate the transformative power of a ball,” Kevin Carroll asserted during this morning’s keynote address.
The founder of Kevin Carroll Katalyst LLC, and a renowned author, speaker and agent for social change, Carroll captivated attendees with his compelling life story that began with a “dysfunctional, nomadic childhood” and abandonment by two drug-abusing parents. Salvation bounced into Carroll’s life at the age of 6, when he found a red rubber ball in an abandoned lot. After playing alone for a few hours, he heard “the words that changed my life: ‘You want to play with us?’”
Carroll says he’s been chasing his “Red Rubber Ball” ever since and encouraged attendees to do the same. Carroll challenged attendees, “What’s your red rubber ball? What gets you so excited every day that you can’t wait to start chasing it?”
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?
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The Commercial REO Opportunity
Published by Buddy Norman, President of KW Commercial
Provided By KW Blog
With every challenge there is an opportunity. In 2010, there are opportunities for commercial brokers who are equipped to engage with REO assets. Consider the state of the market:
•The percentage of loans that are at least 30 days past due in the Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) market rose higher than 6 percent for the first time ever at the end of 2009, according to mortgage research firm Trepp LLC.
•CMBS delinquencies have skyrocketed, posting a 502 percent jump over the 1.21 percent delinquency rate from just a year ago, Trepp reports.
That translates to an unpaid balance of CRE-backed bonds of $37.93 billion, according to investment rating agency Realpoint LLC. And that, in itself, is a 440 percent increase since November 2008.
Commercial REO Associations Forming
Analysts predict it will get worse before it gets better. Realpoint estimates the delinquent unpaid CMBS balance will continue to rise, reaching between $50 and $60 billion. Delinquency rates could rise above 8 percent by mid-2010.
What does all this mean? Again, it means opportunities for commercial brokers who engage with REO assets. KW Commercial is taking a leadership position in the commercial REO sector by helping our agents become resources for lenders, bankers and commercial real estate investors who see the opportunities in a down cycle.
Additionally, the opportunity has given rise to organizations like the Commercial REO Brokers Association (CREOBA) and the Commercial National REO Professionals Association (CNRPA).
Launched in 2009, the CREOBA was formed to help banks and loan servicers sell foreclosed commercial properties. CREOBA is working with banks and asset management companies to create “Standards of Service and Best Practices” between the bank REO departments and the brokers selling foreclosed properties.
Also formed in 2009, the CNRPA is a national trade organization for professionals who conduct business in the distressed commercial real estate industry. Members include lawyers, brokers, developers and others who take part in the process. Networking with all these parties is a good idea if you want to navigate this opportunity.
The REO Opportunity
Of course, I’m not endorsing any group. I’m merely illustrating that many in the commercial brokerage world are preparing for the opportunities in 2010 – and so should you. With some predicting more liquidity in the market and a values bottom expected to emerge later this year, the predominant opportunity in commercial real estate in 2010 may very well be REOs. Here are a few proof points:
•Overdue loans in pools of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) climbed to 6.49 percent in January, according to a report issued this week by Trepp.
•As of January 2009, there was $170 billion worth of distressed commercial real estate nationwide, according to Delta Associates.
•Lennar Corp. closed the biggest loan purchase of 2010 from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Lennar paid $243 million to purchase $3.05 billion worth of loans on 5,500 distressed residential and commercial real estate properties.
Getting Ready to Run
KW Commercial is equipping our commercial brokers to approach this market strategically with training and education. One example is the Distressed Properties and Commercial REO Mastermind webinar through KW Commercial’s intranet on the training page. Another example is a KW Commercial breakout session titled “Commercial REOs & Auctions.” Additionally, we are forming an International Practice Group (IPG) for the REO markets, which is being led and directed by our top commercial REO brokers.
My advice would be to brush up on your education so you can keep pace with the industry. Things are changing quickly. While savvy commercial veterans can draw from past experience from the downturn in the 1980s, today’s market offers new challenges and new solutions. You can count on KW Commercial to keep you up to date with the latest tools to help you navigate commercial real estate.
Provided By KW Blog
With every challenge there is an opportunity. In 2010, there are opportunities for commercial brokers who are equipped to engage with REO assets. Consider the state of the market:
•The percentage of loans that are at least 30 days past due in the Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) market rose higher than 6 percent for the first time ever at the end of 2009, according to mortgage research firm Trepp LLC.
•CMBS delinquencies have skyrocketed, posting a 502 percent jump over the 1.21 percent delinquency rate from just a year ago, Trepp reports.
That translates to an unpaid balance of CRE-backed bonds of $37.93 billion, according to investment rating agency Realpoint LLC. And that, in itself, is a 440 percent increase since November 2008.
Commercial REO Associations Forming
Analysts predict it will get worse before it gets better. Realpoint estimates the delinquent unpaid CMBS balance will continue to rise, reaching between $50 and $60 billion. Delinquency rates could rise above 8 percent by mid-2010.
What does all this mean? Again, it means opportunities for commercial brokers who engage with REO assets. KW Commercial is taking a leadership position in the commercial REO sector by helping our agents become resources for lenders, bankers and commercial real estate investors who see the opportunities in a down cycle.
Additionally, the opportunity has given rise to organizations like the Commercial REO Brokers Association (CREOBA) and the Commercial National REO Professionals Association (CNRPA).
Launched in 2009, the CREOBA was formed to help banks and loan servicers sell foreclosed commercial properties. CREOBA is working with banks and asset management companies to create “Standards of Service and Best Practices” between the bank REO departments and the brokers selling foreclosed properties.
Also formed in 2009, the CNRPA is a national trade organization for professionals who conduct business in the distressed commercial real estate industry. Members include lawyers, brokers, developers and others who take part in the process. Networking with all these parties is a good idea if you want to navigate this opportunity.
The REO Opportunity
Of course, I’m not endorsing any group. I’m merely illustrating that many in the commercial brokerage world are preparing for the opportunities in 2010 – and so should you. With some predicting more liquidity in the market and a values bottom expected to emerge later this year, the predominant opportunity in commercial real estate in 2010 may very well be REOs. Here are a few proof points:
•Overdue loans in pools of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) climbed to 6.49 percent in January, according to a report issued this week by Trepp.
•As of January 2009, there was $170 billion worth of distressed commercial real estate nationwide, according to Delta Associates.
•Lennar Corp. closed the biggest loan purchase of 2010 from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Lennar paid $243 million to purchase $3.05 billion worth of loans on 5,500 distressed residential and commercial real estate properties.
Getting Ready to Run
KW Commercial is equipping our commercial brokers to approach this market strategically with training and education. One example is the Distressed Properties and Commercial REO Mastermind webinar through KW Commercial’s intranet on the training page. Another example is a KW Commercial breakout session titled “Commercial REOs & Auctions.” Additionally, we are forming an International Practice Group (IPG) for the REO markets, which is being led and directed by our top commercial REO brokers.
My advice would be to brush up on your education so you can keep pace with the industry. Things are changing quickly. While savvy commercial veterans can draw from past experience from the downturn in the 1980s, today’s market offers new challenges and new solutions. You can count on KW Commercial to keep you up to date with the latest tools to help you navigate commercial real estate.
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.
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