Provided By Realty Times
Prospecting is the most efficient lead generator ever created. All it takes is time and a little bit of skill. You don't need large amounts of money to prospect well. When I entered real estate sales, prospecting was my only option, since I was undercapitalized in starting my business(translation: broke!). Developing and implementing a large marketing and direct mailing campaign was out of the question. I was forced to prospect for business.
Looking back now, I would not have traded my broke position in the beginning with no capital to invest for anything. It freed me to learn a primary skill of every salesperson's success early in my career. There is no method of lead generation that deals so well with the law of cause and effect. The law states certain causes create certain effects. Making phone calls and talking to people creates leads in bunches ... period.
We really only have two types of people we can call. Everyone in the world fits into these two neat categories. The categories are people we know and people we don't know. Those are the only two options. The question is which of these categories is bigger? I'll give you a minute to think about it. The people we don't know is larger. There are more potential prospects in that group. The group of people we know is smaller, but the odds of us doing business with them are greater because we are an insider, not an outsider like we are with people we don't know.
Most agents are searching for the "magic pill" formula or solution to avoid prospecting and have a Champion Agent's business. They are hoping and praying that their marketplace runs contrary to the laws of success. We have to plant seeds before we can harvest. If you look at prospecting as merely planting seeds, that may help. There is no harvest without sowing seeds.
In ancient scripture, there is a parable called The Parable of the Sower. The story tells about how seeds must be sown or planted. If you just cast them to the wind, some seed will land on the road and be trampled or eaten by the birds. Other seed falls on rocky soil and sprouts, but the seed has no water and withers. Still others fall among thorns, and the thorns grow and choked the young plants out.
Finally, some falls on good soil and grows and produced a crop 100 times as great as the seed. In our prospecting, we will encounter the road and get trampled and beaten up. We will fall on rocky soil where things look promising but there is no depth to the prospect or even our strategy and technique, so our results will quickly wither. We will cast the seed of prospecting and get choked out by the negativity of others. The good news is some of the seeds of prospecting will land in good soil and will bring you wealth, success, and happiness exponentially, compared to the amount of seed planted - a crop that is 100 times as great.
Anyone who approaches you by saying, in effect, "I have taken out the road, rocky soil, and thorns and left you only good soil", you must question. That is, in effect, what most peddlers of the "magic pill" marketing gimmicks without some prospecting are offering. "Just send my stuff out in the world, and watch the flood of success come your way." It doesn't work that way in life, and we all know it! My best advice is if it seems too good to be true; it probably is.
Showing posts with label lead generating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lead generating. Show all posts
Thursday, February 3, 2011
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.
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