I Sell, Even Where Others Have Failed.
Real Guarantees:
1. No Questions Asked Release of Listing Agreement w/48 Hrs Notice!
2. Savings - Buy and Sell and Save; Refer Buyer or Seller and Save!
The Truth – What Many Listing Agents Really Think & Do:
Did you know that many agents really don’t care whether or not they sell the homes they list?
It’s true. Some of the reasons an agent doesn’t have a sense of urgency about the sale of your home:
1. They know they took the home over-priced or poorly ‘staged’. Agents do this for 3 reasons:
A. They are more concerned with getting their ‘name out there’ and/or getting on the ‘listing board’.
B. They are betting that they can get a buyer call off the sign or a magazine ad. If they do sell a buyer, they come out ahead, because they don't have anything invested in the property.
C. They don’t think there is anything they can do, except put it in MLS and hope.
2. They don’t have a vested interest in the sale of your home.
Their company pays for magazine or newspaper ads and they can use this to ‘supplicate’ their seller. They may also have a lender pay for ads, etc.
3. They honestly don’t know how to stage and/or market a home. Note:
A. Most agents only sell 10-15 homes a year.
B. Most agents are order takers and sell a max of 10% of their own listings themselves.
C. Most agents don’t have the experience – life experiences &/or real estate related – to make a deal work.
Nuts and Bolts – Specifics on What Does Not Work:
1. Magazine Ads - They do not work. Pick up a real estate magazine and compare it to one from a month previous. They are ‘shrinking’ as agents stop throwing away money on magazine ads. Some agents are trying to make magazine ads work with the following ‘tweaks’:
A. They are putting in toll free info numbers for the buyer to call and hear info on the home. This service then pages the agent and gives them the phone number of the buyer and the id# of the home they called on. The agent calls back. The problem is folks are calling from work so the agent can’t get in touch with the individual and the general public has gotten wise to this ‘pseudo-anonymous’ trick.
B. They put monthly payment amounts in ads. The problem is this is dependent upon the buyer using a loan that the buyer really doesn’t want. It is misleading and leaves a bad taste in the buyer’s mouth.
2. Newspaper Ads – They do not work. You’ve seen the full page ads in the Charlotte Observer. Here’s why the companies pay for that:
A. It is a recruitment tool. The numbers listed in newspaper ads are usually for the office. The broker points to the ringing phone and tells prospective new agents they could be getting those calls.
B. Agents are often trained to ‘sell away’ from the home the buyer called on. The theory is that to build a feeling of obligation, you tell the buyer that there are 10 or more homes on the market that meet their needs and can show them all of them. Again, more important to get a buyer, not sell the home.
3. Web Sites – They work, just not the way most agents are using them. Problems:
A. The agent isn’t pushing the site via advertising, etc. Is someone going to go to joebobrealtor.com? Unless the agent pays for web advertising, no one goes to the site.
B. They rely on mega-sites to lead folks to their sites. Realtor.com and other mega-sites are not updated 24/7 and are labyrinths to navigate. Getting to the agent’s site is difficult.
C. The agent creates an ‘ego site’- no one cares about designations or 'fluff mission statements'. Folks looking for homes don’t want to see a big picture of an agent and/or his dog. They want to search homes and see relevant links and are turned off by the ‘ego site’, often not even clicking on a site that has an individual's name.
D. The site is too cumbersome. If it takes more than 5 seconds to find the button or link, they're gone.
E. The site does not require a sign in for the buyer to search homes. Without this, what is the point in having a site? The point is to create prospects for the home.
F. The home itself is not advertised on the internet. Again, how do people know how to go to the site?
G. There is no follow up. The sign-in needs to be followed up on. Without a data management program and people to follow up, the point is moot.
4. Brochures on the exterior of the home. They don’t work, here’s why:
A.If there is too little info, the buyer gets frustrated, and throws it away.
B. If there is too much info, the buyer makes a judgment call from the exterior and disregards it.
5. Signage on the Home – It works, but there are common mistakes:
A. The agent’s firm often requires a 2nd office # on the sign so the office phone rings. See 2A & B, above.
B. The agent doesn’t – or can’t – catch the call from the sign so the prospective buyer hangs up and calls the next sign number they come to.
C. The agent doesn’t know how to handle the call once it comes in.
6. Being a Buyer and Seller Agent – This doesn’t work any more. The agent needs to pick a specialty and stick with it or service and results get thrown out the window. The 'Lone Ranger', or 'Seat of the Pants' approach went out with having to pick up showing keys at offices.
Nuts/Bolts – What DOES Work, What Shawn & his Team do:
(This is numbered the same as Nuts and Bolts – Specifics on What Does Not Work)
1. Magazine Ads are not run. This is a waste of time, money. Magazine ads paid for by lenders puts us in the position of being ‘beholden’ to a lender for the cost outlay, instead of recommending folks we trust, respect.
2. Newspaper Ads are not run. Again, a waste of time and money and we don’t want to run an ad just to make the seller believe something is being done, when there are no results. Further, we want to sell Your home.
3. Web Sites. 87%+ of buyers looking for homes hit the internet first! Here is how Shawn makes it work:
A. Internet advertising is used on a pay per click basis. It is expensive, but the results are amazing.
B. Realtor.com is automatic, pulling from the MLS site via the IDX. We don’t push the home here – the buyers get tired of calling on homes that have sold.
C. The main Team Site is anonymous, functioning as a search and information portal. Note that our other sites are ‘masked’ to lead to pages on this site.
D. After folks sign in, they have Easy navigation!
E. A sign-in is required. We want to have prospects to talk to about your home.
F. Your home is advertised using pay per click – your address, neighborhood, specific amenities.
G. Once signed in, the prospect’s info is entered into our Top Producer account. Team members call and email the prospects a minimum of monthly. The individual also receives an e-mailed market update every 7 days, a relo kit when we contact them, and mailings. Of course, we push your home immediately when we put it on the market, reaching in excess of 5,700 prospects instantaneously. Finally, the agent and a team relocation coordinator call everyone a minimum of every 2 months.
4. Exterior Brochures are not used. See #5 Below.
5. The sign is utilized to its full potential.
A & B. Only 1 appointment number is used, and this goes to a team member directly, on a rotating basis,
creating excitement over the calls, for the team member.
D. The buyer is pre-qualified by Shawn Buige, who sells the home and the possible loan options. *Note - we are soon going to move to a combination phone system - a lender's # will also be on the sign.
6. Agency Specialization. Shawn Buige works only with sellers, investors and Commercial clients. There are 8 team members that focus primarily on buyers - resale, new, commercial and residential - a full time transaction manager, and a relocation coordinator. Nothing gets dropped and you stay prioritized.
The Service. There is Much More Than Just Sticking the Sign in the Yard!
1. Weekly Calls. Maya Maleshevich calls every Wednesday to check in and give you feedback to date.
2. Professional Appointment Setting. We use a third party company that tracks showings, calls you directly and helps us by emailing feedback requests to the showing agents.
3. Staging help. Shawn Buige will walk the home with you, room by room, and give recommendations.
4. Pre-qualification of buyers – we don’t sign until we get this.
5. Transaction Manager – Maya Maleshevich crosses the T’s and dots the I’s.
'Less Than Full Service' Brokers:
Agents Get Jaded. After a while in the business, you realize you have 2 courses of action:
1. You Can Offer The Best Service and Marketing. It costs a lot but the results are unbelievable. Intelligent sellers will pay you what you're worth if they understand and appreciate they're getting the best AND that they'll benefit from that.
2. You Can Cut Your Fee and Cut Your Marketing and Service. Many agents have gotten to the point where they believe they can't make a difference because the old way of marketing doesn't work. In their heart of hearts, they know others are making a difference. That's why they generally want a small fee upfront - they realize the sellers will eventually figure this out too.
'Extra Value Meal' Agents -
Another way agents will get business is to offer additional services such as a moving truck or a closing party for
children - bouncy house, etc. Ask yourself why anyone would take on that liability. Goodness of their heart?
Giving Back? No - the agent doesn't have a system that works consistently, so they offer an additional service
to get you to sign the agreement because they don't know how to market your home.
Request an Appointment: Click Here!
SEE THE VIDEO - SHAWN, THE TEAM LEADER - CLICK HERE!