Indooroopilly Golf Coarse – Brisbane Floods 2011
Agents Succeed Through Relationship Banking
Agents Succeed Through Relationship Banking
by Dave Skow, on 14th December, 2009 •
In a market such as the one in which we find ourselves today, agents need to have a rapport with their current clients to be able to work with them in achieving the highest possible sale or rental price for their property. They also need to look to past clients for future business.
Real estate is possibly the industry which most relies on referral and repeat business to ensure continued success.
How do we make sure that the clients and customers we deal with today will come back to us in the years ahead? The answer is relationship banking.
Think of the relationship that you have with a client as a bank account. To keep that client happy you need to ensure that there are always funds available in that account.
To do this, deposits must be made. Things like returning phone calls promptly, providing detailed feedback and going that extra mile for your client are all forms of deposits.
Once the account is in credit, you have built a rapport with the client and they should now trust you with the sale or management of their property. If necessary, you can now look to make withdrawals from the account. If you need to adjust the price, arrange an inspection after hours or if we make a mistake and leave the living room light on after an open house inspection, we possibly have enough credit to cover this.
While dealing with their vendor, an agent provided a comprehensive weekly report outlining how many inspections had taken place, what prospects there had been for the property so far, and what kind of prices these people were gravitating towards.
The agent also made regular contact with the vendors to make sure they were satisfied with the job he was doing. After their property had been on the market for six weeks without having any offers that met the vendors’ desired target, the agent met with them and discussed reducing the price in accordance with what the public thought the property was worth.
The vendors agreed immediately, not only because of the evidence that was presented to them, but because the relationship bank account was in credit due to the deposits the agent had made throughout the marketing program.
The relationship account can never go into overdraft! To guarantee a strong affiliation with the client, the account must always remain in credit. It is easy enough to ensure this by making positive deposits and limiting the need to make withdrawals.
Should an account go into debit, the agent runs the risk of performing to a lesser standard than expected of them, or losing the business all together. Not only does this mean a loss of income, but it also leaves the agent vulnerable to criticism and bad references to the clients’ friends and family and therefore no referrals.
A past client of mine was relocating to Queensland from Wagga. Being an elderly lady with no family in town, she found it hard to obtain boxes to use for the move.
I had a relative in town who managed a retail store, so I arranged for a short period of time for the boxes to be kept. At the end of the week, I collected them and took them to the client who was absolutely astounded at the gesture.
Such a small thing which took me one phone call and half an hour of my time meant so much to her and added a huge deposit to the relationship bank account.
In return, a subsequent three listings were referred to our agency by her. It is that easy to be a master of relationship banking!
As with bank accounts, over time you will receive interest so long as you keep boosting the account with deposits. This interest is seen by way of repeat and referred business.
Relationship Banking Via Your Database
It is imperative to maintain an up-to-date database of all past clients and keep in regular contact with them.
There are a variety of ways to do this. Some agents will give clients and customers a bottle of wine or some other gift once a property sale has settled, but there are far too many that don’t follow up after this.
All agents should make contact with past clients at least every 12 months. And it should be something a little more personal than a mass mail-out announcing that you have ‘Just Sold 1 Smith Street – Looking for Similar Properties’.
It could be something simple like a Christmas card or a lotto ticket or gift voucher on the anniversary of their purchase. By doing this, not only are you keeping the account in credit, but when it comes time for them to sell or buy, your name will be the first they think of.
The worst feeling as a real estate agent is to open up the real estate section of the local paper only to find that a property you sold 12 months ago is back on the market but with a different agent.
Why didn’t the vendors come to you? Was the service you provided them less than satisfactory?
The truth is that you probably did a great job as their agent at the time, but have lacked the follow up needed to get the repeat business. The competitor agent probably got lucky and just happened to cold call the vendor while they were contemplating selling.
You cannot rest on your laurels and wait for business to walk through your door just because you think you did a good job last time.
Every highly successful agent is also a great communicator and relationship banker. They understand the importance of maintaining a positive balance in the relationship bank account and that to be proactive is the key to repeat business and maintaining the relationship bank balance.
Not only will maintaining the accounts go some way towards getting repeat business, but it will also lead to referrals from these past clients.
Almost everybody has a friend or relative who currently have, or are considering putting, their house on the market. So if you have sold 30 properties in the last year, you have 30 past clients who know at least one other person each considering selling.
If you have maintained the relationship bank accounts with these past clients, they are going to tell their friends and relatives what a great agent you are and you will most probably get a call from them and the chance to list 30 properties without knocking on a single door!
On the flip side, if you have not maintained the account, your balance will be whittled away with bank fees and charges, and your past clients will not even think to tell their friends and relatives about you because you have simply done the job you were paid for and nothing more. They see you as an ordinary agent, not an extraordinary agent.
Your past clients and customers aren’t the only source of referrals. Everyone you have regular contact with is a potential client, as well as a potential referrer.
Therefore, we also need to make sure we are maintaining a positive relationship banking account with these people. They could be your hairdresser, community leaders, your children’s school teachers or restaurant owners. The possibilities are endless, but only if you keep the account balances in credit by making regular deposits.
Any referrals that you receive should be appreciated, and as such you should demonstrate your appreciation. There are strict penalties under the Property, Stock & Business Agents Act (2002) for inducing clients and customers through a third party, however a bunch of flowers or a nice bottle of wine to someone who refers you business is not classed as a commercial inducement arrangement.
By rewarding the referrer, you are making yet another deposit into that relationship account!
Relationships really are the new currency of the real estate industry. Relationship banking is creating growth and profit through caring and connection and is long lasting with endless possibilities to produce results. It is a skill that the majority of agents do not fully use to their advantage, but for those who do, it creates real wealth through long lasting associations.
Posted via web from Jason Rose
Rental pressure set to continue
Rental pressure set to continue
Posted January 5, 2010 13:07:00
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) says figures on new home sales are further evidence the rental market will remain tight in 2010.
A survey of major builders conducted by HIA shows overall home sales rose by just 0.3 per cent from October to November.
Sales of new stand-alone houses rose by 0.8 per cent, but apartment and unit sales slumped by 4.9 per cent.
HIA’s chief economist Harley Dale says the weak apartment sales will do nothing to help very low rental vacancy rates.
“We likely are going to see continued considerable upward pressure on median weekly rents in most capital cities and in many regional areas of Australia through at least the first half of 2010,” he said.
“Apartment sales continue to be a real worry. It’s very difficult to achieve finance to develop medium and high-density residential projects right around Australia.
“That unfortunately is a situation that’s probably going to take some time to turn around.”
via abc.net.au
Posted via web from Jason Rose
Real Estate Copywriting: The Lighter Side.
Real Estate Copywriting: The Lighter Side.
by Kirsty Dunphey, on 3rd December, 2009 •
(WILL and GRACE are eating lunch, while reading the apartment ads.)
WILL: $2,900 for a loft in Noho. $2,300 for a loft in Soho.
GRACE: It’s too much to pay for any… ‘ho.
WILL: OK, here: “Charming one bedroom, Chelsea adjacent, well-maintained, $1,500.” Sounds great.
GRACE: OK, let me decode: “Charming”? Tiny. “Chelsea adjacent”? New Jersey. “Well-maintained”? Super washes blood off sidewalk daily.I giggled to myself as I watched this scene from television’s Will and Grace last night.
What does the public really think we mean when we write our advertisements?
Check out this “decoding” from:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/340482_listing20.htmlVery quiet interior: You can barely hear the freeway with the windows shut.
Convenient to shopping: Next to a strip mall.
Convenient to freeway: Next to the onramp.
2+ bedrooms: The room in the basement isn’t a legal bedroom but, well, you know.
Seller has left you to your own imagination: Hasn’t been updated since 1940.
Great bones: You’ll need to tear it down to the studs.
Build some sweat equity: See “great bones.”
Charming: Small.
Cozy: Tiny.
Cute: Small and fussy.
Dollhouse, adorable: Nauseatingly cute.
Turnkey: Just overhauled, complete with granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances.
Unique: Remodeled by someone on acid.
Handyman special: Bring boots.
Walk to Fremont: Fremont’s 20 blocks away.
Motivated seller: They need to sell before they default on their mortgage.
Dirty, ugly, smelly: Dirty, ugly, smelly.And Barbara Corcoran has her say here about the most misleading words in real estate (and what they really mean)
Cozy (too small) Charming (too old) Original condition(appliances are 50 years old) Needs TLC (it’s a dump) Conveniently located (noisy) Desirable neighborhood (this little house has been way overpriced because the neighborhood has some snob appeal) Efficient kitchen (too small to fit two adults) One-car garage (you can drive your Chevy in, but can’t get out) Peek at the park/river/mountains (if you angle your mirror just so) Useable land (no trees) Beachfront steal (no hurricane insurance available at any price) Country living (too far from anywhere to drive to work) Must see inside (outside is ugly) Unique (hard to sell) Just available (previous owner just died on the premises, hope you don’t mind)
(read the full article here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20215090/ )
New real estate copywriting website www.reallysold.com has some interesting alternatives to over-used clichés with heading suggestions such as:
A better position than you’ll find in the karma sutra Dress Circle Locale (but with a mini skirt price!) Penguins love the cold – but you don’t have to! Grand Old Dame (the house, not the real estate agent) Yesterday, let me introduce you to today Very Viewtiful! Nature is your Neighbour Calling Winona Ryder (‘cos this one’s a steal!)
(To try out www.reallysold.com for yourself – head to the website, take the 3 minute tour and sign up for a free trial.) The next time you go to put pen to paper, I invite you to take a moment to chuckle about what the public might think you really mean! Life’s too short to write bad advertisements!
Kirsty Dunphey is an author, speaker and entrepreneur who started her first business at 15, opened her own real estate agency at 21 and retired a self made multi-millionaire at 27. To sign up to Kirsty Dunphey’s weekly email, go to www.kirstydunphey.com
Posted via web from Jason Rose
Do Real Estate Agents Really Know How To Market?
Do Real Estate Agents Really Know How To Market?
by Chris Shepherd, on 28th November, 2009 •
One of the continual topics in real estate is ‘marketing’, however do we really utilise all knowledge out there to achieve the best results? You may think of marketing only as selling and advertising, this however is just the tip of the iceberg. When marketing correctly you will be able to attract new customers by promising superior value, and keep current customers by delivering satisfaction.
What is marketing?
Philip Kotler, one of the leading marketing academics describes it as ‘a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and managing customer’s relationships in ways that benefit the organisation.’ It includes market research, product development, distribution, pricing, advertisement, personal selling and online-social interaction just to name a few elements. It should be the central core of your business and shape the way you service and communicate to your clients.
How does marketing help us?
As discussed in the following video, Barrack Obama conducted a very successful marketing campaign that ultimately won him the presidency.
If Barrack can become president through effective marketing, imagine the results we could affect locally.
Where to from here?
Over the coming months, I invite you to reinvent your personal marketing with me, to complement your businesses infra structure. Having just completed a course at university I am pretty excited to explore the possibilities available. I will be starting at the base, researching what my marketplace wants (through door-knocking etc a prospecting method in its self), to creating a new ‘product’ based on consumers demands and finishing with pricing, promotion & customer retention.
Posted via web from Jason Rose
2009: Property Market “wrap up”..
2009: Property Market “wrap up”..
by Alana Elderfield, on 8th December, 2009 •
Hi all..
Wanted to share with you my summary of 2009: the year that was, which I wrote and shared with my clients locally for early December. I’ve been writing monthly market updates, but never sharing them.. and thought this might be the ideal platform to do so.. and hopefully receive in return some feedback on whether you agree with my summary, what you are noticing in your own local market and how you communicate that to your market place.. and basically any general thoughts you’d like to share with the Gen-Y community.
I always enjoy hearing the Gen-Y market reflections.. given that we always seem to be so upbeat, positive and perhaps not as tainted by past experiences as our older generations.
2009: The year that was..
THE FACTS:
- The Reserve Bank has lifted rates for the second straight month – the first back-to-back rate hike since March 2008. The cash rate was lifted by 25 basis points to 3.50 per cent. Rates had stood at a 49-year low of 3.00 per cent before the decision in October to lift the cash rate.
- Even with the latest rate rise, monthly mortgage payments are still, on average, about 25 to 30 percent lower than what they were in August last year when variable mortgage rates were averaging 9.6 percent.
- Residential property prices in Australia increased 3.7 per cent in September to a six year high, heightening the likelihood of a third consecutive rate hike this month (December).
The two interest rate rises seen over the last quarter in consecutive months, is consistent with the view that, while the economic recovery is still patchy, it is now solidly underway.
After a very bumpy start to the year in the wake of the global financial crisis, with a substantial reduction in property values greater than we’d seen before on the northern beaches, our market has continued to gain momentum on a steady basis until the last quarter of 2009, when conditions suddenly improved beyond any of our expectations, even beyond government budget forecasts.
Early November, the Federal Government upgraded growth expectations for the Australian economy, forecasting growth of 1.5 per cent in the 2009-10 year, up from a forecast of a 0.5 per cent contraction made in the May budget. The Government also slashed its projections for the unemployment rate, which is now expected to be 6.75 per cent by next June, down from the 8.25 per cent forecast in the budget. The jobless rate is currently at 5.7 per cent.
The economy’s unexpectedly strong performance during and following the global financial crisis appears to have been fuelled in part by record-low interest rates that the RBA is now nudging higher to prevent inflation picking up.
Even after the two recent RBA rises, our market continues to prosper, and we are currently positioned with pressure on the market to begin to increase in value due to the current lack of stock on the market, and increasing number of buyers entering the market. The only factor appearing to hold the market back from increasing at present is the potential and reality that interest rates may again increase throughout 2010.
If the RBA were to continue to ‘normalise’ rate settings over 2010, there is a good chance that our market will absorb the impact and be able to sustain our recovery and potential growth, so long as they continue to move in 25 basis point increments. At this point in the cycle, a move of 25 basis points strikes a nice balance – it edges the cash rate back to more normal levels without threatening the economic recovery. The RBA arguably went too far with rate hikes in 2007 and early 2008, and a repeat could have a seriously detrimental impact on our market.
Without a crystal ball, it is near impossible to predict precisely how the market will change over the first two quarters of 2010. It has been widely suggested that the cash rate will be at 4.0 percent by February of next year and by June the yield curve suggests a cash rate of about 4.50 to 4.75 percent. The Reserve Bank has previously indicated that the “normal” or neutral cash rate is around 5.00 per cent. A neutral cash rate means that monetary policy is neither expansionary nor contractionary, so even at a cash rate of 4.75 percent, we are outside of, and below what is to be considered as a neutral stance from the RBA.
Posted via web from Jason Rose
Renters’ market as landlords feel heat
AMID the jobless recovery, some landlords are showering flat-screen TVs, cash, rent-cuts and other incentives on tenants to encourage them to renew their apartment leases and thus avoid the expense of filling empty units.
The rise in unemployment has prompted tenants to seek roommates, move home or trade down to cheaper units. In the third quarter, the national apartment-vacancy rate hit 7.8 per cent, a 23-year high, according to Reis Inc, which tracks vacancies and rents in the top 79 markets.
“Many companies are doing whatever they can to keep units occupied, especially heading into the seasonally slower leasing period,” said Paula Poskon, an analyst with Robert W Baird & Co.
The trends are taking a toll on the bottom line. Apartment Investment & Management Co, which owns and operates roughly 150,000 units nationwide, reported last Friday that its funds from operations, a key REIT metric, fell to US19 cents a share from US60c a year earlier. UDR Inc, which has about 45,000 units on the West Coast and in Washington, DC, reported earlier this month that its funds from operations dropped 42 per cent to US19c.
“We do need job growth in order for our business to prosper,” said David Neithercut, chief executive of Equity Residential, the country’s largest apartment REIT by market capitalisation. “I think 2010 will be another year of doing the best we can.”
Some of the large REITs were able to keep their occupancies up. UDR managed to increase occupancy to 95.6 per cent from 95 per cent a year earlier. Colonial Properties Trust, which operates 35,000 Sunbelt apartments, said its third-quarter occupancy fell to 94.4 per cent from 96 per cent a year earlier.
But landlords attracted and retained tenants by offering incentives and rent cuts. Equity Residential said new tenants in the third quarter paid 9-10 per cent less rent than the previous residents. AvalonBay Communities Inc, an upscale operator, said its decline was about the same.
Owners are focusing on keeping existing tenants because when apartments become vacated they can sit empty for months and often require marketing, painting, brokerage commissions and other expenses to attract new tenants. Denver-based UDR is offering renewing tenants a flat-screen TV, new carpet, kitchen upgrade or, $US300 in cash. The money is the most popular choice, said chief executive Thomas Toomey.
Mr Neithercut said Equity Residential doesn’t initially offer rent-cuts to existing tenants to persuade them to renew. But if the tenant plays hardball, the company asks: “What can we do to keep you?” he said.
One problem for landlords is that existing tenants can easily check the worldwide web to see what deals new tenants are being offered. And new tenants are getting incentives like a waived pet deposit or two months free of rent.
Some landlords have also become more open-minded about tenants with credit issues involving home foreclosures. In the past, a foreclosure on a credit record could have meant an automatic denial. Now such blemishes are so commonplace that the stigma is easing. Equity Residential looks for reasonable credit history “outside of a problem that they’ve had with a single-family home”, Mr Neithercut said.
Another sign of the times: In New York City, landlords are paying broker fees. Typically in New York, which has traditionally been a tight rental market, tenants have to pay fees as high as 15 per cent of a year’s rent. But so far this year, Equity Residential has paid about $1.5 million in such commissions.
Apartment landlords say that one benefit of the bad market is that it has practically halted new construction. New completions are expected to be 98,000 next year and 109,000 in 2011, compared with 188,000 last year and 204,000 this year, according to Green Street Advisors.
But when loss rates are taken into account – the removal of units because of obsolescence – the actual addition will be immaterial. That means that when the economy rebounds, the supply will be tight, increasing landlord profits.
“I have utmost confidence in our ability to be successful when we get to there,” said Mr Neithercut. “I just don’t know how far away ‘there’ is.”
A Quick Tip To Help You Maintain A Professional Image & Get More Clients Reading Your Articles
Whenever you write an article, it’s extremely important to make sure that you insert an interesting image that relates to your content. The main reason why it’s important is that you only have a few seconds to capture someone’s attention on the web before they decide whether to mouse click away or not.
A good quality image catches a person’s eye & increases the chances that your article will get read. Rather than running around taking photos or paying professional photographers & models to appear in your photos, there are a number of sites where you can download top quality images inexpensively.
Plus, now there’s an easier way to find the image you want.
Searching for these royalty free stock images has just been made even easier by a stock photo search engine called Cyclo.ps.
“Tired of the cumbersome searches through stock photo sites? See better results with Cyclo.ps. Our monster machine brings the results of the most popular stock sites to one location. Search once. See it all. At Cyclo.ps. “
Cyclo.ps searches through sites like Flickr, Shutterstock, BigStockPhoto, Fotolia, stock.xchng, Cutcaster, Photos.com & stockvault.
Another site I use for royalty free photos is iStockPhoto.
PhotoBucket & Google Images also provide a huge resource for images.
Inserting images into your articles doesn’t just catch a person’s eye when they visit your website.
There’s also another important reason why I always insert an images into my articles:- Facebook sharing.
Whenever I share one of my articles with my friends or fans on facebook I make sure there is a thumbnail of the image within the article appearing within the News Feed or Live Feed.
Having a good quality image appearing within the Facebook feed increases the likelihood that my Facebook friends & fans will click open the article.
Additionally, if they like the article enough then they may even share it with their Facebook friends.
And if they share the article with the image appearing then it increases the chance of having their friends come over & visit the website too.
