Lots of talk about email this week.  There’s a good reason:  we got hacked over the weekend.  Someone got into our server and used it to send out a bucket of spam.  Dealing with it meant shutting down the server for awhile.  In discussing this with our Help-U-Sell family it’s become clear that a little education about the basics of email is in order.

Email happens when you send a message from your internet connected computer (or device) up to your mail provider’s server.   The server then sends the message to the server that hosts your recipient’s email.  The recipient will receive the message when he or she accesses their mail from a connected device.  OK: Truth is it’s much more complicated than that, but that’s essentially what happens.

The question of the day is:  how do you access your email?  There are a couple of ways, you know.   You could use a local Email Client like Outlook, an internet based email client like Hotmail, Gmail, or AOL or you could use a more direct method, WebMail.  A quick poll today on our Power Hour call revealed that most of our Brokers use Outlook or Outlook Express.  These are full featured programs that do much more than simply send and receive messages.  But they are BIG programs that live on your computer and sap your computer’s resources.  Outlook, in particular, uses a LOT of memory . . . which is not a problem if you’ve got lots to spare, but make no mistake:  it’s a BIG program.  When a local client like Outlook retrieves your email from the server, it actually downloads a copy of the message and any attachments to your computer.  Even if you never open the message, it’s there, taking up space on your hard drive.  And remember, if it’s on your drive and you don’t have a backup copy, you are at risk of losing it if there is a crash or super virus in your future.  This is why, if you use a local client, you should always check the box when you set up an email account  for ‘leave a copy of the message on the server.’  You’ll have a remote copy if you ever need it.

Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail and the like are similar:  they can all be configured to go out and get your mail from various other servers.  But they also provide direct access to their own email accounts.  So if you have jamesdingman@gmail.com, you can configure gmail to not only pick up mail at that address, but also at, say, jamesdingman@helpusell.com.  Unlike the local clients, these services do not live on your computer.  There may be some app like interface that helps you get to them, but generally they are out there in the ‘cloud’ somewhere.  So the strain on your computer’s resources is reduced and you’re not filling up your drive with things unless you choose to download them.

Webmail is something different still, and we are fortunate to have it for your Help-U-Sell email.  Webmail gives you direct access to your Help-U-Sell mail much as, say, www.gmail.com gives you direct access to your gmail messages.  Again, it lives out there on the Help-U-Sell mail server, not on your computer, so it does not strain your computer’s resources.  It is sleek, lightweight and actually gets your Help-U-Sell mail a tiny bit faster than any other client because at least one step is eliminated in the process.  Help-U-Sell folks can check out our Webmail platform by going to:

mail.helpusell.com

and logging in with their OMS password.

I’ve been an Outlook user for decades and I admit:  I am a little spoiled by its depth of features.  I use mail, of course, but I lean heavily on the address book, Calendar and Task functions.  However, I can almost feel the strain on my system as it works away hour after hour.  And, what the heck:  I’m getting mail not just on my computer now, but on my phone and tablet and so on.  I’ve decided to convert to a non-local solution.  I’m using Gmail to retrieve my personal mail and Help-U-Sell Webmail for my business communication.  Since Webmail and Gmail are internet based applications, I can access them from just about any mobile device.  I think it would be a good idea for you to check it out and see if something similar would work for you.

By the way:  one of the things that made our mail server vulnerable to hackers was the simplicity of some of the passwords some of you are using.  Anything that uses your name, initials, birthday, children or pets names you are vulnerable.  The best passwords make no sense to anyone . . . but how do you remember a non-sense password?  Here is some guidance:

Use a Mnemonic.  Choose a phrase you will always remember and select the first letter of each word.  Use numbers when you can and remember ‘the’ can be ’3′, and toss in a symbol or two ($ for s).  Capitalize the first letter and Bam!  you’ve got a great password.  For example (courtesy of Google):  ’To be or not to be that is the question’ becomes 2bon2btitq.  ’This is one very secure password I hope’ becomes Ti1vspih.  ’Sell fast, save thousands, the experts next door’ becomes Sf$t3end.’

Please, Oh Please, examine and edit your passwords,  not just your Help-U-Sell email account, but for all of your accounts.  Reset them to something only you will understand and remember.

Email Basics is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

I wrote a piece a long time ago called Full Service Broker vs Limited Service Broker vs Discounter.  It remains popular.  I think it’s because the title uses terms people use when searching online.  Trouble is, the piece was really just musing.  I was trying to point out how mushy the definitions of these key concepts are in the world of real estate today.  Nobody reading that post is going to come away with a firm understanding of the various kinds of brokerages out there and few will get a feel for how we at Help-U-Sell are different and better.  So, let me take a stab at it this time being a little more pedantic.

Full Service Broker: A Broker who essential takes over the task of selling a home. Usually that means the seller does nothing but sit back and wait for a contract and then a closing. I could be more granular in the description – break it down a little further – but I don’t think that’s necessary.  When you list with a Full Service Broker, you expect that you are turning the messy task of selling your home over to someone else.  Your job, once you have the house in tip top shape, is to simply disappear anytime anybody wants to see the home and to be patient.  Generally speaking Full Service Brokers charge a percentage based commission in the 5% – 8% range (although real estate sales commissions, whether percentage based or not, are fully negotiable between the broker and homeowner and no standard or even standard range exists).  That can get pretty pricy.  Think about it:  the owner of a $300,000 home with $100,000 in equity who agrees to pay a, say, 6% commission is paying $18,000: almost 20% of their equity!  And don’t get me started on the guy down the street in the smaller house worth $250,000 who will pay the same broker the same percentage but, in his case, it’s only $15,000!  Why is the first guy paying $3,000 more for the exact same service?? It makes no sense (it really doesn’t)!

Discounter: These brokers focus on the commission and cut it to levels Full Service Brokers cannot meet.  Using the above hypothetical examples, a Discounter might take the listing for say, 4%, a significant savings for the seller.  But here’s the thing about Discounters:  they use the same business model the Full Service Brokers have. They are on the same planet, in the same universe.  If they’re going to operate on that planet for less revenue, something else is going to have to give.   Think about it:  If you find a hammer at Ace Hardware for $4 and then spend the rest of the day shopping until you find a Discount Hardware Store who sells the same item for $3, you may have a bargain!  Or maybe you don’t.  You gave up something to get that dollar off the hammer.  You had to spend you time and money driving around to find the store and the hammer (their profit margins are so small they can’t afford to be visible or easy to find), you probably had nobody on the floor to help you, you may have had to dig through disorganized bins to find your hammer and you may have had to dig until you found one in good shape.  There are trade-offs for this kind of savings, and there are with the Discounter’s view of real estate too.  The quantity and quality of marketing the discounter does will probably be reduced, the amount of personal attention the seller receives will probably be less (after all this broker has to do big volume to compete and has less time), and let’s just hope there’s not much else going on when the offer comes in. You don’t want your Discount Broker watching the clock and counting the seconds and thinking about wrapping this negotiation up so he can get on to the next one!

Limited Service Broker: This is a term the Full Service and Discounter Brokers invented to diminish the value of Brokers who don’t represent anyone in a transaction.  The model is different this time.  Usually it involves a set fee, often paid up front and non-refundable.  The Broker then takes the property information and does very limited marketing, usually just putting the property into MLS or on a FSBO website.  There is no hand-holding, no showing, no open houses, no communication, no assistance with pricing and strategy. All they are providing is access to a few marketing tools you probably don’t have access to on your own.  The kicker is, if you pay an MLS only Limited Service Broker to put your house in the MLS, you’re also going to have to be prepared to pay the other broker who sees the listing in MLS and then comes in with a buyer!  Suddenly, that rock bottom front fee is not looking like quite the bargain you expected!  Some Limited Service Brokers do provide representation – which means they look out for your best interest and get involved in negotiations and make sure the deal goes as planned to closing – but it’s often at an additional fee.

Help-U-Sell is something else all together.  We operate on a different planet than the three guys above.

We recognize that technology has made marketing a properly priced home pretty easy, and pretty standard.  The idea that your agent needs to create a completely customized, personal marketing campaign for your individual home is actually a little absurd today unless you are in some astronomical price range or in a completely unique boutique type situation.  Marketing is:  pricing the home properly, starting a buzz locally through signs, flyers, postcards, MLS, past clients and so on, making the property easy to find online via various websites (the more the better), social media outlets, video, QR codes and so on, and then being sharp as a tack when an inquiry comes in to make sure that, if the prospect is right for the home, the’ll get to see it.  It’s not rocket science.  It takes a professional working every day in the real estate business to do it well, to manage it and keep it on track, but it doesn’t take a super-human or even a star.

We also recognize that the best thing we can do for all of our sellers is to generate leads – potential buyers who contact our office and with whom we develop a working relationship.  And that’s what our marketing is designed to do: generate leads, not just for your individual house but for all the houses we have in inventory.  Truth is:  the caller rarely buys or even wants to see the house that motivated the call.  Once they have the information they often discover that there is something missing or not matching their needs.  That’s where the developing relationship with the agent on the other end of the line comes in.  If we really know our business, if we really know our inventory, if we are really good at listening, we probably have something else in inventory that would be perfect for this buyer . . . and that’s how we market your home.  A great Help-U-Sell office is like a clearing house for buyers and sellers, or maybe more like a buyer/seller dating service!

We acknowledge that there are a number of activities ordinary brokers routinely take on that might be better handled by the seller, and if the seller is willing to take on these generally easy tasks, they can achieve significant savings.  If the seller is up for it, we will coach them on how to hold their own open houses.  We’ll show them how to walk through the home with a prospective buyer.  We’ll provide them tools to use in spreading the word to friends, neighbors and co-workers.  If they can find a buyer through this kind of easy participation, we can cut them an amazing deal on our fee.  After all:  they’ve produced the buyer!  And, oh by the way, not all of our sellers opt in to participating in this way, and that’s ok.  We can still save them big time over ordinary brokers.  The good news about seller participation is that it is a lead generator for us – and since lead generation and capture is how we get our listings sold, all of our sellers benefit when one of them holds an open house.  Let me be a little more clear.  One of the tasks most sellers are not comfortable doing is following up with buyers who come through their home.  That’s great:  we don’t ask them to do that.  We do it for them.  Their job is to collect contact information on everyone who comes to their open house (essentially, nobody comes in without signing in – that just makes sense).  They share that with us and we make the follow-up call.  Sometimes the buyer just needs a little clarification or next-step help to move forward on the property, but more times, they’ve eliminated the property because it didn’t quite match their needs. And so we have yet another lead that might be perfect for one of our other listings.

Because we design our offices and our marketing to be big lead generators -and because leads, properly handled, drive the sale of our listings – our agents have a much more manageable job description.  You see, the ordinary real estate Broker builds his business by adding agents, agent after agent.  The only way the ordinary Broker can get the large number of agents required to make his business viable is by offering prospective agents HUGE commission splits.  Because the ordinary Broker has fewer dollars to work with after paying those huge splits, he can’t afford to orchestrate and implement the kind of lead generating marketing program the Help-U-Sell broker can.  Instead, the ordinary Broker delegates this responsibility to his agents who generally just do their own thing . . . which is not to market or generate leads, but to advertise in hopes that their latest ad will show the anxious seller that they are really working.   In a Help-U-Sell office that is all handled by the Broker.  Our Brokers are in charge of and responsible for marketing, for creating all of those leads that turn into buyers and sales.  Our agents are there to take care of the buyer leads our marketing has created.  Period.  We don’t ask them to market or to build our business on the strength of their sphere of influence, to prospect for listings or call on FSBOS.  We ask them to take the leads we’ve generated for them and to take incredibly good care of them as they find their dream home.  Building and maintaining listing inventory is the broker’s job, converting buyer leads into sales is the agent’s job.  And it’s a wonderful, manageable job!  Compare that with the job description of an ordinary agent who is expected to do everything from soup to nuts, essentially running his or her own real estate company within the Broker’s company!  No wonder they burn out so quickly!

We recognize that a  buyer for a particular home might come from several sources and that the cost of acquiring a buyer varies from source to source . . . and we price our services based on which source produced the buyer.  Ordinary real estate is a one-size-fits-all world.  Usually, when you list with an ordinary broker, the high percentage based commission you are agreeing to pay is designed compensate four different entities:  the Listing Agent and Listing Office, the Selling Agent and Selling Office.  But in most cases you’re going to pay that same high percentage based commission even if there is no outside agent or company involved in securing the buyer.  In fact, you’re probably going to pay full fare even if YOU find the buyer.  With Help-U-Sell the fee is based on where we had to go to find the buyer.  If you find the buyer through an open house or talking it up at work, you pay just our low set fee – usually thousands less than you’d pay an ordinary broker.  If you want, we’ll ask the buyers agents in our Help-U-Sell office to go to work trying to drum up a good buyer for the house and if they are successful, we’ll have to pay them as well . . . but you’ll still save thousands over what you’d pay most ordinary brokers.  Finally, if we have to go into MLS to find a buyer (and we don’t always have to!), you’ll pay your Help-U-Sell low set fee and you’ll have to take care of that outside agent and broker -which will be relatively expensive.  You’ll still save, but just not quite as much.  And, if you elect to go full-bore on marketing your home, if you do elect to participate, if you ask our Help-U-Sell buyers agents to get involved and you do opt to go into the MLS . . . and then you find the buyer yourself . . . all you’re going to pay is the low set fee, saving you maximum dollars.

There are a lot of other differences between what we do and what the other guys do, whether they are Full Service, Limited Service or Discounters.  But most are technical twists on how we operate our offices.  By the way:  that is a key to how we’re able to charge less and still maker more: we operate our offices very differently from ordinary brokers.  We’ll save those twists for another discussion and leave this one where it is.  I think it’s clear that we are different.  We don’t fit any of the definitions that the industry has put on itself.  We are a different category because we approach the task of selling a home differently.  And one of the big differences is that we make sense.

Clarifying Terms: Full Service Broker, Limited Service Broker, Discounter, Help-U-Sell is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

1. You are a Set Fee Real Estate Company
2. You market TO sellers
3. You market FOR listings because listings create opportunities for Lead Generation (Sign, Ad, Directional, Arrounds, Open House, etc)
4. Leads drive your business – there is no such thing as a ‘bad’ or ‘dead’ lead at Help-U-Sell
5. You realize that the way leads are handled and managed in your office is key to your success.
6. The one skill you practice almost constantly is:  handling buyer and seller inquiries, whether on the phone or from the Internet
7. You keep hard copies of all your buyer leads in a Buyer Pool Book.  This is the first place you go when you have a new listing.  It also feeds the buyer agents you bring in to help you take care of the business (leads) you’ve created
8. You recognize word-of-mouth advertising – whether via Facebook, Yelp, Zillow or the old fashioned way, person-t0-person – is the most powerful form of advertising there is
9. You build this word-of-mouth advertising by doing an excellent job, saving people money, and staying in touch
10. Your goal is to have your client base be so delighted with the service they receive (and the savings they achieve) that they become advocates for you in the field, a word-of-mouth recommending army
11. You believe in systems and employ them to do large numbers of transactions with just a few people
12. You are developing an asset (your company) and you have an exit strategy in mind, even if it is decades away
13. And, Oh yes:  you are having a whole lot of fun, too!

Congratulations!

And welcome to your life on Help-U-Sell!

Refresher Course is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

We have been talking about planning lately.  Specifically: planning for business growth in 2012.  I am urging you to keep it short and sweet, define your goals with a razor focus, write them down in bullets, not paragraphs.  I’m also urging you to create action plans for a shorter period:  say,  90 days.   Create your annual bullseye but plan your activity only for the next 3 months.  The short term action plan keeps you focused on the NOW and more open to opportunity as it appears.  It also enables you to take new information into account when you create your next set of action plans in 90 days.

The bulleted list of goals and action plans ought to fit on one page and ought to be in front of you every day.  Treat them like affirmations:  those simple one sentence phrases that, when carefully constructed and consistently considered are proven to create positive personal change.  Attacking 2012 with this kind of laser focus will keep you moving forward and doing what we all want to do:  MORE.

I have a slip of paper I keep tucked away in my keep-sake file.  It is about 4 inches wide and 10 inches tall.  It’s just a scrap, really.  But in 1987 I wrote half a dozen bullets on it.  They were things I wanted to achieve, big things.  I put the paper away and didn’t see it again for a couple of years . . . and you know what?   I had achieved every single thing I’d written.  Getting clear on your bullets, then committing them to writing is powerful.

This is also the time of year that we tend to make ‘resolutions.’  These are promises we make to ourselves to be better or happier or healthier or wealthier.   I don’t really see the need for a separation; I mean:  why can’t a good resolution or two be part of your annual business plan/quarterly action plan?  The last thing any of us wants to do is to stop becoming, whether as human beings or as businesses.

Dr. Maya Bailey, a business coach, has an article on Inman News today about resolutions that’s pretty good.  She lays out 5 steps.  Step 1 is to define what you want and be very specific:  what does success mean to you?  It’s different for different people.  Step 2 is to recognize your blocks and obstacles.  Interesting:  here are some of the most common limiting beliefs she finds in her clients:

• ‘I don’t have what it takes to succeed in today’s market’
• ‘I’m not assertive enough to market myself’
• ‘I’m not educated enough to be successful’
• ‘Who am I to have abundance and prosperity?’

My own Rx for that kind of thinking is Toastmasters.  Even if you never plan to speak in public, I know of no better way to build a little brass and to understand how much you have to offer.  It’s also a great way to network and expand your CI list.  Hmmm . . . Maybe Toastmasters ought to be on your resolution/business plan bulleted list?

Step 3 is to zero in on the areas you need to develop, which has a lot to do with being honest about your limitations and weak areas.  For example, consider that first limiting belief:  ’I don’t have what it takes to be successful in today’s market.’  I can’t tell you how many REALTORS I know who feel this way, largely about technology.  They are wonderful salespeople who see the business becoming ever more tech oriented and they feel lost.  Frankly, I don’t get it.  Why would you pine away about your lack of tech understanding when you could hire someone for $15 an hour to handle it for you?  And if that’s too much to pay, why not go to your local college and find an intern, possibly for free?  Oops . . . could this be yet another item on your plan for the year?

4  is to have a timeline and a plan.  We all need to be held accountable and most of us would like to believe we do a good job of that on our own.  That’s where self-imposed deadlines and timelines come in.  Unfortunately many of us discover that we don’t do a good job of holding our own feet to the fire.  This is not awful; it’s not even a failing; it’s just an indication that a good mentor, accountability buddy or coach is needed.  Could that be another resolution/business plan item for 2012?

Step 5 is to visualize the end result.  I’ve urged you to set big, annual, numeric production goals.  But what will your life look like when you achieve them? That’s what you want to visualize.  See yourself behaving as you will behave when you have achieved all the additional production you’ve planned . . . and then start acting as if you’ve already achieved it.

And above all:  find a way to be happy.  It’s a decision, you know.  None of this stuff works at all if you’re not operating from a place of general happiness.  Happiness precedes success.  In fact I’d assert that happiness is a pre-requisite for success.  Plain and simple:  Money loves Happy. Success seeks out happy people.  Get happy and watch all of your plans, your resolutions, your affirmations come to pass.

Resolution Solution is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Gather the following information about your 2011 production:

• Number of new listings taken
• Number of seller sides closed
• Number of buyer sides closed
• Average gross commission per closed side (all closed sides)
• Average gross commission per closed seller side
• Average gross commission per closed buyer side
• Average listing price
• Average sale price
• Average sale price as a % of average listing price
• Average days on market
• % of sales occurring ‘in-house’

Inquiries generated by category:

• Web
• Signs
• Print
• Mailing
• Referral
• etc.

Set big numeric goals for 2012:

• Increase production by 25% (or whatever % you choose).  Take new listings and closed sides and multiply each by 125%; if you took 100 listings in 2011, your goal for 2012 is 125 new listings, etc.
• Look at the mix of closed seller sides to closed buyer sides in 2011.  Your goal should most likely be a 50/50 mix.  If you see it way off from that – say a 70/30 mix of buyer sides to seller sides, you’ll need to set specific short range goals to tackle the problem.
• Look at your average gross commission per closed side.  How might you increase that?  Go after more expensive property?  Sell more buyer side transactions?  Increase your set fee?

Now, get real.

Truth is, the annual goal is just mile marker set way on down the road.  What’s important is what you’re going to do today, tomorrow and next week.  Think of your annual plan as a road trip across country.  You probably know where you want to end up and may even know some of the places you want to visit on the way, but by and large, you’ll invent your route as you go, responding to current conditions and opportunities in the moment.  As long as you’re moving toward your final destination, you’re on track.  So, for this exercise, consider the first quarter of 2012, January – March.  What are you going to do in the coming 90 days to move you closer to that distant mile marker?

• If you took 24 listings in this period in 2011 and are planning for a 25% increase, what are you going to do to ensure you get 30 by the end of the quarter?
• If you closed 28 sides between January and March of 2011, what are you going to do NOW to ensure you will close 35 by March 31?
• If you are getting, on average, 95% of list price as a sale price, what are you going to do to ensure that you’ll increase that to , say, 97%?
• If your average days on market is 110, what are you going to do to reduce that to,say, 100?
  • (By the way, the previous two items usually have most to do with how you price property at the time of listing)
• Look at your percentage of in-house closed sides.  What can you do to increase that?  Is it time to polish up your seller participation dialogues?  Are you ready to rethink the notion that every listing must go into the MLS?

Compare what you did in 2010 against the MLS

• If your average sale price as a percentage of list price is 95%, what is it for the MLS?  You’ll most likely discover that their number is worse than yours – say, 93% compared to your 95%.  If this is so, how might you use this information in marketing and in seller consultations?
• If your average days on market is 110, but the MLS is 123, do you have something worth crowing about?

And then consider the number of inquiries you generated by category:

• How many ended up as contactable entries in the Buyer Pool Book?
• How many converted to listings or sales?
• What can you do (over and above taking more listings) to increase the number of inquiries?
• What can you do to improve your conversion rates of inquiries to clients?

By the way, the Inquiry category is very important AND many will be unable to examine results and set goals for inquiries because they don’t keep track of them, or do so inadequately.  If this is YOU, make one of your first goals for 2012 to become obsessive about leads tracking, inquiry capture and conversion.  Next year, when you do this exercise, you want to have the numbers at your fingertips.

Please, o please:  do not create a ten page carefully crafted Business Plan for the year unless you want to go to the bank to borrow money.  Other than in that specific instance, those plans usually end up as dead documents in a drawer that are never  seen again.  Instead, put your annual and quarterly goals in a bulleted format – preferably on one page – that you can get to quickly.  Your goals and action plans for the immediate future should function almost as a set of affirmations that you look at every day.  Reminding yourself constantly that you need to have 30 new listings by the end of March is a giant step toward making it happen.

Planning for 2012 is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

There is a new piece of agent tech out that intrigues me.  It’s call the ABC Tool and it is an online client and transaction management tool.  It puts the agent at the center of the myriad of details that must be coordinated and provides an efficient platform for agents and their clients to communicate and move together toward a successful closing.

The tool is in BETA testing right now and pricing has not been established.  However, you can go to the website and sign up for a 30 day free account.  I’ve asked a couple of Help-U-Sell brokers to take a look and tell me what they think and will report back, but if you’re curious, take a look:

www.TheAbcTool.com

I stumbled on this in an Inman News article and was struck by the comments by ABC’s founder, Michele Serro.  Here’s how she describes the homebuying experience:

• Homebuyers range from wanting low- to high-touch experiences with their agents. Some homebuyers want complete autonomy, choosing to look at listings and homes by themselves; others want an agent to merely function as a sounding board; while yet others expect high-touch service from their agent, seeking accompaniment to showings and someone to run the deal.

• The real estate agent is the sun around which all other planets, and parties, revolve. As a central figure in the homebuying scenario, the agent needs are currently underserved by the market as well — from generating leads, prequalifying homebuyers, managing documents, and managing the expectations of clients.

• The process feels opaque, decentralized and out of control to most homebuyers. Homebuyers are seeking a single, centralized resource and repository to increase transparency around the process and communications between all stakeholders involved.

• Homebuyers seek validation and support throughout the process. Many homebuyers turn to friends and family members to provide both administrative and emotional support throughout the process, or are advised by other trusted service providers in the process.

• Document collection, management and sharing is a serious bottleneck. For all service providers involved in the buying or selling experience, document management is a critical, and often painful, part of the process. Missed milestones (often due to missed deadlines in document filing) can have lasting domino effects, ultimately impacting a homebuyer’s closing date.

• The complexity of buying a home today is exponentially greater than it was a few years ago. The housing market crash has resulted in fewer leads for agents, increased rigor, due diligence and regulation around financials, and extended timelines for those looking to buy.

And here is how she describes the ABC Tool:

Our tools and features coordinate agents and homebuyers seamlessly together, recasting the agents as the indispensable experts they are and supporting them in operating efficiently in an increasingly inefficient business environment and broken system.

(ABC Tool) takes care of much of the administration, so agents can focus on sharing their expertise of a certain area and putting best practices to good use — rather than filling out paperwork.

We also coordinate all the other players, like attorneys, inspectors and even lenders, and clearly spell out their roles and responsibilities along the way.

At first glance, I think this might be something that will improve efficiency, minimize errors and missed items, and above all, build agent value in the transaction process.  Check it out and please, report back!

The ABC Tool is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Tight budgets mean lean operations.

Is that Haiku?  Or something Confucius said?

Hardly; it’s just reality.  In a difficult market, you do lots of cutting.  You cut marketing, you cut facility expense, you cut personnel and you get to work covering as much as you can by yourself.

Now there is light at the end of the tunnel  and we know we have to gear back up to meet the oncoming demand . . . but the dollars are still tight.  How do you start getting done what you used to hire people to do?

Here’s an idea for you:  why not investigate bringing in a college intern to handle a few focused tasks?  You know:  the ones that are keeping you tethered to a desk and not out in the field meeting the people who will drive your business through the upturn.

Many colleges and universities have internship programs where pre and post graduate students, usually in their final semesters before graduation, take on tasks in the real world to apply some of what they’ve learned and gain experience.  Often the cost to an employer is minimal and sometimes free.

In most cases, the task(s) must be well defined with a beginning and an end and ‘grunt’ work – things like running errands and photocopying – is frowned upon.  But think about what an intern might be able to do for you:

• Optimize your web presence.  You have a magnificent tool in the Help-U-Sell website.  It blows the pants off anything else that’s out there.  But it requires your attention.  It must be optimized, localized, keyword-ized and continually refreshed to be most effective.  Plus there’s everything else you do to be visible online:  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Zillow, Trulia, blogs and on and on.  Who better to take this task on than a 21 year old marketing major who’s grown up at a computer?
• Do marketplace intelligence.  Our markets are turning rapidly now.  Everything’s shifting.  It’s a great time to do a thorough analysis of your market to determine the opportunities that are emerging.  Where are the high turnover areas?  What properties are most in need of a short sale expert?  Who’s facing foreclosure?  What’s happening to the demographics?  Gathering this valuable information is something none of us have time for, but a motivated business major could handle with ease.
• Competitor research.  Who’s doing what?  What programs are working and which ones are not?  What are the numbers?  Marketshare? Price ranges? Again, a business or marketing major would be ideal for this.

And that’s just three.

So how do you find programs in your area?  The same way you find anything else:  Google.  Try search strings like:  ’Birmingham college university internship’ or ‘internship opportunities in Orlando’ or ‘Boise State intern program’ You’ll be amazed at how many programs you will uncover.  Learn all that you can;  then, before you go through the proper channels, fill out all the paperwork, submit and wait, wait, wait . . .

Call the business/marketing/IT schools directly.  Ask for the person in charge of intern programs for that department.  Pick their brain a bit:  what does a good intern opportunity look like?  How have interns helped small business owners like yourself in the past?  Offer to meet with this key person and present to students.  Becoming involved will not only increase your chances of success with an internship, but will expand you circle of contacts.  Once you’ve put a personal spin on it, then go back and do the paperwork.

We were talking about this on the Roundtable Call yesterday and Ron McCoy mentioned that he frequently teaches real estate pre-licensing classes at his local college.  He said that he – and everyone else who teaches these courses – is always looking for brokers to come in and present their programs to the class.  What a wonderful opportunity for Help-U-Sell!  And, if you’re looking for an intern, maybe someone in that class will help you navigate the academic bureaucracy to get it done quickly.

If you run with this idea, I want to know how you do.  Tell me how you found your program, what you had to do to get it started, what was difficult and what worked well.  Good Luck!

Intern-alization is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Four of our top five Brokers were in attendance at the Summit, Nov 14-16 in Anaheim this year.  I asked Jack Bailey to facilitate a panel discussion around what they’re doing to grow their businesses in this market.  Here are:

• Patrick Wood – Help-U-Sell Prestige Properties – Chino Hills, CA
• Richard Cricchio – Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties – Honolulu, HI
• Karen Detwiler – Help-U-Sell Detwiler Realty – Carlisle, PA
• John Powell – Help-U-Sell Galleria Realty – Tucson, AZ

Because of time limitations on YouTube, there are four videos here, ranging in length from 12 – 14 minutes.  Sound improves about half way through the first segment, when we miked the group.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Top Producers at the Help-U-Sell Success Summit is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Reality:

• There are fewer deals in the market than there were 6 years ago
• Fallout rates have about doubled (today you sell 3 to close 2)
• Prices – and therefore commissions – have fallen
• Transactions, particularly Short Sale and REO Transactions, have become increasingly complex, requiring more time to process

The Bottom Line:

You are working much harder to close fewer transactions for less revenue

The only answer is to do MORE.  But HOW?  How are you going to do more?  You’re already maxed out . . . there are just 24 hours in a day . . . and, believe it or not, your energy level is a finite quantity!

We used to spend more on Marketing to do more.  Ordinary Realtors usually recruit more agents.  But we are in a New Reality, and if recent history is any indication, those methods are flawed at best.

This year, you’ll do more my creating more FACE TIME for yourself.

Face Time is the time you spend eyeball to eyeball with people.  It’s not time at the computer or with your nose in a file.  It’s your arena:  where your business germinates.

You’ll create MORE FACE TIME (and more deals) by exploiting efficiencies in your business.  Things like:

• Limiting the distance you will drive to take a listing and drive times in general
• Converting every repeatable event in your business into a step-by-step process
• Honing your scripts and dialogues until they are crisp and effective
• And so on

You’ll also create MORE FACE TIME by getting help.  It may come in the form of:

• A Buyer Agent who enables you to focus on Listings, Marketing and Lead Generation (most likely the highest and best use of your time)
• An Assistant who handles your paperwork, takes your calls and keeps your schedule
• An Intern (quite possibly a FREE Intern) from a local college who optimizes your website and builds your online presence (I’ve used bold italics on purpose)

Recognize that your business grows by personal contact.  The more personal contact you have, the better your business grows.  It is through personal contact that people come to like and trust you and that remains the single most important prerequisite to doing business with you.  Want MORE in 2012?  Minimize desk-time by exploiting efficiencies and getting help,  and Maximize FACE TIME. Meet The People.

* * * * * *

The above is a summary of my opening comments at the Success Summit.  Here are a few minutes of video from that talk:

Doing More in 2012 is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog

Boy, things sure are different from the last time I wrote up a purchase agreement!  That was almost 30 years ago.  Lenders were killing us with staggering interest rates (rather than foreclosures) but the business itself was fairly straightforward.  A buyer wanted to buy and a seller wanted to sell and most negotiations took place between those two parties via their agents.

Fall-out rates were in the 15% range.  Can you imagine that?  85% of your ratified contracts making it to closing?  Sounds heavenly.

Today, a single complete transaction package is about the size of the old MLS book I used to carry around and there are often lenders, investors, asset managers and more who have a stake in the deal.  In a word, real estate transactions have become very COMPLEX.  And from what I hear, for every six contracts written, just 3 – 4 will close.

I am generally in awe at the job most (good) Realtors do today.  As Donna Summer might chortle, ‘They work hard for the money.’  There are hundreds of details that need handling, dozens of potholes and roadblocks along the way and a multitude of deal killing explosions to navigate.  Picture:  O. J. Simpson running through an airport as he did in those old Hertz commercials, except now the concourse is a mine field!

Add to this the fact that prices and, therefore, percentage based real estate commission have fallen by nearly 50% in most markets and it’s suddenly common to hear brokers and agents say, ‘Well, I think I made about $10 an hour on that deal.’    It’s mathematical:  Falling prices + increased complexity = more hours + less money.

What’s wrong with this picture is that the business has moved on to a new age, but the way we do it is stuck in the last decade.  Today,  you probably can’t afford to do real estate in the intimate, hand-holding way we did it in the 80′s and 90′s.  Doing it all by yourself will wear you out and greatly limit the number of deals you can put together.

The solution seems to be to get help:  an assistant, an admin or someone to take some of the numbing complexity off your shoulders.    But how do you do that when you’re working harder than you’ve ever worked for much less money?

I know brokers who have assistants working on a per-closed-transaction basis, where the assistant receives $X or X% of every closed deal.  In theory, it’s a great way to work because the expectation is that the assistant will free the broker to do MORE, and as the broker does MORE, the assistant makes MORE.

I know brokers who have pressed their high school and college aged children, nieces and nephews into service, helping them evaluate and then install time saving, efficiency producing technology.

I know one broker who hired a new Mom and semi-retired real estate agent who wants the flexibility of working from home – in a way that allows her to keep her new daughter with her – to do all of his BPOs.  The broker can focus on taking listings and doing deals.

The important thing is this:  so many have gone back to being Phase I brokers, working alone, doing it all.  That has been an excellent response to the tightening of the market the last few years.  However, there is a downside:  as activity picks up, your ability to do more transactions is greatly diminished.  If you are maxed out today – and just getting by – how will you do more if you don’t find a way to transition to Phase II (which means getting help)?

This year, in late November – Early December we will begin our annual business planning process, but this year it will be a little different.  It’s going to all about getting to the next level, all about going from Phase I to Phase II, from Phase II to Phase III. To get your brain started around this challenge, check out John Powell’s presentation from last year’s rally swing:

New Age Real Estate is a post from: The Set Fee Real Estate Blog