Category: Help-U-Sell

REO Training!

By popular demand, we’re going to be offering Maurine Grisso’s REO Workshop starting next week.  Maurine authored and presented the program about 3 years ago and the results speak for themselves:  almost every Help-U-Sell broker who has broken into the REO market took the course.  Most of them point to Maurine’s training as the starting point in their REO journey.

We wanted to bring the program back for a couple of reasons:

  • Things have changed dramatically in 3 years.  The number of asset management players has shrunk and in cases the actual players have changed, procedures have evolved and the whole process has streamlined.
  • There is a big opportunity right now for those wanting to break into the REO segment.  A huge mass of new foreclosures sits poised and ready to enter the market.  Many of the old line players who got this business in the past are overwhelmed and/or have done such a poor job that new brokers are needed.  In some cases, policy limiting the number of REOs an individual broker can carry has created openings for more.  In short: this is NOT a closed door, there is an opportunity here, and if you want it and are willing to work for it, you can be successful.

Online classes kick off next Thursday, Feb. 16 at 10 am Pacific time.  There are four sessions, one a week at the same time, each lasting about an hour.  Completion of the course will result in a Certificate – which has been a credibility booster for those seeking this business in the past.  Cost to participate:  $0. That’s right:  it’s free.  You need only invest your time and focus.

You must register for this program and you do so by sending an email to me:  jamesdingman@helpusell.com

Right now we are at 10 reservations and we probably have room for about 4 more, so don’t hesitate too long!

Well . . . Another Word On Syndication, After All

You know, if the brokers pulling out of syndication were serious about ‘going to the source’ being in the best interest of consumers, they wouldn’t put their listings in MLS.  I mean, a dim agent from across town is just as likely to show your listing having found it on the MLS ( and having never seen it) as one who snares a lead from Trulia.

Of course, we at Help-U-Sell have long maintained that every listing does not need to go into MLS and often hold back the most salable listings so that our sellers can save the most money.  Our fee stays the same either way.  When we do have non-MLS exclusives, syndication is very important.  We can give a seller huge exposure on the Internet without going into MLS.  Of course, when that competitor agent snares a lead on our exclusive from an aggregator site, we have to tell them that the seller has not agreed to pay their commission . . . but then, that’s kinda fun, isn’t it?

Core Values

Up until about 2006 we had a very coherent statement of those things we hold most dear:  our Core Values.  Great care was taken in the creation of the list.  We didn’t want what usually passes for this kind of statement – a bland list of noble words that don’t really describe the company.  We wanted this list to be real.  And it was.  But then there was a changing of the guard in 2006 and the old set was scrapped and replace by somebody else’s idea of who they wanted to be . . . and the original list was abandoned.

I’ve been thinking about that original list lately and I’d like to revive it.  It truly describes who we are (not who we want to be, but who we really are right now).

1.  Integrity

  • We tell the truth.
  • We believe so deeply in our product that we don’t have to stoop to techniques and manipulation to be successful:  all we have to do is tell people what we have.
  • We provide a valuable service for a reasonable fee.
  • We make an honest living.  We don’t  ‘make a killing’ on every closing. We are paid fairly by the people we serve.
  • We believe in our program.
  • We realize we are different.  We have a unique offering for the consumer that is fundamentally better than what traditional brokers offer.
  • Our system works.  Period.
  • Our words, our actions and our beliefs are in sync.  We don’t say one thing but do something else.

2.  Information without obligation

  • We don’t hoard or hide information.
  • We answer questions honestly without technique or manipulation.
  • Our selling style is to educate; we empower our customers with information.

3. Consumer choices

  • One size does not fit all.
  • We allow the consumer to choose the services he or she would like to employ and then we charge them based on how the home actually sells.
  • Our focus is always on how we can better serve the consumer.

4. Seller participation

  • We believe in our customers’ ability to handle some aspects of the sale.
  • We partner with our sellers to market their property.  We HELP YOU sell your property.
  • We coach our sellers through the process.

5. Seller savings

  • Because we always have our customers’ best interest at heart, the more we can save them, the better.
  • We deliver high value service for a set fee considerably lower than the commissions charged by other offices.

6. Buyer/Seller contact

  • Because we believe in our service, we don’t have to justify our existence by getting between the parties.
  • We believe that most people are honest and principled.
  • Our job is to coach, educate and facilitate a successful transaction.

7. Unique management model

  • We believe that we can offer a high value service to consumers and make a healthy profit at the same time.
  • We organize our offices to serve the consumer, not the agent.
  • We believe it is our business; we hire people to help us do more of it and do it better.

8. Powerful marketing system

  • We are a marketing company.  We study our marketplace and our marketing to make sure we are maximizing results.
  • We have a marketing plan and we stick to it.
  • We measure results.
  • We actively market real estate

And here it is once again without the extra verbiage:

  • Integrity
  • Information without Obligation
  • Consumer Choices
  • Seller Participation
  • Seller Savings
  • Buyer/Seller Contact
  • Unique Management Model
  • Powerful Marketing System

This set of 8 Core Values is more than mere words on a page.  It is a living breathing entity, one we use every day to remind us who we are and to help in decision making.  Any time you are considering a change to your program or a new piece of marketing or a new way of doing anything, take out the list and weigh what you’re considering against it.  If it does not align with your 8 Core Values, then it’s probably something you shouldn’t do.  We are a principal centered organization and these are the principals on which we base our business.  Be proud of them. Display them.  Share them with your staff and give them a little time every day.

 

 

 

 

Richard Cricchio, Help-U-Sell and the Office Exclusive Listing

We had quite a Roundtable Call today.  Lots of good information flew around, but one item really struck me.

Richard Cricchio from Honolulu started talking about ‘Office Exclusive Listings.’  I asked him to clarify and he responded:

‘When we take a call on a listing, we always ask if the caller is working with an agent.  If they’re not, we send them directly to the seller to arrange a showing.  The seller shows the house and we followup afterward.  That way, if the buyer moves forward on the house, all the seller pays is the Set Fee.  They save the largest amount of money.  We’ve always done that on all of our listings and it’s helped drive the message that we are about savings.’

It sounded like such a radical idea.

But it’s not.

It’s about 35 years old.  It’s a thing called ‘Help-U-Sell’.  That’s how this company was designed by Don Taylor.  That’s why it’s called ‘Help-U-Sell‘.  As we turned the corner on the new millennium, we started adjusting the model here and there.

First, the seller’s phone number came off the for sale sign.  Remember, for 25 years, our listings were ‘For Sale WITH Owner’ and we put the sellers number on the sign so buyers could contact them directly.  We did that for two reasons:  first, it gave the seller the greatest opportunity to save, which is what we wanted so they’d tell everyone they know about us and second because it’s a way of multiplying our efforts, enabling us to more that we’d otherwise be able to do.

Then we started capturing buyers and showing our listings ourselves.  Sellers still could find their own buyers by holding open houses and talking the house up with the neighbors and at work.  But we wanted a relationship with that buyer, so we started handling the showings ourselves.

I’m not saying either of these adjustments was wrong.  But I do think it’s interesting that the guy who is way out ahead of the pack in our currently running Winter Warm Up Contest is still sending buyers directly to his sellers.  How much time are you spending each week running over to show a listing to a new buyer?  If your sellers handled that task for you, what else could you be doing with that time?  Are your followup skills strong enough that you could still build a relationship with that buyer after they’ve seen the listing with the seller?  After all, most of the time they’re not going to buy that house anyway.

In today’s market, where so many sellers have so little equity, I’d think giving them the greatest change of finding their own buyer and saving the largest amount of money would be very appealing.  Think about it.

Survey Sez

I sent a short survey to our members yesterday to help in putting together the plan for 2012.  Though I may still get some responses, most are already in and I thought I’d update you on the results.

92.5% of respondents believe business will be better in 2012.

They ranked the biggest challenges facing them this year as follows:

  • Marketing:  45%
  • Staffing/Recruiting:  42.5%
  • Lead Incubation:  37.5%
  • Finding qualified & motivated buyers:  27.5%
  • Controlling expenses:  25%
  • Pricing listings properly:  15%
  • Financing and lenders:  12.5%

Write-in responses to the question were:

  • Keeping ahead of new technology & its cost
  • Selling homes that are NOT in a foreclosure or shortsale status
  • finding equity sellers who are willing to price at today’s values
  • Managing and following up on leads
  • Implementing everything I have learned
  • The number of sellers
  • Finding sellers. Really need listings
  • Focus on Highest and Best use of my Time
  • Getting my company back to where I was 2 years ago

As I look at these responses I can see that everyone is gearing up to do MORE in 2012.  We want to explore new ways of marketing because we believe marketing will drive leads – that hasn’t always been the case in the last few years.  We interested in staffing and recruiting because we know we’re going to need help as the market heats up.  We want to learn how to better incubate leads because, heck!  we’re expecting to have leads to incubate!  And so on.

When asked where we should hold the next Help-U-Sell Success Summit, respondents said:

  • A California Beach location:   40%
  • Las Vegas:  34.3%
  • Orlando, inconjunction with NAR:  25.7%

Write-in responses were:

  • San Diego
  • Somewhere in the Mid-West
  • Milwaukee
  • East Coast or Mid-Country location with inexpensive airfare
  • Santa Barbara
  • Driving Distance (!)
  • Anywhere

When asked about the time of day to hold the Wednesday Broker Roundtable call, the majority said 9am Pacific time – which is when we currently hold them!  8am came in second and 11am, third.

I was encouraged that when asked how we at Home Office could better support them, respondents gave us pretty good marks, saying things like ‘nothing,’ ‘support is adequate,’ and ‘you’re doing fine.’  There were also some meaningful comments relating to how we can better partner with our members to achieve greater penetration in local markets.  All comments are appreciated and we will consider everything you told us.  Thank you!

 

 

 

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