Realty World Northern California & Nevada

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I’m new at this real estate thing. I have lived my life in technology, an industry that has a community that knows many of its influential members and keeps an eye on them. The real estate community is large as well and made up of lots of people who know about specific areas, which means it can be daunting to try to track and talk to key players.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try though. I suggest getting to know and getting active in local committees, groups and associations. Forget about the politics of the organization, as that often distracts members or perspective members, and focus on the larger mission. Why wouldn’t you want to get to know the people that are making decisions that affect your job, stay on top of the latest and greatest, and voice your opinion when you don’t like something?

There are a lot of changes happening, getting involved is good for you, good for business and good for the entire industry. Looking for a list of places to get started – try checking with your broker or franchise – if they don’t know, start asking why not.

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I always get a little frustrated at the end of the year because it seems like resolutions are all about reminding you what you’ve done wrong the last 365 days. “I ate too much so I need to lose weight.” “I spent too much so I need to save.” And on and on it goes… reminding us of what we’ve done wrong and how we could, no, SHOULD, be doing better.

Well I’m sick of it. I’d like to celebrate some of the stuff people have done right and I’d love an agent or broker that did it too. Here are some ways you can help home buyers and sellers feel good about starting the year.

• Congratulate all the people that bought a home on achieving their piece of the American Dream. Remind them that they have already accomplished a huge milestone!
• Give a hi-five to those that managed to sell their homes with you this year – letting them know that selling a home in this market was no small feat!
• Reach out to those that have contacted you this year and congratulate them on taking the first step toward one of the biggest purchases of their life and give them kudos for making home ownership a priority.
• Send thank you’s and a pat on the back to your family and friends for sticking with you through a rough economy and for being a big part of your life.

Give these reaffirmations a try when you’re pondering those resolutions. You’ll start the year off with a smile.

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I’m sitting in Raleigh-Durham Airport after my first Christmas at home in three years. Having my first few moments of peace and quiet in over a week I can reflect on the time I got to spend with my wacky yet normal family. It occurs to me that there are a lot of practices we use in our personal life that translate well to the business world, and certainly to social media. Here are a couple things I took note of:

• Greet everyone with a hearty handshake, a smile and ask them how they’re doing – and care about the answer. Nothing warms people up like some sincerity, a little laughter and a personal anecdote or two.
• Be yourself, your regular wacky self. People like people that are genuine – even if they don’t agree with you. It makes you more trustworthy (because you never know if you can believe someone that seems to be trying to please everyone) and gives you a unique personality.
• Offer people refreshments. Too often when I get to a business engagement I’m hustled into a room where I’m immediately inundated with questions, put on a podium or asked to start a PowerPoint. I typically am much more at ease with my surroundings when I get the chance to have a glass of water and a short chat with the person I’m doing business with first.
• Write “thank you” notes – on paper. Then mail them – in the actual mail with a stamp. It shows people you appreciate their time, gift, donation, whatever. I write thank you notes for job interviews, donations to charities, dinner parties, etc. and they have done more for my relationships with people than a million emails ever could.
• Remember names. I know, I know – this is a tough one. That’s what your phone is for though – in the contact section that you save the business contacts, right after you have left someone’s office, home or wherever you were meeting – put their spouse, children, dog, etc. names in there under the notes area. People are really happy when you ask how little Sarah is doing with gymnastics or if Fido is doing well, plus it’s a great conversation starter when you need more to talk about than the weather.

I hope you enjoyed your holidays and learned a few things from your families as well – feel free to share them here!

That is the statement put forth in the latest Levitt and Dubner (authors of Freakanomics) book, Super Freakanomics. Claiming, “Just as you can sell your body with or without the aid of a pimp, you can sell your house with or without a Realtor,” they say. “While Realtors charge a much lower commission than the pimps — about 5 percent versus 25 percent — the Realtor’s cut is usually in the tens of thousands of dollars for a single sale.” OUCH.

Unfortunately, the abuse doesn’t stop there. They continue with, “the Internet is proving to be a pretty powerful substitute for the Realtor.”

While I think the pimp comment is just ridiculous and doesn’t need to be addressed, I do see quite a bit of tension about using the Internet as a real estate agent replacement. While I’ve met a small segment of people in real estate that are working with the Internet to increase their brand awareness and build relationships, the majority of real estate agents I come across aren’t doing this. I hear a myriad of excuses or rationalizations (I just finished a three week tour teaching real estate agents technology and social media – I’ve heard it all now!) for why they don’t need the Internet:

• What I’m doing works just fine.
• It doesn’t work, I know someone that tried it and they didn’t get any business.
• My customers aren’t on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or places like that.

Feeling like the Internet is your opponent and working against it, instead of working with it, can lead to feeling defeated or resentful of the power the Internet has. Here are my responses to each of the reasons given above:

• What I’m doing works just fine. — What you are doing may be working “fine” but what if you could be doing something that works great? Just getting by now may not be the case in a few more years – just look at how much things have changed in the past five years alone. Learning how to make technology work for you, as a part of your business (it doesn’t have to be the whole thing) will pay off in big ways. Don’t stop doing what makes you successful, instead, look for ways to integrate some ways to use online tools to ensure you stay successful and to engage new audiences.
• It doesn’t work, I know someone that tried it and they didn’t get any business. — I hear this a lot, that the agent or someone they know has tried technology and social media and it didn’t work. I equate this to the same things I hear when people try to lose weight and say that it doesn’t work. It is important to not take shortcuts, try to buy expensive ‘quick fixes’ or listen to infomercial sales people who promise overnight results or try to scare you into a decision. With social media and technology, you will need to be yourself, pick the medium that works best for you and your customers, and stick with it for at least 90-120 days before expecting results. Just like building relationships face-to-face in your community, time and consistency is the only way to create sustainable presence online.
• My customers aren’t on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or places like that. — Consumers are everywhere. If these people aren’t “your” customers then they are working with someone else and you could be missing out. Social media and technology use ages are averaging in the late 20’s and early 30’s for most popular sites like blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn. Each year, these numbers grow exponentially, and expand to include more industries and markets. The growth also means that the Internet, like everything else, is maturing and sorting out what works. Much of the noise and frustration is being sorted out or people are at least being given options about exposure to ads, outside requests, etc.

If you are feeling like the Internet is being substituted for you, or overwhelmed – please don’t give up. Forge a powerful alliance with the Internet and harness it’s power to work with your current efforts. There are a lot of great places to get answers – but remember, these answers should be free and not scare you!

We all need to work together to dispel the notions that cause Realtors to be likened to pimps or that they are easily replaced by Internet sources. As always, I welcome your comments, feedback and questions.

So, as I’ve said before – I’m not a Realtor… but at least I know that… I wonder if the rest of the population does at times. It seems as though I can’t make it through a day without hearing so much conflicting information – a few examples:

“Now is the perfect time to buy, prices are so low, even California is affordable! Don’t miss out!”
“The market will really bottom out in a year or two when the next crash happens. Just wait til then.”
“No one can get approved – not even people with great credit.”

The list goes on and on – people everywhere spreading misinformation, propaganda and recycling news they’ve heard from others on the hot topic of the real estate market.

The fact of the situation is: Everyone’s situation is different – and only a Realtor can assess your situation and help you figure out the options that work best for you. If you’re thinking about buying, selling, staying put or just plain curious – contact a trusted Realtor to get some facts. Most are more than happy to talk shop with you and want to keep the public (even those of us not buying or selling right now) informed, because no one wins when you make a transaction you’re unhappy with.

So, stop listening to Suzie down the street; find a Realtor and ask away!

Erin Robbins
Social Media & Marketing Director
erin.robbins@rwnc.net