Posted by Johnny Huang on January 30, 2010 at 12:11pm
Lately, I'm finding myself (and I'm sure the other folks in this forum) a bit impatient regarding listings and REO's.When REOPro announced their Realty Pilot, assigning REO's, referral fees, people jumped for joy and wanted it now!When Excellen announced their survey was going out, I knew everyone would be excited like kids at a candy store waiting for a free hand out. It is wonderful to hear new developing news, but really, it's developing news!When Res.net sent out that "email" (granted it was announced premature by the CEO of Excellen), I bet people signed up for Res.net and AMP without blinking.I WANT TO SAY HOLD YOUR HORSES, HOLD YOUR POSITION, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT...JUST BE PATIENT AND GET OUT THERE AND PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS LOCALLY!Who can we blame? No one but ourselves. We are a "I want it now" generation. I want my email now, I need my listing now, I need my coffee now! Forget brewing it, I need it NOW!!!Ok folks, time to step back and look at your position in the real estate chess board. We all want business, but are we lined up correctly? Do you have your education lined up? Do you have your contact management lined up? But wait, we're in real estate! It's not just about listing, right?I think we are missing the other half. Buyers need us as well! Do you have a marketing plan to generate buyers, even if you don't have listings? Do you socialize outside your friends and families and stick your neck out of your comfort zone? Are you using Meetup.com, chamber of commerce, realtor marketing groups to generate referrals?After reading "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" it's all about the 3 L's. Leads, Listings, Leverage. Leads is a big part of the business, without it, you can't hit the listings.GL, HF, DD :-)
Great post Johnny, you beat me to the punch. I expressed this very topic to my team during our Jan meeting last week. If agents put as much time prospeting buyers, and shoring up their bussiness systens as they did into trying to get on the REO train, i belive they would be pleasantly suprised. Most recently I've gotten 3 buyers in 3 days. The REOs and big need is temp, buyers are perminate and will be a cirtical key to future success when you look 4 to 5 years down the road.
I also am trying to keep my business well rounded. Yes, I am working REO...absolutely! However, I am also working on the basics of my business for other leads and buyers. I am trying to keep my business even and in thirds... 1/3 reo, 1/3 referral or eteam or relocation, 1/3 generated by my efforts (outside reo) . I think that this is a healthy balance and I will not be left high and dry when the market changes yet again. And we all know that it will eventually....
Hi Johnny I agree with you, we can't sit here waiting for REOPRO, Exceller or any other new company to come and find us, we need to go out there and build relationships, and sometimes the business doesn't come right away, but we need to cultivate it and wait the opportunity, but the key is to be ready and run with the new opportunities.
I met some people at Five Star last year, my first conference, from that I just received assignments from 2 new clients this month. I recieved 10 new assignments for some that is below average, but for me that is the most houses assigned in one month.
I am sure before the end of the year, I will have 2 to 3 new clients. We have constantly work our sphere, our connections and even the relatioship with other agents, I have 3 terrific buyer agents, and I just added a property manager for my team. in January we picked up 5 new landlords with a total of 12 properties to manage, it is a start, I am working on another future client with 20 units.
My business right now consist of 50% REO, 25% Short Sales and traditional listings, 20% first time buyers, 4% investors and developers (return clients) and 1% Property Management. I have cut down on bpos and now I am just doing 50 a month, but I will try the realty pilot automation to see if I can increase my bpos again.
It is important to diversify, at the end of the day we need to put food on the table, But we can't stretch thin and do a bad job for the clients, otherwise we will loose the business and create a negative reputation. When I started in real estate four and half years ago, someone told me in a class that 7% of the agents make all the money and the reminding 93% just make enough to live. I want to be in the top 7% and I work hard. There are teams in my area with 5 times more transactions than my team, and I want to be there one day. I also heard it takes 7 to 10 years to be there I am coming up on year 5.
I think the biggest question for everybody is, what are we doing to get the 3 L's? I really hope it is more than waiting for the phone call while doing desk duty, or waiting for the asset manager to call you.
You are so right on Johnny. I too am cultivating buyers that are still fence sitting or waiting to steal a deal. But with patience it will be all good. Still farming my sphere and yes still competing for the fair market listings. We are so programmed to chase the REO business the basics of real estate get lost. I for one will not chase the asset managers or new services or pay fees for this and that. I cannot build my business on promises and threats. I can however build my business on professionalism, knowledge, integrity and honesty. Back to the basics is always a good thing. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, there is a whole world of business just waiting to be dealt with out there. I
Comments
I met some people at Five Star last year, my first conference, from that I just received assignments from 2 new clients this month. I recieved 10 new assignments for some that is below average, but for me that is the most houses assigned in one month.
I am sure before the end of the year, I will have 2 to 3 new clients. We have constantly work our sphere, our connections and even the relatioship with other agents, I have 3 terrific buyer agents, and I just added a property manager for my team. in January we picked up 5 new landlords with a total of 12 properties to manage, it is a start, I am working on another future client with 20 units.
My business right now consist of 50% REO, 25% Short Sales and traditional listings, 20% first time buyers, 4% investors and developers (return clients) and 1% Property Management. I have cut down on bpos and now I am just doing 50 a month, but I will try the realty pilot automation to see if I can increase my bpos again.
It is important to diversify, at the end of the day we need to put food on the table, But we can't stretch thin and do a bad job for the clients, otherwise we will loose the business and create a negative reputation. When I started in real estate four and half years ago, someone told me in a class that 7% of the agents make all the money and the reminding 93% just make enough to live. I want to be in the top 7% and I work hard. There are teams in my area with 5 times more transactions than my team, and I want to be there one day. I also heard it takes 7 to 10 years to be there I am coming up on year 5.
I think the biggest question for everybody is, what are we doing to get the 3 L's? I really hope it is more than waiting for the phone call while doing desk duty, or waiting for the asset manager to call you.