In This Issue...
Words of a Champion
Dirk Zeller
CEO
Dear Champion Coaches Corner Subscriber,
A couple weeks ago I told you I would be revealing a new technology program; I would be holding out on you if I did not tell you about something revolutionary that was brought to me recently. If you have been following me for any course of time you know that I rarely endorse outside products and services. I have taken that stand for a couple reasons.
I guard my reputation carefully. I do not want to be tarnished by recommending something that doesn’t deliver results or if the product or services endorsed doesn’t stand behind or in front of their product and services.
There are too many speakers who are walking, breathing commercials. I never want to be viewed that way.
I honor the trust and confidence you leave in me as one of my best clients or best customers. I do not want to jeopardize the trust you have placed in me.
There is a service that I must tell you about that will blow your mind; it did mine! In the span of a couple of weeks two people that I trust as professionals and friends introduced this revolutionary service to me. One is Elizabeth Ward Small, who is one of the rising stars in real estate and speaking and training instructors. I coached Elizabeth as an Agent almost 10 years ago to a new level in her business. Right after Liz told me, “You have to learn about this.” Bill Cates, “The Referral Coach”, also shared with me the power of this service.
The company is called Send Out Cards. The exciting part is that you can automate all of your past client correspondence and all of your lead follow-up pieces. You can basically set up the system and it will process for you automatically, at minimal cost. In the words of Ron Popeil (the infomercial guy), “You can get it and forget it!”
I truly can’t do justice in explaining the power of Send Out Cards in an email. We have made arrangements for our best customers to get an insiders look. We have created a free webinar on Thursday, November 20th at 11:00am PST (please adjust for your time zone) to demonstrate how easy, powerful, and inexpensive it is to stay in touch with your past client sphere and anyone else you desire with a few keystrokes and mouse clicks.
I urge you to sign up for this exclusive webinar to see the power of Send Out Cards. We have made it easy by using this link below to register for the webinar:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/946874865
We are in the fourth quarter of the year. It is always the most important quarter each year. With all the turmoil in the credit market that is affecting the real estate market, this year is no different. Stay focused, keep prospecting, and qualify your prospects more… you will win!
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/946874865
To Your Achievement of Greater Success in 2009,
Dirk Zeller, CEO
RealEstateChampions.com
If you’re tired of struggling to keep up with the changes in your marketplace, maybe it’s time you empower yourself with the Champion's Guide to…
Tough Market Domination™
Dear Champion Agent,
A few months ago I received a call from a close friend of mine we affectionately call “John G” here at my office. We have a long real estate history together which includes him as a client, him as one of our Master Real Estate Coaches, and as a co-author of The REALTOR®'s Ultimate Business Planning Kit™.
John and I spoke about how tough the markets are now and how bad a time Agents are having trying to not only survive, but dominate in this new marketplace.
He told me, “Dirk we’ve got to put together something for our customers & clients. Maybe we could put together a couple of CDs of everything they need to do to survive through 2008 and 2009 until things turn around. Some kind of Real Estate Survival Kit or First Aid Kit or something!”
I wholeheartedly agreed with him that something had to be done. Read More...
Learn How to Dominate
in a Tough Real Estate Market
It Lives In Your Language - By John Gualtieri
I took one of those “wonderful,” mandatory, Continuing Education Classes this year. If you live in The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, (or any other state that requires that you take them every year or two) you know what I’m talking about. It’s basically a day of “torture by boredom!” Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all in favor of Personal Development and Education, but spending the entire day learning about Title Insurance is not my idea of how to best spend my Personal Development hours!
At any rate, a very interesting and profound observation was “given” to me that day, and I must admit, that what came to me, made the wasting of an entire day worth it – well at least almost worth it! Before the class started and during the breaks, I had a chance to chat with most of the Agents in attendance; there were about 50 people in the class. Without exception, every conversation in which I was engaged was comprised of the “usual stuff” that Real Estate Agents talk about:
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Many were talking about a difficult negotiation in which they were currently involved.
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Some spoke about how they were trying to “save” a particular transaction that had gone bad.
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A few spoke about “just how terrible” a particular client with whom they were working was.
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Two of them were talking about the latest diet they were “trying.”
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One was telling jokes.
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A few asked me if I would give them a “magic bullet” that would transform their respective businesses overnight.
As I mentioned, these conversations were the “usual stuff,” but after spending about 1 minute with each Agent, I felt myself literally struggling to pay attention to what was being said, and trying to politely disengage. For the record, I consider myself, as Deepak Chopra says, “to be neither beneath anyone, nor above anyone,” and I will be the first person to admit that I certainly don’t have all of the answers! But I have learned a few fundamental truths in my journey, and I would like to share one with you now:
“It” Lives in Your Language!”
Now just what do I mean by this? Very simply stated, “whatever you focus your mind upon, will literally “seep-out” into your language” –- into your everyday conversations. Because I was literally on the verge of falling asleep for much of that day, my subconscious mind was “wide open,” and it began to ponder the following questions:
- Why weren’t there any conversations about business plans for 2009?
- Why wasn’t anyone talking about prospecting and marketing plans for the New Year?
- Why didn’t I hear anything about some commitments and re-commitments to Personal Development areas?
- Why wasn’t anyone talking about important lessons they had learned in 2008?
- What about team building, profitability, and time management?
Think about it! There were 50 plus Agents in that room for eight hours, many of them very good and very productive. But not a single conversation centered on anything that really mattered! The reason why this occurred (or didn’t occur) should be obvious to you by now:
These Agents were all focused upon the “usual stuff” that Agents are focused upon, none of which really matters, and this “usual stuff” is what lived in their language!
The really tragic thing about what I observed that day is that this is pretty much the “norm” in our industry. We have been programmed (as an industry) to focus on this “usual” stuff, and not on those things that will really make a difference in our lives and in our businesses. We have become masters of the next deal, and sadly, haven’t mastered the art and science of building outstanding Real Estate Practices, and more importantly, outstanding lives!
Here’s a great lesson for us all – if you want to know what you’re focused upon at any given moment, pay very close attention to your language – your everyday conversations with yourself and others. What are you focused upon most of the time? Remember, whatever you are truly focused upon on a consistent basis will not only “live in your language,” but it will most certainly expand in your personal universe. Let’s be vigilant! Let’s make sure that we focus like laser beams on what is truly important, and let these noble and uplifting thoughts dominate our everyday language—let’s make a firm commitment to transcend the soulless “psycho-babble” of the “usual stuff.”
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Keys To Representing A Buyer
The Buyer’s Agent is responsible for crafting, presenting, writing a proper contract for, and prompting acceptance of a good offer. Follow these steps:
Your first step is to guide your clients toward a competitive offer. Perform at least a quick competitive market analysis, or CMA, to determine the value of the property. Among the factors you’ll want to weigh are the home’s current value based on the value of comparable properties, regional housing inventory levels, and the competitive nature of the current marketplace. Your findings will help your clients arrive at a reasonable price decision and help you to counsel them as they make a competitive offer.
Once your clients have arrived at a competitive price to offer, your primary job as their representative is to properly prepare the contract you will present on their behalf to the sellers. Your goal must be to protect your clients by writing terms and conditions that convey their intentions and meet their goals.
For most people, a home purchase represents the largest investment they make, the biggest purchase in their lives, the greatest and longest-lasting debt they assume. The purchase agreement you write must protect them by addressing every issue – the price being offered, the items to be included in the purchase price, the amount to be deposited, the closing date, the date the offer becomes null and void, and any condition that accompanies the offer, including contingencies based on the outcome of inspections, approval of financing, and personal property transferring with the sale or other issues.
When you’re ready to present to the sellers, present the offer and your buyers as the best in the marketplace. Presenting the offer favorably to the seller can mean the difference between your clients or other bidders buying the house. The stronger you can position your buyers by presenting their financial capacity, superior commitment, motivation, and even a human connection, the more you will swing the negotiation in favor of your clients.
For some sellers, a human connection is the tipping point in choosing one set of buyers over others. For example, an offer from a family the sellers imagine will re-create their cherished memories in the home may trump another offer that is absent the human connection, even if the offer results in equal or even slightly less money.
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Keys To Representing A Seller
Sellers have plenty of reasons to be emotional during the final negotiation. They are undergoing change, making huge decisions, and dealing with a transaction that probably involves a major, if not the most important, investment they own. Your role in this environment, and the key to your success, is twofold: Be prepared and protect the seller at every step along the way.
Be Prepared
By carefully preparing before you present a buyer’s offer to your clients, you can shorten the meeting, craft a better counter offer, keep seller emotions in check, and focus your clients on the next important steps. Follow this advice:
- First and foremost, remain calm no matter how high or low the offer starts.
- Go through the buyer’s offer carefully and note any key issues that need addressing.
- Flag any contract points that merit your seller’s attention, so you can easily reference them during the meeting. If you’re faxing the document, also summarize the key points on the fax cover sheet. This way your seller won’t dig through every line of the contract. That’s your job!
- If your meeting will take place by phone rather than in person, fax the offer to the seller within minutes of your conversation. If your phone conference is set for 2pm have the documents faxed sometime between 1:30 - 1:45pm. You don’t want the sellers to spend a few hours brooding if the price is low, and you certainly don’t want them to call you with questions, concerns, and panic attacks half a dozen times prior to the scheduled phone conference.
Protect the Sellers at All Times
The worst thing that can happen to a seller is to have the transaction fall apart a few days before closing. By then they are emotionally invested in another property. They’ve already made plans to move. They’re excited about the future. And then, wham, everything falls apart and everyone – you and they – lose market time, marketing momentum, and a considerable investment of time and money.
In the aftermath of this kind of disastrous situation I’ve had the chance to look at the contracts that were written. I’ve seen examples that make me cringe, where the Agent didn’t protect the client, and all parties paid dearly for the mistake in the end.
Even the most thorough approach will result in a broken deal once in a while. By taking these precautions you can keep disasters to a bare minimum:
- Require prospective buyers to deposit enough earnest money to secure your client’s position. Set the earnest money high enough to make it difficult for the buyer to purchase another home if they walk from the deal once all contingent conditions are satisfied. You may be thinking that this advice conflicts with your objective to achieve a win/win outcome. In fact, it simply requires buyers to uphold their end of the deal or sacrifice their deposit. Remember, you are representing the sellers, and protecting your client’s interest is your fiduciary duty.
- Not many buyers will walk from a deal when an amount like $5,000 at a minimum is at stake. Yet many agents allow initial deposits as low as $1,000 or $2,000 to squeak by. The rationale is that the buyers won’t have the cash available to make a higher deposit, but if the buyers need $15,000 to close in 30 days, depositing $5,000 upfront won’t kill them.
- If necessary, consider accepting part of the deposit in the form of a short-term note. Only do this if there is no other way to increase the earnest money. If available cash really is a buyer issue, at least get a few thousand dollars deposited immediately and make arrangements to receive the balance within a few weeks, securing the latter portion with a note. Never secure the initial earnest money with a note for more than 24 hours. If you accept a note for the additional earnest money, be sure it’s redeemed within a stipulated short period of time.
- Do not accept notes redeemable at closing. If the closing never happens, your seller will never be able to redeem the note. It becomes a worthless piece of paper, since the transaction never closed and technically the note never came due. Even legal action won’t fix this Agent mishap.
- Another area of caution is the financing. Require the buyer to provide proof of loan approval with no conditions. You want proof-positive that the buyer can and will perform within two weeks of acceptance of the offer. Lending institutions are notorious for writing loan approval letters with conditions or weasel clauses that protect both the institution and the buyers. Make it clear on the counter offer that no contingencies or conditions will be acceptable after two weeks.
The prevailing rule in seller protection is to tighten the language every step of the way. Remember at all times that your job is to protect and secure the interests of your client, the seller. The broader the language you allow, the greater the number of interpretable clauses – familiarly known as weasel clauses – make it into the transaction, each one endangering the level of security you can provide your client.
Dirk Zeller
CEO |
Dear Champion Real Estate Broker,
One of the greatest frustrations for an Agent once they’ve elevated themselves to the Broker/Owner/ Manager position is providing consistent & timely Real Estate Training that gives their sales staff the “knowledge to compete and the skills to win!” Celebrating its fourth year, the Champion Performer Series™ has become a Broker’s favorite for providing LIVE Monthly Training Events to their entire offices.
This series of monthly and semi-annual training programs is designed to deliver timely, time-tested & proven, meat-and-potatoes training that you and the Agents in your office can use right away to grow production numbers and overcome obstacles you may be facing in current market conditions... Learn More.
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