One of my favorite movie scenes ever was in The Godfather when Vito Corleone was asked how he got his own way in a particular situation. His answer was, “I make them an offer they can’t refuse.” In real estate, we are in the business of writing offers and negotiating contracts. In fact our most common form is called an “Offer to Purchase and Contract”, meaning that the document starts as an offer and upon acceptance, becomes a contract. Continue Reading…
Posted 3 days, 18 hours ago at 6:02 am. Add a comment
Many of you who’ve followed my blog or my training know how I feel about open houses. I think they are a bad idea. I should clarify that statement. I believe that there is one single instance in which you should consider an open house: continuously until it sells. I’ll explain.
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Posted 2 weeks, 3 days ago at 4:47 am. Add a comment
Okay, I’ve spent a couple of weeks “teasing” you about the Zero2Hero Agent Challenge 2010 contest. Good news is we now have about half the contestants we need, so there’s still time to enter! I know there are many of you out there who are hesitating… Part of you wants to be a part of the contest but you’re scared. Or maybe you want to know a little more before going for it. So, I thought it might be a good idea to tell you a little more about what you can expect and explain just what we have planned for the Zero2Hero Agent Challenge 2010 contest. Drum roll, please… Continue Reading…
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago at 7:05 pm. Add a comment
Last week I announced plans for a national agent competition that our company is hosting. I threw it out there using a lighthearted, humorous approach… and for whatever reason, the response has been horrible. Now I realize that this isn’t American Idol and I don’t expect 20,000 people to turn out for an audition like they did in Chicago on last Tuesday night’s show… but I know there are some of you reading this article who are struggling in your practice. Continue Reading…
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago at 3:16 pm. Add a comment
You don’t! Discount brokerage is a fact of life in our industry, but it’s not a threat to traditional full-service brokerage and here’s why. Continue Reading…
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago at 6:00 am. Add a comment
Let’s face it. As a broker, your number one job is recruiting agents. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t understand this business. Our industry has an agent churn of 40%. In other words, 40% of your agents will change brokerages this year. If it’s less than that, you’re doing well. And if you don’t continue to recruit, it is just a matter of time before you have no agents. Continue Reading…
Posted 4 months ago at 5:57 am. 2 comments
I’m often asked what I think of open houses. Well, I think it’s as good a way to waste a Saturday afternoon as any. My advice is to just take a long nap and catch up on your sleep instead. It will advance your real estate practice a lot faster than an open house! Let me explain. Continue Reading…
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago at 5:08 am. 1 comment
One of my pet peeves is the notion of “bad listings”. I’ve heard agents talk about certain properties being bad listings, either because the home was not pristine, or because they assumed it was over-priced. I believe that the majority of those comments are simply sour grapes, because the agent lost the listing. Continue Reading…
Posted 5 months ago at 5:06 am. Add a comment
It’s a great supplement to your regular marketing so long as it’s free. As a stand-alone marketing technique, it is destined to fail, and if executed perfectly will yield you maybe a deal a month. Statistically, it can never make you a top producing agent, and here’s why. Continue Reading…
Posted 5 months, 4 weeks ago at 6:00 am. 4 comments
I’m often asked, “Matt, what do you think of SEO?”. The short answer is not very much! I’ll explain. First, most of what is known as SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) is really a misnomer. When companies call you to sell you their SEO service, they are not really talking about optimizing your website for search engines, but rather they are talking about trying to fool search engines. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me back up a minute. Continue Reading…
Posted 6 months ago at 8:00 am. Add a comment