5 Property Staging Trends for the Fall & Winter Months

5 Property Staging Trends for the Fall & Winter Months

by | Oct 7, 2020 | Business, Home Life, Money, Personal Design, Real Estate

Are there people interested in viewing homes during the colder months?

Should you attempt to sell your house during fall or winter?

Do people really buy homes in winter?

Yes, yes, and yes!

If stats are anything to go buy, nearly one million homes are sold each winter between December and February. If you’re looking for serious buyers, the fall and winter months may be the ideal time to stage your property. So, how do you go about property staging during winter? Let’s find out!

1.    First impressions matter – a lot

How important is curb appeal? Extremely important. For buyers, first impressions matter greatly. Do you know that most buyers make up their minds about your house within the first 15 seconds? That’s a lot of pressure. Fortunately, you can do something about it. To help win buyers over, ensure that your yard is well-maintained. Leaves should be racked, hedges trimmed, and the lawn perfectly manicured.

2.    Turn on the interior and exterior lights

You want the house to feel warm and welcoming. So, don’t hesitate to light the driveway and walkway to your front door. Turn the lights on indoors as well. Light is an excellent medium and will help to highlight and draw attention to both the interior and exterior. Lamps and strategic lighting solutions can make rooms appear bigger and make the house feel more inviting.

3.    Keep décor simple and neutral

Are you big on decorating the house during Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Christmas? If yes, you may want to tone it down a notch when you are property staging. Avoid over-the-top decorations such as blown up lawn elements, streamers, and religious symbols. Opt instead for more subtle pieces of décor such as a simple wreath on the front door and electric candles strategically placed around the home.

4.    Evoke the senses with seasonal scents

Human beings are sensory by nature. If you can appeal to people’s emotional side you can influence their decision on a deeper level. Harvard Professor Gerald Zaltman in his book, “How Consumers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market”, demystifies the buying experience by claiming that at the core, we are emotional buyers. Zaltman attests that 95% of purchasing decisions are subconscious.  So how do you incorporate this into your property staging? Through the use of pleasant seasonal scents; think cinnamon, freshly baked goods, and oranges.

5.    Use clean lines when arranging furniture

How furniture is arranged in a home can make or break the buyer’s experience as they walk through the house. Clean lines are important. Furniture that’s helter-skelter and follows no pattern or symmetry can feel disorderly. If you have a central feature in a room such as a fireplace, organize your furniture around it. Adding well-placed throw pillows and fur rugs can also accentuate the orderliness and comfort of a room.

3 Ways Real Estate Brokers Can Leverage Social Media Marketing

3 Ways Real Estate Brokers Can Leverage Social Media Marketing

by | Sep 16, 2020 | Uncategorized

Check out our interview with Brandon T. Adams on Social Media and Video Marketing then use the article below to get started! The advent of technology, especially social media has changed marketing dynamics for a lot of realtors. Social media has taken over and improved life for all involved – realtors, brokers, and buyers. One can reach a wider audience with more property offers and at less cost. Real estate agents are finding that social media marketing has indeed come at an opportune moment and is simplifying the entire buying and selling process. But to what extent is social media really being used by realtors?

Are real estate brokers really using social media to market?

According to the National Association of Realtors, as many as 77% of real estate professionals are now using social media in their marketing. 55% of realtors describe themselves as ‘comfortable’ using social media, 26% say they are ‘somewhat comfortable’ and 10% are ‘uncomfortable’.  And just which social networks are mostly used? Facebook takes the lion’s share with 79% use; Twitter comes in second with 48% use, LinkedIn places third with 29% use.  What’s clear to see is that social media marketing is fast becoming an integral part of reaching out to prospective buyers. Here are three ways you can use social media in your own marketing campaigns.

1.    Create demographic-specific ads on Facebook

Social media is not created equal. Some platforms are just inherently better suited for marketing than others and provide features not available on the other mediums. Take Facebook for example. Apart from being one of the most preferred apps, it gives you the opportunity to target your ads to a particular demographic. This is an excellent option as you can pay for your ads to be shown to people who are house hunting and ready to purchase.

2.      Use Instagram to draw attention to success stories

95% of people are emotional buyers. Clever use of social media marketing can help you tap into people’s emotional side. Who doesn’t love a heartwarming success story? Instagram is a picture-based platform which gives you free-reign to post as many pictures as you want. However, instead of simply showing staged property photos, you can use the app to document the stories of families who’ve found their dream home and the process. People are more likely to connect with you and reach out to use your services if they see other peoples’ success stories. 

3.    Use outsourcing platforms to keep marketing costs low

Creating social media profiles doesn’t cost anything. It’s free to create a LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Flickr account. However, opening an account is only the beginning of social media marketing as one of the key elements to this type of marketing is the need for constant engagement and interaction with people as you build your following. Now, if you don’t have time to grow your profiles organically you can outsource this aspect to freelancers. Online marketplaces like Fiverr.com and Freelancer.com will provide you with plenty of freelancers you can work with. You can get your marketing done at a fraction of traditional marketing fees. Want more advice on marketing and growing your real estate business or brokerage? Contact us today to see if we can help!
5 Advantages of Working as a Transaction Coordinator with an Outsourced Service

5 Advantages of Working as a Transaction Coordinator with an Outsourced Service

by | Sep 16, 2020 | Uncategorized

Residential real estate transaction coordinators have typically worked as salaried employees for brokerages. This traditional method of employment made a lot of sense before the digital age, when coordinators were physically shuffling through stacks of transaction documents, scheduling and overseeing signings, and a litany of other tasks that, at the time, required in-person involvement. Now that the large majority of transactions are handled through email, Docusign, Zip Forms, and cloud-based transaction management platforms, the in-person requirements in the job description of transaction coordinators have been rendered obsolete, and coordinators can now handle entire transactions from the comfort of their homes. Coordinator’s jobs have evolved from physical to digital. This begs the question, “Does it make sense that the employment structure has remained stagnant and attached to the conventional method of employment when the job description no longer requires the constraints the conventional method carries?” The simple answer is no, but this employment structure has continued to persist in the industry largely due to a lack of alternatives. REBO, an outsourced transaction coordination service, has bridged this gap between transaction coordination employment structure and efficiency, and provides a superior alternative for both the transaction coordinators, and the brokerages they work with.

THE ADVANTAGES OF WORKING AS A TC WITH AN OUTSOURCED TC SERVICE:

  1. Backup on Every Transaction

Coordinators in traditional employment models are largely left to their own devices after opening escrow for an agent. This means any potential mistakes, blame, or unforeseen hinderances are squarely on that coordinator’s shoulders with no room for reprieve. If a coordinator becomes ill during a transaction, wants to go on vacation, or commits an oversight on a contract resulting in non-compliance, that coordinator is solely responsible. With REBO, multiple coordinators have access to every transaction, allowing for checks and balances, as well as relief in the event a coordinator is unable to continue their work.

  1. Incentive-based Pay

REBO pays their coordinators per transaction. That means no more working longer hours during the busy season for the same meager paycheck. Coordinators with REBO work as little or as much as they want, and receive their pay accordingly.

  1. Benefits

Other outsourced transaction coordination services exist, but generally hire their TCs as independent contractors that don’t receive benefits. REBO similarly hires coordinators as independent contractors, but provides the option for all benefits typically associated with salaried work.

  1. Training Program

REBO has instituted a training program for newer transaction coordinators. No experience? No problem. REBO will provide pre-recorded training videos as well as hands on instruction from seasoned coordinators to train coordinators how to manage transactions, communicate with agents, and stay in compliance.

  1. Well-Defined Role

Many coordinators are often roped in to additional duties by agents that aren’t in their job description. REBO makes it clear up front that a transaction coordinator’s role is to manage the transaction, not to act as an assistant.

 

Transactions have moved on from desert of technology the real estate industry once was. It’s about time the role of the transaction coordinator did as well. Given all the new services and platforms facilitating real estate transactions, there’s no reason a coordinator shouldn’t be reaping additional benefits not provided by conventional coordinator employment structures, and receiving all the relief and training they may need from the comfort of their home.

To learn more about working as a transaction coordinator for REBO, contact us through our website:

 https://rebackops.com/contact-real-estate-back-ops/

 

 

Realtor Marketing to FSBOs and Expired Listings

Realtor Marketing to FSBOs and Expired Listings

by | Sep 9, 2020 | Uncategorized

It’s no secret that successful Realtors often rely on marketing directly to FSBOs and expired listing owners. A lot of realtors who attempt to create business through these means fall short by two barriers:

  1. Finding the contact information of these potential clients
  2. Qualifying them as warm leads early in initial contact

Many agents elect to scour their local MLS to find contact info and cold call recently expired listings. The problem here is this is the go-to tactic for Realtors to attempt to convert an expired listing to a client, which means there will be heavy competition. It’s better for Realtors to either use alternative platforms or a service that vets these leads first and/or contacts them for you. These are better ways to go about this marketing tactic that will illicit greater conversion rates with less competition.

We will discuss how contact information can be found early for these home owners so you can get a head start on your competing Realtor counterparts, and how you can quickly filter, and convert these warm leads into clients.

1. Finding the contact information of FSBOs and Expired Listings

FREE:

There are several ways Realtors can find and contact FSBOs and expired listing owners without going through a paid service. It’s more work, but for the penny-pinching real estate agent, this might be the desired route.

When you contact them, instead of delivering your typical elevator pitch for potential clients, try offering some basic services or advice for free to help them market. For example, offering to hold an open house for them will not only help you stand out amongst other agents that contacted them when they eventually decide to list with an agent, (which the large majority do), you might pick up some buyer clients that walk through as well.

Providing free advice or help is a good way to be non-intrusive and increase your chances of working with them in the future.

Keeping this approach in mind, let’s get into how you can find and contact these leads at no cost.

Facebook Marketplace

The Facebook Market is a good place to easily filter listed homes by FSBOs. Simply click the marketplace on the left-hand side, then click Groups. Type, “FSBO” in the search query after setting your search to your location and your feed will populate with a wide array of FSBO listings near you.

Craigslist

Same concept as Facebook Marketplace. Just set your search to your location, then select the ‘housing’ filter, then the ‘real estate – by owner’ filter. Remember to lead with advice or free help, not a pitch.

Other free FSBO contact information can be easily found on:

Local Newspaper Sites

Zillow

ForSaleByOwner.com

PAID:

Most paid services automatically find expired listings and FSBOs and upload them into your CRM. These tools are great time savers since they search your local MLS for you, and often provide the option to automatically leave a voicemail or text, prompting interested parties to call you back and saving you the trouble of contacting each FSBO and expired lead yourself one by one. They usually also provide their own scripts or other marketing materials for when those leads do call back. Here are some pros and cons for each FSBO/expired listings number providers and dialing services.

RedX

Pros:

  • Easy to search expired listing using their software. You can customize the search to find exactly the area you want to farm and input these leads into your search.
  • You can label/add folders for any leads based on zip codes/search criteria.
  • They have a built in CRM for which you can manage any follow-up task.

Cons:

  • A lot of phone numbers provided are invalid and or non-existent. You’ll have to use other services to cross check numbers like been verified or similar.
  • They usually charge a setup fee and you have to install a software platform.

LandVoice

Pros:

  • No setup fee.
  • More control over which expired listings you contact, as opposed to other services which just provide the list for you.
  • Multi-line dialer tool.

Cons:

  • Their cloud-based platform isn’t very search friendly. You can’t search based on zip codes so it only pulls all the leads and then you have to manually look for them.
  • Their CRM is non-existent, so there’s no automation involved with lead nurturing.
  • A quick Google search will show their customer service department needs work.

Vulcan 7

Pros:

  • Offer probated leads in addition to FSBOs and expired listings.
  • Verified email address option for contacting leads.
  • Vets leads before handing them off to filter out expired numbers or “do not call list” numbers.

Cons:

  • More costly than other number providers.
  • Expensive set up fee
  • No free trials

Espresso Agent

Pros:

  • Video marketing tool built in.
  • Full CRM platform.
  • Cheap ten-day trial option.
  • Built in power dialer.

Cons:

  • Expensive, (but not as expensive as Vulcan 7).
  • No real vetting process in place.

Mojo

Pros:

  • Triple line dialer tool.
  • Multiple integration possibilities, even with other number providers and dialer services.
  • Relatively cheap.
  • Built in CRM.

Cons:

  • UX design is lacking in presentation and functionality compared to the other providers.
  • Doesn’t filter out “do not call numbers,” which can lead to very unpleasant conversations and stain your reputation if the people contacted feel compelled to write an online review.

Arch Agent

Pros:

  • Pay per minute option – good for Realtors that don’t heavily rely on dial generated leads.
  • CRM integration with TopProducer.

Cons:

  • Doesn’t automatically track numbers or leads with CRM – lots more manual work on your part.
  • Doesn’t vet numbers to ensure they’re not expired or on “do not call list.”

Summary:

Different tools will work differently by market, but generally speaking, you get what you pay for. Vulcan 7 is probably the best service, but considering Espresso Agent’s cheap ten-day trial, you might want to try that first and see if it works for you before contracting Vulcan 7. If you’re stingy, and willing to learn a less than simple CRM and UX, Mojo is probably the best option for you.

2. Qualify warm leads early in initial contact

A lot of FSBOs and expired listing owners will remain unwilling to work with a Realtor. It’s important to identify these leads quickly and move on to optimize your time and business productivity. Be sure to establish the following criteria as soon as possible before deciding to pursue a FSBO or expired listing owner further. See that your leads are:

1) Willing to pay a full buyer’s coop off the bat.

-Nothing is worse than spending your time on a deal that eventually falls through due to a misunderstanding of how Realtors are paid. See that the lead is open to your commission rate.

2) Say they will consider hiring a Realtor if they can’t sell it in X amount of time.

-A willingness to hire a Realtor eventually means they probably will. Make sure you’re first in line.

3) Have a house in a price point that makes the follow up worth the time to actually spend the time    following up.

-In other words, if it’s a cheap listing, it’s not worth your time.

4) Are realistic with sales price.

-Convincing a FSBO to contract you is hard. Convincing a FSBO to contract you AND significantly lower their asking price is a lot harder.

5) Have actual motivation to sell.

-Ask questions to determine their sale is a necessity like, “Are you moving out of state?” Or, “Did you recently become employed somewhere that makes your current living situation impossible?” Prodding for life events that implicate a home sale are a good way of going about qualifying in this case.

6) Selling in a buyer’s market.

-In seller’s markets, it is a lot easier for FSBOs to succeed on their own. You’ll have much more success if you restrict this technique to buyer’s markets.

3 Ways Brokers Can Recruit Better Agents

3 Ways Brokers Can Recruit Better Agents

by | Aug 21, 2020 | Uncategorized

Have you ever wondered how the most successful brokers manage to recruit and retain their top agents? Finding high-quality talent is indeed an art. However, armed with the right skills you too can identify and hire better agents.

But before you start drafting that job proposal, it is imperative to establish a clear value proposition to present to candidates. This proposition should discuss the advantages of working at the brokerage, offer competitive industry tools, describe the company culture, as well as detail efforts the brokerage will take to support an agent’s career.

This is the bait that top brokerages use to recruit qualified agents. They then deploy the following three best practices to convince principal agents why they should work with them:

1.    Present attractive incentives offered by few other brokers

How important is your benefit or incentives package when looking to hire better agents? To put it frankly, extremely vital.

According to Wellable, 79% of agents looking for a new job said that a competitive benefits plan was definitely an influencing factor when comparing job offers. In a survey published by Randstad, over 50% of employees admit to leaving their former job for a new one because of better benefits. In a CBI report, 42% of businesses corroborate these findings by stating that “their ability to recruit has been improved by [incentives such as] their pension scheme.’’

And once you’ve secured this crème de la crème talent you’ll need to keep revamping and improving your benefits package to retain your best agents otherwise as soon as they hear of a better offer somewhere else, they may not think twice about leaving your brokerage. According to 64% of Millenials, good benefits are ‘extremely important’ to employer loyalty.

Pro Tip:

In order to attract interest from a wider pool of agents, list out the various benefits and incentives that you’re currently providing your agents. Research what your competitors are offering to see where you can adjust your current scheme. Benefits to think about include: digital marketing assistance, personal website development, better-earning potential, and pension plans to mention a few.

2.    Tailor the job offer to reflect today’s employee attitudes

Unlike generations before them, the average person in the United States today will change jobs at least 5-7 times. Why are people changing jobs so often? What are they looking for? How can you retain them so you reduce the need to repeatedly hire and onboard new agents?

If we were to summarize the five major criteria that agents use when weighing different job offers, we’d find that agents are looking at:

  1. The salary offered and the compensation plan
  2. Career growth opportunities and resources
  3. The work-life balance afforded by working at the brokerage
  4. How far they have to commute to work or if remote work is a possibility
  5. Lastly, the brokerage’s company culture and set of values

By taking each of these five points into consideration when drafting up your offer or creating a recruitment strategy, you stand a chance to hire better agents who fit right in with your expectations.

Pro Tip:

An article in the Harvard Business Review entitled, “Why Employees Stay” brings up two fundamental concepts that make people stay. Namely, job satisfaction and company culture. So long as the agent is content with the resources at their disposal for career advancement, their salary, and benefits, and they fit in with the brokerage’s culture they are more likely to stay. Therefore, it is to a brokerage’s advantage to heed the needs of job seekers.

3.    Cast the recruiting net far and wide

If the hiring strategy you’ve been employing all these years isn’t meriting fruit and drawing the kind of talent you want, it might be time to revise your recruitment policy by casting the net far and wide. What do we mean?

You’ll want to give real estate agents at every level a chance. Regardless of whether they are rookies or experienced, adjust your pitch so you can receive a wider response from potential candidates. You may discover rookie agents who are a better fit than the so-called ‘experienced’ talent.

Pro Tip:

Include elements that will pique the interest of top-tier agents while giving room for newbie agents as well. You may even want to draft up two distinct offers and see the caliber of responses that you get. In order to hire better agents, you need to be flexible and accommodating.