Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Okay, so now for reals this time, we are live.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Hey, it's, it's something else, huh? I think every day we're learning something new. We, we presented with different challenges, but this is the beauty of it, right? Just, just getting into this.
We said we're gonna do it, we're doing it and in the process we're learning so much from it and learning what it takes to get this done.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: It doesn't. If you're just now joining us, we're just now joining you because we were having some technical difficulties this morning, about five minutes behind schedule, starting our podcast, but we are finally live.
So we're here to talk about it today. And we are here live on Facebook, Instagram, not TikTok because I couldn't get that to work. Twitch and YouTube. So if you follow me or you follow Andres, head on over to those channels and you can see us live or you can watch it recorded later. But again, all of our mistakes and mess ups like this morning are going to be there because this is live.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: That's the beaut of it. Get to see us making these mistakes in the process. So I'm very happy that we're, this has happened because at the end of the day we, we have to, like I said, we have to do it and learn from it. But yeah, excited to be here today, excited to get things going and to join you guys. For those of you who joined earlier than us, like Heather said and some of the things that we're going to talk about today, we're gonna approach it from a different angle and we want to do that because we want to talk about why buyers and sellers at times switch agents even though they already have. They know an agent in their sphere, an agent that is maybe a family member, a friend, agent they talked to, agent that helped them in the past. At some point or another, we see a lot of people switching agents.
So we want to dive into that process. But before we get into that, I wanted to touch on a personal base because at some point, Heather, myself, we were also a client, a customer for in the real estate space. So we wanted to touch on our own personal experience a little bit from that point of view before we move forward.
What do you think, Heather?
[00:02:27] Speaker A: No, I, I love story time. So let's do story time. And you're up first, Andres.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: Oh man. Put me on the spot like that.
[00:02:36] Speaker A: Tell me your, your experience being on the first side of it, being the customer, being the buyer, being the seller and, and your first kind of introduction into real estate.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: Absolutely.
And this goes back maybe man, over 10, about 10 years ago, 2014, 2016 or between 2014, 2016.
Time frame I had interest in the real estate space, but I wasn't as deep as I am into it now and I wasn't educated in the process of buying or selling real estate.
And I just started looking into potentially buying a home.
This is back in California.
And honestly looking back at it now, there was a lot of missteps in that process because something that I do as a client, as a real estate professional myself now is, is sitting down with the customer and I'm recognizing where we are and putting my plan in place to be able to get them the home. I feel, looking back on my situation, I feel like that didn't happen.
It was just a, hey, what kind of property you like? Let's go look at some properties.
Same process with, with the lender professional.
There was a disconnect within the lender professional that was helping us and the real estate agent that was helping us. I thought they were looking at a interest level for their own self. And the reason I say that I'm not, I don't even recall their names. The reason I say that is because there was lack of communication between them to finding the best solution in my situation at that time.
There was not a sit down and say, let's look at what this looks, what this looks like for you. What do you need to take? What are the next steps to be able to afford this property?
You know, what do you need to do and what is the time frame that that needs to happen?
I certainly was in a position to buy given the, the income level, the financial aspect of things. I feel like we were in a position to buy.
But I did not have that sit down with the lender. They just ran approval, say, okay, you're pre approved for this amount, that's okay, perfect.
But that communication with the agent because he wanted us to work for someone in particular, was not there.
And, and I feel like the agent was not providing the lender enough information into the type of properties that we were going for. He was also not looking into the specific details that could accommodate us as a buyers.
And, and there was a gap that ultimately I did not end up purchasing a home because to this day, x amount of reasons, I don't, I don't even understand why. Right.
And the agents, oh, he said, okay, that home is not going to be in range.
The, the lender on the other end said nothing about it rather than saying, okay, let's fight let's put something that we are within range.
There was not communication back and forth.
And I feel like that that happens a lot nowadays from a buyers. There's a lot of uncertainty if the agent and the lenders are not communicating well.
And in my situation, I felt like there was a complete disconnect on both sides, especially trying to figure out what I needed and what I needed to get there, because it could have happened, but it just didn't because of lack of communication, lack assistance in place.
And I would say part of myself as well is part of educating myself in that process to understand a little bit more and asking the right questions. I did not ask the right questions, therefore a lot of steps were missed and that didn't push me forward to being able to purchase that property. And I'm missing a great opportunity. But, but also that particular situation is kind of what drive me to be who I am, where I am today as a real estate agent. Because what I took from, from that was much bigger than what what I was acquiring on, on the real estate space. And, and the reason I say that is because it kind of gave me the drive to be able to put families not in that situation where communication is key in this process. You got to understand everything that is going through every step of the way. And we're going to dive into a little bit more on that later on.
But that situation for me personally, kind of puts me over the top and say, I need to make something, I need to make a difference somewhere.
And a few years later, yeah, I got my license and hearing.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: Well, that kind of ties into what we were talking about Tuesday with real estate being a very emotional process and with that lack of communication, I'm sure you know your end, you felt a lack of security, a lack of just like, you know, trust, which we're going to go into later too, with the agent. So because you didn't have that and there wasn't that communication, you know it. As a buyer, that's hard. That's hard. It's a big investment. It's a huge life milestone.
[00:08:25] Speaker B: It is. And if, if you have any uncertainty in the process, you're not gonna go through with it. Right. If you don't trust the person that are, that are you giving your hand, you're giving all your trust to, you're giving your biggest investment opportunity, you're putting that in their hands and, and there's a lack of trust in there.
At the end of the day, you're not probably not gonna go through with the purchase.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: You Know, like in real estate school, they don't teach you and they don't tell you that part of the job, I would probably say like 85% of the job is being a therapist, slash counselor to your clients. Because you're going to have to, you know, walk them through this process emotionally as well as educate them as what's going on. And I think for me, that's kind of my first introduction into real estate. Our first agent, me and my ex husband, when we were buying our house, she wasn't very clear on things and it was just. She wasn't a great agent.
She was a very elderly lady. And then our next agent, though, when we bought. When we sold that house and when we bought our reconstruction home, was an amazing agent actually, and made us use her, actually. We saw her sign. My ex husband at the time called her and was like, we saw your sign on this house down the road from us and why do you have it priced at that price? That seems kind of high. She actually got kind of like defensive with my husband and she's like, well, this is exactly why I have it priced. And like, she hit him with stats. Why, why it would sell for that. And you know, we're like, okay. And then we called her back and we're like, hey, well, if you can sell that house for that price, can you come sell our house? You know? And so she, she did. And then she found us a.
We actually, bless her heart poured many houses, couldn't find anything. We ended up doing new construction. And then when I was going through my divorce, I called her and I was like, hey, I've been a housewives for 11 years. I need a job where I can make, you know, money and I can do it relatively quickly. And she's like, well, I think you would be a great real estate agent. So actually joined underneath her at Keller Williams. And then she was my. I guess I forget what we call McCann Williams sponsor, I guess.
So that's my introduction into real estate. So first agent, also great. But the second agent that we had that followed us through, that was an amazing agent and taught me a lot and brought me into real estate. So I really, really appreciate her. She's definitely shaped my life.
[00:11:01] Speaker B: That's great. And by no means we're saying that, you know, throwing shade at any agents or anything like that, but rather than the little details that we can overlook, it's what's important for the clients. And in having those conversations with the clients, we need to be present, we need to be mindful of Their situation really dive deep into why they're looking at making that purchase. Right.
And we can dive into a particular script that we do on that area as seven points of clarity on a whole different segment to help you in that area.
But it's really, we all do business in a particular way, but at the end of the day this type of business is just relationship based, client centric and, and we need to make it all about them, you know.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: Yep. And let's, let's jump into that. You know, why buyers and sellers switch agents and you know, I'm sure every agent has had, maybe they haven't had somebody switch on them, but they have had to have a talk with somebody and convince them, you know, your house off the market, you know, you know, don't quit searching, we'll find it. But let's really focus on when agents lose a client, what happened and why did they lose that client? Client, I can't talk sometimes. And how do we prevent that from happening in the future?
[00:12:24] Speaker B: One of the things that usually comes to mind right away is response time, communication.
Right. Lack of communication, feedback during certain key points of that process.
The client feeling like the agent is not there to welcome in the process and really guide them every step of the way. Whether it's with home inspections, you know, every step of the way, ask for repairs, contingencies, looking at every aspect of the transaction and being there for the clients.
I feel like some clients will get disconnected and being on top of mine. Right. If you don't communicate with the clients, even if they come through your, your pipeline, you started talking to them.
If they feel a disconnect in the home search, they're going to start looking for somebody else.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: Something I see with, with real estate agents a lot.
You know, working with cloud, we do a lot of strategic interviews. So, so we interview lots of agents, get a good idea about their business and then, you know, we suggest things that can help them with business grow and scale. But one of the things that I've noticed is agents don't tell their clients everything they're doing for them. So like they're holding open houses, they're following up on those leads, they're showing their house, other agents are calling and their home is being toured, but they're not communicating that to the homeowners.
And so the homeowners, you know, they think on Friday that you didn't do anything all weekend. In reality, every day you were out there hustling for them. But how would they know that if you didn't tell Them.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: Yeah, it's just really showing your value. Right. Everything that you're doing for that particular property, for that particular client, you really have to put yourself out there. And, and if you don't do that, like you said, clients are going to feel like you're not doing enough. But they're not seeing behind the closeover, they're not seeing on the other end when. Which ties back to the communication part.
You have to let her know, hey, this is what we're doing this week. You have to communicate all those steps in order for them to see that, for them to be and feel involved in that process. Right. Because if you're selling that house, you, you, you want to feel that you're part of that process, not just giving it to someone, an agent, and that's it and forget about it.
Yes. Some clients, because of the lifestyles, that's what they're looking for. They look for an agent they can trust because the agent is going to show their value in the process and say here, I trust you, you handle this. That's exactly what some clients are looking for. But you have to show that to the client that they can rely on you because of everything that you're doing for them in that process.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: Exactly. And two tips that I would have for improving your communication with your clients, your leads, you know, whoever would be one. When you're doing your initial intake, ask them how they want to be communicated with. Because if you're a texter and they're a caller and you're only texting them, they're going to feel as that, as if you're not communicating with them because they never heard your voice. You literally could be texting them every single day. But to them they're going to be like they just blew me off and they never took the time of day to give me a call. So ask them how they want to be communicated with and when is the best time to communicate them. Communicate to them. Because if they're at work all day and you're trying to call them 9 to 5 and they can't talk 9 to 5, how's that going to work out for you? And then the second tip I would have for agents to improve their communication would be if you're utilizing a CRM. There are so many automations where you can send out weekly updates through, you know, text message, email, however you want to do it. But send out those updates at least weekly so that your buyers and sellers know what's going on and you get recognition and it's not Bragging. Don't think of it as like, oh, I don't want to brag. It's not bragging, it's. You're literally reporting your work. So they know what's going on.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: Absolutely. They hire you for a job. Right. You have to report another. Another area that, that we also see is lack of proactivity.
Agents wants clients to send listings.
Isn't that the job of the real estate agents? Understanding what the client needs and say, hey, send those listings over, get some ideas in advance, be ahead of the game, take the initiative to take those steps and, and make it happen and being upfront with the client.
Anticipate any problems and handle the next steps.
If you're going through an inspection, do your due diligence on the property to anticipate any missteps that any problems that could happen and present solution when those that come over so that the clients are not surprised. One, and you have a solution at hand for those.
What do you think?
[00:17:34] Speaker A: Definitely, I think that, you know, if you're, if you're an agent and you're like, yeah, just search Zillow and send me the houses that you like, that that's them doing your job for you. Everybody should be on a list. Everybody should be on an email list.
I know in Georgia we have a few different FMLs. We have FMLs and then I have the Georgia MLS that we utilize. When my buyers come in, I set them up on an automated list so they're receiving, you know, as soon as those houses are listed that match their criteria, they're getting those listings in their email and sometimes via text message. Now what I tell them to do is I'm like, if you like one of those houses, hard it on the app and screenshot it and then send it to me so that I can make sure it's available. And the next thing you need to do is call the listing agent, make sure it's still available and, and make sure it's within the budget and it's going to fit your needs of your client. Because if you, if they see a house they like the pictures and you show up and then you're like, oh, this doesn't really work or it's too much. You look like a.
So do the work that you're supposed to do on the listings for your clients.
[00:18:36] Speaker B: Absolutely any. And it relates back to the part of the conversation we had on Tuesday.
Being proactive, having a plan in place, having that conversation with the agency, with the, with the lead, with your clients.
If we find the right Property tomorrow. Are we ready to make an offer or are we just window shopping? Right. Just same property, trying to determine which ones I like, which ones I don't like.
If we are at this stage already looking to purchase and make an offer, make sure everything's ready to go.
Like you said, you don't want to find a property and next thing you know I don't qualify for that property.
You know, there's nothing in place. So I don't have enough funds for closing costs or this or that you need to have in place before you get to that point.
Because again you're reducing the stress level on this client. We're here to make the life a lot easier, not add stress in the process. And communication is, it's one of the biggest thing there. And productivity will get you a long way.
[00:19:41] Speaker A: And don't assume they know the process even if they're not a first time home buyer. It might have been 30 years since they bought a house. You should, you know, explain to every client coming in the entire process so they know what's going on, they know what the next steps are going to be and nothing's blindsiding them.
[00:19:57] Speaker B: Absolutely. Now that you mentioned that, I had a conversation yesterday with one of our agents at Cloud Realty, Joshua Wheeler and he mentioned a key, key point in that interview.
He's just in the platform things that work for him and he shared a key component which is you need to have a conversation with the agent. He, he had this lead that came through the, through his campaign that originally said that they will be looking to buy in November, December of this year.
So happening. He had a conversation and one of the key things he said is like look, you have to meet the client where they're at.
If you go too far off ahead, they're going to feel like you left it behind. There's going to be a disconnect, they're going to move somewhere else.
If you stay behind, they're going to feel like you know too much, like they are better, like that you're not the right person to represent them. So you have to understand where the client is, meet them at their level. And sometimes you have to let them go a step forward or you have to take a step forward and guide them in that process.
And for that particular client, originally said they were buying in November, he ended up meeting them where they at, finding the property that they were looking to buy and they closed the deal at the end of June.
[00:21:20] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:21:21] Speaker B: So it went from a six to nine month process expectations to a a 60 day close.
And all because you're having the conversation with this client and you meeting them where they at, setting the right expectations and leading them in the process. Right.
So it's, there's a balance there. You cannot go too far off. You have to understand really your clients and, and mirror those clients to be able to help them to the max capacity and then build a lifelong relationships.
Right. Another key component here is if the client feels there's a weak negotiation or strategy in place.
What do you think about that?
[00:22:11] Speaker A: So you always want to make sure that your client feels like you're in their corner, you have their back and that you're negotiating for them. You don't want them to fill it and you obviously don't want to be like buddy buddies with the other agent and they're kind of questioning whether or not you work for them or not. You know, so you want to make sure that you're always putting your client first, you always have the best interest of your client and then let them see that, you know, let them know everything. That's kind of like we said earlier, let them know everything that's going on. Because if you're a, if your client feels like you're a passive agent, you're not really standing up to, you know, what they need you to stand up for, not going to use you again. And they're definitely not going to refer you.
[00:22:55] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And, and again, if going back to why agents, I mean, the leads or clients use different real estate agents.
If they have somebody in their spheres that they know how they negotiate their strategies, they know how to run their business, they might move away from that and look for somebody else that aligns more with their mentality with how they do business.
So it's, it goes hand in hand to really sitting down and understanding that client and again meeting them halfway. Because as we're going into the fourth segment here, misalignment of goals and personality.
Not every client is, it's not every lead. It's going to be your clients. You know, some people you're not gonna, it's just not a great fit. Honestly, I've come across that. I'm sure you have. Every agent is going to come across that not every lead is going to be a client, not every client is the right fit for you.
But understanding what those are and being able to say no on both ends, as a real estate agent, you have to say no sometimes.
But I think understanding the clients gives me a good perspective into, okay, I'm gonna let this one Go. Or I need to be able to get to this point in order to help these particular clients.
Right.
Because as we see, some agents may seem too pushy for the lead, for the client disinterested or listen at all. They're not present in the moment. You're having a conversation with them.
You ask them five minutes later, what did you say about this? They're like, oh, what was that again?
They're not pressing this conversation.
And like I said, the client doesn't feel like you heard them.
And there's no chemistry there. As you mentioned earlier, you have to be a.
It's a catchers. You need to be able to help these agents, this leads emotionally and get them to a safe zone in order for them to move forward in the process.
[00:25:15] Speaker A: And you need to know your numbers. You need to know your numbers. You need to know the market. You need to be able to explain that to your buyers and sellers. And you need to be able to come up with creative ways to present offers. If it is a competitive market and there's really high stakes, you need to make sure that you know going in what's the bottom line for your client and what's top line for your client. And then talk with the lender, see if there's any room, see if there's any things, you know inside the house you're negotiating on. Come up with different strategies so that they know you're going to bat for them. I do know there are several classes available for, and trainings available on negotiation and strategy and being able to do that. Some people have it naturally and some people don't. And some people are very passive, pushover people. And if you're a very passive, pushover person, there's nothing wrong with that. But you probably need to take the class on negotiating and learn how to be a little bit more assertive because that'll show to your client that you're, you know, just a passover. If you go back and you're like, our offer didn't get accepted, let's just try the next house.
How long do you think you're going to be their agent?
[00:26:23] Speaker B: Not alone.
Not at all.
So you, you have to understand where they add. And you got to think about this. The, the transaction is both ways, right? There's a seller, there's a buyer.
Whether you're representing the seller or the buyer, there's a common ground that needs to be found. And it's really understanding both sides to know what's going to make this deal happen so that everyone, you know comes out of their winning.
And for your client, know your numbers. Like you said, put the plan in place from the beginnings.
So when you're making those offers, you're making a strong offer, you're getting that offer accepted.
[00:27:07] Speaker A: And make sure you're explaining to your client the market and the conditions. A few years ago, when the market was crazy, we would go show houses and I would tell our clients, Tony and I would tell our clients, we would say, look, if you liked the house at all, let's put in an offer and we'll put in multiple offers. We'll have, you know, our due diligence period.
Best case scenario, everything gets accepted and you have to pick which house you want. Most likely what's going to happen in this market is maybe one, maybe we'll get one. So let's do your best offer on the house you really, really want. And the other houses, you know, let's come to a number that you feel comfortable paying for that house. And if you don't like the house, then we just don't bother with it. And as an agent, that was more work on us because sometimes we were writing five, six offers, but that was the market, and that's the job. That's what you do to make sure that your, your buyers and your sellers know you care about.
[00:28:01] Speaker B: With those interest rates at 2.5, below 2.5.
Yeah. Multiple offers in place every time, every property.
It was, it was.
And nowadays there's still scenarios, multiple offers in some markets. Right. But there's ways to make that happen. There's a way to make that deal happen. You just gotta set up the plan, know your numbers, and make it happen.
And I probably went ahead a little bit into this slide before where I was talking about the agents, the disconnect of personalities and goals.
Right. So understanding the goals for that client and for some agents, they may seem to push you about getting that business. And I can relate that to the. My experience I mentioned earlier. My agent wants to push in, in me working with a particular lender and me getting a particular deal, a particular house.
For my perspective, that house didn't make sense, nor did I want to work with that particular lender. I was already working with someone and, and a lot of times agents come across like that.
And it's a turner for a lot of clients.
And then listening, being present in that conversation, you know, understanding what the client's needs are we. What is the reason for them to move? What's the motivation behind them moving? Are they just tired of moving? Rent is the family growing, you know, there's a reason behind that and then the chemistry.
You have to be there emotionally for them. Right.
You cannot treat it as a transaction.
And that's it. Because for me, that's a turn off.
If I were a client and, and I get approached with someone like that, I personally would not be there. And I do that in many other areas. So in other businesses as well. If I feel a disconnect personally, I'm, I'm not doing business. I'm a very easy going person. I talk a lot sometimes.
[00:30:18] Speaker A: Well, I talk a lot too. So we're a good team. We'll just keep talking all day long.
I know a lot of agents. I shouldn't say a lot, I won't say a lot, but I will say I know a good amount of agents who just push houses on their clients.
The closing table should be a happy place. They should be very happy with the purchase they're making.
Now. There are several trainings, I've been in several trainings where they say you should only be showing your buyers five houses. You should know what they want. You should show them five houses and they should fit between those five.
While I'm sure there's a lot of great agents that live by that, I personally don't believe that. I think it is your job to find them the house that's going to work for them. And sometimes it takes more than five houses. Sometimes you can be catfished by photos. So you get to that house and that house does not look like those photos.
[00:31:12] Speaker B: I've been to some of those.
[00:31:15] Speaker A: I've been doing a lot of those.
I think that as an agent you want to make sure that you're helping this family, this person, this individual, whoever get into a home that's going to work for them. And sometimes it takes pounding the ground and looking at multiple, multiple houses. And then other times, actually, I have one closing. I never even showed them a house. I met them at an open house and then they would call me occasionally and ask me to send them houses. So I would send them houses. And then one day they called me from a new construction site and they're like, okay, we found the house. We told them, you're our agent, we're ready to buy. And I'm like, okay, so being there for people is what matters. So listen to them.
Show them houses. Don't just shove houses on them.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: I totally agree. For me personally as well, it's, it's what I love about the business. Showing people houses, seeing their face when they Walk into a house and say, this is it. This. This is the house for me, no matter whether I see two houses, 10 houses, whatever it takes, like you said, it's the biggest purchase probably in their life.
Let's make it right. You know, you have this opportunity to.
To get someone fulfill their dreams of home ownership, to.
To walk into their house every day and say, man, I'm glad I got this house.
This. This is.
Man, you just see it when they start envisioning the house, the things that they're doing. I mean, I'm doing that with Dennis. I walk through there, so I'm like, man, we're gonna do a carne asada right here. We're gonna do some barbecue right there. We're gonna put that grill over here. We're gonna do this. That frame is there. I'm like, I'm part of the family right away.
And. And I was gonna say that recently happened to me where I show a client about 15 houses. No kidding. We're working and looking at houses for over a month, and in the process, we're making plans. We see this house, that deal for through. We finally found the house that the effort fell through. And then I get another client, and from the beginning, we put a plan. This is the type of house. Got a great idea. This is the second one you're looking for.
I show them my house. They're like, oh, I would like this, but I would like that.
And of course, the wife and the husband, they're like, one over here, one solving that side. I'm like, okay, I'll meet you guys in the middle. Boom. Show them three properties right in the middle.
And they made an offer right away.
So we went from a client looking at 15 houses to a client looking at about five houses. This is the one for me.
But the most important thing was when they walk in their house after they got their keys, it's like, this feels like home, you know?
[00:34:02] Speaker A: You totally saw what I was gonna say. I was gonna say, I know it's the house for them. When they start telling me where things are gonna go, just like when they're planning. So if we're walking to the house and they're like, my china cabinet won't fit in this room. Or, you know, oh, no, this. I just don't like the way the windows are. There's nowhere for the bed. If they're not saying those things, it's not the house. It's not.
[00:34:22] Speaker B: No.
And I've seen it. You clearly know exactly when is your house the Moment you walked in. I like, for instance, I cannot take my wife to look at houses. She wants to move every time we take her to a new house.
[00:34:38] Speaker A: That's just like, I'm not so much a production anymore. Tony is. So we'll go look at houses on his end of things. And I have this saying, when we're looking at a house, I'll be like, you know, who would like this house?
He's like, stop.
We're not moving. And I'm like, well, then stop showing me houses.
Like it's your job.
[00:35:02] Speaker B: Exactly. But, but, but that's the beauty of it, you know, get to walk into a house and say, man, so much potential. I want to do this, I want to do that. I love that. I love that feeling from a personal level and love seeing that in the clients.
Because that's what it's all about, right?
[00:35:19] Speaker A: It is what it's all about. What it's not about is about a lack of market knowledge. And we kind of touched on this earlier, too, because these things all kind of, you know, slide into each other.
Lack of market knowledge or lack of professionalism, like not knowing the neighborhood, not not knowing the price, not knowing the comps. Showing up late unprepared. One thing that I did when I was in production and I was showing is I would print off the listing sheet, and when we go into a house, we would open the door, we would walk in, and I immediately start reading the facts about the house. It's a, you know, four bedroom, three bathroom. So many square feet. These are the taxes. This is the hoa. This is the lot size. Give them all the facts about that house. Are they going to remember all of those for every single house? No, but they're going to remember that you knew those things about every single house. And it makes you look professional. You can answer questions. If you have the sheet right there and they ask you a question, you can blame the listing agent. You can be like a listing agent. Didn't tell us. But I will call a listing agent and find out for you. So you don't have to say, well, I don't know.
[00:36:27] Speaker B: Yep.
And you probably see that and hear that a lot out there.
It's a big takeaway because you said just. Just showing you're a professional, you have a license, you're here to help, then you're here to guide them. You just like you go to the doctor's office, right. You want to make sure the doctor knows exactly what he's talking about with you.
You show up to the doctor. And so while we're here.
[00:36:58] Speaker A: My daughter. I took my daughter to the doctor one time, and in front of us, the doctor started googling her symptoms. And we were like, we could have done this at home. We got the doctor's office at home.
[00:37:11] Speaker B: Exactly. So you want to be a professional, you want to know your market, you want to know your neighborhood, what they're looking at, and be confident out there, because if you're not, they're going to move and find someone that is. That they feel is the best fit for them.
[00:37:30] Speaker A: We've been talking a lot about the. The buying side. Let's focus a little bit on the selling side and underwhelming marketing for sellers. What's the quickest way to lose a listing or to never have a listing from that person again?
[00:37:48] Speaker B: Blind photos, just. And I see many listings like that where, where I personally say, what's going on here? Are they trying to sell this house? So just want to put it out there?
Descriptions, social media push, not doing anything proactive to.
To get the house out there.
When you sit down with the sellers, given some recommendations, look at the property, walk around the property, right? If you need to clean the house, get professional pictures done, you know, clean the yard around the house, make the house look presentable.
I think that's a huge element that I see. A lot of people miss it when I look in the mls.
A lot of houses, I'll be honest, I wouldn't put it on the market like that. Just. Just plain and simple. I personally would not put it in the market like that because I'm. I feel like I'm doing a disservice to the client.
I'm not maximizing the opportunity of what the house could get.
You tell me if you see a house that is messy, that is clutter, the pictures are not great.
As a client, are you going to envision where you can put your frame, where you can put your grill, where you could put the family photos in the house?
[00:39:11] Speaker A: No.
[00:39:11] Speaker B: Would you?
[00:39:13] Speaker A: That's what I always. When I were doing listing consultations, I always tell people, and this is not a knock on their house at all, because we've been in some immaculate houses that are amazing, but people are used to their own filth. Like, you have. Nobody's house is perfect, and you have your own, like, dirtiness that you live in. Not saying people are dirty, but, like, you know, you have your little messes here and there, but you're used to your messes. You're not used to somebody else's Messes. You're not used to their clutter. I always tell our listings, there's so many things you can do to prepare. Don't take pictures of a house that's going to immediately turn people off. Get rid of the clutter. Get a magic eraser and wipe down anywhere where your hand is going to go during the showing. If you're going to touch a doorknob, if you're going to touch a cabinet, wipe down all of those spots so there's no residue, no dirty marks, no nothing. You want to make sure that none of that is going to be there.
[00:40:07] Speaker B: Absolutely. Ask them the question right away if they're looking to sell the house and buy another one, would they walk into a house that look like way that there's look.
And the answer most likely is now, like, okay, now we got to clean it up a little. You want to make sure your house is presentable, just like anybody else looking to buy or anybody else looking to sell the house. You want to make sure the house is presentable, clean and.
And maximize the opportunities and offers that you're gonna get.
Right. If it's not, you're turning people away. If you're turning people away, you're trying turning potential offers, and we don't want that.
[00:40:52] Speaker A: And have a good marketing plan. Have a good marketing plan. There's so much you can do organically. If you're a new agent or a struggling agent, you're like, I can't afford to have, you know, thousands of dollars spent, spent on my listing. Like some of the, you know, big gurus say to do. That's okay. You can still do it organically. You can still make those pushes organically to have your stuff going out there and have it visible. And then, like we said earlier, tell the sellers, tell them what you did so they know you did it. You know, print out flyers, door knock the neighborhood, something so they know that you're proactively out there. Marketing, ballasting.
[00:41:27] Speaker B: Absolutely. There's a lot of things you could do organically to get the house out there and.
And open houses every weekend. You have to do it every weekend. Just make it happen.
But at the end of the day, you have to have the house presentable and, and give your clients, like I said, show them the value of everything that you're doing to maximize the opportunities for that property and the offers that are coming through.
And for our next slide, what do we got?
[00:42:03] Speaker A: So we've got poor availability and just not being there and actually can be twofold. This could be, you not being available to your client when they're trying to reach you. And also if you're a listing, I can't tell you how many times I've tried to show a house and we just can't get into the house. Nobody calls us back. They never confirm the listing. And I'm like, are you trying to sell this house or not? Because we're trying to see it. And there's been several houses we never saw. And they just got bypassed when we were there ready to buy a house, but we couldn't get in.
[00:42:37] Speaker B: That. That is, I would say one of the big things should be higher on the list because that happened to me recently. My, my client really liked the property.
Really like the property. We wanted to see it. And they were in a time crunch. They had to put an offer in and so happened the house was not available to be seen.
You know, set up a plan. Communication. We can go back to the communication part if you know your clients are going to be out of town, have a plan in place, you know, so that you can continue to show those property. You can continue to present them offers that are coming through.
Because your next offer might be just right down the street that particular day.
And if that house is not available to be seen within the next two, three hours, you just miss an opportunity. You just missed an offer that could be in their house. Like you said, you didn't get to see the property. You move on to the next. Next thing you know, you put an offer on the next property.
And it's just doing a disservice to that client not having those options in place beforehand and not waiting for last minutes to say, hey, I'm going to be out of town next weekend. I won't be able to show the house for X reasons.
That's very unfortunate situation. But we see it happen over and over again.
[00:44:06] Speaker A: And the flip side of that is when the agent isn't available to show their client a house. The house is available. The house is going show and it's, it's there to be seen. But the agent says, oh, I'm not available today, or I'm off today. I'm on vacation, I'm doing whatever. I can't show you the house. Your client doesn't see the house, and then the house goes under contract the next day.
They're going to blame the agent because they're gonna be like, I really wanted that house. I really wanted to see that house. There's so many things you can do in that situation. I understand. We are all human, we all have things we're not available at the top of a hat to show a house.
However, if you know they really want to see that house and it's got to be that specific day, use a showing agent. See if you have a buddy agent that can show that house for you. Just try to do anything that you can do to get eyes on that house with your client.
[00:44:57] Speaker B: Absolutely. And to tie something into that. Something my coach really says is if you have allocated time as an agent, if you have allocated time for showings, for listing appointments every day or certain days of the week, allocate the time and communicate that to your client.
Right. And say, hey, I'm available to see properties Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturdays from 2 to 5pm you know, if you want to see your properties any of those days, I'm available. Let's make it happen.
You know, you're setting the expectations ahead of time that you are available at specific time frames.
If they want to see something, you cannot just jump off at 10 in the morning and go see a property, you know, because that's also. You also have a business drawing. You also have to respect that.
But I think communicating that goes a long way. And now the client has the expectation, okay, I need to see a property. I know we can do. So these days at this time frame, I can also work on my angle to make that happen, you know, so setting those expectations up front, what I think is it benefits both of you guys, the client and the agent to ensure no property gets missed and you're able to find the right property.
[00:46:18] Speaker A: And another side note to that is if you know you're not going to be able to show a property on a certain day and that's the day they can see the property, one thing you can do is obviously ask permission from the listing agent first. Depending on the rules and regulations of what state you're in, do a virtual showing, Go the night before, record it, send them the recording, or FaceTime them. I've done that many times with our out of state clients. FaceTime a showing so that they can see it. There's so many ways to try to work around the barrier of time.
[00:46:47] Speaker B: Absolutely. It could definitely happen.
Another area that we see some difficult challenges and disconnect is too transactional.
Right. From the agent perspective and the lack of trust, what do you, what do you think about that?
[00:47:08] Speaker A: So again, you know, a lot of these tie into the other topics, but the lack of trust in the two transactional comes from that same spot of they feel like you're shoving them into something, they don't feel like you're looking out for their best interest. They don't feel like you're taking care of them. There's no trust. This is just transactional. And it's all about the relationship. So you haven't built that relationship with them where they're like, okay, we trust. I know. On a different podcast, Tony was there and I was talking to him about some of his investors. They don't even go to the property. Tony goes to the property with a contractor and then he calls them and he gives them the number. And if the numbers make sense, they're like, okay, and they'll buy a house to restore and flip sight unseen. Because there's that trust that they know that Tony's going to be straight with them. If it's a good deal, he'll tell him, and if it's not a good deal, he'll tell them. And there's been times where on not an investor, a buyer has been looking at a house and from everything they've told us, this is not the house. They're like, you know, our in laws are going to be living with us, so we need a ranch with no stairs. And then they want to see this three story house with like a spiral staircase. And I'm like, you guys, this isn't really what you said you needed. And kind of talk them out of the house. That's not going to fit them. And I always tell them, I always like say, we work for you, we'll do whatever you want to do. If you want to put an offer on this house, we'll put an offering on this house.
However you were saying, remember when you said you needed no stairs, this was a spiral staircase and a step staircase to get into the main floor. Maybe this won't work. Let's rethink it. So just, you know, work on that relationship.
[00:48:54] Speaker B: Completely opposite of what they said they needed, but yet they want to go see it. Oh, I'm interested in this one.
It's lovely house, definitely. And like I said, it's having the relationship that trust to be able to say, hey, I take a step back, revisit that conversation.
Remember when you said this, are we still looking for this? This is not it.
Right.
Like I said, it all boils down to, to being that trust person to get you in the process.
And, and like I mentioned earlier from a conversation with, with Josh, sometimes you got to take a step forward and lead them in the right direction. Sometimes you got to step back and allow Them to.
To lead and see in which direction they're going, like you guys did there. You show them the house, but. But then you brought him back, say, hey, this is not exactly what we talk about. You sure, you say you didn't want staircases, but it's having that trust, building that trust to be able to have this conversation and be upfront with it.
Because if you just let somebody get into their house, that it's really not the house ideal for them.
What are we doing here?
[00:50:14] Speaker A: You know, it comes down to maybe they should be our model. Don't be a shitty person.
Listen to people.
[00:50:24] Speaker B: Simple as that, huh?
Just have a conversation and listen. That's it.
[00:50:29] Speaker A: Just listen. They. They can tell. People can tell when somebody's being sincere and when somebody is just full of and trying to get you to buy something.
If you're just shoving houses, you're just trying to get to the closing table.
And they don't like that house. Who are they going to blame?
They're gonna blame their agent.
[00:50:51] Speaker B: Yeah, that is it.
That is it. At the end of the day, it's gonna help go back to.
To the agents. The agent didn't do this for me. The agent didn't do that.
I wasn't aware of this.
I wasn't aware of that. The agent just pushed me to.
And it's not what we want. It's not what we want as real estate agents.
Real. As real estate professionals, we're here to guide them and help them in the process.
[00:51:21] Speaker A: And I would, you know, it's a cutthroat world. Sometime in the real estate industry, I've been receiving calls on, like, when I had my own personal house that was listed and I was receiving calls, which. This is not allowed in Georgia. So I don't know how this company was doing it, but they called me and they were like, hey, is your real estate doing a good job? Would you be open to talking about talking to one of our agents to see if we could do a better job? And we're not supposed to be poaching, so I don't know what the company was thinking, but if you're not doing the job, there's gonna be somebody else out there who's ready to do it better than you. So just take care of your people, and you won't lose your listings, you won't lose your buyers, as long as you're doing what you're supposed to be. I shouldn't say you won't, because there's always situations where something happens, something could happen. But if you're doing what you should be doing, the buyer knows it and you'll build that relationship and you'll build that trust.
[00:52:18] Speaker B: Absolutely. That's on point there because you said just do what you should be doing. And one of my thing is I treat others as I would like to be treated always. You know, if I like a relationship, if I like a transaction to go in certain way, I'm building that relationship in order for that to happen.
Because for me that's the number one priority. How can I truly help you? Not just finding your house, how can I truly help you in this process and identifying those areas and at the end of the day you take care of that relationship.
Not only are you helping that business, you may be getting more business from that referral as a referral. Right.
But this is a relationship business first and foremost and the home purchase is the back end of it.
And I think that's all for now. Any last words on, on the topic this week?
[00:53:25] Speaker A: I think we pretty much covered we, you know, went over the eight points. I think just be a good person, be a good person, care about people. I think you like really hit it on the head when you're like treat them how you want to be treated.
[00:53:38] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
And that goes a long way.
Just, just do business as you would like treated, have and build long lasting relationships and everything else will follow through as far as generating more business and things like that. Those are topics for other days where we can go into the different systems you need to have in place for that. But first and foremost, you don't want to have and lose clients.
Build a relationship, build a trust, follow.
[00:54:09] Speaker A: That comes first, the relationship comes first. The systems and all of that won't do any good if you don't have those relationships.
[00:54:16] Speaker B: Yeah. And, and follow up, stay on top of your clients. You know I also wanted to touch base real quick after. Before we wrap today's day up on next Tuesday we're going to have one of my close friends, one of our close friends and partner on board with us and Sean Reder.
I'm man can't wait to dive into his mind and, and, and in the marketing perspective of things, digital marketing for real estate agents.
He has so much input into different topics that I certainly see him being a guest here more than once over the next few months. And with him we're going to dive into digital marketing for real estate agents. On Tuesday the 22nd we have a home inspector coming on board. Right.
[00:55:09] Speaker A: Yep. Stephen Ming is going to be here with home team to talk about home inspections, why we need to have them, why they're important and what could possibly happen to your house if you don't have one.
[00:55:21] Speaker B: That'S definitely needed. I've seen so many situations where and I see many posts on Facebook where people are saying, hey, I purchased a home, then this happened and the agent did not recommend a home inspection.
And sure enough, a month after I purchased this happened.
Oops.
Tough, tough, tough. And then on the 29th, we're going to have a transaction coordinator, right?
[00:55:47] Speaker A: Yes. Or she's going to have my transaction coordinator Jessica with Nicole and Cole. She is Nicole and co. She is amazing.
I love her. Don't steal her people. If once she comes on here and talks about what a good job she does, don't overwhelm her so that she can't work for me anymore.
But yes, the importance of being an agent, why you should have a transaction coordinator, what they do, how they can help out, how they can make you more productive so that you can focus on other aspects of your real estate career.
[00:56:17] Speaker B: Awesome. Awesome. And I think we also may have Miriam back on the 24th for another segment in the home buying process.
So definitely I'm looking forward to to what's ahead. And man, continue to bring more content, continue to be engaged and collaborate again. We we have this room open live.
Anyone that's watching joining us. If you have any questions, any topics that you wanted us to elaborate, go more into details and have some more experts joining us. I'm looking for experts that can join us on Tuesdays and if need to we open it on Thursday as well for any agents, experts in the real estate field, mortgage, any area whatsoever where have a room open. We'd like to have a shot and welcome you on board. So I'm excited for this and continue to bring more. If you guys have any questions, any viewers have any questions, please put it posted on the on the comment section for the videos and we can address some of those questions question quickly on the next segment or on the back end. And and again excited for this and excited to continue to put this be here with you guys.
[00:57:35] Speaker A: Very excited, yes. And again just to kind of recap, if you have any questions during the live, you can always post those in the chat section of whatever channel you're watching the live on. They will all appear here so that we can address them during the live in real time. And if you want to be a guest on the podcast you can message Andres or myself and we'd be happy to talk to you. And get that set up. Don't forget to scan the QR code at the top and you can register so that you never miss an episode and you always know what's going on. Until then, thanks for seeing. Thanks for coming to this one and we'll see you guys on the next one.
[00:58:08] Speaker B: Thanks.
Bye.
[00:58:09] Speaker A: Bye, guys.