PROView - November 2007 - (Page 16)

MARKETING Twelve Step Plan to Make You Feel Better About This Market by Walter Sanford For thirty-three years, I have either been selling or training other top agents to sell real estate at a high level. My real estate business has survived numerous market cycles. I have depended upon this twelve step plan to allow me in focusing, regenerating, and surviving differing markets. I hope these truths will help you become profitable and ride out any storms on your horizon. 1. The National Association of REALTORS® and your state association will always have published reports that sound better than what you are personally experiencing in the market. Please understand that they support us. They know that whatever they say will end up in public press. We do not need any more negative press! When you read reports that we have reached the bottom or that the market has actually gone up, take it with a grain of salt. Their job is to permeate the world with good news about real estate. 2. Here’s a shocking truth for you - making money in a down market is always harder than making money in an up market. I know that other speakers say that agents get out of the business faster than the business goes down, but I also understand that there will be less competition. The fact remains that sellers are not as excited to sell when they are looking at lower prices, and buyers want to take much longer to make a decision when they believe there will be additional pieces of inventory appearing on the market at better prices. 3. You have to fly against the conventional wisdom that buyers are good in down markets. Buyers take longer to make decisions, they “nibble” more, and they will actually eradicate your net profit if you continue to work buyers as a major part of your income flow. The only way to make money in a down market is to increase your listings at a much greater rate than your board’s inventory increase. For example, in the sizzling California market of 1990, I had to have an inventory of at least ten listings at all times to net two million dollars a year. In 16 PINELLAS REALTOR® ORGANIZATION the absolutely horrible California market of 1995, it took me 120 listings to maintain the same net income. The reason is simple - the only sellers who will sell in a down market are those who are motivated so I had to increase my sample size to obtain the correct number of motivated sellers. The more listings that I was able to obtain, the more buyer contacts came into my office. If I aggressively pursued the most motivated buyers, I could keep my income up. 4. It is time to cut expenses. If your assistant is not producing leads, fix the situation or let him or her go. If you are spending money on lead generation systems that are not producing, improve them or stop doing them. If you have an expensive boat parked out back that you haven’t used in the past eighteen months, let someone else throw money into the boat! You do not need the most expensive cable or satellite package. You certainly do not need a $93,000 Range Rover. I became the top real estate agent in California while I was driving a diesel Rabbit. 5. The only reason that you need to talk to a seller every week is for them to continue to like you, to obtain a price reduction, or to obtain a value enhancement. You will have to time-block your activity of calling sellers once a week. Make certain your sellers know that you are trying to achieve their goals, and let them know that the only reason a property doesn’t sell is that it is priced incorrectly. Once a week, you need to be requesting price reductions or value enhancements to make your listings more saleable. 6. You are going to have to be more deliberate with your time. There is no more running around without a plan! A couple of years ago, everybody wanted to buy and sell! Now, you have to have schedules to keep. When do you generate leads through FSBOs, expireds, and out-of-state owners? When do you call your buyers in the “A” class, your sellers in the “A” class, and pendings? When November / December 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of PROView - November 2007

PROView - November 2007 Contents Chairman’s Notes: My Year in Review The Long View: The Long View Waiting Room: Waiting Room Brokerage Design: Protecting Your “Rep” On The Internet Feature: Charting the Course for Next Year: Building Your Marketing Plan ProActive: 2008 RPAC Fundraising Chair ProActive: Legislature Sends New Property Tax Reform Ammendment to Voters Marketing: Twelve Step Plan to Make You Feel Better About this Market Finance: Year-End Tax Season Preparation What is RPAC? 2007 RPAC Donor Appreciation Marketplace Analysis Home Sales Report MLS Update MLS Mind Your Manners Your 2008 Memebrship Dues Upcoming Events Calendar of Events & Programs: November / December PROBIZ: IDX Welcome: New PRO Members and Affiliates

PROView - November 2007

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