Rainmakers

The biggest thing I do working with a seller is the virtual tour. All of my marketing is centered on that. I also upload as many pictures as possible to realtor.com. Once I list a house on NTREIS [North Texas’s MLS], that listing gets pushed to about 8,000 Web sites. On every listing, I’ll take the maximum number of pictures and add a minimum of three informational links, a survey, a seller’s disclosure, a virtual tour, a floor plan, an appraisal and/or a list of upgrades. When that listing moves to yahoo.com, realtor.com and all of the other Web sites, buyers will see all of the pictures and links.

In addition, when I go and list for a seller, I do everything online by e-mail. I send everything back to the seller. Whenever there’s a showing, I send them an e-mail notification. Within the first few days after a showing, I send out an e-mail seeking feedback — I get a 75% response on feedback e-mails. When visitors reply, I send the e-mail to the seller completely unedited. Finally, I teach some free home-buyer classes around the area; one at the office, one at a title company. All I ask is that they sign in.

On the seller side, I promise to have them listed within the hour. The Obeo photographer will call me within two days and I’ll have the virtual tour attached to the listing within five days. On the buyer side, I capture a lot of e-mail addresses from people who call the phone numbers on yard signs. I call them back instantly and they’re usually still right in front of the house. I offer to e-mail them the virtual tour of the property. No one says no to a virtual tour. About once a week, I also send out a general e-mail to about 1,800 addresses. About 600 are bad. Every day, though, I add about five more to the list. I don’t mail any paper — ever.

I can also save the type of search they’re interested in and begin sending them new listings as they come up. Now they’re getting my picture and cell phone number instead of the listing broker’s. You have to call those kinds of leads back right when they come to you. Through my work as a volunteer firefighter, I’ve worked with probably 40 people over the last four years. It’s been a phenomenal referral source, from the chief on down. I also answer phones at the office, which a lot of other agents won’t do. But I go up to the office and do other things at the same time. That makes it convenient for me. Sometimes the phone never rings, but if you’re ready and have pre-made packets with resumes and references, you’ll get business. About a year-and-a-half ago, I got a whole 45-home subdivision that way; another time I represented a buyer for a $980,000 home — all because I was on phone shift. As they say, 90% of being successful is showing up.

I really don’t find that to be true. I get referrals and don’t get left out of the loop — ever. Some agents feel that that is happening. They’re the ones who are not changing with the times or embracing technology. They need to know how to go online through their phone, what a text message is, how to set up a virtual tour. The ones keeping up with technology who can relate to younger people will do just fine.

There are a lot of new agents in the marketplace who don’t know how to fill out the last page of the contract. If they learn the market and become an information source, they’ll be OK. I’m a salesman, but I’m also sincere. I do enough business and put my money in good places so that I don’t need to push my customers. Whether it takes two months or two years, I know they’ll use me. So when we pull up to a house, I’m not afraid to point out the negatives.

When I talk to people, they know I have credibility because I give of myself. I act like I’m buying the house, not you. It’s an investment. For example, I might tell the buyer of a $97,000 house to get in at zero down and ask the seller to pay the closing costs. Then, we raise the price to $102,000 and pay $5,000 to the buyer. I’ll take my commission on the $97,000, and the seller nets the same. They realize I’m thinking of them and not trying to get the highest price. Most people don’t know the math.

My dad started with RE/MAX in 1984. I got my license in 1994. I just know that Don [Dahlberg] will pay whatever it costs to get the best for his agents. He’s done that by using Obeo. We’re now upgrading our realtor.com program. He brought in Brenda [Featherston], who has been very successful. A lot of brokers buy their brokerage and sit back, not knowing what’s going on. Don listens to people and treats his agents like entrepreneurs, giving them the resources they need.

One would be how prevalent e-mail addresses have become. They really are the No. 1 way people communicate with each other. Top Producer Systems has moved from a software database to a Web database where you can enter e-mail contacts. Those 1,800 e-mails I send each week can go out with one click. A lot of e-mail service providers impose a limit. It would take a whole day just to send one e-mail!

Next, 80% of buyers want to look at a house online through a virtual tour. That’s the only way some buyers will stop to look now. They’ll click past photos. Now, they’ve already eliminated 20 houses when I’m showing them five, and they’ve already seen the inside of those five. My time with the buyer is less, and I have more time for my daughters, for everything.

Finally, I’ve had a lot of help from my mom and dad. It’s difficult to make it in real estate no matter how successful you are. Some agents who have been in this business for 20 years still have months where they make no money. It’s almost impossible to make it in real estate without that support. You have to have a good, positive attitude and people to help you when you’re down.

The biggest thing with me is when I get them on the phone, I have to get their e-mail address. When they send me an e-mail, I call them back right away, tell them what I’m going to do and then do it. If I say I’m going to do something in five minutes, I do. Just recently, a lady went to my home-buyer class for a refresher. She said, “I remember that you and your dad did this class 10 years ago.” When someone says something like that, you know you have a program that works pretty well.