The Real Estate Professional

Strategy 1: Only spend time with qualified sellers who have both motivation and condition. Motivation: a compelling reason to sell with a time crunch to do it in Condition: there is a way to structure a profitable deal – either the seller has the equity to take a deep discount in price or the financing is such that you can structure terms for you to make your profit that way. Strategy 2: A deal is only a deal once you have signed contracts in hand. And even then, you might not. I just made an offer on an awesome house in a high appreciating area. There was a cash offer in ahead of me for full price. I made my offer higher. The seller rejected my offer because it was not a cash offer, and accepted the cash offer. Within 24 hours the cash offer pulled out. Apparently he made offers on several properties, tying them up, and picking which ones were best, and pulling out of the rest. Strategy 3: Use “standardized” forms and contracts that you know how to use fast. Have your attorney review contracts you have, and have a standard version of them legally approved. Then make changes to them for each transaction by using an addendum. Strategy 4: Perform your due diligence before; during and after you have the property under contract. I need comparables and a rough idea of repair expenses before making my offer. The title report is not essential until I have my offer accepted because I have a contingency clause allowing me to cancel if I don’t read more

Having a specialty in a particular kind of real estate or real estate investor can seem like closing doors to all possible clients, but in a world of thousands of real estate professionals, it is a smart business move to shine in a particular niche. Deciding on your niche and how you intend to approach it is key to finding a solid business amongst the many other people who are also looking for clients. Your niche should be something you’re passionate about. Whether it’s golf, pets, first-time home buyers, luxury real estate or senior clients, you should be eager to learn more about it and apply what you’ve learned to your business. Don’t get into a niche just because it’s a hot market right now. Your natural love of your niche is what will sustain you when the market is not going your way. People like feeling special. If you specialize in an area that they identify with, they are more likely to pick you because at least they know you will be paying attention to their particular tastes/concerns/goals. For people who are passionate about their interests, it can bump you up from an interesting option to a necessary part of their real estate dealings. Your potential clients will recognize passion when they see it. If you’re obviously enthused about selling real estate beside parkland, they’ll know it by the way you speak, what you know and how you write your website and/or blog. This is what captures clients’ attention read more

If you’re looking for an interesting way of showcasing your homes, introducing clients to your area or making an otherwise boring home hunting trip into an interesting one, why not try geocaching? Geocaching is a great way to get outdoors and make traversing a community more fun.  It also can be the doorway to new ideas on how to market your homes and get the attention of people who are on the fence about buying. If you’re an accomplished cacher, you know what “geocaching” means. If not, here’s a brief overview: Geocaching began in the year 2000 when people realized that Global Positioning Systems (GPS) could be used to pinpoint locations where a cache was hidden. This cache usually took the form of plastic or metal canisters which housed tradable items and a logbook. It has grown to nearly 850,000 caches logged around the world. For more information about geocaching, head over to geocaching. comYou might think that this is kind of crazy – what does geocaching have to do with home sales? Niche marketing is the answer.  The concept isn’t new; there are currently “bicycle Realtors® who offer bicycle tours of homes for sale.  There are realties that offer weekly real estate walking tours.  So why not take advantage of one of the fastest-growing outdoor sports to encourage people to buy?If you have clients who are geocachers or are outdoors inclined, a geocache hunt may be a great way to spend an afternoon touring the city. read more