Best business practices

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7 Ideas For A Successful Real Estate Open House

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The Spring real estate market is already warming up and due to low housing inventory, an Open House can be an effective way to get your listing seen. Listen as Scott offers some great ideas that were shared in “The NEW Agent” training series on how to help ensure a successful real estate open house.

Scott MacDonald, Broker/Owner/President of RE/MAX Gateway mentors and offers practical advice to real estate agents. Want to learn more? Contact Scott MacDonald (703) 652-5777 scottmacdonald@remax.net to learn more about how to be your best as an entrepreneur in the real estate world. Read more at scottymacsblog.com

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How Productive Real Estate Agents Make The Most of Winter Storm Janus

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Real Estate is more than just showing houses. Learn how to take advantage of inclement weather, snow days, and how to build your relationships and business as winter storm “Janus” pushes her way through the Midwest and up the east coast.
Scott MacDonald, Broker/Owner/President of RE/MAX Gateway mentors and offers practical advice to real estate agents. Want to learn more? Contact Scott MacDonald (703) 652-5777 scottmacdonald@remax.net to learn more about how to be your best as an entrepreneur in the real estate world. Read more at https://scottymacsblog.com/

How Do Top Producers Create Their Success? REMAX Gateway Round Table May 2013

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The Spring Real Estate Market has really taken off and as we enter the month of May, rounding out the 2nd Quarter of 2013, it’s a great time to look at the some of the best practices of a few of RE/MAX Gateway’s Top Producers and what they attribute to their success, year after year.

RE/MAX Gateway Top Producer Panel MAY 2013 Share Successful Business Techniques

RE/MAX Gateway Top Producer Panel MAY 2013 Share Successful Business Techniques

Our May 2013 Top Producer Panel consisted of Joe Doman, Bryan Felder, and Kathy Worek. These seasoned Agents offered some of their most trusted techniques and business strategies.

Joe Doman “Joe Knows”

Where is your business coming from?

Sphere, internet leads, referrals. 25 closed and pendings, just wrote 4.5 million in contracts and working them out.

4/4/4 – shoot for the numbers: reach out to sphere/internet leads/people in process, in this order

I just got off a call and overall the stats from across the country are:  38% sphere, 19% direct mail, 15% open houses and geo marketing, 9% expired(s) – especially older ones,  7% online and 12% other – like fsbo’s, sign calls and relocation(s). That does actually add up to 100.

What is different from last year to this year?

We have our WordPress site up and running, more focus, getting more things done. We are tracking of our numbers.

What has made the biggest difference in your business?

I think a combination of things like positive affirmations every morning; coaching is critical to my success – keeps me focused and on target, mindset & attitude my positive/upbeat, an assistant and time blocking.  I color code the calendar to see how I am spending my time.

What is the best piece of advice would you give the agents today?

WordPress is the wave of the future, conveying useful information via blogs and/or video and social media, and setting appropriate expectations for you clients. Google + is a good tie in with SM.  More than anything: believe in yourself.  Be unique.

What do you wish you started doing sooner rather than later?

Real Estate in general. Direct mail, I’m really particular about things that I do so it takes me forever to roll something out. I wish I had done it sooner who knows though, maybe now was the right time. (EDDM)

What do you wish you didn’t do if you had to do it all over again?

Most of the things I wish I didn’t do have nothing to do with Real Estate. Although, it’s all lead me down the path I’m on today and it’s pretty awesome.  A lot of things have made me the person I am now, they’ve built character, made me compassionate, appreciative and made me better in general.

Anything else to add that others should know?

“You can’t grow tomatoes if you plant corn.” When you plant seeds of doubt, worry, fear and failure , that’s exactly what you get. You need to plant seeds of positivity, wealth, abundance, happiness, success, greatness, love and gratitude. Don’t let your mind sabotage you; keep the course.  I have been in a position where I didn’t know where my next dollar was coming from and didn’t have one left either. You need to have faith in yourself, believe in yourself and you’ll surprise yourself.

Bryan Felder of The Virginia Realty Group

Where is your business coming from?

Everyone’s business is different – Bryan’s is business to business.  Set up 2 databases – one for business and one for clients. This system drives business to your business database from your client database.  This will get you referrals from the businesses.  Develop this piece of business.

What is different from last year to this year?

Networking with agents outside the area to get referrals for people moving to the area.  I attend seminars and set a goal for collecting cards and start to market to them with a quarterly newsletter.

What has made the biggest difference in your business?

Focus on 4 categories and go deeper with database – 37 touch points with them every year.

What is the best piece of advice would you give the agents today?

Leverage your team to gain balance – push leads, do team huddles and meetings consistently, and educate.

Do a “To Do” list every day, then set 3 goals to keep the focus and my time managed.  Keep records so you can bench mark your success.

What do you wish you started doing sooner rather than later?

You can make a lot of money. You cannot make a lot of money. You can spend a lot of money. So, you need to track your numbers.  Review your P&L and check bank accounts.  Do this now – don’t wait.

 Is there anything else to add that others should know today?

Don’t grow your team too big.  Only bring on the right people at the right time.  You’ve got to have fun!  Team activities, go out with agents – do stuff outside the office.  Pick a niche.   Ask your clients, “What one thing could I improve upon that would have made your transaction smoother? What about my staff?”  There is always room for improvement and if you don’t ask you won’t know.

Kathy Worek  of Kathy Worek Group

Where is your business coming from?

Business is growing through consistency in communicating with sphere – just listed cards, constant contact advertising, company newsletters and post cards.  Four times per month is the number of contacts with sphere per month.

What is different from last year to this year?

Focus on sphere – professional marketing – client reviews online.  Use WordPress with good content and quality information.  List contractors on website and post RBI stats on the site and encourage clients to go to my site.  Focus on neighborhoods and zip codes for Trulia and Zillow.  Team rhythm is good – not as consistently as Bryan but still good.  Take your professionalism to the next level by providing your client your checklists.  Use the power of the team to leverage exposure for your clients.

What is the biggest difference in your business?

Consistency in marketing, consistent in processes has added to my business.  Getting bigger internet presence and get reviews

Best piece of advice for agents to take in.

Appreciate your clients and let them know.  Communicate your understanding of their situation.

What would I have done sooner?

Don’t be afraid to spend money on assistants – it frees up your time and allows you to get in front of clients and new business opportunities.  Trust your staff.  If you want to get to the next level – you need to hire the assistant.  Speaking of assistants, Joe does videos to train his assistants. He tells them to watch the video and ask questions after they are finished.

Get a good database management system in place early and use it to the fullest.

Be firm in your listing agreements and commissions you charge.

Budget – and stick to it!  You are running a business.

Anything else to add?

Get in front of people – be positive and optimistic.  Network.  Be nice to other agents.

Please feel free to contact me scottmacdonald@remax.net or (703) 652-5777 if you would like to attend our next RE/MAX Gateway Top Producer Round Table or if you have any comments or suggestions.

Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

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Cold Weather Isn’t Cooling Down this Real Estate Market… Multiple Offers are HOT!

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Scott MacDonald advises again on multiple offers, contract situations, as well as, short sale scenarios in Northern Virginia. As the Spring real estate market starts to heat up, don’t let Buyers grow cold. Read more  Seller & Buyer strategies  or give Scott a call to discuss (703) 652-5777

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High Performance In Real Estate: From Basketball to Business

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It’s that time of year again – college basketball’s Final Four time.  As you think about the potential winners of this year’s tournament and past winners, the teams that will win or have won in the past are all high performing.  This got me thinking, what represents a high performing team and how can this relate to your business?

HIGH PERFORMANCE from Basketball to Business scottymacsblog.com

Here is what I came up with for you to consider:

  • High energy – Get rest, exercise and be ready to tackle any challenge that comes your way.  Do what it takes to pump yourself up.  Read motivational quotes, talk with mentors, rally yourself or do whatever gets you excited to have energy.  High energy is contagious.
  • Integrity – Always do the right thing for your clients and your team – especially when no one is looking.
  • Goal oriented – Each and every team needs to be working towards a common goal or goals to keep them focused.  Review with the team on a regular basis and make adjustments quickly and as necessary.
  • Happy – Always be positive and optimistic and remember to celebrate achieving your goals.  Also, high performing teams have fun and laugh with and at each other to keep the atmosphere light and entertaining.
  • Performance driven – The best way to be performance driven is track and measure results of the goals you have set.  Depending upon the goal, this can be daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly.  I wouldn’t go out any further than quarterly so you can make adjustments to keep you on track.
  • Educated – Always be seeking to learn new things about your business, your clients, and other industries that you can take and adapt to your business.  Review what was done right or wrong to build upon your accomplishments or learn from mistakes.
  • Resilient – They don’t get down easily. Failures are learning experiences and setbacks are temporary.  They understand that no is not personal and gets you closer to the next yes.
  • Forward thinking – Incorporating strategic planning, careful analysis of trends, and reviewing industry data will enable you to think about the future and make the right decisions for success. Don’t get caught up in what you have now, but project on what you will have one month from now, two, etc. Agents always get hung up on what they have going on now that they often times forget to prospect for the next month, and going forward.
  • Opportunistic – They continuously look for opportunities in their fields.  In the recent past it was foreclosures, short sales, and working with investors  but remembering to work and grow their database is important.  Recognition of trends is key.
  • Realistic – Remember to never get too high or too low.  Set attainable goals, stay the course or make the appropriate adjustments to be on top of your game and focused where you should be spending your time.
  • Money driven – They are driven by money but not money focused and they don’t sell from their wallets.  They realize by helping others, they too will succeed.
  • Accountable – The teams are accountable to each other but most importantly, to themselves.  The leader keeps himself accountable through meeting with the team or trusted advisors regularly.  The leader needs to set the example.
  • Nonconforming – They set the pace and don’t follow, they are leaders and approach things differently from others.  Additionally, they look at things from all angles to determine the best course of action.
  • Communication – They provide positive feedback and praise in public, constructive criticism in private, face to face meetings, emails, texts and phone calls on consistent basis is critical to achieving great things.  Most importantly, you need to be consistent in your communication, i.e. messaging, relevance and timing.
  • Enthusiasm – Be ready to tackle any challenge and celebrate your success.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”.  Be enthusiastic.

HIGH PERFORMANCE success tips from Basketball to BusinessNow that you understand a little more about becoming a high performance individual or team, incorporate these philosophies and make things

happen.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

Multiple Offer Strategies In Real Estate: Help For Home Buyers

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It is no surprise that we are seeing more and more multiple contract situations.  The perfect storm is in place – interest rates are at 65 year lows, inventory levels are at extremely low levels, and there are buyers anxious to get into houses.  Affordability levels are near all-time highs as well so it only makes sense that buyers are finding themselves competing to get into a home today.

So, the question is how do you win and get the home your client’s desire?

  • Add an escalation clause which allows you to bid up the price above any other offer up to an amount you are comfortable paying.  The escalation amount should be an interesting number like $1,150 as most people just do $500 or $1,000 – make your offer stand out.
  • Increase your earnest money deposit to show your interest in purchasing the house.  If your down payment is 20%, make your deposit 10%.  If you are doing FHA, have your deposit equal your down payment of 3.5%.  You are going to be putting the money down anyway, why not do this and attract more attention to your offer?Multiple Contract Strategies
  • Have a very short time frame on your home inspection contingency and radon contingency if you choose to have them.  Also, consider doing the inspection contingencies for informational purposes only just leaving yourself the opportunity to void if you find something so egregious or beyond what you expected.  If you and your agent are confident in the home’s condition, you may want to consider eliminating these contingencies but be extremely cautious when not exercising these contingencies.
  • Have a quick settlement date – Ashley Smith with Atlantic Coast Mortgage can close a loan in just 8 days if she has a complete loan application from her clients.
  • Additionally, encourage your loan officer to be proactive and call the listing agent and explain the financial arrangements and status of the loan.  Pat Cunningham of Home Savings and Trust was one of the first lenders to mention he was doing this for his clients.
  • Allow the seller to rent back after closing giving them flexibility on when they need to move or to give them time to find a home.
  • Put in a home of choice contingency for the sellers if they have not found a home yet – make the contingency for an extended period of time so they have the opportunity to find the house they really want.
  • If you are so bold, you can have the clients waive the appraisal contingency.  In order to do this, you need to work in conjunction with your lender and see if they can get a quick turnaround on the appraisal.  If so, have the appraisal done in concert with the home inspection contingency and if it doesn’t appraise, you can void based upon the home inspection or on the HOA/condo documents.  Not one of my favorite suggestions but it is a strategy you can undertake to help your contract win.  Also, if your lender can get a quick turnaround, make the appraisal contingency 5 or 7 days.
  • If you are dealing with a home owner and not a bank or investor, have your clients write a letter along with photos explaining why the house is so important to them and the trials and tribulations of their home buying experience.  It can sometimes help to pull on the heart strings of the owners.
  • You can explain to the listing agent, the highest contract isn’t always the best contract.  You need to have the right people in place to consummate the transaction not just someone willing to throw a high number just to get the house to only experience remorse later and back out of the contract.

These tips will help you win more contracts.  Consult with the clients and make sure they are comfortable with your recommendations prior to implementing them so they fully understand the repercussions of their actions.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

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Magic Tricks Inspire Leadership and Growth In Northern Virginia and DC Metro Real Estate

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In our Vistage meeting this week we had a very dynamic speaker by the name of Andrew Bennett. Andrew has a very interesting background and actually uses magic in his presentations to aid in engaging his audience.  He spoke about analyzing your business through the skills magicians use: appear, disappear, and restore.  Using slight-of-hand, Andrew evokes concepts: what in your company do you need to take on as a new initiative to grow your business,  what do you need to eliminate from your business that is unproductive or preventing growth, and what needs to be fixed – worth keeping, but hasn’t been tweaked to operate at full capacity.

The Magic of Andrew Bennett Blending knowledge of leadership, organizational culture, and mental management with magic.

Key areas we discussed were culture and employee engagement.  It all starts at the top and filters down to employees.  Look at how you use your words, how you inspire, develop relationships, develop your self-awareness, display your authenticity and utilize discipline; apply the appear/disappear/restore analysis to your business. Let’s look at each of these areas individually.

  • WORDS – Researchers say you have 60,000 thoughts a day – 57,000 were thoughts you had the day before.  What do you ask yourself so as to drive yourself to be successful?  Be intentional in your thoughts and in the questions you ask yourself.  To change your thoughts, change your words.  Think in terms of, “what I speak is what I create”.  Think about what you say to others and more importantly, to yourself.
  • INSPIRATION – the definition is “to breathe life into”.  Inspiration comes from the inside, so touch what matters to others – help them believe the impossible is possible.  As a leader, deliver the power of WOW.  Passion and hope come together and become inspiration.  Build on emotions and sense of accomplishment.  Think about what inspires you about your business?  What are you willing to suffer to get what you want? Why is that important to you and why does that matter to others.
  • RELATIONSHIPS – Your individual supervisors and the amount of communication they have with your people are critical to employee engagement – know personal things about your people to build trust – recognize other’s mannerisms to determine how can you help them.
  • SELF AWARENESS –  What we believe is what we see.  What do you see?  Who fosters these beliefs to encourage you to greatness?  How do my beliefs result in how I show up each day?  Pay attention to this area – how you show up is critical to the culture you are developing.
  • AUTHENTICITY – Transparency and vulnerability are your keys to authenticity.  Ground yourself in reality but be hopeful.  What are your challenges or struggles and how will you overcome them?  Be true to yourself and you will be authentic to others.
  • DISCIPLINE – do what I say, it is that easy!

Things to consider as you contemplate these topics:

  • What excites you about our organization?  Communicate this with others.
  • Who are your trusted allies?  Seek them out and ask for feedback.
  • Where are your blindspots?  We all have them and your trusted allies can help guide you through discovering them.
  • Deliver your message consistently but paint the picture in different ways to appeal to your team members.

As you move in this direction be passionate about what you do, help make a difference in other’s lives and build something greater than yourself through inspiring others to achieve more.  Get it?  Got it?  Good.

Now, go build something!

Success as Appraisal Concerns Rise In Northern Virginia Real Estate

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Uh – oh some appraisals are low!
As we enter the spring market I have growing concerns over appraisals here in Northern Virginia. As we come out of the “slower” winter months, appraisers have fewer homes to choose from to help catch them up with the market today. We are seeing 20-30 people regularly at open houses which is rare for this time of year. There are only 3,081 houses for sale in all of Northern Virginia – a true supply issue for the number of buyers in the marketplace. As a result, it is rare not to see multiple offers on houses listed today. This is not an artificial “run up” of housing prices and we are not stretching prices as we are still below the highs of the housing bubble in many areas. The law of supply and demand should dictate property values in my opinion.
Here are examples of the last few appraisals we have come across. Two single family homes in the same neighborhood in Fairfax both recently came in low – one was sold at $850,000 and appraised for $847,000 – really? The other one sold at $877,000 and appraised for $811,000. How can these numbers be so far off from each other and where is the real estateAppraisal Concerns scottymacsblog market headed today? One of our agents listed a town house in Countryside for $320,000. They received 3 contracts in the first weekend – an obvious issue of supply and demand. Well, it sold for $326,500 and appraised for $300,000. The appraiser used a short sale that had closed several months prior to this sale at $260,000 as a comparable. Short sales are less than 8% of the market plus if it closed several months prior to this sale, because of the short sale process, the contract was written several months prior to closing – how is this truly a reflection of the market today? We also had an offer come in on a town house in Centreville recently which sold for $450,000 and appraised at $435,000. The appraiser used a new town house in a community down the street that settled in July of 2012. Again, as it was new build, the contract was written a few, if not several months prior to the settlement – is this a true indication of market value today? What’s worse is there was a closing in the same neighborhood which was a higher value that settled in December that was not used to support the price of our town house. Lastly, we had a condo in Sterling that came in low by $8,000. The sales price was $175,000 and it appraised for $167,000. I think you can understand our issue.
What can be done? First, provide information to your sellers and buyers early. Set the expectation that the property may not appraise for the sales price and discuss the potential options with them so they understand what the next steps would be for them. Let them know that the appraisers may have difficulty finding suitable comparable sales – this is where you must be diligent and provide solid comparable sales to the appraiser. If you are dealing with an FHA appraisal and the sellers of comparable properties paid closing costs for their buyers, let them know the appraiser will take that amount off the top of the sales price which could bring down your value. As there are many multiple offer situations, some buyer’s agents are putting in high offers to get an approved contract knowing they won’t get the needed appraised amount – let your sellers know this is the case and the highest price is not always the best offer. If you are selling a new home, most builder contracts do not have appraisal contingencies in them for their protection, not the buyers. As prices of new homes are escalating this becomes a concern for buyers today. Remind them that an appraisal is a snap shot in time based upon historical data that is already behind our escalating market.
In addition to providing information to your sellers and buyers, provide extensive details to the appraiser. Plus, don’t just provide them with information, meet them and discuss what you and they are seeing in the market – build rapport by sharing your stories and listening to theirs. Share with them your comparable sales and why they should be considered. Explain the Home Pricing Wizard to them in detail and how it helped you determine the market value. Provide them with copies of the competing offers so they can see it is a desirable property. Share with them your feedback from Showing Suite that shows other agents that visited the property how they felt the property was priced at market value – or below. Bring market data from RBIntel that shows the market is increasing in value, as well as, articles that point to this fact. You must be diligent in your representation of our clients and do all you can to get the houses to appraise.
The good news is not all properties are appraising low, but there are enough that are, so this is why you need to pay attention and educate our clients on what is happening in the market. This separates you from other agents and makes you a professional. Get it? Got it? Good!
Now, go sell something!

Scott’s Market Minute for Northern Virginia: Low Housing Inventory For A Hot Real Estate Market

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Spring market has sprung early this year. Thinking of selling your home? Watch Scott’s Market Minute every week. Scott provides real estate market information for Northern Virginia and his Market Minute offers a quick look into current market conditions, housing inventory levels, distressed property statistics, and market projections. If you want to know what’s going on in the Virginia side of the DC Metro housing market area, contact Scott MacDonald (703)652-5777 or follow his blog http://www.scottymacsblog.com

Agent Success: Professional Courtesy

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As the Spring market begins and Real Estate Agents are showing and listing more properties, Scott MacDonald offers a few tips and reminders when showing properties. Want to learn more about the REMAX Gateway?  or contact Scott MacDonald directly at (703) 652-5777 scottymacsblog.com