Category: Life as a Realtor

How To Get Your Listings Noticed

Ipad_1153860928.jpgThere are two ways you can up your game when it comes to getting your listings noticed online. First, take optimal photos and visually attract potential buyers. Second, captivate them with entertaining and enthusiastic listing descriptions.

 

Go Au Natural

When possible, take photographs with all-natural light. Turn off the inside lights, tie back the curtains, pull up the shades and take the photos during the sunniest time of the day, around noon to one o’clock. The natural light helps everything look brighter and crisper, creating better, more appealing photos.

 

Get Low

One of the best ways to get wide, all-encompassing shots, is to take photos from a kneeling position. Doing this makes the room look bigger since you are able to capture most of the space between the floor and ceiling lines in the final photo.

 

Tripod

Using a tripod helps you plan, steady and execute your photographs with ease. You can practice your shots and adjust lighting or furniture as necessary in order to take the ideal photo without trying to remember the exact angle and position you were standing in.

 

Video/Drone

Utilizing visually engaging technology is another great way to get your listings noticed. More and more, people are looking to watch video tours of the house, the property and the neighborhood. If the technology is available, take a drone video of the property to help potential buyers assimilate to what life would be like if they lived there.

 

Go Pro

If you feel that you have tried everything you can think of and are taking the best photos possible, but you still aren’t seeing the results you were hoping for, consider hiring a professional photographer. Professionals are trained to understand what makes a good photo and can work their magic on your listing.

 

Talk the Talk

Regular listing captions that simply describe the number of bedrooms and bathrooms within the home aren’t always enough to sell online viewers anymore. Get creative and talk about the interesting and unique elements in the home. Is there an abundance of natural lighting? Tell them! Does the house boast art-deco architecture? That’ll definitely appeal to people. A home is more than just square footage and potential buyers want to know that their future house is one of a kind, just like them.

New Facebook Anti-Discrimination Rules

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A few months ago, Facebook was hit with a lawsuit by the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that claimed Facebook was engaging in housing discrimination. According to the suit, HUD accused Facebook of allowing landlords, home sellers and agents to set parameters on ads that limited which prospective buyers could view it based on race, religion, sex and disability, to name a few.

Some of these allowances included blocking ads to users based on their interests in certain topics such as “child care” or “mobility scooters.” Others gave the advertiser the ability to block ads by specific zip code.

In response to this accusation, Facebook has changed their rules for ads related to real estate. Now, advertisers can no longer set these kinds of parameters and discriminate against any person based on race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, disability, medical or genetic condition.

 

What does this mean for you?

As a Homesale Realty agent, these new rules just mean that the more general your audience, the better. When setting the target audience for your ads, choose both men and women and select as wide of a geographical range as possible. Counties tend to work very well for the geographical parameter.

If, for some reason, Facebook thinks you have set a parameter that violates these new rules, they will flag your ad and send you a notification that it has been denied. From here, you can adjust the parameters and resubmit or send the ad for a manual review if you believe it has been flagged in error.

 

For more information about these new rules, check out Facebook’s advertising policies here.

 

Protect Yourself Against Wire Transfer Scams

The real estate industry is a huge target for wire transfer scams. It’s up to you to protect yourself and your clients, but how? What are wire transfer scams? How do you know if you are a victim? What should you do if it happens to you? Read below to find out more…

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A Little Info About These Scams

These scams normally come from groups operating out of Ghana, Nigeria and other African nations. Individuals in these groups try to connect with potential victims through email and even on social dating sites in order to foster a relationship. The groups, as a whole, send out millions of emails constantly, waiting for someone to click on it. They are smart, creating believable stories about why they need bank account information and convincing the victim in the relationship that by divulging this information and partaking in this deal, they will be helping them out greatly.

 

How to Recognize One

Some scam attempts are obvious, but others can be unsuspecting. If you have an online friend who has started nonchalantly asking personal questions about your financial status, it might be a scam. If you received an email from an address you don’t recognize, it might be a scam, but if you’re not sure, read the content of the emails. Many scam emails will have funky wording, some phrases won’t make sense or words will be misspelled.

Other scam emails can contain content about you needing to make a payment for a medical account or they want you to review your recent payment. If you haven’t made any payments recently or the email address isn’t the same as your health account portal, delete it and don’t click on any prompted links. Lastly, never download any file from an unknown address.

 

How to Protect Yourself Against Them

  • Block IP addresses from nations listed above
  • Avoid using web-based email accounts (they are easier to hack)
  • Be careful what you put on social media (job functions, salary, hierarchical information, etc.)
  • Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know
  • Don’t disclose personal information to people you don’t know
  • Be wary of any requests for secrecy or pressure to act quickly

 

What to Do If You Suspect Something

  • Immediately call your bank and talk to the person who has authority to recall a wire transfer
  • Tell your bank that you want them to fully cooperate with the police
    • You have to state this as the bank cannot help the FBI without your consent
  • Report the incident to the FBI at ic3.gov
    • Provide as many details as you can about the beneficiary; account number, contact information, names, etc.
  • Contact the closest FBI field office
    • For an international wire transfer, they can try to create a Financial Kill Chain

 

 

Reference: https://www.wavgroup.com/2018/10/08/how-the-fbi-foiled-a-wire-transfer-scam/

There’s An App For That

With appointments, meetings, phone calls and personal life, how are you possibly supposed to keep track of it all? Well there may not be one singular app to organize every aspect of your life, but here are a few that can work in harmony to make sure things don’t start falling through the cracks.

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Evernote

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This comprehensive note-taking app allows you to attach articles, documents, audio or video files to notes that you took during a meeting or phone call. You can choose from the basic, premium or business version to fit your exact needs. With this app you can create notes, checklists or even put a notebook together for multiple notes, making sure everything you need is in one place.

 

 

Google Calendar

If you don’t have a Google account, it might be worth creating one just to reap the benefits of the Google calendar. The calendar can be shared with whomever you choose so everyone who has access can see the schedule for the rest of the group. This can help with avoiding scheduling conflicts and setting up meeting times. You can alter the reminder notification for each event to hours, days or even weeks before the event based on your preference.

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IFTTT

With your busy schedule, there might be tasks that you postpone frequently or even forget about. With IFTT, derived from the phrase “If this, then that…,” you can set rules for your media to do things for you. See the example graphic below. You can set a rule to get the weather report every morning at 7 a.m. so you can decide what to wear or you can have Twitter send out every Instagram post as an organic tweet to make social media engagement a breeze. There are thousands of programs you can incorporate in this app to make your life more hands off and less time consuming.

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Fall email marketing may be key to boosting real estate sales activity

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Email newsletters are a great way for real estate professionals to keep clients up to date with the market, even after activity cools in the fall. However, it is important to ensure the information in those email blasts is pertinent to the current housing situation, and encourages would-be clients – whether buyers or sellers – to get into the market even as attentions may be turning elsewhere.

One of the smartest things agents can do at this time of year is not necessarily highlight how strong the market is, but rather how much they are able to help clients on both the buying and selling sides of the real estate sales process, according to Forbes article, Robert Reffkin, founder and CEO of the technology-driven real estate company Compass. Agents should always look to highlight their personal expertise, but as the market chills, that experience may become an even more important differentiating factor.

Find what works
The good news for agents is that it’s becoming easier for them to determine which aspects of their marketing resources are resonating with prospective clients. This gives the ability to really hone in on the kind of messaging that helps them forge connections with their clients, and turn those into potentially years-long relationships.

Agents should take the time to carefully examine these issues and determine what’s leading to clicks and calls and what isn’t, and use that data to inform future decisions about email marketing that focuses on agents’ personal brands.

A stronger return on investment
Agents may wish to scale back the volume of email messages they send out this time of year. That gives them the chance to put together better content in each email blast, which could be more effective in terms of grabbing people’s attention and click through to an agent’s website. These sorts of “lead magnets” could include checklists that help people understand when it may be the right time to buy or sell, or other helpful info given the current market that could prove valuable for anyone looking to get into the market.

Agents need to be able to adjust their marketing frequently to meet the trends they are encountering in the course of their daily work. The more attuned to these issues they can be through careful examination of their marketing strategies and results, the more likely they will be to generate greater success in the long run.

How to Succeed in Real Estate

How to Succeed in Real Estate

Want to become a real estate agent? Coaching and training are essential aspects of building a successful real estate career.

No matter if you are new to real estate or launching a fresh leg of your journey, one thing will become clear quickly: A winning mindset is essential to success. That means confidence, clarity, and focus.

Still, it’s important to understand “mindset” isn’t just telling yourself nice things in the mirror. In fact, this feeling of certainty – of knowing you can handle whatever this career throws at you – comes from many aspects of your personality and training.

Here’s how to become a real estate agent with a winning mindset:

Remember, You Are Helping People
Why a career in real estate? Simply, lots of professionals don’t really have a chance to help others make positive changes in life. Real estate experts are different: You play a key role in helping your clients achieve an important life milestone. For many of them, home ownership is the “American dream.” That alone should give you a boost when the going gets tough.

Confidence Comes from Preparation
Everyone is going to have days when they run into problems. The key is that you have “done the homework” and don’t get stumped when these situations pop up. The more you learn about real estate–and your local market in particular–the more you will be able to come through when it counts. Read up, network, and see what’s working for your colleagues.

Everything is a Learning Opportunity
Worst case scenario: You make a mistake that has a tangible effect on a client’s house-hunt. Of course, you should do everything you can to set things right and navigate those troubled waters. But, here’s the key: You learn more by diving in and letting yourself own those situations than you do by shrinking back. “Lessons learned” can give you unique real estate insights.

It Is Never Too Soon to Teach
Mentoring is a huge part of success in real estate. Those who are just joining the profession will get on their feet the fastest when they can learn from those who’ve been where they are. Real estate agents who are hitting their stride should start sharing information about their specialties. Learning how to explain topics to others will make you more effective in the long run.

Set Goals, Reach for Them, and Build Momentum
Whether you’re working as part of an agency or on your own, there will always be more for you to do. The key is to set goals that are plausible, but still call for you to stretch. An attainable, yet meaningful goal will keep you moving forward. Be flexible and try not to get too bogged down in process: Instead, ask yourself: What will reaching this goal really mean for me?

Give Every Client Your A-Game
Once you have been through a few dozen clients, you will start to see situations that seem routine. Always bear in mind that every client has a story and specific goals. Your ability to build rapport and trust with your client is what sows the seeds for success in the long run: After all, they will be the ones referring friends and family to you in the future.

Join BHHS Homesale Realty and you’ll have abundant opportunities to put these ideas into practice. We focus on providing education, technology, and tools that will help you become a real estate agent with confidence and a winning edge. Contact us to learn more.