Dec 17 2009
Do you have a Realtorsaurus?
Here are some signs that your agent is from another epoch.
-Tries to photograph your listing with an old film camera (cell phones are just as bad)
-Does not text message
-Checks email only once per day at night, likely on an AOL email account
-Doesn’t use sign riders with domain names,text messaging or QR codes for mobile devices
-Still believes that a full page print ad is a “big time” marketing campaign and that it alone will sell the home
-Thinks a bowl of stale peanuts will get other agents to come to the broker’s open
-Does not use or understand social media
-Tries to sell your home without a dedicated website for the property (www.19110pch.com)
-Uses a binder full of paper instead of a laptop for a listing presentation
-Understands syndication only in terms Night Rider being shown in Germany
-Uses the “facsimile” machine so many times you can’t read your contract instead of using electronic signatures
And the number one sign that you Realtor is a Realtorsaurus?
- Has a tape cassette answer machine at home!
Why these are important.
-Unless your agent shoots professionally, do not let them attempt to photograph the listing with any camera. I see dozens of new listings each week with photos so bad nobody is going to pick up that phone. Dark rooms, blown out windows, and crooked walls. A $6m beach houses should never look like a frame from a film noir movie.
-Text messaging is key in communication with today’s new generation. It’s fast and efficient. Sometimes it’s ok not to call! TEXT example… “R U going to B on time?”….”Yes c u in 10″ Some people communicate this way and an agent should be able to speak this “language.”
-If you are selling a “piece of junk” house where there is no commission to be had then I understand why an agent might not want to build a website and have a domain name for a home. If your home is worth more that $150k then you should have one.
-Hate to say it but print media is expensive and not what it used to be. It’s not nearly as effective as Google Adwords or good online marketing.
-You need to serve good food if you are going to get agents to drive 5 miles up a hill to see your home on caravan. Order a Mex platter from La Salsa. If you have a $10m listing, don’t be cheap, get an omelette bar, and send out online blast inviting every hungry, opportunistic agent within 100 miles! A few may have clients who want your home.
-Social media will continue to be an important tool to promote the agent and their listings. Don’t be the annoying sales pitch guy, just announce what you do and that you do it better than most.
-Any agent who shows up with a binder full of brochures and paper is not prepared to show you how his last listing was on 20 different websites getting 10,000 hits a week. Today’s listing appointment really needs to be a discussion of online marketing, not an agent’s time to show off full page ads glorifying them and their accomplishments.
-Syndication is what happens when your agent builds a website and the platform automatically distributes it to a dozen other portals like Trulia, Zillow, etc. There are at least 10 portals that every home should be on and a dozen more that are emerging. I’m going on recored and claiming that your agents not doing their job if you home can’t be found on at least 10 sites.
-Electronic signatures are where it’s at. Sign online, email it back, and I present the offer (in person, the old school way) or send it off. I can’t tell you how many deals occur with clients on the go, like, “We are in Malibu today, Sundance next week, and the Hamptons after that!” Clients like these need to access docs on their iPhones and sign on-line, not waiting by a hotel fax machine.
To contact the agent who wrote this try texting, skype me
,emailing, or calling Mike Gardner cell 310 699 8428! Or you could try my old school phone device at the office at 310 317 1719 where you will likely get to leave your name at the beep.
I’m a real estate trainer and like your article so much that with your permission I would like to provide to my students as well as feature it someplace on my website.
Appropriate credit will be given as to your requirements.
Interesting article
thanks
I couldn’t agree more with your analysis, staying on the front edge of the wave of new technology is a must. In fact, I would take it a step further and say categorically that advertising homes for sale through print media is dead, and so is the agent that promotes the use of it!