SHANTEE HAYNES

So, the newbie has FINALLY found a home to hang her real estate hat. I have been mulling over a few different brokers and pretty much came full circle to the broker where I was originally taking my classes.

My Branch Vice President implored me to blog about why buyers/sellers should work with me being a new agent. I have had tons of ideas dancing around in my head for months and while I got excited about putting them to work, I must say it’s a whole different story actually conveying why these ideas would be good for new/potential clients.

Most of what I have come up with was after hearing how a lot of sellers not only want to get the most they can for their home, but how it may not be easy finding buyers once their home’s listing price has been set. It got my mind going when I started visiting open houses on my own out of curiosity; how so much foot traffic through their home may or may not produce serious buyers who are interested in the property and REALLY want to set forth in putting and offer on the table. The traditional open house, as said by many agents, helps the agent more than it would help the sellers. That is not to say that an open house is something an agent should refuse to do. But in this current state of our business, we not only need to be creative about how we get the business, but how we STAY in the business.

Time and time again in the last year, I have heard that QUALIFIED and MOTIVATED buyers are the key to getting one’s home sold not only in this current market, but in ANY market. Putting forth something unique and exclusive would be the ticket. What says unique and exclusive more than a “Look and Leave”?

Sure, I’ll answer your question! A “Look and Leave” is just that, motivated buyers go to look at the property, and they leave. There is no puttering around your home, “just to look”, and no people coming into your home just for the freebies and the food only to have left tracked dirt in your home as their way of saying “thanks” when they only wanted to pass time rather than put forth an offer on your home. How this works, is once you get your listing, a call to action is put to fellow agents (who have buyers) letting them know that the property in *area/address/location* is up for sale (you may even want to get a jump on this before the property listing hits the MLS…remember I’m a newbie, not sure how plausible this would be) and to bring their buyers to the property on the designated date and time. This could be in the form of an invitation of sorts.

This is where we would deviate from an open house in the traditional sense. Only motivated buyers are going to come to a home and view it at say between 5 and 7 in the evening…yes, I am aware that isn’t anything new, but to take it a step further, this is where the “leave” comes in, they are given a designated amount of time to look through the home 15, maybe 20 minutes tops before exiting through the back of the home, allowing them to have a look at the yard space on the way out. A simple “thank you” followed by how you and those one or two interested parties’ agents will discuss their putting an offer on the home. This way, the sellers didn’t have their home open for 2 or 3 hours with individuals who more than likely were not interested in the home. The idea, of course has a couple of other elements to it, but for the most part, this is something that shows benefit and hopefully alleviates any doubts many may have about working with someone less experienced. In a listing presentation, this I feel, would be very appealing to individuals who at the end of the day want to be equally impressed with what speaks to their question of “How can you give us results?” more than your designations and what broker/brand you work behind.

That is a question I would love to ask a Real Esate professional once I am able to sit and talk with one. Ever since the bursting of the housing bubble and the exposure of the sub prime lenders and everything that has dramatically changed the current RE market around the country, that's been on my mind. The smoke has cleared a bit and the dust has settled, and there are still those who chose not to turn in or allow their licenses to expire.

So given the current state of things, and how many must look at us (especially those new to the business), my question to you is: DO YOU LOVE REAL ESTATE? Are you passionate about this and what you do and represent to people, or have you decided to hang in there for the sake of the next chunk of money? What keeps you going and do your clients see it reflected in all you say and do?

It's been quite an interesting thing to see as recently in my area (Washington, DC) there are many agents who are no longer in the business of Real Estate, licenses have been turned in and expired. So I ask, what is it that kept you in this buisness other than the money, what have you always gotten out of it that you feel you probably couldn't in another line of work?