Crescent City Real Estate News

Be a Productive Listing Agent. How?

I have written plenty of posts on how to be a good listing agent, from giving good customer service, to answering your phone when agents call (or anyone for that matter), to good signage, writing a monthly market report and more. 

I also wrote a popular post on realtor.com enhancements, are they worth the money? I would say less than 5% of the 309 comments I received on that post said realtor.com enhancements were worth the money.

Why bring that up?  I have sold 10% of the residential listings (per ccmls) that have sold in my market so far for 2009.  Only one other agent can say that (we're tied at the moment but I intend to pass that agent up this week) and I DO NOT USE realtor.com as part of my marketing efforts. 

First of all I will tell you why I do not use realtor.com, then I will tell you what hands-down has been the single biggest force in driving consumers to my website.

My renewal with realtor.com expired in mid July, so I have 6 months of stats for 2009 on what drove consumers to my website (these stats cover 1/1/09 - 7/16/09).

1. Active Rain 39.26%
2. Google 24.69%
3. Yahoo
4. FranGattiHomes
5. Trulia
6. live.com
7. PelicanBayStatePrison.net
8. realtor.com 1.23%
9. aol
10. Zillow

I bolded the free sites in the list.  Do you see realtor.com on the above list at number 8 although it IS THE ONLY ONE ON THE LIST THAT I PAY FOR (PelicanBayStatePrison.net was my website that I canned because the ROI wasn't worth it [and it came in ahead of realtor.com].) In fact, realtor.com cost more per year than my website! So, I didn't renew and I vowed to put the money I was saving toward assistance with SEO and bettering my website. 

However, please focus on the #1 factor that drives consumer's to my website, Active Rain.  Several of my listings came from clients who were researching agents on the internet and they came across my blog, read what I had to say, including my monthly market reports, that establish me as THE EXPERT in my market, and hired me to sell their home. 

Is it just enough to get a listing though, to be a great listing agent? No. You need to sell homes.  A homeowner should ask an agent, "How many homes have you sold this year," and, "What % of the sold homes this year were yours?"  Why would a seller want to list with someone who isn't selling homes?  That's a question I have asked myself frequently.

Believe it or not, not all RE agents take their job seriously, hard to believe, but there it is.

5 of the 11 homes, or 45%, that have sold so far in 2009 with a sale price of over $400,000 were my listings (I already mentioned 10% of all residential listings sold were mine). I can directly attribute 4 of those sales to my virtual tours on realestateshows (which charges a nominal yearly fee).  Most agents in my market don't do a virtual tour and for the sake of me I can't figure out why. Too much time, too much effort, what? 

Probably 50% of my listings come from my efforts on Active Rain either directly, from someone who called after reading a post, or indirectly, from a neighbor who called me after I quickly sold their neighbors listing. 

To recap -

• Active Rain is productive IF DONE RIGHT - I'm not going to go into a long dissertation on what that means.  Read ActiveBrads blog if you want to know how to properly use your AR blog. This I can tell you, if you don't plan on blogging to the best of your ability, don't do it.  Blogging can really work against you if not taken seriously. 
  
  
• Utilize free websites for posting your listings.
  
  
• Good signage has been HUGE in my success this year -  I wear my name tag everywhere and when people read my name I hear, "Wow, I see your signs everywhere around our county." Name recognition is huge. This can work against you if you're flipping people off or cussing them out when you're driving, not that I've done that.
  
  
• Do a virtual tour on all your listings- realestateshows (I'm not getting paid for this BTW) is very affordable and takes very little time to post a V.T.  Don't be lazy...just do it.
  
  
• You can fork over the $$ to realtor.com if you want to, but I'd check stats to see if it's cost effective- In this economy, who can afford to do something as costly as realtor.com if it isn't producing a return on your investment?
  
  
• Have a website - I use Top Producer (they aren't paying me either), but apparently my website is pretty awesome in their eyes, because they give my web address to agents who ask for an example of one of their sites.  I get calls every now and again from agents asking how I like the site.  I LOVE my Top Producer website.  It's VERY affordable and they have awesome tech support.  Check it out and see what you think. You can call me if you like--Fran's cell, 707-218-8162--if you would like to ask me any questions, that's what Ambassador's are for.
  
  
• Write a monthly market report -  You're just plain crazy if you are not doing this.  You are supposed to be an expert in your market.  You establish your expertise when you KNOW your market stats and there is no better way to know your stats than to do a market report.  You will dazzle your prospective listing clients with this information.  Just do it.  Stop being lazy. 

Do all these things and if you don't get more and sell more listings, call me.  I am not adverse to helping an agent in need, just don't be from my market! Just kidding...sort of. 

       

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.
No one sold more homes in Del Norte County in 2009--*both in number and volume--than Fran. Put Fran to work for you!

Brought to you by Fran Gatti at  No one works harder for you!  Bus: 707-464-5400, Cell: 707-218-8162 Email: frangatti@remax.net Website: FranGatti.com My Blog: Fran's Blog RDCPro®

*PER CCMLS

How to get more leads and convert those leads into clients?

Real Estate and customer service,  some blog posts I have read lately would argue the two shouldn't be in the same sentence, at least with the word "good" thrown in there and I admit this post started out being negative toward those agents who give us a bad name. Rather than go to that dark place, however, I have decided to take the high road and speak to the agents who work hard, give real estate the time and attention their clients deserve and are always looking for ways to improve. 

Therefore, let's talk about how to get more leads and increase your conversion rate.

If you are reading this post then you probably are already doing one important step and that's to utilize the internet. Who among us hasn't heard the statistic that 80% of buyers use the internet to shop for a home? 

I set-up a lead capture form on my website where clients are required to register for foreclosure listings.  I have the MLS on my website with no registration required as well as lots of good information all without any required sign-up...except my foreclosures listings.  Why did I choose foreclosures and not the entire MLS?  Because I personally would not want to register on a website to use the MLS but I thought it was reasonable to register for foreclosure data. 

I find the leads from my lead capture to be good ones if I call right away.  In many instances I call within minutes of the prospective buyer hitting the send button.  If you can't respond quickly (within at least 24 hours) you're almost better off to not respond at all.  At the very least send a personal email or voicemail, but I have found that anything short of talking to the person on the phone or face to face falls way short in retaining the prospective buyer or seller as a client.

There is a very small group of agents in my market who are actually making money.  I have closed over 20 escrows so far this year and the majority have been with four agents and one in particular; we've shared six transactions!  These agents all work full-time and give great customer service.  How do I know that?  They give me great service.  When I call them, they return the call...right away.  When I need a form to complete my closing paperwork, I have it right away and in turn I do the same for them. In fact, I give every agent the best service I can whether they return the favor or not.  I don't think those of us who do their best can do so selectively, nor would we want to, it's just part of who we are. 

The reason these agents are closing escrows is because they convert their leads.  Three of these agents, including me, do BPO's, broker price opinions, which cause you to know your market quite well.  Although I don't like doing them, they make me evaluate the data regarding recent sales, which keeps me abreast of market trends.  Most of these agents handle REO's (foreclosed properties), including myself.  REO listings take extra work, especially up front, but most sell quickly if the agent has done their homework (again, back to knowing your market) and priced the home properly. 

These agents all answer their phone the majority of the time and if they don't and you leave a voicemail, they call you right back, usually within the hour.  There is a direct correlation between successful agents and accessible agents. 

All of these agents have websites and utitlize the internet in their marketing plan.  I think I am the only agent in my market who blogs, which will probably change as agents start to copy what I do because of my success; however, if you don't like to write, don't bother.  In that instance, blogging would be way too much of a chore to make it profitable.  Your time would be better spent in optimizing your website and answering your phone. 

These very busy agents can not stand it when they call an agent for a showing and that agent does not answer their phone or call back.  If you make showings too difficult, your listings will not get shown.  It's not too hard to make a negative name for yourself in this circumstance. 

To recap, successful agents do the following:

• Internet presence
• Answer your phone
• Work full time
• Be accessible to your clients and other agents
• Return your messages quickly
• Set-up a lead capture system on your website for some specialized data
• Market your listings on Zillow, Trulia, Postlets.com, Craigslist, etc.
• Know your market. Two ways to do this: Email a monthly market report to your clients (this gives you something to email to your clients keeping you in their thoughts if only for a moment), or do BPO's. Both will give you an intimate knowledge of your market stats, which you will find extremely useful in a multitude of ways.
• Use a contact management system and email your clients at least once a month. I set-up my clients (who give permission) to receive automatic notification of listings that match their criteria.  My clients LOVE this service and it takes but a minute to set-it-up and then it runs itself.  If you are not using one, you should. 
• Answer your phone

If you need assistance with any of these suggestions, drop me a line. I love to help agents who want to improve their skills.

Now that you have converted your leads into clienta, how do you convert the client into a closing?  Believe it or not, there are agents who work against this outcome.  Knowingly or unknowingly, they shoot their negotiations down and when they do manage to get an open escrow, light that on fire and watch it burn. I'll have plenty to say about how to avoid this in my next post.

Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment.

Click here to see past market reports.

If you have any questions about buying or selling real estate in Del Norte County, give me a call.  I will give you an honest answer and base what I have to say on sound market research of all pertinent data.

I am here to assist you with all your Crescent City and Del Norte County real estate needs.  Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment.

       

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.
No one sold more homes in Del Norte County in 2009--*both in number and volume--than Fran. Put Fran to work for you!

Brought to you by Fran Gatti at  No one works harder for you!  Bus: 707-464-5400, Cell: 707-218-8162 Email: frangatti@remax.net Website: FranGatti.com My Blog: Fran's Blog RDCPro®

*PER CCMLS

How do you get more listings.

The number one way to get more listings is a no brainer, sell your listings in a timely manner.

When you actually sell your listings in a timely manner, word of mouth spreads quickly.  Client referrals are a wonderful thing.

How do you sell your listings in a timely manner?

1. Numero uno is KNOW YOUR MARKET!!!
   
   Do you know how many listings sold last month and the median price?  How about the average DOM and what types of listings are selling?  Predominantly REO's?  What type of financing is predominant in your market right now?  My market is swimming in buyers who qualify for the USDA GRH program because every area in the county qualifies for the rural program, however it won't work for everyone and every type of home.  You should know the predominant financing and at least one excellent lender who handles that type of financing to refer your clients to.  A good lender is worth their weight in gold!
   
   
2. Give GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE.  How hard is that?  It's what being an agent is all about.  You are a problem solver, a welcome wagon, an ear for people under duress a lot of the time and you are handling one of the largest transactions most people will ever make.
   
   Take this responsibility seriously and for goodness sake, return phone calls quickly and answer your phone whenever possible, respond to your email and reply to your text messages in a timely manner.  There are some agents out there who think they are above all this and that their clients should be happy the agent has taken them on. How do I know?  I have to work with them when my clients like the agent's listing or I receive an offer from that agent. Thankfully, in my market, this type of agent is few and far between. 
   
   
3. Price your listings to sell.  If you do not know your market, how are you going to do this?  Granted, it can be tough with unique properties, but most of the time there are going to be comps out there to give you a clue.  Follow what is happening each month because in today's market, a 3 month old comparable may need to be adjusted for the 5%, or whatever it may be, price decline you are experiencing in your market. 
   
   For excellent experience in learning how to price your listings, sign up and do BPOs--Broker Price Opinions--they will FORCE you to know your market.
   
   
4. Keep tabs on your listings and keep in communication with your clients.  If your listing is not getting showings, then see what listings are.  Does your listing need a curb appeal makeover, is it priced too high?
   
   If your client knows the listing is priced too high in relation to comparables, then fine, they are making an educated decision, albeit a bad one, but at least you have done your job in providing them supporting documentation on their best price range for a timely sale. Whew!
   
   
5. Use signs to your advantage.  For more on signage, check out this post.  Signs work and the return on investment has been a very good one for me.
   
   
6. Use the internet to promote your listings.  I have been getting a very good response from my listings on Craigslist, my own website and my Active Rain participation.  I do a lot of other internet promotion including Zillow, Trulia, Google Base and others.  You never know where your buyer is going to come from so cast a wide net.  I do not utilize any of realtor.coms enhancements as of the beginning of July and have not noticed a decline in hits to my website or phone calls.  On the contrary, I have NEVER been busier.
   
   For more on realtor.com enhancements and what 350 other agents had to say on this subject, click here.
   
   
7. Get organized and keep abreast of your listings.  I found this quite easy when I had less than 10 listings, but the more listings you have the more systems you have to have in place.  I have made the coolest labels, they are 4" x 5", one for the listing info and one for client info. I print them out on my printer and can change the information as needed (they're on my hard drive) to have the information that is pertinent to me at my fingertips. I stick the labels on the front of my file folder for each new client and wa-la, easy to find information. But what about when I do not have my files with me.  Not to worry. My clients are in my cell phone and ALL their information is in my contact list that I can access from any computer, including my clients contracts and supporting documentation for their transaction.
   
   
8. Make connections for your clients and for yourself. I assume you are an agent because you like helping people. If this isn't the case, change professions right now because clients can spot a lack of sincerity a mile away and you won't be successful or happy.  If you do not like working with the public, you will not like real estate, plain and simple.
   
   I love to put clients together to form new relationships, especially for those that are new to our community.  Who of us doesn't know what it's like to relocate and not know anyone but your REALTOR?  Be sensitive and help form bonds where you can.  This will come back to you if not financially, how about by having a new friend.  Can you ever have too many of those?,

These are a few ways you can add more listings to your inventory.  More listings (that are properly priced) means more sales, which brings more listings, which brings more sales. Don't you like the sound of that?

I am here to assist you with all your Crescent City and Del Norte County real estate needs.  Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment.

       

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.
No one sold more homes in Del Norte County in 2009--*both in number and volume--than Fran. Put Fran to work for you!

Brought to you by Fran Gatti at  No one works harder for you!  Bus: 707-464-5400, Cell: 707-218-8162 Email: frangatti@remax.net Website: FranGatti.com My Blog: Fran's Blog RDCPro®

*PER CCMLS

I wrote a blog post recently on my experience at a seminar put on by realtor.com. That post struck a nerve with quite a few agents and received over 300 comments!  I was asked by someone in the comments whether I was going to renew my enhanced listing package with realtor.com when my current hitch expires in July. 

For me it's really a no brainer.  I have never been asked by a client if I use realtor.com in my marketing and I have NEVER had a sale I can attribute to realtor.com, so no, I am not going to renew.  Instead, I am going to put that money toward SEO and improving my two blogs and website. 

I have been talking with different professionals in the field and settled on working with Active Rains very own Marti Garaughty, the moderator of, "The Art of Marketing You," group.  I have long been a member and contributor to this group, subscribed to Marti's posts and been a fan. 

My blogs and website do not do as well in my preferred search criteria as I would like and I finally decided that although I probably could learn to do what it takes on my own, I don't want to.  Just learning to set-up my website and blog took me over one year of working 2-3 hours a night, so believe me, I'm over it.  I'm doing well enough in real estate to know when it's time to call in the professional.

Marti gave me an analysis of both blogs and my website for a very affordable price and gave me several options of how to proceed, one of which was for me to make the necessary changes... yuk to that one.  I chose option 2 and 3, which is Marti doing all the work and me do nothing, for again, a very affordable price.

My internet presence and blogging are paying off in spades, in fact, a local website designer, Dave Rhodes, just gave a presentation to our local board of REALTORs and said very positive remarks about my internet presence and blogging efforts (I hope I'm not misquoting you Dave; let me know if I am and thanks by the way).  Dave mentioned that every agent should be blogging.  I see two problems with that suggestion and they are, not everyone likes to write and not everyone can.  Some people would rather eat peanuts our of poop than write; I know this because they tell me that when they find out I blog, so kudos to those of us that are frustrated novelists and are getting our writing fix with blogging, but it's not going to be everyones bag, that's for sure.

However, EVERY agent should have a good internet presence, should do a virtual tour for every listing, should have every listing on the basic websites and should take good pictures.  This just seems to be a no brainer anymore. 

So, no I am not going to renew with realtor.com, I am going to put my marketing dollars in what I think is a more productive direction FOR ME (please, no realtor.com hate mail).  If I notice my bottom line is adversely affected, I will write a post stating the error of my ways in dropping realtor.com enhancements and pay for enhancements once again.  After all, it's nothing personal, it's all about selling my clients home, nothing more. 

If you do not keep track of what generates sales, oh my gosh you need to, otherwise you have no way of knowing if your marketing efforts are effective.  Spend more in the areas that work and discontinue what doesn't prove productive. You'll be glad you did.

       

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.
No one sold more homes in Del Norte County in 2009--*both in number and volume--than Fran. Put Fran to work for you!

Brought to you by Fran Gatti at  No one works harder for you!  Bus: 707-464-5400, Cell: 707-218-8162 Email: frangatti@remax.net Website: FranGatti.com My Blog: Fran's Blog RDCPro®

*PER CCMLS

All of the sold listings on this page are mine.  I have been blessed with a good deal of success in the last few months. I am a statistics wonk and like to follow-up on what made the sale in order to focus my marketing efforts effectively. (Please hold your mouse over each picture to see the date of sale and sold price.)

I do not pay for newspaper advertising and focus my marketing efforts in these main areas:

• A virtual tour with every listing
• Placement on key websites on the internet
• Good signage
• Blogging

What is interesting about these sales, is there has only been four homes sold this year over $400,000 and 3 of those sales have been my listings and I have another home in that price range pending closing in May.

Our market only had 8 homes sell in all of 2008 that were priced over $400,000, so sales in this price range have been few and far between.  I am looking at every marketing effort and questioning buyers or their agents to find out what brought the listing to the buyers attention.

These three sales all have this in common, the listing caught the buyers attention because of my virtual tour.  I use RealEstateShows, which is $125 a year for unlimited tours. I had 50+ pictures with each of these tours and that is what impressed the purchasers. 

In each instance the buyer was from out of the area and they were able to get a very good sense of the home before they traveled to have their first showing. 

Incredible as this may seem, most agents in my market only do virtual tours for their priciest listings, say $700,000 and up and some agents don't do a virtual tour for those homes either!

Neglecting to do a virtual tour for any listing is a huge mistake.  Every seller deserves their agents very best effort and it has been proved over and over that lots of pictures per listing sells houses.  

I have previously posted about the benefits of good signage.  I have a little more to say on that subject, because it is bringing me plenty of business. 

Every time I get a listing, I put a sign on the listing that has my name and contact info and a sign on the main street that has my name and contact info.  Fortunately, I have enough listings in good locations to get my name on most of the main drags in my market. Consequently, I am being told all the time, "I see your name everywhere," or, "You have so many listings," and other statements that are really nice to hear. 

People make these comments to me because they know who I am. How?  Another great marketing practice, I wear my RE/MAX name tag everywhere I go and hand a card to anyone who is willing to take one.  However, when you are a walking billboard you want to make sure you are NICE to EVERYONE. If you aren't, this can really work against you, so take your name tag off if you're about to blow, but better yet, just be nice!

With seven closings so far this year in one of the slowest markets in years, I am examining my marketing efforts now more than ever to see what works and expand on it.  I hope these suggestions spur you on in your own marketing efforts.

Brought to you by Fran Gatti at  THE REDWOOD COAST REAL ESTATE CONNECTION  Bus: 707-464-5400, Cell: 707-218-8162 Email: fgatti@charter.net Website: FranGattiHomes.com My Blog: Fran's Blog Put Fran to work for you.

       

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.
No one sold more homes in Del Norte County in 2009--*both in number and volume--than Fran. Put Fran to work for you!

Brought to you by Fran Gatti at  No one works harder for you!  Bus: 707-464-5400, Cell: 707-218-8162 Email: frangatti@remax.net Website: FranGatti.com My Blog: Fran's Blog RDCPro®

*PER CCMLS

How to convert hits to phone calls?  That is the question. 

I have implemented many of the great ideas I have learned from reading Active Rain blogs and they are making a huge difference in the traffic I am getting on my website. 

Some of the changes I have made:

1. Added buttons to my website that take consumers directly to listings that I have categorized for their convenience (luxury, custom, commercial and REO listings).
   
2. Wrote several posts about REO listings  that are showing up on the first page of a Google search.
   
3. Ran a website analyzer that I found on a post on AR.  The analyzer showed me I had too many words in my tags and description.  I used the suggestions of the analyzer and have followed-up to see if I come up better in Google searches...I do.
   
4. Branded myself - I have come up with what I consider a good brand after reading one of Aaron Auxier's posts on the subject of branding.  I am using this new branding on my website, my blog and will use it in all my advertising to establish myself as "The Redwood Coast Real Estate Connection."
   
5. Emailed a link for every new REO or short sale to my clients that takes them to my website and the individual listing. 
   
6. Staying in touch with my clients by email, snail mail or phone call. I would like to be foremost in their thoughts if either they, or a friend needs a real estate agent.

These changes have doubled the hits on my website in the last two weeks.  This makes me very happy, but I am not seeing a marked increase in phone calls.  So, again the question...How do you convert hits to phone calls?

       

Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.
No one sold more homes in Del Norte County in 2009--*both in number and volume--than Fran. Put Fran to work for you!

Brought to you by Fran Gatti at  No one works harder for you!  Bus: 707-464-5400, Cell: 707-218-8162 Email: frangatti@remax.net Website: FranGatti.com My Blog: Fran's Blog RDCPro®

*PER CCMLS