Consistent Clients – Real Estate Marketing

Have you noticed? There’s been another big change in the way Facebook looks. While I’m glad they’re always working on improving usability for their members, I know that many people find it difficult to get used to a new look, especially if they’ve just gotten comfortable since the last update over the summer.

If you have one of the 80 million accounts that got upgraded to the new look on February 4th, and are struggling to figure it out, today’s Web 2.0 post will be great for you!

It comes from Nik Nik at MyTechOpinion, called 10 Tips for Getting Reacquainted with Facebook’s New Layout.

If you can’t seem to find ANYTHING, or just feel like you’re missing some of the old navigation links, check out her post. She provides screenshots that make it easy to figure out what’s what.

And if we haven’t connected already, look me up at www.Facebook.com/RichRogala.

Here’s a challenge for you:

Could you define each term below?

You might be able to rattle off a explanation worthy of the best real estate textbook out there, but can you actually communicate in a way that your client understands? An easy way to lose rapport and trust with a client is talk over their head. They’ll usually feel like either a) you think you’re much smarter than them, or b) you’re using big words because you’re trying to pull the wool over their eyes on something. A great way to establish trust and rapport is to be able to explain all the paperwork, laws and new concepts that come along with our profession in a way that makes sense to them. They’ll feel much more comfortable with the transaction because they’ll be making educated choices, and will associate that comfortable feeling with you, their agent.

So here’s your challenge – take the definitions below and see if you can’t find a way to explain them in layman’s terms that works with your personality. Why not have a little fun with it? Personality just deepens your connections with clients!

Appraisal: a written report by a state-licensed professional that includes an unbiased analysis of the property’s value and the reasoning that led to that opinion. An appraisal report is required for any property sale.

Broker: an agent who brings together a buyer and a seller, or a landlord and a tenant, in a real estate transaction. All brokers must be licensed by the state in which they work. Most work on commission, and the landlord or seller usually pays the fee.

Build-to-suit: a method of leasing property in which the landlord makes improvements to a space based on the tenant’s specifications. The cost of construction is generally factored into the lease terms. Most build-to-suit provisions apply to long-term (10-year) leases.

Concessions: benefits or discounts given by the seller or landlord of a property to help close a sale or lease. Common concessions include absorption of moving expenses, space remodeling, or upgrades (also called “build-outs”), and reduced rent for the initial term of the lease.

Escalation clause: a clause in a lease that allows the landlord to increase rent in the future. Rent increases dictated under an escalation clause may be charged in various ways, including:

• A fixed increase over a definite period
• A cost-of-living increase tied to a government index, such as the tax rate
• An increase directly related to increases in operating the property

HVAC: an acronym for “heating-ventilation-air-conditioning” system. In a commercial building, the landlord generally is responsible for maintaining the HVAC.

Lease: an agreement by which the owner of a property (the “lessor”) grants the right of possession to a tenant (the “lessee”) for a specific period of time (the “term”) for a predetermined amount of money (the “rent”). A “leasehold estate” is the space occupied by the tenant. Common types of leases include:

• A straight, or flat, lease, which stipulates that the same periodic payment (usually monthly) be made for the entire term of the lease.
• A percentage lease, which uses a percentage of the net or gross sales to determine the monthly rent. This is most often used in retail properties and with a minimum base rent.
• A net lease, which requires the tenant to pay maintenance, taxes, insurance and so on, along with a fixed rent. This is also called “net-net-net” or “triple net.”

Lien: a legal claim filed against a property for payment of a debt or obligation. If a property owner fails to pay a creditor, for example, the creditor can place a lien on the property. A lien can halt the sale of a property.

Sale-leaseback: a transaction in which an owner sells a property to an investor, who then leases the property back to the original owner under prearranged terms. Sale-leaseback deals offer the original owner freed-up capital and tax breaks and the investor a guaranteed return and appreciation.

Sublease: a lease given by a tenant for some or all of a rented property. For example, if a tenant rents 20,000 square feet but only ends up needing 10,000 square feet, they may want to sublet the extra space for some or all of the remaining term of the lease, providing they continue to occupy and pay rent for the property.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Real Estate, Real Estate Marketing

Today’s Web 2.0 post is one from the Duct Tape Marketing blog by John Jantsch: Yelp, Changing the local game some more.  I’ve talked about taking advantage of Google Local to get better local visibility for your business, and I use Yelp myself. But I hadn’t really considered the importance of being on more than just Google’s local reviews.

Read the full post to get the full picture of how Yelp has grown by creating an iPhone app.

You may not have thought about trying to get clients to provide a review of you as a real estate agent on sites Yelp, Google and Yahoo, but why not? It gives you more credibility if they’re doing a simple search for real estate agents. It gives you more spots to be found in the search engines. And since these are public review, you can probably take them and use them on your site if you like (haven’t checked into the legality of this, so don’t hold me to it, but if they left you a good review, they’d probably be happy to have you use it on your site, so just ask).

Do you have a mobile presence? What that means is, there are 123 million people in the US alone using their cell phones to text message and access the internet. Are you reaching them? Wouldn’t you like to?

Now, I’m no mobile marketing professional, so if you are looking for more info on reaching potential and current clients on their cell phones, you can read more about it at “What is Mobile Marketing Anyway?”

But our Web 2.0 Wrap-up for today is actually a post from MyTechOpinion on a brand new iPhone app from Realtor.com. As NikNik mentions,

Agents that already utilize Realtor.com to post their listings will be able to sync with their account via the app. Branding and contact information is carried over so that interested buyers can easily reach out to the agent, or even add the agent to their iPhone address book. In fact, an interested buyer can contact the listing agent in a number of ways with a single tap: ask a question, call agent directly, visit agent Website.

If you are already using Realtor.com to post your listings, I can’t see why you WOULDN”T take advantage of this new app. So many people access the internet via their cell phone, you want to be able to be the agent that gives them the ability to view listings and share with friends on Twitter and Facebook through their mobile device. So check out NikNik’s post, then go sync your Realtor.com account, and pass the word along to your clients and friends!