Important thing to know about Zestimates™

According to Zillow’s website (http://bit.ly/zestimates) their Zestimates estimated market value can vary widely. For example, in Chicago, only 23% of Zestimates are within 5% of the final sales price. So be sure to educate your clients!

How to make Zillow & Trulia work in your favor

• These sites rank very well in the search engines, so fill out your profile completely. Add your listings and Open Houses, and put links to your website, blog, Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook account on your profile.
• Answer questions in Trulia Voices & Zillow Advice to showcase your local knowledge.
• Request a review from clients that you have developed a relationship with. Many agent profiles don’t have these, so this helps you stand out in a competitive market.
• Take advantage of the different tools these sites offer to create more value for clients. Send clients stats or Local Real Estate Trend Data, and put their informational widgets on your website or blog as a resource for clients.

I recommend to the agents I coach that they don’t just put it in writing, but put as much care into the presentation and design of it as they would a flyer or newsletter. Just the fact that you take the time to do that shows sellers that this is an important piece to you, and you take the marketing of their property very seriously.

Then, no matter what other information you choose to include, I recommend you include the following 2 items:

Your standards for communication - That is one of the most common complaints that people make about their agent – “I never heard from them, and had no idea what was going on with my property.” So write that into your marketing plan. How do you communicate, and how often? What can they expect from you? Will you follow up once a week by phone, regardless of whether there was activity or not? Or, will you email them regularly, but only call if feedback or answers are needed from them? Every client (and agent) is different, so whatever way you work is okay, but with that written into your marketing plan, you’ll usually attract clients that are better fitted to you. So if you make phone calls every week, but they’re really busy and don’t want that much contact, it’s not a good fit, and you’ll know that from the start.

Your standards for accountability – different agents have different ways of marketing a property, so it can be confusing on the sellers end if they’re not even sure what you’re doing for them. By providing them a list of most of the precise tasks you’ll be doing in order to sell their property (open house, posting their listing on certain websites, etc.), they can see the impressive amount of work you’ll be doing on their behalf and feel confident in their choice of you as their agent. Plus, it often means that less follow-up is required on your part, since they can often see a lot of the work being done. So it can save you time, while improving the client experience.

Finally, think about updating the plan every 30 days or so, and sending it to them. This allows you the flexibility to adjust the plan if needed. Plus, you can include past items as completed, crossed off or with a checkmark, to remind them of the work that’s already been done. This helps cement their confidence in you during the process, even if the property hasn’t sold yet.

You work hard for your clients, and adding these items to your marketing plan helps to show them that! Plus, it makes it easy to set them up for referrals, because they’ll know exactly what their friends and family can expect while working with 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.

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Reading this book made me shift my sales mentality and really focus on my clients. It’s not that I didn’t have focus before, it’s just that Godin forced me to think about my marketing in a very different light. To learn more, check out his book here.

Rich Rogala

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When your clients get to know and like you, it follows very closely that they will begin to trust you as well. Most people don’t like to be “sold”. So, it makes sense to take the time to give them value in every interaction. When was the last time you did something unexpected for your clients? Do you keep in contact regularly?

Why not send a personalized greeting today?

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