Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

This was one of my strongest sales weeks in quite awhile, since I managed to get three new contracts in place with three separate buyer clients.

I remember when I was starting out in real estate back in 1997, and one of the owners of the company I worked for mentioned that he had spoken with a top producer who said:

"Keep working at this business.  Over time, the clients will begin to fall in your lap from various places - friends, past clients, your current marketing.  It all pays off at some point."

These were (and remain) wise words.

Obviously, I have had my share of slumps to deal with in real estate.  Amazingly, it seems like we pretty much always have one during a Presidential election year.  However, this industry has been very good to me, and I feel blessed to still be standing after what has arguably been one of the toughest periods for home sales in a LONG time.

So what happened this week for me?  Where did these buyers come from, anyway?

FAMILY - Whenever I have helped family members in the past, I always look at these as freebies, because I am never concerned about loyalty issues.  I helped my wife's sister and her husband purchase a new home which is about two minutes away from our house (bonus!). 

PAST CLIENT - To me, this means that I did my job correctly the first time around.  I love working with past clients, because we both know what to expect already.  This is the ultimate compliment, and I don't mean that in a salesy way.

ACTIVERAIN - I was contacting a couple of months ago by a super-nice guy who had been reading my blog for quite some time.  In fact, he had already settled on Pflugerville based on the stuff he read in my posts and on the fact that I have lived here for 14 years myself.  Yesterday, he and his wife contracted to purchase a new home in the same neighborhood as my sister-in-law (see above). 

We get a LOT of our sales from our website and (now) from my blog.  I have often said that just about any form of marketing will work if you are consistent with it.  If you think about this carefully, that means that NO marketing idea is necessarily a bad one, as long as you are prepared to stick it out until it starts producing results. 

What's the flip side?

If you are embarking on any new type of marketing, regardless of its medium (internet, mail, print, etc.), don't quit too soon!  You might be on the brink of success when you throw that idea away.  This almost happened to me with our Austin real estate website (www.austintexashomes.com).  Right when things started to seem futile with my SEO efforts, I was blessed with incredible placement on Google which has resulted in tens of millions of dollars in sales since that day.

The same thing goes for blogging.  I have seen some of my friends give up on this tool far too early, leaving probable money and certain effort on the table.  These are two of my favorites from my library of over 800 posts since I started writing:

Blogging is a Long-Term Strategy with the Potential for Short-Term Results

Are YOU a part of the revolution? If not, be prepared to be left behind by those who are. 

If you've been following my blog for a long time, you have likely already read these.  If not, I would encourage you to take a couple of minutes to check them out.  I hope you find some measure of inspiration there.  :)

My RSS feed is http://activerain.com/jasoncrouch/rss   

Photo above is courtesy of Will Lion - found on Flickr.com.

It just happens sometimes.  It's nothing you've done wrong.  You get the sellers to agree to a reasonable price, then their neighbor says, "Wow!  That sounds really low to me.  Is your agent just trying to get the house sold quickly so they won't have to work at it?"  The seller calls you with questions, and there is suspicion in her voice. 

Or perhaps you have worked really hard to negotiate on behalf of your buyer client, then his dad tells him that he is paying way too much.  How can he possibly afford that house on his salary?  He hasn't even paid off his student loans yet!  Well, this is the kind of thing that makes you so valuable ot the transaction.  You are probably going to "earn your money" here.

The amount of influence that a family member or friend holds over the transaction is inversely proportional to how badly you need the commission.  In other words, if you need the sale badly, that's when a random "expert" who has your client's ear will step out of the shadows to offer advice on the situation.  Maybe they used to be an agent back in the 70's.  Maybe they just bought a home and they are wary of the bad things that some agents do.  Whatever the case, it can often be difficult to overcome these types of objections.

In basic sales training at many brokerages, they cover the rudimentary objections that we often face in the field.  However, I haven't seen this specific topic addressed.  Frankly, this is easier to address on a case-by-case basis, but there are some broad rules to follow.

Here are some other examples to ponder:

• What do you do if your client's mother tells him not to buy in that area of town where you have already finished finalizing the paperwork and you are set to close?
• What about the FSBO across the street that just went up for $30,000 over market?  It makes your listing seem underpriced by comparison. 

These are two real-life experiences that I have had in the past month.  In the first case, I simply told his mom that the area of town was the only place where you could find a home that was suitable at the desired price.  The buyer had obtained custody of his two small children, and they needed a decent sized home and yard to make it work for him. 

In the case of the FSBO, since it wasn't someone really close to the seller (who happens to be my cousin in this case), I told him that the guy across the street was insane, and that he would never get anything close to that price anytime soon.  Were these harsh words?  Yes.  Was this the truth?  Without a doubt. 

My general rule of thumb when dealing with well-meaning friends or family members is to politely yet firmly remind them that I do this EVERY DAY, and that I am their representative, and as such I am obligated to look out for them ahead of what I want/need.  I never have to push very hard.  The truth works wonders.  Perhaps you will have to spend more time than is normal to salvage the deal, but it is certainly better than starting from scratch or losing the client altogether.

Don't let your buyers or sellers be misdirected by those around them.  Remember that you are the expert!