As most probably know, today is Super Tuesday; the day when a bulk of delegates will be awarded to the Presidential hopefuls. I've been listening to the dialogue between the McCain and Romney teams. With Senator Dole coming to McCain's rescue many are beginning to compare McCain's campaign to that of Dole's failed 1996 bid for the White House.
McCain, like Dole, proudly and selfishly served the United States as uniformed soldier. They both paid a high price for their service. I can't imagine there are many Americans that wouldn't thank them both for their service and the sacrifices they made.
There are a lot of agents and brokers who have been around since God was a small boy. They have put in years of dedicated service to their clients; they have probably served in leadership positions within their respective local and state associations and even a few that have served on the national level.
I was talking to a relatively new agent a few weeks ago who was lamenting the issue we all faced when we started selling real estate; how to successfully compete with the "Old Guard." I told her when she started that she would need to hit the ground running; learn the legal and ethical parameters of our profession, learn the market and develop a plan of action to help buyers and sellers achieve their goals. Throw in a healthy dose of honesty, humility and good old fashioned hard work and amazing results would follow.
Today she called to say she beat out a veteran Realtor for a listing. After the contracts were signed the seller told her the other agent (the one who has signs all over town) gave them a higher price and was going to charge them less, but they listed with her because they were impressed with her presentation and knowledge of the market.
The point of this little diatribe is to let those agents who are just getting into this business (and some that have been in a while) in on a secret. Don't be afraid to compete head to head with the veteran agents in your community. Competition is a great thing. Do your home-work, know your market and present a clear picture of what you can and will do for a client and you might just find you're as competitive as any veteran agent on the circuit.
Fairbanks Ak Real Estate Broker Jesse Clifton
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It is all so unpredictable. My client has a property out of state and asked me to hook him up with a good agent. I went to CRS site, and there were 3 agents in the area. One had a message that she is on vacation, and the number to call office for help in the meantime, another number returned a voice message that your call was very important, however, there was no way to leave a message, just the suggestion to call later.
The third one actually picked up the phone. We will see how it progresses.
All three are veterans. So, what would be a problem to compete? Of course, it is not guaranteed, but people can love some other qualities. I heard about a newbie, who was sitting and thinking what could he do, as, well, he was a newbie. So he sent out postcards and wrote that he was a newbie, and that because of that he was very hungry for their business and would do more than any veteran if they give him a chance. If I am not mistaken, his response rate was 27% and by the end of the month he had an impressive list of listed properties. Not bad for a newbie.