Those Annoying Real Estate Agents

[Mike88]

Hi all

I have been reading this forum with much interest, I am a real estate agent working in Sydney & I have really enjoyed seeing genuine comments on my chosen industry.

I understand that a large portion of real estate agents are pretty bad (to say the least) & one of my goals is to provide a high standard of service.

My question to you is in relation to what we would refer to in the business as 'Prospecting'. Many trainers, bosses & agents would advocate cold calling & door-knocking as great ways to win business, I am not so convinced.

I was hoping you could tell me your true thoughts regarding when an agent calls you or knocks on your door.

Also, if possible, what would be your preferred method of contact & if you have any suggestions as to what kind of information you would like to recieve.

If you have any real estate questions please feel free to ask, the way the company I work for operates is quite different to your typical real estate agency but I know of the methods regular agents use quite well.

Thank you


Michael

 

[Television]

Whereabouts are you based in Sydney, Mike?

 

[alexlee]

If I'm not looking to sell, I hate cold calling and door knocking agents because it wastes my time. However, from the agent's perspective, of course, they're looking for that one person in 50 or 100 or whatever that IS looking to sell.

In general, I prefer to receive leaflets saying 'here are houses that sold in your area recently', preferrably with addresses and prices.

 

[wylie]

We do a quarterly sales report which has every sale in the suburb, in this report we show for each property; an internal photo, price sold, price quoted, number of bedrooms, bathrooms & parking & the days on market.

I also like this report, and we get one regularly, which I actually read.

The main issue I face in the industry is how do I get to know locals because obviously our goal is to create a database of (ideally) the entire area to stay in contact with & eventually win their business.

The trouble is.... the locals don't want to get to know you..... until they need you. For me, the agents I would call (if I didn't have one that I favoured already) would be the one that gives me good information on what has sold, number of days on the market, price listed, price sold AND/OR gives me something USEFUL to put on the fridge.

Those laminated calendars with a photo of your house would cost a fair bit and only last a year or so, but I imagine most people would keep it because of the photo. I know someone who was so disgusted that the calendar showed her pile of useless junk in her open carport, that she vowed NEVER to call that agent. Does she think that nobody else can see the junk on display . I gently told her the agent more than likely didn't take the photo and perhaps she could clean up .

I guess another important question I could then ask is, how do you select who to interview when deciding on an agent. Our win rate when we present to owners is very very high, but there are many cases when we do not even get called in to do our pitch.

I think the answer is actually getting that call, and I think that comes from putting good information through the letterbox with something that is worthwhile keeping on the fridge, ie. small magnet or calendar.

 

[The Y-man]

I guess another important question I could then ask is, how do you select who to interview when deciding on an agent. Our win rate when we present to owners is very very high, but there are many cases when we do not even get called in to do our pitch.

We often select based on cost - so how about advertising what you charge (and what you get for it of course) or even do a "price match and we'll beat it by _%" type thing? At least it will be different IMHO.... now whether this works for the "average" potential seller out there - not sure. They could be more driven by a "free gift" (pick something of relatively low value to you but high percieved value to the general populace) if they let you in past their front door or something....



The Y-man

 

[Rooster]

We do a quarterly sales report which has every sale in the suburb, in this report we show for each property; an internal photo, price sold, price quoted, number of bedrooms, bathrooms & parking & the days on market.

I would love to be able to print & drop this report to everyone in the suburb but the costs to do so would send me broke! We currently mail/email this out to clients which have requested we stay in touch only.

Possibly the way round this would be to put the report, as an ad, in the paper for the area that you cover.

Readers interest would be caught as they see properties in streets nearby that have sold and would also give an example of the depth of information that you provide.

Cheers

Rooster

 

[jezza]

Mike

When you do a open for inspection, treat every person coming through with a little respect, apart from the old chestnut of "word of mouth", a lot of people who buy a house will indeed have to sell a house, so if you are open and have some honesty ( I am not saying tell the buyer what price it needs to be or anything) but some of the REA I have to deal with when buying treat it like a game of charades.

Also if you do have a free saturday take the time to travel 50km away from the area you look after to a different area and spend a day going to a dozen open for inspections by different agencies and see how they operate, act like a prospective buyer for a week with each of those properties and at the end of the week it will hit you in the face like a tonne of bricks the obvious things that annoy every single buyer. Pick the best things you see out of doing this process and you will become a better REA/Negotiator and hopefully a better person for the industry

Jezza

 

[BayView]

My question to you is in relation to what we would refer to in the business as 'Prospecting'. Many trainers, bosses & agents would advocate cold calling & door-knocking as great ways to win business, I am not so convinced.

I was hoping you could tell me your true thoughts regarding when an agent calls you or knocks on your door.

Thank you
Michael

I dislike any form of cold calling at my front door, and now only ever call out through the closed door for whoever it is to go away. Door stays firmly closed.

It a form of selling which I reckon doesn't work too well these days. I feel sorry for the people who do it for a living.

I don't mind receiving a flyer in the letterbox, however - we do this ourselves with our workshop and it works.

I never, ever put flyers in letterboxes marked "NO JUNK MAIL" - but I often see agents' flyers in these.

Another reason why agents aren't liked I'd say.

With the flyers, I was an agent for a short time, and I did the flyer run - never did door to door. We always got some form of enquiry from them - another prospect.

There was always one person who was already thinking about selling or buying, and hadn't gotten around to it yet; your flyer might be the catalyst.

 

[Amadio]

Mike

have some honesty

Exactly. You have joined one of the most despised groups of people in this country so if you analyse why people loathe real estate agents so much and work to do the opposite you will go a long way.

 

[evand]

You will also be able to see right through the lies and BS of every single agent you come across as you're in the industry and have learnt the same stuff.

Its a fun game and took me many property transactions to get there.

Also if you do have a free saturday take the time to travel 50km away from the area you look after to a different area and spend a day going to a dozen open for inspections by different agencies and see how they operate, act like a prospective buyer for a week with each of those properties and at the end of the week it will hit you in the face like a tonne of bricks the obvious things that annoy every single buyer. Pick the best things you see out of doing this process and you will become a better REA/Negotiator and hopefully a better person for the industry

Jezza

 

[Ed Barton]

two ideas...

1. when you're doing opens and get the 'nosy neighbour' attend. offer to take their details and call them when it sells and let them know what it went for. i'd be pretty impressed with that and you'd be my first thought if/when i go to sell.

2. understand you can't drop your sales report to every property. how about dropping it off to nearby properties of ones that are in your report?

 

[Mike88]

something that is worthwhile keeping on the fridge, ie. small magnet or calendar.

Wylie, a good suggestion - interestingly we used to do a fridge calendar magnet & such but stopped as we felt it might be seen as cheap.

We often select based on cost - so how about advertising what you charge (and what you get for it of course) or even do a "price match and we'll beat it by _%" type thing?
The Y-man

The Y-man, I should point out first that I would always recommend people do not select an agent based on their fee. Typically fees in our area range between 1.5% - 2.5%, (some desperate agents will go lower) this means on a $1,000,000 property a difference of only $10k. A good agent can earn you 10x that amount so I would always going with the best negotiator not the best discounter (if they will discount their fee so easily what will they do with your property!).

In regards to advertising our fee I think this would probably backfire on our company as we are in the higher end of the fee range, so without the opportunity to justify our higher cost we could potentially lose business.

Possibly the way round this would be to put the report, as an ad, in the paper for the area that you cover.

Rooster, I LOVE this idea! It would be interesting to see the cost difference between printing a large number of reports or buying pages in the paper.

When you do a open for inspection, treat every person coming through with a little respect.

Also if you do have a free saturday take the time to travel 50km away from the area you look after to a different area and spend a day going to a dozen open for inspections by different agencies.

Jezza, our company is great at opens (well we like to think so!) but I totally agree with this comment & we win a lot of business through open homes.

I think your second point is a great idea, there is only one small problem, I would find it difficult to actually view other agents opens as I'm always at my own! I might be able to attend some opens in another area of Sydney where they hold them on a Thursday.

I dislike any form of cold calling at my front door, and now only ever call out through the closed door for whoever it is to go away. Door stays firmly closed.

It a form of selling which I reckon doesn't work too well these days. I feel sorry for the people who do it for a living.


I never, ever put flyers in letterboxes marked "NO JUNK MAIL" - but I often see agents' flyers in these.

Bayview, I agree regarding the cold calling, it is often not well received, unfortunately as I mentioned there are few other ways for us to meet other local residents because flyers require the owner to take action & call you to make contact.

I can see how people with 'No Junk Mail' signs could find some real estate flyers frustrating but I think the definition of junk is subjective, also if as you stated before you prefer flyers to door knocking then they should be satisfied with something in their letterbox as a compromise.

Exactly. You have joined one of the most despised groups of people in this country so if you analyse why people loathe real estate agents so much and work to do the opposite you will go a long way.

Amadio, I've actually been working in real estate for 4 years, I think the main complaint with REA's is dishonesty, this is not a problem for me as I am a very honest person & I'm not interested in compromising my own ethics to simply make a sale.

You will also be able to see right through the lies and BS of every single agent you come across

Evand, I think you must have had some terrible experiences with real estate agents over the years as most of your posts are VERY negative. I completely agree that your run of the mill typical real estate agent is a lying clueless slime ball but trust me there are some great ones out there, you just need to find us!

Thank you all for your comments so far, I am interested, when you receive a cold call or have an agent knock on your door how do you usually respond?


Michael

 

[evand]

No thanks

I completely agree that your run of the mill typical real estate agent is a lying clueless slime ball but trust me there are some great ones out there, you just need to find us!

Its the whole industry not the agents.

 

[wylie]

I cannot remember ever being door knocked by an agent. We have a big fence and a dog so maybe they are not game to open the gate and take a chance .

Possibly also because most local agents would know who I am due to my mother having been a local agent?

If I was living somewhere where I didn't know the agents, and one knocked on my door to cold call me, I would politely say "I'll be in touch if I need you". If I liked them in the 30 seconds that took, I would possibly keep their card, but more than likely not. When it comes time for me to sell, I would attend opens to gauge the agent and go from there.

I know an agent who has been doing this only for about a year. He was expected to call on hundreds of houses to get his leads. He hates it, but that is the way his office expects him to work. I think it is hard to build up a client base, but once you do that, and get a good reputation, your leads should be coming from past clients and referrals.

 

[Mooze]

We've always gone with the ones that support our sport and sponsor the clubs we've been involved with (mainly cycling and triathlon) - it makes you feel like there's already a connection there (especially one of the agents rides or trains with the group even just occasionally or shows up to the odd race to present a prize or similar) and that you're not as likely to be getting ripped off.

Edit to add - also can do advertising in their newsletters on on the clubs forums.

 

[The Y-man]

How about putting on a sandwich board and taking a walk through a shopping centre on your lunch break? (oh, and giving out logo'd balloons to kiddies)

The Y-man

 

[The Y-man]

In regards to advertising our fee I think this would probably backfire on our company as we are in the higher end of the fee range, so without the opportunity to justify our higher cost we could potentially lose business.

Could use reverse psychology then to grab attention? "We are not the cheapest - But pay peanuts, get monkeys - are you sure that's what you want?" sort of thing.

The Y-man

 

[Macca]

Some shopping centres have display boards in the walkways, I don't mean the free community boards but glassed in professional ones.

I would have properties for sale in the top half and recent properties sold in the bottom and unless specifically denied permission I would list the prices attained for each sale.

Blokes are always standing around waiting, waiting, waiting ...zz in shopping centres and most will read RE adds and look at the pictures of places for sale or sold.

Have a container with special business cards available, up high so the kids don't take them and monitor the contact via the cards for 12 months and measure any effect.

 

[BayView]

I can see how people with 'No Junk Mail' signs could find some real estate flyers frustrating but I think the definition of junk is subjective, also if as you stated before you prefer flyers to door knocking then they should be satisfied with something in their letterbox as a compromise.
Michael

Mike; if you really believe what you just said, I feel sorry for you.

Junk mail to most people means no unaddressed and/or non-Australia Post mail, and often includes local newspapers.

I can tell you that if I have a NO JUNK MAIL sticker on my letterbox, and some agent puts a flyer into it; he'll never sell my house, and I'll never buy one off him.

And I'll tell all my contacts how a slimey cheeky agent put a flyer into my letter box where the sticker was in plain sight.

So, I wouldn't advise trying to spin your way into justifying putting those flyers where they are not wanted.

 

[jezza]

Mike

I give you credit for coming on a place like this and seeking advice, it is always easy to find the things people don't like and hard to find the things that people do like. Your boss can look look at any number of great attributes you have but he is looking at only 2: listings and conversations of listings to sales.

I think it was Dick Smith that once said if you want to be a success find a business that has a great business and open right next door and sell the same product but offer great customer service. Mail box leaflets and door to door sales in RE is pointless I think, what you have to do is go out and get to know everyone of your customers, it was of little surprise to me that a REA in my area ( and there is about 6) who I would say creames all the others in having the most listings and I would say achieves pretty good sales figures was the only one that had a store at the local primary school fate. In line with what Mooze said you don't have to get out there and do everything but atleast play a part in being involved to some extent.

Remember that every person you speak to has the opportunity to be a potential customer, and that first 30 seconds at a open for inspection is your best chance so when a REA rocks up late to a open for inspection in his leased convertable BMW my first reaction is " What a &%$#head"

Jezza