Those Annoying Real Estate Agents

[wylie]

Jaycee, sorry it seems we simply have a difference of opinion. As I mentioned before I feel 'junk mail' is subjective & we also use Australia Post to deliver some material.

I personally believe that if you are letting junk mail influence your decision this much then you could end up having to disregard your best local pizza place, handyman, dog walker, politician or many other various businesses/organisations.

My understanding is that "junk mail" is anything that is NOT delivered by Australia Post. And we have a "no junk mail" sticker on our letterbox to AVOID the "best local pizza place, handyman, dog walker, politician or many other various businesses/organisations" because the keep FILLING OUR LETTERBOX WITH THEIR JUNK MAIL .

You would be surprised what little things get up people's noses, and having their "no junk mail" sticker ignored is one of them .

Wylie, interesting we actually can look past mess but in another post you mentioned looking past work being conducted. This can be difficult as depending on the type of work it can be tricky to see the quality of the finished product.

I'm surprised you like those particular drops, I would have thought it just mean people knew NOT to open their doors between those times!

I don't know if I am a bit tired, but I don't understand what you mean by "I would have thought it just mean people knew NOT to open their doors between those times!".

Did you mean "mean" to read "meant" or are you calling some people "mean"? Maybe I need a coffee.

 

[jaycee]

Wylie, we only contact people if they either want to buy, so that means calling/emailing regarding new properties we have that may suit them, or if they have previously had an appraisal through our company & are looking to sell in the future.




Alabex, a good point. I am addicted to caffeine & therefore I am friends with our local barista.




Jacque, thank you for the welcome. I quite like your garage sale day idea!

Also it seems to be a consensus that involvement in local community events greatly increases the chances of being called.

I have decided to show some of the marketing material we produce. I have attached our last quarters sales report, which I believe, home owners would find very useful.




Jaycee, sorry it seems we simply have a difference of opinion. As I mentioned before I feel 'junk mail' is subjective & we also use Australia Post to deliver some material.

I personally believe that if you are letting junk mail influence your decision this much then you could end up having to disregard your best local pizza place, handyman, dog walker, politician or many other various businesses/organisations.

Michael

Michael, Your opinion towards junk mail and it's defintion has no dbout chagned since taking up this role and consdiering your limited marketing opinions. I am sorry that you don't like the fact that people like me and others don;t like unaddressed mail delivered, known as junk mail. Rgardless, there is an offical derfintion, as there is a defintion accpeted and used the majority of people, you can make up your own defintion, but to expect peopel to agree with it due to a bit of desparation in your marketing is a bit long in the tooth.

It's got nothing to do with not suporting anyone local, it has to do with you knowign clealry that I asked you not to give me your flyer but you insisting you know better and doing it to spite me then expecting a sale

Effective marketing is no doubt difficult, which is why the majority of us tkae the safer option of JOB when we don;t know how to do it. You can break the rules, but don't expect me to be, and please certainly do not tell me to be, happy about it when you knew in the first palce I would not be.

 

[jaycee]

I'm surprised you like those particular drops, I would have thought it just mean people knew NOT to open their doors between those times!



You're not fkin serious are you ?

Please say that to an agry man when he tells you when is not happy and see what reaction you get - I know it's anynoying not knowihgn how to do somehting, but that does not make it the other person's fault...

 

[wylie]

I'm surprised you like those particular drops, I would have thought it just mean people knew NOT to open their doors between those times!

On reading this again, I am wondering if you believe that once I get a flyer saying the agent will be in the area from 8am to 5pm that I believe they WILL door knock, and perhaps I just don't open my door that particular day????

As jaycee says, are you serious? That type of flyer gives a number for me to call IF I wish to invite the agent in. But unless it is posted to me via Australia Post it is STILL junk mail, and you may not believe it, but many people who go to the trouble of placing a "no junk mail" sticker on their letterbox do it because they do NOT WANT JUNK MAIL.

And.... you might very well LOSE a potential vendor over it. I find your flippant "I know better than them what they will accept in their letterbox" a bit surprising for someone who is asking opinions about what they like and dislike about agents.

I know a vendor who will NOT call a particular agent because they took a photo of her crap-filled open two car garage and placed it atop a calender and laminated it. She thought the agent should have known that she wasn't interested in looking at her crap filled carport any more on the fridge than in person.

.... but of course, she also will not throw any of the crap out... but I digress.

 

[Mike88]

Jaycee & Wylie, what we are discussing is a difference of opinion.

There is currently no legislation stating the definition of junk mail or limiting its distribution.

As I said 'junk mail' is subjective, this is most clearly shown by people NOT putting "No Junk Mail" signs on their letter boxes. If these people are happy to receive a flyer then that clearly shows you there are multiple views on the term 'Junk'.

As I stated in prior posts we have previously used Australia Post to deliver large quantities of marketing & we also make a conscious effort to deliver information not adverts.

My main point, is that when deciding whether to use a local business or organisation it seems imprudent to judge them on an arbitrary factor such as the distribution of marketing flyers rather than evaluating them on their skill or quality.

I am obviously disappointed that I may receive the opposite of a flyers desired effect, I have taken your comments on board & I do appreciate your opinions. As I mentioned it would be great to be in a position where I had no need to distribute flyers.

On reading this again, I am wondering if you believe that once I get a flyer saying the agent will be in the area from 8am to 5pm that I believe they WILL door knock, and perhaps I just don't open my door that particular day????

I meant that I thought these types of flyers would simply warn residents that an agent would be around within that particular allocated time & then they would be less inclined to open the door.

You're not fkin serious are you ?

Please say that to an agry man when he tells you when is not happy and see what reaction you get - I know it's anynoying not knowihgn how to do somehting, but that does not make it the other person's fault...

?

 

[wylie]

This is from Aust Post website.....

There are a number of ways to manage the mail you receive in your letterbox to help you limit unwanted items.

Unaddressed mail

* Simply put a "No Junk Mail" or "Addressed Mail Only" sign or sticker on your letterbox if you don't wish to receive unaddressed mail items including catalogues. These signs are available from most hardware stores and post offices.
* Australia Post only deliver approximately 10 per cent of all unaddressed mail delivered to Australian households and our posties are instructed not to deliver unaddressed mail to letterboxes with this signage. We cannot guarantee that other unaddressed mail delivery companies will do the same.
* Please also be aware that material deemed to be political, educational, religious and charitable is exempt from "No Junk Mail" signed letterboxes according to standards developed by the Australian Catalogue Association.


There might not be legislation, but I would think most people who bother to put the notice on their letterbox don't want flyers, brochures etc.

 

[Lil Skater]

I have taken your comments on board & I do appreciate your opinions. As I mentioned it would be great to be in a position where I had no need to distribute flyers.

Well, no, you haven't.

As an agent myself, I give you kudos for trying to get in touch with people and try to make your business different. But after reading every post in this thread, I can see that many people have had great ideas, which you have voiced an opinion about (all well and good..) except that you're voicing these opinions and being a "Typical Agent".

You've given reason after reason of why something won't work, or the "great idea but.." and personally I see this as you trying to belittle these suggestions - Especially those regarding "No Junk Mail".

What i'm reading here is "I'm an agent, I want to know how I can make money - But i'm not actually willing to listen to the consumer".

Now, step back, take your foot out of your mouth and re-read what people have written.

1. Get in touch with the community. Hold a community garage sale, donate money to struggling sports clubs and/or offer them free marketing and you will (Undoubtedly) be rewarded for these efforts and also be able to place your logo somewhere with contact details.

2. Don't drop flyers, whether it be by Aus Post or not, in letterboxes that say "No Junk Mail", the resident obviously doesn't want it, so why bother? Heck, it will even save you money (and the environment) if you don't print off an extra 300 flyers that are going straight into the bin and leaving the resident annoyed and carrying a grudge against you/your company.

3. Advertise the area trends/sold prices in a local newspaper or magazine, free information is always appreciated and you're not throwing it in their face.

4. Build a rapport with people. Don't present yourself as above them - You're no better. Even if you feel you're doing everyone a favour by *only* driving a Golf instead of a BMW. I don't give a flying fig what you drive, but just because you drive a slightly cheaper car doesn't mean you're a better agent for it.

5. Actually take on the feedback of others, don't just fumble it off because you believe you're doing it, actually get off your behind and do it!



Follow these five easy steps and perhaps you won't be the next "Typical" agent - I know I don't want to be..

 

[evand]

The definition of junk mail is mail delivered that is not addressed directly to someone at the house and is used far marketing purposes.

Whether Auspost delivers is of no consequence. Thats whats called a red herring Mr Mike88.

 

[BuildingBlocks]

I used to be an agent in the same area you work, working for a small boutique agency.

The upper north shore is flooded with agents and property advertising.

Good luck even trying to find your ad in the Friday North Shore Times, which from memory quite frequently breaks the 100 pages of properties. It was almost 10 years ago now, but even a 1/2 page ad would have cost somewhere around $1000.

Sponsoring sports teams and charities has also been done to the death. Someone like C21 has their name over half the sports teams in the area.

This is a very well established area for agents, many of who have been around for 20+ years. The sellers are usually also going to be the same people who have lived in the area for just as long and will also have worked out well in advance who they will choose as an agent, probably from word of mouth.

Build relationships with everyone you meet, from the ones who visit the open houses (many of whom will soon become sellers), to keeping in touch with previous buyers and sellers.

Take a genuine interest in their lives when you stay in touch with previous buyers and sellers. I wouldn't even mention real estate, unless they do first. It is easier when they are buyers/sellers of units, as you may see them elsewhere in the block when speaking with other people. Also spend some time around the local shops, someone else in the thread mentioned the coffee shop, good idea

You will struggle for listings for the first 5 years while you build contacts, maybe more, maybe less. Word of mouth is the only way to get ahead around here.

Maybe other areas are easier to break into, but if I was to go back to the Real Estate industry I would probably choose to struggle on the North Shore again. Houses going for over $3m (almost 10 years ago) with indoor pools and water views. It made me realise what sort of life I wanted to aim for, if nothing else.

I didn't last in Real Estate, as I didn't want to spend those 5 years struggling to build up contacts before seeing the fruit. I want everything yesterday. But I sure saw how it was done by successful agents in the area.

Being very young at the time (about 20) in the market of high end properties didn't work in my favour either when the majority of sellers are well into their 40's and 50's, people want agents who they can relate to. I sure did get some awesome kicks along the way though. I remember having keys to about $20m of properties in my pocket at one point, the excitement of exploring mansions for the first time

Make sure you are in Real Estate for the right reasons, it's not the quick buck that it appears to be in the media. It is money in exchange for building relationships. Nobody cares if you know the market better than anyone else, if you can't build rapport to get listings then you will fail.

I remember reading at the time that the majority of agents in the industry were earning less than $50k/yr.

 

[The Y-man]

The mention of C21 reminded me - Speaking another language and advertising on non-english local papers (the Chinese market comes to mind)....

The Y-man

 

[jaycee]

"I know better than them what they will accept in their letterbox" a bit surprising for someone who is asking opinions about what they like and dislike about agents.

Exactly Mike, you asked and then you ridiculed bayviwew, wylie & I for answering with suggestions and opinons form the receiving end you said you were interested in hearing from.

 

[jaycee]

This is from Aust Post website.....

There are a number of ways to manage the mail you receive in your letterbox to help you limit unwanted items.

Unaddressed mail

* Simply put a "No Junk Mail" or "Addressed Mail Only" sign or sticker on your letterbox if you don't wish to receive unaddressed mail items including catalogues. These signs are available from most hardware stores and post offices.
* Australia Post only deliver approximately 10 per cent of all unaddressed mail delivered to Australian households and our posties are instructed not to deliver unaddressed mail to letterboxes with this signage. We cannot guarantee that other unaddressed mail delivery companies will do the same.
* Please also be aware that material deemed to be political, educational, religious and charitable is exempt from "No Junk Mail" signed letterboxes according to standards developed by the Australian Catalogue Association.

There might not be legislation, but I would think most people who bother to put the notice on their letterbox don't want flyers, brochures etc.

Perhaps Mike believes his work, is as important enough as educational, religious and charitable stuff and therefore he should be exempt also ?

Perhaps not all other real estate agents, just Mike ?

Sorry Mike, I reckon this was a good ida fro a thread, but you appear not to want to hear things that aren't the easy way out.

Best of luck either way

 

[Ed Barton]

Ed Barton, I thought it was funny the way your post was written, almost like you simply wrote down your thought process. We find sms works very well, it is unintrusive & we do recieve replys/calls back.

 

[BuildingBlocks]

The mention of C21 reminded me - Speaking another language and advertising on non-english local papers (the Chinese market comes to mind)....

The Y-man

I was going to mention this too, the Lindfield and Killara areas have a very large asian base.

Hopefully you have a Chinese Agent at your agency who can advertise in those papers, we advertised in Sing Tao with good results, however the agent who they call will also need to be able to speak the language

 

[Graemsay]

After a recent engagement with the London rental market, I'd suggest the following:

1. Keep your listings up to date. It's rather annoying when that nice, one bedroom property that fits your needs perfectly was taken three or four weeks ago.
2. If a potential tenant (or buyer) gets in touch via email then reply to it. It's surprising how many agents don't. I work in IT, and use email heavily. It gets annoying when you don't get a quick response.
3. Don't tell a potential tenant or buyer that the property might have gone, and ask them to call back on Monday to see if it's still available. (And you aren't doing viewings in the meantime.) The agency should know what's available or not, shouldn't give the impression that it's too much like effort, and they should taken the potential's contact details and return the call.
4. If a contract has to be in place, then make sure it's in place by the date requested by the landlord and tenant.

I saw all four during my search.

3 and 4 both happened to me whilst trying to rent my current place. Neither my landlord nor I were very impressed by the agency he used, and I suspect we wouldn't use them in future.

 

[Ladyhawk]

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.

I like it Ed...

 

[Tiggy]

I like agents who are friendly, but not creepily so; i.e. don't ask me personal questions. Many agents don't know a lot about the property they are marketing. I have often asked questions about a property which I consider to be fairly basic (size, age of the house, rates, boundaries etc) and got blank looks. Very unprofessional. Lollies at open houses on the other hand, are much appreciated.

 

[Tiggy]

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?

I admit to doing the 'nosy neighbour' thing a few times, to see how the local market is going. I'm sure that's what a lot of people do, so I think the first suggestion is excellent. (This is my second attempt at using a quote and the first time it didn't turn up in a blue box like it should, so hoping this time it will work).

 

[marg4000]

Here's a few things that have left a favourable impression of an agent with me:

1. I received a phone call from an agent close to an IP we rented out. He asked if we would mind if he mailed us newsletters from his agency about property in the local area. I agreed, and the newsletters arrived every couple of months. About six months later he phoned again, checked that we were still happy to receive the newsletters, casually enquired if we were happy with our PM and if he could call again in about six months. We have actually become quite friendly, and I am always happy to have a chat about the local market. This has been going on for 3-4 years now, and if we ever needed a different PM or wanted to sell the property he would certainly be in the running.

2. I attended a local auction, sticky-beaking only. I gave my name and address to the rookie agent at the door and requested that they don't contact me. The principal agent overheard, and insisted that the rookie agent write "do not contact" beside my name. They didn't. I remember his name.

3. Frankly, I don't mind junk mail. But that is just me, and the bin is close to the letter box. Junk mail has been adequately defined, so I won't labour the point.

4. We occasionally receive offers (addressed) from agents close to IPs of 3 months free PM management. I believe the rent roll is a source of possible future sales.

5. We receive flyers from one local agency of any property for sale in the nearby area. People over-the-back sold to someone from the local main road who wanted a quieter home, sale resulted from the flyer, and the agent confirmed to them that they get a lot of sales this way. But as already said, respect "no junk mail" signs. People motivated enough to go to the shop to buy one of those signs are taking the situation very seriously.

It takes a long time to build up a network. We sold an IP on the Gold Coast several years ago, and chose the agent on the basis he used to own a unit in the block, so felt he would have positive feedback for any purchaser. We were very happy with him, so when the time comes to sell my in-laws property in the area he will be getting the listing.
Marg

 

[Steve Fitz]

If you've been in real estate for a long time you might be stuck in the 90's "salesperson" mode where you're walking around like Guy Smiley all day.

The best thing I can offer to sales agents is to stop being sales agents and start becoming service agents.

Good sales people no longer sell, they service.