Gaining Interest Through Open Houses and Buyers Agents

Sales MeetingOctober 27, 2010

Video

The Open House MasterFeaturing Margaret Rome

Home Rome Realty, Baltimore

Open Houses

• Themes– Popcorn & Champagne– BBQ– Social Media Friends

• Take time to… – invite other agents to

your open houses– Call agents you think

would have a buyer interested in your listing

Techy Open Houses• Interact with potential buyers through

www.GoToMeeting.com– You can invite consumers to tune in for a weekly open house

tour and be able to interact with them in real time• Mikogo, a free screen-sharing tool, allows you to talk on

the phone while sharing your listing through PowerPoint slides, photos, virtual tours, and more. – As you describe the features of your listings, you can answer

any questions consumers may have about your listing– Like having your own weekly television show via the Internet

where you promote your listings to those consumers participating

Buyers Agents

• You're going to cobroke most of your listings • Next time you're looking at how to advertise a

new listing, think about sending a full color brochure (or ebrochure) to the top buyers agents in the area

Think About What Agents Want

• Unlike listing agents, buyer's agents are strapped mostly for time

• Offer them services as a professional courtesy, they will preferentially choose your listings to show when all other factors are equal.

Make Showings Easy

• Agents don't want… – to wait for you to show your listing on an

accompanied showing– to have to fight with your staff to get a key or

figure out when the office will be open to pick one up

• They want a lockbox and an easy-in, easy-out process

Be Honest In Your Listing Remarks

• Imagine taking a picky client to a house that says "for the discerning buyer - in great shape!" and finding a pit that desperately needs a coat of paint

• It loses face for the agent who brought the client there and it doesn't sell the house

• It will also put that agents nice listings at the bottom of the pile for future showings

Be Complete In Your Listing Remarks

• Don't be lazy!• Put the measurements of

the room into the listing. – If measurements aren't

there, a buyer's agent may assume the rooms are small and/or the agent is lazy and they may take their clients elsewhere first

• Take good pictures and include them in the listing

List Any Terms in Your Remarks

• Be clear up front!– Timing issues– Short sale requirements, etc.

• Buyers with time constraints need to be made aware of anything that may cause delay

• If the sale can be made quickly, include that as well!

Offer Good Co-Broke Commissions

• Make sure that the co-broke commission is at least as much as what is considered normal in Omaha

• Last thing agents want is to have a conversation with clients about the difference between commission offered and what was agreed to previously

Offer Buyer Agent Bonuses

• If there is a lot of competition in the marketplace, then offer a buyer agent bonus.

• This serves two purposes: – motivate those agents

who are money-motivated

– tell everyone else that your seller is serious

Do Your Job And Part of Theirs If You Can

• Make sure you cover all your bases and meet all your deadlines.

• If you can do something to help out the other agent - do it

• Little things go a long way

Make Friends

• Agents are inherently social people! • Try taking the agents who co-broke your deals

out to lunch to celebrate the sale! – Will cost about $15-$25, but may result in a

second sale with that agent