Selling the Dream: A Podcast for Resort & 2nd Home Real Estate Agents

If you’re working in a second home market, or serving the luxury real estate market, you know that there are ebbs and flows! However, you don’t have to give up consistency in your income!

You can mitigate those ebbs and flows by marketing differently to segments of your audience. You essentially create not one, but TWO markets that you implement unique marketing strategies for.

One campaign is to luxury buyers: you know their needs, how to serve them! You show them in your advertising that you’ve got what it takes!

In your other marketing campaigns, you are serving investment property renters. You show them that you know what they need: that you are equipped to serve them. You know how to serve even from a distance, as many are looking for potential investments in other locations.

When you have two completely different markets that you serve, you’re able to keep your income consistent: after all, the bank doesn’t care which market your income came from!

Tom Tezak is here for another Tip Tuesday episode of the podcast, inspiring YOU on how you can mitigate any potential market slumps by having two audience segments!

Highlights of this episode:

How many markets do you serve?

When you create two markets, you set yourself up for steady income year round!

Many resort markets are seasonal, which means there are “off” months.

Create a second market for yourself by being in touch with locals, and offering to help meet any of their second home needs!

When you create two completely different segments, you have two different campaigns going at all times. You meet totally different needs.

When you’re in seasonal work, you can easily forget that there is a market year-round that you can serve.

Diversify your advertising, and focus on serving your markets year-round, and you will keep your income levels up year-round!

Hey everybody, thank you so much for spending time with us today: would you do me a giant favor and share this podcast with fellow realtors, and leave a review. Your reviews help this podcast get shared with more people.

Connect with me (Tom):

2nd Home Agents website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Don’t miss a single episode of the podcast. You can search for “Selling the Dream” on any of your favorite listening platforms, or follow the links below:

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

YouTube

As always, thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you’re not selling a home: you’re selling the dream.

See you Friday for a full episode!

A second home is a great investment: until all of a sudden, it’s not. But how can you avoid pitfalls and high costs of a second home investment?

Let’s say you find affordable real estate, and are looking at getting into purchasing it as an investment home. How will you know that it’s a good investment? And how can you make sure that you find the right kind of tenant? How can you avoid the house eating all of your profits?

For those of us who are serving second home buyers, there are a lot of questions that can help them get the absolute best investment. By knowing the right questions to ask, and helping steer them towards the right strategies for buying, tenanting, and managing their property, we can make the investment process easier!

Today, Heather Connor is here on the podcast to share her best advice for those looking at investment properties. This episode will help you serve your clients more effectively, teaching you the right questions to ask, and how you can guide your clients toward the easiest experience ever.

Highlights of this episode:

Tom introduces Heather, her area of expertise, and how she is connected with real estate.

Do you ever help clients look at potential rental units and think “that’s not safe.”?

You should KNOW what kind of investment properties you want: have a list beforehand.

When you rent the right kind of property, your goal is to get fewer complaints from tenants.

Fixing stuff constantly costs more time and energy than it is worth.

Know the market: don’t be the kind of investor who takes on just anybody, or any property. Be aware of potential red flags!

Use guidelines for your decision-making process.

This is not an easy business! You’ll have to make hard decisions.

Hiring a property manager can be an intimidating process at first.

Buying an investment property? Be aware; you’re buying a job!

For agents, don’t be afraid to defer buyers to property managers for the best data.

Listen to experts to know what needs to happen with properties. That will help you get the best money.

Think about your mental health.

Use tools to measure risks, and use systems to mitigate those risks! Think ahead, and protect yourself from lawsuits.

KNOW YOUR PROPERTY.

Do your best for your renters!

Make sure you have a contract to protect both you and your tenant.

Be informed: knowledge is so important to you in this process of having an investment home.

Hey everybody, thank you so much for spending time with us today: would you do me a giant favor and share this podcast with fellow realtors, and leave a review. Your reviews help this podcast get shared with more people.

Special thanks to Heather Connor for being on the show! You can connect with her here:

Heather’s Website

Connect with me (Tom):

2nd Home Agents website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Don’t miss a single episode of the podcast. You can search for “Selling the Dream” on any of your favorite listening platforms, or follow the links below:

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

YouTube

As always, thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you’re not selling a home: you’re selling the dream.

See you next time!

As a real estate agent working in the second home market, you’re going to meet all kinds of home buyers!

When working with investment buyers, there are lots of things to consider:

What kind of return can they expect on their investment?

What kind of expenses can they anticipate?

How can they find a second home in the best place to help have the best return on that investment?

What “hidden costs” do they need to be aware of?

Today in the podcast, we’re talking about investment buyers: those second home buyers who are purchasing another home with the intent to rent it out, as an investment home. Tom Tezak is here, along with special guest Lori Gill, for another Tip Tuesday episode of the podcast, inspiring YOU on how you can prepare your clients who are investing in real estate.

Highlights of this episode:

When you work with real estate investors, and people who are buying properties as an investment, you can help them differently!

First of all, you need to have a property manager that you can trust - they will help you get the best ROI.

Make sure that your goals and expectations are in alignment so that you can find the best investment for your money.

Before “falling in love” with a house, make sure it will be a good return….what are factors that will impact the long-term value of the house?

Look into the basics: school districts, future potential maintenance issues, etc.

Help them learn about hidden costs and issues that could potentially arise.

By helping them ask the right questions, and research the right things, they are postured for their best return on investment!

Hey everybody, thank you so much for spending time with us today: would you do me a giant favor and share this podcast with fellow realtors, and leave a review. Your reviews help this podcast get shared with more people.

Connect with me (Tom):

2nd Home Agents website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Don’t miss a single episode of the podcast. You can search for “Selling the Dream” on any of your favorite listening platforms, or follow the links below:

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

YouTube

As always, thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you’re not selling a home: you’re selling the dream.

See you Friday for a full episode!

What happens when you’re working in a secondary home market, and many of your clients and leads don’t live close by?

Many of the homes that you sell are going to be second, and maybe even third, fourth, or fifth homes. These are the dream homes; the vacation homes that your clients have always wanted.

These homes may be in harder-to-get to locations, or your clients and leads live in different cities.

This increases the chances that your interactions with your clients are going to be on the screen: but how can use screens and video to be able to better connect with your clients, helping lead them in a personal, easy home-buying experience?

We all know that face-to-face contact often yields the best connection and communication, but sometimes, it just isn’t practical.

Today, Doug Devitre is here on the podcast to talk about his experiences serving real estate agents in using video and screens to connect even more effectively. He’s made thousands of videos, and is a pro at connecting with people through the screen. He’s here to share some of his favorite tips and tricks on how you can use video to connect with your clients and build trust, even from a distance.

Highlights of this episode:

Tom introduces Doug, his area of expertise, and how he is connected with real estate.

How can you use technology to connect with home buyers who may not be able to get on location?

First: you have to be willing and able to admit that you have to adapt and change in the industry! Be ready and willing to learn new technology to help you adapt and serve others.

Real estate has historically been a face to face business. Now, we have to adapt.

That’s where applications like Zoom come into play! You can use Zoom for FREE to have video meetings.

By the way: you don’t have to have fancy equipment to record! Doug is using his cell phone and mic!

You can also play with virtual backgrounds on programs like Zoom to personalize the experience.

Consumers are familiar with apps like FaceTime: but if you have a client that is an Android user, that’s not going to work! You have to find programs and apps that work no matter the operating system.

Video helps you communicate more effectively: let’s say you get a lead, and you give them a link to have a Zoom call! They get to see you face to face, you pull up the MLS, show them some places, learn about what they are looking for, and build that trust.

You can also do virtual open houses: have a Zoom link on your site, and invite people to come join the event!

If you use your computer, you can get a good HD webcam for around $100 - that will help you as you use video more extensively!

You can also try the app Marco Polo: this is a video walkie-talkie on your phone that you can use to communicate with your leads and clients.

Just a tip: put a smiley face sticker next to your webcam - people tend to frown when they’re thinking or typing, use a reminder to help you smile and be engaging and inviting!

Look at Alexa: think “voice first” in serving your clients. These Alexa devices are being used in smart homes to help create a user experience.

Hey everybody, thank you so much for spending time with us today: would you do me a giant favor and share this podcast with fellow realtors, and leave a review. Your reviews help this podcast get shared with more people.

Special thanks to Doug Devitre for being on the show! You can connect with her here:

Doug’s Website

Connect with me (Tom):

2nd Home Agents website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Don’t miss a single episode of the podcast. You can search for “Selling the Dream” on any of your favorite listening platforms, or follow the links below:

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

YouTube

As always, thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you’re not selling a home: you’re selling the dream.

See you next time!

There’s one question that every second home agent should be asking every single lead, and every single client you’ve done business with.

How many houses do you own?

This simple question will tell you exactly how you can serve that client.

We all know that second home buyers have a different perspective when it comes to home buying. They’ve been through this before; they have an idea of what’s going on.

When they buy an additional house, their goal is to get through this process as easily and painlessly as possible.

Asking this one question will tell you exactly where their head is out, and how you can serve them. And, you never know - learning more about their other homes just could bring about some new referral business!

Tom Tezak is here for another Tip Tuesday episode of the podcast, inspiring YOU on one question you should be asking every single lead and client.

Highlights of this episode:

Ask all of your clients and leads: how many houses do you own?

Questions help you learn how you can potentially serve your clients! Are they looking to have a new primary residence? Are they buying another home because they want a vacation home?

When you ask questions, you learn about them, and how you can serve them, and how you can be a valuable resource to them!

Second home buyers often have a lot more buying power: they have different expectations and needs for their home.

It’s more about being “easy” than simply satisfying their housing needs.

By asking questions, you are able to communicate with your clients on a higher level.

Hey everybody, thank you so much for spending time with us today: would you do me a giant favor and share this podcast with fellow realtors, and leave a review. Your reviews help this podcast get shared with more people.

Connect with me (Tom):

2nd Home Agents website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Don’t miss a single episode of the podcast. You can search for “Selling the Dream” on any of your favorite listening platforms, or follow the links below:

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

YouTube

As always, thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you’re not selling a home: you’re selling the dream.

See you Friday for a full episode!

Have you ever considered getting into the vacation home market?

Imagine living in a town of 10,000, and having more than 2 million visitors per year!

Sounds like the right kind of investment for a savvy homeowner who wants to work in vacation rentals. But how do you get into that market?

As many of us are serving second home buyers, they may be looking to purchase investment homes, wanting to add another spoke to their personal money wheel. Learning how to navigate a vacation home market, or a high volume vacation rental market will help you meet their needs at a higher level.

Today, Tammy Pack is here on the podcast to talk about her experiences working in the vacation rental industry, especially in a high volume tourist industry. Her deep knowledge will inspire you on how you can view investment rentals, and serve your clients who are looking for another potential stream of revenue.

Her mastery of social media and deep industry knowledge makes her a vacation market expert, and I’m excited for you to learn from her.

Highlights of this episode:

Tom introduces Tammy, her area of expertise, and how she got into real estate.

She chose to live and work in Fredericksburg, Texas - a town of 10,000 that gets around 2 million tourists per year!

Tammy got started in tourism real estate when they invested money into their home and loved the results.

At one point, Tammy owned 25 units and rented them out to vacationers!

She learned the main points: have a great website, and have great photos.

From there, Tammy just grew and grew, and the logical next step was obtaining her real estate license. She wanted it for her own real estate investments, but soon realized that she was spending at least 8 hours a week helping others with the business aspect.

When she started selling to others and helping them, she quickly became the #1 real estate agent in the area.

Figuring out the “sweet spot” in your market is important: don’t price too low or too high!

Tammy has a team that works together, a lot like a brokerage. They spend floor time together, working on leads. They’ve built community, and work well together.

Sometimes, going “over the top” is going to get attention: that’s just how Tammy is, and it works for her!

Connecting and engaging on social media, especially Facebook, has earned Tammy quite a following.

Invest in yourself from day 1 - people will notice.

Know your progress: if you don’t know your numbers, you can’t score yourself.

Workflow, workflow, workflow! It will save you so much time!

By producing quality content, Tammy’s team was able to more than double their following in a matter of a day! Viral content is HUGE for growing your audience.

If you’re in a resort market, get websites for the area! Create content that helps others, and get your name out there.

It’s hard in the beginning to get all that stuff in place because you don’t always start with cash flow: but it brings results!

Experience as a consumer will help you so much as you work in new and different markets: that’s been a key to Tammy’s success.

Hey everybody, thank you so much for spending time with us today: would you do me a giant favor and share this podcast with fellow realtors, and leave a review. Your reviews help this podcast get shared with more people.

Special thanks to Tammy Pack for being on the show! You can connect with her here:

Tammy’s Website

Connect with me (Tom):

2nd Home Agents website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Don’t miss a single episode of the podcast. You can search for “Selling the Dream” on any of your favorite listening platforms, or follow the links below:

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

YouTube

As always, thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you’re not selling a home: you’re selling the dream.

See you next time!

Growing your network is so important for your business.

The more people you have in your sphere, the more chances you have to grow. But you have to do the work to create that network of go-to people. You won’t meet new people if you keep doing the same old thing that you’ve been doing.

But how can you get out there and get to know new people? Glad you asked! This episode of the podcast is five tips on how to increase your circle of influence - and you know me, there just may be a bonus tip that I’ve found particularly helpful.

Best part is: most of these tips are easy and won’t cost you lots of money!

Tom Tezak is here for another Tip Tuesday episode of the podcast, inspiring YOU on how you can grow your circle of influence.

Highlights of this episode:

Your network needs to be nurtured - relationships don’t just happen!

Join your local Chamber of Commerce: you run a business; you qualify.

Offer to be part of the board of a non-profit. When you volunteer, you get noticed in your community, and people get to know you.

Be involved in your community: there are so many opportunities to volunteer.

Join a gym: not only is it good for your body, but it brings networking opportunities. When you’re consistent, you’ll build a community there.

Get social! Look for social groups in your area; a country club, rotary club - there are clubs and groups for every kind of interest.

Bonus tip: throw a housewarming party for your clients. Encourage them to invite all of their friends, and YOU pay for it! All their friends will see what a great agent you are, and want to work with YOU!

Hey everybody, thank you so much for spending time with us today: would you do me a giant favor and share this podcast with fellow realtors, and leave a review. Your reviews help this podcast get shared with more people.

Connect with me (Tom):

2nd Home Agents website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Don’t miss a single episode of the podcast. You can search for “Selling the Dream” on any of your favorite listening platforms, or follow the links below:

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

YouTube

As always, thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you’re not selling a home: you’re selling the dream.

See you Friday for a full episode!

Have you ever found out about a company moving into your area, and knew that there was an opportunity for new business?

Many people will move to the area, and they’ll need a place to live! You’re ready to serve them….right?

Well, if you’re finding out about that relocation in the news, I hate to tell you this, but you’re too late!

In order to be able to help those big companies, you’ve got to have connections, and be out there talking to people.

Not all is lost: be ready for those referrals, and find ways to be able to help the new people coming to your area.

Want to make sure that you don’t miss out on big opportunities like this? You can get information by attending local community events, networking, and being involved in your local chamber of commerce.

Working as a relocation realtor is very different from most other real estate jobs. You’re going to thrive on referrals. Those referrals will definitely have higher fees perhaps than what you’re used to, but really, you never know: it could end up being strategic for your business!

Today, Randy Roesch is here on the podcast to talk about his experiences in a hot market: Reno, Nevada. He found out about companies moving to the area, and was able to leverage that housing need to provide exceptional value. He’s here on the podcast today to share tips about how you can maximize that value, and serve a new (to you) market, and he’s also sharing some lessons he’s learned along the way.

Highlights of this episode:

Tom introduces Randy, his area of expertise, and how he got into real estate.

Randy started in development, and transferred over to sales in 2007/2008 - he had to learn FAST how to bring value to clients!

Going through a changing market brings lots of new perspective and helps you learn and grow: even in a down market, there is business to be hard; you just have to adapt!

A down market can help weed out those who aren’t professional or committed to WORK and those who survive will be able to serve clients on an even higher level!

Hot tip: the Reno, Nevada market is one of the fastest growing markets...and there’s room to continue growing!

How do you get to work in a HOT and growing market? When you find out that giant tech firms are going to a new area, or that there is going to be major commercial growth, you have a HUGE opportunity to find business.

While the relocation business is a tough one to get into (many companies also look for a 30-50% referral), it can be a strategic business decision.

If you’re going to do relocation, just be aware that business won’t be the same as many other real estate strategies: don’t be afraid to niche!

Instead of targeting BIG companies, who may already be working with others, and hiring relocation services, look for smaller companies, perhaps with 10-30 employees.

By the time you hear about a company moving into town via the news, it’s too late! Get talking to people, and go to local chamber of commerce events, and community events.

Dollars spent to market to our sphere are better spent than dollars spent to market elsewhere: use your current database to get referrals!

Keep your communications simple, visual, and easy to understand.

Choose your email CRM carefully: make sure you do the research so you don’t get blacklisted.

300 solid contacts with all data points is better than having a database of 800 contacts with missing information: use that information for multi-point marketing. Call them, send them mail, and get in their email inbox!

The value of an organized database is immense: take the time to clean it out!

A well-organized and maintained database can be the source of almost all of your leads! Some agents are able to exclusively work from their database!

Always know your pitch; know exactly who you serve, and how you serve them: be ready to share what makes you unique and special.

Take chances with marketing: there’s a chance that even a small tweak could skyrocket your results.

Try A/B testing: if an email doesn’t “stick,” then the next day, change the subject line and try again!

Look at the analytics: making changes in your marketing doesn’t mean anything if you don’t look at the results. Make sure that what you are spending money on is yielding results!

If you are great at everything, then you should be hiring somebody who's great at something that's more cost effective for your dollar per dollar performance: it will free you up to do the things that matter!

Not good at processes? Hire an assistant! Know your personality; know what you’re good (and not good) at! In business, especially, it’s crucial to your success that you know yourself. It helps you choose effective behaviors.

The DISC test is scarily accurate: it will take a while to fill out, but it will give you valuable information!

Randy’s biggest piece of advice to new agents: get a coach and learn.

Hey everybody, thank you so much for spending time with us today: would you do me a giant favor and share this podcast with fellow realtors, and leave a review. Your reviews help this podcast get shared with more people.

Special thanks to Randy Roesch for being on the show! You can connect with him here:

Luxury Reno Tahoe Website

Connect with me (Tom):

2nd Home Agents website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Don’t miss a single episode of the podcast. You can search for “Selling the Dream” on any of your favorite listening platforms, or follow the links below:

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

YouTube

As always, thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you’re not selling a home: you’re selling the dream.

See you next time!

Do you ever stop and rest on your laurels from a previous success? Or have you ever spent time beating yourself up for a missed sale, or a failure?

I’m here to tell you that what you did yesterday doesn’t impact today’s success!

In fact, many who are successful may not be successful in the future if they don’t tune in to the market and stay up to date with changes! The possibilities are out there for us all. If you’re tuned in and listening to the market, anything is possible.

Tom Tezak is here for another Tip Tuesday episode of the podcast, inspiring YOU on how what you did yesterday does not limit your future success.

Highlights of this episode:

What you did yesterday doesn’t indicate your future success!

Were you successful yesterday? Don’t rest on your laurels!

Did you feel like a failure, struggling with your career? That doesn’t mean you can’t find  success just around the corner!

No matter where you are, and what you’ve done, the possibilities are out there!

Even if you’ve been successful for the past 20 years, that doesn’t mean that you will continue to be successful. In fact, if you keep doing the same thing, and not adapting to the needs of the market, you may not be in the same place next year!

Ask yourself these questions: is what I’m doing working? Is what I’m doing successful?

Be ready to adapt to keep up with the changing market!

Always be learning - you may need new knowledge to better serve your market.

Hey everybody, thank you so much for spending time with us today: would you do me a giant favor and share this podcast with fellow realtors, and leave a review. Your reviews help this podcast get shared with more people.

Connect with me (Tom):

2nd Home Agents website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Don’t miss a single episode of the podcast. You can search for “Selling the Dream” on any of your favorite listening platforms, or follow the links below:

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

YouTube

As always, thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you’re not selling a home: you’re selling the dream.

See you Friday for a full episode!

How many sources of income do you have?

Just one? Or are there other ways in which you bring in more income?

We all have what I like to call a “money wheel.” The spokes are our income, and help that wheel move forward. Most people have 2, maybe 4 spokes.

If you only have one spoke - one source of income, what happens if that breaks? What happens if that money stops coming in? I believe that everyone should have multiple spokes in their money wheel; multiple ways in which our business brings in money.

You know that many of your clients purchasing their second, third, or even fourth homes think differently about money than the average first time home buyer. You probably are also aware that they bring in multiple streams of income.

Discipline yourself to think like them, and you’ll be able to serve them even more effectively!

Today, I’m here to share 33 possible spokes for your money wheel, and how you can bring in even more income. You don’t have to incorporate all 33 of these spokes, but if you can incorporate a few more slowly into your money strategies, you’ll see a difference.

Highlights of this episode:

Tom introduces the concept of the money wheel, and having multiple sources of income: this episode of 33 creative ways to add extra income to the spokes of your money wheel

1 - Go geo farming

2 - Use direct mail!

3 - Get the database of people in your sphere of influence

4 - Go to Happy Hour mixers and meet people!

5 - Use open houses to connect with people

6 - Go to new places; new bars, exercise classes, and socialize!

7 - Join a social community and connect with people

8 - Call expires - they already are interested in buying or selling!

9 - Find “for sale by owner” listings and find potential clients

10 - Create a system in your database

11 - Go knock on doors!

12 - Sign up for Zillow Realtor to capture leads

13 - Get a website that has lead generation and CRM

14 - Do a video show about your community

15 - Do Facebook lives!

16 - Create regular client events

17 - network with other realtors and ask if they have any clients looking to buy second homes in your area.

18 - Travel and get to know other offices and realtors

19 - Do an old school newsletter for your community

20 - Find agents in traditional markets and mentor and help them

21 - Create a weekly podcast to promote yourself and your team

22 - Hire an assistant

23 - Follow up with people you meet and get business cards from

24 - Try a new ad campaign

25 - Try something extreme, like air painting

26 - Get a CRM - there is money in that database!

27 - Scrub your database

28 - Follow up with former clients

29 - Create a marketing plan on Facebook

30 - Create a marketing calendar

31 - Create a marketing plan for Instagram

32 - Hire a coach to help you grow

33 - Send your clients a yearly “review” of real estate in the area, to help them know the value of their home and market trends - keep on the top of their radar!

Implement just a few of these new ways to bring in money, and you’ll quickly start to add more spokes to your money, and increase your income!

Hey everybody, thank you so much for spending time with us today: would you do me a giant favor and share this podcast with fellow realtors, and leave a review. Your reviews help this podcast get shared with more people.

Connect with me (Tom):

2nd Home Agents website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Subscribe to the Show

Don’t miss a single episode of the podcast. You can search for “Selling the Dream” on any of your favorite listening platforms, or follow the links below:

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

YouTube

As always, thanks for listening. Don’t forget, you’re not selling a home: you’re selling the dream.

See you next time!