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

We’ve all had that ‘oh sh!t” moment, right? I mean, after all, everyone makes mistakes. If you haven’t made one yet, well, it’s coming.

Life happens. Mistakes happen. But then what? What happens after you make (the inevitable) mistake is going to be what sets you apart.

When you own up to the mistakes that you make, even if it costs you, it will help propel your business forward. It may cost you money today, but the consequences of a cover-up could haunt you the rest of your career.

Tom Tezak is here for another Tip Tuesday episode of the podcast, sharing how owning your mistakes helps you mitigate the potential repercussions.

Highlights of this episode:

Everyone makes mistakes! If you haven’t made one yet, get ready, because it’s coming.

Things happen - when you’re balancing multiple deals, working off multiple checklists, something can get missed.

What response could you have to a mistake? You could try to cover your butt.

Own up to your mistake! It’s hard to get mad at someone who owns up to what they’ve done.

You want to be known as “the guy who did the right thing” rather than the person who tried to blame someone else.

We’re in this for the long haul: one deal is not going to make or break us; one mistake is not going to make or break us.

I’ve been there, done that, and know that sometimes you just gotta write the check.

Just be honest: it will be better for your health, business, and your life in the long run.

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!

Are you part of a franchise, or are you an independent agent?

There’s not a WRONG answer to this question: it really depends on the market, your personal fit with the company, and if it’s going to help you serve your clientele effectively. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Your choice to either join a franchise or be a lone agent will impact your business, so it’s something to carefully consider when it comes to finding your “home.”

But how can that choice impact second home realtors?

Consider these questions:

Where do your leads come from?

How are you leveraging referrals?

Where does your expertise come from?

How are you getting training? Practical education can be key in serving your second home buyers!

How are you networking with other agents? Are you cold calling other agents to get to know them, and searching out referral opportunities?

Asking these questions will help you as you decide how you want to structure your business.

Today we’ve honored to interview Brooks Burton, Chief Operations Officer over at Windermere. With his experience in the industry, he has great feedback on one of the big burning questions: should you be an independent agent, or should you be part of a franchise?

Highlights of this episode:

Tom introduces Brooks Burton, Chief Operations Officer at Windermere.

One major benefit to joining a franchise is to quickly and automatically grow your network. This network is also full of paid resources for you to have access to and use, such as paid trainings.

Because of this, often franchises can have higher sell rates per agent - Windermere has 13.4 transactions per agent!

Brooks gives some real estate predictions: we will start to see more people buying homes online, but they’ll mostly want to see and experience homes before making such a big purchase.

More knowledge often equals more repeat business. This is very important for those of us who focus on the second home market niche!

Don’t fear online business: it’s a different business model, and there is always room for a different business model. You’ll figure out how to deal with it, and better serve your clients.

Remember, were not in a commodity business. We’re in a service business that ends up selling this commodity.

How can franchises better serve second market buyers? Make sure to go to networking events and get lots of referrals, and leverage relationships with your peers.

Should you be independent? It just really depends: there’s no right or wrong answer. It’s really about what works for the individual. Some markets are definitely easier for independent agents.

So what are the advantages to being part of a franchise? Training, technology, and resources. All of those are often brought in for you when you’re working with a franchise.

If you’re interested in growing a larger team, and working with a franchise, you can look at Windermere.com, and they’ll let you know if you’re a good fit.

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 Brooks Burton for coming on the show! You can connect with him here:

LinkedIn

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!

Ready to see an uptick of referrals?

It’s relatively simple: once you get good at connecting people, and providing incredible value to others, you’ll become a master of referrals. You’ll gain a reputation among other agents as being someone they can trust to care for their clients.

Becoming a master of referrals for second home agents is important because your market is unique. They’ve already been through the home-buying process before, and want to know that they are working with an expert. You know how to uniquely serve them.

William Tong is here for a Tip Tuesday episode of the podcast, sharing how he has become a master of referrals, and how they drive his business.

Highlights of this episode:

Tom introduces William

Give and share information with everyone! Gain a reputation for being generous in the value that you provide.

If other agents know that you put clients first, they will feel good about giving you that referral.

Be intentional about connecting people with the best connections.

Events are an incredible way to connect with agents.

At events that he attends, William wears a red polo and uses the hashtag #ReferralRed - get known for

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 story do you share with your clients? Or do you even share a story?

Social media is a powerful tool for real estate agents, letting us connect like never before.

When you consistently use those social media tools to tell stories, you’re going to see results in your sales.

Storytelling is effective in sales: when you share simple facts, two parts of your brain are stimulated. When you share a story, you engage FIVE parts of the brain - including the part where the hearer imagines themselves as part of the story!

You tell the story of a house, and the lifestyle of the family who lives in that home, and you’ve hooked a potential client as they see themselves living in the story that you’re telling.

Doesn’t this sound familiar? Remember: we don’t sell homes, we sell dreams.

Today we’ve honored to interview Jonathan Hawkins for the Selling the Dream podcast. Jonathan jumped into real estate all-in, and quickly skyrocketed to the top. He used social media and storytelling, and made selling look so easy that other agents came to him, looking for help with their social media strategies.

Jonathan is passionate about helping others, so from those requests, The Hashtag Agent was born, and Jonathan now trains real estate agents in how they can use storytelling in their social media, and break negative perceptions that people have of the industry.

Highlights of this episode:

Tom introduces Jonathan Hawkins and his business, The Hashtag Agent.

After 5 years in real estate, Jonathan Hawkins founded a company called The Hashtag Agent to help train real estate agents in how to use social media to promote themselves.

Jonathan hadn’t had a plan: he just jumped all-in and aggressively took action.

“I didn’t have an option, and had to work,” Jonathan says. “If you want to make it happen, it’s going to work.”

That produced powerful results, and other real estate agents took note!

In the beginning, Jonathan’s social media looked nothing like it does today: he learned the art of storytelling and sharing his personal story through trial and error.

Jonathan never saw himself as the expert, but he was always willing to help others who came to him with questions.

A lot of agents don’t like social media because they don’t always know what to say, and don’t want to show the hard things.

When it comes to social media, pick a position and stick with it. Not everyone will love it, but the people who do love what you have to say will be the best clients for you!

Social media is for storytelling.

Only two parts of your brain are used to process facts, but 5 parts of your brain are activated when you tell a story! The audience envisions themselves as part of the story!

Check out the book, “Building a Story Brand” by Donald Miller - it’s a great resource for learning how to tell your story.

The Hashtag Agent began when people were coming to Jonathan looking for training in how to use Instagram or Facebook effectively; wanting to find training in ads.

Now they are creating tons of content teaching storytelling, and how to make selling part of the big story.

How can you use storytelling to sell second market homes?

Don’t assume that clients know how it works! Don’t be afraid to show the story of the sale, so that people learn how to do it by watching someone else’s story.

Make sure to be telling stories through your testimonials for those new clients. Most feedback tends to be generic. Use an anonymous survey through Survey Monkey or a similar program to anonymously gather the results and get good feedback.

People who see your social media are going to be at different stages in life: make your ultimate goal be serving your clients.

Want more resources? Go to www.thehashtagagent.com (make sure you spell out “hashtag”) and find resources from Jonathan.

Go out there, and tell phenomenal stories that your clients want to be a part of.

Use this resource to help you in working with your clients.

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 Jonathan Hawkins for coming on the show! You can connect with him here:

Jonathan’s website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn

YouTube

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

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

See you next time!

Today, tune in to find out how something as simple as velcro might change your entire perspective on how you do business.

This week, Tom sits down with William Tong...who didn't realize he was a 2nd Home Agent!  He doesn't necessarily deal with resort buyers, or with traditional investments buyers, but rather with a super-specialized group of foreign investors--primarily from China.  William has so much valuable insight on how to take the best care of your clients, so tune in to hear more!

Do you know what path you're on?  Mediocrity is an easy path to follow along, but finding success can be a little bit more challenging.  Tune in to today's Tuesday Tip!

Join us on Selling the Dream, as Matthew Gardner, Chief Economist for Windermere, shares his predictions for the US and Global Markets...and learn how millennials may fit into the future of real estate in a different way from past generations.

Make sure to visit www.2ndHomeAgents.com to join the community of 2nd home, resort, and investment real estate agents.

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

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

See you next time!

Fred Haywood was one of the earliest real estate agents on Maui, and with years of experience he has an amazing perspective to offer.  Tune in to hear more!

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

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

See you next time!