The Morning Shot

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In talking with a friend of mine a while back, we came to a sobering conclusion for how our intense focus on what we do best will many times make it harder for us to see new opportunities for growing our business. We sort of fall into this type of tunnel vision, and only the observations of a third party can help us see things we can't see ourselves.

This is much of the basis the work my team does for our realtor partners. Every day there is a small group of us that try and better understand the daily process of agents, and improve our service offerings to help you get the next deal. This playbook we are developing, includes unique strategies and procedures designed for maximizing time while growing both an agents list side and buy side business. What has made this project most exciting for our partners is that new strategies are added and updated the more we learn from and about you – and our most recent addition has helped some of our partners double their business – I'd like to share with you the story of how it came about.

A few weeks ago I was at dinner with a long time partner of mine we will call Jim. Jim and I were talking about our week, the ups and downs, the good and the bad. I shared with him a little bit about a wild closing I had earlier in the week. The buyer was selling his house and needed to move into the next place quick so as to not have to live out of a hotel – and by quick I mean in less than 15 days. As I continue with the story and how we had to overcome some issues related to the buyer, Jim says to me, "wait a second, the buyers wouldn't happen to be the Johnson family would they?" I told Jim "Ya, why do you ask?" He told me "I sold their home, I know that situation well. They're really wonderful people I'm glad you were able to help." "Well" I said kindly, "I appreciate that very much, but why didn't you help them buy this next house?" Jim casually said to me, "I'm a listing agent, every day all I think about is how can I help sell more people's homes, I've never really considered the idea of taking my client through the next leg of the transaction. Honestly it's not really common practice."

It's not really common practice. That's all I needed to hear, so I went home and decided to do some research, and what I found could only be described as mind-blowing.

According to the national association of realtors, recent sellers ages 51 and younger are typically buying their next home within a 10 mile radius of the home they just sold. Let me repeat that, the typical home seller 51 and younger are buying their next home within 10 miles of the home they just sold. Statistics also show that 88% of all buyers purchased their home through an agent or broker, and preferred to use someone local with knowledge of the market. And the cherry on top? Across all generations, the majority of recent buyers would definitely use their agent again or recommend their agent to others. Well friends, the recipe for doubling our business became clear as day!

Jim and I realized what we were missing in our partnership, and it was leaving the easiest money to earn on the table – we weren't fully committing the client into our team process flow. Jim realized that what he should be doing immediately upon securing a newfound listing he must encourage that seller to be preapproved for the next property they are going to buy. The value in this is two-fold – 1.) it's what's best for the client. Mortgage guidelines have changed over the years and it's in the best interest of the client to know with certainty that they will qualify for their new home before selling the one they currently live in. 2.) It brings the client into the fold of our team process and allows Jim to capture two deals for the price of one. Since Jim started incorporating this strategy into his process, the number of transactions he has closed as a result has almost doubled.

Identifying and supporting our partners in implementing this new strategy from our playbook has been so much fun. Every time we identify new opportunities to help our partners make more money is a reminder as to how much I love what I do – I am truly in service to others. The Playbook is our pride and joy, but we're happy to share it with you in the hopes it can bring you as much success as it has others. If you'd like a copy for yourself, give us a call at 561-425-9521 and we'll email a copy to you.       

Want to join us?

Thank you all for listening. We're always here to support you, so connect get with us on Facebook or LinkedIn @mattweaverspeaks.

If you have a real estate topic for our next shot or blog, please shoot us a message on Facebook @mattweaverspeaks, we love listener requests!

If you're in the South Florida area and want to meet for lunch, send me a message on LinkedIn and let's get something on the calendar!

We also have our next Elevate conference upcoming in October in Boynton Beach, so if you're looking for a great seminar on how to grow your real estate business by leveraging key mortgage concepts, send me a message on Facebook @mattweaverspeaks to secure your seat today!

The views of this blog, "Your Morning Shot" podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortgage.

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN!

Want to join us?

Thank you all for listening. We're always here to support you, so connect get with us on Facebook or LinkedIn @mattweaverspeaks.

If you have a real estate topic for our next shot or blog, please shoot us a message on Facebook @mattweaverspeaks, we love listener requests!

If you're in the South Florida area and want to meet for lunch, send me a message on LinkedIn and let's get something on the calendar!

We also have our next Elevate conference upcoming in October in Boynton Beach, so if you're looking for a great seminar on how to grow your real estate business by leveraging key mortgage concepts, send me a message on Facebook @mattweaverspeaks to secure your seat today!

The views of this blog, "Your Morning Shot" podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortgage.

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN!

Want to join us?

Thank you all for listening. We're always here to support you, so connect get with us on Facebook or LinkedIn @mattweaverspeaks.

If you have a real estate topic for our next shot or blog, please shoot us a message on Facebook @mattweaverspeaks, we love listener requests!

If you're in the South Florida area and want to meet for lunch, send me a message on LinkedIn and let's get something on the calendar!

We also have our next Elevate conference upcoming in October in Boynton Beach, so if you're looking for a great seminar on how to grow your real estate business by leveraging key mortgage concepts, send me a message on Facebook @mattweaverspeaks to secure your seat today!

The views of this blog, "Your Morning Shot" podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortgage

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN!

Want to join us?

Thank you all for listening. We're always here to support you, so connect get with us on Facebook or LinkedIn @mattweaverspeaks.

If you have a real estate topic for our next shot or blog, please shoot us a message on Facebook @mattweaverspeaks, we love listener requests!

If you're in the South Florida area and want to meet for lunch, send me a message on LinkedIn and let's get something on the calendar!

We also have our next Elevate conference upcoming in October in Boynton Beach, so if you're looking for a great seminar on how to grow your real estate business by leveraging key mortgage concepts, send me a message on Facebook @mattweaverspeaks to secure your seat today!

The views of this blog, "Your Morning Shot" podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortg

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN!

Want to join us?

Thank you all for listening. We're always here to support you, so connect get with us on Facebook or LinkedIn @mattweaverspeaks.

If you have a real estate topic for our next shot or blog, please shoot us a message on Facebook @mattweaverspeaks, we love listener requests!

If you're in the South Florida area and want to meet for lunch, send me a message on LinkedIn and let's get something on the calendar!

We also have our next Elevate conference upcoming in October in Boynton Beach, so if you're looking for a great seminar on how to grow your real estate business by leveraging key mortgage concepts, send me a message on Facebook @mattweaverspeaks to secure your seat today!

The views of this blog, "Your Morning Shot" podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortg

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN!

The views of this blog, "Your Morning Shot" podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortgag

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN!

The views of this blog, "Your Morning Shot" podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortgage

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN!

The views of this blog, "Your Morning Shot" podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortgage.

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN!

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Continue reading the transcript below!

Imagine for a moment that you are listing a condominium in South Florida with an estimated value of $300,000. Within the first week of listing the property, you receive the following three offers:

1. $280,000 in all cash;
2. $290,000 with 25% down and mortgage financing the remainder; or
3. $300,000 with 5% down and mortgage financing the remainder?

Which one did you choose? We understand that experience would likely push us in the direction of the cash-buyer, but is it truly what's best for our clients? On the one hand, we ensure the sale of the property without concern for potential fallout with the HOA and the associated headaches with relisting the property, but on the other hand we are potentially leaving a good deal of money on the table. Might there be another way for us to secure the deal without the undo stress AND sell for the higher sales price?

In order to do so we must first understand, what is the usual suspect responsible for so much frustration in getting a condominium sold – the homeowners association. When a buyer wishes to acquire a condo with the help of mortgage financing, the HOA must undergo a review by the lender. Lenders are looking to gauge how much in cash reserves they have, or what percentage of occupants are renters, etc. Here's the thing, the questionnaire itself is not the problem, the problem is that 99/100 the questionnaire is not actually completed until a property is under contract. That means only after we've had to take the property off the market and begun the process do we get to roll the dice and find out if the lender will even approve it– once again, we can sympathize with why a listing agent would prefer to simply accept the cash offer.

However, how many of you are aware as to what it takes to have a condo questionnaire completed? From a financial perspective, only $100-$300. That's right, only $100-$300 to have a full understanding as to what your clients buyer pool must look like. No guess work, facts.

If you're an agent looking to generate more listing business, do you think this approach might be able to distinctly separate you from the crowd and grow your listing business?

As a valued listener to Your Morning Shot, we encourage you to try this with your next listing appointment. Send us your next clients condo questionnaire, and we'll get it completed for you upfront before even listing the property. My team will review the questionnaire for you free of charge, and provide you and your clients piece of mind in knowing exactly who can buy your property at the best price possible with the least amount of stress.

If the condo review fails, no time wasted on marketing to anyone but cash-buyers. However, if we confirm that the condo review passes, your client can capture the additional dollars earned from the higher sales price offered to buyers using mortgage financing – in the case of our first example, a difference that would earn your client an additional $20,000 as a result of a $200 on a review.

Let us help you get your next listing, feel free to reach out to us by email at [email protected] or by phone 561-864-2458 to get your next condo review started for free.  

1. Do you have a real estate topic for our next blog? Send us a message at [email protected]
2. Want to join me for lunch? E-mail [email protected] and let's get something on the calendar!
3. Looking to grow your real estate business by leveraging key mortgage concepts? Join us for our Elevate conference and RSVP to [email protected]. Our next event is October 26th, 2017 at the Marriott Courtyard in Boynton Beach!

The views of this blog, "Your Morning Shot" podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortgage.

I recently came across SalesForce Research Team's 2016 State of Marketing report. This report includes studies and trends based on insight from nearly 4,000 marketing leaders worldwide – a valuable tool that can provide us with some great bits of information on how to improve our salesmanship and grow our business. In today's shot, we'll go over just a few highlights of the report we thought were most pertinent to our line of work.

The most valuable key takeaway discussed how top sales people focus heavily on the customer experience journey; essentially the journey a customer has in dealing with our organization from initial contact to close. These top performing teams go beyond the standard business or sales plan, but rather actively monitor the customer experience through every touchpoint of interaction with their business in order to assess pain points and opportunities for improving that experience in an effort to increase sales. Based on the survey, high performing sales people are 9.7x more likely to be actively mapping their customer journey then underperforming teams – clearly a differentiator worth taking into consideration in our pursuit of elite production!

The report goes on further to point out that high performing sales people surveyed also made clear that customer engagement is a top priority for the upcoming year. While brand awareness has been a goal since the days of Don Draper, customer engagement, as the report puts it, indicates a "modern marketer" – one who is focused more on creating a personalized experience for their consumers rather than merely brandishing a logo. Many high performing salespeople have found that the implementation of technology and CRM systems has made it possible to exponentially grow two-way communication streams and engagement experiences with their clients. Because while we can't physically be 10 places at once, a good technology platform can help make our presence felt in ways never before possible on a very personable level.

While the report is not necessarily real estate specific, we believe that these specific takeaways very much transcend into our line of work. Setting performance goals is good, creating a marketing strategy is better, but survey says the difference between great and elite is walking in the shoes of our customers from start to finish to better understand how to truly satisfy their needs. Thanks to technology, the ability for us to implement such a strategy and monitor the results in real time has never been easier, and never been more vital in the strategy of top producing teams.    

1. Do you have a real estate topic for our next blog? Send us a message at [email protected]
2. Want to join me for lunch? E-mail [email protected] and let's get something on the calendar!
3. Looking to grow your real estate business by leveraging key mortgage concepts? Join us for our Elevate conference and RSVP to [email protected]. Our next event is October 26th, 2017 at the Marriott Courtyard in Boynton Beach!

The views of this blog, "Your Morning Shot" podcast, and on this site in general are solely those of the authors, Matt Weaver (NMLS-175651) and Zack Lewis, and do not express the views or opinions of Finance of America Mortgage.