Disruptive RE Broker

There is a bunch of chatter about which method works best (new or old) if you are a Realtor trying to get some leads and close deals. Blogging is cool and somewhat useful but it certainly not the “golden ticket” to successful real estate marketing, listing are. Have we all forgot what got us here? My phone rings off the hook when I list a property. I list a lot of them. When i blog, all I get is comments from real estate professionals. What the f*ck does this do for business? This is what we are talking about, right? This is like saying Active Rain brings real estate professionals quality leads. Don’t even say I am wrong. All that AR chatter is coming from those within the community and they do not welcome consumers.

Don’t get me wrong, blogs can help, but they will never out-perform the almighty Listing. Blog all you want, join a social network and put your name out there, but if you want to make some real cash get yourself a f’n listing. Until someone creates a service (i am working on it) that puts your mug directly in front of potential sellers and buyers, blog less and pound that “do not call” list until you have a listing that will help your ROI.

I have one additional piece of advice for anyone who might think “blogging” is more powerful than a “Listing.” Don’t take any advice from someone who has never had a listing or has never received a (buyer/seller) lead from a blog post.

Come on people, step back from the water cooler and check yourself before you wreck yourself.

If you are a real estate professional please read this post and do me a favor and comment.

One of the most under rated sites on the Internet is CrunchBase. This site is loaded with company info and has some really cool info and features to boot. I am a big fan of Mike Arrington’s work. I actually think I was one of the first TC readers. Not sure why sites don’t have a “We’ve been crunched” icon. I think this would be a pretty cool thing for sites to have.

Hypothetically speaking… If you had the chance to Sponsor a condominium complex or building would you do it?

This means your image would be in front of every mailbox area and all main entrances of the complex or building. Whatever the location, your face would be seen by everyone (potential sellers and prospective buyers). Your mug would be associated with the building during the duration of the sponsorship.

Lets see, if I was a homeowner in the building you are sponsoring, I would have to assume the best contact would be the person who is sponsoring my complex or building.

Does this sound interesting? Do you think it would extend your network?

If anyone can think of any reason why this wouldn’t work, please tell me why in the comments.

Everybody thinks Donald Trump owns every building that has his name on it. This is not true. His sells the rights to use his name on projects and buildings. In fact, he owns very few buildings but brings in a considerable amount of money everytime his name is associated with a building. Don’t be fooled. Donald Trump does not own every property with his name on it.

Learn something new every day!

I cannot say I am a frequent reader of his blogazine, but Greg from the Bloodhoundblog.com is a pretty funny guy. He rags on everything. His personality seems somewhat twisted and I like that cause many people think my way of thinking is twisted.

However, as twisted as he may seem, he must be a good guy because he has 13 adopted pets. Impressive.

I thought having a website for my dog was crazy but this guy has an email address for one of his.

To understand what I’m saying give the BloodHoundBlog a read. Its not like you have anything to do anyways. How do I know? Your reading this crap!

As a broker when a call comes in you have to craft your answers so you can convert that person into a lead and then into a client. It is not easy but this may help.

Here’s a tip.

When someone calls about a property answer their questions and then open up the conversation. Ask them what attacted them to this property? Ask them what they are looking for? and tell them you can make their lives easier by setting them up on MLS rather than having them search from site to site. Most consumers go from site to site thinking that each site doesn’t have all the listings. Tell them that you will hook them up on the system that feeds the sites they often search. They will appreciate this.

I get buyers like this all the time. Don’t sell a service during this call - build repour to open the door. This may not work well for everyone but if you are good on the phone it should work to your advantage.

Good Luck.

Anytime you do something passion should be the reason. I started out in real estate by helping buyers exclusively when very few agents were doing this or even knew about it. I was passionate and wanted to help.

Then 6 years later I decided to work on a few different real estate related projects. One was to help sellers by providing a flat fee listing service. This has been a great experience and I have helped and changed many lives.

Now, I am almost ready to launch my latest project. This time, I am going to help the industry professionals and homeowners/consumers. I think this will be the most interesting experience and I hope to change the world with my new social networking tool.

I am hoping to open up the platform really soon. This is where my passion is right now. I see a huge problem and I am going to do my best to address the problem.

Stay tuned.

I was reading an interview by Dustin Luther and I was shocked that someone thinks like me, Pete Flint of Trulia. However, I do not think Trulia Voices is the best Consumer Social Network real estate has to offer. Actually, it might be, but this isn’t saying much for our industry. Realtors are plug whores and the answers Realtors provide reveal this.

Check this Q&A.

QUESTION:

We are moving from Houston, TX to work in Boston, MA. Any suggestions on a good place to raise a family and?
buy a house? We do not know what to expect when moving to a market with considerably higher home prices? What do most young families do? We live in a three thousand square foot house now, but don’t see that happening in Boston. Any good suburbs with good pricing?

ANSWER:

Hi Matthew!

As a matter of fact, I just helped a wonderful professional couple from Texas find a beautiful home in Northbridge, MA. They too left a 3000 square foot home in Texas and were hit with severe sticker shock when they arrived in MA. Initially, I spent time with this family identifying their needs and then we took time to investigate and visit all of the towns that I felt met their criteria. It took some time, but they are ecstatic with their new home/neighborhood/town!

With a little patience and perseverence, they were able to find everything they were hoping for. You will too!

I’d love to help you out too! Please feel free to give me a call or email me [removed] to discuss your goals.

Best wishes. Massachusetts is a wonderful place to be!

Judy

I think its safe to say Judy is full of shit but I love this line….

With a little patience and perseverence, they were able to find everything they were hoping for. You will too!

Once of the biggest concerns with condos is the monthly fees associated with each unit. Fees rarely, if ever, go down. Problems always push fees up and values down. If you see a condo for a great price, think again and look more closely and you will most likely see that the condo fees are nearly a mortgage payment in itself. I am talking about condos that are in the $400,000-$600,000 range. When the price is in this range the fee should still be somewhat reasonable. So if a place has a fee of $550 per month, but is on the market for $400,000, it doesn’t seem to make this a good deal. I see this all the time. There is a reason why the asking price seems low for the area.

HOA’s are usually not run well. Assessments are usually how problems are handled rather than thinking about other soluations to save money. For example, a HOA board would rather assess each unit or raise the monthly condo fee if the common electricity bill is increasing. This is a mindless method - a method that all boards use. What they should do is bring in a licensed Electrician and put the lighting on timers and sensors to cut the bill down. Running hallway lights 24/7 is big deal. This will help in long term. There are so many ways to save money but you need to think outside the box.

Now, back to the above issue. When condo fees hurt values you need to create a smoke screen so the high condo fee isn’t just a high number. What does this mean? Again, think outside the box. If we have a condo fee for $550 and the fee takes care of common heat, gas electric, landscaping and trash it doesn’t really make sense but if your Condominium Building adds a building-wide Internet Access or Wi-Fi I think people would see the value a bit more.

Internet Access is pricey. Lets say, $50 per month per unit when you pay for it on your own. If a condo building of 20 units sets up a Wireless System for the building it will cut that $50 fee per unit to less than $5 per month per unit. Prospective buyers will like that they don’t need to pay for Internet Access and it will also create somewhat of a smoke screen.

To all who have emailed me. I just wanted to say I apologize for not replying. I have been really busy debugging the upcoming soc net platform and haven’t had a min to myself. I was thinking about releasing the site with minor bugs but decided to fix a few things because problems could worsen after we have users. I originally said 30 days until launch but I need a bit longer.

To those who have helped test, thank you.

If you are looking for information on these newly constructed condos feel fee to contact me, I have lived here from the beginning and know everything about the building. There isn’t a question that I cannot answer. I am a licensed real estate broker and I am positive that I can help you. I know everything to do with this building, past, present and the current situation.

The property is being marketed by Century 21 but they know very little about the project and building. If you want the real deal call me and I will give you what you need to know. Please do not contact me if you are already working with an agent - they would get mad at me and I respect your relationship if you don’t choose to loose them.

Like I said, I have been living at this location from the start and I know everything. Call me:

Hillman Real Estate Inc. 617-275-8100. Ask for Andrew. My office is on site. Call me before you call anyone else. Trust me.

I came across a great image by a photographer by the name of Alex. This is an image that will be used on the homepage of my new real estate social network that will be launching soon.

To me, this image, means:

Social, Networking, Togetherness, Industry Shaping, Openness, Connections, Transparency.

What does this image mean to you in one or two words?

Banker Tradesman is reporting that RM Bradley is closing shop. This is a small brokerage that should have sold out a few years ago when they had the opportunity to do so. I am sure they were approached by one of the bigger co’s. In fact, I am almost certain the principals could have sold out but refused.

I used to focus on the back bay and I dealt with them often. They had a lot of nice listings but didn’t want to change with the times. They could have grown behind the RM Bradley name, but didn’t because they rejected technology. Old school real estate can bring you down.

I’d take those listings and use technology to embrace them!

Seth Godin has extended Squidoo by creating a spin off for real estate professionals. Its called: squidoo zippers.

I like the tagline “Mayor of your zip code.”

Every entrepreneur involved in a startup needs to figure out projections for 5 years. This is always a problem because who knows what can happen during this 5 year period. Unfortunately, most will take the numbers out of thin air. Don’t do this. According to Jim Cramer you should take a good hard look at your market (where the money is going to come from) and break down that segment .5%.

So if you are selling kids clothing, find out how much is being spent on an annual basis then tell yourself you can take .5% of this market with your product.

Anything more than .5% will kill your credibility. Sounds good to me.