real estate business more productive Archives - Wade Webb Real Estate Coaching

Top Rated AI Tools and Apps for Real Estate Agents in 2024/2025

Wade Webb on November 13, 2024

The real estate industry is rapidly evolving, and staying ahead means leveraging the latest technology. Here are the top 10 AI tools and apps that every real estate agent should consider in 2024 to enhance their productivity, improve client interactions, and streamline your operations saving you time and money.

Top Rated AI Tools and Apps for Real Estate Agents in 2024/2025

Top Rated AI Tools for Real Estate Agents

CINC: Best for AI Lead Generation & Nurturing. CINC uses AI to categorize leads and automate follow-ups, ensuring no potential client slips through the cracks.
Saleswise: Best for AI Real Estate Marketing Text Creation. This tool helps create compelling marketing content, from property descriptions to social media posts.
Style to Design: Best for AI Virtual Staging. Style to Design uses AI to create virtual staging, helping buyers visualize the potential of a property.
VEED.IO: Best for AI Video Creation. VEED.IO simplifies video creation, making it easy to produce high-quality videos for listings and virtual tours.
Lofty: Best for AI-Enhanced CRM System. Lofty offers an AI-powered CRM that personalizes client interactions and improves overall client management.
ChatGPT: Best for AI Content Creation. ChatGPT can generate blog posts, social media updates, and other marketing materials, saving agents time and ensuring a consistent online presence.
Ylopo: Best for AI-Powered Lead Engagement. Ylopo uses conversational AI to qualify and nurture leads, enhancing client engagement and conversion rates.
Revaluate: Best for Predictive Analytics. Revaluate uses AI to predict which homeowners are most likely to sell, helping agents target their marketing efforts more effectively.
Zillow Premier Agent: Best for AI-Driven Market Insights. This tool provides AI-driven insights into market trends, helping agents make informed decisions.
Rex: Best for AI-Powered Transaction Management. Rex automates transaction management, reducing administrative tasks and allowing agents to focus on client relationships.

Top Rated Apps for Real Estate Agents

In the competitive world of real estate, leveraging the right technology can make all the difference. Here are the top 10 must-have apps for real estate agents in 2024, designed to enhance productivity, improve client interactions, and streamline operations. These apps are essential for real estate agents looking to enhance their productivity, improve client interactions, and stay competitive in the market. By integrating these tools into their daily operations, agents can streamline their processes, provide better service to their clients, and ultimately close more deals.

1. Realtor.ca – Best For: Browsing local listings and market trends. As the official app of the Canadian real estate. Realtor.ca offers comprehensive and accurate real estate listings, market trends, and neighborhood information.

2. DocuSign – Best For: Electronic signatures and document management. Docu Sign simplifies the process of signing and managing documents electronically, making it easier to close deals quickly and efficiently.

3. HouseSigma – Best For: Market analysis and property valuation. HouseSigma uses AI to provide accurate property valuations and market analysis, helping agents and clients make informed decisions.

4. CurbHero – Best For: Open Houses. One of this category’s top-rated real estate apps is Curb Hero, an innovative app that streamlines the entire open house process.

5. ShowingTime – Best For: Scheduling and managing property showings. ShowingTime streamlines the scheduling and management of property showings, ensuring a smooth experience for both agents and clients.

6. Trello – Best For: Task and project management. Trello helps agents stay organized with customizable boards and lists, making it easy to manage tasks and projects.

7. Canva – Best For: Creating marketing materials and social media graphics. Canva enables agents to create professional-looking marketing materials and social media graphics with ease, enhancing their online presence.

8. Evernote – Best For: Organizing notes and client information. Evernote helps agents keep track of notes, client information, and property details in one convenient place.

9. Foreworn – Best For: Realtor safety is a real concern for agents. It allows you to grab background information quickly and easily on potential clients or property owners before meeting them face-to-face

10. Magicplan – Best For: Creating floor plans and virtual tours. Magicplan allows agents to create detailed floor plans and virtual tours, helping clients visualize properties more effectively.

Integrating these AI tools and apps into your daily operations can significantly enhance your efficiency, improve client satisfaction, and help you stay competitive in the fast-paced real estate market. Whether you’re looking to automate lead generation, create compelling marketing content, or streamline transaction management, there’s a tool or app to meet your needs. Feel free to email me any other amazing AI tools or Apps you recommend!

Strength and Courage,

Wade

Top Skills Most Agents Are Missing

Wade Webb on September 25, 2024

Your real estate skills determine your success, but they could also be your downfall if left undeveloped. In a competitive market, there’s little room for skill development while managing your business, leading to anxiety and reluctance to try new things. This mindset can perpetuate the belief that certain tasks will always be difficult.

Let me clarify this: not everything should be difficult or uncomfortable if you have the know-how and confidence to handle it effectively. Let’s talk about three crucial real estate skills that are holding agents back at various career stages.

In this blog, we’ll delve into these real estate skills for a new real estate agent, novice, or seasoned agent. Let’s start off with what exactly I’m talking about when I say “skills.”

What Are the Elements of Skills in Real Estate?

I know… You already know what skills are. But when have you taken the time to break down what they really mean? Doing this can show you how to develop them. To make it very simple, a skill is the combination of two things: Your knowledge of how to perform a task in the most effective way possible.

Your confidence and ability to perform the task in your chosen way on command.

Understanding the essence of skills is vital for your development. Simply put, a skill is the combination of knowledge on performing a task effectively and the confidence and ability to execute it. While knowledge can be acquired through trial and error or guidance from experienced individuals, confidence and ability improve through practice.

But I can’t say this enough… DON’T PRACTICE ON YOUR CLIENTS! You only have one reputation, and every interaction affects it. Professional training programs are recommended for the simultaneous development of knowledge and skills. Remember, skills aren’t something you’re naturally good at; they require refinement and can deteriorate from learning bad habits.

What Skills Are Needed for Real Estate? Skills needed in real estate include effective communication, negotiation, marketing, time management, adaptability, problem-solving, local market knowledge, technology proficiency, networking, and integrity. Let’s take this one step further and talk about the fundamentals of these skills for real estate agents.

Common Real Estate Skill Deficiencies.

The Foundations – Nothing will slow down your progress like learning the foundations incorrectly – or in many cases not learning them at all. Learning the foundations correctly, or lack thereof, significantly impacts your progress in real estate.

When you were getting your license, how much did they teach you about running a business, doing effective real estate marketing, becoming competent at sales, and managing your time? I’m willing to bet, pretty much nothing.

Traditional real estate education often neglects crucial aspects like business management, effective marketing, sales competence, and time management. In today’s competitive market, there’s little room for new agents to make mistakes in real estate.

Now, I know it seems like cheating to call all these foundations one skill because they encompass just so much, but a large part of this has to do with when these skills are learned and how they’re integrated together into a routine and a mindset. Here are just a few of the elements of your foundational skills:

Understanding how to control your time
Mastering the art of the buyer consultation
Comprehensive annual reviews
Host open houses that are successful
Handling objections to close deals confidently
Creating real estate social media videos for brand growth

But the main reason I count them all together is because of the solution I’m about to announce which covers all of these and more… Stick around for it!

Phone Prospecting. – While the foundations come in first place because you absolutely can’t start making decent money until you have some grasp on them, phone prospecting is the hands-down No. 1 most common issue among all agents.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve found some other lead gen channel that’s working – if there’s a fear of the phone and you’re not making your calls then you’re not reaching your potential. The obvious culprit here is a crisis of confidence. It can be awkward to call strangers or people you barely know. It’s uncomfortable to ask for an appointment, and it can be a real confidence killer to be hung up on or to sense someone’s annoyance.

But it’s only awkward/uncomfortable/draining if you haven’t developed the skills for it. And please keep in mind that developing these skills is a part of your job. You might not like it, but it’s part of the career path you’ve chosen. Remember here that confidence comes from experience, and still, it’s only one-half of what forms a skill.

You need the knowledge of exactly what you’re going to say and the training to anticipate what they might say next. This is what will allow you to steer the conversation in the way you want it to go. Once you have that, confidence will come naturally, and phone calls will become predictable commission.

Leverage – The longer you’re in this business, the more you’re going to want to start delegating tasks to free you up to focus on the most important – and rewarding – aspects of the role. And that means building a team around you.

Think about it… wouldn’t it be lovely if you could work less and make exponentially more money? How about going on vacation while your business continues to run smoothly without you? These are just a few of the incredible benefits of having the right team. But the right team isn’t easy to build, especially when you first get started.

After years of mastering the fundamentals of real estate skills, becoming fearless on the phones, and raising their annual commissions, many experienced agents believe that they know it all just to find themselves completely lost again when it becomes necessary for them to expand. Recruiting is a different ballgame than any other aspect of the business.

On the one hand, you want to take the time to find the perfect people for every position and train them properly so that they can fulfill their roles. On the other hand, you don’t want your business to completely collapse while you take the time to do this and go completely bankrupt on paying people you can no longer afford. It seems like a Catch-22, right? It doesn’t have to be if you know how to:

Implement the right recruitment strategies
Find the right employee lead sources
Build a strategic recruiting plan
Identify the best talent
Craft an efficient onboarding process

Let’s go back to what I said at the beginning… Pride and ignorance are the opposite of confidence, and they can prevent us from recognizing where we really stand. It’s embarrassing to admit to ourselves that we didn’t master all the fundamentals when we first started, so sometimes we’d rather blame the market than admit to our own lack of skills.

It’s easier to say that we don’t have the time and energy to make our calls than to admit that it’s a lack of confidence holding us back. And it’s easy to say that you’ve become successful on your own, so you don’t need help in becoming a leader. These are all excuses that are holding you back. So, I challenge you to be honest with yourself.

Strength and Courage,

Wade

Navigating Your Shift In Real Estate

Wade Webb on September 18, 2024

Is the economy shifting?

That’s the question on everyone’s minds right now. As we know, the real estate market has remained slow amid high mortgage rates and inflation. It’s worth asking what’s going on in the economy and what it means for real estate agents trying to keep their businesses afloat.

What I really want to do is help you prepare your business for the type of market we’re facing. I’ll give you four strategies to recession-proof your business and seize this period of economic downturn for your advantage. As you can see, this is the best time to expand your market share if you do it correctly. This is a message of hope and not one of negativity.

Shift #1. Focus on Operational Efficiency – The Harvard Business Review researchers dove into different combinations of offensive and defensive plays that companies ran and rated them based on their effectiveness. Those who cut employees while focusing on market development and investing in assets performed the worst. On the other hand, those who used the same offensive moves while focusing on operational efficiency instead of employee reduction performed the best overall.

Streamlining your operations comes down to organization, continuous training, and tracking and measuring results, and non-stop development. When you study your business and cut all the things that don’t serve you, it creates space for more impactful actions. Right now, we can’t talk about efficiency without talking about AI.

According to Forbes, business owners who have adopted AI into their workflows report experiencing a 50%+ improvement in overall productivity. As a real estate agent who wears so many different hats, this is especially true. AI can help you edit videos, create social posts, improve your website, automatically set up appointments, interpret data, optimize your schedule, and so much more!

Shift #2: Strategic Marketing & Lead Gen – It’s not enough to just put out more marketing. To survive and thrive after an economic downturn, you need to get strategic about what channels you’re running to minimize costs and maximize results. If you’re just putting out more of the same and throwing money at the problem, that’s how you end up in that 26% Promotion group.

Start with your messaging. When people find themselves in a new economic situation, the messaging is more important than ever. Decide the story you want to tell and choose channels that will allow you to convey it to your target audience while remaining within budget. Luckily, there are a few marketing channels that cost next to nothing and have proven effective under any circumstances. And remember, most of your competition is as scared as you might be.

They will likely pull back on their marketing and regret it later. This is a massive opportunity for you to scoop up market share.

Shift #3: Mindset is Everything – That is so very important. Do not go reading the news in your free time. Take in just as much news as you need to stay informed and do your job effectively, and then get your head to a more productive place.

Buy one of the mindset books on this list – or all of them – and read a chapter every morning. Listen to them in the car or on the treadmill. Mediate, exercise, and eat well. Write out your mission statement, create a vision board, and keep a gratitude journal. Do whatever it takes to get out of the noise and keep charging the storm.

Shift #4: Invest in Training, Knowledge, and Guidance – If you want to achieve the first three plays in this list, this one is how you do it. Training and guidance and the most recession-proof strategy you can possibly adopt – for both you and your team.

We’re not in a Speed Market anymore. This is a Skills & Strategy housing market, so only those with the best skills and strategies will win. That’s where training sets you apart. It’s the reason that agents who join real estate coaching begin to multiply their GCI within the first year and continue to grow consistently after that.

When it comes to your team, providing training is your best tool for keeping them engaged and loyal. Researcher Bob Nelson states that other than direct recognition, career development opportunities are the best way to drive employee engagement. Data from Deloitte shows that 26% of all employees are actively disengaged but developing a learning culture and providing training can rapidly drive engagement and boost retention by 30-50%.

As I said before, this is an uncertain time, but there is nothing to be worried of if you have the skills, knowledge, and expert guidance to handle whatever the world can throw at you. Training = Confidence. Remember that.

Strength and Courage,

Wade

Seller Counselling & Price Repositioning (Reduction)

Wade Webb on September 11, 2024

Now this isn’t about getting new business.

It is not a prospecting script, but it may be the most important phone duty that anyone in your office does–asking for price reductions on listings.

Asking for price reductions can make or break a top real estate agent’s business. Not only will price reductions quicken the sale, and therefore, minimize overhead in a real estate agent’s business, but it will also prove to everyone your marketing systems work. Remember, price is 90% of any marketing plan and the faster you achieve market value, the faster everybody’s needs are met.

The challenge with price reductions is not solved with a phone script, but a series of planned events. This system you are holding shows you the right questions to ask prior to a listing presentation so you can learn their true motivation and then find ways to meet their goals. When the desire is to meet someone’s goals, they’re much more likely to listen to the plan that gets them there. As we all know, the correct price is the fastest road to the achievement of most goals that have to do with a sale.

Once the right questions are asked, the next step is an outstanding presentation with the correct verbiage during the CMA.

We’ve all experienced the seller that no matter how much information is given them, including pre-listing sales packages that include pricing technologies and the right scientific research showing the exact value of their home–they still want more!

What are we to do?

What do you do while battling another agent’s high evaluation, or how do you obtain pre-agreed listing reductions during the term of the listing? All I can do at this juncture is to assume the right questions were asked prior to and at the listing presentation, and they received information on how to price their property correctly.

This information was reviewed at the listing presentation, and the scientific information was discussed. If after all of this has been done and the price is still too high your options are to not take the listing or to receive pre-agreed reductions based upon the success of marketing.

All this leads me to believe, if everything that should be done has been done, and you still have an overpriced listing, you (1) knew it was overpriced and took it anyway or (2) made a mistake based upon the fact you liked the property more than anyone else did.

There’s also a possible third problem and that is the seller was a better salesperson than you and sold you on the high price. All this is leading us to one conclusion, if you have been a victim of any of the previously mentioned three problems, you’re now going to have to consistently ask for price reductions, which may be the most embarrassing aspect of this business.

How do you ask for price reductions when you told the seller you could market the home at the agreed upon price? Sometimes, their responses are furious, such as, “Well anybody can sell this house at that price,” “The other agent said that they could get more,” “I can’t buy my new home if I get that price,” or “Do you expect me to lose money?” All these questions ignore the main subject, and that is, market value is market value and none of the above questions have anything to do with or affect market value.

The following lead-ins can be used to ask for a price reduction, but it is very important you use new subjects as often as possible, so not to sound monotonous!

Remember, an agent who asks for price reductions soon after the listing presentation will have a weary seller, so therefore, mix your price reductions with new and exciting marketing concepts. Concepts such as a page promoted on your website from your lender showing five ways, which the home can be financed. Adding a special home of the day button to your site or sending your evaluation surveys to all the agents who have seen the home– I’ve got a million of them. Remember, the seller likes the real estate agent who is ingenious in their marketing methods and, the seller will then listen more intently to the following reasons for a price reduction.

Lead-ins to Ask for a Real Estate Listing Price Reduction….

There’s been a new sale in the neighborhood that affects your value.
Here are some of the responses we’ve received from other agents.
Here are the responses I received from buyers I have shown.
Here are responses I have heard from buyers shown by other agents.
Here are the responses from the agents in my office.
Here are the attitudes of the real estate agents who attended the Broker Open House.
Here were the attitudes of the buyers who walked through your home on the open house.
Here are the responses we have received from the ad that we’ve placed in . . .
Here are some suggestions I would do if it were my home to make it more appealing to buyers. Oh, rather than just making these improvements why don’t we drop the price to compensate for some improvements the buyer may want to make?
Why don’t we increase the selling office commission? If I sell it, I will stick to the original terms of the listing agreement.
May we add a selling office bonus?
May we add points, so financing becomes easier for a buyer?
I know this offer was low and the buyer did not accept our counteroffer, however, may I lower the home to the amount we mentioned in the counter offer to attract more interested buyers?
May we ask for some concessions on the home you’re buying and then supply those same concessions to any potential buyers on their home?
May we offer preferential owner financing and make the property more affordable to any potential buyers?
We have an open house / new ad / new internet blast going out and I would certainly love to be able to market this home at a new and improved price.
I’m going to be taking the property out of the MLS and resubmitting it as a new listing, therefore, acquiring a new look and new enthusiasm among the cooperating real estate agents here in town. I’d like to do that at a lower price.
Is there anything we could throw in that would sweeten the pot, appliances, vehicles, maybe even a free vacation at a time share?
Many times, we have found emotions play a big role in the sale of a home. Therefore, can we make your home more emotional by having it professionally staged and decorated by a local design group?
Cooperation among real estate agents is paramount to getting the property sold. Yes, I am the one agent that is handling the marketing, but I am marketing to more than 3,000 real estate agents who handle a large percentage of buyers. My job is to market to them so they can express their excitement of your home to their buyers. Let’s discuss what we can do to make this home more exciting to the real estate agents here in town.
Real estate agents have many properties to show and sometimes the determining reason for showing is ease of access. Let’s do some items to improve the showing procedure to make it easily accessible to real estate agents at any time and at a moment’s notice.
I would like to obtain a price reduction and do some things I have never done to market a home, such as advertising them in the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal. Spending money on an ad that would reach outside our geographical area is risky, but I would be willing to go ahead and give it a try if we had a more marketable price.
I was looking at your holding cost and found if we drop your price and obtain a sale, we may eliminate many months of payments, taxes, insurance, and upkeep I believe would compensate for this price reduction. Let’s discuss how this might work.
In all the years I’ve done business, one of the hardest things I must do is disappoint a client. The continued marketing of this property at the current price that I now find is too high only tends to disappoint you and therefore, I’d like to ask the following favor. Would you please consider a price reduction and if that’s impossible, would you allow me to discontinue my marketing efforts? It’s very difficult for me to express this to a seller that’s been fair with me and to a home I’d like nothing more than to market and sell; however, I truly believe unless we drop this price, the property will go unsold. I’m willing to give up my marketing effort and my listing to show you how clear I am we need to adjust our price today.

I hope you can use any one or all these reasons to obtain a price reduction or improvement in terms or value. The phone is the most effective way to do this. The use of your assistant calling for price reductions or doing it by mail has proven to be ineffective. There are times when the real estate agent must pick up the phone, and the price reduction is one of them.

Strength and courage,

Wade

Getting A Buyer Commitment

Wade Webb on August 21, 2024

We have been communicating our value proposition to sellers and getting them to commit for decades and now the time has come for buyers.

The greatest document created for the real estate industry in the last ten years, must be the Buyers agreement. Think about it… agents would never think of marketing and promoting a seller’s home without a listing contract but why do so many agents spend a ton of time and money working for a buyer without a buyer’s agreement?

Why did they create this document but forget to train the real estate professional how to present the value proposition to their buyer to want to sign it prior to buying their next home?

Agents take the time to sit down with a seller and present…

Why them?

Why their company?

The benefits to selling their home before asking them to enter a listing contract.

Does it not make perfect sense for an agent to take the time to sit with a buyer prior to their home buying search and present to the home buyer the same as the seller?

What would it mean to you to have your buyer under contract exclusively with you and your company instead of driving them around and showing them a large number of homes, burning your own gas, buying coffees and lunches and then they call you to say “ we didn’t want to bother you on a Sunday and saw the perfect house at an open house and bought it.

We wanted to thank you for everything you did and hope this house plant will look good in your office as a token of our appreciation.” I know this happens because it has happened to me. To protect yourself from the “house plant” scenario I encourage you to sit your home buyers down and share with them the benefits they receive from entering into the buyer agreement.

Tell your clients… “just like my sellers hire me to sell their home by authorizing a seller agreement, I also get my home buyers to hire me as their exclusive buyer’s agent and authorize this exclusive buyer agreement.”

The worst thing they can say is “no thank you” and you still can choose to work with them or not, but this is a great qualifying tool for any buyer and should only take less than an hour for a buyers consultation and prevent the 3 days, 20 showings, 1 tank of gas and end up with an office plant as a token gift outcome.

“10 Home WWIFM The Buyer Benefits To Them Having A Buyers Agreement.”

1. The Doctor/Patient Advantage (Client Confidentiality)
Let’s say your client is going from house to house and agent to agent, sharing their personal and financial information with everyone. When they do put in an offer, how does it affect their bargaining power if the Seller’s agent already knows everything about them? It is critical they share this information with only one agent, so it won’t work against them later. Their Buyer Agent is on their side, not the Seller’s side… make sure they understand the importance of this.

2. The Instant Information Advantage (No Communication Delays)
When your client is relying on the internet, newspapers, or magazines as their source for house listings it is important, they remember these stems all have built-in delays. These delays can be from a few days to a week before the listing actually makes it to them. How many of the hottest real estate deals or best buys make it that far before they are sold? Very few. Get your home buyer on the inside track with the most current and up to date information.

3. The Insider Advantage (Buyer, Meet Seller)
A great many hot properties are sold exclusively by sleeve or pocket listings, before they are even activated on MLS (Multiple Listing Service). These pocket listings are often sold well before the public even knows about them. In these cases, the Sellers who wanted to sell and Buyers who wanted to buy were introduced and made their transaction through the Direct Client program. Emphasize to your home buyer the importance of them having access to these types of home listings.

4. The Inbox Advantage (Convenient Auto Email Updates)
As an agent, I have the technology to be notified of a new listing on the MLS system by the minute, and then quickly notify my Direct Clients. I can use my privileged access to this listing data to get you in to see your perfect home before most of the other potential Buyers even know about it. Be sure to show your buyers the power of this.

5. The Invisible Listing Advantage (Find the properties that aren’t for sale)
As part of a large sales force, I am constantly in contact with other agents. They may have Potential Sellers: homeowners who would sell if they had a Buyer. We call this the “water cooler transaction”. I mention I have someone looking for a special kind of property, and the other agent has a property that fits like a glove but isn’t even on the market! Yet another benefit for your buyer to enter into an Exclusive Buyers Agency Agreement.

6. The Active Agent Advantage (Buyer Agents are prospectors).
Personally, I won’t just wait for listings in the Direct or VIP program: I’ll go out and find my buyer’s perfect home! I will prospect by telephone, direct mail or pound the pavement door-to-door, investing as much time as it takes to find their ideal property. Why wait weeks or months until it is listed for sale? Show them you are serious, if they will show you, they’re serious to work with you.

7. The Accountability Advantage (Contractual Obligations – For Me!)
Direct Clients hire me under contract, just like Sellers hire me under a listing contract. This ensures my Direct Buyers receive benefits other prospective Buyers do not. When we enter into this contract, I am required to perform specific duties within a fixed time, or the agreement is null and void.

8. The Easy Exit Advantage (Fire Me Anytime!)
If my buyers are unhappy with my services for any reason, I give them the opportunity to correct the situation. If the problem continues, then I promise them an unconditional release from our contractual agreement with no questions asked. This removes the risk factor from your client.

9. The Guaranteed Communication Advantage (I Promise Not to Disappear)
My home buyers can expect a regular delivery of prospective homes to consider and ongoing communication from me. I’ll keep them up to date on the hottest new listings, so we can beat the rush and get them in to see these properties before other potential Buyers. This way they will see the best buys first! Give your buyers the sense they will be treated preferentially if they agree to sign the Exclusive Buyers Agreement.

10. The Transaction Coordination Advantage (I’ll find the property, then help them own it)
There will be a large group of professionals involved in completing your buyer’s transaction: bankers, insurance agents, inspectors, appraisers, utility workers, and lawyers just to name a few.

All these professionals do not have time to contact each other and facilitate your buyer’s purchase. It’s a huge benefit for your home buyer to have an agent they trust, who will coordinate all these services on their behalf. Sell this benefit then ask them to sign the agreement.

I hope you see the advantages of having your home buyers enter into the Exclusive Buyer agreement with you as well as the benefits the client receives as well. Try it out and measure the effectiveness of the response you receive.

Bonus Item – Click to download Platinum Home Purchase Plan ( Value Proposition For The Buyer ) What you do and what Value You Bring. Literally your buyer presentation

Strength and courage,

Wade

Open House Strategies For Agents in 2024

Wade Webb on August 14, 2024

I always loved REALTOR© Open Houses to build my business and now is the time to prepare for the spring market and the open house season. Here are some of my personal favorite ways to prepare for and maximize your effectiveness and time invested into open houses.

Social Media Hacks For Agents

Wade Webb on April 24, 2024

Every Real Estate professional should be on just about every social media platform available. One of the fastest growing social media sites to use in real estate is Instagram. What many agents don’t realize is that Instagram can be one of the most useful tools to grow their business…when used correctly.

social media hacks for real estate agents

Let’s boil down the best Instagram tips for real estate agents. Real estate is a visual industry. The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” is particularly true in the realm of selling properties. In the age of social media, no platform provides more potential for engagement through imagery than Instagram. But giving Instagram tips for real estate agents can be tricky, because a surprising number don’t even know where to start. This week I’m going to share with you some essential real estate Instagram tips covering everything from setting up your account to scaling your brand. But first, let’s start off by answering a question too many agents are still asking…

Is Instagram Good for Real Estate Agents?

The short answer is yes, but with specific strategies in mind. Instagram’s visual-first approach allows real estate agents to make properties memorable. The platform’s heavy use of location tagging, hashtags, and sharing features make it simple for an agent to gain exposure for their listings, as well as their personal brand. Because real estate is inherently local, using Instagram in a community setting can connect agents with potential buyers and sellers in their area.

How to Create a Real Estate Instagram.

Creating an Instagram account is so easy a child could do it, but don’t rush into it blindly, because you want to make sure that you set up a business account. This will allow you to track analytics, promote posts, and create a more professional appearance. If you already have a profile, you can convert it to a business account. Include a clear profile picture, preferably your professional headshot, and ensure your bio succinctly tells who you are, what you do, and how you can help potential clients. Add a link to your website or a landing page designed for Instagram traffic.

How to Advertise Real Estate on Instagram.

The key to advertising real estate on Instagram is to not look at it as an isolated thing; it’s about marketing your marketing and yourself as well as the property. The cohesiveness of your Instagram page (your brand) will help you far more than any single post. These are the things you want people to advertise on your page:

Your Listings on Instagram.

The quality of your marketing, your authentic personality, your knowledge must all be there. It’s not all about the homes! People want to work with a professional who knows their stuff and is going to get the job done, but they’re also FAR more likely to work with someone who they like and trust. Know/Like/Trust – that’s the name of the game. Strike that balance and you’re golden. I read a Placeter article not too long ago which had some awesome real estate Instagram dos and don’ts and I want to share a few of them with you, as well as add a couple of my own.

Do: Post your own photos & videos.

Your audience follows you to keep up on your listings, hear your thoughts, and see what your clients have to say about your business. By posting your own photos and videos, you emphasize your authenticity and show users that a real person is behind the account, not a corporate firm. Through original photos and videos, you can build trust and rapport with your clients and leads that can help you close more deals.

Don’t: Use or Alter Stock Photos.

If you’re not using beautiful photography and professional video clips then Instagram is not the place for you – and real estate might not be the right business. This is a marketing game, and what you post is not just advertising the home itself but your professional marketing services. Snap a few shots of your listings here and there to stockpile visual marketing collateral. However, stay away from using stock photos. Your followers can spot a stock photo from a mile away, which can easily deter them from engaging with your content, as it isn’t seen as original.

Don’t: Edit the Authenticity Out of Your Listing Videos.

Fixing bad lighting is one thing but avoid using various filters. The point is to show off the home as it is. The last thing you want is for a potential buyer to show up to your listing and not recognize the home because it’s drastically different from the one they viewed online. As always, stay honest, especially with the pictures you post. But with that said…

Do: Use AI to Enhance Your Content.

AI is the tool of the future. This is a time as monumental as the rise of social media or even the internet. You want to be on the cutting edge of it, and AI can help you do so many things such as creating video thumbnails, editing videos, stabilizing shots, fixing audio, adding voice overs, and so much more.

Don’t: Rely on AI Generated Content.

Remember, authenticity is everything. Why would you show off something that isn’t real at all?

Do: Get Past Clients to Participate in Testimonial Videos.

A great way to use Instagram for real estate is by showing your followers how you’ve helped people in similar situations. Getting previous clients to give a testimonial is an excellent strategy to build trust and show professionalism. Most clients will be happy to give a short 15-second blurb on what they loved about your business. Don’t be shy to ask them!

Don’t: Use a Million Hashtags or Inapplicable Ones.

Keep it classy. Using too many hashtags is one of the top social media mistakes. A long list of hashtags can come across as spammy and they take away from the focus of the post. Yes, you may get a few more followers but you run the risk of losing the ones you want and replacing them with randoms. Stick to a few relevant and popular hashtags. Instagram built in a 30-hashtag limit to prevent you from going too crazy.

Do: Automatically Share Most Photos to Facebook & Twitter.

Not every picture or video needs to be shared across every platform, but for most of them, why not? You can easily select which other social media sites you want to share pictures and videos on each time you post.

Do: Show Off Your Personal Side.

It’s okay to show off your fun side – the trick is moderation and knowing when to post such content. Posting a picture of your agency’s annual summer BBQ or a selfie with old clients can do wonders for your image. Just make sure these pictures tie into your day-to-day life!

Don’t: Give Up on Your Account! It Takes Time.

It takes time to build an audience on Instagram. Don’t get discouraged if it’s taking a while to gain followers. Having said that, if momentum is really stalled, it may be time to switch up your strategy and apply the tips we have given you. In time, you will find the kind of posts, hashtags, and post frequency that appeals to the audience you want.

Do: Get Serious About Your Social Media Marketing

Here is the big one… If you want to use your real estate Instagram to drive more business, then you have to get serious about it. One blog post isn’t going to make you the agent influencer in your market. Serious results come from serious plans and those require serious dedication. That said, it doesn’t have to take long… You could get everything you need in just one day. But you do need to step outside of your comfort zone and actually seek out help from those who know the way.

Strength and Courage,

Wade

Getting Listings In A Low Inventory Market 2024

Wade Webb on April 17, 2024

getting listings low inventory market 2024

Most markets in North America are experiencing unprecedented low inventory levels and the supply is just not meeting the demands of buyers. The spring is quickly coming upon us and the key to our success as agents is the inventory game and having that listing inventory going into the spring and summer season. So, if there are little or no listings how can I buck the trend and create listings vs. wait for listings? Here are my top ideas for you to implement now and begin winning the inventory game!

1. Unsolicited Market Evaluations for Past Clients – Put together a snapshot market evaluation package for each one of your past clients ( Don’ give them your estimated selling price). We want to deliver or mail the package of comparable’s so the client can physically see and touch the information you are providing and see the “value add” you deliver. Let them know many of your clients are curious what their current property value is, and you took the liberty of preparing a snapshot for them to see where their property currently sits. This is a great tool for them to see their current property value for sufficient home insurance coverage. For income tax purposes regarding capital losses and gains and just where they stand financially. Three days after you have delivered the information call them and follow the package up. Ask if they got the package? Did they have any questions? They noticed for legal and insurance purposes you need to physically view their home to give them a specific value of their property. Would there be a good time for you to come over and view the property and give them a number? Ask them if they have other real estate holdings you could evaluate for them? Ask them if they know other friends, family or coworkers that would appreciate the same service?

2. Direct Mail – There are many reasons you could send out unaddressed ad mail to get new listings but remember direct mail is not as effective without follow up by a door knock or phone call. The top direct mail reasons that seem to get the best results are “We Just Sold” and implying there are more buyers still looking. The other is “We Have A Buyer” and looking for a home for them. Please don’t use either of these methods if you don’t have a bona fide buyer. Get in the door honestly. Other options are “Open House Invite” or “Just Listed” or the most over used option “Free Home Evaluation”.

3. Letter Tuck Reverse Door Knock – Letter tuck versus direct mail will get you the numbers that you need. 50-75 letter tucks (unbranded) will get you one call. Tuck all your 75 letters and then reverse door knock until your time has run out. The door knock is a warm approach now and not a cold door knock. Again, the most successful conversion is coming from a “We Have A Buyer” and “We Just Sold”. Many of my coaching clients say a 90-minute door knock set between 3pm and 6 pm is always a great time and something comes from it every time.

4. Open House. Floor Time/Kiosk – These are the only options agents have where the customer will come to you and the agent does not have to go to the customer. For those that are prospecting reluctant then these options are the only hope you must generate the listings.

5. Geographic Farm – Two options here for the geo farm. Option one is to mail the farm area every second week, door knock, Facebook page, you tube channel, etc. The second option is to find a specific area, building or complex with a 6% or higher annual turnover rate and pull title on every homeowner and personally mail them 4 times a year specifically about their area and the general market conditions and have a website specific to their property which creates the perception you are the resident expert and the only agent personally mailing to the homeowners.

6. Facebook, Google Ad Campaigns – Creating strategic ad campaigns specifically for home sellers and directing them to a landing page that allows them to get an evaluation of their property over the internet. Landing pages like Bold Leads or Prime Seller Leads are a great option.

7. Expired Listings – If your market area allows this you have a great resource of clients who already own a home, want to sell, worked with an agent and were willing to pay the commissions! How can you not love them.

8. FSBO – Again, you have a seller who owns a home, wants to sell but doesn’t want to pay. We help them sell for 7-10 weeks in exchange for them to buy with you or if they don’t sell, we hope they list with you!

9. Agent To Agent Referrals – Working the agents from other offices and communities that the buyers are relocating to your area from. Offering a referral fee for any listing or buyer referrals to the network of agents and be their point of contact in your area.

10. B2B – Network with all the business owners and service providers in your community. Find ways to co brand and co market each other’s businesses and services. They in turn feel they need to refer your listings and business for your help and support with what they do!

So, there you have it. Ten powerful ways to generate listing inventory and really make a huge impact on your first quarter of 2024 and make the rest of the year that much easier. Please feel free to share any other listing activities you have found effective in the comments below!

Strength and courage,

Wade

How To Increase Capacity To Take More Action

Wade Webb on January 26, 2022

“I wish I could do more.” I hear that statement a lot from agents. The demands on their time, their skills, and their presence are always escalating, always making it seem like there’s never enough of them to go around. Usually, the emphasis is on the more in that sentence: I wish I could do more. More listings, more sales, more marketing, more emails and calls. The escalation is in outputs, checked-off boxes that make those around us feel better. We end up scheduling ourselves to the nth degree, increasing our activity while not necessarily increasing our accomplishment.

The more that we’re chasing isn’t wrong. It’s part of our journey as we grow, we expand our capacity, and with expanded capacity comes increased output. But increasing our output doesn’t correlate with increasing our impact—sometimes, to do more, we need to do different. There are three steps you must take to expand your capacity to act:

1. STOP Doing Only Those Things You’ve Done Before and START Doing Only Those Things You Could and Should Do – The first step toward success is becoming good at what you know how to do, but once you’ve mastered what you know, you begin to discover other things you could do. Doing what you’ve done before increases your efficiency, but it doesn’t do much for your capacity. Doing new things leads to innovation and new discoveries, which yields new things that you should be doing—things that likely replace those things you’ve done before.

2. STOP Doing What is Expected and START Doing What is Unexpected – Let me go ahead and clear this up: what most people never expect is to have their expectations exceeded. What others define as a ceiling, you define as a floor, and then seek to go up from there. Being an agent who gives in to the inertia of the daily routine, the same old same old, may allow you to be efficient but it will never allow you to be effective. You must push past the minimum and seek to do something beyond what’s expected. Show up early. Stay late. Listen well. Praise more. Reward faithfully. Share willingly.

3. STOP Doing Important Things Occasionally and START Doing Important Things Daily – If it’s important, it’s worth doing. That’s the leader’s mindset. Yet so often we surrender our time to the urgent or the pressing or the “needed” instead of to what’s important. To do what’s not important each day yields nothing for you or your leadership; it merely uses up your time. And to do what’s important only occasionally doesn’t lead to the consistency that compounds into results. You must do what is important daily if you want to achieve expansion in your capacity.

Have you been feeling the pressure to do more as an agent? If so, let me encourage you to intentionally invest time in expanding your capacity to act. Doing the things you should be doing, doing them beyond anyone’s expectations, and doing it daily is the key to expanding your capacity in ways you can’t yet imagine. The world is not made better by our intentions; it is made better by our intentional actions. As business owners, we must do more, but we must do more of what makes us better. We must increase our capacity for helpful and productive action.

Strength and courage,
Wade

Agents Boost Most Read Posts For 2021

Wade Webb on January 5, 2022

2021 was another great year for Agents Boost thanks to you our readers. Again we had thousands of visitors from countries all over the world checking out our new and seasoned posts. Out of our years of contributions the 10 Ten read post by our agents for the year were as follows.