How To Sell Homes in a Tough Market

I was beginning my third year as a realtor, and I had new buyers who were under a deadline to pick a home before losing their apartment. We looked at nine homes and they narrowed it down to their top two choices. They weren’t going to be available the next weekend, so we decided to look at their final two choices on Thursday, early in the morning before they went to work. I knew we might be pushing the homeowners out earlier than they would normally leave for work, so I called three days in advance to set up these two showings for 7am making sure I had confirmation.

Thursday morning arrived and I met the buyers at the first house, then we headed to the other one. I rang the doorbell a couple of times, opened the door and I ran upstairs to start turning on lights. As I was rushing along the upstairs hallway, the homeowner flung open the bathroom door about 6 feet in front of me completely naked! When she saw me she began screaming at the top of her lungs!

Have you ever been screamed at? I, instinctively, yelled even louder from the shock. I scared this woman so bad, she started flailing her arms about while frantically screaming and pleading, “Just take anything, but don’t hurt me! Please don’t hurt me!” It must have been her intent to leave the bathroom and head to her bedroom to get dressed, and a stranger in her hallway was the last thing she expected. Perhaps she was still in the shower as I rang the doorbell and didn’t hear it, but nevertheless there we were.

This woman, probably in her late 50’s, was so loud with her screaming that my buyers ran out the front door, and I almost wet myself from the shock. I’m amazed I didn’t go tumbling backwards down the stairs! I tried to converse with her as I backed away trying to inform her that I was the Realtor and we were all there to see her house again. She, still screaming as loud as possible, informed me she thought we were supposed to be there the next morning. I, now yelling back, let her know we were all supposed to be there right now, and she needed to put some clothes on. We immediately left the house, went back to my office, and the buyers wrote a contract on the other house.

HOW TO SELL HOMES IN A TOUGH MARKET

Have you ever had a wonderful night of sleep when you dreamed you were rich? You woke up so happy and excited …and then reality hit and you realize “Uh oh, it was just a dream.” I’m excited to announce you are in a career with absolutely no income limitation or cap whatsoever. You probably got into real estate because you’ve noticed certain realtors have made enormous amounts of money …and it appears they don’t work very hard. Contrary to any previous job you might have had, being a successful Realtor will offer you more advantages than you’ve ever dreamed of. This book is to encourage and motivate you to use 25 Success Tips to take your real estate career to a whole new level.

Perhaps you are a brand new agent with no idea what to do. Perhaps you’ve been in real estate for years, but now find yourself in a slump needing to jump start your sales.

Stand up and draw a line out in front of you with your foot. On your side of the line is your life right now. Every decision, big and small, that you’ve made since the day you were born has led you to exactly where you are right now. As you look over the line into the future where you have yet to step, you look toward all that you would like your life to become. All the dreams and visions in your heart lay waiting over the line. A Real Estate career is perhaps the most challenging and also most rewarding form of sales. Included in this book are 25 successful tips you should be doing. Most Realtors don’t do them consistently, and it’s no surprise that most Realtors are frustrated with their lack of sales.

These are the secrets that separate the Top Producing Realtors from everyone else. Rick Warren wrote in The Purpose Driven Life, “Nothing matters more than knowing God’s purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them.” If you believe that being a Realtor should be your current vocation, and you aim to be a success at it, then this book will give you the tools and encouragement to take your Real Estate career to a whole new level.

It can be overwhelming thinking back to a life of decisions that have led you to the point that you’ve decided to read this book. I’ve never heard of anyone having their ultimate goal in life to become a Realtor... it certainly wasn’t on my list of “most sought after jobs” while in college. It wasn’t until I started a new career in real estate that I realized how tough sales could be. Ironic that this would be my favorite job, yet it seems most Real Estate agents come from some other industry and just sort of end up here. Maybe they got laid off from their job, or they’ve had other sales jobs that didn’t work out. Maybe they’ve been at home raising their kids and this career offered the flexibility to fit their schedule.

The current economy has drastically impacted our housing market. People are out of work, with many companies still laying off. Even many real estate agents are quitting who have failed to survive in this business. As more agents quit, the new agents signing up will be able to create a foundation that will position them for great success as the market rebounds in the upcoming months. This could possibly be the very best time in history for a new agent to enter the real estate industry.

My first two years in real estate were horrible. If you are struggling and wondering how much longer you can survive with no sales then I know exactly what you’re going through. It took me a lot longer to become a successful realtor than I expected - but I have become a success. It was in 2008, ten years after I started, when I became the #1 Top Selling Agent in my office. What an achievement! We were already in a tough real estate market by 2008, and since that time the economy and real estate market have continued to worsen and it has become even more difficult to do any of our jobs like we used to.

Is anyone selling homes in this tough market? YES! My goal is to help you become a great success in real estate. Look at the line you’ve drawn in front of you. Everything you’ve ever dreamed of lies ahead. Do you want to achieve financial independence while you’re young enough to enjoy it? Do you want a happier marriage? Do you want to enjoy spending more time with your kids? Do you want respect in the eyes of others for being a success? Perhaps you just want the satisfaction of knowing you helped a buyer enjoy homeownership for the first time. You can have all this, if you do what it takes to cross that line. This could possibly be the first time in your life where you actually have control of your future. If you have enough passion, commitment and a plan of action you can accomplish anything in life.

#1 HOW STRONG IS YOUR DESIRE TO SUCCEED?

Each time I read a new real estate book, I want the author’s secrets. I want to know exactly what they did that created the success. What did they do to get their business off the ground? What gave them the momentum to keep it going? What set that agent apart from most other agents out there? I want their most well-kept secrets on how to become a success.

Would you believe I’m actually going to give you my secrets? .....