CBS 60 Minutes Does Not Do Real Estate Agents Justice!

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

60 Minutes Does Not Do Real Estate Agents Justice!

In case you did not get the letter from NAR president, Pat Combs, I have included it here below:

Dear Fellow REALTOR(R):

I am disappointed and dismayed at the biased story that "60
Minutes" aired on Sunday evening. I want to let you know that
we've been working to stay on top of this story.

One of the most difficult challenges we face is educating
the news media about today's real estate industry. There's
no better example than this "60 Minutes" show. For more than a
year, NAR worked with the producers who put the segment
together and offered several spokespersons to be interviewed
for the show, including myself. Yet, NAR's voice was
strangely and noticeably absent from the segment though CBS
gave time to two critics who disagree with our policies on
the display of listings on the Internet.

At times, NAR and REALTORS(R) have often been the subject of
less than accurate news coverage. Your association and its
professional staff is making every effort to get the
REALTOR(R) message out to the news media. The result is that
only a fraction-less than five percent-of the vast news
media we receive is negative.

We encourage all of you to contact CBS:
(http://go-to.realtor.org/t/LSJ6C/52A9C/T3/D4TQDQ )
to voice your concerns -- maybe have some of your satisified
customers do the same.

Thank you for your support.

Pat V. Combs
President

Please express your opinions to CBS.

Also, if you want to see the replay you can go to CBS and click on 60 minutes and get the full replay.

Defend your livelihood!

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents- Florida Real Estate Issues

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Please contact your legislator today with the following message, adding your personal comments and powerful stories - such as describing the lock-in effect of Save Our Homes or lost homeownership dreams due to high property taxes.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
http://votervoice.net/target

Get your voice heard today, time is running out! Get your message in before the June special session begins!

I am back from vacation now. We took a time out for a long weekend. We went up to Orlando and took our 4 year old to Sea World. The weather was wonderful, cool and breezy. There were no crowds so we did not have a problem seeing all the mammals, feeding the dolphins, seals and stingrays. The Shamu show is the best ever; Believe.

Watching the grace and beauty of the Killer Whales and the story the narrator told about living and believing in your dreams touched my heart.

I was on a little vacation yet learning more to improve my coaching. I am able to take what I learn and apply it to my coaching for Real Estate Agents. It always amazes me to be a part of all of life's lessons.

Always remember your dreams and do not ever give up on them.
I am building a website to help you live your dreams and apply the secret to your life.
I will post this when I have it up and running.

Feel free to email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for information on coaching you to reach your level of success in your Real Estate Career and also in your personal life.

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching Updates For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching Updates For Real Estate Agents

I am going to be going on a mini vacation for a few days so I will not be posting on my blog for the time I am away.

I will be starting a Real Estate Blog when I get back for Buyers and Sellers. I will post important information for buyers and sellers in this market. I will be recommending that they do use a Real Estate Agent so you can feel free to have them visit the blog for information.

You can also link to the blog from your web site. I am in Florida and there will be regional information as well as National and International information on the blog. It does not matter where you are living there will be important information for your clients and prospects.

I love doing business by referral. If you know anyone coming down to South Florida and they do not have a Real Estate Agent already we would be happy to service your clients.

Also, our website is packed with special reports that your prospects can download and use to help them with selling and buying.

Our website is: www.NestorGasset.com

As soon as my seller/buyer blog is up I will post a link to it for you to see here on this blog for Real Estate Agents.

Feel free to post your comments. I look forward to your feedback.
Thanks for being a part of the Real Estate Community where you help people with the most important buying decision most of them will ever make.

Email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for information on giving us a referral or coaching information.

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

For Real Estate Agents, Property Tax Relief

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Legislature 2007 update for today

The most important thing on our minds right now is still:

Property tax relief.

Save Our Homes portability, rollbacks and other tax reform proposals will meet again for a special session for ten days.

"We're going home to continue to work on it," said House Speaker Marco Rubio
(R-Miami). "We would not call dates (for a special session)...unless we were
confident that we would come up with something that would not just pass but
work. But drafting something to go on the ballot (can't be rushed).''

“30 days to talk the talk
A one-month waiting period leading to a special session of the Florida
Legislature gives Realtors an opportunity to meet their lawmakers locally and
push for substantial property tax relief. It also gives lawmakers time to
consider the focus exclusively on the issue” Florida Association of Realtors® 2007(r)

Special session at a glance:
When: June 12-22

Original House plan: Rollback taxes to 2001 levels; replace property taxes
with a 2.5 percent state sales tax increase (constitutional amendment.
Projected savings: $50 billion over five years.

Original Senate plan: Rollback taxes to 2006 levels; allow for Save Our Homes
portability; $25,000 exemption on intangible property; double the homestead
exemption for first-time buyers. Projected saving: $14 billion.

So again, in case you missed my last two posts; get your voice heard.

To send an email to your legislator go to : http://floridarealtors.org.
Click on the legislative center.

The special session will take place June 12 – 22^nd.

So as you can see they are pretty far apart if you ask me. As I said in my last post I like the house plan. I don’t understand why they can not agree but then again, I am not a politician!

The following information is the results from the last session that is from the Florida Association of Realtors ® website:

Progress report: Realtor issues advanced this session

Property insurance: Legislators made is easier for certain property owners to
obtain insurance from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and raised the ante
for others. Citizens, the state's insurer of last resort, is now Florida's
largest insurer with 1.3 million policyholders. SB 2498 by South Florida Sen.
Rudy Garcia (R)would allow property owners into the Citizens pool if the only
insurance they could obtain on the private market was 15 percent more
expensive than what they would pay Citizens. The current threshold is 25
percent. The measure would also prevent private insurance companies from
setting off their Florida operations in a separate, Florida-only company
(known as PUP companies), and freeze Citizens rates through 2008; effective
Jan. 1, 2009, Citizens would again be allowed to raise rates. Legislation
passed during the special session on insurance last January freezes rates
through the end of 2008.

Another bill, HB 7057 by Rep. Trey Traviesa (R-Tampa), requires homes valued
at over $750,000 and located in high-risk zones to install opening
protections
effective July 1, 2008, if they seek a building permit for work estimated at
$50,000 or more. By Jan. 1, 2009, all homes valued at over $750,000 in high-
risk zones must be fitted with opening protections to remain eligible for
property insurance coverage through Citizens. The goal is to "harden" homes
insured by Citizens (which all policyholders in Florida support financially),
thereby helping reduce some of the risk in the event of a devastating storm.
The plan also calls for free inspections of 400,000 single-family homes and
provides grants and loan to certain homeowners so they can make improvements
that strengthen their home against storms.

Housing trust funds. More of the money generated by a portion of documentary
stamp taxes for the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust
Funds will be
allocated to state and local programs. The state budget provides $393.4
million for housing programs- down from $433 million set aside last year but
still $150 million more the cap imposed by the 2005 Legislature. Unfortunately, legislators failed to remove the $243 million cap on
the funds,
a move sought by affordable housing advocates, including FAR, citing a lean budget year.

On a related note, lawmakers approved HB 1375 by Rep. Mike Davis
(R-Naples), a
long-time advocate of full funding of housing trust funds and other statewide
affordable housing programs. Among other things, HB 1375 would require local
governments to adopt by July 1, 2008 a workforce/affordable housing plan into
the local comprehensive plan. Failure to do so would prevent the local
government from receiving state housing grants.

More staff positions at the Division of Real Estate.The state budget also
appropriates money for seven new employees at the Division - four full-time
and three part-time. This should go a long way toward improving services to
Realtors and protecting the public.

Also approved this session:

SB 2234 by Sen. Steve Wise (R-Jacksonville), which requires home inspectors,
mold remediators and mold assessors to be licensed by the Department of
Business and Professional Regulation. Effective July 1, 2010, if
signed by the
governor.
-HB 1277 by Rep. Pat Patterson (R-DeLand), which limits the financial penalty
a landlord can collect when a tenant breaks a lease to two months of
rent. The
bill only affects leases of less than a year. Effective immediately if the
governor signs it.
-HB 7163 by Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R-Miami)which allows real estate
licensees to earn 3hours of CE credit for attending a Florida Real Estate
Commission meeting.Effective immediately if the governor signs it.
-SB 1824 by Sen. Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey), which places numerous
disclosure and education requirements on mortgage brokers and lenders to help
protect consumers during the mortgage loan application process. More
importantly, the bill includes additional enforcement and investigative tools.

You can also email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

More On Tax Reform For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Tax Reforms Update for Florida Special Session:

“While I am disappointed the Legislature didn’t finalize the property tax reform during the regular session, the 30 days they will be home before the June Special Session allows us even more time to make our voices heard,” says Florida Association of Realtors® President Nancy Riley. “ It is my hope that a special legislative session devoted entirely to this issue will be able to deliver even more comprehensive tax reform than what could be negotiated in the waning hours of the regular session. The legislature will be able to roll back rates immediately and, if we remain strong, we will get our special election this year for portability and other constitutional issues that must be ratified by the voters.”

This is great advice to get out there and get your voices heard on tax reform. Please email and call your Senators and Congressmen and women and your House Representatives during this next 30 days. Please do not put this off. Write it in your calendar.

The voice of the people must be made known and the only way they will hear us is if we write and call them! It only takes a few minutes. So put it as an appointment in your daily planner to remember to do this straight away.

I think the best reform is to get rid of the property taxes altogether and raise the sales tax by 1%. I think the government should learn to spend money wisely and be accountable to the people for their expenditures. This would save a lot of homeowners from foreclosure and also help new home buyers to be able to afford homes in Florida.

Tell me what you think about this issue. But no matter what you think, make sure your voice is heard.

You can also me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching for Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents, Your Voice does Count!

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Your voice does count!

Get involved! Get involved with your community and your government.

Real Estate Agents made an impact on bills being passed by the house and senate here in Florida.

Post your comments here about how Real Estate Agents are getting involved in your legislative process where you live.

We are dealing with property taxes in Florida that have gone through the roof. This has created a huge hardship on homeowners and business owners here in the state of Florida.

The House was going to get rid of the property taxes and then raise the sales tax by just a cent or two. Most homeowners supported this bill. Our sales tax is lower than many states and municipalities.

But then the Senate messed it all up and brought back something so convoluted and the legislature could not come to any terms everyone could agree on. Nothing new, in politics! They waste our money arguing over things that make no sense and then they don’t do what the people want!

As a Real Estate Agent, get involved, let your voice be heard. The NAR® is the largest member organization in the country with over 1.3 million members. If we all speak up, our voice will be heard. The NAR and your local state and community boards all work on government issues. A great way to serve is to get on one of these boards, write letters to your Congressman, Senate and House members, most important make sure you get out and VOTE!

There is a property tax crisis in most states of the union. Ask your clients what they want done about it. Sign petitions that you agree with that are going around your area.

Start a petition in your area to reform the property tax issue. Tell your governments to stop wasting our money.

There is a Real Estate agent who just got elected as a counsel woman to a local municipality. This is a great service to her profession as well as to her country and community. It also sets a great example of what you as a Real Estate agent can do to make a difference in the lives of others.

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents Tips

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Where the Jobs Are!

You guessed right if you said, ‘Florida’! According to Business 2.0 Magazine; Orlando, Florida is the hottest job market in the nation! The figures are equal to about 72,00 new jobs.

More cities in Florida were in the top 15 job markets; West Palm Beach, Tampa, Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale.

We love working our referral business with Real Estate Agents. If you are a Real Estate agent and have clients moving to the great job market here in West Palm Beach, Florida and the surrounding areas we will be happy to work with your clients and find the perfect home for them.

For more information about the job market article you can go to:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2//jobs/2007/index.html

Whatever information your clients are looking for to make an informed decision about moving to Florida; we will do our best to get what you and your clients need.

We enjoy building relationships with Real Estate agents around the country and always encourage our clients to allow us to find the perfect Realtor® for them when they move away from our area.

Contact us at my email address below to get a referral relationship going with us.

You can also visit our website at http://www.NestorGasset.com

On our website is a link to this blog and a form for referring.

Our site is packed with lots of good information for buyers and sellers. Our site does contain copyrighted materials so please check with me before you use any of the reports, etc. A great benefit to your clients who are moving here is our MLS search for the entire state of Florida. Our MLS can also be searched in most any language. Just click on the language bar and check out all the languages you can search in.

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

WOW! What a Week in Real Estate!

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

This is the reaction to all the news media regarding how prices are going down, down, down! There are hundreds of expired listings in our market.

This past week we did the following:

We have a property that is listed for $ 200,000; we got an offer for $35,000! Can you imagine that? And because it was an offer we had to take our time and the sellers’ time to tell him about this low ball offer! Gag me with a spoon!

We have another property that is listed for over 2 million US dollars and we get an offer at $1.4 Million dollars! How embarrassing is that? The seller had more money into the project than the offer was for!

We have a lot that is listed for $120,000 and got an offer of only $65,000 on it!

And last but not least, we are negotiating on a property that the seller is selling for less than what he paid for it and the buyers are still not happy!

That seems to be a typical week here in this market these days. But with the law of attraction we are also attracting great deals and counting our blessings every day that we have action and deals that are closing. Many Real Estate agents in our market are quitting or getting supplemental jobs.

I met a Real Estate Agent working at a home depot design center because she needs the health insurance. I think we are going to see a lot of this. But this makes a Real Estate agent part time and then it is not possible to give great service and really take their real estate business to the next level.

So how is the Real Estate Market in your area? What is your typical week look like?

What are you doing to attract the right clients to you?

My husband owns our Real Estate company and I work as a Realtor and also as a speaker and coach.

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Less Than Perfect Buyers

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Do you have buyers who have less than perfect credit these days? Not too long ago it was easy to get them loans in the sub prime market. However, because so many sub prime lenders are closing and/ or going bankrupt it is tough to get a loan through for sub prime buyers.

Lenders don’t want foreclosures. Yet right now we are seeing lots of foreclosures here in Florida. In St. Lucie County, Florida foreclosures were up 444% from last year. In Manatee county there were 1, 312 foreclosures just in the month of February. That is a lot of foreclosures for one small county.

What can you do as a Real Estate Agent to help your clients prevent foreclosure? Place your comments here on this blog about how you are helping your buyers to not get into this situation and how you are helping your sellers not go into foreclosure.

If you can have your buyers repair their credit first, it may be in their best interest to rent for a little while more in order to repair their credit and then apply for a prime loan. Put
them in touch with credit repair companies, but not the debt consolidation companies.

For sellers you can help them negotiate with their lender for a short sale if there is no way out of foreclosure for them and the best thing for them to do would be to sell their property before foreclosure happens. Some homeowners can make arrangements with their lenders on payment plans to catch up but you need to make sure they are able to realistically make those payments. There are creative ways to fend off foreclosures. I would like to hear how you as a Real Estate Agent are helping your sellers and other homeowners save their homes from foreclosure.

It is a great feeling when you can help people in this way. To save a home is a wonderful feeling. It is not always about getting a listing or a sale. It is about doing what is in the best interest of the buyer and seller. Establish their trust in you. Get to know them on a personal level and help serve them in their time of need. Remember when you are paying it forward it may not come back to you from where you expect it to. Give without expectation of what you will get in return because it will always come back to you and many times from places and people that had nothing to do with the original service.

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

How is the Real Esate Market where you live?

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

I would love to hear from you in different parts of the country about how your Real Estate Market is doing? Are prices coming down where you work or are they staying the same? It would be great to discuss the different markets.

It would also be great to share what is working in your area as far as how you as a Real Estate Agent are promoting your services in this market. In our Real Estate Board all the agents that jumped in when our market was really hot and thought they were going to get rich quick have been dropping out like flies. Veteran Real Estate agents are glad about that. When that dilution of the industry happens bad apples tend to show up and taint the public opinion about Real Estate Agents.

In our marketplace there is like this stand off going on. The sellers are refusing to drop their prices and the buyers are refusing to pay the sellers’ prices. That means a lot of homes are expiring and there are not a lot of sales going on right at the moment.

I believe in being ethical and honest with my prospects. When I go on a listing appointment I want to know why the seller is selling and where are they moving to.

Because if they can hold on for 4 or more years than they should not sell. On the other hand if they are moving out of the state, getting relocated or have to move because of threat of foreclosure than we need to have an aggressive marketing plan set up for them and they must be realistic about pricing.

My advice is to not take overpriced listings. You are not doing yourself or the seller any service by taking listings that are not going to sell. It makes you look like you do not know what you are doing. It only causes the seller to become angry with you and blame you for their house not selling.

I know there is an old school of thought out there among some Real Estate Agents to take the listing at the higher price and then come back in 30 days and tell the sellers to drop their price. I think this is unethical and deceiving. If sellers believe you at first and then you come back to drop the price you have just betrayed their trust in you. Remember that trust is the reason people do business with you.

Now, if the seller is adamant about overpricing to begin with, you can have them sign a letter stating that this is their idea and that they agree ahead of time to drop the price within a certain time frame if they are not getting any showings at their perceived price. Of course, prior to doing that I would caution them about the downfalls of starting off with a high price and how much money they stand to lose rather than gain by using this strategy. Show them the proof! Documentation beats conversation!

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

The Golden Rule Of Sales For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

“ Internalize the ‘Golden Rule’ of sales that says, “ All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.” – Bob Burg

This golden rule of sales is the most important rule you should remember as you are setting your goals of listings and sales as a Real Estate Agent and what you want to achieve this year in your Real Estate business. Each time you interact with another person you have a choice to build on that relationship or not. In order to build on your relationships you must understand the value of trust.

My absolute favorite book on this subject is , “ How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. This is a book you should have around you at all times. Memorize the principles Dale teaches in this powerful book. This should be a book that all Real Estate Agents must read before they take their state exam for a Real Estate license! Check out my other favorite books to read in my profile.

How do you get someone to like you and trust you?

One of the easiest ways to do this is to listen and ask lots of questions.

The more questions you ask sincerely wishing to understand your prospect the more that person will feel like you really care about them and what is important to them.

Another very easy thing you can do every day is when you are talking to people make it a habit to use their name at least 3 times in each conversation. A great tip in remembering someone’s name that I have used is that when they first say their name to me I repeat it back right away thereby inbedding their name in my memory so I won’t forget it! When you talk to people; use their name a lot. The most important word in any language is a person’s own name! This will help people to like you. Unless you are some jerk this will work very well in establishing a good relationship built on know, like and trust.

If you are a jerk than you can change that too!

“Here’s the rock, paper, scissors game of selling:

Relationship is more powerful than price.

Relationship is more powerful than delivery.

Relationship is more powerful than quality.

Relationship is more powerful than service.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

That is why you see those Real Estate Agents who give no delivery, service or quality still keep their uncles’ listings! And you wonder, ‘Gosh’, what is going on here? I work so hard, efficiently, give great service and quality. But you see, in this situation, you must build the relationship. In a great relationship your shortcomings are forgiven easily or even altogether overlooked. That is not to say that you should not provide good delivery, quality, price and service; it just means that you must first build the relationship!

You can also email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

For Real Estate Agents

Protect Your Right To Your Business, Coaching for Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Protect Your Right To Your Business!

I just read the report from Pat Vredevoogd Combs, 2007 president of the National Association of Realtors® that was just released on the Realtor.Org news page. As Real Estate Agents we all need to be involved with the fight against Banking getting into the Real Estate business of Brokering. They have already gotten involved in selling securities and insurance. Consumers’ rights need to be protected and that is not going to happen with banks taking over the real estate business. Feel free to post your comments regarding banks going into real estate brokerage from the point of view of a real estate agent.

The biggest problem I see is that when the federal government takes over any area of business regulation you they bog everyone down with tons of red tape paperwork and busy work that is of no importance to the related business.

If banks push themselves into Real Estate brokerage the way they have with insurance and securities you as a broker would have to get an SEC license to operate your Real Estate company. We would be governed by the feds through the securities exchange commission and the states would lose their licensing powers and enforcement powers.

It is the states’ job to protect its’ consumers and that right will be taken away with this new Supreme Court ruling just made. Please read the entire article online at Realtor.org.

This is a matter of serious consequences both for you as a Real Estate agent and your clients, your buyers and sellers! Now, at first glance, the consumer is not going to realize the implications of this ruling. It is up to you to get educated on this and pass the information along to consumers. The consumer is going to be thinking, great, maybe they won’t have to pay brokerage fees to a Real Estate agent, not understanding the full implications and how much in the end they really be paying. Is the bank after the best interest of their customers? I don’t think so!

However, I as a Real Estate agent look out for my buyers and sellers. I make sure they get the best price for their properties. I make sure my buyers get the best price for the house they want. I make sure that the home inspection is done, that all disclosures regarding the property are made, that the mortgage company is charging the right fees, that the title company is charging the correct amounts and I also alert our buyers and sellers what parts of these charges are negotiable and may be able to be deleted, thus, saving them all money. Now, you tell me, what bank is going to do that?

The bank is going to do the title, the mortgage, the insurance and the real estate transaction! One stop shopping that is not in the best interest of the customer!

Get a hold of your state Senators and Congressmen and women and let them know your concerns. This should not be taken lightly. As NAR® President is quoted as saying today, “Any persons or organizations that are concerned with state statutes and regulations, and the ability of the federal government to preempt these state regulations, should find today’s opinion disconcerting.”

For Further Information regarding this topic:

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

CCoaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents- Your Pay Check

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Now that we have touched on the core keys that will help you increase your worth and value as a Real Estate Agent let’s move on to the topic of how you develop your Real Estate fee.

Let’s first recap on what we have learned so far.

1. Make sure you work on yourself more than your business.
2. Make sure you visualize the outcome you want to achieve.
3. Make sure that you stick to your perceived value.
4. Make sure you learn to ask the right questions.
5. Make sure you are in the right frame of mind.
6. Make sure you have established respect.

Of course in the course of being a Real Estate agent there is a lot more to this than what we have covered. My goal for this blog is to bring you good content that you can use each day in your business as a Real Estate agent and in your personal life. If there is a topic you would like me to address please email me or place a comment and I will do what I can to get the answer for you.

I am an active Real Estate agent and I have a lot of friends who are Real Estate agents and I work with them often. So I know from being in the field what things come up. One thing that is recurring over and over again is how hard Real Estate agents work and how little they are valued by the public. I know that NAR ® has a public awareness campaign going on to change the perceived public opinion of Real Estate agents. But that is going to take time and patience.

I like to work from the inner of our selves to the outer. In order to feel that you will get the real estate fee you are asking for; you must believe that you are worthy of it and that you deserve it from within, not paying attention to what anyone else perceives your value to be as a Real Estate agent.

I have a policy that the lowest fee I will accept is 6%. I know I have paid my dues, I have been in this business for over 25 years and I know what I am doing. I have confidence in my abilities to market my listings and negotiate contracts. When I go on a listing appointment or even get listings over the phone I have no wishy- washy type feelings regarding my worth and what I will work for. The other thing I take a lot of pride in is my fellow colleagues. I do not want to hurt someone else’s income by lowering mine. It is a universal thing, like Karma. I am ethical and run a principal based business.

When you are ready to walk away from a listing, the seller feels this is a serious business for you and he/she will feel your confidence and knowing that they always feel that you are worth what you are charging. There are many times where I have not even been asked how much I charge. When you give value that is over and above the client’s expectations than there is no question of how much you are going to charge. If your job is to make money for your client, than you deserve to have a percentage of the pie!

For Further Information regarding this topic:

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents- Building Relationships

When you are on a listing appointment, a buyer consultation or prospecting know that the person in control is the one asking the questions. You want to be the one in control of the conversation. I am not saying that you need to be control freak or act bossy. Being in control of a conversation is being a good leader. You lead your prospect where you want them to go. It is not about being arrogant or aggressive. Both of those are attitudes of people who want to be in control but actually are not in control since both of those behaviors are defensive behaviors.

As a Real Estate Agent asking the right questions benefits you as the agent and benefits the prospect because if you understand your prospect you will be able to better serve them.

People do business with those they know, like and trust. The more you ask questions, the more open the prospect becomes and the more they trust you. They will also like you because they want to be the one that is focused on. They want the attention. People love talking about themselves.

Try it out and see for yourself. Go out and meet someone new. Ask them their name, use their name often in the conversation. Ask them questions about their family, life, interests, job, etc. Keep asking questions. Whenever they ask you a question; answer very quickly and bring the conversation back to the other person. Get their name and number. After 2 days, call them and tell them they have been on your mind. They will tell you that they had the best time with you! And guess what! All they did was talk about themselves!

When you first are talking with your prospect do not start showing off all your credentials and who you are and how much you know. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. They are all listening to that famous radio station called, “WIIFM”,( what’s in it for me).

Instead, make sure you find out all you can about them. Ask them:

How long have they lived here

Where did they move from

What do they like best about where they live

Do they have family here

Do they have children, their ages, where they go to school

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

If you are in their home, look for common interests and then ask them questions about that interest. You can then say you share the same interest, but do not start going off on a tangent about your side of the interest. You want to ask the questions and let them do the talking. That will make them feel like they can begin to tell you everything.

You will be surprised that as you truly listen you will discover all the necessary information for you to close your prospect.

For Further Information regarding this topic:

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

The Act of Getting the Listing For Real Estate Agents

You know the money is in the listing. When you go on listing appointments are you prepared? And I don’t mean getting your comps put together and making sure your lap top is charged up! Are you ready mentally for your listing appointments?

 Is your mind clear or are you thinking about all the pressing items of the day?
 Is your mind open or closed?
 Is your frame of mind in the place of peace or chaos?
 Have you mastered the art of asking?
 Have you released your fears?
 Are you able to stay in control or do you react?
 Are you objective or defensive?
 Are you in the moment or are you being tossed around emotionally?
 Are you multi tasking on your appointments?
 Are you using both of your ears to listen and closing your mouth when asking?
 When you ask questions and your prospect is giving you an answer; are you listening to the answer or are you preparing your response to what your prospect is stating?
 Do you practice visualization techniques?
 Do you have a clear outcome in your mind?
 Are you able to walk away from a listing appointment based on your value?

These questions are important for you to answer before you even go on your next listing appointment. Everything starts with your thoughts. Those thoughts become your feelings and your feelings become your actions. So the state of your mind is the most important part of obtaining and selling desirable listings; ones in which all parties to the contract are pleased and the desired outcome is manifested for the good of all.

We will focus today on clearing your mind. This process of clearing your mind of all the mind chatter is an ongoing battle for most of us. I have so much mind clatter sometimes I just want to scream ‘Shut Up’ to my mind! This is so important for real estate agents because we have so much on our plate at the same time.

The best way to do this is through meditation. Another important tip is to be prepared and not rush around before you reach your listing appointment.

What I have found to work the best is a technique I learned from a real estate seminar I went to back in 1995. Make sure to always arrive early to your listing appointment. Make sure you have plenty of time in case you get lost or something happens that you are not expecting like having to take that one client emergency call right before your appointment time. Park down the street from your listing appointment. If you meet your prospects at your office then make sure you go out to a quiet place like your car.
Then close your eyes and take 10 good deep breathes. After you are feeling calm and clear visualize your appointment in as much detail as you can. In your mind go through your greeting the prospect, asking the right questions and taking the steps towards closing the listing. Imagine how they are just going to want you to be their real estate agent, how they are happy to pay your fee without any resentment or objection. See yourself handling any objections in a professional manner.

Try it! It works!

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Establishing Respect with your Prospects!

When you go on a listing appointment is your mind already made up as to how much your real estate fee is or are you letting the prospect control the appointment and tell you how much they are willing to pay you?

The first thing you need to do is establish respect. This is first done in your mind.

Whatever you believe on your subconscious level is what you will make happen in your life and business. Most people today suffer from feelings of unworthiness. Like attracts like. You will attract to you that which you are. You are like a magnet.

So the first thing you will need to ask yourself is; are you worth your real estate fee and do you believe you are worth your fee?

When you go into a listing presentation are you nervous, unprepared and unsure if you are going to get the listing? Are you sending off signals that you are desperate, that you need the money or that you are struggling with your bills? Are you concerned about what they may be thinking about you? All of the above are signals to alert the prospect the prospect to not respect you and your value. People run away or trample on people that send signals of desperation in any form.

If you are getting a lot of sellers telling you they do not want to pay you 6% real estate fee but instead will pay you 5% or 4% ; that is not the market, that is a response to what you are saying, doing and the energy you are sending.

This rarely comes up for me. When it does, I tell the prospect that I am worth my fee and that it is the fee that my business deserves. I explain how the fee is broken down so they understand more of how the real estate business works and they are then glad to pay my fee, especially when they see the results they get by using our services.

There are exercises that you can do to raise your level of your worth which I will discuss in another post.

For now, think about:

1. What your real estate fee is.
2. Do you believe your deserve this fee?
3. Are you prepared when you arrive at the listing presentation?
4. What is your belief system regarding commissions?
5. How do you respond when someone puts you down for earning commissions?
6. Evaluate the signals you are sending off as you speak and walk and present.
7. Do you feel valuable as a person, wife, husband, parent, community member, agent?
8. Do you feel you have what it takes to earn your real estate fee without it being discounted?
9. Who is in control of the presentation, you or your prospect?
10. Can you walk away from a listing if the prospect is determined to lower your fee?

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Increase The Value Of Your Services!

What are some ways that you can increase the value of your Services as a Real Estate Agent? Well, most people are going to say advertise more, do more image ads, get more credentials after your name, etc. That is all well intended but it is not going to create more value in your services as a Real Estate Agent in and of itself.

You must begin with yourself! If you are not spending one hour per day on your own self development it will not matter what you do on the outside. You must take time for yourself. If you are burning the candle at both ends juggling your business, family and social life you will burn out quickly. Taking care of yourself is the most important thing that you can do for your family, business and those you serve. As a Real Estate Agent you are being called upon to go above and beyond what is expected and what is expected is increasing each year. Your clients will respect you if you respect yourself. You can not give when you have nothing left to give!

Here are some ways that you can spend your one hour per day:

• Meditate through Transcendental Meditation.
• Meditate visually creating your perfect day.
• Read books on self development. (see my profile of favorite books)
• Listen to audios of Self development ( not Real Estate Trainings)
• Watch the movie ‘The Secret’.
• Read Scriptures and spend time in prayer
• Read your affirmations
• Write in your journal
• Meditate on what you are Thankful for
• Write down your dreams and goals
• Take the Passion Test
• Write down your Gratitudes daily
• Make your vision board

There are many more ways; this is just a good start. If you are interested in finding out more please email me. If you feel you need someone to coach you and keep you inline to reach your potential and your greatness; email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net and we can set up a coaching interview. I do coaching and consulting for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. I love referrals! Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

What are You Worth?

As a Real Estate Agent you wear many hats from being a chauffer to being a counselor.
You might not even realize how much time you spend in certain tasks that are part of being a Real Estate Agent.
What are you doing on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis in your business?
The best way to find out is to keep a log for about 3 to 4 weeks of all your activities and the time that you spend in each one of the activities. After that go through your list of activities, add the totals of time you spent in each area. Now you can see in which areas you are spending your time and what you are doing on a consistent basis in your business. You may also notice activities that you did not consider part of your work day. I know Real Estate Agents who network a few times a week around happy hour. That is self promotion and is a real work activity. I know Real Estate Agents who are not counting the time they take to work on their websites, checking emails and reading online industry materials. There are Agents who do not count their ongoing education, seminars, and self development as part of their work day. These all are very important activities to make sure you will be successful and they need to be factored in so that you can get a gauge of how much you are worth and what you can do to improve your worth.

Now add up the total time you spent on your business activities for one month. Take your total net income for the month divided by the hours you worked to get an idea of how much you are being 'paid' per hour. If you do not like what you see and want to be paid more than there are many things you can do to improve your worth as a Real Estate Agent.

I tell all my coaching clients to work more on yourself than you do on your business. Your business can only grow to the extent that you grow. This is the fastest and best way to increase your worth as a Real Estate Agent.

What is the Media printing about commissions in your Area?

Palm Beach Post 3/23/07 printed an article on the front page titled,
" Realtors' 6% cut continues dip, but big prices lift pay."
I sent a letter to the editor and posted comments on their blog,"The Real Deal".
We must be careful not to violate anti trust laws regarding commissions.
We can speak out against untruths about our industry and commissions.

I have not had a problem with negotiating my real estate fee. I know what I am worth, I know what I offer as service to my clients and I also know that if I accept a lower fee than what I am worth there has not been a fair exchange and that leads to ill feelings and disrespect. If I can not stick to my terms negotiating with my seller how am I going to be able to be a strong negotiator for him/her once an offer comes in?

The point in the Palm Beach Florida Post was totally one sided. Not once was it noted that Real Estate Agents expenses go up so they are not really making more money when they lower their fee even if the prices of the houses are higher as stated in the article. Not once did it state how low the average Real Estate Agents yearly income really is.

Most Real Estate Agents that I know work more than 60 hours per week and almost always work on weekends. They go above and beyond the call of duty providing service to their customers. Being a Real Estate Agent is an honorable profession and agents need to stand up and really tell the community what all is entailed in their day to day business. If you average out your gross income minus your expenses and then divided by the hours you work you will see what your average hourly wage is. Then go tell what that is to the Palm Beach Post.

There is this negative stigma attached to being paid a commission. Like 'commission' is a dirty word! Well, let's see; we pay all the advertising on behalf of our customers upfront irregardless of whether the property is sold or not, we drive prospective buyers around whether or not they buy a property and much more. Do we get reimbursed if the property does not sell? NO!
We get paid a commission because we worked for it just like those who get a salary work for it.

Real Estate Agents also pump alot of money back into the economy directly and indirectly through buying and driving cars, advertising, placing ads in all mediums, through recommending mortgage brokers, painters, plumbers, builders, repairmen, lawn services, cleaning services, title companies, attorneys, appraisers, Air conditioning companies, Staging consultants, Insurance agents, surveyors and the list goes on!

Please post your comments on my blog regarding this post. I would love to hear from you.
You can also email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina