Secrets of a Successful Listing Agent

Contrary to what much of the public thinks, even in the best of financial times, making a living as a real estate agent is not easy. So many people enter the field, thinking, "Well, I'll do this evenings and weekends. Should be easy." Or "Well, I need to train for some other profession so that I'm earning a good salary. I think I'll be a real estate agent." Months and thousands of dollars later, they drop their license because they've discovered how long-term and difficult the building of a client base and actually making a sale really is. There's a lot of up-front expenses, with no guarantee that you'll recoup them.

When I became an agent, I worked my hiney off, just as all successful agents do. Eighty-hour weeks were not out of the norm. Being on-call 24/7 so I didn't miss a potential client or listing was part of the job. Yes, I knew a lot of people, but all that does is give you a starting place. You've got to sit down and make cold calls and not fear rejection. You've got to follow up on every possibility. You've got to have your ducks in a row: Know your facts about the locales and the markets; speak your spiel without error or hesitation; project your confidence; provide great service; have enough gas in your car to drive to every point in the county and beyond to meet potential customers; and keep your patience in the face of client backpeddling, waffling, or indecision. And then? Keep your fingers crossed that the expenses you incurred pay off in a listing or a sale.

The best decision I ever made was to form a team so that I could have complementary yins to my yang. I'm dynamite at getting my clients' homes listed and sold. I'm less effective - and happy - at taking clients around to look at homes; but my fellow team member and buyer agent is very talented at that side of the equation. I'm also less skilled at all the administrative parameters of the job - from understanding the ins and out of Web sites to keeping up with all the paperwork to marketing the listings and my team through mailings, blogs, and more; having a quick study as my right hand gets all my office issues handled efficiently - and, more importantly - the way I would handle them myself. It took some time to get the right mix of team members - and ones that I fully trusted were on my wavelength - but once it clicked, the team became a well-oiled machine. What used to be angst and agony became second-nature; I could stop fretting and concentrate on building my listings, trusting that everything else was covered.

I have a broad base of satisfied clients; in fact, that's how I get the majority of my listings. Now I can utilize that base to generate business. 

I refuse to take a listing just to have my sign in the yard. There has to be a meeting of the minds between the seller and myself: an understanding that I will do my absolute best to sell their home for the most amount of money possible, in the least amount of time, with the least amount of headaches for the seller. What's the biggest warning sign for me? I first want to know that the client actually wants to sell the house, regardless of the market. Today's market, in particular, is a very difficult one for sellers; it's not for the faint of heart. 

I come prepared with a well-developed sense of a home's worth, based on my study of the home sales in the area and the market in general. If a client and I cannot agree on a realistic price... if we can't agree that no showings in several weeks means the house is priced too high and needs to be adjusted... then I let them know that perhaps I am not the right agent for them. There's got to be trust on both sides, and if they're hiring me for my expertise, then they need to trust that I'm advising them correctly.

My firm belief: The only way to get an offer is to have people actually looking at the house. The only way to get showings is to have the property priced competitively. The only way to know what your home is truly worth is to get an offer or two - because a property is worth only what people are willing to pay for it. Some sellers can't accept that; they've got a number in their minds that they won't budge from, no matter how unrealistic it may be. I'd rather not pound my head against a brick wall, and so, I may recommend that they interview another agent.

Pass up business? You bet! I work hard and agressively to sell my clients' homes; I expect the sellers to work just as hard and agressively with me. Those sellers who trust in my business savvy and my advice in most cases get their homes sold in weeks, not dragging on into many months or years.

And that's why my broad base of satisfied clients keeps getting bigger. And that's why I have time for a life as well as work. And that's all the secrets I'm going to share with you today! 

In Smiles...  :)
Abbey
www.AbbeyTurner.com
www.TheTurnerTeam.com

Getting to Know Me... Getting to Know All About Me...

Emerson once said, "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense."

Beautiful advice... sometimes very hard to live by.

I try to live as honest a life as I can. I try to always be ethical. I try to treat people as I would like to be treated. I never want to hurt people, either their feelings or their self-worth. It's important to me that others - my friends, my family, my clients, my coworkers - know they can trust me. Yes, I am sometimes brusque, extremely assertive and straight-forward, and I oft times put people off. People don't have to like me; they don't have to want to work with me; but I want them to know they can always trust me to do the right thing - not the most expedient but the most ethical - and to be truthful with them.

I also want them to be honest and truthful and straight-forward with me. Because I hate deceit - probably more than anything else.

I take people at face-value, always expecting the best of them. I (perhaps naively) think they'll treat me with the same truthfulness I treat them. If there's an issue, tell me. Let's see if we can come to some solution. I'm always willing to keep an open mind and work out something that benefits both of us. "Win/Win" is my motto... even my license plate!

So when I discover that someone has intentionally misled me - or out and out lied to me - or tried to pull the wool over my eyes to her own benefit, it's like a kick in the teeth. I'd much rather be told the truth - even if it hurts, whether my feelings or financially - I can then absorb it and get over it. But when I don't get the truth, it gives me a sick feeling that is there every time I think about that person. What had I done or said, that the person felt he needed to blindside me like that? The memory pops up at inconvenient times and brings me down. Because I just can't believe that it happened - and why hadn't I seen it coming?

I want to forgive and forget. I want to finish the day and be done with it, starting fresh with another sunrise. But sometimes the sick feelings linger, eating away at me. I need to find justifications for their actions, answers to my silent cry of "why?" I want to go back in time and make it all right.

It happened to me this week. Perhaps they had a good reason for what they did - I wish they had shared it with me. We could have ended our relationship in friendship, as it started. But they weren't up-front with that reason; instead, they resorted to half-truths and evasion. Yes, I could have legally made them "suffer" for it, but I didn't. I wouldn't do that to someone. It's enough that I am feeling the punch. I can live with that... even though it hurts.

It's a new day. I just need to forget those absurdities and be done with the nonsense.

I'm working on it...

"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do." -Potter Stewart

Yours in Smiles  :)
Abbey

Don't Go Huntin' Any Swamp Rabbits on This Trail!

Upstate South Carolina can carve another notch in its belt for proving once again what a desirable place it is to live! From a fantastic renovated Downtown that has something for every age group and that includes an incredible park system, professional baseball stadium, arena, theater with Broadway productions and international artists; to a land of shining lakes and flowing rivers, mountain trails and waterfalls... the list could go on and on - there are a thousand reasons why we've chosen to call it home. And now, there's still more to love about the Upstate!

If you haven't yet tried the 13.5-mile Greenville Hospital System's Swamp Rabbit Trail linking Travelers Rest with Downtown Greenville, you're missing out on a great benefit of living in the area! My husband and I try to get out at least once a week with our bikes. But whether you're a two-wheeler, a walker, or a runner - or if you're just a tired Mom wanting to give the kids a place to blow off steam - the Trail is easy to access and a great place to get some fresh air and exercise, as well as meet a variety of interesting and smiling people!

You can access the greenway just about anywhere along the trail. If you're driving in, there is even parking available at certain points. Depending on where you are on the Swamp Rabbit, you might stop for a mocha at Leopard Forest Coffee Co. (www.leopardforestcoffee.com/), meander through neighborhoods, or have a snack on the deck overlooking the Trail at The Cafe at Williams Hardware (www.cafeatwilliamshardware.com/); take a detour to enjoy Furman University's lake and trails; or stop after crossing the Reedy River for a cool drink at any one of a myriad of Downtown places. Every mile has something different and enjoyable to offer.

There are plans that include 5 major green corridors and 128 miles of greenway, of which The Swamp Rabbit Trail is just the tip of the iceberg. The other spokes will fan out from a central point in Greenville towards Greer/Spartanburg, Simpsonville/Fountain Inn, Verdae/Clemson ICAR, and Paris Mountain. They're also thinking about possibly extending the Swamp Rabbit Trail all the way to North Carolina. For more information on future plans and to check out a map of the present Trail, go to http://greenvillerec.com/2010/03/05/greenways-in-greenville-the-big-picture/. This greenway development is sure-as-shootin' going to become another selling point for why the Upstate is such a great area to live, grow, and raise a family!

While it's estimated that all trails will not be completed until 2014, you can certainly enjoy each mile as it opens. I'll be hunting for you soon on the beautiful Swamp Rabbit Trail! Healthy trails to you!

Yours in Smiles :)
Abbey