Let’s face it in this fast-paced kind of e-world attracting the right clients to a property has become increasingly difficult. Attention spans are not what they used to be. However, there are a few tried and true tactics to keep your real estate listing from falling into the gutters of real estate oblivion.

Visual Appeal

You wouldn’t put a listing up with out enhancing its visual appeal, so don’t forget about it in the ad copy. This is the property’s calling card, it needs to be easy to read, clear and concise. Formatting your ad copy is one of the easiest things to do when trying to grab a buyer’s attention.

• Don’t use all capital letters or all lower case letters.
• Break up big blocks of text. Studies have shown that buyers tend to read the first few sentences and headlines of ads. Make sure your most pertinent information is placed in the beginning.
• Include Heading and Subheadings
• A picture is a worth a thousand words. Don’t be afraid to include images, just make sure they reflect what your text is saying. If you describe a staircase, show the picture.

Literary Appeal

Everyone loves a good story. Writing students are often urged to show rather than tell. This is a great tool to use for advertising a property. Find the home’s “story” and place the reader in it. What makes this home special? Even something as simple as a new stovetop can be used as selling point. Realtor Magazine suggests asking the sellers to tell you what they will miss most about their home. By emphasizing the positive aspects of a home a buyer is more likely to consider the listing.

Avoid using puffery. Puffery is described as flattering, often-exaggerated praise and publicity, especially when used for promotional purposes. The fine line between creative use of information and puffery can be avoided by including both the positive and negative aspects of a home. Don’t be afraid to include a potential negative instead try show it in a positive light.

Know Your Market

Not everyone is going to be a fit for every home. Avoid generalizing a property by focusing on the target buyer, rather than generalizing. Consider the neighborhood, the lifestyle of that person who would want that type of property. Readers will respond better if they feel they can relate,  good copy will consider the client’s personality. For example, an ad for a loft in the middle of the art district could include points an artist will appreciate like great lighting, and perhaps an easily accessible sink to rinse out used brushes.

Take the time to be a little creative. With a few simple adjustments any home can be written to attract its rightful new owner. For detailed samples on telling the story visit Laurie Moore-Moore’s tips on ad copy at: http://www.luxuryhomemarketing.com/real-estate-agents/home.html

The negotiation begins as soon as one side attempts to influence the other, which is usually way before a contract is written.

Think about your first encounters with  your customers &  the agent on the other side. Your rapport with both of these individuals will have an effect on the negotiation of the contract on a specific property.

 I have seen many times where the agents do not get along because of some miscommunication and they just become difficult to deal with. Obviously this should not affect the sale but in actuality it does. Not fair to the customer on either side. One needs to begin with the end in mind!

Data from the NAR 2008 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers names the skills most coveted by buyers & sellers from their real estate agents, 98% believe that negotiation skills are “very important”but only 43% of all buyers felt that their agents negotiated better terms on their sales contracts and 37% felt that their agents negotiated a better price.

Buyers assigned negotiation skills the lowest satisfaction rating of all agent skills and qualities.

So if one wants to be  successful in this business honing your negotiation skills is a good idea! Plus it is useful in every aspect of your life.

Some important things to do

• Present the offer yourself directly to the decision maker (You can do this with the other agent present)
• If you cannot get face to face with the decision-maker send a cover letter with your offer stating your case.
• Develop a good working realtionship with the agent on the other side.

What’s in it for Everyone?

The negotiation process is quicker & less problematic. When an offer presentation is used the entire negotiation can be wrapped up in a day as compared to a week or more.

Some resources :

Getting to Yes, Roger Fisher & Willian Ury

 If you have kids at home, I am sure that at times you begin to wonder – what are they doing online all the time?  Their answer many times is that they are spending time on Social Networks like MySpace and Facebook.

Here is a quick look overview on Social Networks.

Social Networks are not just for kids anymore.  Here are some interesting articles to read to grasp the magnitude of Social Networks in business (Click on the links to read more):

•  Social networks can have real business benefits.
• Understanding Social Networking
• IBM to launch social networking center – Network World

It is clear that at this point online social networks are becoming mainstream business tools. So what if anything does this have to do with real estate?  In real estate being “well connected” is key. Look at any top producing agent and you will see that many of them have great connections.

In the real world, we join BNI groups, PTA’s, Junior League, Chambers of Commerce, Condo Associations, Alumni Groups, etc.  The real estate business is all about networking, so its obvious that there is real value in supplementing your real world activity with some online networking.

Social Networks are a way to reach out to your sphere of influence and their sphere of influence on a regular basis.  How often have you experienced the real estate agent’s nightmare of running into an old acquaintance in the mall only to hear “I wish I had known you were in real estate.  I just bought a house.” ? Imagine how much more business you could have done in your career had you just been able to keep in touch with everyone you knew in high school, college and your life before real estate.  Now multiply that by everyone they know.  The implications are huge!

 Social Networks are still in the early stages with much of their business potential is still to be discovered.  The one thing I know for sure is that you need to be there.  

 So go on and sign up one some of the Social Networks out there.  Here are some of the ones that I am on.

 Join Linked In !

Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves.

Join Facebook!

Have you joined other online Social Networks that have brought you business? 

Every year we, the Real Estate Brokers, set out to help our associates  achieve their goals.

Often they are just words and numbers on a piece of paper. There is no real plan or accountability set in motion.

The goal is important and I am going to suggest a little roadmap to get to where you are going!

Picture your goal ( your end result)
Describe in detail what it looks like….what colors do you see…is the image large or small… is the image close to you or far from you (Visual)
Describe in detail what it sounds like ( Auditory) What do you hear? What are people saying? What are you saying? Your spouse , your kids?
What does it feel like? What sensations do you have when you have achieved your goal? Feel it and describe it . (Kinesthetics)
How will you know that you have achieved your goal? How will others know?
Your goal needs to have  visual, auditory, and kinesthetic qualities to it.

You actually need to imagine yourself there “as if ” the goal has been accomplished.

Once you have accomplished this task you will be able to move on to the steps that you will put in place to achieve this goal.

What will you do?

How will you do it?

When will you do it?

Where will you do it?

What does that look like?

The list can go on & on … the more specific you are the clearer you will become!

In a conversation we generally wait for the other person to stop talking and then we hit them with our ideas or problems; a give and take negotiation.  On the other hand there are a couple of ways to tackle the parking dilemma.  You can throw out what you learned in driving school, do 50 mph in the parking lot, slam on your breaks, and then turn on your blinker.  The preferred choice of South Florida drivers!  Or you can negotiate with the other drivers around you.  Forget about that parking space and follow a couple who look like their leaving; a clear sign to everyone that wherever they parked is now your spot.  John Strelecky, author of “Be a Master Negotiator with Three Simple Steps”, offers some suggestions on how to build on the negotiation skills you already have. 

•    Step 1: “Know what you want and why you want it”.  Basically be prepared.  The more you know the stronger your argument will be.  The example John offers is knowing exactly how much you want when you ask for a raise.  Be precise when you speak, it lets the people around you know you mean business.   
•    Step 2: “Do Your Research and Have Multiple Options Ready”.  Know that if you can’t get exactly what you want you have a back up plan.  For example your boss turns you down on the raise you asked for, before you start pouting see what else you can do.  “Well I understand my raise in not in the budget this year but how about…”
•     Step 3: “Ask What the Other Party Needs and Wants”.  Take into consideration what everyone’s goals are.  Maybe you can leverage something you have, to get what you want.