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The Impact of Trends in Real Estate Investing – What You Need to Know

Smart investors are always on the hunt for the next big thing. I have been studying real estate investing trends for years, and I have identified trends that greatly affect investors. Here are a few of them: “Secondary” City Growth Many years ago, I began predicting great areas to invest in based on criteria I […]

Direct Mail vs. Email

There isn’t a week that goes by that an agent tells me that they have decided to keep in touch with their past clients and sphere database primarily by an email newsletter. That email may be created by their company or it may be custom-created in MailChimp or Constant Contact, but the more important issue […]

Is Your Comfort Zone Killing Your Business?

Think back to the last time a buyer asked you to show a home on your day off. Did you agree to do it? If so, you may be operating in your Comfort Zone! Have you made a commitment to yourself to start doing video, but have made excuses for yourself? Lack-of-time, need-a-haircut, bad-lighting type […]

Does Your Business Need a Visual Disruption?

We have a new employee at The Lones Group this week (welcome, Izabella!) and with it came the usual reconfiguring of desks and equipment. The plan is in place and by the end of the week, furniture will be moved, vacuuming of baseboards and spaces behind desks will happen, people will move around and starting […]

Is Your Prospect A Time Waster?

How do you tell the difference between good and bad prospects? One will waste your time, dragging you from house to house-getting all kinds of information from you-only to end up dumping you right before writing an offer. You also have clients who seem like time wasters, but they’re just very analytical and thorough in […]

Ask Denise: Regaining Control

Posted by Denise Lones on May 23rd, 2019

Q: “Denise, I am struggling with balancing everything I have going on right now. With the end of school for my kids, four listings, two buyers who are dragging me all over the county, and dealing with extended family drama, I feel like I am about ready to explode. How do I regain control?”

A: Most real estate agents have some sort of people-pleasing or superhero mechanism inside of us that kicks into overdrive when we are needed. And it sounds like you are needed in many different ways at the moment. The problem is you very well may explode on either a child, unsuspecting client, or a family member. Read more »

Is Your Prospect A Time Waster?

Posted by Denise Lones on May 16th, 2019

How do you tell the difference between good and bad prospects? One will waste your time, dragging you from house to house-getting all kinds of information from you-only to end up dumping you right before writing an offer.

You also have clients who seem like time wasters, but they’re just very analytical and thorough in their search. These are people who have concerns that cannot be addressed quickly – and that’s fine.

Don’t be tempted to put everybody in the same category. Just because you’ve showed somebody 20 houses and they haven’t bought doesn’t mean they are a time waster. The 21st house may be their dream home. Knowing how to spot the difference between the two can save you a lot of time, money, and energy.

Read more »

Brand Spotlight: Rowena Lusby

Posted by Denise Lones on May 16th, 2019

This week’s design spotlight features the lovely refreshed brand of Go with Ro, a Southern Washington-based team led by Rowena Lusby. Go with Ro is a powerhouse, and needed a bold brand to complement their strengths. We kept the paw print from her previous brand to highlight Rowena’s love of animal rescue. The overall result of Rowena’s brand is lighter and fresher, with the same gentle flow of the background swirls. We also updated her font styles to give her a stylish and fashionable look. We completed the brand by adding a band of sparkles at the top of the bottom to make her new brand shine! Read more »

Ask Denise: Cross-Industry Databases

Posted by Denise Lones on May 16th, 2019

Q: “Denise, I am a fairly new agent but have spent years in the industry as a mortgage broker. I really know about every local real estate professional from agents to other lenders to people in title, appraisers, inspectors, and more. For me, making connections has always been easy and I am still a member of most of the organizations I was in as a lender. This database of professionals really is the sphere database I am starting with. Do you think that is okay?” Read more »

11 Secrets to Geo Farming Success

Posted by Denise Lones on May 9th, 2019

Many real estate agents utilize geographical farming to build a strong predictable lead generation system. It is easy to send postcards to your farm and call it good but is that getting you the results you want?  If not, then it is time to make some tweaks to build a strong PERSONAL PRESENCE.

When I started geographical farming, when I first started selling real estate, I began with sending postcards which was a great start but I sent out the same thing month after month. My message was okay, but it didn’t get me the kind of results I wanted as I needed to get up and running fast. After learning what did and didn’t work for my farm, I eventually had a winning formula. Here are the secrets to my farming success Read more »

Ask Denise: Don’t Doubt your Database!

Posted by Denise Lones on May 9th, 2019

Q: “Denise, the agent I share an office with is raving about her new CRM. It is online and very techy. I am generally not techy. I have my database in an Excel sheet which I can manage, but should I just go to a class and step up to this new system? It seems to really work for her.”

A: Unless there is something not working for you regarding the database, then you don’t need to make a change. What do you really need your database to do? Have the information to send out mail and email? Have contact information within a few clicks? Track birthdays and home-buying anniversaries? You can do all of that and more with your existing database in Excel. Read more »

Are You Closer to a Sale or a Price Reduction?

Posted by Denise Lones on May 2nd, 2019

One of the most discussed topics between real estate brokers and their peers is pricing.  Pricing a home to sell is both an art and a science.  But why do so many homes sit on the market gaining days on market dust and creating nothing more than frustrated sellers and real estate brokers?

The answer is quite simple: The property is not priced where it needs to be to get sold.

Perhaps it was priced right initially, but the market changed. Maybe the buyer pool shrank and you got caught in that bad timing. Perhaps there was a situation in which a lot of similar product came on the market at once.

Regardless as to why you have gotten where you are the truth of the matter is this:

Your listing is ALWAYS either getting closer to a sale or it is getting closer to a price reduction. Read more »

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