Only Realty: Real Estate

Are you looking to hone or develop your real estate marketing plan?
For those looking for marketing tools for realtors (R) and real estate agents, the “best practices” of multi-million dollar agents includes several “pillars”, or sources of leads, and refinement to the three key points of client contact. These three key points of client contact are initial real estate lead production, point of sale (listing presentations and buyer representation processing), and post-sale referral generation.
One common mistake agents make is choosing either a “consumer direct marketing” approach, or a “referral only” approach. This is a mistake simply because to achieve top performance, you’ll need both. Fortunately, when done well, this does not need to be expensive. A referral-only real estate marketing plan is based around actively cultivating (farming) a group (farm) of referral sources. For most systems, this is based around systems of consistent contact to ensure presence of mind and respect by potential referrers, usually via handwritten low-tech stamped notes, monthly phone calls to people who have agreed to refer you when they hear of people who want to buy or sell, occasional client parties, and occasional pop-by’s to see someone in person a few times per year. These systems are carefully designed to look casual, but when combined with real estate newsletters and tools, will cause your farm to both like you personally and respect you professionally. Imagine getting 2-3 referrals per month from a financial planner, another 2-3 from a tax professional, another 1-2 from your grandmother, etc. and you really have a solid base of business. Closing ratios on referrals are always much higher from referral marketing, and the cost-per-lead is lower.
So why not use just that?
Because you may not have 1,800 people who like you and will refer you, and even if you did, there are surely some people buying or selling in your area who would like to work with you.
But they don’t know you.
It’s up to your consumer direct marketing to change that. While bus stop ads can help neighborhood visibility, who honestly calls a realtor because they saw a bus stop ad? Print ads and bus stop ads these days should be used only after you have completely dominated the real estate internet marketing in your area.
How do you dominate an area? Message and delivery. These days, delivery happens via internet for over 90% of buyers, and virtually all sellers who research agents online before selecting which agent to sign with. While the internet is a large space, you can dominate page 1 of Google using our free report on search engine optimization (SEO), and dominate other areas through pay-per-click (PPC), social media marketing (facebook, myspace, twitter, etc.) and trafficked verticals like craigslist. Our company focuses on creation of incredible, compelling offers so you don’t have to, though you can certainly create your own.
Here are a few suggested pillars to consider:
Expired Listings & Withdrawn Listings. These are the easiest “cold leads” you’ll find. If you decide not to purchase ours, you can certainly create your own. The #1 mistake people make in expired listing marketing is expecting immediate conversion. Usually sellers get flooded with offers immediately, but relisting activity peaks at 6 to 8 weeks after expiration or withdrawal. Pair up with a mortgage lender to reduce the cost, as this can produce refinances and loan modifications.
- FSBO’s. A strong FSBO pillar alone can get you 1-3 listings per month in an average area. For this you’ll need a real estate postcard marketing system or fsbo postcard system. Click through to our site below for some free templates and help on this.
- Homebuyers. The #1 most common mistake in real estate marketing for homebuyers is offering a home-buyer’s seminar. Try “fishing upstream” by instead offering a “credit seminar” or at least adding that to your marketing. We have an online system for this, that if you choose not to buy you can certainly model on. Be sure to “market to the unaware”, i.e. people who haven’t yet decided to buy a house, because chances are if they know for sure they want to buy a house, they probably know an agent. Be the agent (or broker) to plant this seed and most likely you’ll get the business, instead of their “dog’s former owner’s cousin who practices real estate on the side”.
- Investors. A lot of agents ignore this market, but a single good investor client can get you numerous deals per year, both buying and selling. If you’re just out of real estate school starting out, don’t start here - they’ll eat you for lunch and suck up your time, but if you have the other pillars down cold, this can put you into the big leagues, with millions of dollars in commissions.
- Relocation. This can be a tough market to crack, but that barrier to entry can work for you once you do. This is not for the rookies, but for experienced agents with top-notch customer service and the first pillars down, this should be on your real estate marketing plan. Maximize your real estate internet marketing to start working on this business, and use a lot of online video such (again, see our site for examples to model on or purchase).
- HR Benefits. Human Resources real estate marketing for Realtors and lenders can be an excellent source of business. This is a perfect agenda for a mid-career agent.
If all of this sounds good, first, see what you can swipe and implement. Don’t re-invent the wheel, because everything you need for all of the above pillars have been produced. Focus your time and budget, and setup the systems starting with the pillars above. As you get them stabilized, within a month, you should not spend any time whatsoever on production of these leads. Just setup the system, then leave your pay-per-click budget alone and just keep an eye on profitability, and hire offshore e-assistants for other tasks like craigslist marketing. Roll the pillars out, and within six months, there is absolutely no reason why you won’t be the #1 agent in your area, with the #1 paycheck. The tools are built and ready to work for you.

The Mexico real estate market is expecting big changes over the next five years. One of the regions with the largest potential growth rate is a small Mexican Village known as Tulum, Quintana Roo. This Mexican Caribbean village of approximately 15,000 people has projected growth rates estimated to reach and possibly surpass the extraordinary growth record of its neighboring sister city of Playa del Carmen. This is causing the land for sale in Tulum to increase notably requiring good urban planning for better protection of the environment and to improve the living atmosphere of the community. A new project, Aldea Zama, is introducing their community very near to the present downtown zone of the village. A section of various city blocks has been launched by the Tulum developers that will encompass residential land, green park areas, and commercial community zones all with the plan to be within easy walking distances. The success and great acceptance of the European style 5th avenue of Playa del Carmen was closely studied by the Tulum planners in order to repeat and improve upon such communities. A close eye on the protection of the green areas and preservation to the Mayan atmosphere are present and evident throughout the master planned zones. This section of Tulum is currently in the process of having the infrastructure prepared for the large expected flow of demand that is arriving.

Aldea Zama Tulum, Located within the Riviera Maya region south of Cancun. The site is located between the present day community of Tulum and one of Mexico’s prettiest Caribbean beaches. 185 acres have been reserved and is being developed as a friendly little village. In the center, strategically situated as a “walk to everything” community, the retail and entertainment section is being constructed. Those who enjoy Mexican Caribbean strolls in the evenings and night will soon find various affluent but casual lifestyle shops and sidewalk cafes, all within the community. People who are planning to retire to Tulum, or to vacation several months in this beach side region, will find this neighborhood very appealing and livable. “We don’t want the people feeling as if they are living in a resort, spring break city, we want them to feel as if they are in a home and within a home community” commented Francisco de La Torre sales director of the project.

Land for sale in Tulum is available in various parts of the city. The Aldea Zama group wishes to introduce land for single family buyers and within condo buildings that have an organized building code. The idea of the development is to motivate the new neighbors to utilize traditional materials, contemporary styles, and embrace the Mayan ambiance. In the center of Aldea Zama, apartments will be located above the shop which is a growing popular request both for business owners and tourist visitors. This European style of zoning is bringing many foreign buyers and commercial operators to invest into the future project.

Located next to the Ecological national park and the archeological zone of Tulum, Aldea Zama wishes to preserve the treasured Mayan cultural history. There is a strong push to maintain green areas, both in wide winding avenues dotted with trees in the meridians and parks within jungles and located around cenotes. Buildings are encouraged to utilize the skills of local artisans with indigenous materials blended with new designs and modern technology. The overall goal is to blend the new community into the existing delicate and beautiful natural settings of Tulum.
Tulum is expecting a burst of population over the next several years. By studying the successes and failures of nearby cities and their communities, the Aldea Zama group is planning to introduce a new community within this village that will embrace three basic goals; “Walk to Everything” master planned community, European ambiance, and the preservation of the nature and of the historical Mayan traditions currently found in Tulum. The developers are betting that these are the community attributes expected from future citizens, both national and international, of this Mexican Caribbean city of the future.