Realtor Profile, John Hayden, the “King of Curtis”

While researching and reviewing proposed investment plans for a historic Curtis Park Victorian, several people suggested that I contact John Hayden of Kentwood City Properties.  More than one of his colleagues referred to him as the “King of Curtis” for his knowledge and experience in the neighborhood, so I had to look him up.   We met in the heart of Curtis Park on a beautiful summer morning, where John shared his knowledge and enthusiasm for the neighborhood as he showed our team several past and ongoing remodel projects.  He seemed to know the history and owners of almost every property! It was a pleasure to learn about how Curtis Park has been transformed from an inner-city slum into a healthy and vibrant community with loads of culture and beautiful display of Denver’s architectural history and future.

Curtis Park Neighborhood Information

Curtis Park Neighbors – Association of Denver’s Oldest Neighborhood

Scouts – Dealers – Rehabbers – Landlords

I have a few key methods of qualifying real estate investors to determine whether or not I want to work with them.  This has little to do with the amount of experience they have, and less to do with the amount of money they have then you may think.  These are both important factors in determining how I will work with an investor.  But the critical factor in whether to work with them is based in their commitment and integrity.

During my first interview or call with a new referral, I ask the standard questions about their experience, available capital and credit score.  More importantly, however, are the questions about their goals and intentions.  The way certain questions are answered, including was is NOT said, usually gives me a good indication about whether I can establish a mutually beneficial relationship.  With practice, you can learn these evaluation skills to qualify investors, and only work with those who will be good clients.

The first step in this learning process is to understand the Types of Residential Real Estate Investors.  This will allow you to differentiate between clients, customers and vendors as you grow your business through networking and marketing.  All investors will fall into one or more of the following categories.  Less experienced investors generally require more time, but more experienced investors will require more skill and knowledge to earn their business.  As always, the relationship must be a “win-win.”  Continue reading…

Capitalize on an Underserved $300 Billion Market

As the nation continues to take its proverbial medicine for the spoils of Wall Street’s residential real estate backed securities fiasco, Realtors are suffering massive drops in transactions and income. If you are working the traditional residential market, you’re likely facing pretty grim volume now, and for the near future.  How about this for a change?

Stop Sucking Wind

• STOP wasting your time working evenings and weekends with “liar buyers” who drag you to see hundreds of houses and never make a decision.
• STOP listing over-priced properties that never sell or taking on Short Sales that require hundreds of hours of negotiations.
• STOP begging your friends and family for their real estate transactions and ruining relationships over business.
• STOP expensive and time consuming prospecting and holding lonely Open Houses.
• STOP working with clients that are barely qualified for loans and hoping the deals close to get paid.

Yes, you really can STOP all this nonsense by learning a few new skills and making a simple change in the type of client you work with.  In a down market, residential real estate investors are very active buyers (and sellers too).

Investors are desperately seeking good real estate agents who specialize in investments.

Continue reading…

Web 2.0 – Real Estate Blog – Realtor Networking

Dramatically Increase your Sphere and Reach.

(wink., Follow Me to the Twitterverse…)

We all know that more than 90% percent of people starting a buy or sell real estate transaction begin their research online.  But what are you doing about it?  If you haven’t already, it’s time to master the incredible marketing advantages and potential for real estate agents of social marketing via sites like these:

• Twitter – short but sweet, use links, don’t spam, meet LOTS of new people
  
• Facebook – OK, nobody is looking for a Realtor on Facebook, but you WILL connect with old friends
  
• You Tube – start recording NOW, figure it out later, web surfers LOVE video
  
• Plaxo – keeps you organized and works as a drip campaign
  
• LinkedIn – expand your “rolodex” – remember that word?
  
• Wordpress Blog – trust no one else with your blog (trust me on that)
  
• Naymz – bad spelling, but the best search engine plug ever
  
• ActiveRain – the standard for agent blog networking
  
• BiggerPockets – Active Rain for young, fun types
  

Start by Doing a Little Test…

What comes up on the first page of results when you Google “Your Name” in quotes?  What about “YourCity real estate market?”   Imagine the difference in your business model and productivity if your name and website came up on top pages of either of those Google searches:  instant credibility; leads filling your email inbox everyday; the ability to be choosy about who you do and don’t work with because you are a busy professional that people are eager to talk with about real estate!

Internet marketing used to be expensive because a good website would require the services of a technical coder.  The good news is that new tools make it easier than ever to create and maintain a domain and website and utilize powerful internet and email marketing techniques.  Today, there are lost of resources on the web that enable novice computer users to set-up and maintain an online presence with very little experience and very little expense.  That resulting message to your potential clients will be that you are internet savvy and technologically competent.

Before you go online to explore the resources below, take time to write professional and personal biography.  It does not have to be long, just a few paragraphs about your business experience, education, specialties and interests.   You will also want to have at least two pictures of yourself, one professional photo and another more casual personal photo.

Below is a list of resources that I use to market my real estate business and steps you can take to improve your search engine rank and awareness among prospects doing real estate research online.  It does not take long to begin realizing the benefits.

20 Steps to Mastering Internet Marketing!

Preliminary Steps:

• Write a professional and personal biography – not too long, just a couple paragraphs about your business experience, education, interests
• Get two great pictures of yourself, one professional and one personal (fun)

Beginner Steps:

• Download Mozilla Firefox internet browser
• Get a Gmail and iGoogle account
• Set-up a Google Reader account
• Set-up accounts at Facebook and LinkedIn
• Set-up a Wordpress Blog
• Write (or hire writer) to create good original local interest content for your blog site

Intermediate Steps:

• 100% complete profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn
• Add profiles at Naymz, Plaxo, ActiveRain, BiggerPockets
• Get a Twitter account and download Tweetdeck
• Get an Avatar and start blog surfing and making comments using links back to your blog
• Buy an inexpensive camcorder and begin videotaping house tours, interviews with clients, etc.

Advanced Steps:

• Visit GoDaddy.com, get an account and register one or more domain names
• Set-up Gmail to use your POP3 email address from the domain you purchased
• Go to MediaTemple.com or HostGator.com for website hosting
• Upgrade from Wordpress.com to Wordpress.org hosted domain blog
• Choose Aweber or Constant Contact (or both) for your email marketing management
• Create a YouTube account and upload some short videos of yourself or house tours
• Open a Google Adsense account and drive traffic to your blog site

To be continued…

Would you like to read the in-depth post article that has detailed instructions for implementing each of these steps?  The full version includes live links and a video tutorial to walk you through the entire process of dominating your local market with internet marketing.  Enter your first name and email below to be notified of the link for this new post and video. I promise I will NEVER sell or use your email for any purchase other than sending you my permission based information and you can unsubscribe at any time.  Or, feel free to subscribe by RSS (if you don’t know what that is you really need to read the next post!).

See some web 2.0 marketing examples for this company in action by clicking the icons below. Then be sure to subscribe get this valuable and targeted information specifically for real estate professionals.  Thanks for reading, I look forward to communicating further with you.

photo credit: marketingwithmiles

I had lunch recently with a real estate agent who was pitching me to hire him as a buyer’s agent for investment properties.  He presented himself as a having a solid work ethic and excellent knowledge of the market.  But when he handed me his card, he had a firstname86 at hotmail dot com account as his email address.  This turned me off to working with him because of my impression that he was not technologically savvy.  Continue reading…