Every top-producing listing agent we know agrees that there are only three things agents need to do to win every listing appointment: 1. Be prepared, 2. Be prepared, and 3. BE PREPARED. Everything else is window dressing. A listing appointment checklist is one way to keep you on track.

Of course, for newer listing agents who can’t brag about their past success, preparing for a listing appointment can be very stressful. That’s why we asked some of the most successful listing agents we know to tell us what they do to prepare for listing appointments.

They provided a ton of hard-won knowledge, but if you’re short on time, you can simply download the listing appointment checklist (plus scripts) as a PDF here:

Get Our Listing Appointment Checklist & Scripts

1. Write & Practice Delivering Empathy-driven Closing Lines (Scripts)

Pitching a homeowner is a bit like walking a tightrope over a canyon—it doesn’t matter how well you do in the middle if you lose your balance and fall a foot away from the other side. The closing line, when you ask for the listing, is where most new agents fall. If you want to get better at delivering closing lines, you need to focus on empathy: What are your homeowner’s goals and how can you help them realize those goals?

Nile Lundgren, licensed associate real estate broker at SERHANT and capstone consultant for the Sell It Like Serhant Pro Membership, tailors his closing lines to what is important for the homeowner:

“If you ask for the seller’s goals, you should already know what is important to them in the sale. Is it price? Time? Is it an agent who over communicates, or is it overall experience? Once you uncover what’s important to the seller, use that to close:

“What I hear you saying, Mrs. Seller, is that you want an agent to over-communicate due to past experiences with other realtors. As I mentioned, I have a weekly report that gives you a snapshot of the showings, feedback, listing analytics, and more. Why wait to sign with me, meet another agent, when my seller communications program is exactly what you’re looking for?”

Here are a few more closing lines you can use once you know the homeowner’s goals:

Price:

“After everything we’ve gone over today, are you confident that I am the best fit to sell your home quickly and for the best price?”

Honesty & Empathy:

“Thanks again for taking the time to allow me to talk to you tonight, _________. I am ready to go to work if you’ll have me.”

A Quick Sale:

“I think the best strategy would be to get the paperwork out of the way tonight so we can get your house up on the MLS by Friday. I would love to go over the listing agreement with you so we can make that happen.”

Marketing:

“Since you seemed to like the idea of virtual staging so much, I would love to have my photographer come by this weekend to take some pictures that we can virtually stage for you.”

or

“I am 100% sure that the marketing strategy I laid out for you tonight will sell your home quickly and for the most money. If you agree, can we take the next step and go over the listing agreement?”

Information:

“Have we gone over enough information today so that signing the listing agreement would be the next step?”

If you don’t already have a listing presentation ready to go, check out my step-by-step guide: This Buyer Presentation Converts Leads to Clients in 15 Minutes.

2. Learn How to Anticipate & Overcome Emotional Seller Objections (Scripts)

Even if they’re a hundred percent sold on hiring you and ready to sign, most homeowners will throw up at least some objections. They’re not doing this to intimidate you or poke holes in your pitch, and chances are they are not all that concerned with saving a few thousand dollars in commissions. Like anyone making an important decision, they just want to make sure they are doing their due diligence.

This is why it’s crucial to anticipate and prepare your objection handlers before you even think about sitting in their living room and asking them for the listing. Here are a few objection handlers to address the most common objections you will get on a listing appointment.

“Look, I get it, nobody wants to spend more than they have to, but there is a reason these agents discount their commissions and it will almost always mean walking away from the closing table with less money, not more. Think about it. These agents are advertising to the world that they don’t think their services are worth very much. While you might think that lack of confidence means more money in your pocket, remember that this agent will end negotiating with a buyer’s agent to decide how much money your home actually sells for. Are they going to fight for every penny that your home is worth? Why would they? They don’t even fight for every penny that their own services are worth!”

“Totally understandable. Frankly, I would be a little concerned if you didn’t talk to multiple agents! This is a big decision! Was there anything we went over today that you would like me to clarify right now while you have me here?”

“I understand you want to get more money for your house, but keep in mind that many agents have no problem being dishonest just to get a listing. They think that telling you what you want to hear will get them the listing and they can fix the over-pricing problem later. I can tell you from experience that this is a huge mistake, even in a seller’s market like we’re in now.

“I’ve seen it happen over and over again. Look at 12345 Main Street. It was priced at $795,000 and it sat on the market for more than five months before the price was cut to $725,000. Three months later it sold for $675,000. The asking price I came up with is based on actual market data going back five years from multiple highly reputable sources, not just my research. I am happy to go over my CMA with you again to explain how I arrived at this price.

“At the end of the day, I have a fiduciary duty to you and can price your home as high as you want to. But that same fiduciary duty means that I have to give you my honest opinion as a professional before doing so.”

While memorizing a few common objection handlers is a great way to perform better on your listing appointment, learning how to anticipate emotional objections is a skill that takes time to learn. See this excellent guide to learning how to do just that: How to Handle Objections from Prospects and Clients.

3. Make Sure Your Listing Presentation Looks Polished & Professional

No matter how you deliver your listing presentation at your listing appointment, it needs to look polished and professional. Even if your content is amazing, a poorly designed presentation will take the focus off what you’re saying, and put it on your lack of graphic design skills—a key component of digital marketing today.

Agent Crate offers different listing presentation templates, plus tips and tricks on creating one to help you impress your clients

Visit Agent Crate

4. Preview Every Nearby Listing You Can, Then Preview Some More

Luckily, the best way to prepare for your listing appointment is also the easiest: go out and preview every listing you can, then preview some more. This is one thing every top-producing listing agent we know works into their daily schedule. Previewing listings helps you get a sense of what’s really on the market competing with the listing you’re pitching, instead of what other listing agents show on your MLS. Let’s face it—many MLS listing pictures are about as accurate as a Tinder profile. Knowing what’s really out there will give you an edge.

If you make time to preview homes every day and take notes, in a few years you will even be able to comment on details of the comps you present in your CMA. So instead of saying, “Like your home, 1234 Main Street has three bedrooms and sold for $550,000,” you could say “1234 Main Street sold for $550,000, but when I toured it last year I noticed the bedrooms were very small. Your bedrooms are much larger, so this makes your home more attractive to buyers.” Which response do you think a homeowner is more likely to be impressed with?

[Related article: How to Make CMA Price Adjustments to Listings Without Pissing Off Sellers]

5. Practice Gratitude to Build Genuine Confidence

While it might seem a little woo-woo, one of the best ways to get over the pre-listing appointment jitters is to practice gratitude. You worked hard to get to this point, and someone has recognized your hard work and is considering you to help them with the largest transaction of their lives.

So instead of panicking, be thankful! If you find yourself getting stressed when preparing for your appointment, remind yourself how lucky you were to be able to get where you are today. On the day of your listing appointment, make sure to express that gratitude by thanking the homeowner right away.

Many new listing agents get so caught up in pitching homeowners they forget they’re actually dealing with a human being who let a stranger into their home. In order to break the ice, the very first words out of your mouth on your listing appointment should be “thank you.” If you focused on gratitude while preparing for the appointment, that thank you will be genuine and they will feel it.

You don’t have to gush—just say something like:

“Hi ________, how are you? I know there’s a lot of other agents out there, so before we get started I wanted to thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet with you today.”

6. Schedule Your Listing Appointment on a Busy Day

While this one might seem counterintuitive, scheduling your listing appointment on a day that you’re busy can actually help you perform better. Think about it. Which cold call do you perform better on? Your first cold call of the day or your last? If you’re like most agents, you’re going to do much better on that last call.

So instead of sitting around worrying and running over scripts the morning of your listing appointment, practice the night before, make sure your listing presentation is solid, and spend the day of your appointment doing what you do best—working with people who want to buy or sell real estate.

7. Create a Custom Listing Marketing Plan for the Home

Even though your listing marketing plan will probably not change much if you get the listing, you should still work to create a custom marketing plan for the homeowner. Every homeowner wants to believe that their home is unique enough to warrant customized marketing. Indulging that emotional need will help build rapport with the homeowner.

A great way to do this is to start with a multi-pronged listing marketing plan, then decide which marketing strategies you will use if you get the listing. Present this to the homeowner and explain why you are choosing some marketing strategies and not others.

[Related article: Ultimate 51-Point Real Estate Listing Marketing Plan (+PDF Checklist)]

Bonus Tip: Stick to Your Daily Wellness Routine on the Day of Your Appointment

One of the best ways to stay fresh and confident for your listing appointment is to stick to whatever wellness routine you normally do. If you normally work out in the morning and then meditate before breakfast, then this is exactly what you should do on the morning of your listing appointment.

The morning of your listing appointment is not the time to try a new meditation technique or do another mile on the treadmill. Instead, stick to whatever wellness routine is already working for you. This won’t eliminate the stress, but it will help trick your brain into thinking it’s just another day doing what you love.

Over to You

How do you prepare for listing appointments? Let us know in the comments.

Learn How To Get More Real Estate Leads, Get More Listings, Close More Sales, with Less Resistance AND still have a LIFE!

Get more exclusive real estate agent training here https://www.yasserkhan.sg/

YASSER KHAN

Author, Coach & Trainer

Yasser Khan earned less than $1,000 in his first year as a full time property agent. With no money for the $2 train fare to his Broker's office, he was forced to walk 25 kilometers on foot. Worse, he got evicted at midnight with his wife and baby son by the roadside. Desperate, he bought a $16 Sales book and took massive action. That single investment in himself gave him an OBSCENE ROI of $160,000 in just 11 months. Today, Yasser is on a mission to make the real estate great career again and helps ambitious agents quadruple their commission income within 90 days.

Yasser Khan is a real estate coach at YasserKhan.SG, trainer at PropertyAgentUniversity.com and the author of Property Agent Secrets Book who teaches Realtors how to make more Money, have more Time and enjoy more Freedom without all the B.S. plaguing the industry today.  

Yasser Khan’s approach to coaching is highly personalised, holistic, no B.S., and for “PROS ONLY… amateurs not allowed.” He believes that true success means winning in every single area of your life (like Financial, Family, Social, Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Fun).

When Yasser isn’t coaching, he loves playing GOTY PC Games with top-of-the-line Razer products and being a kid again with his 3 naughty children (actually, boss babies...), traveling to and across scenic Pakistan, enjoying hot & spicy food, taking pictures of the Milky Way with his favourite Canon DSLR and reading up all about Dinosaurs (especially T. Rex)

Real estate negotiation sounds easy on paper, but in practice even small mistakes can sink deals. You need to understand psychology, strategy, and a shifting market to get the best outcome for your clients. Not easy!

That’s why I decided to write this guide to real estate negotiation. In this guide, I asked industry luminary Ryan Serhant and top agents from Douglas Elliman to add in their best negotiation strategies for 2023. Since we know you’re busy, we only included actionable tips you can start using today.

Want to become a better negotiator? Grab a cup of coffee, turn off your phone, and check out these 23 effective real estate negotiation strategies from some of the best dealmakers in real estate:

Here’s an example of this methodology in action:

The house is on the market for $600,000, but your research, backed up by your broker’s opinion, tells you it’s overpriced. By your estimate, a fair price would be $500,000. But when you offer that amount, the seller says you are “not even close” and doesn’t counter. You think the seller is in denial about the slump in the housing market, which has affected prices in your town quite a bit.

Sellers are looking at the prices paid for their neighbors’ houses a few years ago, while buyers are looking at comparable transactions from the past few months to try to determine the fair price. You might consider creative deal structuring to break through the resulting impasse. Start by noting that the typical house purchase is a very tight deal: Once the seller commits to a particular buyer, the seller can’t (legally) sell the house to someone else, even if offered a substantially higher price.

In your circumstance, a loose deal structure might provide a way forward. Imagine you make a slightly higher offer (it is, after all, your client’s perfect house) of $525,000. Then give the seller 60 days to keep shopping the house. If a better offer comes in during that time, the seller has the right to walk away by paying you a breakup fee—say, $25,000 or less.

This real estate negotiation strategy creates value based on the different beliefs about the value of the house. In effect, you are saying this to the seller: “You think the house is worth $600,000, but I think you won’t get a better offer than my $525,000. I’m so confident in my belief that I’m willing to give you 60 days to prove me wrong. If you do find a better price, I’ll keep looking for the perfect house. If you don’t find a better deal, we’ll close in 60 days at my price.”

If you want to learn more, check out Chris’ interview with Tom Ferry below, or better yet, grab his book, “Never Split the Difference,” from his website.

Over to You

Have a great negotiation strategy we didn’t cover here? Let us know in the comments.

Learn How To Get More Real Estate Leads, Get More Listings, Close More Sales, with Less Resistance AND still have a LIFE!

Get more exclusive real estate agent training here https://www.yasserkhan.sg/

YASSER KHAN

Author, Coach & Trainer

Yasser Khan earned less than $1,000 in his first year as a full time property agent. With no money for the $2 train fare to his Broker's office, he was forced to walk 25 kilometers on foot. Worse, he got evicted at midnight with his wife and baby son by the roadside. Desperate, he bought a $16 Sales book and took massive action. That single investment in himself gave him an OBSCENE ROI of $160,000 in just 11 months. Today, Yasser is on a mission to make the real estate great career again and helps ambitious agents quadruple their commission income within 90 days.

Yasser Khan is a real estate coach at YasserKhan.SG, trainer at PropertyAgentUniversity.com and the author of Property Agent Secrets Book who teaches Realtors how to make more Money, have more Time and enjoy more Freedom without all the B.S. plaguing the industry today.  

Yasser Khan’s approach to coaching is highly personalised, holistic, no B.S., and for “PROS ONLY… amateurs not allowed.” He believes that true success means winning in every single area of your life (like Financial, Family, Social, Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Fun).

When Yasser isn’t coaching, he loves playing GOTY PC Games with top-of-the-line Razer products and being a kid again with his 3 naughty children (actually, boss babies...), traveling to and across scenic Pakistan, enjoying hot & spicy food, taking pictures of the Milky Way with his favourite Canon DSLR and reading up all about Dinosaurs (especially T. Rex)

Most home buyers start their property search online. This is possible thanks to a technology called IDX. IDX stands for Internet Data Exchange; it's a system that allows REALTORS® to display the most comprehensive and up-to-date property listing information on their own Agent Website.

It’s common knowledge that an internet presence is crucial for success in today’s market. That’s because internet technologies have profoundly changed the way home buyers search for homes.

Research also shows that most home buyers begin their search MONTHS in advance before they even reach out to a real estate agent. And one technology that has been instrumental in making this happen is IDX. This guide for real estate agents explores IDX in more detail. Let's dive in.

What is IDX in Real Estate?

IDX is an acronym that stands for Internet Data Exchange. It’s a system of rules, protocols, and software regulated by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) that makes it possible for realtors to display MLS listings directly on their websites. A website with IDX lets buyers search for homes, and filter the results based on size, number of bedrooms, location, price, etc.

If you have a website with IDX, prospects buyers will have access to MLS data directly from your website, without having to go to a third party site.

By offering a solid property search function, you immediately improve your site’s authority. You encourage your visitors to stay on your site longer, and you give them a reason to keep coming back.

And the best news? Just like you don’t need to understand how an internal combustion engine works in order to drive a car, you don’t need to know every technical detail about how IDX works in order to use it.

Why (And How) Was IDX Created?

Members of the real estate industry need to both compete and cooperate with each other to be successful. This need to cooperate was well understood even back in the late 1880s. Back then, when real estate agents wanted to share information about their listings, they would meet in each other’s offices and in local real estate associations. The idea was simple. You help me sell my properties, and I’ll help you sell your properties. Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

This information sharing was done by exchanging physical listing sheets. As technology improved, physical binders transformed into computer databases, and finally evolved into the modern Multiple Listing Service (MLS). 

As the internet began to become a normal part of everyday life in the 90s, it didn’t take long for realtors to see its marketing and information sharing potential.

MLS property databases made their way to password-protected websites into which affiliated real estate agents could access.

However, if real estate agents wanted to show those MLS listings on their own website, they had to spend thousands (or even tens of thousands) of dollars to pay for the development of proprietary software solutions.

There were no widely agreed standards, and only large brokerages could afford to provide a live MLS feed on their website.

In order to tackle that issue, the NAR convened a special workgroup in the early 2000s consisting of members of the Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee, Professional Standards Committee, and Risk Management Committee. 

NAR’s goal was to come up with a set of standards and regulations that would protect customers and Realtors from exploitation and abuse while making it easy to share MLS data on broker’s websites.

The result was the creation of IDX.

IDX helped lower significantly the cost of adding an MLS property search function on realtors’ websites and made it possible for smaller brokerages to compete with giant franchises.

Today, there are many IDX Website solutions (such as AgentLEADS) that make it easy for agents to include IDX property searches directly on their websites. 

Why Do You Need a Website with IDX?

The vast majority of home buyers start their home search online. In fact, by the time a prospect contacts you in real life, there’s a good chance he/she has already spent months doing property searches online. And the first place they go to begin their search is typically Google or other search engines.

Home Buyers will type in keywords that match the type of home they’re looking for, such as:

• Miami Waterfront Homes
• Downtown Seattle Condos
• San Diego County New Construction
• Homes for sale in Chicago

In many cases, the top results come from big data real estate portals such as Zillow, or Trulia. This is especially true if their search queries are broad in scope, such as “homes for sale in Florida,” instead of a more hyperlocal search such as “homes for sale in Downtown Naples Florida.”

But oftentimes, the results will come from individual real estate agents’ websites. Especially if those agents have worked hard on their website’s local SEO.

If one of these buyers finds a search result they want, and it happens to be an agent’s site with a property search tool, the agent’s site gains immediate legitimacy as a valuable home hunting tool.

There are a few things that home buyers expect to see on a real estate agent’s website:

1. Pictures and videos
2. Neighborhood info
3. Informative blogs
4. Expert Advice
5. Market information
6. And of course… homes that meet their needs.

If you own a real estate website without IDX (and thus no property search option), and you only upload your own personal listings, you’d be shooting yourself in the foot. 

While it’s true that you should be focusing on selling your clients’ listings, it’s not the most economically sensible thing to do in the long run. It would be like owning a bookstore that only sells the books you wrote. 

To put it bluntly, if your real estate website doesn’t offer IDX integration, you’re already falling behind.

IDX vs Zillow, Trulia, Redfin (and Other Listing Portals)

It’s no surprise that most Realtors dislike real estate portals such as Trulia and Zillow. Not just because they are direct competition, but also because they have a pretty spotty record. These portals often give wrong price estimates (Zillow even admits that its Zestimate is not an appraisal and that you should consult a professional appraiser) and use exploitative tactics.

Ever wonder why most of their services are free? Just like social media, these portals make most of their money not by charging fees for premium services, but by selling consumer data to advertising services (“if you’re not paying for the product, you’re the product” indeed).

On the other hand, since IDX solutions take data directly from a vetted source (MLS), it offers data that’s far more accurate.

A great IDX integration on your own website protects your client’s privacy since it doesn’t force them to give their personal data.

As infuriating as the big guys can be to deal with, their inability to deal with hyperlocal markets gives you an excellent opportunity to beat them.

With a solution such as AgentLEADS, you’ll be able to create a hyperlocal search experience that can meet the exact expectations of your visitors. You’ll be able to create local guides that show visitors all the ins and outs of your neighborhood.

Since its IDX feed is updated in real-time, your visitors will have accurate data about any listing in your area whenever they need it.

Does Having IDX on Real Estate Websites Guarantee Success?

However, it’s important to understand that a website with IDX by itself is not a guarantee for success. You need to have the right marketing strategy too. Some solutions’ IDX only display MLS listings and little else. But simply showing the property listings won’t do much for improving your website’s ranking on Google. 

That’s because a live feed from MLS is NOT indexable by search engines such as Google. 

Instead of simply displaying the listings, a superior integration would improve your website’s ranking by making sure that each MLS listing has a web page of its own so that it becomes indexable by Google.

That way, if anyone is looking for a property in your hyperlocal area, you’ll have a bigger chance that your site will be on the top results.

Conclusion: IDX Is An Essential Tool For Realtors

As a realtor, you know how difficult it can be to make your mark on the oversaturated real estate industry. That’s why it’s crucial that you use the right IDX solution that helps tip the odds in your favor. You may not have millions of dollars to spend on marketing like the big listings sites do, but you can have something even more valuable: the trusted authority of a hardworking, hyperlocal community real estate expert… you.

You are a resource for new homes in your community. People see your signs, ads, and they can see you engaging in local events. This hyperlocal presence is an advantage that the big listing websites will NEVER have.

And with an excellent hyperlocal real estate website (that includes IDX) such as AgentLEADS, even you can outrank the big players.

Think our AgentLEADS market domination tools are too good to be true (or we sound too biased in this blog post because we make these tools)?

Try it out for yourself. We offer a free, no strings attached 30-day trial. This will let you see why we have a nearly perfect rating for several years in a row, and why our list of happy customers continues to grow daily.

See How to Build an IDX Real Estate Website in One Afternoon (2023)

Already have an IDX website? Get this next: Ultimate 51-Point Real Estate Listing Marketing Plan (+PDF Checklist)

Learn How To Get More Real Estate Leads, Get More Listings, Close More Sales, with Less Resistance AND still have a LIFE!

Get more exclusive real estate agent training here https://www.yasserkhan.sg/

YASSER KHAN

Author, Coach & Trainer

Yasser Khan earned less than $1,000 in his first year as a full time property agent. With no money for the $2 train fare to his Broker's office, he was forced to walk 25 kilometers on foot. Worse, he got evicted at midnight with his wife and baby son by the roadside. Desperate, he bought a $16 Sales book and took massive action. That single investment in himself gave him an OBSCENE ROI of $160,000 in just 11 months. Today, Yasser is on a mission to make the real estate great career again and helps ambitious agents quadruple their commission income within 90 days.

Yasser Khan is a real estate coach at YasserKhan.SG, trainer at PropertyAgentUniversity.com and the author of Property Agent Secrets Book who teaches Realtors how to make more Money, have more Time and enjoy more Freedom without all the B.S. plaguing the industry today.  

Yasser Khan’s approach to coaching is highly personalised, holistic, no B.S., and for “PROS ONLY… amateurs not allowed.” He believes that true success means winning in every single area of your life (like Financial, Family, Social, Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Fun).

When Yasser isn’t coaching, he loves playing GOTY PC Games with top-of-the-line Razer products and being a kid again with his 3 naughty children (actually, boss babies...), traveling to and across scenic Pakistan, enjoying hot & spicy food, taking pictures of the Milky Way with his favourite Canon DSLR and reading up all about Dinosaurs (especially T. Rex)

There are few things more important to your sellers than your listing marketing plan. After all, your marketing skills are probably one of the only reasons they are even thinking about hiring you in the first place.

That’s why today, I am sharing my 51-point real estate listing marketing plan that I developed over a decade as a real estate agent, trainer and coach.

How to Use My 51-Point Ultimate Listing Marketing Plan

You don’t need to do all 51-points of the Ultimate Listing Marketing Plan to get a home sold, but having all the techniques and tools available to you may save you when you have an important listing presentation or a difficult property to sell.

In order to get the most out of this listing marketing plan, choose 20 strategies from the list that you will commit to do for all your listings. Then select five additional techniques for your hard-to-sell listings, and lastly create a separate listing marketing plan for your luxury and ultra-luxury homes.

The 51-Point Ultimate Real Estate Marketing Plan

1. Identify the Home’s Unique Selling Features

Some agents just photograph the house, place it in the MLS, and call it a day, but taking the time to do some research can result in BIG returns for your seller. Begin by investigating unique selling features of the property. This can include things like the lifestyle, location, and history of the neighborhood.

Lifestyle

When you are marketing your listing you are selling more than just the property’s features—you are selling the lifestyle! Today, for many Americans, their lifestyle is more important than the features of the home.

I have a cousin who lives in a 500-square-foot condo that cost over $550,000. That’s over $1,000 a square foot!! The condo is in the heart of the surfing community of La Jolla, California.

The specific reason my cousin chose this particular condo was to be around other surfers, like herself. She could have easily afforded to buy a larger home and drive to the beach, but she wouldn’t have been surrounded by the surfer lifestyle.

Location

Proximity to transportation routes, including highways, mass transit, and airports, are one of the main factors a buyer has when selecting a home. Other important factors are nearby parks, shopping, and other recreational activities.

History

A home’s history isn’t limited to historic properties. I was recently talking to an agent in the Los Angeles area. He told me that the prior ownership of a home in LA can account for up to 10% of the property’s value. Think about it: Wouldn’t you pay more for a home if it was once owned by your favorite actor or actress? I would!

I recently listed a property that had been in the same family for over 50 years. Instead of marketing just the features of the property, I put together a photo book showing the history of the property and the family’s connection to the property. I also wrote an article for the local newspaper about the importance of the property and the impact the family had made on the community.

2. Pricing Strategy

Newer agents don’t think of pricing as a marketing strategy, yet it is the most important of all. Your pricing strategy can differentiate you from your listing-hungry competition. Here are some examples of listing pricing strategies that you can use to market your listing.

Pricing Above Market

While this pricing strategy is not a preferred method if your goal is to sell the home quickly, it can be a powerful tool to secure a long-term listing (one or more years) with the intent to allow the market to catch up or to allow time for the seller’s motivation to change.

Pricing Slightly Above Market

The standard pricing model is to price the home slightly above the last sale by comparing the subject property to recent sales and adjusting it for market appreciation.

Pricing Below Market

Once you have determined the fair market value, price the property 1% to 2% below that price to ensure your home stands out against the competition, hoping the lower price drives demand and multiple offers.

Listing Preparation & Staging

3. Touch-up & Repairs

Provide your seller a list of trusted contractors to help them get their home in tip-top condition, or give them a couple free hours with your favorite handyman service. If you wish to offer full-service, you may coordinate the contractors and follow up with them to ensure that all the items were completed to your satisfaction.

4. Staging

Make your listings stand out by providing a free staging consultation or full staging services. Even the most meticulous sellers’ homes need to be decluttered, organized, and sometimes updated. Some top-producing agents keep their staging in-house and even have their own staging items.

Virtual Staging

Vacant properties can look dull and unexciting in photos. Virtual staging can help buyers envision what the home will look like with furniture. The best part about virtual staging is that you won’t have to move furniture, and the cost is far less than hiring a staging company.

Visual Assets

5. Professional Photography

As an industry, can we all agree that cell phone photos are unacceptable? It boggles my mind that agents won’t spend just a few hundred dollars to have a professional take and edit their photos. There is nothing more important to your listing marketing plan than your photos.

After price, photos are the first thing the buyers see. It is their first impression. The final quality of the pictures rely as much on the editing as the original photo. So, unless you have high-quality photo editing software and the knowledge to use it, don’t take your own photos. It’s just not worth it.

The more, the better. If 10 photos are good, then 20 is better, and 100 is OUTSTANDING! For custom and unique homes, consider taking photos of the small details. Take photos of the upgraded door handles, the flowers in the garden, even photos of the neighborhood. If your MLS doesn’t allow you to feature 100 photos, then host them on your individual property website.

6. 3D Tours

One of the best tech advancements in the past few years has to be the 3D floor plans. This allows the buyers to virtually walk through a property room-by-room and to rotate the floor plan to see the overall dimensions of each room.

This is outstanding for custom homes with unique floor plans as well as homes that are difficult to show. 3D floor plans start at $99 from providers like Virtuance. If you want to do it yourself, you can purchase your own 3D equipment directly from Matterport for $2,995.

Better yet, check out Asteroom for fantastic, interactive tour equipment for a fraction of the cost. You can get your gear for less than $100, and their monthly subscription to tour hosting starts at $20.

7. Video & Virtual Tours

Video tours are not limited to luxury listings. You can do a simple walk-through video like this one on your listings too. Just give your iPhone to a friend and walk through the property and point out the listings features. Don’t forget to share it on all your social media platforms.

8. Aerial Photography & Video

With the combination of the low cost of high-resolution cameras and drones today, you can offer prospective buyers views of the homes like never before. Instead of saying the park is just one block away, show them with a flyover. Or instead of talking about the beautiful golf course, take them on a tour of it with a drone.

Aerial photography starts as low as $199 for 10 still images and can go as high as $1,000 for full-customized video set to music.

MLS & Listing Syndication

Make no mistake, placing a property in the MLS isn’t as easy as you would think. One wrong entry could mean that your property won’t show up in a home search. That could mean no showings for days or even weeks. True real estate professionals take extra time and pay special attention to the details when entering their properties into the MLS. Here are a few tips to make sure your listing is input into the MLS correctly.

9. Add as Much Detail as Possible

One of my biggest frustrations is when an agent doesn’t fill out the listing’s data completely. They commonly skip important details like measurements, lot size, and inclusions. The best tip I have for entering your new listing into the MLS is to have another agent that you trust review your listing before it goes live.

10. Add the Listing to Multiple MLS Systems

To successfully market some properties, you may need to enter them into multiple MLS systems. If the property is on the border of two MLS areas, or if the property is outside of a larger city with tens of thousands of agents that you want to get the property in front of, you may need to become a member of multiple MLS systems.

Investment properties that can be considered both residential and commercial can also be challenging to market. Using your local residential MLS and a national commercial MLS system like Loopnet is an effective way to ensure your property is being seen by both residential and commercial agents.

11. Hire a Freelance Professional to Write Your Descriptions

We know that a photo is worth a thousand words, but most real estate descriptions aren’t worth 10 words. Let’s face it: Most real estate agents are not good writers. You can WOW your sellers and attract more buyers with professional property descriptions that are written to invoke the emotions of the reader.

Companies like Upwork and Fiverr provide copywriters for as little as $40 an hour. This is money worth spending to make your listings stand out!

If you insist on writing your own listing descriptions, do yourself a favor and check out our in-depth guide, How to Write Creative Real Estate Listing Descriptions + Examples.

12. Syndicate Your Listing to the Top Real Estate Websites

Most MLS systems automatically syndicate your listings to over 1,000 websites, including Realtor.com, Zillow.com, and even your competitors’ websites. This makes certain that as many homebuyers as possible will see your listing. The belief is that the more people who see your listings for sale, the higher the prices your sellers will get.

Many sellers are not aware that their property will be automatically syndicated and may choose another agent who explains the benefits of syndication. If your MLS doesn’t offer syndication, you can do it yourself through ListHub.

Digital Marketing & Advertising

Advertising your listings not only creates an opportunity to find a buyer for your listing, but you will also attract future potential buyers for you to sell homes to. Therefore, most top-producing real estate agents today advertise their listings on digital platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Google … and so should you!

13. Facebook & Instagram Ads

Show your sellers that you do more advertising than just placing the property in the MLS. Facebook and Instagram Ads are an inexpensive way to market your listings to the buyers who are most likely to buy a home in your area.

Facebook and Instagram collect a TON of data on their users and can use this data to help you to target your ads toward people in your area who are renters or likely to move in the near future.

If you’re new to Facebook advertising, check out our guide on How to Create Real Estate Facebook Ads That Actually Generate Leads here.

14. Google Ads

Similar to Facebook, Google also collects data on its users and can keep your website and landing pages at the top of a potential buyer’s Google search. Using lead generation websites like Placester allows you to capture the contact information of these potential buyers for your listings.

You can impress your sellers at the listing appointment by bringing a list of buyers who are currently searching for homes in their area, showing them that you may already have the right buyer for their home.

15. Single Property Websites

A single property website is more than just a listing marketing tour. It becomes a place for you to provide all your marketing, including the property’s unique history and features, virtual tour, 3D floor plan, additional photos, neighborhood snapshot, and your professional marketing copy.

The individual property website becomes your permanent record of your listing and sale of the property, and if you add a Facebook and Google pixel, you can capture the visitor’s IP address for your re-marketing ad campaign.

16. Retargeting Ad Campaign

You know when you visit your favorite website to shop for shoes and after you leave the site (to get back to work), you see that same pair of shoes showing up in ads for days or weeks following? This is re-marketing at work.

Re-marketing is using a pixel from Facebook or Google on your web pages to capture the IP address of your visitors to allow you to keep their attention after they have left your page. Re-marketing is said to increase conversion over 100%.

17. Real Estate Yard Signs

Your real estate sign is an important reflection of your company as well as you. Why spend hours and hours meticulously preparing a property for sale and then place a dented sign with a rusted frame out front? Have a bright, attractive sign that will not only attract prospective buyers who are driving by, but also represent your professionalism.

18. Call & Text to Capture

As true as your grandma uses a cell phone, capture systems still work! These systems provide a free recorded message about the home 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The benefit is that when a potential buyer calls, it captures their number (even if it is blocked) so you can promptly follow up with them.

19. QR Codes

Once thought to be a failed marketing ploy of the early 2000s, QR codes have made a comeback. If you have been to a restaurant lately, you have probably found the convenience of using a QR code versus typing in the restaurant’s entire website address to get to their menu.

Consumers are now ready for QR codes, and having them on your real estate signs and marketing will allow buyers to go directly to your website to get their questions answered quickly. Also, if you are using lead capture systems like Propertybase, QR codes will allow you to seamlessly capture the buyer’s contact information so you can continue to market to them.

20. Branded Directional Arrows

Even with the power of the internet today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) states that over 7% of homebuyers found their home by driving by it. I have found that adding direction arrows to your listing marketing plan will not only guide buyers from busy intersections to your quiet neighborhood home, it will reinforce your image and brand to the other homeowners in the area.

Open Houses

21. Open House Ideas

Open houses have long been a staple in the real estate agent’s listing marketing plan playbook. Yet, due to the pandemic, they may look quite different today than they did even just a few years ago. Nevertheless, open houses are still an effective way to attract interested buyers who may not otherwise reach out directly. Your listing marketing plan should include at least one of the following types of open houses.

Traditional Open House

The traditional open house includes some light advertising on real estate websites and placing 10 to 20 directional signs. Some balloons, snacks, and bottled water and you’re good to go! While it is a very passive way to market your listing, it shows the seller your commitment to sell their home by taking your weekend to promote their home.

If you want to learn more about running a successful traditional open house, check out our guide on Why Open Houses Don't Work Anymore.

Open House by Appointment

It is hard to say that anything good has come from the pandemic, but if there were, open houses by appointment are one. Marketing the property is the same as a traditional open house; instead of having a free-for-all into the home for three hours, each interested party is directed to schedule a private tour of the property. Each appointment is 15 to 20 minutes and all the available times are limited to three to four hours total.

Virtual Open House

Recently, mostly due to restrictions, virtual open houses have taken the place of the traditional open house. Virtual open houses are usually promoted similarly to a regular open house, but instead of opening the door and letting the buyers in at the scheduled open house time, you go live on Facebook, Instagram, or Zoom and give the viewers a personal tour of the property.

Research

22. Property Research

There are many factors that can affect the value of a home and can be used to help market your listing: zoning use, future city planning, usable easements, and water and mineral rights, to name a few. Seasoned agents know to consider these things when they are pricing a property for sale.

23. Neighborhood Research

If you aren’t already familiar with the property and neighborhood that your listing is in, then you will want to do some research about the neighborhood. This can include public and private schools, proximity to shopping, crime, walkability, and commute times.

24. Listing Information Book

Now that you have taken the time to gather all this useful information, you can put it all together into a listing book to share with potential homebuyers. Don’t forget to include your beautiful photos, disclosures, and copies of receipts of any recent upgrades.

Traditional Advertising Methods

Newspapers, TV, and radio were once the paramount of all listing marketing plans. In many cities today, this type of marketing has become unaffordable for most agents. However, depending on your location, traditional real estate advertising may still be an affordable and effective way to market your listings. Here are some affordable ways to add traditional marketing methods to your listing marketing plan.

25. Newspaper Display Ads

Sellers love to see their homes in print, and nothing does this better than a simple newspaper display ad. Furthermore, according to the National Newspaper Association, 84% of newspaper readers are homeowners with higher-than-average incomes.

To save some Benjamins, join forces with other listing agents to purchase an ongoing display to feature your prized listings.

In many cities, the cost of a display ad in the dominant newspaper is out of the question. In this case, look into smaller or specialty newspapers that cater to a specific demographic or region. These papers are often lower cost than their larger competitors.

26. TV

You may think that TV advertising is out of the question, but what you may not know is you can purchase lower-cost TV time to run a 22-minute infomercial for as low as a few hundred dollars on your local stations and cable networks.

Like with a display ad in a newspaper, get together with a few other listing agents to offer a once-a-month listing show, where you present your current listing inventory. Obviously, you aren’t likely to pick up a random buyer for your listing, but you will impress your sellers by offering a unique way to market their property.

Be sure to share the recording on your YouTube channel and website.

27. Radio

How is radio a part of a listing marketing strategy in 2022, you ask? Well, in many rural markets, the radio is the best form of marketing. Many of these markets have radio shows that allow you to call in and promote your listings for just a few hundred dollars. This works especially well for unique listings like waterfront homes, farms, and equestrian properties.

Don’t forget to record the promotion so you can share it on your social media and website.

28. Home Magazines

You may not believe it, but home sale magazines are still a viable place to advertise your listings. While overall readership is down in print magazines, in many rural areas with limited MLS coverage, readership remains strong. Companies like Homes & Land also offer an online version along with a buyer home search that can help you capture buyers that are interested in your listing.

29. Listing Fliers & Door Hangers

Listing fliers allow you to combine all your beautiful photos, carefully written property descriptions, and website links all in one easy-to-carry place for your potential buyer. Traditionally, fliers are left inside the house for the buyer to take to remember your listing over the others they visited, and to place in brochure boxes out front to entice curious passersby to stop and take a longer peek.

My favorite tip for the best listing fliers is to add multiple financing options on the back to give prospective buyers an idea of down payment and payment options. Look into a template provider like Lab Coat Agents Marketing Center to make sure your printed materials look impressive and on-brand.

30. Just Listed Postcards

A just listed announcement mailed to the neighborhood will give the neighbors the opportunity to let their friends and family know about the home so they can have a chance to move into the neighborhood.

Offer to mail 100 postcards to the neighborhood as part of your listing marketing plan. Just listed postcards can be mailed for as little as 50 cents to 70 cents each with companies like Mailbox Power or ProspectsPLUS!

Personal Promotion & Networking

Getting the listing is just the beginning of your work. If you want to be able to claim that you “sell properties for more money and in less time,” then you need to get the word out about your new listing. This may take some effort and time, but fortunately, it won’t cost you any money!

31. Promote the Listing to Your Office

Many successful real estate offices effectively promote their listing to the agents in their office. This creates two positive outcomes. The first is it gives your office a chance to sell the property and increase your brokerage’s market share. Second, it insures the agent on the other end of the transaction is professional and ethical (this assumes, of course, that all agents in your office are professional and ethical).

32. Promote to Local Real Estate Agents Who Specialize in the Area

A quick way to do this is by pulling a list of agents who sold a home in the neighborhood in the past six months. Include both the listing and buyer’s agents. Write a personal and polite email inviting them to sell your listing.

33. Promote to the Local Association of REALTORS

Many local REALTOR associations have weekly marketing meetings where agents come together to promote their new and upcoming listings. Make no mistake, deals get done in these meetings! I personally sold a million-dollar apartment building from a three-minute presentation at one of these meetings.

34. Market to Your Personal Database

Target active buyers and investors in your database who are looking for homes in your price range and area. Maybe this listing is a perfect upgrade for one of your past clients, or blast it out to your list of potential buyers that you have aggregated from your advertising.

35. Door Knock the Neighborhood

Now that you have your listing fliers and just listed postcards, distribute them in person to the neighbors by going door to door. This will not only show them that you are working hard to sell their neighbor’s home, it also gives them another reminder to tell their family and friends about your listing for sale.

Organic Social Media Promotion

Marketing a property is all about the eyeballs! The more people who see your listing, the better the chance you have to sell it for top dollar! Social media allows you to quickly get your listing in front of hundreds, and potentially thousands, of people, with just a few clicks.

36. Facebook

Do more than just share your gorgeous new listing on your personal page. To effectively market your listing, you must have the right people see it. These are potential buyers and agents with buyers who are looking in your area.

To do this, post your listings in local groups that feature homes for sale and agents groups where agents are allowed to promote their listings. Don’t forget to add it to Facebook Marketplace—it is outstanding for affordable properties and condos.

Lastly, post to your Story. Don’t overthink it—just a short video of you walking through the listing, pointing out all the unique features and why this is the right home for a buyer.

Facebook Pro Tip

Create a custom list of all your real estate agent Facebook friends. Then when you post your listings, post them to your “Real Estate Agent” friends list. This gives you the ability to post frequently about your listings without annoying your other friends!

37. Pinterest

Pinterest is known to be the place for people to see visually pleasing and creative images. This is why it is perfect for promoting your 100 professional listing photos! The secret is to link it back to your lead capture page so motivated buyers can quickly get in touch with you.

38. Instagram

Similar to Pinterest, Instagram is about visually appealing images. Think of Instagram like a fashion or luxury home magazine. This is where you promote your impeccably staged listings. Saving beautiful photos of your listings to your profile will show homebuyers and sellers that you take real estate seriously.

39. TikTok

You might think it’s just for kids, but TikTok is growing by leaps and bounds these days, and agents are successfully using it to market their listings. TikTok makes it easy to get hundreds of people to see your listing. You can do this by posting a short video set to popular music of a unique feature, like a swimming pool, gourmet kitchen, or a sunset from the deck.

40. Snapchat

Thanks to upstarts like TikTok, Snapchat doesn’t have the power it used to. However, one of the best features of Snapchat is the ability to create a listing post and add it to your city’s story. This instantly puts it in front of thousands (possibly millions) of people!

41. LinkedIn

While it might not be as flashy as some social media platforms, LinkedIn has one huge advantage. People use LinkedIn to learn new things and gain deeper insight. So share your knowledge about real estate by posting stories about the property’s history, the potential usability, or the income potential.

Luxury Home Listing Marketing Ideas

Make no mistake—marketing a luxury home is different than marketing your run-of-the-mill suburban home. Ultra-luxury homes (homes over $20 million) can be even more challenging.

You can’t just put a $20 million home in the MLS and hope it sells. In fact, many owners of ultra-luxury homes don’t want them advertised in the MLS or even a sign in the yard, because they may be important, famous, or just don’t want looky-loos.

So, if you want to sell luxury real estate, you will need to step up your listing marketing plan

42. Market Nationally

The secret to finding ultra-luxury buyers is knowing that they probably already own another ultra-luxury home in an area where homes are just as, if not more, expensive! It’s no secret that many New Yorkers buy vacation homes in Miami, so don’t only advertise your oceanfront Miami mansion locally—place your ads in magazines, newspapers, and online targeting customers in “The Big Apple.”

Next, call the top luxury real estate agents in areas where there are other high-net worth individuals and ultra-luxury homes—cities like Seattle (Microsoft), the Bay Area (Apple), Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York—and ask them if they know of anyone interested in your waterfront paradise.

43. Market Internationally

More than ever before, we are seeing homebuyers coming from cities outside our borders. Over the past 10 years, citizens from countries like India, China, and Germany have been seeing some of the highest gains in wealth, and many of them want a piece of the American dream.

LUXVT will translate and syndicate your lux-listing to over 100 websites internationally as well as the websites of the Wall Street Journal, Robb Report, and Mansion Global. This is a unique reason for the seller to select you over another agent.

44. Create Cinema Style Videos for Your Listing

We discussed video earlier, but we haven’t talked about cinema-quality videos. Luxury buyers and sellers expect more all the way around, and your videos are no different. Stand out by hiring a production company like InTroubleZone Productions, where they specialize in cinematic-style luxury home videos.

45. Hold Broker Open Houses

Broker open houses may not be an effective way to market to sell the average home, but luxury homes are built for entertaining. Broker open houses are unique opportunities for agents to see the inside of a property that they may never get to see again.

A well-executed broker open will attract top producers and luxury agents. To do this, do a search of similarly priced homes that have sold in the past year. Personally invite both the listing and buyers agents. Like the Oscars, provide them with a small gift for attending.

46. Create Luxury Home Brochures

Seriously, you can’t market your luxury home with fliers printed on 20# paper on your home printer! Spend a few more dollars and get full-color, 100# card stock, “book-style” folding brochures. These brochures are large enough to add your professional photos and all the property’s details.

47. Offer the Owner Weekly Marketing Updates

You will need to give weekly updates to your sellers providing your detailed marketing efforts from the previous week, feedback from the recent showings, and the steps you are going to make the following week to get their home sold.

Thursday afternoons are a great time to block out in your schedule to give your weekly updates. This is because if you need to make a price adjustment, you can do it and promote it in time for buyer’s agents to schedule a showing for the weekend.

48. Advertise in a Luxury Real Estate Magazine

Did you know you could advertise in a luxury real estate magazine and reach out to even more ultra high net worth individuals? Luxury magazines and high-end lifestyle publications are often the preferred choices for luxury advertisers to target an affluent audience with premium advertising campaigns online.

Check out this article that lists 15 magazines you can write for.

This list of the best luxury magazines and high-end lifestyle titles will help you plan the optimal advertising campaign to target an affluent audience across the largest markets worldwide.

The online versions of luxury lifestyle magazines often offer a broader reach than their print editions, opening the door not only to the ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) but also to aspiring professionals and upcoming affluent Millennials and Generation Z readers.

49. Run a Real Estate Webinar

This is a new trend lately where real estate brokers and agencies come together and launch webinars for the public. You could do the same thing at a smaller scale and still reap the rewards. All you need is:

• a list of speakers,
• date and time,
• topics to cover,
• a webinar software and
• some good audiovisual gear.

50. Write Your Own Real Estate Magazine (Every Quarter or Year)

If you've already reached a certain level of production, you could write your very own quarterly or annual magazine. And it's actually much cheaper to do than you think, including assembling a team and having it distributed online or offline. (At YKC, we publish our monthly members-only Property Secrets Magazines for a low subscription fee.)

You can

• write about your professional experiences
• your clients' personal experiences,
• provide expert advise,
• share anecdotes that reinforce your advice,
• feature your best clients,
• feature your affiliates for a fee,
• solicit for new testimonials,
• showcase  your listings etc.

And you don't even have to do everything by yourself. All you need to do is to hire a competent researcher, a content writer from fiverr, an experienced editor and a printer (which doesn't even need to be in your own city). Then you're good to go and have your magazine copies shipped to clients, prospects or use them as handouts in appointments to boost your authority!

If your magazine is well received, you can even publish it monthly or every week and charge a subscription fee (thereby adding an additional income stream).

51. Write and Publish a Book

Lastly, to complete the Ultimate Listing Marketing Plan, you could write and publish a book. Take this from me as an actual published author: writing and publishing your own book is the BEST way to differentiate yourself from the mass of me-too real estate agents and gain instant authority and credibility. Books have a very high perceived value and can last for years (and decades) as a marketing asset consistently bringing you 6 or 7 figures in income on autopilot. Books reframe you as a non-salesperson and is an effective mechanism to lower your prospects' guard.

But like in all things in life, you have to get the actual writing done and then spend 80% of the time promoting your book. Writing my book was easy because I already had tons of articles and anecdotes I had already written over the years. (It simply took me 6 days to assemble those articles and my book practically wrote itself.) I love to write and it's completely okay if you're not like me.

You don't even have to personally write anything; you can easily record your audio and then have it sent to be transcribed it into a book. Don't worry about the details because you can easily hire talent from Fiverr or Upwork.com to do everything from cover design to ghostwriting to publishing it on Amazon, Apple or Google Books. That's what I did too.

After that, you can get your physical book in books stores or even hand out signed copies to clients and prospects; they work 1,000 times better than name cards!

Over to You

What strategies do you use in your own real estate listing marketing plan? Let us know in the comments below.

Learn How To Get More Real Estate Leads, Get More Listings, Close More Sales, with Less Resistance AND still have a LIFE!

Get more exclusive real estate agent training here 👉 https://www.yasserkhan.sg/👈

YASSER KHAN

Author, Coach & Trainer

Yasser Khan earned less than $1,000 in his first year as a full time property agent. With no money for the $2 train fare to his Broker's office, he was forced to walk 25 kilometers on foot. Worse, he got evicted at midnight with his wife and baby son by the roadside. Desperate, he bought a $16 Sales book and took massive action. That single investment in himself gave him an OBSCENE ROI of $160,000 in just 11 months. Today, Yasser is on a mission to make the real estate great career again and helps ambitious agents quadruple their commission income within 90 days.

Yasser Khan is a real estate coach at YasserKhan.SG, trainer at PropertyAgentUniversity.com and the author of Property Agent Secrets Book who teaches Realtors how to make more Money, have more Time and enjoy more Freedom without all the B.S. plaguing the industry today.  

Yasser Khan’s approach to coaching is highly personalised, holistic, no B.S., and for “PROS ONLY… amateurs not allowed.” He believes that true success means winning in every single area of your life (like Financial, Family, Social, Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Fun).

When Yasser isn’t coaching, he loves playing GOTY PC Games with top-of-the-line Razer products and being a kid again with his 3 naughty children (actually, boss babies...), traveling to and across scenic Pakistan, enjoying hot & spicy food, taking pictures of the Milky Way with his favourite Canon DSLR and reading up all about Dinosaurs (especially T. Rex)

The National Association of Realtors^® (NAR) reports there are more than 3 million active real estate licensees in the U.S. and more than 106,000 real estate brokerages. Choosing the best real estate company to work for can be challenging, whether you’re a new agent or an experienced veteran.

According to NAR’s research, the median agent tenure at a brokerage is five years, so it’s likely that at some point in your career, you’ll consider making a switch. But how do you decide which company is best for you? Through research and interviews, we evaluated dozens of real estate companies based on the criteria that matter most to you, and selected our top five from a field of big-name brands.

Best Real Estate Companies of 2023

Don’t forget: If you’re new to real estate and looking to get licensed OR a seasoned agent looking to meet your continuing education requirements, become a broker, or launch your own real estate firm, Real Estate Express can help you meet your goals with convenient, affordable online classes.

Visit Real Estate Express

The Best Real Estate Company to Work for Overall: Keller Williams

Keller Williams takes home our prize for the best real estate company to work for because they excel in the areas that matter most to agents.

We were impressed with their competitive compensation plan and commitment to creating a culture of success on all levels, including prioritizing women in leadership. Keller Williams also made the top of our list because of the work they do to create career-lasting relationships with their agents.

Keller Williams agents make money in two ways: through commissions earned from the purchase or sale of real estate, and through a program the company refers to as profit-sharing, but which is more of a recruitment and retention strategy from which you can make additional cash. Here are the details on each.

Keller Williams’ Pre-Cap Commission Structure

Each Keller Williams office (or, as they call them, Market Center) has what’s called a cap. The cap is a certain amount of money that each agent will pay to Keller Williams to support the company at large.

Each Market Center has its own cap, determined by local market conditions, operating expenses, and so on. Keller Williams agents at each office have the same cap; it doesn’t matter if you are a 20-year veteran or a brand-new agent.

When an agent receives a pre-cap commission, they keep 64% of it, 30% goes to the Market Center, and 6% goes to the national brand as a franchise fee. Once you hit the cap, you keep 100% of your commission—no hidden fees, no sneaky percentages—that’s it.

Keller Williams’ Post-Cap Commission Structure

One an agent’s annual cap has been met, they keep 100% of their earned commissions. So if the agent’s split is 3%, they receive $7,500 on a $250,000 property sale.

Profit-sharing

Agents can also receive a secondary commission when someone they recruit closes a sale, something the company labels “profit-sharing.” If someone you invite to the company closes a sale, whether they’re a member of your team or not, you get a piece of the company’s share of the commission.

Profit-sharing at Keller Williams is multi-level, meaning that if the person you recruited turns around and successfully recruits other agents, you’ll see a portion of the company’s share of their sales too.

Keller Williams Company Culture

Keller Williams’ company culture is focused on constant improvement and support. They are widely regarded as an industry leader in training and professional development.

Their development mindset isn’t only a top-down approach. Thanks to the Keller Williams profit-sharing structure, agents benefit directly from the success of their recruits. Thus, agents develop mentorship relationships, making Keller Willliams a very team-oriented real estate company to work for, even in the absence of any official “teams” in a particular Market Center.

Keller Williams Branding

Keller Williams has an extremely recognizable brand throughout the U.S. and Canada. Though their branding isn’t groundbreaking or exciting (if branding is important to you, check out Century 21), their relatively conservative brand guidelines are high-quality, consistent, and easy for agents to apply to their marketing.

Visit Keller Williams

Best Real Estate Company to Work For—Established High-performing Agents: RE/MAX

RE/MAX is a great place for high-performing, established agents to take their business to the next level. Though they offer tools, training, and mentorship for agents at any stage of their career, the RE/MAX system is set up to benefit a market’s top performers the most.

RE/MAX doesn’t have a brand-wide policy about splits, desk fees, and caps; each of those decisions is negotiated at the local level.

Though we wish they provided the same transparency on commissions as Keller Williams, RE/MAX does offer agents lots of flexibility in terms of how they receive their commissions.

With a split range topping out at 95%, experienced agents with a proven track record can get paid more on the front end of each commission, allowing them to leverage that revenue toward time-sensitive needs, including marketing and promotion.

Their generous splits often come with higher desk fees, but for most rock star agents, the higher desk fees are worth the investment to further other aspects of their business.

RE/MAX Company Culture

The RE/MAX company culture is built around success and leadership within the communities they serve. Of the top 200 agents of 2021 according to Real Trends (by transaction sides), a staggering 55 of them are RE/MAX agents. This is a brand synonymous with performance, especially for those who know the business well.

An agent who operates on a high level knows that their personal brand and reputation are going to be supported and enhanced by the market reputation of both their brokerage and the other agents who belong to it.

RE/MAX Branding

RE/MAX has a strong presence in the vast majority of major metropolitan markets across the United States. RE/MAX’s iconic hot air balloon is one of the most unique and recognizable symbols in all of real estate, according to a Millward Brown Demographic Ad Tracking Study in 2017. Entrepreneur Magazine named RE/MAX the top Real Estate Franchise of 2020, a spot it’s held for 15 of the last 18 years.

Visit RE/MAX

Best Real Estate Company to Work For—New Agents: Coldwell Banker

In a bit of a surprise, Coldwell Banker has emerged as our pick for the best real estate brand for new agents due to their consistent commitment to training and mentorship of new agents. Their commitment is demonstrated by their top-down training resources and constant encouragement (and funding) of their franchisees to effectively spur professional development. Their dedication to agent growth makes them a great choice for someone just starting off.

Even though the commission and fees at Coldwell Banker are reasonable, they aren’t anything to write home about. If you are considering Coldwell Banker a real estate company to work for, consider the following:

No companywide policy for cap, split, or desk fees; all are negotiated at the local level on an agent-by-agent basis

Universal 8% per commission franchise fee even after you hit cap

If the 8% franchise fee is a deal-breaker for you, consider Keller Williams (no franchise fee after you hit cap) or eXp Realty (no franchise fee at all).

Coldwell Banker Company Culture

Throughout our analysis of Coldwell Banker company culture, we kept coming back to the same phrase: client-focused. They live this value with something they call “Big Blue Culture,” which can best be summarized as a “relentless pursuit of the best possible client experience.”

This sort of client-centric focus is great for new agents who are still learning the ropes as far as interaction, sales, and best practices. Corporate leaders all the way down to local franchise officials consistently spoke about this aspect of the company’s culture.

We spoke with Tracy Bacigalupi, Vice President of Marketing for Coldwell Banker Schmidt Family of Companies, the largest Coldwell Banker franchisee in the country, and here’s what she had to say about the resources available to agents to get them into the swing of Big Blue Culture:

“Coldwell Banker has an amazing amount of resources that it provides to realtors and brokers on a local level. Our programs like CBU (Coldwell Banker University) provide an incredibly rich and customizable approach to training that is perfect for experienced agents or people brand-new to the business.”

Coldwell Banker Branding

Coldwell Banker is a legacy brand that’s been associated with trusted real estate service since the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Its recent rebranding and logo updates show that the company is committed to moving forward and building a business that has an exciting future, not just a storied past.

We’ll admit it—we were skeptical at first to see changes to a trusted logo, but they come with a new-and-improved set of marketing resources that facilitate every agent’s efforts, but especially those of new agents.

Visit Coldwell Banker

Best Real Estate Company to Work For–Part-time Agents: eXp Realty

You haven’t even read our explanation yet, and we can already hear what you’re thinking. “What?! A virtual brokerage beat out other major brick-and-mortar brands?!” Yes, yes it did.

And here’s why: When it comes to being a part-time agent, there are three things that are important to you.

Can you make the financials work? If you have lots of upfront fees and costs due outside of a transaction, the math can sometimes makes your real estate side hustle impossible. With eXp Realty, you don’t have to stress about that.

Self-paced and remote resources: Your growth should be on your own schedule. eXp Realty has you covered.

Remote company culture: You need a company that really embraces the remote working lifestyle. eXp Realty lives remotely.

How eXp Realty Agents Get Paid

The eXp Realty commission structure is simple and easy to understand. Similar to Keller Williams, eXp Realty also offers a revenue-sharing program for agents you recruit to join the brokerage. They also offer some stock options for high-performing agents. Here are the details.

eXp Realty Commission Structure

Every agent in the company has a cap of $16,000. Splits are 80/20, and after you meet that cap, you keep 100% of your commissions—no desk fees, no royalty fees, no franchise fees.

YKC INSIDER TIP: A $16,000 cap is extremely reasonable. Most major franchises have caps over $25,000, and some luxury brokerages like Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and Sotheby’s have caps north of $33,000. For a part-time agent just getting started, this is a major benefit.

Revenue Sharing: Better Than Profit-sharing

Similar to Keller Williams, eXp Realty also offers passive income options, paying you a percentage of the commission made by any agent that you recruit.

While Keller Williams offers agents a share of PROFIT (which can be a relatively thin margin depending on your Market Center), eXp offers a share of REVENUE. This approach puts more money in the pockets of eXp Realty agents who can recruit. It also makes recruiting a potentially more profitable pursuit than at Keller Williams.

Stock Options

eXp Realty also offers stock options to agents after they’ve hit certain performance marks each year. Stock options generally only benefit high-performing agents, but anyone can work toward this goal, whether they’re working part time or full time.

eXp Realty Company Culture

Since eXp is a completely remote business with no brick-and-mortar locations, the only real option for developing a company culture is through a virtual environment.

eXp offers a LOT of livestreamed training and networking (up to eight hours of live content per day). A massive library of prerecorded material is also available on eXp’s virtual campus for agents to use at their convenience. Seriously, you’ll find thousands of hours of on-demand training on just about every subject you can think of.

Through these tools, it’s pretty clear that the eXp Realty company culture is all about providing agents and teams with the tools they need to create an individualized path that makes sense for their business. eXp Realty agents seem to be very excited about this sort of self-reliance and support.

We asked Gogo Bethke, a high-performing agent with eXp Realty, about training opportunities and company culture. Here’s what she told us.

“The best that I’ve ever experienced on any level, period. There are so many different groups of eXp agents, so many different platforms that they (eXp Realty) provide access to.

“And, you can’t get more convenient than eXp. I could be sitting with my feet in the sands of Mexico and attend a live session on post-closing occupancy in the eXp virtual classroom. I’ve been with multiple real estate brands across my career, I have never seen anything like what eXp offers.”

—Gogo Bethke, Agent at Gogo’s Real Estate

eXp Realty Branding

The eXp Realty branding strategy is a little different than others on this list. Since eXp Realty is the only company that isn’t built on the franchise model, you’d think that they’d have a strong, centralized brand presence. But, given the fact that they don’t have any brick-and-mortar locations and the success of the company is really built off the success of each individual agent and team, this isn’t the case.

The eXp Realty branding is minimal, limited, and often a very minor part of an agent’s marketing. Yes, it appears on business cards and yard signs, but it’s likely not a logo you can picture in your head, and the standards to which it has to be applied are loose.

If you prefer a brand that will give you high recognition, consider RE/MAX or Coldwell Banker.

Visit eXp Realty

Best Real Estate Company to Work For—Reaching Millennials: Century 21

Century 21 has consistent involvement and advocacy in issues important to the next generation of homeowners, including fair housing, LGBTQ rights, and the transformation of commercial space into new and innovative residential space. The company’s focus on issues important to millennials has caused many to sit up and take notice of this legacy real estate brand.

A new logo, new marketing strategy (an entire revamp of their brand, actually) means that younger people new to the brand are talking about Century 21.

If you are a strong marketer of your own personal business, combining your skills with Century 21’s clout and market positioning can make for a potent formula for success—especially when it comes to reaching the elusive millennial market.

Century 21 Commission Options & Agent Fees

Similar to the situation with Coldwell Banker, the commission structure at Century 21 is fine, but nothing we’re crazy about, either. Just about everything (except for a universally applied 5-8% franchise fee) is negotiated at the local level, so there isn’t much we can tell you about here.

The one differentiator is that most Century 21 franchises don’t charge a desk fee. Some major metropolitan markets, where office space is at a premium, will charge a monthly desk fee to literally have a desk, but this is optional.

Century 21 doesn’t ask for a penny before you close a deal, which is helpful for a lot of agents, especially those who are new to the business.

Century 21 Company Culture

Century 21’s company culture is all about relentless progress, whether we are talking about social issues, issues of equity and inclusion, or the pursuit of the company’s business objectives.

For example, Century 21 was named to the Forbes 2019 list of best employers for diversity.

The company actively recruits veterans to become real estate professionals, and their chief marketing officer, Cara Whitley, is recognized as a HousingWire Woman of Influence.

Their partnership in the Empowering Latinas program is part of Century 21’s efforts to empower Latinas in South Florida to earn a real estate license. The scholarship pays for all the necessary classes and licensing fees for aspiring Latina entrepreneurs.

Century 21 Branding

“What if we changed everything?”

That’s the question that marketers at Century 21 have based their entire new strategy around, and it’s working. New company mission (“To Deliver Extraordinary Experiences”), new logo, new vibe altogether.

Century 21 is taking a bold approach to pushing this new message in new quarters. They’re booking guest spots on shows like SportsCenter instead of 60 Minutes. They are backing ads on Viceland, not on Fox News. It’s clear that they’ve identified their next customer as more likely to be watching the Big Bang Theory than Antiques Roadshow.

If you are a realtor who has millennial (and younger) homebuyers or sellers in your sights, Century 21’s message will resonate nicely with you (and them).

Visit Century 21

Your Turn

Now, we want to hear from you. Tell us your thoughts on our picks. Do your experiences line up with what we’ve found?

If you’re a real estate professional working in a local office, whether a major brand or a mom-and-pop shop, we want to hear from you.

Learn How To Get More Real Estate Leads, Get More Listings, Close More Sales, with Less Resistance AND still have a LIFE!

Get more exclusive real estate agent training here 👉 https://www.yasserkhan.sg/👈

YASSER KHAN

Author, Coach & Trainer

Yasser Khan earned less than $1,000 in his first year as a full time property agent. With no money for the $2 train fare to his Broker's office, he was forced to walk 25 kilometers on foot. Worse, he got evicted at midnight with his wife and baby son by the roadside. Desperate, he bought a $16 Sales book and took massive action. That single investment in himself gave him an OBSCENE ROI of $160,000 in just 11 months. Today, Yasser is on a mission to make the real estate great career again and helps ambitious agents quadruple their commission income within 90 days.

Yasser Khan is a real estate coach at YasserKhan.SG, trainer at PropertyAgentUniversity.com and the author of Property Agent Secrets Book who teaches Realtors how to make more Money, have more Time and enjoy more Freedom without all the B.S. plaguing the industry today.  

Yasser Khan’s approach to coaching is highly personalised, holistic, no B.S., and for “PROS ONLY… amateurs not allowed.” He believes that true success means winning in every single area of your life (like Financial, Family, Social, Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Fun).

When Yasser isn’t coaching, he loves playing GOTY PC Games with top-of-the-line Razer products and being a kid again with his 3 naughty children (actually, boss babies...), traveling to and across scenic Pakistan, enjoying hot & spicy food, taking pictures of the Milky Way with his favourite Canon DSLR and reading up all about Dinosaurs (especially T. Rex)

Finding the perfect real estate closing gift for every buyer and seller you work with isn’t easy. That said, if you get it just right, you will not only have a referral source for the next few months, but you could create a client of your services for life.

The tricky part isn’t figuring out what your client wants (I include some sneaky ways to find out at the end of the article). It’s finding gifts that are personal but not too personal, that have meaning but not too much meaning, and that remind your clients not only that you care, but that you’re THE local expert they can rely on for years to come. A tall order to be sure, so here are my picks for the best real estate closing gifts for 2022:

List of the 50 Best Real Estate Closing Gift Ideas

1. A Custom House History Poster or Book

As someone who experienced living in a turn-of-the-century home back in Pakistan, I can relate to why so many put up with drafty windows, dodgy electrical systems, and plumbing from the Stone Age. For most of us, our love of historic homes is more of an addiction than a preference.

If you’re listing a historic home, then offering your buyers a custom researched and designed house history will always be a hit. Painstakingly researched and professionally designed by companies like Brownstone Detectives in Manhattan and Brooklyn and Once Upon a Home in New Orleans, house histories are the one gift your buyer will not only keep, but treasure.

Speaking of treasure, house histories are not exactly what you would call cheap. Since they are so labour-intensive to make, they start at around $750 and climb all the way to $5,000 depending on how far back you want the history to go and the production of the book or poster.

While that might be a bit too rich for many real estate agents looking for closing gifts, you can always have the book created as a marketing piece to help sell the home and chalk it up as a marketing expense!

2. A Branded Gift They Will Actually Keep

The problem with branded gifts is that most people secretly hate them. Sure, they will thank you for that cutting board with your logo on it, but let’s face it, that thing is getting shoved in a cabinet, never to be seen again.

That’s where EvaBot comes in. Using artificial intelligence (AI), EvaBot figures out what products your client really wants, then sends them a gift in a custom branded box with your logo on it. So your client receives a desirable gift (that isn’t branded)—in a branded box. No shopping, wrapping, or gift-picking stress required on your part.

To start gifting 21st century-style, visit EvaBot’s website below to claim a $25 dollar gift credit.

3. A Shaggy Swag Gift Box Subscription

Let’s face it—today’s pampered pooches live better than we did as kids! Well, maybe not, but pets have slowly become a focal point in many people’s lives, and for good reason. Taking care of a pet offers health benefits for owners, not to mention possibly saving a furry little life.

So if your client is a certified dog mommy or daddy, then they’ll absolutely love the unique and fun items they’ll get from the Shaggy Swag gift box. Instead of boring old bones, their little fur monsters get high-quality toys, treats, and essentials.

The best part of these subscriptions is that even if your client deletes your phone number right after closing, you get to feel good about keeping a little four-legged friend happy for an entire year.

4. A Practical Gift That Can Generate Referrals

The best closing gifts do two things: They show your former client you actually care, and they keep you top of mind to generate referrals. While many gifts show how much you care, few keep you top of mind to generate referrals. Home Manager does both.

Their app makes it easy to schedule the crucial home maintenance tasks that so many homeowners forget about until it’s too late. Perfect for new buyers. Even better, it comes gift boxed with a practical gift of your choice, like a carbon monoxide detector, and is designed to keep you top of mind for two years.

5. An Ecovacs Deebot N79S Robotic Vacuum

A robotic vacuum will make your tech geek clients grin like little kids at Christmas. The only problem, of course, is that these things were priced like unobtanium up until now. Today, you can get a well-reviewed robotic vacuum that syncs with Amazon’s Alexa, has an app, and even charges itself when the battery runs out, all for around $140.

If your client is more of a brand snob, you can upgrade them to the original iRobot Roomba for a little under $300. Still a great bargain for a gift that ticks both the useful and neato boxes that most gifts can’t.

6. Anything From Hermès

Here’s a great suggestion from Compass Manhattan luxury team leader Philip Scheinfeld, “I usually go with something elegant like a Hermès ashtray, which is a great coffee table item. If it is a higher-end deal, I sometimes go with a Hermès blanket. Those are typically my go-to gifts. I also take my clients out to a nice dinner as well to celebrate once they move in.”

Hermès is just one of those brands that will impress (or at least satisfy) even the pickiest and wealthiest clients. Beautiful and unique enough to keep out on a coffee table or console, a gift from Hermès is a surefire way to stay top of mind. Expensive, but a big return on investment (ROI) for your closing gift budget.

7. A Wishing House

What gives a lucky rabbit’s foot its sentimental value? The answer, of course, is the wishes and dreams of the person who owns it. Wishing Houses, handcrafted by Brooklyn-based jewelry designer Brauna Rosen, allows you to send your client a gift that already has sentimental value.

Here’s how it works. Your client gets an adorable cast pewter Wishing House along with a handwritten wish from you. They put the Wishing House in their own home and then send a Wishing House back to you, or send a new Wishing House on to a friend or loved one who needs some moral support—and who doesn’t these days?

Best of all, at only $24 per Wishing House and wish-shipped, they’re affordable enough to send out to all your clients during the holidays as a heartfelt personal keepsake.

8. The Nest Hello Smart Doorbell

In 2022, even doorbells are smart. The Nest Hello Smart is one of the best. Buy this as a real estate closing gift for your new homeowner and they will be able to see who’s at the door from their phone and never miss a package or visitor again.

Even better, like Nest’s namesake thermostat, it’s well-designed enough to complement pretty much any exterior decor.

9. A Consultation With a Local Landscape Designer

If there’s one home decorating area where even a lot of design snobs are at a loss, it’s landscaping. As a result, many homeowners just skip it, not realizing just how dramatic of an effect a well-designed yard can have on their home.

That’s why an hour-long consultation with a professional landscape designer can be a great closing gift idea for new homeowners. It’s something they might not think about that can have a huge impact on how their home looks and feels. Houzz is a great place to find someone near you.

10. A Turnkey Concierge Service for the Lifecycle of the Transaction

Let’s face it: We all want to wow our buyers with 5-star service, but the amount of time, effort, and stress involved mean most agents just squeak by with a Google Doc of important local phone numbers.

Client Giant takes it a step further. With one click, they will send out a series of thoughtful touches for important milestones in your buyer’s transaction. Touches include a personal concierge, moving boxes, snacks, personalized gifts, handwritten thank-you notes, and more.

11. A Subscription to a Meal Kit Delivery Service

If your client likes to cook, then a subscription to a meal kit delivery service like Blue Apron will make a fantastic closing gift. When they end up using it—and if they like to cook they will use it—they will think of you every time they prepare a meal.

With the runaway success of companies like Blue Apron, there has been a veritable explosion of meal kit delivery services over the last few years. So instead of just one or two, you now have dozens to choose from. If you’re shopping for foodies, the more specific the kit, the better. If you’re not sure where to start, Epicurious has a buyer’s guide with 34 different kits to choose from here.

12. Décor, Sentimental Gifts, or Local Art

Still stuck? Here are a few great gift ideas from luxury Manhattan real estate agent Anna Shagalov to get your creative juices flowing.

“Décor: I once gave a developer a massive shell-covered chandelier for his double-height living room that he was renovating in SoHo.

“Sentimental gifts: I put together a huge shadow box of apartment photos and artifacts for clients who were selling their loft to move to Michigan for a job relocation that they were gutted about.

“Local art: I’ve provided a session with a local graffiti artist to design a wall in a client’s new home.

“The old faithfuls: And, of course, ABC Carpet & Home gift cards, high-design (Hermès, Chanel, and so forth) key chains, throws, Diptyque candles, and so on.”

13. A Fully Planned & Paid for Evening Out

While buying your clients an experience rather than an object is always recommended, sometimes your gift of a night out can be more of a chore than a welcome respite from moving.

Think about it. If they have kids, they need to hire a sitter. If they want to drink, they need to order an Uber. And so on and so forth.

If you really want to impress your former clients, set up a dinner at a local restaurant and make sure you cover ALL the annoying details that make nights out an obligation rather than a treat. You should, at the very least, make a reservation and tell the restaurant to expect them, send the restaurant a custom cake, arrange for a sitter, and most importantly, arrange for an Uber XL to take them to and from dinner in style.

Trust me, your clients will be singing your praises for years if you get this right!

14. A Membership to a Local Museum or Gym

If you’re leaning toward getting them an experience, then why not consider a membership to a local museum or gym? Of course, you’ll need to take the time to know your clients, but you should be doing that already.00

Agent Marilyn Blume of Warburg Realty in Manhattan tries to buy her clients experiences like museum memberships instead of traditional gifts. “As buying a home is stressful, giving an experiential gift is a way to help them relax and maybe introduce them to something new. While working with clients, I use this time to learn more about them (hobbies, values, interests) to show them properties that will be the best fit.

“For example, if someone loves art, then I can give them a membership to a nearby museum, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. If they enjoy physical fitness, then maybe a membership to a nearby gym or even ClassPass so they can try a bunch of different places.”

15. A Gift Certificate to a Local Nursery

While most people like house plants and small trees, people who love them are generally pretty particular. Some plant lovers collect succulents while others prefer hanging plants or perennials. That makes picking out a nice plant as a closing gift a tricky proposition. If you want to make sure your plant-loving client is happy, a gift certificate is the way to go.

Like the other closing gift ideas on this list that come from local business owners, make sure to form a relationship with the owner before buying the gift certificate. If they’re greeted warmly by a store owner who speaks well of you, you come across as a well-connected local rather than just someone they completed a transaction with.

16. A Customized Gift for Children

Of course, if you do develop a more personal relationship with your client, then getting them something that they’ll personally resonate with might make sense. Isaac Rosenberg at Compass tries to get his clients gifts they’ll remember. “I love getting my clients a gift that they will remember forever. Preferably something they can use and keep around the house for a long time.

“My favorite gift I’ve gotten for a client moving to the U.S. for the first time was a toy train with their child’s name on it (at the time their only child). It’s not about how much it costs, but the thought and the appreciation for what’s special to the specific client.”

17. A Local Cooking Class

The perfect closing gift for your foodie clients, a gift certificate to a unique local cooking class can be a fun gift for anyone, really. Even better, if you work in a major city, you can find classes at all levels of experience and intensity. For example, a bachelor first-time homeowner might genuinely appreciate a cookery 101 course, while a die-hard foodie might get a lot out of a butchery or advanced knife skills class.

Again, knowing your client’s interests is key to great closing gift-giving! You can opt for an online cooking class with a well-known chef that your client can enjoy from the comfort of their new home.

18. A Celebratory Dinner (With You)

Greenwich Village Manhattan agent Elise Ehrlich prefers taking her clients out to a fancy dinner and flowers for a true celebration. “My favorite closing gift is a dinner at a fabulous local restaurant. When at all possible, I prefer to accompany the buyers or sellers to celebrate the closing and thank them for their trust.

“I make the reservation, arrange for great flowers—truly a great night for all. I believe that material gifts are so personal, and so often they are just returned. Real estate is about relationships, so a dinner for the clients with or without me always makes people happy.”

19. A Custom House Portrait That Guest Stars Your Clients & Pet

While a custom house portrait makes a generally pretty safe (and great) closing gift, why not go the extra mile and include the happy couple and their pet? This way, you can turn something that’s fairly personal into something they may even cherish for decades.

The trick is to find a talented artist who can really capture the spirit of your clients and their new home. Some artistic license (and some Facebook snooping) will ensure your closing gift is heartfelt and truly personalized.

20. A Decorative Fruit Bowl, Coffee Table Book, or Engraved Keychain

Since your goal here is to be remembered, you might also want to get them something they’ll keep and use for a long time. That’s why Broker Becki Danchik of Warburg Realty Manhattan likes to give gifts that last. “I like to give my clients a gift that is tangible, something they can use for a long time, such as a decorative fruit bowl, coffee table books or a keychain with their initials engraved into it.

“A gift that might remind them of me and their homebuying experience is more appreciated than something that has an expiration date, such as a gift card, tickets to a show. If their friends or family ask them where they got the cool salt-and-pepper shakers, they can say, ‘My real estate agent gave them to me.’ It leaves a long-lasting impression.”

21. A Gift That Disappears Quickly …

Another strategy Manhattan Broker Sheila Trichter of Warburg Realty uses are not gifts that last forever. Her rationale is that most people (especially the Manhattan 1%!) have enough stuff and would be more likely to enjoy an experience.

“My general strategy is to give a gift that disappears quickly. Most people have enough stuff, so I like to give gifts that they can enjoy and not need to keep. In that vein, I often give a redeemable voucher A wonderful food basket is generally appreciated, as are theater tickets and gift cards to great restaurants. In most cases, I take my clients to a wonderful closing dinner.”

22. HOMEMADE SWEETS AND SNACKS

Even if you’ve never baked in your life, chances are you could throw together some cookies or brownies for clients with relative ease (and minimal mess). Look up some enticing recipes you could cook up for clients and bring the goods to closing.

23. A Local Experience They’ll Never Forget

If your clients are a bit on the daring side, why not treat them to a heart-racing local experience they’ll never forget? Depending on where you work, you might be able to get them skydiving lessons, horseback riding lessons, parasailing lessons, or something even more unique.

24. A Gift Card to a Local Coffee Shop

A gift card to a well-reviewed local coffee shop or bar can be a great way to give your buyers a nudge into becoming locals. First, if you have a relationship with the owners, you can make sure they are warmly welcomed, which anyone brand-new to a neighborhood will appreciate.

Second, you give them an easy way to start a routine and meet new friends in the neighborhood. Just make sure to get to know your clients well before buying them something like this. A teetotaler will not take kindly to getting a tab at a bar as a closing gift.

25. A Dyson Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

OK, I know what you’re thinking—a vacuum cleaner is up there with a gym membership as an insulting gift. If we’re taking normal vacuums, I agree with you. 100%. But the Dyson cordless vacuums have now become something of a status symbol along with Peletons. They're also expensive. For most people, they cross over the line between household necessity into luxury splurge. That’s what makes them a great gift!

The number one rule of gift giving is to buy them something that they want, but probably wouldn’t buy for themselves. So, when you’re making small talk in the car, ask them if they have a Dyson or another cordless vacuum cleaner.

26. A Gift Certificate to a Local Antique Store

If your clients are moving into a vintage home, then a gift certificate to a local antique shop is a no-brainer. Even if they don’t find that perfect piece right away, they’ll likely form a relationship with the owners that will ensure pleasant browsing for years to come.

This is a win/win in anyone’s book. You get your local shop owner a potential lifetime customer, and you show your client that you really understand what they really value.

27. Something to Make a Transplant Feel Welcome

Let’s face it—moving to a new city across the country or even around the world can be intimidating. You don’t know anyone and feeling truly at home isn’t easy for a lot of people. If you’re dealing with transplant clients, one of the best closing gifts you can get them is a local experience that helps them feel at home.

For example, if your client just moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, then get them surfing lessons. If they moved from India to Cape Cod, then a day of whale watching will help your client get excited about the unique spirit of their new home.

Just remember that closing gifts like this don’t have to be super-serious. They can be lighthearted or even corny. The idea is to provide a unique local experience that will turn your clients into instant evangelists for your services!

28. A Gift Certificate to a Local Florist

If your client loves fresh flowers, then a gift certificate to a local florist can make a great closing gift. As a rule of thumb, go for a florist that’s a little more high-end than your clients may normally buy from. This way, your gift will be seen as a treat rather than something they might have bought on their own anyway.

29. A Consultation With a Local (or Online) Interior Designer

If there is one luxury that even relatively wealthy people skip out on, it’s hiring an interior designer. After all, it just seems so decadent. Of course, interior designers work in all flavors and at most price points. They can also actually save you money because they can arrange or rearrange furniture you may already own to work better.

In many ways, that makes an interior designer the perfect closing gift. It’s something useful, decadent, and something most people wouldn’t dream of hiring themselves.

If you want to go local, then Yelp would be a good place to start looking. Or, you can prebook time with an online interior design consultant using a service like Havenly.

30. An Apple iPad

While generally viewed as important oxygen itself for many real estate agents, there are still a lot of people out there who see iPads and tablets in general as luxury items. Now that doesn’t mean they don’t want one—far from it. It just means that even extremely successful people hold off on what they consider personal luxuries.

Luckily for real estate agents trying to buy closing gifts for their clients, though, a high-end tablet can be a great gift. It’s useful, fun, luxurious, and something many people just won’t buy for themselves.

If you’re leaning toward a tech gift like an Apple iPad, drop some hints during your showing to see if they already have one and gauge their interest in owning one. If they don’t have one and think they’re the bee’s knees, then you have yourself a pretty sweet closing gift.

31. A Luxury Key Ring or Key Chain

Here’s another gift where getting to know the person you’re buying for is crucial. For the right kind of buyer, presenting their new house keys on a luxury key ring, like this example from Tiffany & Co., will make a lasting impression.

Yes, they’re expensive for such a small and inconsequential item, but they help give your buyer a sense of occasion at the closing table. Just make sure that if you do decide to spend a few hundred bucks on a key ring, you know that your buyer knows what it is and has a ballpark idea of what it costs. Otherwise, they might not even notice or think they just lucked out and got a shiny key chain!

32. A Luxury Pen

Even though a luxury pen might come across as a little impersonal, you can easily make it personal by having it engraved, or including a clever card with the pen presented in a nice gift box. You could get a little bold and write something like “for our next deal” on the card, or just go traditional and have the pen engraved with their name, or maybe something like “home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling.”

You can get a beautiful luxury pen starting at around $50 with a gift box from companies like Parker or Cross. If you want to go big, Montblancs start at around $300.

33. A Luxury Wallet

(Source: Coach)

Even though a luxury wallet might come across as a little impersonal, you can easily make it personal by having it engraved, or including a clever card with the pen presented in a nice gift box. You could get a little bold and write something like “for our next deal” on the card, or just go traditional and have the pen engraved with their name, or maybe something like “home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling.” Get it here.

34. Scheduled Laundry Pickup

Not all of your clients will move into homes with washers and dryers there (or the ability to add them in their homes). This makes taking advantage of a laundry service a must, so set up an account for clients and pay for their first few pickups.

35. Free Grocery Delivery

The same goes for grocery shopping: Not all of your clients will live near markets where they can shop daily. Sign up those without cars or easy access to these stores for a grocery ordering service that delivers food right to their front door.

36. Smart-Home Technology

Every day, new smart-home tech emerges. Find an application or appliance that can easily be incorporated into your buyer clients’ homes — ones they can use every day, like smart speakers (e.g. Alexa) or smart thermostats (e.g. Nest).

37. Fruit Or Charcuterie Basket

This kind of closing gift may sound a bit boring and generic. The reality, though, is most people really enjoy getting free food, so why not compile a basket featuring your clients’ favorite meats and cheeses or one featuring all kinds of fruits?

38. Night Out For Dinner

This may be cheating, as it’s also a gift for you — a delectable meal at a local fine-dining establishment — but your seller or buyer clients likely want to relax after closing day, and this is a simple (yet phenomenal) way to accomplish just that.

39. Custom-Addressed Stationery

Thank you notes, postcards, notebooks, and any other types of stationery you can customize with the name of your clients can be an excellent closing day gift to share. Who knows: Maybe they’ll send one of those thank you notes to you.

40. Personalized Blankets And Pillows

Head to a website like Etsy to hire one of its many shop- runners to craft a pillow or blanket for you. This type of present can make clients’ houses truly feel like home and give them a treasured belonging they’ll hold onto for a long time.

41. Monthly Service Subscription

This could be for monthly subscriptions to popular streaming services like Netflix and Hulu or customized delivery services like Birchbox or Rent the Runway that send free makeup, clothes, and snacks you can buy or send back.

42. Gardening Supplies

Get clients with green thumbs the tools they need to succeed with their gardens. If you’re not sure what they’ll need to get underway with their planting and landscaping, purchase a gift card to Home Depot or Lowe’s so they can pick their supplies.

43. Cleaning Services

Clients with large homes often don’t realize the effort it takes to keep their interiors looking spick and span. Hiring a cleaner to come to their home a couple times right after their move-in can give them a break from constantly wiping and dusting.

44. Moving Services

Moving day is a stressful day. Therefore, it makes complete sense to help them hire the best possible company to facilitate their move. Employ a service you know is affordable and can get the job done without causing further anxiety for clients.

45. Toolkit With Beginner's Guide

First-time homeowners often don’t realize they’ll have to handle most of their home upkeep themselves. That means they need a toolkit (with plenty of instructions) to help them ensure their home remains upright, so to speak.

46. Spa Reservation

Once all of the boxes are unpacked, your clients will need to blow off some steam. One of the best places they can decompress is at a local spa, so consider getting them a day-long package of massages and general relaxation.

47. Gym Classes/ Membership

If you know your clients love going to the gym but aren’t sure where the best ones are in the area after moving to your community, sign them up for exercise, yoga, and/or personal training sessions at a reputable fitness center in your market.

48. Customized Keychain

This may seem like a very minor gift, but it’s one your clients will use every single day. So, getting a custom one that features their name and your agency branding can constantly keep you top of mind with your clients whenever they key into their homes.

49. Minor Furniture/ Furnishings

Not every closing gift has to be a secret or custom-made. Sometimes, your buyer clients just need stuff to fill their homes, so be upfront and ask what you can buy as a thank you: a side table, an ottoman, bathroom towels, and the like.

50. Sporting Gear

Get clients who play tennis a new racket. Get golf fans a new driver. Get skiing enthusiasts new goggles. Think about whatever athletic endeavor your clients most enjoy, then find something that can help them better enjoy that activity.

51. Your Time, Attention and Insights

Arguably the greatest closing gift you can give your clients is you: Simply offer to be there for them whenever they need a real estate resource: insights on when to buy/sell next, advice on remodeling, and even coffee chats just to catch up.

As most of us learned in elementary school, every thoughtful gift comes with a thoughtful card. When I was a child, my grandfather would send me a gift certificate for McDonald’s every year for my birthday. While that was nice, since my parents didn’t let me eat there very often, the handwritten card he included was what made the gift heartwarming. “For Mickey D’s! Love, Grandpa.”

So yes, you do need to include a card or at least a note with your closing gift. Here’s how to write one without sounding too impersonal, or too sappy. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Welcome home!

2. May your new address be truly blessed. Congratulations!
   

3. Whew! We made it! Congratulations!
   

4. It’s been a true pleasure working with you. Congratulations!
   

5. Seeing your smiles at the closing table makes me love my job. Congratulations!
   

6. Congratulations on your new home!
   

7. Wishing you and yours many happy years in your beautiful new home.
   Welcome to the neighborhood!
   

8. Congrats on planting new roots!
   

9. Congratulations on your new home. May it always be filled with laughter and love.
   

10. Wishing your family all the best in your new home
    

11. Congrats on your lovely new home. You deserve it!
    

12. Congratulations on becoming a brand-new homeowner!

My Take on Great Real Estate Closing Gifts

Great closing gifts are personal, thoughtful, and remind your client that you are the local real estate expert they can rely on for years to come. Choose carefully by getting to know your clients well, and you just might help create a client for life!

Learn How To Get More Real Estate Leads, Get More Listings, Close More Sales, with Less Resistance AND still have a LIFE!

Get more exclusive real estate agent training here https://www.yasserkhan.sg/

YASSER KHAN

Author, Coach & Trainer

Yasser Khan earned less than $1,000 in his first year as a full time property agent. With no money for the $2 train fare to his Broker's office, he was forced to walk 25 kilometers on foot. Worse, he got evicted at midnight with his wife and baby son by the roadside. Desperate, he bought a $16 Sales book and took massive action. That single investment in himself gave him an OBSCENE ROI of $160,000 in just 11 months. Today, Yasser is on a mission to make the real estate great career again and helps ambitious agents quadruple their commission income within 90 days.

Yasser Khan is a real estate coach at YasserKhan.SG, trainer at PropertyAgentUniversity.com and the author of Property Agent Secrets Book who teaches Realtors how to make more Money, have more Time and enjoy more Freedom without all the B.S. plaguing the industry today.  

Yasser Khan’s approach to coaching is highly personalised, holistic, no B.S., and for “PROS ONLY… amateurs not allowed.” He believes that true success means winning in every single area of your life (like Financial, Family, Social, Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Fun).

When Yasser isn’t coaching, he loves playing GOTY PC Games with top-of-the-line Razer products and being a kid again with his 3 naughty children (actually, boss babies...), traveling to and across scenic Pakistan, enjoying hot & spicy food, taking pictures of the Milky Way with his favourite Canon DSLR and reading up all about Dinosaurs (especially T. Rex)

More closings means more money. Right?
This is quite straightforward and seemingly very simple.

But so many property agents still struggle with closings.
And in my daily interaction with many agents, I come across a number of reasons for this.

Why Having Few Closings is a Problem?

Only closings make you money.
Because no closing = no money...

Closings are the only way to get paid for our property agent services in this business.
After all, this is a service-based business.

But getting few closings is a serious problem.
It's a problem because if you're not closing any deals, there is no way you can make a commission.

So you need to be earning a lot of commissions in order to make a good living in this industry.
The life you want, the marriage you want, the family you want is going to be fueled by the agent business you build.
So there is no such thing as having too many closings.

The good news is, it's quite an easy problem to fix.

So today I’m going to discuss five reasons why you may be having few closings and how to quickly make six figure incomes in just 90 days flat!

There are 5 Major Reasons for Not Having Enough Closings:

1. Not all Decision Makers show up
2. Not using the right Presentation with Client
3. Not adapting your Sales Process to Client's Personality
4. Not removing Client's Perceived Risks
5. Not having a mutual Agreement in place

I'm going to explain each one in detail with easy solutions to help you get more closings quickly.

Let's start with the first problem, which is not having all the decision makers being present in an appointment.

Why Decision Makers Are Critical for Closings?

Closings are essentially contracts and every contract must have parties that agree to honour the contract.

If the buyer or seller is the only person involved in the decision to buy or sell a house, then this may not be an issue.
But it becomes an issue as more people are involved.

It simply takes two to tango.
Therefore, if any one party is not in agreement, then the deal is off.

This is why you must have all the decision makers present in an appointment.

How to Get all Decision Makers On Board

What happens if you're already in an appointment but the seller says her husband is not around to give his agreement?
Simple. You reschedule the appointment to get the husband in as well.

If this issue comes up once in while, then it's okay.
But if this happens regularly with you, then you need to solve the root issue first.

For this to work, you have to be proactive in the first place.
To avoid stalling the deal, get all of the decision makers to turn up together in the appointment.
And the best way to do that is while you're still booking that appointment.

It all starts with booking an appointment over the phone.
Request the client to bring in all decision makers or choose a day and time that works for all involved.

The next step is simply to meet up all of them as agreed.
And that's why having the right presentation is so important.

Why Having the Right Presentation is CRITICAL?

So you've got all the decision makers present in the appointment. What's next?

If you're not careful, the deal may still not go through.
That happens if you do not have a proven presentation that answers all of their concerns.

But it can be easily fixed too.
You simply need a proven presentation.

But why do you need a presentation in the first place?
A presentation script for the right selling situation:

• gives your appointment structure
• keeps you 100% on track and on topic
• answers all of the clients' objections
• demonstrates your professionalism to clients

On the other hand, a proven presentation:

• makes you work less
• helps you close more often
• makes you more money

Don't you want all of the above benefits?
Then use a proven presentation in every meeting and watch your sales soar!

How to Get a Proven Killer Presentation With an 85% Closing Rate?

Over the years, I've tested and perfected a Presentation that works for buyers and sellers.
And my agents tell me this presentation consistently gives them a very high closing rate.
Which can be as high as closing 17 deals out of every 20 appointments.

Pretty impressive, huh?

Now I'm giving away my Proven PowerPoint Presentations here.

Just download it and tweak it to your own situation.
Remember to really use it.
It's your new secret weapon.

Which brings me to the next issue.
Once you've gotten all decision makers and use my proven presentation, did you know that you could still struggle with closings?
That happens only if you do not adapt the presentation to the client.

How Personality Impacts the Selling Process?

Many property agents do not fully realise the potential that personality clashes have to break off deals.
Personality is the most underrated and the most overlooked aspect of sales.
Never underestimate the power of personality.

Personality Impacts Selling

Why is that?

70% of all sales pitches are misguided.

That's because they all ignore how clients deal with the sales interaction.
The secret is that not every sales interaction works for every personality.

How human beings deal with important decisions comes down to their personality style:

• The objections they have,
• the thoughts they think,
• the decisions they make
• their buying process

All of these are heavily influenced by their Personality.

If the client's personality clashes with yours, then it's highly likely to kill the deal.
Harmony comes from recognising this and adapting your selling style according to the situation.

This means you need to be flexible and change your presentation to suit the client's personality.
It cannot be the other way around.

You cannot get the client to suit your personality. Or your presentation.
That's very narrow-minded and naive.

Therefore, the first step is to understand yourself first before you can understand others. 
This is often done with simple personality tests, like the DISC Test.

Where to Get a Personality Test Done (And How to Use it on Clients Without Looking Weird)?

You can easily Google DISC Test and then take a free test online.
This helps you understand your own personality style.

The first time I took that test, I finally understood why I did things the way I did.
I also recognised how my own personality made the sales easier or harder for me, depending on my client's personality.

So, go ahead and take a personality test here.

But here's my warning: knowing yourself is only half the story.

You must learn to do these 2 critical things in every sales situation:

1. Accurately recognise your client's personality and
2. Quickly change and adapt your presentation to that

How do you learn to recognise your clients' personalities without asking them to take this test every time?
For that, you can attend my Mastery Coaching Program where I teach this in detail.
For example, how to quickly identify a client's personality on the very first phone call so that you can prepare the right presentation for them.

Because once you're able to recognise and adapt to your clients' personalities in any selling situation, you will master closing in no time.

So, after you get all the decision makers and you present to them by adapting to their personality, some agents will still stumble with perceived risks.

How Perceived Risks Can Kill a Sale Even Before it Begins?

Perceived risks are the biggest hurdle to sales.

Not everyone has the same risk appetite.
Clients find hiring you risky for all sorts of reasons.

They may need any number of extra assurances. These may have to do with:

• finances
• timing
• location
• decision makers
• you
• your experience
• your performance
• etc.

The trick is to remove all their risks (perceived or otherwise) so that hiring you is a no-brainer decision.
Here's how to do that.

How to Quickly Remove ANY Risk For Your Clients?

The real reason why clients perceive risks is because:

• Clients have too many options to choose from, including DIY or doing nothing vs hiring you (which you can easily justify using my proven presentations)
• they may perceive the opportunity cost to be too high (but given a chance, you could easily disprove that)
• they may worry too much about issues beyond their control (but those issues could easily be addressed by you)

Maybe their perceived risk is too high, but given the opportunity, you could totally remove all of their perceived risks.

The point is, you don't really know.

You need to quickly find out and then address all of these issues in the appointment itself (provided you use the Proven Presentation I provide).

By following my Proven Presentations, you simply need to remove each of their perceived risks.

That's it.

(There's another way you can rapidly accelerate your ability to successfully handle all kinds of perceived risks and skyrocket your closings to six figures in 90 days. You can read about my 90 Day 6 Figure Agent Club Challenge for more details.)

So assuming you've been getting all the decision makers in an appointment, where you adapt my Proven Presentations to present to them and then effectively remove all of their Perceived Risks, there's still one more hurdle to overcome for a sale.

And that's disagreements over contracts.

Why Mutually Agreed Contracts Are Everything?

If clients do not have a good understanding of the agreements and contracts they are going to sign, then it may have a likelihood to stall the deal.

Even though this is critical, you must understand that nobody reads contracts.
People just gloss over them and sign.

And problems that shouldn't happen do come up later.

You will need to minimise such disagreements using my new strategy.

How to Minimise Disagreements and Prevent 'No Deals' Using This New Strategy

The easiest way you can avoid this problem is to:

1. Explain to them every aspect of their agreement
2. Ask them repeat back to your in their own words

But fortunately, you can take steps to minimise such instances in future.

Is this the only way? No.
There's another new strategy that you can use.
It requires you joining my 90 DAY CHALLENGE, where I lead you over a period of 13 weeks to compress time and accelerate your results.
This builds LONG TERM skills and professionalism in you.

This is by far the best way to practise my presentations, remove any perceived risks and dramatically improve your closings skills in just 90 days flat.
You can simply apply for my 90 DAY CHALLENGE at my SIX FIGURE AGENT CLUB.

If you practice enough, you will see a dramatic reduction in stalled deals.
You'll also make money and have greater peace of mind.

So if you follow the above strategies, you should be able to close more deals faster!

Get more exclusive real estate agent training here 👉 https://www.yasserkhan.sg/👈

Learn How To Get More Real Estate Leads, More Listings, More Sales, with Less Resistance AND still have a LIFE!

Yasser Khan is a real estate coach, speaker, and trainer at YasserKhan.SG who teaches Realtors how to make more Money, have more Time and enjoy more Freedom without all the B.S.

Real Estate is pretty much an appointment-driven business.
The vast majority of real estate transactions still happen in pre-booked appointments.

Therefore appointments, once closed, make property agents money.

That is seemingly simple and very straightforward.
But still, there are many property agents out there who do not have enough appointments.

And there are 5 major reasons for not having enough appointments:

1. Not enough leads
2. Not following up quickly enough
3. Not using a script when calling
4. Not overcoming prospect's objections against appointments
5. Having 'No Shows'

I'm going to explain each one in detail with easy solutions to help you get more appointments quickly.

Why Having Few Leads is a Problem?

Leads are the lifeblood of your business.
Because no leads = no appointments...

Qualified Leads represent prospects willing to speak to you and who can agree to come down for a face-to-face appointment.

But getting few inquiries is a serious problem.
It's a problem because if you're not getting any inquiries, there is no way you can get in front of someone in order to close a deal and make a commission.

So you need to get a lead before you can even sell them something.

The good news, it's quite an easy problem to fix.

How to Solve the Problem of Not Enough Leads

For this to work, you need will more prospects to reach out to you first, without you 'begging' them for business.

This means you need to stop doing all Old School Prospecting methods that require an investment of your time like:

• cold calling,
• door knocking,
• networking
• manually throwing flyers
• commenting online
• personal messaging (PM)
• etc.

This is critical, because, if you do not free up your time from these types of outdated prospecting, you'll run out of time to serve existing customers.
You'll always have no more to give.

In order to free up your time, you will need to do effective Direct Response Marketing.
This means prospects are compelled to reach out to you first.

This is the only way where you can get a flood of qualified prospects, that you can pick and choose to meet the ones who represent an immediate opportunity.

The good news is that I compiled an entire 'Marketing Library SWIPE FILE' of all of my winning ads that I wrote for my team of property agents and clients over the past 12 years.

You can get it over at PropertyAgentUniversity.com.
Simply use the correct ad for the correct marketing channel, and you're good to go.

If you do this right, now, you should be getting many leads.

The next step is simply to call them up.
And that's why follow up is so important.

Why Follow Up is EVERYTHING?

I'm not going to mince my words here.

If you do not call up your leads, you would have wasted ALL of your marketing dollars.
And you won't be getting a single appointment.
No appointment = no money.

Pretty wasteful right?
But this is happening daily.

And this is a big problem in our industry.

Studies show that 80% of all appointments are booked within the FIRST MINUTE of getting a lead.
As time goes by, your chances of securing an appointment goes down to ZERO.
And the same study proved that just as agents are giving up, prospects are just getting started!

And that's not a coincidence.
Prospects are more impatient than ever before.
You need to talk to them while they're still 'hot'.
Letting them cool off by calling them in an hour, in 12 hours or the next day, or worse, not even calling is a horrible thing to do.

But it can be easily fixed too.

How to Permanently Resolve Slow (or No) Follow Up?

You just need to pick up your phone in the very first minute.

I know, it can be a challenge, especially if you're already in an appointment or busy with other commitments.

How do you prevent the lead slipping away from your fingers and going to your competitors instead?

It's simple; you use automation.
Technology is advancing so fast that instant follow up is no longer a fantasy.
It's already happening nowadays.

It doesn't need to be complicated or too 'techie'.
That's why we built our own Follow Up Platform to make is super easy for Property Agents to automatically and instantly do all of their follow up.
All without getting a degree in IT or hiring expensive developers or spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on building it from scratch.

You can simply create a FREE TRIAL at AgentLEADS.

So once you're doing follow up and prospects are answering your phone calls, what do you do next?

You will need to follow a proven sequence of questions to get them agree to meet you.
In other words, use a script.

Why Using a Script is Mission Critical?

If you don't use a script when calling back your leads and inquiries, 2 horrible things happen:

1. prospects waste your Time or
2. prospects waste your Energy (and Money, another form of energy)

Here's why that's very bad for you.

Prospects already use their own script, whether or not they (or even you) realise that.

You're not the first property agent they've come across.
They have already been talking to many agents.
And they've learnt how to fish for information while pretending to be very interested in meeting you (when in truth, they're not).

Nowhere does it say in their script that you win.
Only THEY win.

I call their scripts Appointment-Destroying Scripts.
And it's their best weapon for 2 reasons:

1. They play games with you to get you to tell them what you know (which is pretty valuable).
2. They do it because it's their defence against salesmen like you.

And property agents have been getting stumped by such scripts for years.
Not realising that prospects are even more sophisticated than agents themselves!

Appointment-Destroying Scripts used by prospects sound like

• "Just curious..."
• "Just browsing..."
• "Accidentally clicked!"
• "What else do you have?!"

Prospects tell you they're not interested, when in fact, interest can be generated under better circumstances.
Prospects say they want to meet up with you when in fact, they don't, and they'll meet someone else behind your back.

Only using my Proven Scripts will save you from the above appointment-destroying prospects scripts.

Here's another tip for you; using a proven script always wins.
Even when the other party is using a weaker script.

So the one using a stronger, proven script will win somebody with a weaker script, or better, no script at all.

Where to Get a PROVEN Script (And How to Use it Without Sounding Like a Robot)?

You can use many of my own proven scripts that I developed, tested and perfected over the last 12 years.

My agents have been telling me that all of these scripts work.
The only time these scripts don't work is when the agent does not use it as intended.

So, head over to PropertyAgentUniversity.com and download my Winning Scripts.

But hang on...

There's still one issue that prevents agents from using any script.
And that has to do with the fear of sounding like a robot when reading a script.
This fear is bad, because it gets in the way of closing.

The good news is, no, using a script does not mean you must sound like a robot.
(Actors do it all the time. They sound totally natural.)

The bad news is, it takes practice. There is no shortcut.
(Just like anything else worth pursuing in life.)

It only gets easier when you're using a script consistently.

So, after you get leads and you quickly call them up using a proven follow up script, some agents still stumble with objections.

Why Objections Are an Agent's Hidden Best Friend?

Disinterest is your real enemy, and objections are your hidden best friend.

Here's why.

People in general only have 'issues' with a product when they're in the process of buying it.
They don't have any issues with something that they do not intend to buy.

Would you have any issues with the price, quality, colour, model or attributes of a Rubbish Truck that you will never ever buy in your life?
No right?
(Unless of course, you start a new business collecting rubbish!)

Similarly, prospects who are serious about buying something find issues with price because they're fully ready to discuss price.
And what they say to you about that price (or whatever attribute) comes across as an objection.

And many prospects definitely have objections to even meet up with you in a meeting.

The trick is to resolve all their concerns so that meeting up with you is a no-brainer decision.
Here's how to do that.

How to Quickly Overcome ANY Objection About Appointments?

Getting an appointment is a relatively simple task that should not require too much time or effort on your part.
Meaning, you don't need to spend hours just to convince the prospect to meet up with you.
(Wait, if you're spending hours convincing prospects to meet you, then you're obviously doing something wrong!)

Here's why they have objections:

• Prospects generally have objections regarding the date/time of the appointment you're trying to set up (schedule clash) or
• they do not see the value in going out of their way to make time to see you (too risky) or
• they may not even be serious about buying or selling a house right now (unqualified)

Maybe their perceived risk is too high, but given the opportunity, you could totally remove all of their perceived risks.

The point is, you don't really know.

You need to quickly find out and then address all of these issues on the very first phone call (provided you use the Proven Scripts I provide).

By following my Proven phone call Script, you simply need to understand two simple things about the prospect:

1. When are they planning to make a move?
2. How motivated are they in their intent to buy/sell/invest?

That's it.
You're not trying to sell them a house over the phone.
The time for that is not right now.

Keep things simple at this stage.

(That's another way you can rapidly accelerate your ability to successfully handle all kinds of objections. Read on below about my Mastery Coaching Program for more details.)

So assuming you've been quickly calling back your leads with a proven script and booking appointments with them, there's still one more hurdle.

And that's last-minute Cancellations, or even worse, not showing up (aka No Shows).

Why Cancellations and No Shows Are 100% Avoidable Problems?

Prospects who do not turn up, do not respond to your messages or do not pick up your phone calls can be a real nuisance.
Last-minute, informed cancellations are no consolation either.

More objectively, the time wasted by a No Show could have been better invested with a more qualified prospect.
Now, it's just a Sunk Cost. In other words, every no show is a real opportunity cost for you.
Even a 'No' is better than a no show, because, even a 'No' gets you closer to a 'Yes'!

But fortunately, you can take steps to minimise such instances in future.

How to Minimise Cancellations and Prevent No Shows Using This New Strategy

NEVER SCOLD PROSPECTS!
Do not break bridges by scolding them or shouting at them.

Don't make the mistake of getting emotional.
You can't get angry or personal at them.

The real problem, at this point, is not them.
It's YOU.
Or more accurately, your skill of qualifying and influencing might not be up to par.

You cannot solve this problem by screenshotting your prospect's messages, pictures or Identity Card details on Facebook or WhatsApp groups to 'warn' other agents.
(That's doxxing and it's illegal.)

Badmouthing prospects does NOTHING against them!
Or for you...

In fact, you're worse off because you've now engaged in wasting precious time on trivial stuff.
And worse, you start to attract more of such prospects in your life!

You've got to think and act like a real Professional.
Real Professionals like Doctors or Lawyers do not go around throwing public tantrums or cursing clients or screenshotting no shows...

And neither should you.

The only way to drastically reduce no shows or cancellations is to get better at making Upfront Agreements with your prospects.
This skill takes GUTS and requires you to be PROACTIVE before it becomes a problem.

(In the larger scheme of things, the only way to make Cancellations and No Shows a non-issue for your sanity is to have an OVERFLOW OF LEADS.)

Here's how you do this the right way:

1. Tell them upfront about any schedule clashes.
2. Ask them what alternatives do they propose.
3. Tell them you'll stick to your agreed-upon time and that you expect the same courtesy of them.
4. Do not hang up until you hear them verbally repeat this agreement back to you.

After you put down the phone, your work is not over yet:

1. Confirm appointments 24 hours beforehand (and get a response from them).
2. Then reconfirm again 1 hour beforehand (and get a response from them).
3. If no response in either case, DO NOT WAIT. Call immediately and clarify. Or postpone.

The point is, you're not leaving things to chance.
This is not 100% foolproof, but it's way better than doing nothing except cursing people angrily.

Is this the only way? No.
There's another new strategy that you can use.
It requires you doing role plays with me or my agents in our weekly Role Play Clinics.
This builds LONG TERM skills and professionalism in you.

This is by far the best way to practise my scripts, handle any objection and dramatically improve your follow up skills.
You can simply try this out for $7 for 7 Days Mastery Coaching at my Mastery Coaching Program.

If you practice enough, you will see a dramatic reduction in no shows and cancellations.
You'll also make money and have greater peace of mind.

So if you follow the above strategies, you should be able to book more appointments than you can handle!

Get more exclusive real estate agent training here 👉 https://www.yasserkhan.sg/👈

Learn How To Get More Real Estate Leads, More Listings, More Sales, with Less Resistance AND still have a LIFE!

Yasser Khan is a real estate coach, speaker, and trainer at YasserKhan.SG who teaches Realtors how to make more Money, have more Time and enjoy more Freedom without all the B.S.

There are few things more stressful in real estate than having an overpriced listing.

In fact, in my experience this is the number one reason that some real estate agents don’t like listings….
because if you don’t price a listing right, you know what’s going to happen, right?

Furious sellers who yell angrily at you!

The good news is that you can solve this problem relatively easily by following these five steps to make CMA price adjustments to listings without making sellers angry:

1. Start with the right price

One of the most critical skills you can learn is how to educate sellers on pricing and lead them to hire you to sell their property at a price that will allow it to sell and get them top dollar for the property.

Know that prevention is by far the best approach.

Did you realise that over 70% of listings are put on the market by agents at a price they will NOT sell?

That was shocking to me.
Over two thirds of new listings on the market will either expire, cancel, be withdrawn, or require one or more price reductions before they will sell!

That’s hard on you, the agent… and it also does not serve the seller.

Decide that getting the right price from the beginning is important enough that you will invest the time and effort to learn your market and develop the skill to actually convince sellers on the right price from the beginning.

That also means knowing how to help sellers beware of agents who are just out for a listing and will tell them what they WANT to hear, rather than the truth.

2. Let them know you’re “on top of it.”

The moment you realize the property may be overpriced, communicate quickly with your sellers.

The worst thing for your sellers to hear from you is silence.

They get unhappy very quickly when they don’t hear from you AND when they’re not having showings.

Call them within the first few days of not getting much activity and let them know you’re not satisfied with the lack of showings/interest.

It’s important to reassure them that the marketing is in full gear and that their property IS being fully exposed to the buyers out there.

3. Keep it about “the market.”

Remember, you don’t get to determine the value of their house…and neither do they.

How much they paid for it before, or how much they owe, or how much they want/need has nothing to do with the value of their property.

It’s all about the market…so always speak in terms of “what the market is telling us….”

4. Give them “fair warning.”

In other words give them a heads up that a conversation about a price reduction is coming.

In NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) this is known as 'future pacing'.

Before calling them on the phone and just “telling” the bad news “We need to reduce the price!”…let them know that if things don’t pick up in the next few days, you and they are going to be looking at the pricing situation.

So here is all of this in a BONUS script to help you with this conversation:

“I just wanted to let you know that… I’m not totally happy with how the number of showings we’ve had so far and how market has responded to our pricing.
…Because I’ve got your property fully exposed to the market…
and we’re getting it in front of the buyers, but we haven’t had the number of showings or the activity we like to see the first week on the market… 
Are you with me?
And you know… my commitment is to help you…get your property sold for top dollar, correct?
So… we’ll watch what happens this week…and I’ll continue to monitor it and follow up with all interested buyers…
and if we don’t get a real uptick in buyer interest, we’re going to want to re-visit our pricing and see if a price adjustment is necessary… 
Fair enough?”

5. Reduce the price sooner, not later.

The best time to get top dollar for a property is in the first 30 days on the market.

Psychologically this is very important for Buyers, so don’t procrastinate on adjusting the price or having this conversation with sellers.

Think about it this way, do we like to buy something old and stale…or new and fresh?

Whether it’s a loaf of bread or box of cereal or a new pair of shoes, or a car, people prefer something that’s new to market.

They don’t want something that’s been sitting on the shelf for months.

It’s the same with a house for sale.

The longer is sits on the market the less excited buyers are about it.

They lose any sense of urgency, AND when they do make offers, they tend to be lower offers.

It is in yours AND your sellers’ best interest to get to the right price quickly.

Final warning…when does this NOT work?

Either when the sellers are not motivated or if you’re not communicating well with them.

The motivation issue is likely something you can’t change.

However, the communication issue you can do something about…by developing your communication and influence skills.

That’s one of the primary things my coaching members learn from working with me.

Get more exclusive real estate agent training here 👉 http://www.yasserkhan.sg/👈

Learn How To Get More Real Estate Leads, More Listings, More Sales, with Less Resistance AND still have a LIFE!

Yasser Khan is a real estate coach, speaker, and trainer at YasserKhan.SG who teaches Realtors how to make more Money, have more Time and enjoy more Freedom without all the B.S.

Recently many Singapore Property Developers have been busily launching new projects and condominium developments with breakneck speed.

And Singapore Property Agents have been getting lured in because the agent commission for selling new launch condos can be as high as 6%.

It seems every agent is now already (or planning on) selling new launches.
And apparently everyone and his pet cat is jumping right in after seeing everyone else doing the same thing too.

(Kinda like monkey see, monkey do. And parroting the same story about first mover advantage, getting it before TOP and then selling it off, how freehold properties are overrated, how tenants don't care about freehold, low enbloc potential, ad nauseam...)

But what almost nobody realises is that there are hidden dangers of selling new launches (apart from prospects knowing by heart property agents' sales tactics). 

The Hidden Dangers of Selling New Launch Condos (Despite the Giant Commissions)

If all you do is to sell what you have to sell, you may eventually end up failing as a real estate agent.

Why is that?

Because I have learned that most property agents offer what they have, and for most, that is:

1. either their listings (that are not selling) OR
2. themselves.

And many agents simply jump on the new launch bandwagon just because every other property agent is doing that too.
That is, it's the popular, cool thing to do (which is typically what most agents do anyway, copy other agents blindly).

Or because the commission given out by the developer (to sell something that isn't really selling) is a massive 6% to sell a new launch.
That is, it's financially more lucrative for the agent, never mind the fact whether or not home buyers truly want that.

I think this is why so many property agents fail.

Real Estate Marketing 101

Real Estate Marketing 101 is to figure out what home buyers WANT. 
Specifically:

• what kinds of houses,
• where,
• how much,
• features and
• benefits those homes have to offer,

and then go create ads that offer all of that.

It really is that simple.

It makes no sense to have 20 S$1,000,000 new launch condo listings if home buyers don’t want them, but instead they want 40 S$575,000 homes.

A good way to go broke in a hurry is by pursuing real estate NOT in demand, and a good example of being IN the real estate business instead of being IN the Marketing Business.

So the question is, how do you find out what kind of real estate is actually in demand, so you can focus your marketing efforts AND get a positive ROI?
The one thing you can never do is to make assumptions.
That will cost you your career. I guarantee it.

Therefore, you use

1. reliable statistics &
2. informal surveys

Using Reliable Statistics to Gauge Real Estate Demand

Using statistics to find out what is in demand and what's not selling is critical.

You can use many statistical tools available to you, either from your property agency, government and companies offering such services online.
They're just a Google Search away from you.

You will need to analyse the data and make sense of the numbers in order to conclude what is in demand and what is not in demand.
In fact, Artificial Intelligence is going to make this task even easier in the future.
But it's an area that is still developing.
And that means we still need to use our brains.

Which brings me to the shortcomings of these tools...

Disadvantages of Using Online Statistical Tools

However, using these online statistical services and tools may have some disadvantages for you.

1. They may be costly or require ongoing financial commitments,
2. The full (or even partial) information may not be publicly available yet.
3. It may require additional expertise in data analysis to interpret numbers

In that case, there is a second, cheaper alternative for you to uncover the unknown.

And that is the old fashioned way by simply asking real people on the ground. Asking 5 other real estate agents is NOT researching.
(Another reason you cannot ask realtors is because they are not your prospects. Neither are they being objective.)

The Art of Asking Questions in-Person (aka Informal Surveys)

You simply ask your prospects and clients what they want to buy or sell in real estate.
For this to work, you must ask at least 100 different people over a fixed time period. 
Asking 1 person is very myopic and you'll never get the full picture.

Asking can be the hardest hurdle for you, but in practice, it's the easiest thing to do.
(If you can't even muster the courage to ask prospects what they want, then maybe, you shouldn't be in sales!)

In fact, drafting informal surveys and forms can get a lot of responses.
Plus, its dead simple to create such questionnaires using online tools.
(Again, all these tools are a quick Google Search away. You can even use Google Forms.)

And after you've done that, just give it to them.
Once you have their responses, you will need to read between the lines to pick out diamonds and ignore the duds.
This means you need to filter out emotions and be willing to listen to uncomfortable feedback.

This is how you will have extremely valuable information that will put you ahead of every other property agent out there and cushion you from any upcoming disruptions or downturns (which have been increasing lately).

Now, that is advice you can take to the bank.

Get more exclusive real estate agent training here 👉 http://www.yasserkhan.sg/👈

Learn How To Get More Real Estate Leads, More Listings, More Sales, with Less Resistance AND still have a LIFE!

Yasser Khan is a real estate coach, speaker, and trainer at YasserKhan.SG who teaches Realtors how to make more Money, have more Time and enjoy more Freedom without all the B.S.