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Wanna Buy A House? Write A Love Letter

By RE/MAX of New England - Last updated: Monday, January 9, 2012
Even in today’s age of technology, a personal note goes a long way. So why not apply the “personal note” strategy to the homebuying process? We arm our buyers with fancy CMA’s laying out the perfect price range for every offer. We advise them on each move for counter-offers and bidding wars. But in the technological whirlwind, we sometimes forget who is on the other side of the transaction: a home seller. And homesellers are (usually) regular folks — eating leftovers, doing dishes, and watching the news in their pj’s — all the while wondering who will buy their beloved home. Selling a home is an emotional process. So if you really want to help your Buyers to win their dream home, recommend that they show the Sellers some love with a Buyer Love Letter. Here’s how.

Show Respect!

Formality will show respect and set the tone for a more civilized transaction. Begin your letter with a polite salutation, as in “Dear Homeowner’ or “Dear Owners of 8 Sunshine Street.” Sign the letter with the same tone: “Respectfully” or “Sincerely Yours.”

Introduce Yourselves Sellers wonder WHO will buy their house.

Let them know it’s YOU! Tell them your names, occupation, kids and pet names. It’s harder for them to reject an offer from “Tom the English professor and Mary the pediatric nurse,” than from “BUYER #1.” If Sellers feel like they know you, they’ll be more willing to work with you — even when you’re asking them to replace the oil tank!

Tell Them Your Story

If you’ve been looking for “your dream home” for a year, say so. Was there “a moment” when you walked in to their home and said, “This is the one!” Share it with them. They may remember a similar moment when they bought their dream house.

Accentuate the Positive
Sellers work hard to put their home’s best foot forward. Let them know it shows! Compliment the “cheerful perennials,” the “sunny breakfast nook” and the “cozy living room.” Avoid pointing out the home’s flaws, and instead share your vision for the house: “We’d love to add dormers for the kids” or “I can hardly wait to turn that great unfinished basement into my man cave for Sunday games!” Sellers will be more willing to hand over the keys to their kingdom to Buyers whom they trust will appreciate and care for their home as well as they have.

In the end, some Sellers won’t care a lick about your gushy note and will hold out for the highest bidder — no matter who they are. And there’s no “love letter” that can replace a decent offer! But when all things are equal (especially in a competitive bidding war), and the only thing standing between your offer and another buyers’ bid is your thoughtful personal note, it could be just the thing to persuade a Seller to pick YOU. A Buyer Love Letter just might win your Buyers their dream house.

Katherine Waters-Clark is a Realtor® and Accredited Buyer Agent with REMAX Leading Edge in Winchester MA. She has successfully used Love Letters to help many of her Buyers win their dream home! Contact Katherine at 781-856-2728, Katherine@yourhousegal.com, follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Yelp.

By Katherine Waters-Clark, REALTOR® ABR
Professional Writer
RE/MAX Leading Edge

Real Estate Corner
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Moving Your Real Estate: How A Professional Photographer Can Help Sell Your Home

By RE/MAX of New England - Last updated: Monday, December 12, 2011

By Jane Berger

I spent several years living in the New Orleans area, my husband’s home town.  That is, until Katrina was kind enough to swoop in and provide us with the opportunity to clean house, so to speak, and move north.

Now more than six years later, we find ourselves in the market for a small condo as a second home back in the land of rod iron filigree, Mardi Gras, and gumbo.  L’aissez les bon temps roullez!    

Reviewing condos on-line has been an interesting experience.  All I can say is that their real estate photographers must have moved on with Katrina’s winds. 

I’ve been shooting residential properties for well over a year now, and I know pretty well how to enhance a room to make it more attractive to the buyer – both during the shoot and, fortunately for my clients, in post production.  I can also tell when an image has been taken with a point and shoot camera without any thought for lighting, exposure and composition.  Granted I am a professional photographer, and I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most people can tell the difference too.

So what we’re selling here is comfort, love, warmth, stability and security – a safe place to just be.  And that’s what we want the images to convey.  You all know that to prep a home to maximize its sellability, it’s best to turn on the lights, clear the clutter and perhaps bring in a professional stager.  What I know is that the need to adjust the exposure, the ISO, the aperture, and the metering for each shot is constant, and my clients will tell you that I take not one picture of each scenario, but several so that I get the cleanest, warmest, loveliest image to use in the virtual tour.  If by chance I didn’t get it right in the camera, which can happen with the contrast in lighting inevitable in every home, I have professional image editing software to help.  I can lighten the outside of the house where there’s shade, make grass greener, and skies bluer.  And I’m only naming a few enhancements here . . . after all, a photographer has to have some secrets.         

Should you hire a professional photographer to shoot your properties?  Only you can answer that.  But with our world now, on-line and attention spans shorter than they’ve ever been, and that first impression can mean the difference between making the sale and not making the sale.  Which is right for you? 

 Jane Berger is a professional photographer residing in Scarborough, Maine.  You may have seen her at several RE/MAX events with camera in hand.  To view Jane Berger’s photos, please go to http://www.janebergerphotography.com.

 

Real Estate Corner
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Top Three Takeaways from Inman News’ Agent Reboot

By RE/MAX of New England - Last updated: Monday, November 14, 2011

Written By Doug Walters
eBusiness Training Coordinator at RE/MAX of New England

Inman News recently held their annual Agent Reboot conference in Boston and it was a huge success. While there were many important topics discussed, I wanted to share my top three takeaways from the conference that can be implemented today to improve your business.

# 1 – Blogging

By far the most important piece (in my opinion), it is absolutely crucial that you consider starting up a blog if you haven’t already. A blog allows real estate professionals to establish themselves as the local expert in their market. By releasing regular content, your blog can act as the central hub for all of your advice and information.

Getting started and becoming comfortable with blogging can definitely be a challenge, but ultimately it pays off. Statistics from the conference show that the more blog posts a site releases in a given month, the more traffic that gets driven to that site. Do the math, more traffic = more consumers = more leads.

Setting up an editorial calendar will help you immensely with the blogging process by allowing you to establish what content you want to release when and where. Just ensure you update your blog frequently enough, as a dusty blog does not look too appealing!

#2 – Video

In a recent study it was found that 73% of consumers would be more likely to list with an agent using video, but only .8% of agents are actually doing it. Adding video to your listings may seem like a daunting task, but it is an outstanding opportunity.

Experts from the conference pointed out that trying to be a perfectionist isn’t necessary and that you don’t have to worry about making the perfect video or editing it to a tee. While you may make mistakes, consumers appreciate a real and honest perspective.

Grab your camera, phone, or camcorder and record tours of your listings. Then make these tours available online for consumers to see. As you create more and more videos, you’ll become increasingly confident with your ability to be in front of the camera.

By simply adding video content to your listings, website, and office site, you will be differentiating yourself from the vast majority of your competitors. Include regular video content in your business plan- it’s something your target audience wants!

# 3 – Online Reputation

Something I’m sure not everyone is thinking about, but is becoming extremely important, is their online reputation. Similar to rating products on Amazon, consumers are able to rate their experiences working with particular real estate agents and share that information online.

Zillow.com recently added the ability for consumers to reviews agents on their website, and it was explained that agents with more reviews and a “higher amount of stars” were capturing the majority of the leads coming through the site. See where you stand on websites like yelp.com and ratemyagent.com. Whether you like it or not, consumers are able to rate working with you, so ensure your experiences with them are positive.

Managing your online reputation is critical and it’s an excellent opportunity to promote yourself. At your closings bring your laptop and ask your clients to share their experience working with you online.

I must confess that nothing written here can truly summarize the experience of going to the Inman News Agent Reboot conference. Those from RE/MAX of New England who attended, I’m sure, will certainly agree! To find out more about Agent Reboot, check out www.agentreboot.com. Make sure you can be there next year and start working to implement these crucial pieces and strategies into your business!

Real Estate Corner
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