Worried About Next Year's Leads?

Worried about where your leads will come from next year? You’re not alone. Many agents are concerned there will be a shortage of opportunities for their business in a changing market. The good news…it doesn’t have to be that way. It is not a coincidence that many of the same agents finish in the top 10% every year and capture 50% of the business in the market. There is a reason for their success. They deal with the same market conditions, same challenges and for the most part have access to the same resources as all of us.

So what is the difference? The reason for their success year over year is consistent and relevant action to generate business each and every day. Ask yourself, what action have I taken today to generate new business for the future? If your answer is nothing, then your concerns for next year are not misplaced. What’s amazing is those fears disappear when you take action. Wondering where to start? Send us a message or check out our video series 5 tactics of top producers. You’ll be glad you did. Keep elevating our industry!

Watch Video Series: 5 Tactics of Top Agents for Explosive Growth

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

616.460.6123

Why Join RE/MAX GR?

I am often asked, why should I join RE/MAX. Here is my answer. 

I assume you would enjoy more sales, correct? Yes! 

You would enjoy those sales even more if they were easier to come by and easier to close, isn’t that true? Yes! 

And undoubtedly you would enjoy the additional income those sale provide, wouldn’t you? Yes! 

And if you had more income, I believe it would be safe to assume you would like more time to enjoy that additional income, wouldn’t you agree? Yes! 

Well then, I think you answered your own question, because that is the RE/MAX difference. We make more sales easier so you can receive additional income and have the time to enjoy it. Based off of your answers, it sounds like something you want to be a part of, doesn’t it?

Send me a message to set up a meeting.

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

4 Ways to Capture More Business Before the End of the Year

Last week we mentioned that your activities over the next 6 weeks will determine how much of the 1.3 billion in remaining sales will be captured by your business by the end of the year. We thought it would be only fair to share some possible activities to fill your weeks. Now we all want good reasons to connect with our sphere. Here are four timely ideas for this fall. All four involve contacting a local company, coordinating a promotion or discount of some kind, and then passing that on to your people. In addition, you are now top of mind for that well connected business, who might have some referrals for you in the future.

Here are the 4 ideas. Number 1, offer a discounted furnace tune up from an HVAC company. Number 2, provide a discounted fall yard clean up from a lawn maintenance company. Number 3, offer a deal on getting underground sprinkling blown out for the winter. Number 4, provide a discount at a local orchard for apple picking, cider, donuts, or pumpkins. Good luck with these reasons to connect! Keep those clients happy and you’ll benefit from their referrals. Keep elevating our industry.

Download: Additional Activity Ideas

Dave Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Direct: 616.460.6123 (call or text)

Office: 616.975.0700

How Much Business is Remaining in 2022?

There are 4 months left in 2022. Are you concerned about what this fall will look like for you business? Are you worried about how many sales will be available for you? Well the good news is there is still 1.3 billion in sales left in this years market. With 2 sides to every sale that’s approximately 78 million in potential commission dollars. The biggest questions are how much of that will be yours? And will you grab more than your fair share of the market?

Many agents will chose to coast into the new year now that the summer selling season has come to an end. That means there is a great opportunity for those who want to turn things up. The action your take in the next 30-45 days will directly effect how much of that 78 million goes into your business. For those who want to finish the year strong we suggest you watch our turn up the volume video series. These short 2 minute videos will give you specific strategies for your end of the year push. Let’s see just how much of the remaining business out there can be yours. Keep elevating our industry.

Watch: Turn Up the Volume Series

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Direct: 616.460.6123 (call or text)

Office: 616.957.0700

Important End of Summer Real Estate Market Trends

At the end of the summer it is important to look back and identify significant trends going into the final 4 months of the year. Below are some interesting stats to share with your SOI.

• $355,576 average sales price. The average sales price has been flat for 5 moths.

• In August homes sold for $3,452 over asking, the closest to list price in 18 months.

• 54.6% of homes sold over list price. That is down from a peak of 70% in June.

• 18.1% of homes needed price reductions to sell nearly twice as many as last August

• There is 40% more inventory than the same time last year

Download: Market Trend Graphs

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

616.460.6123

Turn $500 into $50k Every Year

Turn a $500 investment into $50k? It sounds too good to be true, but that is what RE/MAX agents across the country have been doing for years thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning. Our tracking has shown that agents using our First App to identify potential sellers in their own sphere of influence are closing 50% more transactions!

That means if you did just 10 deals last year using the First App for one full year, a $500 investment, will net you 5 more deals. Now in our area the average sales price is around $350k, if we assume around a $10k commission per sale you'll net an additional $50k. What would you do with an additional $50k a year? If you sold 20 deals last year, what would you do with an extra $100k a year? More importantly how long do you want to wait to enjoy the benefit and opportunities that extra income would provide? Send me a text and I can show you the next steps. Keep elevating our industry.

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

616.460.6123 (call or text)

Enjoy 5 More Weeks in Your Year

Why is increasing your conversion rate by just 11% so important? It could save you 5 weeks of work over the course of a year! That could be 5 weeks of additional vacation throughout the year for you and your family plus it will go a long way to prevent burnout. If you are currently working 50 weeks in the year, increasing your conversion rate by 11% will allow you to complete the same amount of sales in just 45 weeks saving those additional 5 weeks for you! For strategies to increase your conversion rate check out the link to our video on conversion below. Keep elevating our industry!

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

616.460.6123

Great News for Homeowners in Your SOI

Homeowners have gained an average of $75k in housing wealth over the last two years, over $155k in the last 5 years. That is great news for all of the homeowners in your sphere of influence. Give them a call, make a video, send them a hand written note or write a formal letter to let them know how well they are doing. With all of the talk about a recession in our near future, they will be glad to hear some good news. You should be the one to deliver it. That is the kind of touch point every client will welcome. Keep elevating our industry!

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/VQpcPsYXoYY

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

616.460.6123

The 3 Week Rule

With four months of flat home prices, double the inventory of just a few months ago, and nearly 15% of homes requiring price reductions managing a seller’s expectation from the beginning is more important than ever. Try using the 21-day rule. Explain to them that within 21 days of listing a home, you/they will know if the price is right or not because one of three things will happen:

1. The listing could get a lot of activity and an offer, or potentially more than one. Rather than over-promise, it’s essential to plant that seed of potential for high activity. Remind sellers to be more accommodating with showings, and let them know that every buyer matters.

2. There could be few showings and light traffic at open houses. In this case, the feedback we receive will help us recognize if the price is correct.

3. What if nobody shows up, yet all other listings get activity? This tells us that the property is priced too high. In this instance we have given the seller’s home extensive exposure to the market though the marketing plan; the price was tested in the market and we will need to make a change.

With our market becoming more balanced not everything that you list will sell as it has in prior months. You don’t want to have an upset seller because their expectations didn’t match the changes in our market. Having a conversation up front will set clear expectations and create a willingness to listen to your recommendations in the future.

Watch the Video: https://youtu.be/SaxcZoI2pEE

Keep elevating our industry!

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX Grand Rapids

616.460.6123 Call or Text

2 Secrets to Better Quality Leads

Not getting the amount of leads you would like? Maybe you want to improve the quality of leads you are receiving? Maybe you want more listing leads instead of buyer leads? We can help. If you desire more from your lead generation you need to adjust one of 2 things, your message or your delivery. First, evaluate your current message make sure it is relevant to the challenges of today’s market, it addresses the clients needs and fits your business goals. For example, if you want more listing leads, your messaging better mention something about listing, your expertise and the advantage of listing with you. If you feel your messaging is solid, move on to evaluate how you are delivering it and to whom you are delivering it. It might be going to the wrong audience or your audience might not be large enough to support your goals. For example, if you want more listings at a higher sales price, make sure you deliver your relevant message to people who own more expensive homes. If you would like specific messaging examples or delivery methods send me a message. We would be happy to provide those.

Keep elevating our industry.

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/CDt7VmTc9EM

David Veldkamp

Owner, RE/MAX Grand Rapids

616.460.6123 Call or Text

Would You Hire Yourself?

Have you recording yourself practicing a buyers or sellers presentation? What did you sound like? Excited? Bored? Enthusiastic? Nervous? Confident? Did you enunciate? Did you mumble? What were your…um…filler words? Would you hire yourself to sell your home? Recording yourself has never been easier…just use your phone and practice, practice, practice…so you are not practicing in front of potential clients. Keep elevating our industry.

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/1Yt_65XJ4wU

Dave Veldkamp

Owner, RE/MAX Grand Rapids

616.460.6123 Call or Text

The Agent Everyone Would Like to Hire

Have you spoke with your lending partners about ARMs or buying down points? If not, you are falling behind. These are not the products of the past. It is time to get educated on all of the financing options and start messaging the possible advantages to your buyers and your sellers, so you can stand out as an expert. Here are a few advantages you can message. For buyers, an ARM can be up to 1.5% lower than a fixed rate lowering their monthly payments. Some products are locked in for 7, 10 or even 15 years. This give them a large window to refinance plus most people aren’t even in their home longer than 10 years making these a great option. Additionally, buying down points might be a money saver in the long run for buyers. Make sure they are at least evaluating it as an option with their lender. On the same note, if your listing is sitting on the market offering some concessions to buy down points may make the monthly payment more affordable. Whether your client decides these options are right for them or not, messaging these options shows you are aware of the challenges they are facing, that you care enough to address those challenges and the expertise to introduce them to additional solutions…sounds like the type of agent everyone will want to be working with. Keep elevating our industry.

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/5Fs2tAg-sgU

Dave Veldkamp

Owner, RE/MAX Grand Rapids

616.460.6123 (Call or Text)

Real Estate: The Next 6 Months & Beyond

53% of all annual sales are closed from July thru December, that means about 5600 more sales will close in in our market in 2022 if we continue at our current pace. How many more will be yours? Be sure to use our 5 Tactics of Top Agents to grab your unfair share in the next 6 months. Then you will be well positioned for next year and beyond. Here are what are indicators are pointing to…2023 will look much like 2022 with around a 1% to 2% dip in unit sales. Value increase will still be positive, but at much more historic levels around 4%. More good news for the years beyond 2023 is that 2/3 of millennials state they plan to buy in the next 3 years. There are 72 million millennials, the largest generation, cut it in half if multiply by 2/3 and that roughly 22 million buyers. Sounds like a bright future to me, I think that is an opportunity worth waiting for. For more information keep an eye out for our upcoming mid-year update. Keep elevating our industry.

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

(616) 460-6123 (Call or text)

One Week, 5 Listings

One agent listened to the time on task (tactic 4) video and decided to prospected consistently for one week. By the end of the week, the agent had called 100 past clients and schedule 5 listing appointments for the next week. Yes, 5 listing appointments even in our low inventory market. I think we can all agree that was time well spent. My advice to you is to do the same.

All signs indicate there are some slow months ahead for those who don’t take action now. Buyer activity is down 16% from the same time last year in Michigan, nationwide it is down 31%, plus rates are expected to increase again in July. There are even more indicators shared on our Top 100 Linkedin group. You must position yourself to grab market share now, so you don’t miss the explosive growth opportunities the future holds. Keep elevating our industry.

Watch Video

Collaborate with Top 100 Linkedin Group

Buyer Activity Slowing

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX Grand Rapids

(616) 460-6123 (Call or text)

Top Agent Tactic 5 of 5: Connect & Close to Avoid Missing Opportunities

Not converting a lead equals no lead at all. The most important thing in gaining your unfair market share is more appointments. Remember that 80% of people only interview one agent. Once your consistent lead generation activities have collected a lead’s contact information you need to connect and close. Think of connecting as curiosity…learn who they are, what is important to them, their needs, wants, worries and concerns. To help we have include 6 connecting questions for you to download. Be sure to really listen to their answers and take good notes.

Once you’re connected, you need to set the meeting. Remember, setting the meeting is your responsibility, not the responsibility of the lead. The best approach…just ask. Again, to help we have included 10 ways to ask for a meeting for you to download. Pick what feels natural for you. Set more appointments, increase your market share, thrive in a slow market. Keep elevating our industry.

Watch the Video

Download: Connecting and Closing Questions

Set an Appointment

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

(616) 460-6123 (Call or text)

Top Agent Tactic 4 of 5: Time on Task

When a market has slowed and you want to capture additional market share so your business doesn’t slump you need to make sure dealing with business never takes precedence over finding business. This may seem extreme, but if you do not adopt this mindset you will continually find other things you find more important than lead generation preventing the consistency you will need to be successful at capturing more than your fair share of the market. The number one thing that knocks agents out of real estate is a lack of consistency in this area. You might be able to get by in a hot market, but you’ll go out of business in a cold one.

I recommend 2 hours of lead gen 4 days a week. 3 hours, 5 days a week is better. Practice the PAR method. Prepare for the first 20 minutes, lead gen Activities for 80 minutes, record important information to you CRM for the last 20 minutes. Now, don’t feel like I am suggesting just locking yourself in a room to make cold calls. That’s an option, but to help we provided a list of activities for download including open houses, client events, calls to your database, lunches, coffee, FSBO, etc. check out the list.

I also recommend you alternate prospecting and marketing days. See last weeks video for more info. Just remember lead gen is not a single contact game, it is a consistent contact sport. Keep elevating our industry.

Watch Video:

Download: Lead Gen - Marketing and Prospecting

Book A Business Strategy Session: https://rem.ax/3GCS8hK

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

(616) 460-6123 (Call or text)

Don't Miss the Biggest Opportunity in a Shrinking Market

This week we are pausing on the Top Agent Tactics Series to address the biggest opportunity in our shrinking real estate market. NAR reports that 80% of agents have been in real estate for 5 years or less. So many have not experienced a market change before. For you veterans, this is just a good reminder. Currently the amount of available sales is shrinking, down 12% ytd. If you don’t do something different from last year to capture more market share you business will shrink just like the market. Agents whose business shrinks too much will have to exit real estate. This reduces the amount of agents in our market…this takes time and lags behind the reduction in sales. Check out the Market Cycles chart for a visual.

The biggest opportunity is after agents have transitioned out and our market starts to return. The result is the most amount of money in the market spread across the fewest amount of agents. Here is the key…what are you going to do differently today, in our shrinking market, so you will be around for the explosive growth agents experience upon the market’s return. If you are looking for ideas schedule a 30 minute strategy session. Keep elevating our industry.

Schedule 30 Minute Business Strategy Session

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/Ut707vFLQNU

Download: Market Cycles

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

(616) 460-6123 (Call or text)

Our Market is Shrinking...What You Should Do Differently

Our real estate market is shrinking. If you do nothing different from last year you’ll see your business shrink as well. The good news is it doesn’t have to. As Zig Ziglar put it “Your business is never really good or bad out there. Your business is either good or bad right between your own two ears.” Schedule a business strategy session. We’ll discuss where your business is now and where you want it to be. Then we'll provide solutions to help you close the gap between the two. Chose not to participate in the shrinking of our market with a winning strategy. Keep Elevating our Industry.

Book A Business Strategy Session: https://rem.ax/3GCS8hK

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX of Grand Rapids

(616) 460-6123 (Call or text)

2 Ways to Find Motivated Buyers & Sellers - Top Agent Tactic 3 of 5

Last week we cover your message in the form of direct and indirect offers. Now even the absolute best message will earn you zero responses if no one hears it. To get your message out we must use a two pronged approach, prospecting and marketing. Yes, they are two different things. When you are prospecting, you go get the leads (I.e. phone calls, open houses, client parties, networking events, etc.). While marketing is when you do things to cause leads to come to you (I.e online advertising, email newsletters, podcast, postcards, signs, etc.)…basically anything that is published or broadcast.

Research shows you must use both, because your goal is to cross paths with as many motivated buyers and sellers as possible. You cut your chances in half by only using one method or the other. To help we have included a list of prospecting and marketing solutions for you to download. Remember, the goal is to deliver your message to earn more appointments. 80% of people work with the first agent they meet with. That is a conversion rate that will increase your market share.

Keep elevating our industry!

Download: Prospecting & Marketing Activities List

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/IowDQcaWVgc

Schedule a Business Strategy Session

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX of Grand Rapids

(616) 460-6123 (Call or text)

Messaging That Creates Appointments - Top Agent Tactic 2 of 5

Our goal is a minimum of 20% more market share. Last week we evaluated and double down on our top lead sources. Tactic #2 of top agents who capture more market share in a shrinking market is to super charge our lead generation with our messaging. This is critical because those who do not master this usually get shifted out of real estate in a changing market.

Answer these questions. Why would someone want to contact you in this market? What would they get if they do? It is proven that people will contact you if you offer some direct benefit to them. There are two types of offers you need to use to cast a wide net. First, direct offers to people who are ready to buyer or sell. Examples would be a competitive advantage system when buyers search for a home with you or a proprietary pricing process to avoid leaving seller’s money on the table. The second type is an indirect offers of value, so not your immediate services to help buy or sell. For example a custom home valuation or a free market report. The goal with both direct and indirect messages is to get an immediate response.

You are providing a benefit, they are providing their contact information, with the goal of setting an appointment. Work on crafting your message to super charge your lead gen. Be creative, but more importantly, make sure you are able to deliver on your message. To help we have included some examples you can download in today’s email. Next week we will cover methods to get your message in front of the right people.

Keep elevating our industry. 

Download: Direct and Indirect Offers

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/MJCTrVMjGWQ

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX of Grand Rapids

(616) 460-6123 (Call or text)