The Real Reason People Make Decisions About Real Estate

Emotion is what really drives decisions in real estate. You are guiding buyers and sellers through one of the most significant and stressful decisions in their lives. However, when it comes to sales training, the skill of dealing with emotions (both your potential clients and yours) is rarely covered.

Instead we are taught to “convert” prospects by using logic to show our value. You present facts and use reason to try to convince them you are the best person for the job, yet emotion is what really drives the decision. This is what causes you to leave an appointment feeling like it’s a sure thing only to find out they listed with someone else. Or think the buying process was great for them, but you receive zero referrals and find out they listed with someone else a few years later. This happens when you don’t make them feel understood. Sure, you probably understood them. That’s not the problem. The problem is understanding doesn’t count for anything unless the other person believes you understand them. That builds trust. That’s the difference.

Anyone with the right data can show value. Value alone makes you a commodity. Building trust by making people feel understood is the first skill you will need to deal with emotions, the real reason people make decisions in real estate. It is also the fist step to the less stressful, less exhausting more abundant real estate business we talked about last week. So how do you do it? Keep tuning in and we’ll show you how. Keep elevating our industry.

Watch: https://youtu.be/cY09waiZHwU

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

How Do You Choose the Right Real Estate Brokerage for You?

How do you choose a the right brokerage for you? I am Dave Veldkamp, owner of RE/MAX GR. I am asked that question often. There are a lot of great brokerages out there, making it hard to choose. Our advice when it comes to selecting a brokerage, is to choose the one who gives you the highest level of confidence in achieving the best possible outcome for your real estate business. Who you believe will best prepare and position you for success. Who you believe will best help you navigate this industry for years to come, through good markets and bad. Who you believe will protect your best interests at all times. That is the brokerage you want to partner with. Contact us if you are interested in learning if RE/MAX GR is the right fit for you.

Keep Elevating Our Industry!

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

It's Time To Get Your Life Back

You probably got into real estate because you wanted flexibility, freedom and a six figure income. In reality, a six figure can be elusive, the freedom of being your own boss is tougher than you imagined, finding and closing your next sale can be exhausting and flexibility now means being available 24/7. Would you be opposed to removing all of this stress and struggle while maintaining the results? Can you even imagine running a business like that? What would it feel like?

At this point skepticism might be creeping in, saying that’s not possible. You might even be thinking I am crazy for suggesting it. But what if it was possible? What if successful agents across the country were already operating this way and feeling more balanced and authentic? This year, we will be unlock something different for your business that virtually no one is talking about. So don’t miss a week. Don’t want to wait? Connect with us directly to jump on the fast track. After all, do you really want to hold on to that mental and emotional exhaustion any longer than you have to?

Keep elevating our industry.

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Daveveldkamp@remax.net

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

What to Expect in Real Estate in 2023

We have wrapped up 2022 and we are ushering in 2023. We know many of you like to provide annual updates to your sphere around this time of year, so over the next several weeks we will be providing great market information for you to share with your clients and that starts today with our ready to post quick summary of 2022. Be sure to download it today. Additionally, based on the 2022 results, here is what we are expecting for 2023 in our market. Total transactions will be down 7% because of a slower start than normal as the public adjusts to 6.5% rates as the new normal. That means we will see about 10,000 transactions or 20,000 sides in our market, levels we haven’t seen since 2011 & 2012. The continued lack of inventory will hold values close to 2022 with a 1-2% increase. When you combine those two, the result is a 5-6% drop in total sales volume. That would still result in a larger market in terms of volume than 2020, which we know most of you thought was a pretty good year.

Download: 2022 Real Estate Market Summary

Keep Elevating Our Industry!

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Why 50% of People Don't Refer You

50% of people do not think about giving you a referral. That is a lot of untapped opportunity. Here is the solution…teach your clients how to refer you. First tell them who a good referral is…maybe they should send you anyone with a housing question. Maybe they should send you people looking for rental properties or other investment opportunities because of your expertise in that market segment. Maybe it is someone looking in a specific location that you know well. Maybe if someone is looking out of state and you can help them get connected with an agent because of your or your company's extensive referral network. Next, teach them what information you would need…a name, a phone number, an email and a little background would be perfect. Then, tell them how they can provide the information to you and make it easy. Be sure to reinforce the referral with a thank you of some sort. You want to encourage the action of referring whether a sale happens or not. Finally, never appear too busy to help or the referrals will go to someone else.

Keep Elevating Our Industry.

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

The Valley of Disappointment

Have you ever felt like you are doing all of the right things, all of the right activities, putting in the time and energy, yet you are not getting the results you expected? You are not alone. Welcome to what James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, calls the valley of disappointment. When you make the decision to consistently put in the work your mind also create an expectation for the desired results. But in realty it takes time for your consistency to compound so the arc of your results looks much different. This creates a temporary gap between your expectations and the results, also known as, the valley of disappointment. The encouraging news is that if you can push through the valley with your commitment to consistency soon your results will exponentially surpass your expectations. I guess that is why they say consistency and hard work are undefeated.

Keep Elevating Our Industry.

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Your Best Real Estate Lead

Your best lead might be 6 months old. Wait, what? I thought if you didn’t respond in seconds the lead was dead? While responding promptly is still recommended, stick with with me while I explain. Imagine you are planning a trip. You start poking around the internet, a little research here, read an article there, check out a few hotels or resorts. Chances are all of this is going on months before the trip. The same is often true for a move. Months before you start checking out the market, you browse a few listings online, you research some neighborhoods, etc. You wonder what can I afford for my new place? How much could I get for my current home?  Many people were going through this process month ago. Some of them ended up in your lead funnel. So pull out those leads from months ago. Reach out. Ask them if they are still in the market for a move. Then help them achieve their housing goals.

Keep Elevating Our Industry.

https://youtu.be/5sY1LHkWfLE

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Avoiding Sales Slumps

We have all experienced slumping sales at some point in our careers. We can come up with lots of reasons why, but if we are honest we can always connect it to our own lack of focus on the right activities for some period of time. Life and business are full of distractions. Some are healthy, intentional and needed breaks. Others are simply busy work that fool us into thinking we are really working. Those distractions steal time that could be invested in our business or more importantly our lives outside of work. To avoid these distractions, to avoid wasted time, to avoid sales slumps, find the number one activity, the number one metric, that drives sales to your business. Get laser focused on that metric.

Our suggested metric is simply the total number of conversations per week. If you want to improve in that area try this, take out a piece of paper, in big numbers, across the whole page write 322. Everyday call your SOI until you are able to speak with 3 people, then schedule at least 2 in person meetings a week. Your weekly goal from calls and meetings is to identify 2 people who need to move within the next 12 months. Focus on your 322 and you’ll enjoy a more stable business and a more balanced life. Keep elevating our industry!

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Two Very Different Responses

In the middle of the Great Recession author and marketing guru Seth Godin spent some time at the NAR national convention. He discover that the realtors in attendance were completely split in their response to the market conditions. He is what he said about the experience.

"Some of the realtors were angry (even bitter) about the end of the long run of increasing housing prices, they were scared about their futures. These realtors didn’t know how they were going to cope with what had happened. The other realtors were visibly excited. They were eager to get to work. They saw the change in the outside world as an opportunity, a chance fo them to dramatically increase their business. They new the current problems would not last forever, they understood that the problems would wipe out the opportunity seekers, leaving the professionals standing. The leaders, the ones that were going to stay, realized the change would be a good thing. These realtors were ready and motivated.”

Does this seem at all familiar to the reactions to today’s market changes? Those who were excited back then surrounded themselves with other pros who felt the same. Then they survived and even thrived as the years went on. We are excited about the opportunities change presents and we are surrounding ourselves with other who feel the same. How about you? Keep elevating our industry.

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

One Question, Multiple Referrals

What’s your answer to "How’s the Market?” Did you hesitate? Then this message is for you. We get this question all the time and even more now that we are seeing people for the holidays. How you answer can lead to many opportunities for your business. Here are two tips for crafting answers that will result in more leads and referrals. First, no matter what the market circumstance there is an advantage or opportunity for someone. Start your answer with the opportunity, not the market circumstance. This keeps your answer positive. Instead of saying buyer activity is slow, say it’s a great time for buyer’s to get homes without competing offers, or FHA and VA offers are being accepted, or contingent offers are now being accepted opening up the market to more people. Second, end with a question. It will continue the conversation. A simple, “Why do you ask?” Or “Are you considering a move?” will keep the conversation going and provide you with more information. It also opens you up to tell them you would be happy to help anyone else with their needs. Keep elevating our industry!

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

How Many Homes Will Sell in 2023

There are 245k households in Kent County. The question is how many will choose to move in 2023? For the last 43 years an average of 4.6% of households chose to move every year. By the way, this is also a great number to remember when you are evaluating the ROI on your marketing programs. In peak years this number has grown to 5.2% of households and in down years, like the great recession, it shrank to around 4%. Even at 4% level, that is close to 10,000 homes sold in our market. The good news is even if the market shrinks to 9,000 sales there will still be more sale volume in the market than in 2019, which I know many of you thought was a very good year.

What we have also seen in the past is when a market tightens and the amount of sales decreases, the most focused, educated and productive agents garner the highest shares of the remaining business, making it tougher for marginal producers to stay competitive. The end of 2022 is no time to coast if you want to compete in 2023. Keep elevating our industry.

https://youtu.be/cOuTimv04OA

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Feeling Different About Next Year

Legendary speaker and entrepreneur Jim Rohn said, "It’s not what happens, it’s what you do.” Real estate is feeling different this fall because of what is happening in the market. So if we listen to Jim, what do we do? In a market that requires more skills, less distractions and laser focus on the sales process, it's time to be even more proactive. For example, we’ve created 4 programs to better serve our clients. A competitive advantage program and interest rate offset program for buyers. A predictive pricing program and contingent offer verification program for our sellers. Each one addresses a specific client need and offers a valuable solution to help them move forward toward their housing goals.

Equipped with these 4 programs it’s hard not to stand out from the ever increasing competition. For those of you feeling like next year will be different, how will you respond to Jim Rohn’s advice? What will you do to earn more clients? What do you choose to focus on in your business? The answers to these questions will determine your level of success next year. If you're curious about the programs we have developed and you want to develop your own, send me a message we are happy to share.

Keep elevating our industry!

https://youtu.be/EUA8ZELieCg

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Some Clients May Be Feeling Stuck

There has been no lack of news coverage surrounding the changes in the real estate market. The news sensationalizes much of what they report because they are selling headlines. For example there has been a lot of talk about home prices dropping over the last couple of months, which is true, average sales prices have dropped. However, what they fail to include in their report is that prices drop every fall season. Did you know that last year, in 2021, during the hottest real estate market on record, the average sales prices dropped 6.5% from September to October and not an article was publish. This year, during that same time period, the average sales price dropped just 3.7%, right in line with the seasonal average. Yet, we hear all about it.

Here’s my point, be sure to get the whole story, the real data. We’ll keep sharing it with you here and you should share it with your sphere. See many people feel stuck, unable to achieve their current housing goals because of the partial or misleading information they have heard. They don’t see a solution to all of the market challenges they are hearing about. If you can show them the solution because of your market expertise, you’ll have a client for life. If you're looking for solutions but unsure where to start, send me a message.

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/0nsCXnWS5rs

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Will the Market Stall Your Real Estate Business?

Will the market stall your business? The answer is yes, but only if you are willing to let it. For many there will be a reduction in the amount of transactions they close next year, but not for those who choose to put in the extra hustle. The top pros out there have already begun their strategic planning for the challenges of next year. Here is the way they see it…half of the agents will become frustrated and stop trying using the market as an excuse, yet there will still be 90% of the business out there. That means there is market share to be gained for those focused on growth.

It is similar to the story of two door to door sales people who wake up on a rain day. One says “It’s raining out, I can go out in weather like this.” The other says “It’s a great day for sales! Most my competition will stay home.” The pros I have spoken with are aware of the challenges out there, but remain focused on and excited about the opportunities the future holds. They are making their plans to succeed next year. Are you? If you want to put together a strategic plan for next year but don’t know where to start send me a message and we’ll send you our 3 step process. Keep elevating our industry!

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Where to Find Clients in 2023

With all sorts of negative news about the future of the real estate market many are worried about where their business will come from next year. If you are one of them, you're not alone. Next year will require more hustle, skills, and support. I hope your broker has already started providing you with what you will need. The truth is, for those who are willing to put in the effort, you will not have to participate in any sort of downturn. Even in the years of the crash our market averaged 20,000 sides per year.

Here’s why. Real estate agents don't do anything to make people decide to move, life events do. Life events don't stop in a changing market and people still need to move. To help we have included a list of life changing events to look for in your sphere of influence, so you can be there to help when needed.

We use a proprietary app to identify these event so we don’t miss a deal, but you don’t necessarily need one. Instead, watch your sphere on social, call them quarterly and pay attention for indicators. Still building your sphere? Then ask, where may I find people experiencing these events? How can I connect with them? And what is my message that differentiates me?

While next year may look different, there will be more than enough business to support the true pros. Keep elevating our industry!

Download: Who is Moving in 2023

Watch the Video

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Answering the Consumers FOBATT: Part 3 - Competitive Advantages

At it’s peak the sold to list price ratio was 1.1, meaning buyers were paying an average of 10% over list price. In our market that means a buyer was bringing an extra $35k to the table to secure the home. The sold to list price ratio has normalized and homes selling at or around their list price. Now that $35k can stay in the buyer's pocket. Yes, they will be buying with a higher interest rate than before, but that extra money in their pocket could offset the impact of the additional interest for 7-10 years, which happens to be is the average length of ownership or plenty of time to explore refinancing.

Then consider the facts that 1 in 4 homes needed price reduction in order to sell in September and 17% of seller have given concessions in order to sell, nearly 3x more from just a few month ago. All of a sudden, buyers have some real competitive advantages. Maybe one of your messages to consumers who are concerned about buying at the top should be, “Interested in competitive advantages that could offset the impact of interest rates? Let’s talk.”

I would love to hear your thoughts on messaging we are providing in these last 3 videos so send me some feedback. Keep elevating our industry!

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Answering the Consumer's FOBATT: Episode 2

We are continuing our series on offering answers to the consumer's fear of buying at the top so you can stand out from the crowd of real estate agents resulting in more business for you. Last week, we suggested you share the message “Concerned about buying at the top of the market? Let me show you why buying now could save you over $35,000” If you missed it and you want all the details on the math, click over to that video. This week we are discussing ARMs or buying down points.

Now, you all probably know about ARMs and buying down points, but are you messaging it correctly? Make sure your message communicates a tangible advantage to your audience. For example, your message could be, “If there was a way you could save $350 a month on your payment, would you want to hear about it?” Or “If you could save $15,000 on your mortgage payments over the next 5 years, would you be interest? Maybe you give all of these options a name and your message could be “Reduce the impact of the recent rate hikes. Let me tell you about several Interest Rate Offset Opportunities."

Answering these fears and concerns of the consumer is the number one way to earn more appointments which will lead to more business and fill your pipeline for the new year. Keep Elevating Our Industry.

Watch Video

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Answering the Consumer's FOBATT

You have probably heard of FOMO, the fear of missing out. For several years now the fear of missing out on historically low rates has propelled our market. Of course with the spike in rates things have changed. Now we are experiencing FOBATT. Now consumers are fearful of buying at the top. With the changes in rates and multiple years of double digit value increases, I don’t think we can blame them, can we? However, we can offer them answers to calm their new fear. The agents who do and do it proactively will be rewarded with more business.

Over coming weeks we are going to provide you with several message to share with consumers on why now is still the best possible time to buy a home, so you can answer their FOBATT. Starting this week with the numbers. According to top economist across the country values are still going to increase around 4% each year for the next several years. Waiting just one year on a 350k average home means your client will pay 14k more for the home next year, have to increase their downpayment by $2,800 to avoid PMI, experience nearly $100 higher monthly payment, lose another 3k in additional equity from their payments this year and spend 16k more in interest over the life of the loan.

The take away…homes are only going to get more expensive as time goes on. Maybe your message to the consumer needs to be “are you concerned about buying at the top of the market, let me show you why buying now can save you over $35,000.

Keep elevating our industry.

Watch the Video

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Go Next Level with Your NPG

What is you Net Profit Goal or NPG? Many agents in our industry set gross commission income (GCI) goals which is a good start. However, it falls short because it is only addressing the top line revenue of your business, not the bottomline profit. A net profit goal is next level. When you set your NPG there are several questions you need to answer. How much is it? How will you get there? Why is it important to me? How will I celebrate once I get there? Now it has been proven that writing down a goal and sharing it with someone increases your chances of achieving that goal. Here is your chance to do both. Click the link below and share your NPG with us and tell us how you will celebrate once you get there! Keep elevating our industry.

Share Your NPG

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David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Passive Income for Realtors: Revenue Sharing Income vs. Referral Income

There is a lot of discussion around creating passive income or additional revenue streams for realtors. In this video we compare revenue sharing income and referral income. A realtor has a choice, they can spend their time attracting additional agents to their firm and earn a percentage of the revenue from that agent's sales or they can spend their time generating more real estate leads and refer those leads to another agent for a percentage of that sale. We wanted to dig into the numbers to see what was the most effective, efficient and reliable additional revenue stream.

Watch the Video: https://youtu.be/r-N3XDtmctk

David Veldkamp

RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700