The purpose of this site
The whole reason I created this website is for agents all over the world to chat and share ideas about what’s working for them.
See for years I searched the net and couldn’t find a place where you could get new real estate ideas, see how other agents are going, find out what’s working for them, chat to them or just align yourself with people who are passionate and moving forward.
So, that’s the reason.
On this post I would love if you could write comments on what you are finding is working well for you, challenges you may be having that others may be able to help you with or just general tips.
See there is so much momentum created through synergy and I would love this website to create so much synergy between agents throughout the world that it not only enhances everyone’s life that adds to it but the industry as a whole across the planet.
If we all contribute to this I know the increased success that everyone will achieve by sharing ideas will produce an increased abundance mindset in all of us. Sharing really is a universal principle of Success.
Let us know what is going on for you as I’m sure there will be many people that will benefit from what you have to say and you may be able to benefit from what others may be able to feedback to you.
Look forward to hearing from you…….
There's been 25 comments so far...
I went to an Aaron Shiner training course on Friday and it was great, he made mention of you and Lee Woodward quite a bit. A great tip I got out of it was sending just sold letters/cards to past appraisals, not just the property’s surrounding streets. And a “7 year anniversary itch” letter to property’s in your farm, area is great too!
Hi Peter,
Great one.
Thanks for sharing the tip with everyone.
Would love to hear some more from people!
Let’s all help each other write some massive business!!
Mat
I have just recently left the industry after being in it for 5 years. I just lost my drive and decided that Real Estate wasn’t for me. I’ve been out for around 3 month’s now so I’ve had a lot of free time. With this time I have been able to really take a step back and look at the way I had been living my life (whilst working in Real Estate) and realised that I was working hard but neglecting my health. So now with all this free time I am exercising and eating well, even lost a few kilo’s.
I feel great now and I’m putting things into place now to reach my goal’s (which are to look & feel great) and with this newfound energy that I have, no suprise, I am starting to get the urge and feeling really motivated to get back into the industry and really perform well and reach my financial & lifestyle goals.
So this leads me to my question to anyone who has been in my position before. Over the 5 years that I worked in Real Estate I had worked at 2 different offices. What I had noticed at both offices is that people that I worked with did not share the same values as me- they weren’t prepared to do the hard work I.e prospecting, after hours appointments etc. They weren’t interested in making themselves better by listening to audio coaching cd’s or implement systems to better their business, this included directors/owners.
So the question is, when I am out trying to find the right office to try to get into, what should I be looking for? What kind of questions should I ask? What would be the indicators to tell whether the office is at peak performance including it’s staff?
By the way, I do realise it is up to me to create my own success but from past experience it can get quite lonely and discouraging when your teammates aren’t sharing the same vision as you do or work to the same system as you do.
Also, in choosing the right area to work in what would be the things to look for? Is it price range, demographics, turnover?
Sorry about the lengthy post but I have been thinking about it a lot. I’m 26 years old now and I really want to get it right this time. I believe there is no better industry than Real Estate it can be so rewarding if you put the effort into it. If anybody has any comments about this I would love to hear about it.
Thanks Mat for putting this site together. Already learnt so much, and only found out about the site a couple of weeks ago!
Hey Anthony
A month or so ago I asked Mat a similar question to what you wanting to know, how do you cope with working with people that dont match the drive and goals and discipline that you have for your business.
I work in a market leading office (we won top office in First National last year) and despite that there are guys here who are content with the status quo and dont have drive or vision – the other day we had a power blackout and half the agents went home instead of using it as an opportunity to do some cold prospecting etc.. for example!
Mat said to me that you cant worry about these guys, you gotta focus on your own success path. You cant control what the other guys do and what their goals are. Since realising this my business is growing with alot more consistency and its been great so far, especially because I am feeling more and more positive everyday. Instead of worrying about these guys and feeling frustrated at their differences, you gotta focus on the positive points about them and the things they are great at and be genuinely happy for them.
As far as looking for an office, I would look for a team that is diverse in personality and skillsets, and also an office that is well established in an area, as this will give you a brand to work off to begin with whilst you reconnect with past contacts.
Good luck out there Anthony, real estate is an unbelieveable industry and it is great to have you back out there with us. You will be a huge success
Cheers Michael
Thanks Michael for the comment and advise.. its so true. I havent been in real estate for to long now (17 months) and have loved the challenges that has come my way. sometimes u do get caught with “stuff” and it get u down or frustrated, but what i have done when this happens is to focus on my goals and the journey i have set for myself and try channel out all negative energy, one of the ways i do that i listen to motivational audios every morning, and look at my goals and focuss on them and sometimes taking some time out helps too.
Well thst my two peice.
Matt thanks for this site, its great to have like minded success people around you to give u tht extra drive to go that extra mile and acheive you goals n change you destiny and certainly this site is a great tool for tht
.
Hi Michael, thanks for your comments. I will definitely go into the industry with a positive attitude and a open mind about the blockages that may come my way. I can’t wait to start again and to create that success once again!
Hey all,
I work in North/West Sydney and at the moment we are experiencing a huge decline in listings and appriasals.
Ive constantly heard of the success agents are getting from the Price Drive letter that Lee Woodward put together.
I know Danny Grant got a record of 22 appraisals from it in one week.
As of next week Im going to start using the letter to build my relationships and contacts in my farm area.
I will let you all know as to how it goes and the number of appraisals it generates.
Cheers
Colin
Hey Guys,
Awesome stuff!
Anthony, great to hear you are re-focusing and sounds like you are asking the right questions to go to the next level, you will get where you want to go just keep moving forward and most importantly feel good.
Glad to hear you are now powering Michael, keep at it and great things will come!
Excellent points Sam….. As John McGrath said if you are working through some obstacles/challenges just keep your eye on your goal.
Colin, Just a quick one in terms of market appraisals yes price drive letters can certainly work. I highly recommend thinking about market opinions like picking fruit off a tree. You can’t just plant a tree then there is fruit there tomorrow that is ripe and delicious to eat….. You plant a seed, you nurture the soil, your plant grows slowly and surely over a period of time until one day the tree is developed enough to spring forth perfect fruit, then you must let the fruit develop and ripen… Then you can eat the tasty fresh fruit. See market opinions are like the fruit, they are a direct result of your prospecting over a period of time ie: days, weeks, months, years and if you take care of your tree/farm area properly your tree/farm area will spring forth so much fruit that you will be so full you will start giving your fruit/market opinions to your friends/work colleagues.
Yes, I agree with you that sometimes market appraisals do drop off at times but this is the beauty of taking amazing care of your tree/farm area, when the amount of market opinions become less in your area, you will get the line share of the ones that do decide to sell because you have earned it, long before they have made the decision to sell and your tree/farm area will be constantly flourishing in all market conditions!
Have an amazaing day!!
Mat
Thx for the comment Mat… reading ur comment gives me more inspiration to focuss more on my farm area and keep planting those seeds day after day coz i know if this is done right, i will reap those rewards sooner or later.
Its a amazing life
Hi All
Great to read everyones comments on the site and it is so good to have this space so everyone can share their info, thanks Mat, what a powerful tool this can be for all of us. You can see by everyones comments that we are all focused on doing well, reaching our goals and enjoying the journey.
I am lucky to have just come back to work alongside Mat again. I worked as his PA a few years ago and have come back a few years later as an agent working with Mat which is a wonderfully exciting role.
I have been in real estate for about 7 years and one of the things that I love about this industry is that it is a changing environment, there are highs and lows, celebrations and frustrations and many things to distract you, its never boring and I never stop learning. It is a passionate job.
I am back to basics, building relationships, learning my area, prospecting, chasing business, getting out and meeting people and at staying positive. I know without a doubt that if I continue to do the things that I should be doing and stay focused there is no doubt I will be successful. I am really excited to be where I am and just love going to work each day!! How great is that!
Tracy
Great site Mat
It’s also good to see you back where you feel at home Tracy.
Anthony, I agree that you need to focus on your goals, but if the office you are going to work with has a poor culture then no matter how focussed you are on your own personal goals you’ll just get let down by the rest of the team.
This has been something that I’ve noticed happening with some of the EBU’s/pods within the industry. The EBU’s are designed so each person can work to their strengths & the team set out to create an amazing customer experience only to find that the rest of the agents outside of the EBU structure don’t have the same passion, culture or support mechanisms & they don’t live up to the same level of service to the client. This naturally causes tension amongst the team. That’s why you’ll find a number of EBU’s have gone out & opened their own agencies.
If an EBU leaves & opens their own agency, normally they find that the move actually has a detrimental effect on the EBU’s ability to provide good customer service because a great EBU team suddenly moves into becoming another small real estate office with huge overheads, lots of extra admin work & a whole new brand to promote.
If you’re ultimately looking to have your own EBU or Pod then I believe office selection is very important.
Anthony, I’d pay attention to the quality of the support staff, the operating systems of the office, their level of innovation & their desire to embrace new technology because that’s where the future is.
If the agency has these things in place, you’ll generally find that a switched on leader is steering the ship & it’s highly unlikely that they will have a poor team.
Sure Anthony if you’ve got enough passion & drive you’ll be able to make it in almost any agency but real estate is too hard if your working with people you don’t like. It should be fun & it’s much easier with good support people around you & effective systems in place..
Good one Greg,
Anyone else have any comments on their experiences succeeding in certain offices?
Here’s a question for everyone…. What do you think is the main thing/things that you feel it takes to succeed in real estate?
Look forward to your comments.
Mat
Fantastic Site Mat
I would just like to comment about not utilising your time productively. Since starting in Real Estate 2 years ago, I have noticed that when the weather in not great, many sales reps dont get out there and do the business but stay in the office or go home. Today it was raining and cold where I live and I got out on the beat delivering my Market Opinion (Appraisal) letters.
I have found that if you are out there in the cold and rain and potential clients happen to notice you then it puts you in good stead to win the business because they can see how dedicated and productive you really are.
Thanks Mat for giving us this website to help others and be helped yourself also. It definately is a win/win situation.
I have only been working in real estate for 7 months now.
But from the training and coaching I’ve received from many industry professionals, as well as listening to audio, it takes dedication, direction and drive to succeed but you can’t rely on enthusiasm to survive in this industry.
If u cant list you wont last (Lee Woodward)
And you have to put in the hard yards daily, prospecting,.
I’ve copped PLENTY of knock backs in my career so far but it’s how you respind and pick yourself back up that truly shows your character and committment!
Thanks for your advise Greg, I agree that if an office has poor culture it is alot harder to find that drive everyday. The tension within the office is hard to deal with as well when you feel like you have been let down, support staff need to be on the ball and this ultimately needs to be directed by the principal.
I’ve been working on a set of standards to work to when I am back. I believe this will give me good direction in my day to day business and personal life.
Mat, I believe what it takes to be successful in Real Estate is to be focused, have a work/life balance, have good people in your life to support you, be coachable (and have the ability to re-invent yourself time and time again), be able to accept ‘no’ (have no fear of rejection-only realise that it takes you closer on your journey to ‘yes’!) and understand that constantly providing value to people without anything in return is the only key to unlock the door to great relationships and this will give you what you want in a successful career in Real Estate.
Christine, your story reminded me of a time when I was out door knocking with one of my team & once the umbrella blew inside out & a tree fell over near us we decided to call it a day. True Story
Dedication or Stupidity you decide, but all I know is we were laughing about it all the way back to the office & for years after.
Rainy days are also a great time to catch people at home.
Mat, I believe what it takes to be successful now is different to what it was a few years ago. The market & technology has changed the game. Whilst dedication, skills, scripts & dialogues are still highly relevant the internet has changed how we connect with people & the impression people have of an agent is being judged well before the client even contacts the agent.
Basically, if they don’t like what they see then you’re out & you don’t even get to know why.
Also, the days seem to have gone where you’d take one buyer around & show them a number of homes & build up a personal relationship with them over an hour or two. Nowadays, the buyer looks on the web, selects a number of homes they want to see & books in to see 4 or 5 homes, meeting the agents at the properties, which often means meeting up with 4 or 5 different agents.
I believe that agents icebreaker scripts & first impression strategies will become even more important as agents move forward. Follow that up with an effective, automated follow up process that keeps you top of mind & then you’re in with a better than average chance of success.
I have found rainy days to be the most effective on the phones, as most people have the same mentality as the salespeople. It’s wet, don’t want to go into the office, I will stay home.
I look forward to wet weather weeks, as it means I can call Monday – Tuesday and drop my quarterly’s off on Thursday – Friday.
I think the follow through on the buyers will be the key difference in their relationship with you. Our office has effectively locked out another company from listing a property they sold again by taking on their anniversary calls and giving them a quarterly report.
The hardest thing I have found is that I am consistently the top of the office by some mile, but need the competitive stimulation by the others guys to keep from being bored. How do you keep it going when you are ahead?
Hi Everyone.
I come from Port Pirie in SA and these high figures everyone talks about – like Mat writing $2m etc. I would like to know what the average commission is around the different areas of Australia. As I have said before I have been in Real Estate for just over 2 years now and ever though I have been encouraged to keep score, I havent been very diligent at it. Since starting at Elders, I have decided to make sure I have a control board where I keep my tallies. On the 3rd of July I had already sold the number of properties I needed to and the gross commission also. The listings and the appraisals have not happened as yet but I am working on them. I am determined to reach all of my targets for the month.
What I have realised is that it is extremely important to keep track of what you need to do to get the job done. In my real estate career I will never stop using the control board now that I have made it a habit. It keeps me motivated and focused.
Hey Guys,
Excellent tips in all of this!
Keep it going. So much to learn from every person that contributes.
Greg, that is so true about icebreaker scripts/first impression strategies are what’s next, combined with awesome follow up it will be unbeatable.
Brett, how do you keep it going? I think when your own goals drive you enough you really don’t need any other stimulation. It’s all about the Why.
Christine, commission levels vary in my area. Many of the houses I sell are priced between $450,000-$650,000 with an average fee of 3% including GST. However I do sell quite a number of homes priced over $1,000,000 which does bring up my average sale price. Although when I started writing over $1,000,000 say 10 years ago the average sale price of the homes I was selling back then was around $400,000.
You can still write large numbers on lesser priced homes you just have to have more market share.
Here is a question for everyone….. I am looking to build this site further and make it a place that people can spend time and get refocused or more focused, what do you all want to see on here?
Let me know……
Perhaps a section or page where people write up the number of calls they make each day plus the number of appraisal they have each week followed by list and sell with their financial rewards. This could inspire people to say “hey, they’re not doing something I can’t do and I can write those figures too” and get us more focused and determined to go out there and get a mile in front. Thoughts?
Hi Peter,
Yes, I think there is something in that.
Maybe a members section where you can view other agents stats, results etc and interact.
Ok, I will ponder and come back.
Also, I have just put a new post on about how more I could help, let’s see what else comes in and let’s build something amazing.
Great idea, thank you.
Mat
Hi Everyone,
I would first like to thank Matt for giving back so much to the real estate community and helping all agents like myself, Your site and also your audio/visual training disc’s have helped me so much, both in the way I sell real estate and also in everyday life.
I have just moved across from a Business Development Role in property management to Sales and with that, a new suburb, new office, new farm area and new co-workers… Cold Start I guess you could say. I work in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Springfield Lakes, where there is an average sale price of $375,000, a steady turnover of homes and is in a good growth area.
I have become a member of Real Estate Academy and also purchased Mat’s Training CD’s, which have been a great help being new to selling property.
A question I would love to get everyone’s thought’s on is how often to people find the most effective to letterbox drop marketing/price drive letter etc? i.e. Monthly, Quarterly etc
Thanks for allowing me to share my bit and I’m looking forward to reading about everyone else questions, ideas and answers.
Cheers,
Cobey
Cobey,
I also work in the Western Suburns of Brisbane (probably not as West as Springfield Lakes) I found myself, the most effective way is to call through using the CMA Drive Script, and then drop it off to them between 5:30 – 6:30pm.
I call Tuesday and Thursday, and drop off on Wednesday, Friday. Then the following week call back and gauge the interest from the locals, and put the ones who are most responsive on my Quarterly Trail. This has been my fastest way of building a following, and locking out other agents from doing the same thing.
Just dropping them off, I have found, has much less of a strike rate, or Return on Investment.
Cheers Brett – DDRE
Mat,
I stumbled across this site today, saw something of interest, followed the thread, made a comment and was about to leave when i thought … hang on, just see what else is on here … so glad I did; this is an amazing resource for someone new to the industry (me). I had purchased and listened to most of what you and Lee W have put out before entering the industry and listen to hot topics constantly but this is something else again – brilliant!
Just wanted to say a heartfelt thanks. I’ll be back regularly to benefit from and hopefully contribute to this site.
6 months in to RE and already I am feeling burnt out – have never worked so hard for so little reward … so far. The listings and sales have come and I’ve sold ‘em, had some wonderful moments of huge success and therefore have a taste of what it could be but it has been at the cost of family/life balance/sleep/fitness. I know that is unsustainable so really need to do things more effectively …. your site could be my missing link. Many thanks,
Eve
Hey Eve,
Yes, I understand what you are saying about the absorption of this industry and I have paid a very high price for the rewards. I can honestly say that although it is great to create success for yourself take it easy because as Richard Branson says “it is about the marathon, not the sprint race” and it’s so true. A burnt out real estate agent is no good to anyone and especially yourself. There is a saying I think about often “no amount of success with ever compensate for failure in the home”. I have learnt from this statement and the interesting thing about putting home/family/self first is you have so much more energy to give because your foundation is strong, the important things are taken care of and it creates a platform that makes you feel focused and centered. If you become one dimensional and make work your entire focus and basis of who you are you will feel tired, worn out and empty and believe me I lived it for many years. Richard Branson also talks about flowing in and out of work and his advice is so true, when you are at work it’s game on and when you are at home that becomes your focus, so in other words you flow in and out of the important areas of your life when needed and what this does is allow you to focus 100% on what is important at that point in time with little or no distractions. See the thing with real estate is your work day sort of doesn’t stop but you have to make it work the way you need it to. I haven’t mastered this yet but I am miles better than I used to be. Now I spend much more time with my Wife, kids and surfing and in doing so it has allowed me to focus on my work much better when I am there because the rest of my life is being taken care of and that’s what counts.
Anyway I hope you can slowly and surely achieve some sort of balance in your life because not only will your results be better but you will feel so much better too.
Mat
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