BrokerBryant.com

Hi folks. Early last year I made the decision to change my real estate business over to a virtual business. By this I mean I wanted to create a buisness where most of the listing and selling was done over the Internet. I made this decision for two reasons:

1. Rapidly declining property values
2. Huge increase in short sale listings.

The first made it no longer cost effective to drive around for days showing properties and the latter made it easier to take listings without having to meet with Sellers.

Right now my business is about 90% virtual. Not sure if I can get  that percenatge higher than that as there are still Buyers that will need to be shown property and there are still Sellers that will want to meet face to face.

So I'm starting to get pretty good with working Internet leads.

Having been in sales of some sort most of my life the most important thing I have learned is...do NOT sell folks. My job as a "sales person" is to persuade people to make decisions that are beneficial to them and to me. TLW says I am a manipulator. She's wrong. I am a persuader.

You must remember folks who use the Internet are after one thing, information. This is VERY important to understand. They do NOT want to be sold. If you try to sell them the game is over.

Your response back to an Internet inquiry should be designed to:

• First and foremost....answer their questions.

• Provide additional information.

• Be non intrusive.

• Build trust and likability.

• Invite further interaction.

• Let them know you will be following up.

Now having a blog goes a long way to achieving these goals. I have already written several posts on how to push your information at folks so I won't repeat it here. Here are the links to what I have already written.

• Don't wait for your Blog to "PULL" people in....."PUSH" it! 

• If you really are "THE EXPERT" then show them. Push the juice!

The key is to get your information in front of them without selling. What this does is create a non threatening environment where the consumer can get the information they are searching for without feeling like they are being sold or coerced into dealing with a "salesperson" when they are not ready.

You want to be a resource. A source of information that the consumer sees as valuable. You want them to feel comfortable enough to come back. And they will come back if you have the information they are searching for.

If you have spent any time at all reading my blog, then you know, that I rarely sell my services. I don't have to. When the consumer reads my posts they are getting valuable information. They contact me because I am giving them this information with no strings attached, it's free for them to use as they choose.

Also remember, people are on the Internet searching not only because they want information but because they want it quick. If you do get an inquiry you must respond immediately. If you don't respond instantly or at a minimum within a couple of hours you can be sure they have moved on.

You will have more success converting Internet prospects by sending them "anything quickly" than sending them "something more comprehensive" later.

OK that's it for today. Hope it helps. Any thoughts?

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://CentralFloridaShortSales.com

http://ShortSaleSuperStars.com

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Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Hi folks.  The topic of this post is comments. Not how to make them or when to respond to them but how much value they can add to a post if you give them time to germinate.

When I write a post one of my goals is to create a discussion. I do this by asking questions, writing about a topic but leaving out information or by writing about something controversial. The reason I do this is because I want to learn. The discussions that take place in the comments help me do this. The comments give me a different way of looking at things or maybe I get some additional information that I didn't know or hadn't thought of.

Sometimes, my entire way of looking at a topic may change. I may have just been dead wrong in my thinking and some one was able to correct me. Either way it stimulates my thought process. And that's my main objective for writing.

So folks, what I want to do today is share some links to a few of my older posts. The posts that I have chosen are posts that generated tremendous discussion or had people commenting that were very aggressive and I was able to turn them around. And a few where we just had to agree to disagree and move forward.

My point in sharing these past posts is to show you how a comment thread can evolve from being very negative or aggressive to ending in a very positive manner.

If you receive a comment you don't like or you feel is an attack don't be so quick to delete it. Think about it. Then try to change that person's way of thinking. Debate the topic. Try your best to turn them around. Who knows......you may be the one that's wrong or maybe you'll learn something.

If you have a strong opinion on something you should be able to defend it. If all you want is for people to agree with you then you are missing out on a great opportunity to grow. Remember opinions are NEVER right or wrong. They are just opinions.

So, if you want to see how commenting can expand your knowledge, then take some time and read through these posts. It won't be easy. Some of these have many, many comments and each comment could be a post of it's own. Also, the comments are much better than the posts. The posts were just a starting point.

You'll read heated battles, total disagreements, anonymous posters, consumers weighing in and several other surprises. Who knows maybe you'll learn something. OK so here goes. I hope you enjoy the read. Might take a week to get through it all but it will be worth it I promise. Then come back and let me know what you think.

• "The Proof is in the Puddin" Range Pricing part 1,279! The comments in this one get very good about 3/4 of the way down. It is basically me defending my technique against naysayers.

• Let the Games Begin! This was a very strong debate between several members with me basically moderating the battle.

• So, what do you do to justify your high commission? Folks, if you don't read any of the others, you need to read this one. This post is an AR classic on how to debate a topic. To get the full affect of how this came about you have to visit the first link in the post that will take you over to the bloodhound blog. I was very, very proud of the members of ActiveRain this day. To me this comment thread epitomizes what blogging is all about.

• Buyer rebates. Good business or potential fraud? We had it ALL going on in this comment thread. In fact it was so much information I carried it over to another post.

• Buyer rebates on the HUD? It's clear as mud now! Well, after two posts and over 200 comments we still never got to the bottom of the buyer rebate debate. Oh well, maybe next time.

• Compensation or Performance? Which one will it be? Another great comment thread. REALTORS®, the consumer and an Attorney debate this topic. You have to get about half way down to when Mark Nadel, the person who wrote a 75 page white paper study on this topic, chimed in.

• Sherman and Broker Bryant mount up for battle!! This post will show you how to stand up for what you believe in. If you have a strong opinion then back it up.

OK that's it. I hope that in some small way this post will help you. As always, I appreciate each and every one of you that take the time to read what I write. Don't ever feel you have to agree with me. I'm a big boy and I can take it. I want to know your opinions and thoughts. So let me have them!

***Graphic compliments of Jay Merton. I call it "Me and my big head" Others may call it "Broker Bryant is full of hot air". But hey, that's their opinion and they are entitled to it.

Copyright © 2009 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://CentralFloridaShortSales.com/

***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***

Hi folks. This post is about "disintermediation". I have a whole bunch of stuff I could write about this topic but today I want to concentrate on Real Estate portals, specifically Trulia, Zillow and Cyberhomes.

First, in a nutshell, "disintermediation" is defined as "getting rid of the middleman". The idea is that Sellers and Buyers no longer need agents and can just log on to Trulia, Zillow, Cyberhomes or any of the other real estate portals and buy and sell real estate without the help of the middleman or REALTORS® specifically. Now folks I don't want to debate the value of a REALTOR®. Been there done that.

I want to talk about this disintermediation thing. Here's what I think.

The real estate portals, that supposedly will make the MLS no longer necessary, are actually creating another level of middleman.

Trulia.com is:

• We are a real estate search engine that helps you find homes for sale and provides real estate information at the local level to help you make better decisions in the process.(From trulia.com about us page)

The consumer can now log onto Trulia, find a house and THEN contact either their own REALTOR® or the listing broker. Better yet, maybe they will all have to go through Prudential, one of Trulia's new partners. A FSBO cannot place a property on Trulia. Only agents can. So Trulia has NOTHING to do with disintermediation. So if the consumer wants to purchase one of my listings, by using Trulia, they will have to go through me. My listings are on Trulia.

What is Zillow.com?

• Zillow.com is an online real estate service dedicated to helping you get an edge in real estate by providing you with valuable tools and information. (from zillow.com about us)

Now I concede that the consumer could very well go to Zillow.com and attempt to buy and sell real estate without the REALTOR® being involved. But if they want to purchase a property listed with me....they will have to go through me. Why? Because my listings are on Zillow.

Cyberhomes.com is the portal to watch:

• Expert tools. First-hand knowledge. Cyberhomes^TM valuations give you access to most of the same information that real estate professionals use to evaluate homes. (from cyberhomes about us)

Cyberhomes is owned by Fidelity National Title. They have 100 million property records!! Keep an eye on Cyberhomes. They also have reliable sold information on these properties. The consumer CAN log on to Cyberhomes and get information. BUT if they want to purchase one of my listings...they will have to go through me. My listings are on Cyberhomes.

Now let me state that I use these portals quite a bit. Just yesterday, one of my Sellers contacted me wanting to do some research on her own, to see what her house is really worth. She wanted to know if she could do this by visiting the tax records online. I said she could. I also said her best bet is for me to update the CMA. BUT if she wanted to do some research on her own....here are the links to Zillow and Cyberhomes.

Also yesterday, I had a buyer contact me through my blog http://brokerbryant.com. He sent me an MLS# and wanted some info. It was not one of my listings and I had already logged out of the MLS so I just put the MLS# into the "search properties" feature on my site http://brokerbryant.com and pulled up the property.

I got the address and then located the property on Trulia and sent it over to him. I thought Trulia's presentation was a little better than my IDX. No biggie. The buyer emailed me back and I will be showing him the property next week when he arrives from Bogota Columbia to buy in Poinciana FL.

My point is, the real estate portals are not disintermediating my business in the least. They are actually giving me some tools I can use in my business.

Being a listing Broker, as I am, I OWN the listings. No matter where the are syndicated you can't buy one without going through me. I control the inventory and I control the commission. This is the advantage of being a listing Broker. Whether or not your Buyer decides to cut out the middleman, you, they aren't able to cut me out. They have to go through me no matter where they find the information.

To take this a step further. If the MLS disappeared tomorrow, I would still OWN the listing. I don't care where the Buyer comes from. They can't purchase one of my listings without me getting paid. Think about that.

And for the consumer. Why waste your time going through the "middleman"? Why not go straight to the source? You don't need Trulia, Zillow or Cyberhomes. In fact, you probably haven't heard of these places anyway. So just do a Google (I bet you've heard of them) search for the area you want to live in. Want to buy or sell in Poinciana FL? Try Googling these.

• Buy a house in Poinciana

• Sell a property in Poinciana

• Find a broker in Poinciana

• Buy a foreclosure in Poinciana
  

• List a short sale in Poinciana

• SEXY REALTOR IN POINCIANA

Then just contact the guy at the top......Broker Bryant. Google me....that's all you get for free.

Copyright © 2008 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Bryant Tutas
Broker/Owner
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker
http://www.brokerbryant.com/
***The content of this blog is solely my opinion***