Excellent Tips for New Agents (Part 1)

With David Simonson, Realtor/Associate RE/MAX Professionals, Colorado, USA.

I recently had a cup of coffee with David Simonson, RE/MAX Agent in Colorado that has had a very successful career. David started in real estate in 2003 and joined RE/MAX in 2007. He has achieved the 100% Club Award during three consecutive years (2008, 2009, 2010). The 2011 results are not out yet.

During our pleasant conversation I asked David what tips he would give a person that is just starting his career with RE/MAX. These are the valuable tips that he shared:

• Clients want to work with Agents that know what they are doing, so it is important to educate yourself from the beginning.
• The best results are achieved by working with your “sphere of influence,” which is the circle of family members, friends, and acquaintances. Being active in civic and religious activities also works.
• It is possible that the people in your sphere of influence do not take you seriously at the beginning, so you must be explicit in letting them know that this is a serious commitment, not just a part-time effort or a hobby.
• One never knows who will end up buying or selling a house, so you need to treat all candidates as though they were an A candidate.
• Be prepared for hard work; this is not an easy business and it will define your character.
• People that make it in this business are those that are proactive to get new clients all the time. Do not just sit waiting for the phone to ring.
• If a marketing effort is worth doing, it is worth doing with excellence.
• Find a match between your career and your personal interests. For example, if you are interested in any particular hobby, promote your business among like-minded people.
• You have the privilege of defining your clientele. Take advantage of this. Select the people that you work with, in terms of seriousness and affinity.

Sharing a moment with this true professional was a privilege. We are proud to have David aboard!

If you want to send him referrals for the Colorado market, you can e-mail him at dsimonson@remax.net

Recruiting new agents benefits everyone

It’s no secret that we at RE/MAX are always trying to affiliate real estate professionals to our network. But why is that?

Well, here’s why …

In many Latin American offices and around the world we have observed a fascinating trend – Agents in cities that have many RE/MAX offices and Agents consistently make more money than their counterparts working in cities with less of a RE/MAX presence.

Why is this? For starters, the more RE/MAX agents there are in a location, the more RE/MAX yard signs consumers see – not to mention the heightened web, social media and marketing exposure.

Consumers then recognize RE/MAX as a powerhouse, and are more apt to hire a RE/MAX agent for their real estate needs. That’s what happens when they see a brand dominating the local market.

In essence, the sum of the individual efforts creates unparalleled brand-name awareness that our competitors simply cannot match. And that, in turn, creates additional business opportunities for all RE/MAX Agents.

We’ve seen this scenario play out in markets across the U.S. and Canada for years. The more RE/MAX presence there is, the more every Affiliate benefits.

So what can our Broker/Owner and Agents do to help keep RE/MAX at the top of consumers’ minds?

Broker/Owners should recruit at all times and use every opportunity to show prospects the advantage of aligning themselves with a worldwide brand.

Associates should keep doing what they do best: sell real estate. When their colleagues see their success and hear how they have benefitted from their affiliation with RE/MAX, they’ll want to join, too.

If we’re all proactive in attracting new talent and making our presence felt in every market, we all win.

Happy recruiting, and Happy Holidays everyone!

 

Latin America today is not the Latin America of our parents

During the last three years I have had the privilege of traveling extensively throughout Latin America, as part of our expansion efforts in this region.

What I have seen is a Latin America that is different from the common stereotype that has been in place for several decades. Of course there is still a long way to go, but there are numerous development poles in almost every country that I have visited.

During the month of May of this year, The Economist indicated that “Latin America’s housing boom is based on rising prosperity rather than excessive debt.” This is what we are seeing on the ground – as time goes by we see more people being able to afford decent housing for their families. People that could only afford a shack now can afford a small house; families that could only afford a small house now can trade up for a more comfortable piece of real estate, and so on and so forth.

The economies in general are improving. On Sep. 15^th of this year, The Atlantic reported that “National budgets and GDP growth in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru are in far better shape than our own. Some Central and South American governments have pioneered creative approaches to helping poor families while promoting school attendance and early childhood medical care.” Health care services and education have improved significantly over the last 3-4 decades, and life expectancy is much higher.

Obviously there are still many challenges to overcome, such as drug cartels in several cities and governments that are lacking behind in some countries. But Latin America is clearly positioning itself as a development force that will do even better during the years to come. A good choice for buyers wanting to diversify their investment or to retire comfortably.

Disappearing real estate agent (2 min. video)

Watch this 2 min. video to learn what you can and can’t expect when you work with a RE/MAX professional. Then fill out the form below to learn about franchise opportunities in the Caribbean and Central America.

RE/MAX Broker/Owners gathered in California to share their success

No one in the real estate industry would argue that the market in 2011 is completely different than what it was just a few years ago.  And, no one would argue that to succeed in today’s climate, you have to move with the market.  RE/MAX brought the opportunity for franchise owners to learn from the industry’s most exciting change leaders at the 2011 RE/MAX Broker/Owner Conference in Los Angeles from August 14 to 16 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.

“In real estate, you have to keep up, or get left behind and that’s why this event was so critical,” said Pam Newman, RE/MAX Vice President, Event Management.  “At RE/MAX, we believe that you can’t be in business tomorrow using yesterday’s methods.  Education and innovation are the keys to success.”

The Conference brought together close to 1,000 of the top real estate brokers from all over the world.  And, they heard from inspirational speakers such as William Taylor, a best-selling writer, author of “Practically Radical”.

This year has been a successful one for RE/MAX.  In July, results from the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Home Buyer/Seller Study, recognized RE/MAX for providing the highest overall consumer satisfaction for both home buyers and home sellers. And, in two industry surveys of the country’s top real estate brokerages, RE/MAX agents averaged more transaction sides than agents at the other national franchises. J.D. Power and Associates is recognized by many as “the voice of the consumers in the USA.”

RE/MAX Spain holds annual convention and fights recession effects

Javier Sierra, Owner of RE/MAX Spain Region, is interviewed by Maria Blanco, Development Director, during the annual convention that took place on June 9-10 in the Canary Islands.

“We can let the recession affect us, or we can help turn things around” was the message sent by Javier Sierra, Owner of RE/MAX Spain, during the annual convention with a turnout of 247 real estate professionals of our network. This expert in developing the RE/MAX network in his country, and key figure in the national real estate arena, also invited the attendees to take advantage of the tools that RE/MAX offers, such as RE/MAX Commercial (for commercial properties), and RE/MAX Collection (for high-end real estate); Sierra explained that “the market in Spain is ready for the use of these tools, and our agents can promote them to provide a better service to their clients, and take their business to the next level.”

Personally, I had the privilege of presenting “The True RE/MAX Agent: The One That Turns No into Yes.” In this session I shared my personal vision about developing a successful career in the RE/MAX system, and studied topics such as personal finances, customer service, innovation, technology, and long term commitment to success.

During and after the event, many of the attendees used Twitter (#convencionremax) and Facebook  to share their experience and enthusiasm for everything that they got out of this event.

300 professionals attended the RE/MAX Mexico Convention

About 300 professionals gathered at the Convention of RE/MAX Mexico, which took place from 17 to 20 May in the colonial city of Queretaro.

It all started with a meeting of franchise owners, with great leadership by Mr. Sergio Felgueres. The franchise owners have been gaining market share thanks to their recruiting efforts and training provided to all of the agents about closing and making better business decisions.

Then there was a variety of lectures, including one by Dr. Alfredo Barragán, world-renowned Argentinean expeditionary, who crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a raft without an engine in order to prove his theory that Africans could have completed this voyage long before Christopher Columbus. Dr. Barragán’s message of perseverance, courage and planning was well received by attendees as they will apply these important lessons to their real estate business in Mexico.

Personally, I had the privilege to present a lecture on RE/MAX Tools to Sell More, in which I outlined techniques and benefits that will ultimately generate more exclusive contracts, more sales and higher commissions.

Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook are also being widely used by our affiliates in Mexico to strengthen their relationships with customers and the organizers created a Twitter stream for all the participants to express their views and comments (# rmm11) about the event.

Congratulations to all that attended!

2011 RE/MAX Officer Retreat

Our annual Officer Retreat took place this week in the beautiful city of Vail, Colorado. It was an intense 3-day event in which the 35 RE/MAX officers designed several new strategies to assure that we maintain our number one position in the market. There were many roundtable discussions and brainstorming ideas with fresh information from the field.

Dave Liniger, Co-Founder of RE/MAX, shared his optimistic view of the US real estate market, indicating that the economy will do better and faster than most people are predicting. He also emphasized the importance of the housing market, indicating that the average house that is built produces 30 full-time jobs for a year, including all professions and trades such as architects, plumbers, and even people dedicated to producing lawn mowers and all affiliated industries.

The expansion of the RE/MAX system outside the US and Canada is an important part of our overall business, and Larry Oberly, VP of International Development, did an interesting presentation about franchise sales.

We also had the privilege of listening from Mark C. Snead, VP and Branch Executive of the Federal Reserve Bank (Denver Branch), who among other things expressed his enthusiasm for the growing economies of Brazil and China.

I am proud to be affiliated with the industry’s number one company, and look forward to adding new members in Latin America and the Caribbean that can benefit from our services.

A Toast to Brazil

On December 13th of last year, we celebrated an important milestone in RE/MAX franchising. RE/MAX Brazil surpassed 100 new office sales in its first year with the network. The master franchisee has another impressive gain: more than 400 new agents.
 
This monumental growth is a sign of the great things to come in Brazil and in South America where RE/MAX has enjoyed unprecedented growth in the past decade. Our team Skyped with RE/MAX Brazil’s leaders, toasted to their success and offered our congratulations for their hard work.
 
RE/MAX has gained an unshakeable stronghold in South America (the brand is in almost all countries there), and the network continues to set its sights on global expansion.
 
With a presence in over 85 countries worldwide, RE/MAX is a brand that transcends language, culture, ethnic and political barriers. That’s why I’m so proud of the progress Brazil and other international regions have made, and we can’t wait to see what our RE/MAX ambassadors around the world will accomplish in 2011.
 
I leave you with this food for thought: What accomplishments are you proud of this year? And what are your goals for 2011?
 
Again, a heart-felt saude to our Brazilian colleagues!

Over 100 RE/MAX agents from 19 countries gathered in Miami

If you didn’t make it to the 2010 RE/MAX Encounter of the Americas in Miami in October, you missed an amazing time. Over 100 Associates from 19 countries – some from as far away as Spain, Canada and Portugal – gathered to exchange business referrals, soak up new ideas for their global businesses and learn how they can earn more money by focusing on international buyers. And, naturally, it wasn’t all work; we danced, enjoyed some drinks and had fun at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton, South Beach.

I always love seeing our RE/MAX Associates transcend cultural, language and distance barriers to put their heads together and figure out ways to better their businesses. This gathering allowed all of us to do just that.

The next international gathering you should attend is the 2011 RE/MAX Convention in Las Vegas. I will see you there!