Gated Area: How do you farm them?

Question

I am a fairly new agent still learning the ropes and while looking at the MLS data for my area for turnover rates, all the peak turnover areas around me are HEAVILY farmed already, but i found 2 that had great turnover numbers for over 5+ years compared to other areas and not one single agent in the area had more than 10% of the sales, but when i drove out to see the areas i found out quickly that both are gated communities with no soliciting signs everywhere...

Kerry Baird · Answer

If you are still interested in the military side of things, I have a suggestion.  You may want to inquire at AAFES or the BX, PX, NEX and see if you can put out a table or stall, probably for a fee.  There was a "Relocation Specialist" who had a table up at our last overseas base, and he had flyers with houses around a number of Stateside bases.  I can only guess what he was up to, since he wasn't dealing with the local housing.

Anyway, people set up stalls selling jewelry, paintings, clothing, knives, etc.  I haven't asked about how much a stall or table would "rent" for, but will ask next time I go to base.  You'd want to be there at lunch or on weekends, especially around paydays, when people are out at the BX.  As far as potential clientele, there aren't just the people who live on base, but also those who are retiring or separating for other reasons, or those who have decided to stop renting because of landlord troubles, as well as the civilian personnel that you'd come in contact with.

There are other ways to go about your business...but that's how I would go about it, if I wanted to connect with the most people on a military base, and NOT piss off the security police.  :D

William Huston · Answer

There is a large military presence, but i don't know how to really target them. I went down to the base and talked to the location assistance office to see if they would pass out my cards to new members coming in or leaving and they told me i could join the wall and pointed over at a wall with flyers and business cards all over it.. there must have been like 50 different realtors pinned to the wall.. so i went down the store and bought a 25 card holder and attached it to the wall and filled it with my cards, about 2 weeks ago i was on base seeing a friend who lives on base in the base housing and decided to knock a few doors to offer assistance in maybe moving off base in the future and the MP's came after about 15 minutes of me knocking doors to let me know the base has strict policies against it...

Joel Owens · Answer

Is their a big military presence?

You could cater to active military or retired as a specialist.

Sounds like where you live there isn't much going on for real estate. You will have to go where the action is. The new home subdivision it sounds like it might be saturated there with agents.

William Huston · Answer

@Joel Owens

Yes i talked to all the commercial brokers within 10 miles that i could pull up in the phone directories and internet from me. The vast majority of the commercial brokers were over an hour away from me in Downtown Tampa, FL.

Ya, i understand that commissions come slower and bigger compared to homes, but i was prepared for that wait, because i am currently living all on my passive income of my current rental portfolio as long as i stay within my means and have a few months worth of living expenses saved away for the times i loose a renter and have a vacancy.

I dont know much about sitting subdivisions so im unsure yet how they acquire those positions. I do know there is a LOT of new building going on about 15 minutes from me in the 400k+ in homes, but when i drove through the areas to see if i could find a builder to maybe pick his brain for business they had multiple realtors already at the model homes and such.

Joel Owens · Answer

Commercial real estate brokerages get contacted often.

Over the years I have wasted time with agents saying they wanted to transition or start out with commercial.

Some are working full time jobs or part time and trying to do real estate transactions on the side. Doesn't work with the complexity of commercial real estate and the dollars at stake for your clients. You have to choose a specialty within commercial and become a specialist (industrial,retail,office,large multifamily,etc.).

I have found many agents eager but then fizzle out after a few weeks. As a principal broker some deals might take 6 months to do but my check is multiple of six figures per deal. To take time to train someone  costs me thousands of dollars per hour in production at a minimum. This is why I have told people inquiring in the past 25,000 up front non-refundable and then 50/50 split. So your first deal if you made 50k then you can keep it all for example as you have already paid 25k.

People do not either have the money or they do not want to put themselves out there with equity in their house etc.

Part of being successful is letting go and going for it. I had to do that about 13 years ago and it was tough in the beginning getting started. If things were easy everyone would be doing it.

You need much more reserves for commercial as your first check takes longer maybe 6 months or more versus residential in a couple of months. If you start in commercial typically it will be smaller deals say 1 million or 2 million. The larger deals into tens of millions those buyers want experienced brokers who are highly skilled and knowledgeable.

Have you talked to all the brokerages? If you have no money offer to be a gopher for them and work your way up. Show them you are not like the others and will do whatever it takes to succeed. I knew from an early age in life that I never wanted to be ordinary and wanted to do amazing things with my life. You have to be willing to do what others won't to succeed.

With my brokerage I can't take a chance on verbal that someone will follow the steps to succeed. Just like a hard money loan requires money down so they know that investor will stick it out when it gets tough is why I say 25k non-refundable.

Have you thought about sitting a subdivision? You keep selling model homes over and over to buyers and can make six figures doing it. You can build up reserves to eventually go into commercial.

I want to thank you for your service to the U.S.A

William Huston · Answer

@Joel Owens I honestly wanted to get into Commercial real estate from the start due to math being my strongest subject and understanding, but none of the commercial brokers around me wanted to sign me on as brand new licensed agent with no prior experience.

Joel Owens · Answer

Mail to them. Also check and see if they have a website for the subdivision? If not you could possibly offer to be a sponsor for it and have your contact info there etc.

Check the tax record for each property and cross check that name with the state real estate commission to see if they are licensed.

Some subdivisions do not turn over much so you have to watch for that as people want to stay a long time. Understand sometimes it takes 6 months to 1 year of getting mailers before they contact you. With more expensive homes they take longer to sell so beyond basic information for a listing do not spend thousands. Instead get  a longer listing commitment and then if the seller wants expensive advertising you might offer in allowed in your state ( and with your brokerages approval) to rebate their advertising expenses at closing they pay for with legitimate receipts off the commission.

This way if a seller pulls off the market,goes with another brokerage mid listing, or tries to cancel early etc. the seller will be out the money and have skin in the game. They tend to be more open to price reductions when they have something to lose.

If they push you on listing price have built in price reductions after 1 week,3 weeks etc. in the listing agreement. This way they can't say they will not reduce or do not remember that discussion etc.

With larger homes there tends to be bigger commissions but you can also lose your shirt quickly if you do not protect yourself as a broker/agent. I do commercial only but learned some of these tips when I went to conference and talked with an older couple that had listed high end homes for 20 years.

Good luck.