All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

@Daniel F. when you get a traffic ticket, you get solicited because the records are publicly available. Same thing here and as @Steve B. said - why would you care? If your first reaction to a real estate brokerage reaching out to you after you passed your test is...where it the law that says they can't do this, I'm not sure this is the best start to your career.

A brokerage that reaches out to you like this is just trying to set an appointment to see if you could be the right fit, many will not. This is just brokerage lead gen and something to get used to because you will soon be calling expired listings and they will be a lot more mad than you are and you will still try to convert them.

@Robert Whitelaw - depending on what you are looking to spend there are companies like Curaytor and Commissions, Inc. which incorporate web sites, back end functionality and assistance with lead gen through regular means and Facebook. Systems like these can generate better and more leads than you can imagine, but it can be a lot more than agents expect. Once you turn the faucet on, it's hard to keep up if you aren't set up to do it.

Of all the known lead gen sources I still find Zillow to be the best ROI if you are able to follow up ASAP with every lead. I hate Zillow, but I have always done well with them. There are some other companies with lower rates, but not as good a track record yet like Homes.com. I hope this helps.

Thanks @Odie Ayaga - Happy to help @Kerryanne Henry -  just let me know via pm.

@Todd C. - real estate is one field where most of us have a backstory and often times that history comes with certain designations or certifications. I was an attorney for 10 years and use that to back up my strength in negotiating. I was also in the art world for 5 years and I use that to reinforce helping with aesthetics and design when buyers are trying to forecast how a home may look. Whatever your background is, there is a way to use it to enhance your bio and real estate career.

In real estate, I have three designations (ABR, SRS and e-PRO) and I use all of these to enhance my profile and visibility and to separate me from others by showing that I am willing to spend the time to get specialized (even when some of the certifications can be completed in a day online).

In regard to Instagram, normally a following of 10,000 is built not organically unless you are a celebrity of sorts and if that is the case, the followers aren't worth anything other than likes. If you have built 10,000 followers organically then you are on track to think it will help, BUT it is not attractive to sellers to be featured on Instagram until you can show them that those 30,000 eyes are asking questions about the property and it is creating showings. Instagram for real estate is a great local brand builder and connection mechanism with other agents, but the traction to get results is much longer in time than targeted Facebook ads from your Facebook business page. I hope this helps.

Hey @Brandon Gamblin - I work with a lot of investors because it gives me the opportunity to develop long-term relationships and do multiple transactions per year. The better job I do at finding my investors deals, the more money they have to invest in future projects. My interest as an agent is helping people achieve their goals whether it be buying, selling or investing so whether they are an investor or a regular buyer, I am accomplishing my end game.

As a beginning investor, you won't gain much knowledge from a real estate agent who doesn't invest on their own or work with investors. If you want to learn to invest, you should bird dog for an investor. You will learn 10x as much in half the time.

@Mike Douglas you have to take into account what you are asking of them first. What's your value to the brokerage if all you need them for is MLS access? How many deals a year do you intend to do? If you have a track record as an investor, brokerages are much more interested. If you come to their table with no history of investments and just looking for MLS access, you will likely get interest from some of the larger brokerages who charge higher monthly fees because they profit off agents who do less deals more. As @Chris Mason said, when you look for bare bones, you will get bare bones and there will always come a time when you need some advice or support and those brokerages won't have it.

@Ed Suarez start with your own sphere. So many agents forget about their sphere of influence before spending money. The people you know, the investors you met doing REO work, lenders, home inspectors, can be the core of a long lasting business. Take some of them to lunch, talk about work, see what you can do for them and in turn, they will see what they can do for you.

As @Ariel Smith said, finding a mentor is key at your brokerage. Look for someone who is too busy all the time and see what you can do to help out. Offer to sit any Open House in your brokerage, those leads are yours and that is a great way to break the REO cycle and get back into regular residential.

@Natalie Williams - sending you a connection to discuss further.

@Brandon Drake and @Marcus Lawson - we are hosting an investor meet up next weekend in Short Hills. Link to event posted on BP.

@Adam Zacharski - PM me and I will refer you to a very good friend of mine who works Hudson exclusively.