Join Jim as he interviews Chris Prefontaine, a real estate professional and investor. He has been in the real estate industry for over 31 years. Chris is the Chairman and Founder of Smart Real Estate Coach, a Four-time best-selling author, a Forbes Business Council Member, and a 2x Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Company focusing on transforming W2 employees into creative financing real estate investors, with over $100 million in transactions completed.

As a real estate professional, you understand the significance of company culture in shaping the success of your brokerage or team. Building a positive and engaging culture is crucial for attracting and retaining top talent in the industry. In this article, we will explore the various aspects of creating a fun and vibrant real estate company culture that fosters productivity, collaboration, and employee satisfaction. 

1. Define Your Company's Core Values

The foundation of any strong culture lies in the core values that guide the actions and decisions of the organization. Take the time to identify and define the core values that align with your vision and mission as a real estate company. These values should reflect what your team stands for and what you believe in as a collective.

For example, one of your core values could be "Excellence," where you strive to provide exceptional service and go above and beyond for your clients. Another core value could be...

Hey guys, want to improve your Google rankings? Here's a quick tip: visit answerthepublic.com.

Once you're there, enter the search terms you want to rank highly for, such as "Medford, Oregon Real Estate" or "Buying a Home in Medford, Oregon."

By doing this, you'll receive a list of top search questions asked on Google. Utilize these questions to create an article for your website or blog. Incorporate SEO-friendly terms and address common search queries.

Posting this article on your website or blog will boost your search rankings since you're providing relevant content that people are searching for.

To streamline this process, AI tools like WriteSonic.ai can be incredibly helpful.

Simply input your question or article title, and the tool will analyze existing articles on the internet. It will then generate a well-written article for you to post on your website, making your job easier.

With this valuable tip, you can...

I wanna give you two questions you should ask every buyer to test whether they're actually ready and willing to move forward in the process.

Your time is your most valuable asset. You don't wanna be spending it with people that are not ready to pull the trigger. So one question you can ask is this:

“Hey, you know what? The way I work is very low key. I never wanna pressure anyone. But I do have a quick question for you: If we find you the right house, the one that really clicks all the boxes for you, is there anything holding you back from moving forward?”

Now, that's a great kind of pre-close question that you can ask in advance before you go out and start looking at homes.

And here's another one:

“One question I ask everybody I start working with before we start looking at homes is, what's your biggest hesitation? What's your biggest fear about this home buying process? I wanna make sure I...

Hey guys, what if I told you that today may be a better time to sell your home than even last year when rates were 4%?

Let me give you the data (and a script you can use):

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“According to the National Association of REALTORS, home prices are now only $4,000 away from their all time high last June, and we are at 11% less inventory than we were at that time.

The other great thing that is happening in this market is that sellers are now back to getting 100% of our asking price on average in our market. And get this: 37% of sellers are selling for over full price.

So this is a market that is a great market for sellers in most price bands. If you're thinking about selling, I'd love to chat with you. I'd love to have you send me a text or a quick call.

Let's talk about what it might look like for you to put your home on the market.”

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That's the script I want you to use. That's the script I want you to put out because...

In a study of 10,000 sales calls, two different scripts were tested to set appointments with sales professionals.

I'll share those scripts with you, and I want you to think about which one you believe was more effective.

Script one: "I'd love to talk to you about a game-changing idea I just came across."

Script two: "I'd love to get your opinion on something."

Now, which script do you think had a higher success rate? Well, script two, where we asked for their opinion, outperformed the other script by a staggering 700%.

People love giving their opinion. It's irresistible. We see it on social media all the time. So when we use this language in our sales approach, it engages and opens up the conversation.

Try incorporating it when selling homes, talking to buyers, or engaging with sellers.

For example, ask Mr. and Mrs. Buyer, "I've found a few homes that could be a good fit. Can you tell me your opinion? Which...

Guys, 60,000 agents have already left the industry, and another two to 300,000 are projected to follow.

But here's why it's good news for us as REALTORS:

Each departing agent likely had one or more transactions last year. As they leave, those opportunities come back into play, and we have the chance to handle them as real estate professionals. So we can expect to get busier with each agent's exit.

However, there's an even bigger opportunity that most agents are overlooking:

Every agent who leaves the industry leaves behind a sphere of influence, a network of family and friends who may have some influence that we can tap into.

Here's what you can do:

Reach out to these exiting agents and express your condolences about their departure. Then ask them a quick question: Would they be interested in monetizing their hard work by earning referral fees? Since their license is still active, they can leave it hanging and...

Hey guys, when you meet someone new, whether it's at a party or a function, one of the first questions they ask is, "What do you do for a living?"

Our default response as REALTORS might be, "I'm a REALTOR."

But that's boring and generic. Everyone knows multiple REALTORS.

We need to rethink how we present ourselves and craft a unified message that leaves a lasting impression. We need to occupy a unique space in the minds of potential clients.

Imagine the brain as a whiteboard with "REALTOR" already written several times. It's meaningless and makes us seem like just another commodity. We must find a new space to occupy.

Here are some examples:

1. "I specialize in riverfront and rural properties in southern Oregon. With 30 years of experience in this market, it's my passion."

2. "I focus on helping people buy homes in the highly desirable Summerfield area."

3. "As a relocation specialist with John L. Sky Realty, I...

Guys, you've probably heard about the class-action lawsuits targeting realtor organizations, MLS groups, and large franchises.

The plaintiffs claim that they were unaware they were paying both their own fees and the buyer's fees. The lawsuits aim to either eliminate seller-paid brokerage fees or ensure transparent disclosure of these fees. While similar lawsuits have been filed in the past, these recent cases are gaining traction, resulting in settlements.

For instance, a New England MLS paid a 3 million settlement to resolve the issue.

This poses a significant challenge to our industry's business model, which has operated on the basis of sellers covering the REALTOR fees for decades. We may face a future where we have to approach buyers and inform them that they must pay their fees at closing and make a choice regarding representation. If they want me to represent them, we'll have a conversation, sign a document,...

I just received fantastic advice from the head of development at ChatGPT:

When using ChatGPT to generate content, many of us have fallen into the habit of simply asking it to write the article, blog post, or content for us. However, sometimes the output can sound too artificial, like it was clearly written by AI.

So, how can we improve it and make it sound more like us? The answer is to shift our approach. Instead of saying, "Write the article for me," we should say, "Help me write an article about this topic."

Using the word "help" triggers the system to prompt us with questions about the article we want to write.

This interactive exchange of answering and asking questions helps refine the article and shape it more in our own voice, based on the specific topics we want to address.

By following this approach, our writing will improve significantly, becoming more authentic and personalized.

So, make sure to utilize...