Here's a question for you:

If I were to look at your website today—pull it up and review it together—would it truly represent the market or niche you serve? Would it showcase what you actually sell?

Or would it just be a big, beautiful picture of you, with no clear indication of your market? If your website doesn’t clearly reflect your niche, that’s a mistake. Your website should visually and contextually align with the market area you serve. The photos, the language, and the messaging should all match your target audience. This is key to becoming a hyperlocal agent.

A hyperlocal agent is someone people immediately associate with a specific market. So take a moment today and analyze your website—does it truly reflect the area you serve? Making this small adjustment can significantly improve engagement.

Now, let’s take it a step further. Look at your social media. Are you a strong representation of your market there? Are you showcasing all aspects of your local area? Do you have a Y...

Hey guys, I want to give you a strategy as we head into the busiest season of the year for listings—February, March, April, and May. This is when the most homes hit the market, so it’s the perfect time to ramp up your efforts.

I’ve got two strategies that can help.

1. Create a Real Estate Resume

A real estate resume highlights your background, skills, education, and successes. Keep it simple—just a one-page document. You can use Canva, where you'll find plenty of great resume templates. Pick one, customize it, and build out your real estate resume.

Once it's ready, send it out to your entire database with a cover letter. The letter should say something like:

"As we enter the busiest season of the year, I wanted to share my real estate resume in case you know any buyers or sellers looking for an agent. I’d love to interview for the job of helping them buy or sell their home."

This positions you as a professional and keeps you top of mind with potential clients.

2. Build & Share Y...

Okay, guys, here’s some great language to use with buyers who are on the fence. When you’re following up—because we should all be following up—you can say something like this:

“Hey, I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know I’ve been thinking about you. Now that we’re in a new year, I wanted to talk to you about all the new listings starting to hit the market. February, March, April, and May are when we see the most listings, which means the most opportunities. In fact, we have 10% more inventory on the market this year compared to last year. So, I wanted to reconnect and see if we could start looking at some properties together.

“Now, I know you might have some concerns about pricing and finding the right value. Here’s the key message: When you work with me, we’re not buying the market—we’re buying a specific home. My job is to ensure you get the absolute best pricing and value on the home that fits your needs.”

You can also add a personal story to connect with them, li...

Do you think your buyers have unrealistic expectations about the homes they’re seeing because of TV shows about housing, fixing up, and flipping?

The answer is absolutely yes.

In fact, 73% of homebuyers have unrealistic expectations based on their TV viewing habits.

So, what can we do about it? We can either do nothing and have them feel disappointed every time they walk into a house, or we can reset their expectations and shift their mindset. Here’s how we do it.

Many of us are already using buyer questionnaires before meeting with clients—sent via text, JotForm, or Google Forms. These questionnaires help us understand their needs. One useful question to add could be:

"Do you watch reality TV about housing? If so, what are your favorite shows?"

When you get this feedback, it gives you insight and lets you address the issue during your first meeting.

For example, in your buyer presentation, you might say:

"Hey, I noticed you like to watch reality TV about housing. That’s great—...

I want to share one of the best strategies I’ve heard from a top agent in years. This story comes from my friend Dan, who had a client searching for a specific type of property.

Dan started making calls and came across a duplex owner. While driving by the property, he saw the owner outside mowing the grass. He introduced himself:

"Hi, I’m Dan. I have a buyer interested in multifamily properties, and I was wondering if you’d consider selling these units."

Her response? "No, I think I’m going to hold onto them."

But here’s where Dan worked his magic.

Dan didn’t stop at the first “no.” Instead, he asked a follow-up question:

"Can I ask why you’re holding onto them?"

Her answer? "I think I’m getting a good rate of return."

Dan responded: "That’s great! And if you are, you should definitely keep them. But if I could find you something with a better rate of return, would you consider selling these?"

That opened the door to a conversation. The result? He listed the property, sold it,...

Other than your direct sphere of influence, what’s the second-best source of business for REALTORS? Let me share my perspective and see if it aligns with yours.

We know 70–80% of our business comes from our sphere. So, what should we focus on to generate the remaining 20–30%? In my 35 years of coaching, I believe the biggest opportunity lies in your buyer pool.

Buyers are the ultimate magnet for sellers. The question is, are you using your buyers effectively as a lure? I call this strategy In Search Of (ISO) ads. Here’s how it works:

Think of yourself as a fisherman. The lure on the end of your line could be a free CMA or tips on getting top dollar for a home. But the best lure is a live buyer ready to purchase.

For example, if I have a buyer interested in a specific neighborhood, I’ll let the neighborhood know:

• "I’ve got a live buyer moving from Sacramento. They’re ready to purchase within the next couple of months, but nothing on the market has met their needs. Would you consi
...

Every year, NAR studies home buyers and sellers and compiles the data into a report called the NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. It examines metrics like how buyers and sellers behave, how they find agents, and what technology they use.

I pulled out some key insights today that are especially relevant to lead generation.

First, let’s talk about how sellers find their real estate agent. Any guesses? Here’s the data: 77% of sellers find their agents through a referral or repeat business. That number is increasing, not decreasing. Last year, it was 69%, and now it’s up to 77%.

Despite predictions that online leads and new technologies would reduce this percentage, that hasn’t been the case. Referrals and repeat business remain the dominant ways sellers find agents.

Now, how many agents do sellers typically interview before hiring? You might think there’s a lot of competition, but the reality is this: 81% of sellers interview only one agent. While we should be prepared for compet...

Are you doing live buyer farming right now?

If not, you're missing a huge lead generation opportunity.

So, what is live buyer farming? It’s simple. When you go out to show a home, use the 5-5-10 method: reach out to five homes on either side and 10 homes across the street. Send them a quick text or call saying something like:

"Hey, my name's Jim. I just showed your neighbor's property across the street. They love the neighborhood, but the home didn’t quite check all the boxes. Quick question—would you consider selling for the right price if you didn’t have to list your house and had plenty of time to find your dream home? If you’d consider it, give me a call, email, or text. I’d love to have that conversation."

What's the response rate on this? On average, one out of every 20 people you contact will be open to having that conversation.

This is a winning strategy for lead generation. You’ll start so many conversations that can lead to future opportunities. Even if they say no, here...

Hey guys, we know the number of listings getting stale on the market is rising, right?

70% of listings have been on the market for over 30 days, and nearly 50% for over 60 days. What does this mean?

It means more expired listings are going to start showing up in your MLS soon.

Going after expireds is a huge opportunity, something we haven't seen much of in recent years because the market has been so short on listings. But today, we have 34% more listings than a year ago, and many are going stale, which means a lot of them will be coming off the market.

Let me give you one quick, out-of-the-box approach for going after expired listings that’s definitely effective.

The conversation will go like this: I'm going to call that expired listing as early as possible and say, "Hey, my name’s Jim Emily with ABC Real Estate, and I noticed your listing got delisted from the MLS this morning." (The keyword here is delisted).

Then I’ll say, "I’m sure you're getting a lot of calls from REALTORS,...

Have you ever had a seller who wants to overprice their property? Almost all sellers, right? It's pretty much universal. So, what's a conversation we can have with sellers to help them price their home correctly?

One approach I like is called the "One Bite at the Apple" conversation.

Here's how it goes:

"Hey Mr./Mrs. Seller, I totally understand that you want to get top dollar for your home. But the market has shifted a bit, especially when it comes to marketing homes. Over the past five to ten years, mobile and internet searches have become the dominant way buyers find homes. Most buyers—99%—are signed up on a portal to receive new listing updates.

So, here's what that means: when we list your home, within 24 hours, essentially every buyer in the market is going to see it. They'll all get the listing in their inbox around the same time and make a snap decision: is it priced right or overpriced? Do I want to go see it?

This is why most homes that sell do so within the first five t...