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Willing To Eager

So this just happened… my granddaughter was born yesterday (Maggie Rose), and Willing To Eager was finally published.

Please, but not satisfied: Several months behind schedule; looking at it now so many things I would improve. That means there will be a second expanded edition with many more success stories – from many of you – next year.

Willing to eager – the ultimate secret. In this collection of real-life stories, I’ll share some of the distinctions of those who thrive in adversity, using it as fuel to achieve, meet and exceed their goals.

Willing To Eager
Willing To Eager

Marketing, Awareness, and Opportunity

1000 Watt Marketing recently completed some original research and asked people a range of questions to identify areas of opportunity and vulnerability in today’s real estate market.

There is intense competition for the attention of homeowners. While only 46% report that the agent they bought with has contacted them post-transaction, 28% receive “a lot” of real estate marketing, and only 25% report that they receive “little or none.” Moreover, 47% can recall the name of “one of two” agents from whom they receive marketing (who are not their own former agents), and 22% can remember “several” agent names.

Only 46% of home buyers report that the agent they bought with has contacted them post-transaction.

There appears to be little negative sentiment around how much agents are paid when context is provided. 63% of respondents said agents are “probably” or “definitely” paid too much. However, when provided with a hypothetical scenario involving the sale of their own home that involves specific dollar figures, 73% thought the agent was not paid too much. This suggests to us that stepping toward, rather than away from, specific conversations about compensation is a good idea. We also found that the appeal for discount real estate services was broad but weak.

Stepping toward, rather than away from, specific conversations about compensation is a good idea.

The biggest challenge with homeownership this group of recent homeowners expressed was “ongoing maintenance costs” (42%). This beat out “stress about my home’s value” (20%) and “affording my monthly payment” (34%). While engaging recent buyer clients on this issue could be a somewhat fraught proposition, it nonetheless underscores an opportunity we have identified in earlier research: people need help being homeowners, and real estate brokers and agents are uniquely prepared to deliver value in this area.

Follow Up
Follow Up

Desire, Sentiment, And Problem Solving

My friends over at 1000 Watt recently completed some original research on home ownership with Millennials and older Gen Z individuals. 600 participated and were made up of 24% living with family and 76% renting independently.

Despite the daunting reality of high rates and high prices and the corresponding cultural awareness of an affordability crisis, 95% of respondents express a desire to own a home. This is up from 91% from the August 2021 survey.

Most respondents are motivated by emotional sentiments in their desire. “Pride of ownership” and “a place for me and my family to call home” outweigh “good investment or builds wealth” significantly. Moreover, only 26% view where they currently live as “home,” and 68% think ownership is required for a “place to truly feel like home.”

It is clear that marketing to this cohort should be directed largely toward the heart.

The challenges young people face – people who very much want to own a home – are nonetheless daunting. Good marketing can’t lower interest rates or build more houses. But it can help you connect with those among this cohort who become capable of surmounting those challenges.

Millions of Gen Z and Millennial Americans will buy homes in the coming years.

Those brokers and agents who take the time to understand them, help them solve their problems, and give them candid advice, will be their real estate professionals for life.

Home Ownership
95% of respondents express a desire to own a home.

Get Crystal Clear On Who Your Ideal Customer Is

You’re probably already working with various clients if you’re a real estate agent. Newer agents I work with say, “I’ll go anywhere with anyone,” yet the seasoned agents are “Crystal clear on who and where they invest their time and energy.”

Have you ever thought about how many different types of buyers or sellers you might be working with?

Working with first-time home buyers or sellers is vastly different than working with retirees who are downsizing into an active adult community. Both groups are different from second-chance home buyers entering the market again after recovering from a job loss or financial distress.

Not only do each of these subsets require different considerations and industry knowledge, but they also have different audiences, which means they do not share the exact needs, concerns, or goals.

To resonate with prospects, you must understand their pains, problems, desires, and triumphs. The first step toward doing that is to create a buyer and seller persona.

This exercise can lead to information and perspective that will inform your marketing efforts, messaging, and how you present your brand.

PS: For broker-owners and managers, this same exercise applies to you as it relates to your ideal agent and team.

To resonate with prospects, you must understand their pains, problems, desires, and triumphs.
To resonate with prospects, you must understand their pains, problems, desires, and triumphs.

AI and ChatGPT

My coast to coast airplane ride mindset: Geoff Colvin’s “Humans Are Underrated. What High Achievers Know That Brilliant Machines Never Will.”

With all the buzz on AI and ChatGPT I was reflecting on this leading edge book from 2015.

The answer lies not in the nature of technology but in the nature of humans.

Regardless of what computers achieve, our greatest advantage lies in what we humans are most powerfully driven to do for and with one another, arising from our deepest, most essentially human abilities:

  • empathy;
  • creativity;
  • social sensitivity;
  • storytelling;
  • humor;
  • building relationships, and
  • leadership.

Any testimonials?

Humans are underrated
Humans are underrated

Courage

You’re only courageous when you do what’s right despite your fear.

Think about it; anyone who ever beat the odds did so despite their fear! They beat the odds because:

  • they were desperate and felt as if they had no choice;
  • they were inspired by somebody else’s example;
  • they were angry at injustice;
  • they were moved by a need;
  • they said to themselves, ‘If not me, then whom? If not now, then when?; or
  • they didn’t think much about it

What are you waiting for? A feeling of courage? Forget it; it doesn’t exist! You’re only courageous when you do what’s right despite your fear.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.

Faith vs. Fear

Did you know that the African impala can jump ten feet high and cover a distance of ten yards? Yet this magnificent animal can be confined within walls only three feet high. Why? Because unless it first sees where it’s going to land, it’s afraid to jump.

Faith is the ability to jump and trust God even when you can’t see.

 

Fear or faith?
Fear or faith?

Overcoming Rejection

His mother, no longer able to provide for him, turned him over to the foster care system. At 22, he was homeless with a two-year-old son to care for.

The only way he could go was up. With $700 start-up cash, he pursued his vision.

Paul Mitchell hair products and eventually Patrón tequila.

One of the most significant traits of his success, he says, was overcoming rejection.

“You’ve got to be prepared in life for a lot of rejections.”

Pointing to a time, he had to sell encyclopedias door-to-door to put food on the table. Many doors, literally, closed in his face. As a result, he came to expect rejection, which proved to be beneficial, as he learned this:

“You must be just as enthusiastic on door 51 as you were on door 50, even if all 50 of those doors are closed in your face!”

John Paul DeJoria’s journey from homeless to entrepreneur and philanthropist – now you know…the rest of the story.

Prepare for rejection
Prepare for rejection