kimhughes Archives - Kim Hughes

October 29, 2020 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Choosing a Transaction Coordinator

When you first start out in real estate and only have a few clients, it is easy to get it all done. Then you close a few houses, get a few referrals, list a few houses and the cycle continues and grows until you aren’t getting it all done at the end of each day. When you are busier than you can handle by yourself, how do you find help and what kind of help do you need? Think about the parts of your business that you can delegate to someone else and still get things done. Probably one of the easiest things you can get help with is finding someone to be your transaction coordinator. They will work with you and your clients to ensure nothing slips through the cracks allowing you to continue selling other properties while getting this one closed at the same time. Because they offer a systematic approach, they may even do this better than you do since you were pulled in so many different directions.

Choosing a Transaction Coordinator

Sounds simple, right? It can be but the challenge is finding the right person to perform this task. How do you go about finding someone?

Ask other local agents in your office or town how they handle this.
Find a newer agent that has closed a few deals but not built their business to where they want it to be yet. While this often means they may outgrow helping you at some point, you can work with them, they can learn more about the business and you get the help you need all at the same time.
Talk to your broker. They may know someone you don’t that would be able to help you with this.
Ask other home professionals that you interact with. They know who closes the most deals and does it well. Talk to your title company, closing attorney, home inspector, and anyone else that will tell you who gets properties closed.
Call Kim Hughes & Company. We offer transaction coordinators that will work with you to successfully close transactions all while keeping you and your clients updated. Having us handle this for you means you don’t have to find and train the right person. We already do this every day.

Closing transactions is a very important part of your job and it is critical to find the right person that will work on your behalf to deliver clients the best service each and every time. Your service is what determines your success and you need someone that will deliver that as well as you do.

Ready to see the benefits of having Kim Hughes and her team of professional high-level real estate assistants can help you move your business to the next level, help you become more organized so you can focus more on what is important to you. Schedule your 30-minute Strategy Call… https://go.oncehub.com/KimHughes

ANNOUNCEMENT: Have you heard? The Ultimate Expired Listing System has been a huge success for so many agents around the country. Check it out to see if it is for you. https://www.kimhughes.com/the-ultimate-expired-listing-system.

I would also like to invite you to join my exclusive Facebook Group – Real Estate Success Tools is very unique as we share tips, strategies, and more on how YOU can run a more streamlined business by implementing the tips and tools we discuss here. Join us today it will only take a couple of minutes but will change the course of your business. Go ahead…join us now. https://www.facebook.com/groups/realestatesuccesstools/

Ready to take your business to a new level? Here are some great blogs to help you get started:

3 Tips to Rock Your Transaction

Social Media Marketing for Real Estate

Is It Time to Bring on an Assistant?

Does Your Website Need a Face Lift?

7 Tips to Have an Amazing Newsletter

How organized are you with your day? Maybe you need to hold yourself accountable for your time? I have created a 90 Day Real Estate Planner for you. Check it out. https://www.kimhughes.com/90-day-real-estate-planner/

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October 20, 2015 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Working from Home

One of many great advantages in real estate assistance is the opportunity it affords to work from home. Many real estate assistants enjoy the independence and autonomy of the virtual work environment. More and more employers recognize its advantages to themselves and their employees in increased productivity and decreased expense, and a successful transition is easy to make for most. Here are a few tips to help make the transition to the virtual work environment go smoothly.

So let’s examine the number one most important aspect of working outside the office – employer expectations. For those who are transitioning in the same job, will the requirements be the same? Will support be the same? What about equipment, supplies? It is imperative to establish a thorough understanding of these aspects before transition. IT support is important, and the contractor may have to gain independence in some computer areas by enrolling in classes, for instance, or establishing contacts through computer companies for support. Be able to outfit your home office with the same supplies you use in the formal work place. An understanding of your responsibilities is imperative.

Set up a separate and dedicated area in the home as office. Choose one that affords the least distraction, be it from environment, to family and friends, and establish boundaries. Just because you’re are at home does not mean you are always available. Establish a daily routine, possibly patterned closely to your former work routine. Take breaks as always; resist the temptation to be available to address emails and take phone calls any time and any day. Begin and quit working at established times and maintain this structure.

Set measureable goals for productivity, find what works best for your own personal work habits and through interaction with other telecommuters. Stay connected to the office by attending meetings and maintaining social relationships with co-workers through phone calls and social get-togethers. Continue networking to boost your career contacts. Continue to work closely with your office supervisor and co-workers. Eventually establish your own best work-style. Document your productivity and time as structured by your employer, as well as in your own personal records, and provide written documentation of your accomplishments to your supervisor regularly. Do not depend on company evaluations alone.

There will be requirements that you must meet as an independent contractor, such as taxes, licenses, and perhaps permits. The IRS has information available on its site under “Self-Employed Individual Tax Center”. Plan to increase insurance and retirement savings, since they will now be your own responsibility instead of your employer’s. Maintain your technical skills.

Now, enjoy your new work and life-style. Continue to develop self-discipline, and remember, to be successfully employed at home, always meet and exceed employers’ expectations.

If you are feeling overwhelmed or need a little help focusing on your goals, please contact me and let’s schedule a complimentary 20 minute coaching session to see how we can, together, get you back on the right track.

P.S. Imagine you were offered the opportunity to be coached both on-site and virtually – by the leading expert in the real estate assistant industry through the 10 most important areas of a real estate agent’s business. Introducing The Real Estate Assistant Playbook. Designed for both real estate assistants and agents, The Playbook offers the training you need to excel in the business of real estate today! Visit TheRealEstateAssistantPlaybook.com for more information.

Image courtesy of Unsplash.com

October 23, 2008 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Host a Home Buyer Seminar

I have a real estate client in the state of Iowa that is gearing up to hold a Home Buyer Seminar. With today’s economy and the stale real estate market you, the real estate virtual assistant, can offer to put together the details so the seminar goes smoothly and is a huge success. If your a real estate agent looking to conduct your first seminar you need to be organized and ready to answer some tough questions.

So what does it take to put on a successful buyer’s seminar? The steps are easy to do. They include lining up your speakers, selecting their topics, setting a date, selecting a location, arranging prizes for attendees, advertising your seminar, watching your seminar budget and offering a valuable information-filled program to the attendees.

Have Industry Speakers

You invite whom you want to participate, and you decide what they will talk about. You will want to have about four speakers including yourself to complete a two-hour program. Choose your speakers from among a mortgage broker, an attorney, a title company representative, a home inspector, and an appraiser. Draw on your experience and ask your speakers to address the most common questions you face from your prospective clients.

Most popular topics are consistently:

* How a Buyer Agent Can Save You Money
* How A Buyer Agent Find’s The Perfect Home For You
* Home Inspection Horror Stories
* The Reason You Need A Lawyer
* How To Get A Downpayment
* What You Need To Know About Qualifying For A Mortgage

Set a Time and Date

Once you have your speakers, you need to set a date; Hold your seminars every 6 weeks (in a town of 26,000), and promote them for 3 weeks before the date. The best days to hold a seminar are Tuesday & Thursday. Start at 7:30 sharp, and make sure everyone is out by 9:30, although you can be available for one-on-one questions after that time. I’ve found 7:30 to be the best start time as the majority of the population here commutes at least 45 minutes, and they need time to get dinner, etc. before the seminar.

Find a location

As far as location is concerned, I suggest that you use someplace that is:

* Easy to find
* Lots of parking
* Room for your projected attendance
* Decent Acoustics

Some examples of nice, low-cost places to stage a seminar are:

* Library
* Conference Center
* Community Hall
* High School Auditorium
* Restaurant / Hotel Meeting room

Limit attendance

A trick I figured out after helping my real estate client prepare for his first seminar (for which 63 people signed up) is to limit the attendance. I would set a limit to 24 people, and require advance registration. Once the limit is reached, you can either get the people in for a private session, or offer to sign them up for the next seminar. I chose to limit the attendance for 2 reasons

1.It creates a more immediate call-to-action on the part of prospective attendees
2. The question period can get far too long with more attendees

We find that only a few of the people who sign up in the first week of advertising will show up, and nearly everyone who signs up in the week of the seminar will show up.

Gifts & Incentives

All attendees are entered in a drawing for a free appraisal when they buy through you. Also, everyone who attends and buys through you gets a free home inspection and free title insurance. (you pay a discounted fee for the home inspection and the title insurance.) The mortgage broker pays for 30% of the advertising, and I pay all the other expenses. You may not want to charge the lawyer to be a speaker, because you probably get lots of free service from him as it is.

Insuring attendance

Once someone signs up, mail them a coupon for their free gifts (only valid if they buy through you) to be authorized at the seminar, a coupon to enter the draw-prize, a newsletter, and a letter thanking them for attending. We send all this in a 9″ x 12″ white envelope with a color logo on it, promoting the seminar, and listing the same information as the newspaper ads.

You can have your virtual assistant call all registrants the night before the seminar, to remind people. If someone says they can’t make it, you can call one of the people who had to be put off until the following seminar.

Advertising the seminar

Start running a 4.5″ x 6″ ad in the weekly real estate section of your local paper 3 weeks before the seminar. The ad costs us $92 per insertion, and is 3 color. I outline the speakers; topics covered; the gifts to attendees, and the location/date. For my next seminar on May 11th, I am running a 1/2 page ad, in full color, at a cost of $350 per insertion. This ad will contain a testimonial letter from one of the past seminar attendees who I have sold a home to; the other half contains what I’ve previously outlined.

We also distribute 8.5″ x 11″ posters to all the stores and businesses in the area. These are on obnoxious neon paper, and outline the same thing as the newspaper ads.

Other venues for advertising that we use are:

* Web site ( www.desmoineshomesource.com)
* A fax cover sheet that is used exclusively for the week prior to the seminar
* An insert into all the mail my company sends out

Another advertising source I have considered is having mail delivered to all the apartments in town; the postal service offers a discount for this, but it would still cost $470 for 1440 apartments.

Controlling costs

* Hall: $60
* Refreshments: $25
* Newspaper Ads: $276 – $92 paid by mortgage broker = $184
* Posters (incl. delivery) $25
* Binders: $420
* Giveaways: $70
* Total: $768

A couple of notes here: we don’t include the amount we pay for the inspection & title insurance, because it is not an expense until they buy. Also, the binders cost me $30 each because they are custom Better Homes and Gardens binders with lots of color pages in them; again, ask your real estate virtual assistant to put together 30 of them. The she can mail them to me.

You might think that the binders are an excessive cost, but they are well worth it; people are amazed that they get to keep them, and they bring it with them whenever we are looking at houses.

Is putting on a buyer’s seminar worth the planning and expense. I think so.

If you are considering a Home Buyer or Home Seller Seminar, ask your virtual assistant to help you with the planning of what is becoming a popular way to get in front of leads and explain the process.

If you would like more information, please let me know. Email me at Kim@kimHughes.com or leave a comment on this blog.