All posts by Bettina Settles

My clients appreciate my compassion, empathetic nature when dealing with them and their transaction but more than willing to educate in a simple way to make a complex transaction understood. Being accessible and cooperative when it comes to dealing with clients and cooperative agents has earned me high praises from both. They have learned that I am dedicated, honest, and knowledgeable and can become very persuasive when it comes when working a transaction for my clients.
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Are you ready for a disaster?

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We all seen the news and looked at the pictures of storms that hit in various areas of the country.

 

All of the thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families who are affected and please donate your time or money to help the once who are affected. In many cases it might take months even years to get everything back on track.

 

Have you ever thought of what your personal or family game plan will be in a disaster?

A disaster can not only be a weather related item. Think off computer failure, medical, electrical fire, arson, death without a will…… just to name a few.

 

I am not sure if you’re like some of us…..not prepared and most likely not ready for a major event like a tornado, hurricane, electrical outage, computer failure….. Personally I thought I was prepared and ready for a major event and now when I look around my house and office, and truly think about it, I am not.

 

There are bits and pieces missing and should be taken care of soon or hopefully before a disaster hit.

 

Let’s use this as a reminder not only to help the once who truly do need our help during their time in need but also look around and truly check if you are ready for a disaster yourself.

commitment, Communication, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

I have the REO training but why do I not receive REO listings?

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This question is asked every day, or posted online.

I am working with orders from servicers and agents thought out the country every day and I can see why REO servicers do not call on certain agents or brokerage firms.

It has absolutely nothing to do with who they like and who is the most popular or bestselling Agent in the area. It has all to do with timely communication, knowledge about your listing inventory and their current status, and timely completion of task timelines given by the REO servicers to the agents or their brokerage firms.

Many REO servicers already have a clear idea about an individual agent and brokerage firm before they even call on them to list their REO portfolio.

Many of the agents are completing BPO’s, are part of Homeowner outreach programs or other services for third party companies.

Guess what???  All the orders the agents are working on coming from the servicers who also have REO’s to give to agents.

When you are late and not meeting the timelines on the orders that you were  give, or not communicating with the third party companies, it is communicated to the servicers with the agents name and brokerage information when an order is submitted to that servicer.

With that a picture of the work and communication habit of each and every agent is created. This info can be accessed and viewed by a servicer who might is looking for an REO listing agent.

Bottom line is……

…be on time

..Communicate timely

…do this on a consistent base, every day…no matter what. No amount of REO training will give you a listing when that is not done.

Communication, education, planning, Short sale, Team work, tips

Are you losing business…..

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….and you might not even realize you do….

 

In today’s market personal and business continues education and fulfillment is much easier than it was in the past.

 

With many companies having many of their educational material, free or for pay, online available it is truly heartbreaking when I see and talk with prospects for a position and they have not a clue what is going on the field they have chosen to practice in.

 

Today phone call was a great example of this again.

 

I had contacted a very well know business person I need for a task in an area he considers himself an expert in this field (at least what his website said). During the conversation I found out that he was not aware of” recent” changes in his field that happened in 2009 and today is 2012.

 

What I did not tell him during this conversation was that I have several referrals for him in his area of “expertise” but due to him not willing to keep up with his personal and business continues education in his chosen filed I am moving on to the next potential business in the area.

Communication, planning, Team work, tips

Assumptions we all make them…..

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The little action of assuming something sometimes gets us in trouble, gives us the wrong feeling of confidence or the total wrong impression about a situation we do not have the full information on.

 

Just the other day I was sitting in awe, listening in on an assumption someone made about a situation that they were not privy to or given the full information on but still made their personal opinion known to everybody in the room.

 

Immediately my thought turned to myself and wondered how many times I made an assumption about a situation without being privy too or given the full information on. Or had not researched or talked with both parties who might be part of the situation and could give me the needed information for me to be able to form an informed option to make a decision on the situation.

 

I found myself doing just this in my mind the other day. Just yesterday I had received a call about a situation and I immediately was upset about what has happened without having the other person’s story. I stepped back, put my personal opinion aside and talked with the other person that was involved in the situation. To my horror I found out that there was a missing training piece that was not covert and might not been found out about unless this situation occurred.

 

We pulled both parties together and together we took their situation and wrote a training piece about this and used their situation as an example and added talking points and tips on how to avoid being in the same situation.

 

My thought…you never know what you are missing until you ask and when you ask you might find that you have missing pieces in your training or communication you have never thought off.

commitment, planning, Team work

Potential client follow-up… or not…..

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I ran across several situations that triggered me to do a little research on how businesses follow-up on their potential and current clients.

 

I was amazed by the numbers I found, and a bit confused on what I am looking at.

 

Here is a quick case study;

  • 100% of the referrals where given to business.
  • 14% of the businesses immediately took the referral and out of the 14% only
  • 1/3 of the businesses attempted to contact their referrals within the first 24 hours.

 

This was again a sobering reminder that only a few businesses do the majority work.

 

Now I have posted the question to myself. What does it take to increase the 14% to a much larger number?

 

  • Looking for new businesses to give referrals too?
  • Just not to give referrals out at all?

 

Not giving out referrals ….that be silly……this would totally goes against the personal service we as business owners offer to our clients. I guess there is no other option than removing all of the businesses out of the rolodex who are not following through and replace them with business that will.

Team work, tips

I don’t have time for a referral…..

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…was the email answer I received after I emailed and called a business that my client was in need of hiring and I thought I had a good relationship with.

 

The bottom of the email signature was the following tag line after the business information:

“We are never too busy for your referrals”.

 

What a contradictory statement in the same email message.

 

Most of us business people strive for referrals. Referral for us is the best form of compliment another business person can give us. They trusting us and have enough confidence in us to send their personal clients to us.  We are working very hard to receive referrals ……

 

Why would we not have time for another business transaction and to make money and possible have another source of future referral coming in from another potential client?

 

Keep in mind; you never know who they know and who they possible could refer to you.

 

Needless to say I referred my clients to another business. I have taken the business that turned down my referral out of my personal “to refer to” list and have replaced them with another business.

 

Will I keep them informed of what is going on in the area???? Sure…..

Will I send more of my personal clients their way???? …. You tell me…..

Communication

Strange place where inspirations come from….

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It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. – J. K. Rowling

Was the quote I thought of this morning after a email conversation with an Real Estate Agent from Alabama who truly has not fully read an email reply I had send her this morning.

How many times have we caught ourselves reading a portion of an emails, making assumptions on what the rest of the email will tell us, jumping to, possible the wrong, conclusions and after reading an email again, but this time in full, we were glad not to replied in haste and making a full out of our self’s?

I have caught myself several times. It happens especially when I have an email to read that is the length of a novel.

I had to go back several time to read it over and over again to understand the full meaning of what the author was trying to tell me. Sometimes I had to break the email down into small bit size pieces to make since of it.

Note of self;

When writing an email. Keep is short, sweet and to the point.

When reading lengthy emails, take your time and maybe ready it more than once. You might either miss something or misunderstand something.

commitment, tips

Are you a Real Estate Entrepreneur or Employee?

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Many times this question goes thought my head when I interview Real Estate Professionals for referrals I give out thought the US.  Just because you have a license and have been in business for a long time does not make you the entrepreneur you need to be when going into Real Estate.

 

Sure there a limitations on what can be done due to licensing, state and federal laws.

 

When you are looking for a Monday to Friday 9-5 Job with a fixed income, Real Estate is NOT for you and you truly not the entrepreneur you need to be to keep on trucking when times get rough.

 

When I talk with Real Estate Professionals who I might consider giving referrals too my conversation is casual but with a goal. I am trying to find out if they are just looking for a job or are they entrepreneur I need for them to be.

 

Things I might look for are:

 

  • self-starter
  • risk taker
  • out-of-the box thinker
  • acting on their idea
  • Sees the need, thinks of an idea to satisfy that need
  • creative mind
  • drive to succeed
  • does not fall into the standard mold
  • chart their own destiny
  • optimistic
  • willing to create opportunities

 

When you are an individuals who tend to seek security, seek safety or stability over uncertainty and risk. Looking for a study income and consistent job without major changes, you are for certain an employee and holding a real estate license is not for you and you are not for my referrals.

tips

Do you check out the agent before you work with them???

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We all can find a list of questions to ask a listing agent before we make the decision who to use to represent us. All the questions are based on what they have sold, how many, how long it took, marketing time, responds time to questions and what differentiates them from other agents.

 

Have you ever thought asking your potential agent to give you their license number, their time in real estate and information on any complained filled against them before you even agree to work with them?

 

You wonder why you should do this???

You do not feel comfortable asking you say???

 

When listing your home should you not make certain that the person you list the home with is truly license and their license is in good standing or has no other complaint against them like fair housing violation, Professional Conduct violation or Misrepresentation?

 

When you are driving is a car with your buyers agent, don’t you want to make certain they have a valid drives license or have not a possible drunk driving conviction against them, before you enter their car?

 

Made your think?

 

Here is why I am telling you this. I am recruiting Real Estate Agents for referrals I give out to them on a daily bases and during my daily research of potential agents I have ran across already;

 

  • A principal Broker that was convicted of  several drunk driving charges
  • A broker that was convicted of theft.
  • A sales person that made herself out to be the owner of the brokerage firm. You have to be a broker to own a firm.
  • A broker that did not disclose at the time of the sale of their house that they hold a valid license
  • Just recently I found a broker who ‘s license was expired but still is listing homes
  • …and I ran across a general contractor who was selling a home for a friend but he was not licensed as a real estate professional at all.
  • The cream del a crème for me was the principal broker who had 4 fair housing violations against her within the last 2 years

 

Do you still think you should not do your personal due diligence before you invite any Real Estate Professional to work with you?

Communication, tips

Voicing an option on line; is all in how you verbalize it

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With most of us being part of many online social networks, or having a personal blog’s it has become very easy to voice an option.

 

In a recent survey of the top College admission counselors it was announced that the country’s top 500 colleges were using social networking sites, such as Facebook or MySpace, as part of the admissions process research.

 

Looking into other fascias of work; many HR departments, and recruiters for any type of employment are more and more looking to the internet about postings an applicant has posted before they make the first initial call for an interview. Employers do look you up & judge you based on what you & your friends discuss & post. Also now many Background Checks Now Include Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites you are subscribing to.

 

When I am being interviewed by potential clients I ask them to please check out all of the agents, they are interviewing, online postings and make this part of the decision making process when picking an agent to work with.

 

Many times when you find that when an agent posts derogatory information about a past client (with full name or company information) once, the change is GREAT that they will do it again……

 

What is your personal BLOG, a message board posting of any kind or social network posting telling them about you?

 

Sure…post when you have an opinion about something, but it is all in the verbiage and how you say it.