Interview with the vampire; I mean, real estate agent
I interviewed a gentleman by the name of Ken Cross who is a realtor for Meybohm Realtors in Aiken, SC. I opened up our discussion by asking Ken what kind of writing/communication skills are most important in the real estate profession. Without any hesitation, Ken immediately said "you have to be computer savy." Many of Ken's sales are generated through e-mail. All properties have a MLS#, which is kind of like their own personal social security number. After a client identifies to Ken what kind of house/property they are looking for, Ken can have e-mails automatically sent to his clients with in-depth information and photos of the property. These MLS #s are categorized and allow Ken to save lots of time and money by narrowing down his client's interest and help Ken focus precisely on what is appealing to the buyer. Ken also said that it is extremely important to follow up with client's past sales. He likes to do this through e-mail as well as sending letters to the home. Ken said letters help create a sense of personal sincerity and honesty with clients, which is good for future sales.
Secondly, I asked Ken what kind of preparation would benefit a person just getting started in this line of work. His first response surprised me. Many real estate agents nowadays are not pursuing college degrees. This is simply because all you need to sell real estate is a license which requires no college education. Ken emphasized that an education is still VERY important in this profession. He revealed that anyone can sell real-estate, but not everyone can really make money. He said you need to not only be proficient with your business skills, you also need to have experience dealing with people; all kinds of people. Realtors are salespeople and inevitably deal with some clients that are more peaceful than others. Ken said you have to incorporate your business knowledge to maintain your professionalism, but also establish a down to Earth approach without coming across as being "pushy." This is much easier said than done, especially when hundreds of thousands of dollars come into play.
Last, I asked Ken how important writing was in the profession and more specifically how it affected communication with his clients. He again emphasized the importance of e-mail but then diverged to a different perspective on selling property. Ken finally said that in the real estate business, writing comprises approximately 10-15 % of the total sale. He indicated that verbal communication and good ethics are the most important features of a good agent. He said never neglect the writing sector, because it could be the determining factor of the final sale. However, all in all, "the house will sell itself," not a fancy letter.
Secondly, I asked Ken what kind of preparation would benefit a person just getting started in this line of work. His first response surprised me. Many real estate agents nowadays are not pursuing college degrees. This is simply because all you need to sell real estate is a license which requires no college education. Ken emphasized that an education is still VERY important in this profession. He revealed that anyone can sell real-estate, but not everyone can really make money. He said you need to not only be proficient with your business skills, you also need to have experience dealing with people; all kinds of people. Realtors are salespeople and inevitably deal with some clients that are more peaceful than others. Ken said you have to incorporate your business knowledge to maintain your professionalism, but also establish a down to Earth approach without coming across as being "pushy." This is much easier said than done, especially when hundreds of thousands of dollars come into play.
Last, I asked Ken how important writing was in the profession and more specifically how it affected communication with his clients. He again emphasized the importance of e-mail but then diverged to a different perspective on selling property. Ken finally said that in the real estate business, writing comprises approximately 10-15 % of the total sale. He indicated that verbal communication and good ethics are the most important features of a good agent. He said never neglect the writing sector, because it could be the determining factor of the final sale. However, all in all, "the house will sell itself," not a fancy letter.
posted by Anonymous at 5/27/2005 12:15:00 PM
2 Comments:
This was an interesting interview to me because I have always been interested with real estate. I'm surprised that Mr. Cross didn't talk about the importance of contracts and forms such as that in the types of communications. If a contract isn't precise it could complicate many things in the furture and that could interrupt business through reputation. The interview was good though, I learned quite a bit about the way real estate agents display their product. I do understand that writing would be a minimal part of the process though because in sales it's more about the interaction personally with the person than how you write something up. This was overall a good interview and I like the title....it's original :)
Hi Stephen DuBose, I came across your site while doing a search on Real Estate Land. Although you didn't have exactly what I'm looking for, your site did provide for quite an interesting read. Thanks, and keep up the good work!
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