Broker Profile – Page 9 – Help-U-Sell® Connect

Broker Focus: Ginger Davis

Ginger Davis of Help-U-Sell Lake Tahoe Properties

Ginger Davis, co-owner of Help-U-Sell Lake Tahoe Properties, got her real estate license “for fun” eight years ago. After making real estate her career (she has a Master’s in speech pathology) in 2005, she shows no signs of looking back, just ahead.

Davis opened her Help-U-Sell office in 2006 with her husband, after buying a house from and working at an Assist-2-Sell office. She liked the business model, looked at the other options and ultimately chose to become a Help-U-Sell franchisee. With the downturn in the market over the past few years, her husband switched careers and became a general contractor. Davis brought on a new partner earlier this year in an effort to grow her business.

She met partner Brenda Knox while they both were serving on a non-profit’s board. It was a perfect fit. Knox had recently sold her business, and she has an MBA and a real estate license. Davis can now concentrate on the sales aspect that she loves, while Knox is focusing on administration, including optimizing the office’s website and taking advantage of the other benefits Help-U-Sell offers its franchisees.

Davis says the goal for 2013 is to bring on at least two more agents. The Lake Tahoe area has seen growth this year in terms of more full-time residents purchasing property in what has historically been a vacation-home market.

Second-home buyers remain important, so advertising to the two markets requires creativity and balance. “We still [advertise in] ‘Homes & Land’ because vacationers come to town and pick that up,” she says. Zillow and Trulia also help reach the second-home buyers, but Davis adds that her office also does “quite a bit of local radio” because it’s a small community. Print and direct mail factor into the marketing equation as well. “We’re constantly looking at it and seeing what we can do differently,” she says. The office is located in a highly visible new building, too.

For new Help-U-Sell franchisees, Davis encourages them to be able to step back and take a breath to focus on planning for the year. “Know that the business will come,” she says. She also advocates getting involved in the community as a whole and in the Realtor community in particular. “It’s important for agents in the community to see who you are and it helps them understand the Help-U-Sell business model better.”

Share with us your goals for 2013 or your advice for new franchisees.

Broker Focus: Adalberto (Tito) Gonzalez

Tito Gonzalez of Help-U-Sell South Santa Clara County

Adalberto (Tito) Gonzalez is casting his net wider this fall. Already the broker/owner of Help-U-Sell South Santa Clara County in Morgan Hill, Calif., he has a second office opening soon in San Jose.

“Now that buyers are off the fence and buying homes, a second office in the San Jose area makes sense to capitalize on future sales,” Gonzalez says.

Business is booming in his Morgan Hill office. “Homes are trending five to 10 days on the market before going pending,” he says. Any home under $500,000 attracts multiple offers, and many houses under $350,000 receive all-cash offers.

His San Jose office, to be named Help-U-Sell Fine Homes and Estates, will focus on properties in the $500,000 to $2 million range.

Gonzalez sees great opportunity with the new office as a means of broadening the brand’s exposure and getting more leads. His biggest challenges will be setting up the new office and splitting his time between Morgan Hill and San Jose.

For franchisees opening their first offices, Gonzalez offers his wisdom earned from years as a Help-U-Sell broker/owner. “Make sure your clients understand your true value as their broker that goes beyond knowledge and service,” he says. “I like to tell my clients that once all the agents have been interviewed for a listing, take a look at the numbers and see which brokerage is actually giving them true value in the form of cash savings in their pocket.”

He encourages Help-U-Sell brokers and agents to communicate with clients consistently, but not to talk too much. Visibility is also paramount for growing the business. He advertises locally, participates in downtown events and solicits testimonials for online use.

How are you going to expand your office’s reach in the near future?

Broker Focus: Lona Murphy

Lona Murphy, owner of Help-U-Sell Select Real Estate in Eugene, Oregon

Lona Murphy, broker/owner of Help-U-Sell Select Real Estate in Eugene, Ore., has owned her franchise since April 2011. In that short amount of time, she took the office, previously known as Help-U-Sell By Owner, and made it into an even more successful business.

Murphy attributes the growth to a strategic approach that started with the name change. She wanted to ensure that potential clients knew that her office offered full representation, not just assistance to FSBOs. She improved the company image by moving the office from a retail location to a corner office downtown. New marketing materials, taking advantage of inexpensive online marketing tools, and focusing on being proactive and following up furthered the efforts to be seen as a great option for home sellers in Eugene.

The office also incorporated Murphy’s existing rental program into the revenue stream. Their 20 rental units have provided a consistent source of income and of buyers and sellers. She says their property management clients have made many referrals to her office.

One of the biggest challenges Select Real Estate has encountered has been from competitors claiming Help-U-Sell is a discount brokerage and that other agents won’t show its listings. Murphy and fellow broker Tiffany Guerin assertively overcome objections using facts and statistics. “We don’t use negative references to other Realtors,” she says. “[But] we don’t back down.” She has rarely lost a listing to a traditional brokerage.

Murphy has begun to turn down certain listings, however. “I don’t take overpriced listings anymore,” she says. Her slogan is “I don’t list properties to list them; I list properties to sell them.”

For new Help-U-Sell brokers, she advises not to take it personally when traditional agents and brokers say you’re inferior. “Persevere and be committed to what you do, and that’s to help people and save them money,” Murphy says.

Broker Focus: Tiffany Bullaj

Tiffany Bullaj of Help-U-Sell Hometown Realty

Marketing relies on visibility, and Tiffany Bullaj of Help-U-Sell Hometown Realty in York, Penn., makes sure her office and its listings are not only seen but seen in the best light.

She recently upgraded the office’s camera and software to HDR quality to create great photos and virtual tours. “We find that it really puts us over the top from many of our competitors who still use property photos that look unprofessional,” Bullaj says.

As another nod to the future, the office has built up its online presence and does no print advertising. Google AdWords is a solid source of Hometown Realty’s leads, along with old-fashioned referrals, which still dominate.

While many agents have pulled the plug on open houses, Bullaj encourages her agents to hold as many as possible. She believes in the opportunities open houses afford agents to meet potential clients – sellers and buyers – and tell them how Help-U-Sell can save them money while getting full-service professional Realtors. Hometown Realty also uses directional signs to increase brand awareness.

Bullaj says her office actively markets to buyers, which helped it finish June with the most closed buyer sides of any franchise office. “It was apparent to us three to five years ago that our business needed to shift from being solely dependent on listing sales into a company that works the buyer side aggressively,” she says. “Since the name “Help-U-Sell” seemed to stigmatize us by creating the thought that we only help sellers, we worked hard to counteract that by going above board to make it known to the public that we work with buyers as well, and also save them money through our “Smart Buy” program.”

The “Smart Buy” program offers buyers $1,000 off the list fee when they buy an MLS-listed property through Hometown Realty’s listing agent. To qualify, the commission must be 3 percent and the closing must take place within 60 days of listing closed. She says, “This seems to create a relationship that goes the distance. We will soon be promoting Smart Buy as a rebate option to all buyers in the area.”

How are you attracting and retaining your target markets?

Broker Focus: Marc Dosik

Marc Dosik of Help-U-Sell Federal City Realty

For buyers and sellers, real estate might be all about “location, location, location,” but for agents and brokers it’s “referrals, referrals, referrals.” Marc Dosik of Help-U-Sell Federal City Realty in Washington, D.C., actively pursues reviews and referrals as a major marketing tactic.

“I just closed a transaction with a guy in California who read my reviews on Yahoo!,” Dosik says. The buyer called based on the strength of those reviews and asked to speak to a couple of Dosik’s past clients for more feedback. Understanding the power of good testimonials, the new buyer just wrote Dosik a positive review.

As a Premier Agent on Zillow, Dosik solicits happy past customers to post their experiences on the site. He makes it easy for the customers by sending them links to his profile. He also collects reviews for Yelp and Angie’s List and puts them in Redfin.

“You can parlay these [as marketing tools],” Dosik says. He uses the reviews in listing presentations and sends prospective clients a link to his Zillow reviews. “They really help me get the listing,” he says.

Dosik encourages new and veteran brokers to ask for reviews and referrals. “Don’t stop keeping in touch,” he says. He focuses on his customers and always says “yes” to their requests. “Try not to say ‘we don’t do that’ at Help-U-Sell. Go above and beyond. You’re going to get referrals by doing that,” he advises.

Past customers’ reviews and referrals have helped Federal City Realty have a successful spring, and so has Mother Nature. “In February, we had a big increase in transactions,” Dosik says. “Normally, spring starts in March but we had a warm winter, so buyers were out there.” A lack of sellers created pent-up demand. “Since then, it’s been very busy.”

The D.C. Metro area has been steadier than most other markets during the past few years, but the housing market is stronger in some locations within the greater D.C. area than in others. The more affluent cities that are closer to Washington, D.C., such as Chevy Chase, Md., and Arlington, Va., have experienced appreciating home values, while cities that are farther away and that have a lot of new inventory, like Chantilly, Va., and Germantown, Md., are not faring as well. Dosik adds that reurbanization efforts in D.C. combined with a low unemployment rate have young professionals and investors snapping up properties in transitional neighborhoods.

With the overall strength of the D.C. Metro market, Dosik is on his way to reaching his goal of transitioning from being a one-man show to focusing more on marketing-oriented activities. He plans to add another assistant to his staff, as well as hire buyers’ agents.

What are your tips for getting the most out of testimonials?