Help-U-Sell® Connect

Top Producers for October 2013

John Powell of Help-U-Sell Galleria Realty — Help-U-Sell Galleria Realty, owned by broker John Powell with his wife Maria, tied for third place with 11 closed sides in October.

As regular readers of Connect know, we held our annual Success Summit last month. Our top-producing offices took the word “success” to heart. Combined, they closed 95 sides in October!

1) Help-U-Sell Direct Savings Real Estate, in Waynesboro, Va., completed the month with a lucky 13 closed sides: one buyer side, eight seller sides and two dual-sided transactions.

1) Tied for first place, Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties closed four buyer sides, seven seller sides and one dual-sided transaction.

2) Help-U-Sell Metropolitan, in the greater Detroit area, finished the 10th month with 12 closed sides: eight buyer sides and four seller sides.

2) Help-U-Sell Santa Maria was almost as balanced as possible last month. Broker/owner Ken Kopcho’s office closed two buyer sides, four seller sides and three dual-sided transactions.

2) Help-U-Sell Select Real Estate, out of Eugene, Ore., also closed a dozen sides consisting of two buyer sides, eight seller sides and one dual-sided transaction.

3) In a three-way tie for third place, Phoenix’s Help-U-Sell Galleria Realty claimed 11 closed sides. They were almost evenly split between buyers and sellers, with six being buyer sides and five seller sides.

3) Help-U-Sell Greensboro also had six buyer sides, which makes sense given broker/owner Jack Bailey’s successful buyer consultation program, along with three seller sides and one dual-sided transaction.

3) North Carolina’s Help-U-Sell Triad Realty wrapped up October with two buyer sides, seven seller sides and one dual-sided transaction.

We celebrate our double-digit producers! We also want to acknowledge five offices that closed transactions on properties with sale prices of more than $1 million! Congratulations to Help-U-Sell Action Properties, Help-U-Sell Federal City Realty, Help-U-Sell Smart Realty Pasadena, Help-U-Sell Vantage Realty, and Help-U-Sell Westside Realty, which had two closings over $1 million. One was for $11 million, including furnishings!

[Figures updated as of Nov. 12, 2013.]

New Marketing Materials Unveiled at Success Summit 2013

At last week’s Success Summit in Las Vegas, Mike Paholke of Excel Printing and Mailing unveiled new marketing materials, including door hangers.

Melding old school with new technology, two of the three door hanger designs have QR codes that link directly to a lead-capture form on the broker’s website. One is for the free home evaluation, and the other goes to the Market Sketch registration page.

Excel has also introduced refreshed jumbo and standard Just Listed and Just Sold postcards that reflect the new branding. Like the door hangers, two of the three designs have QR codes for lead capture.

Help-U-Sell Real Estate's new marketing materials from Excel Printing and Mailing include door hangers and jumbo postcards.

Alexander’s Print Advantage, our print-on-demand vendor, has created new options for the reverse side of the business cards, along with new handout cards. All of the designs incorporate the refreshed look and feel of the postcards and door hangers.

Brokers and agents can order the new pieces directly from Excel and Alexander’s. Excel is running a special co-op on the door hangers now through Nov. 8. Order before next Friday and save. Additional co-op opportunities will run next year. These are great ways to make the most of your marketing budget.

Let us know if you’ve taken advantage of Excel’s co-ops before. We’d love to hear your feedback!

Live from Success Summit 2013

We’ve just started day two of our annual Success Summit in Las Vegas!

Yesterday, we welcomed brokers and agents from all over the country, including our newest franchisee, who just signed with us at the meeting.

Opening session of Help-U-Sell Success Summit 2013

In addition to the opening session, we held three breakout sessions on technology, coaching and marketing; as well as a marketing roundtable session, where our offices shared marketing techniques that work for them. We ended the day with a reception overlooking the Strip.

Today, we have a full day of general and breakout sessions. A special thank-you to Mike Paholke of Excel Printing and Mailing for bringing new marketing materials and showing us how to order them, and to John Powell and Jack Bailey for their coaching sessions.

If you aren’t in attendance and would like to follow the happenings in Las Vegas, search #SuccessSummit13 on Twitter.

Working with FSBOs

According to an article on CNNMoney last week, the number of homeowners selling their properties without a broker or agent has increased over the past year. One of the reasons FSBOs (for sale by owners) cite for going it on their own is to save the large commissions most brokers and agents charge.

Of course, at Help-U-Sell Real Estate, our low set fee can save FSBOs money and time and still be involved in the selling process, which is a compelling offer for some FSBOs. Others can successfully manage the sale of their homes on their own. This is something to keep in mind if you choose to market to FSBOs. The approach we advocate taking is that of a friendly resource, free of charge, unless we find a buyer for the FSBO. We are not trying to list the FSBO’s house.

Help-U-Sell Real Estate's approach to FSBOs is as a friendly resource who wants to help the seller, not to land a listing.

To assist the seller, we recommend offering the following items or services of value:
* a suggested listing price
* advice
* showing the seller’s house to buyers
* monthly sales statistics from the MLS
* following up with open house visitors

This approach goes right along with the Help-U-Sell Real Estate founding principle of serving the consumer. Even if the broker or agent never gets the FSBO’s listing, he or she could acquire buyers’ names, be hired to help the FSBO with closing, and gain a new brand advocate.

For more advice and suggested dialogue when working with FSBOs, watch Help-U-Sell University video Module 4: Lesson 1.

How have you reached out to FSBOs successfully in the past? Share your experiences with us.

Top Producers for September 2013

Patrick Wood, Help-U-Sell Prestige Properties — Patrick Wood is broker/owner of Help-U-Sell Prestige Properties, which closed 12 sides in September.

September’s top producers closed an impressive 51 sides among the four of them and hail from almost all corners of the United States.

1) No stranger to the number one spot, Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties closed 15 sides made up of five buyer and 10 seller sides. Two properties sold for more than $1 million.

2) Charlotte-based Help-U-Sell Buy Today closed five buyer sides and eight seller sides to take second place.

3) With a dozen closed sides, Help-U-Sell Prestige Properties in Chino Hills, Calif., had two buyer sides, eight seller sides and one dual-sided transaction.

4) Help-U-Sell Detwiler Realty rounds out the top offices for September. The Carlisle, Penn., office closed 11 sides: two buyer sides, seven seller sides and one dual-sided transaction.

We also want to make an honorable mention of Help-U-Sell Southland Realty, which had a $1.075 million sale in September. The seller saved $53,550 (based on a 6% commission).

Congratulations to all of our top offices for last month!

[Figures as of October 8, 2013.]