Below, you can find a collection of articles and other resources to help you with your real estate career. We’ll keep adding new articles, so come back and see what’s new!

Perfecting Your Close, Part 2

Polish Your Closing Voice

Our previous article focused on the words you use when in a closing situation. But how you sound is as important as what you say. The proper range, tone and voice inflection can be the difference between making the sale and losing it.

The voice can convey confidence or it can suggest uncertainty. Practicing a sales dialogue in the car, in the shower, or in the privacy of your office will improve performance, often dramatically. Get in the habit of rehearsing at every opportunity. The following are tips for improving your delivery.

       • Practice lowering the pitch of your voice. A lower-pitched voice is more pleasant than a high-pitched voice.

       • Learn to pause at appropriate moments. A well-timed pause builds suspense and is a good attention-getter. It also implies a willingness to listen.

       • Don’t speak too loudly or too softly. Find a good balance. Loud voices are identified with pressure selling; soft voices indicate uncertainty.

       • Don’t speak in monotone. You’ll have the customer clamoring to get away from you.

       • Practice your body language. Your gestures should look natural and they must never contradict the spoken word.

       • Maintain an appropriate amount of eye contact. But keep in mind, it is easier and more natural for the listener to hold eye contact. The speaker’s eyes should roam a little as she organizes and then delivers her thoughts. Never stare at your customer when you ask for a signature.


Ask those around you what has worked for them. Polish your closing dialogs when you are not under pressure, when you are free to experiment and make mistakes. Appropriate responses in a closing situation are priceless. They make the difference between prosperity and failure.

Perfecting Your Close, Part 1

Choose the Right Words

All too often, salespeople have difficulty expressing themselves clearly. Their words do not express their thoughts. Awkward speech patterns reflect poor preparation, a lack of confidence, or both.

Many argue that programming a salesperson to handle a predictable situation is unprofessional. Critics insist a canned sales dialogue is insincere and unlikely to inspire customer confidence.

Still, it is difficult to ignore the obvious: there are right and wrong things to say at any given stage of the selling process. It is certainly better to respond correctly than to stutter, stammer, or stick your foot in your mouth. Successful salespeople do and say the right things at the appropriate moment. If a rehearsed sales presentation is delivered fluently, with an air of confidence, customer response is very positive. In this way, a practiced presentation comes across as sincere and believable.

Focus on the words you use in the closing situation. Are they effective? Do your use different words, or do you repeat yourself? What has worked for others? For example, a pre-owned home sounds more valuable than a used home. Footwear is more desirable than shoes. Some businesses have clientele while others just have customers.

Wordiness vs. clarity If you feel your vocabulary is limited, you may want to select some new closing words that have worked for others. But quantity is not the goal. Your concern should be with quality, which means clarity. And clarity is best achieved with straightforward, simple words that are descriptive and easily understood. Avoid technical terms and industry jargon. To buyers and sellers, a mortgagee is a lender and an ARM is an adjustable rate mortgage. Don’t presume knowledge and don’t condescend.

Don’t use Watery Words Samuel Knox, a leading sales trainer, explains, “In closing there are meaty words and watery words. Meaty words inject a burst of meaning into a single phrase. Watery words are shapeless ghosts of thoughts and their meaning is lost no matter how well the words are spoken.” The following represents a brief list of watery words or phrases.

Groping Words
“What I am trying to tell you…” “In other words…” “The point I am trying to make is…”

Trite phrases
“Let me be perfectly honest with you…” “I can say this without any fear of contradiction…”

Repetitious Language
“Let me say this again…” “As I just said…” “I don’t want to be redundant, but…”

Weasel Words “You understand, this is just my opinion…” “You may disagree with this, but…” “I may be wrong, but…”

Superlative Declarations
“You can’t find anything equal to this anywhere…” “Unquestionably, the best…”

Negative talk
Don’t talk about your health, political views, personal problems, religious beliefs, or sexual preferences. Don’t interrupt, don’t contradict (even good-naturedly), don’t change the subject.

Next time we’ll focus not on what you say, but how you say it.

7 Ways to Avoid a Sale

Of course, no salesperson would deliberately work to avoid a sale. But to brokers and sales managers everywhere—observing the actions of some of their salespeople—it seems as though that is precisely what is being done.

There are right ways and wrong ways to go about selling a house. If you are averse to hard work, shamelessly undisciplined, and perpetually unprepared to sell real estate, you might just want to take up the practice of counter-selling—the art of going through the motions while skillfully avoiding a sale. It’s not easy, but if you pay attention and follow our advice closely, you can be an accomplished counter-seller in no time.

       • Don’t keep abreast of current listings. The less you know about them, the less you can discuss. If there’s a suitable property available, chances are excellent you won’t know about it. If you do, don’t preview the home first. Show it cold.

       • Don’t ask the buyer questions about job, family or hobbies. Their answers might prove enlightening and make solving their housing needs too easy. You do all the talking. They’ll disappear soon enough.

       • Drive the most unappealing route to the property. As often as not, this can be accomplished simply by not previewing the home in advance. Who knows, with a little luck you may get lost. If you want to blow it early, suggest taking separate cars.

       • Don’t take the initiative. When you get there, don’t show the home; let the buyers inspect it on their own. Preserve your professional image by encouraging them to ask if they have any questions. Don’t get involved by asking them where they would situate their furniture in each of the rooms (you might be guilty of helping move them in mentally) or by asking them if they enjoy lounging in the sun as they inspect the pool (this is the unforgivable sin of converting features to benefits). Besides, if you show them through the house, they might actually consider you in control and be more responsive to your suggestions. This is fatal to good counter-selling.

       • Move on. When the inspection is complete, suggest driving immediately to another house. It is essential that they feel there are hundreds of homes out there to see. Remember, abundance contributes to indecisiveness.

       • Don’t try to close them. After they have seen the home, don’t talk to them about it. What they think and feel isn’t any of your business. It would be presumptuous to ask how they felt about the property. Besides, if you did, they might tell you something that would make it more difficult for you to dodge a sale. And if you put this kind of pressure on them after every inspection, they might start respecting your time and take subsequent showings more seriously. After all, you want them to think of you as a taxi driver, not a salesperson.

       • Get them away from the house. The experts agree: buyers are most likely to make an offer when they are in the home and still aroused by it. If you write the offer then, they might just sign it. Get them away from the home where they can make a more objective decision, free of influential forces such as the powerful sense of excitement they feel while walking through the house. Insist that you all go back to the office. This will allow plenty of time for the emotion to subside. If they seem particularly intent on jumping headlong into a purchase, suggest they think it over. If they do, it will kill a deal almost every time.

This is by no means a complete list of ways to prevent a sale; however, any one of the seven techniques is usually enough to drive a legitimate buyer into the arms of a competitor. Work them all into your sales presentations and you are a cinch to send every impending sale up in smoke. But if buyers keep hounding you anyway, try avoiding them altogether; don’t show up for your floor time, refuse to return calls, and give leads away because you are too busy counter-selling. Finally, if you have so many customers you don’t know what to do with them, without telling anybody, take a three-week vacation.

How to Choose a Smartphone

Smartphones are great for busy real estate agents who need to stay organized and connected. Not just a cell phone, a smartphone works like a small computer. It can help keep your contacts and calendar organized and let you surf the Web, take photos, and stay connected to your e-mail. Think about how convenient it would be to get an e-mail alert for a newly listed property when you’re out touring with a potential buyer! With optional add-on software like GPS navigation programs, these phones can make life much easier for real estate professionals.

So how do you select the smartphone that’s right for you?

Distinguish between your needs and your wants.

First list the features or services that will be essential to your business; going without these could actually cost you clients or transactions. Then make a separate list of the features that it would be nice to have, but aren’t essential. For example, is a built-in camera a “must,” or do you take listing photos at a higher resolution with your digital camera? Use your “needs” list as a baseline to reduce the field of potential phones. Then use the options on your “wants” list to compare the remaining candidates.

Evaluate the various service providers and how their plans will fit your needs.

Coverage and Support: Which provider offers the best coverage in your area? The best customer support?

Plan Options: In addition to a calling plan, a data plan, which allows you to download information to your phone, is necessary with a smartphone. For each plan you’re considering, ask for the download maximums, and for a general idea of how many photos or attachments you could access within those limits.
Compatibility: Are both your desired phone and the carrier compatible with your computer and its e-mail and calendar programs? Will the phone work with your customer relationship management program? What about the various extra programs, such as mapping software, that you’ll want to add on?

Options and Fees: Add up the cost of your plan, accessories, add-on software, optional loss/damage insurance, and any additional charges you might incur. Also keep in mind that hands-free devices will be required in Washington starting in 2008.

Ask around.

Do you have any friends or family members who already use smartphones? What about other agents you know? What do they think about their phones and their service providers? Check consumer review publications and online product review sites. How does battery life, reliability, etc., compare?

Try them out!

The last step: Go into a store and try the finalists out. How does each smartphone feel in your hand? Do you like the way it looks? Is the screen easy to see and navigate? How big is the keyboard—will you have trouble typing?

These days, real estate agents are more connected than ever. A smartphone can make it a lot easier to manage more information on the go and stay connected with your clients.

Avoiding Discriminatory Real Estate Practices

Real estate agents should never say or imply that the presence of persons of a particular protected class (race, national origin, etc.) in a neighborhood could or will result in:
       • lower property values;
       • a change in the composition of the neighborhood;
       • a more dangerous neighborhood; or
       • a decline in the quality of the schools in the neighborhood.

Most real estate agents would not act in an overtly discriminatory way; for example, they wouldn’t raise the listing price because of the race of the prospective buyer. Yet some of these same agents might tell racial or ethnic jokes or make derogatory remarks about a particular group of people. Although these jokes or remarks don’t necessarily indicate a willingness to actually discriminate in a transaction, a listener might assume that they do.

Even listening or going along with inappropriate remarks can give the impression that the agent agrees with these discriminatory attitudes. Agents need to watch out for signs of such attitudes, in order to avoid helping others violate antidiscrimination laws.

Listing agents should make sure the seller is willing to follow the law, and decline to take the listing if the seller is not.

Real estate agents should also provide equal service to buyers and sellers without regard to their race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, familial status, age, or disability. For example, an agent should never refuse to show a property to a potential buyer based on discriminatory reasons.

Real Estate Agents and Environmental Issues

When making listing presentations and preparing offers to purchase, real estate agents have two major responsibilities in regard to environmental issues:
       • to recognize potential environmental hazards, and
       • to recommend that the seller obtain the advice of an environmental attorney or          other environmental expert.

If a real estate agent is representing a seller whose property has environmental problems, it is better to have an attorney draft the appropriate disclosures instead of the agent doing it himself. This will help reduce the agent’s liability.

Similarly, when an agent represents buyers who are interested in purchasing a property with environmental problems, the agent needs to make sure that they understand the potential risks of such a purchase—and these risks should be explained to them by their attorney.

Naturally, contaminated property should only change hands after the cleanup has been completed. But even then, under federal environmental laws, the buyers may be assuming more potential liability than they are aware of. As the new owners of the property, the buyers may be held responsible for any additional cleanup costs, even though they had nothing to do with the contamination.

A Career as a Real Estate Agent

A real estate license opens up a world of career possibilities offering independence, a flexible work schedule, and unlimited earning potential. But a successful real estate career also requires preparation, commitment, and hard work.

Real estate agents essentially work for themselves. Most brokers expect their agents to generate their own business, and an agent must be self-motivated and disciplined to earn a good living.

Established agents can choose how much to work based on their own financial needs, temperament, and ambition. But it takes a big investment of time and energy to build a clientele. Successful agents work hard. And, since most home buyers and sellers hold down full-time jobs, a lot of real estate activity takes place outside of ordinary business hours. Agents often must work evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Here are some activities real estate agents commonly perform:
       • Identifying prospective buyers and sellers,
       • Making listing presentations to prospective sellers,
       • Performing competitive market analyses (CMAs),
       • Showing properties to buyers,
       • Conducting open houses,
       • Assisting buyers in obtaining financing,
       • Negotiating and coordinating sales transactions.

Real estate agents will need to spend a lot of time with certain clients or customers, some of them likable, some of them not. A real estate transaction is a huge deal for most people, so buyers and sellers can be anxious, short-tempered, or demanding. Someone who doesn’t honestly enjoy meeting and working closely with people may be miserable in a real estate career.

Real estate agents must be able to tolerate uncertainty and rejection. Sometimes a listed property never sells, or a transaction falls through because of an irresolvable conflict. A real estate agent must be able to handle all of this calmly or even cheerfully. Remember, though, that an agent with the stamina and determination to keep going is likely to be well rewarded in the long run.

The Rockwell Institute makes getting and renewing your real estate license easy! Our flexible course options and commitment to helping our students succeed sets us apart from any other Washington or California real estate school. Call our friendly Registrars at 1-800-221-9347 to get started on your new real estate career!

Why Use Seller Financing?

Arranging a seller-financed transaction can be complicated, and typically, one or more attorneys get involved somewhere along the way. But there are several good reasons to use seller financing. First, it can make the property more marketable, especially when market interest rates are high. High interest rates translate into high mortgage payments, making it harder for some potential buyers to qualify for a loan. By offering seller financing at a lower-than-market interest rate, a seller can make his home more attractive to potential buyers.

Seller financing can also benefit a buyer who doesn’t qualify for institutional financing. With seller financing, the buyer avoids some of the institutional loan costs, such as the loan origination fee. And a seller may agree to a smaller downpayment, reducing the amount of cash needed to close the sale.

These benefits to buyers can translate into higher prices for sellers. For example, say a seller wants $250,000 cash for her property. A buyer might be willing to pay $257,000 if attractive seller financing terms are offered. In essence, the buyer would pay an additional $7,000 in exchange for a low downpayment, fewer closing costs, a favorable interest rate, and lower monthly payments.

Seller financing can also offer the seller important tax benefits. Because the buyer is paying the purchase price in installments over several years, the seller is allowed to spread out the profit from the sale over that same period. Only the profit actually received each year is taxed in that year. As a result, the seller can spread out the tax payments out over a longer period, and may be able to take advantage of a lower tax rate. Always advise a seller to consult an accountant or attorney about the tax implications of seller financing.

The Business of Brokerage Management

Just as being a successful real estate agent requires the mastery of selling and marketing techniques, managing a real estate brokerage requires an understanding of managing and running a business organization. Equally important is a thorough understanding of the real estate business itself—the cyclical fluctuations in the real estate market, and the never-ending technological developments that constantly affect the industry.

A successful real estate manager must learn as much as possible about effective management practices. This includes understanding financial systems, developing budgets, recruiting top salespeople, keeping adequate records, delegating authority, and establishing workplace policies and procedures. It also includes planning, organizing, and supervising the work flow of salespeople and office staff. And finally, it involves keeping employees comfortable, content, and willing to give you their best effort.

Before going into brokerage management, it is important to examine your motivations for the career change. Are you looking for more respect, stability, money, or family time? Are you hoping that a management position will take you away from the constant on-call runaround facing today’s busy real estate agent? If so, your expectations may be unrealistic. Not every successful real estate agent will be a good manager. The competitive nature of the real estate salesperson’s work may make the initial transition to management difficult. A manager will no longer be able to rely on her own sales ability and will have to rely on the efforts of others to attain success.

Starting a career in brokerage management is hard work. But if you consider your options and determine that this career path is the right one for you, it can be rewarding and profitable.

The Rockwell Institute makes getting and renewing your Washington real estate broker’s license easy! Our flexible course options and commitment to helping our students succeed sets us apart from any other Washington or California real estate school. Call our friendly Registrars at 1-800-221-9347 to get started on your new real estate career!