Top Agents Playbook

I'm recording this episode on Jan 8 2020 and it's difficult to imagine the impact the fires are having on Australia and Australians. The news networks here in North America feature Australian fire stories at the top of most bulletins and I wake each day hoping not to hear another one. I'm aware that a number of my real estate friends have been forced to relocate and my thoughts are with you. It's also difficult to imagine the toll the fires are taking on all fire fighting personnel and their families. These are difficult times but like all of us, I have unlimited faith in the ANZAC spirit and the skill and courage of the teams to tame the beast. Let's hope this passes quickly with no further loss of life and property. Well, it's been a big year and as we get ready for Christmas and 2020 it's interesting to reflect on the last 12 months and the opportunities that lie ahead. Late last year I spent some time with super-agent Garth Makowski in Sydney. Garth and I are working on a project and I'll share mor

A brief summary of this episode

Before I get into this week's episode with super-agent, Michael Coombs, I wanted to let you know about a very special event coming up towards the end of next month. That's November 2019. I count myself very fortunate to have featured some amazing agents here on the show. I like to profile the top agents who are waking up every day just like you and doing the things that get them results... and I like the way a good podcast can do that. But for some time, I've been looking to take that podcast listening experience to the next level and host a live mastermind style meeting for a day with a top agent guest from the show who's ready and willing to share their best ideas so others can learn and duplicate. The trick however, is getting a million-dollar plus performer to say yes. Looking back over my most popular interviews, it wasn't too hard to find the right guest. I've featured Sydney super-agent Garth Makowski on the show a couple of times in episodes 10 and 144 and the feedback from both sessions was phenomena

With real estate it’s quite simple: if you fiercely refuse to blend in, you can’t help but stand out. My guest for this week's episode is LA-based super agent, Peter Lorimer. Peter is an Entrepreneur, Real Estate expert and co-host of the top-rating NETFLIX series “Stay Here” which helps struggling property owners redesign and market their short-term rentals into moneymaking showstoppers. But before real estate, Peter had another life: Born and raised in the UK, he achieved tremendous success as a widely sought-after Music Producer working alongside the biggest names in music including Pink, Sheryl Crow, INXS, George Michael, Christina Aguilera and more. He accumulated over 30 #1 Billboard chart hits by his retirement from the music industry in 2003. Wow! On a quest for new business ventures, Peter began investing in the LA property market. In 2005, he joined Keller Williams Realty and went on to become the #1 Agent at his brokerage three consecutive years in a row. In 2009, he earned the prestigious distinct

Back when I was kicking off this podcast, I’d been listening to Super Agents Live which is the number 1 rated podcast for agents hosted by Toby Salgado. Then I had a thought… What if I connected with Toby and we interviewed each other for our shows? It would be a win-win and we could share each episode with our respective audiences and help spread the word. I emailed Toby and he said “I’m In” That was back in January of 2016. It was my 33rd episode. Super Agents Live is closing in on 300 episodes and Toby works hard to deliver excellent content each week. Can I suggest you subscribe to his show on iTunes or Sticher or wherever you download your podcasts by searching Super Agents Live or go to SuperAgentsLive.com Toby is also a huge fan of radio adverting and works with hundreds of agents helping them win more listings and make more sales in their local area. It doesn’t matter where you are, Toby knows the game and can probably get you very sweet deal on airtime. He also knows what type of stations work for re

If you're new to real estate or even if you're not and you want to fuel inject your results and your income, I'm going to suggest you grab a notebook and a quiet space and listen to my interview with super-agent Tim Heavyside. You'll come away with ideas and priorities to start implementing the changes you're looking for. Tim is Director and Auctioneer at Fletchers, a dominant brand is Melbourne's highly competitive eastern suburbs. He came in at number 13 on this year's REB Australian list of real estate's top 100 agents. Let's take a quick look at his numbers: He's been in real estate for 17 years and has a support team of 4. For the 12 months leading up to June 30 2019, Tim listed 140 homes, sold 111 with an average days on market time of 35 and an average sale price just over $1.5 million Special thanks to Tim for taking some time out of his busy day to share his strategies and tips and as usual, Tim shares something else that's even more powerful.

Take this short test and see if you're ready to step up to a VA The never-ending quest for increased productivity and leveraging time against results continues to change our world. And in real estate, perhaps more than any other industry, time is our currency. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, so what makes one agent 10 times more effective than another? How do successful agents take 10 weeks holiday each year and live the dream of a so-called 'balanced life' while others labouriously tread the hamster wheel of continuous struggle with time and money? Think back just 25 years to a very different world where we walked into a bank to do our banking, walked into a travel agent to choose and book a vacation or paid obscene amounts of money for marketing and graphic design then waited or days or weeks for delivery. Post-1995, the Internet of things has not just changed the way we live, it continues to alter almost every aspect of our lives and careers.... and at breakneck speed Take powered flight for examp

Meet Arabella Hooper. This is what happens when focus and discipline meets an organized plan! There's a saying that goes; if you want to get something done, give the job to a busy person, and if you're into extreme productivity, getting results and squeezing a little more out of each day, I think you're going to love this interview. My guest today is a 16 year veteran and this is the first year she nominated to be listed in REB's Top 100 agents in Australia. She's also a mother of four young children so I'm thinking the only way she can achieve such impressive results is because she's organized with industry-best systems. Her entry into the list of elite top earners is due to pure numbers in terms of listings and sales. She's not selling $5 million dollar homes in Sydney or Melbourne, she based in the beautiful hills district just outside Adelaide South Australia. And for my listeners not familiar with the Adelaide Hills, we're talking about some of the most beautiful country on earth. Lush green rolling hill

I think you'd be looking far and wide to find anyone with more passion energy, drive and enthusiasm than America's #1 real estate auctioneer Ben Brady. But there's a bit more to the story... A little over 5 years ago, Ben and his team spear-headed the Harcourts attack into the US, setting up in Los Angeles California. In that time, Ben has become the #1 Auctioneer in the US selling more than $4 Billion worth of property under the hammer. I don't want to dwell on this but do you have any idea how massive that is? It's the real estate equivalent of getting a bunch of football supporters to start following another team. It requires something way beyond normal selling skills, but as you'll hear in a moment, Ben is well beyond normal with the ability to overcome seriously huge setbacks and challenges that would probably make you and I head for the bar. As I'm thinking through this intro, I'm looking to highlight takeaways that you can apply to your business and as you're about to find out, they're everywhere. The

The real estate technology invasion is well underway with tech giants and startups everywhere trying to force their way between the agent and the seller. In fact, I believe the changes we're seeing and about to see represent the greatest shift in the real estate industry as billions of dollars continue to fuel an ever-growing number of direct-to-consumer start-up businesses competing with you for the attention of property sellers and buyers. I don't really see there's anyone to blame here and not all startups succeed, but those that do are going beyond disrupter status to change the way real estate is being bought and sold. The simple fact is, that if you throw enough money at something, then sooner or later you'll get traction. There was a time, not so long ago, when the real estate agent's role was purely transactional. You won the listing, you found a buyer, negotiated a contract, said sayonara and hoped the seller would call you if they ever needed to sell again. Today, agents looking to stay relevant and

Last month, real estate mindest coach Jet Xavier took 11 people on the journey of a lifetime. At 5,380 metres (or 17,600 ft) Mt Everest Base Camp is the final resting place and launch pad for an attempt to summit the world's tallest mountain at almost 9000 metres or 29,000 ft. From all reports, the trek up to the Base Camp is grueling and not all of Jet's team were successful. Some people succumb to altitude sickness faster than others but everyone pays a price for breathing thin air. As you'll discover in a moment, it was an epic adventure but also a great personal challenge as the team faced a number of serious obstacles along with the constant temptation to quit. Jet's forte is helping agents achieve their personal goals and ambitions by giving them tools to influence their mindset. If we accept that personal success which, by the way, I define simply as happiness, is the result of a series of decisions, then anything you can leverage to make the best decisions has gotta be worth it. The good news is that

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A brief summary of this episode

Just in case you've been hiking to Mount Everest basecamp with real estate mindset coach Jet Xavier and suffering the humiliation of no signal for the last few weeks, I'll greet you with the news that UK based real estate discounter Purplebricks has shut up shop in Australia siting a tough market and poor consumer support. In a poorly researched and executed advertising frenzy since launching in Australia a few years ago, PB blew $20 million trying to buy market share by selling a message nobody wanted to hear. Now I don't know about you, but if I had $20 million to blow on marketing, I can think of a hundred better ways to invest it. But I believe top agents have something far more valuable and that's a formula for helping their sellers sell above market value and the agents I interview right here on the show are not only experts at helping their clients sell for more, they're also more than happy to tell you how it's done. All you need to do is go searching thru my episodes and you'll discover how agents li

I notice super agents have a simple formula.  My guest for this episode shares his and more But first, I want to say a special thank you for all the great feedback from last week's interview with Garth Makowski. Garth's tough market talks are impossible to beat and he shared so many winning scripts and ideas on that episode. If you haven't listened yet, go to topagentsplaybook.com/144 My main mission with the show is to get you up close and personal with real estate's best and give you the takeaways you need to reach the goals you want. And speaking of top performers and tough markets, the super-agents are rising and I notice almost all use a similar model just like my guest today. They build a dedicated team of supporters who let them focus on the things that make them money. These are what I call the blue dollar tasks like prospecting, doing an open, putting a deal together, delivering a listing presentation or getting a price reduction. They know that almost every other task can be allocated to someone el

While this show goes out to thousands of agents every month in more than 100 countries, I understand the strength of the property market will differ from place to place. In Toronto, where I live, the market is strong with multiple buyers competing to purchase up to $2 million. But things aren't so strong in Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney and after a 25-year boom, the cycle has turned and competition for real estate is not as strong. So, with many of my listeners in Australia and NZ I want to dedicate this episode to getting results in a changing market and my guest for this week, as you'll soon discover, is not only ready for change but excited about the opportunities it's delivering. So let me make a few observations: 1. The current changes we're seeing are part of a cycle. There's no way such high levels of property growth can be sustained long term.  Sooner or later there's a correction.  There's nothing wrong with it.  It's a cycle just like the tide and the seasons. Let's remember, it's been good for a l

Last year, Harcourts, The NZ/Australia based real estate group auctioned 1200 properties in California. Their clearance rate at auction was 92% Days on market for their auctions averaged 35 against an industry average of 120. The funny thing about selling by Auction in a new market, and this is my personal observation, is that the only negative reactions come from agents. And that's okay, everyone is entitled to an opinion. And we can all understand the threat of the unknown. But if you dig a little deeper, you'll find the most critical agents wouldn't know a real estate auction from a hole in the ground. Or they're stuck in the Vietnam War era where they think Auctions are the last resort for a distressed sale situation. I have no issue with spirited discussion and informed debate, but (and this blows my mind) most of the auction haters have never actually been involved in an auction campaign. That's a bit like saying you don't like Indian food but you've never tried it. Or saying you don't like a band, but

It looks like my Jigglar partners and I are heading to San Francisco again this fall for the National Association Of Realtors Annual Conference and Expo. And an interesting side note... I couldn't work out all the peace, love and flower power references around the event until I realized it's 50 years this year since Woodstock and the height of the San Francisco anti-war peace marches. (not that I was around then but I Googled it) The NAR conference is the largest real estate event in the world and if you haven't been, it's worth checking out. More info here. And speaking of Jigglar, two things.  The Design Team has just published the 4 page Landlord Report which looks amazing.  I've written some generic copy for the back cover and the inside middle spread is a very cool infographic you can quickly edit to reflect your numbers.  I've already shared the template with some of my private coaching clients and feedback is very good. The second bit of Jigglar news is that the TEAMs feature is now live.  Here's how i

A few weeks back, my friend Andrey Polston from GetListingsSummit.com invited me to be a guest on his Listings Webinar Extravaganza which ran over a few weeks in March and April this year (that's 2019 if you're listening in the future) The summit features more than 50 real estate agents, experts and commentators in what can only be described as a frenzied listing binge of free information and great ideas. When Andrey asked me what I wanted to get into for our session, I didn't hesitate. Getting listings is all about the funnel and new business pipeline. In fact, the agents that follow this formula and execute well are the super agents and household names in our industry. In my session with Andrey, we get into a wide range of real estate success ideas you can implement straight away to create more relationships. I also got to share my ideas around owning a clear and compelling point of difference in your market and one specific idea that's proving a powerful tool for the agents I work with. You can still acces

If you can't clearly illustrate your point of difference BEFORE your listing presentation, your chance of getting the fee you deserve is almost zero. And here's the thing... if you can't get your seller a better result than ANY of your competition, why would they hire you? There are 3 things you need to do to ensure your seller understands you are better than the rest. Send 6-8 testimonials from your sellers as part of your pre-listing kit that says how you achieved a result HIGHER than your sellers expected and that you were able to handle multiple buyers (a bidding war) Send a video or preferably a compilation video of happy sellers saying the same thing Sharing one or two case studies at your listing presentation And if we're working together, there's actually a 4th thing that is a powerful reminder of your point of difference:  It's when you deliver a copy of How To Sell Your Home For More with your pre-listing kit.  How To Sell is my best selling book. It's $39.95 from Amazon.com but I supply it at cos