Featured Real Estate Agent of the Month 
“References Attract Clients” Sharon
Detrick In less than five months this year, Sharon has already closed 5 home deals with AgentEvaluator homebuyers compared with two deals in 2007. Why the difference? After adding in references to her proposals that she sends to potential clients, she’s been experiencing a higher response and interest level from those consumers in her services. Although it varies year to year (she’s been a HomeGain AgentEvaluator member since 1999) she’s definitely seen an increase since having added the references. “I was hesitant to add in references because I didn’t see the value,” stated Sharon. “Obviously nobody is going to put in a negative reference, but apparently consumers really do want to see what others say about you – and know that real live people have had positive experiences with you as their agent.” Sharon has always personalized her proposals – knowing that sometimes she’s the only one to do so, and that it’s extremely important to consumers, it gives her an advantage. “My writing reflects the way I speak,” she continued. “For example, in one of my proposals I said that ‘I like to shop with other people’s money’.” Personality and candor have also played a large part in her success with HomeGain consumers as well as in real estate in general. “I love to make it fun for consumers, and give them a pleasant experience,” Sharon stated. “I tell jokes and funny stories while we house hunt. I’m also very candid. I tell people straight out that I won’t be insulted if they don’t like a house. I’m not a used car salesman. I work for my clients, not the house.” Having been with HomeGain for eight of her 11 years in real estate and a Gold Club agent, she likes the exposure to people, and feels that consumers who come through AgentEvaluator are higher quality than some of the other services she’s tried. “HomeGain consumers are more serious and ready to get started,” Sharon stated. “I especially like the way it puts me in touch with people from out of town.” “HomeGain is the gravy on my bread and butter. Real estate is a funny industry. It’s either feast or famine. Agents have to do what they can to stay busy and get the right kind of business. HomeGain helps me do that.” |
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Using AgentEvaluator to Win More Deals – Part 2 “How AgentEvaluator Helps You Compete” Unless a homebuyer or seller is directly referred to you in the offline world, it is likely their first impression of you will be your picture, name, a tag line, and maybe another detail or two which they saw on a mailer or another ad source. Every day and in every market, potential buyers or sellers receive far more similar invitations to do business with you and your competitors than the number they receive when seeking an agent through HomeGain. While these ad-based marketing methods can be effective (or you wouldn’t use them), they don’t allow you to really differentiate the value of your services from that of your competition, to comprehensively market your services, or to tell a potential client what you can do to meet their specific needs. Unlike much of offline real estate marketing, AgentEvaluator gives you the opportunity to provide potential clients with substantive information about you and your business with your very first contact. Through it you can detail how you can meet their real estate needs and offer reasons why you are the best agent to help them buy or sell a home. Instead of relying on a photo and tagline to attract customers, AgentEvaluator gives you the chance to describe, in detail, the real value you can provide the potential client and to offer them every bit of information they need to select you as their agent. In the offline world you usually do not have this opportunity, because you usually do not control the client’s first exposure to your services; in fact, you frequently don’t even know it happened. A powerful proposal incorporates the best of your offline sales presentation skills into an online format that helps you acquire more clients in a shorter time. Those agents who thrive on HomeGain are those who are best able to translate these skills into the proposals they submit to their potential HomeGain clients. |
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Don’t miss out on the latest & hottest HomeGain Blog discussions! Subscribe now or visit blog.homegain.com. |
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Agent
Insight |
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Q: I’ve received 2 buyer leads in the last month from overseas investors looking to buy property in my area. Each time, the lead stated that the Real Estate Agent who helped the buyer would receive an unusually large commission (sometimes more than a million dollars!). They don’t sound real. Are they real? -- Beth Carver, Apex, NC A. No, these are not real. We have been seeing many of these proposals as well and unfortunately they seem to be scams originating overseas. In most occurrences, the investor promises to spend between $10-20 million on investment properties but needs an advisor here to help make the purchase. After the real estate agent makes contact, the investor then asks the agent to forward money to cover a bank/administrative/government fee that will free up the investment money before it can be sent back to the agent. Of course, the agent never receives the money back and the investor is never heard from again. While scams like these seem obvious to most, it can happen. We do everything we can to screen out these types of leads, but they do unfortunately get through to agents from time to time. If you have concerns about whether a lead is real or not,
keep these things in mind: If you ever do have any questions or think that you’ve received one of these leads, feel free to email or call us immediately for assistance. |
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Help your sellers get their home ready for sale. Request your free Home Sale Maximizer™ guides! |
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HomeGain
News |
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HomeGain Reinforces Its Position As a Partner to Agents In a series of recent blog posts, HomeGain reinforces its position as a marketing partner to real estate agents. “HomeGain exists solely to serve the REALTOR,” said Louis Cammarosano. “HomeGain’s success is tied directly to the success of HomeGain’s REALTOR customers.” Eric Blackwell of Bloodhound Realty Blog, Ryan Ward and Wayne Long of Real Estate Industry Watch comment on one of the blog posts, How Does A Third Party Vendor Partner With Realtors? In another post, What about Customer Service and Employee Satisfaction?, Louis states, “We promote the value of working with a REALTOR on our website.” |
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Give Your Listings a Boost! As a HomeGain member, you can upload your home listings for FREE. |
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Awards
and Recognition |
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Congratulations to HomeGain's newest Silver Club members. These members represent our top performing real estate professionals nationwide and receive a reduced referral fee rate. To find out if you may qualify for Silver, Gold or Platinum status, please contact your Regional Manager or send an email to agent@homegain.com. |
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April New Members
Agents who have closed $50,000 in gross commissions from HomeGain leads
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Customer Advocate of the Month Each month, HomeGain recognizes one person who upholds and represents HomeGain’s high standards of customer care. We are pleased to announce Loren Swanson as the winner of the April Customer Advocate of the Month award! As one of HomeGain's longest-tenured employees, Loren has been a significant contributor to HomeGain's success for over eight years. While not externally customer-facing, Loren's impact is nonetheless felt throughout the organization as he ensures that those employees who are responsible for servicing our customers have the proper tools to do so. There isn't one office resource that we use to support our customers that Loren hasn't either implemented, managed, improved or created. His efforts have given us our phone system, our email access and accounts, our individual desktop computers, and a host of other tools without which we could not even begin to effectively service our customers. |
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In This Issue |
Marketing Solutions |
 |
Top 5 Blog Posts |
WIN a set of MP3 speakers if your suggestion is used!
 Questions? Call 888.542.0800 or email us. |
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