Sales

SALES
AN A-Z INTRODUCTION
Prepared by Robert Ortiz Real Estate
Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- General

Overview
This is a light manual that briefly covers every aspect of real estate sales. It is up to you to incorporate
these aspects into you daily regimen, applying an organization that is right for your work style. Many
sales agents recognize the importance of these aspects, assign time values to each, and break
themselves into teams where a division of labor can be performed. Some sales agents pick and choose
from these aspects only what they are able to do themselves and operate as sole proprietors. Whether
you are destined to run a team or be a sole practitioner, you should certainly familiarize yourself with all
aspects of the Listing and Buying sides of Sales and lead yourself through further investigations of each,
to become a master of this information.
CONTENTS
General
Competitive
Continuing Education
MLS Membership & Training
Building a Team
Research Markets
Absorption Rates
Marketing
The List Side

Prospecting for Listings
Qualifying Seller
Pricing / Market Analysis
Marketing Plan
Listing Presentation
Secure Listing
Marketing Lead Time
Condo Docs and Budgets
Marketing
Offers and Counteroffers
Acceptance
Contingencies
Condo Questionnaire
Purchase and Sale
CO2 Inspection
Appraisal & Commitment
6D Certificate
Final Water/Sewer Bill
Final Inspection
Closing
Testimonial Solicitation
Just Sold Cards
The Buy Side

Prospecting for Buyers
Qualifying Buyer
Debt-to-Income Ratio
Consultation
Preapproval
Search
Offer and Counteroffers
Negotiation
Acceptance and Delivery
Contingencies
Mortgage Application
Purchase and Sale
Appraisal
Commitment
Pre-Closing
Final Walk Through
Closing
Testimonial Solication
Total Timeframe
Housing Warming
Follow-up

Competitive
Start, pursue and end your day with the presumption that there may be someone better than you in this
market trying to do the exact same thing you are doing. All day long challenge yourself to keep pace
with and then out run this imagined competitor. Constantly seek improvement of ability and process.
Make time for continued education. Expand your inventory knowledge. Start networking with
professionals in all aspects of real estate and with any professional in a field abutting real estate--network with everyone. Increase the depth of services you can offer. Know everything you possibly can.
Conduct regular self-diagnostics, probing for weakness in your skillset or mindset and then directly
address this weakness.
Pass out the most business cards. Shake the most hands. Knock on the most doors. Make the most cold
calls. Post the most advertisements. Mail the most postcards and letters. Qualify the most leads.
Schedule the most appointments. Conduct the most negotiations. Follow up with prospects the most.
Handle the most deposit monies. Close the most deals. Give the best housewarming presents. Be the
quickest to make sure your referral sources get paid. Follow-up the most with past clients. Research the
most new advantages in online advertising or marketing. Research the most effective selling strategies.
Answer the most questions, give the most free information, be the most in all things.
Track your behavior and activities with a spread sheet. Every week attempt to increase your productivity
in specific categories and track your improvements. Each new week compete against yourself in the
previous week. Slowly but surely make yourself your own top competitor. Break away from the pack and
do not look back except to see your own shadow. Do this, every day, unless you are on vacation. But
know for sure what is and is not vacation. Create the absolute black and white difference by the sheer
output you can produce when you are working.
Continuing Education
Do not make the mistake that some agents and brokers make by mailing it in with a lazy mind during
continuing education. Treat this aspect of your development very seriously. Take as many classes as you
possibly can. Rather than using the online versions, schedule in-person classroom training. Build a
rapport with the instructor. The instructors sometimes are very well established commercial advisors
with years of experience managing clients on advisory contracts that cover whole territories, like New
England or Tri-State. When you remove all distraction from the equation and commit to classroom
training, you better honor the process of continuing education. Seek out the free continuing education
courses that are routinely offered by the lawyers and mortgage professionals. Enroll in seminars and
workshops that cater to first time homebuyers, flix and flip professionals, developers, buy and hold
strategies, 1031 exchange, auction property purchasing. Stay thirsty for new knowledge. Become a
viable source of all knowledge, ready at an instant to serve any prospect that comes your way.
MLS (Multiple Listing Server)
MLS is a very good tool for generating business and researching the market. You should immediately
obtain an MLS account and sign up for as many training courses as you can. Training is included in the
cost of membership, most courses are 2.5 hours in length. Use MLS to study changes in the market, get
pricing information, learn who the major players are, manage clients, promote properties, search public
records, and obtain mailing address lists for marketing postcards and letters.

Building a Team
As you pursue your professional development, one thing that will emerge is your network. Of this
network, think in terms of Team. Make time first to create a team and then to nurture it. Your real
estate team is a group of professionals who perform key functions that are related in some way to real
estate and that all your clients will need, either immediately upon meeting you or in the future. Identify
these team members and then establish and maintain an on-going professional relationship with them
so that you can easily and efficiently provide more service to your clientele base than your own
expertise allows. You and your team members will form a symbiotic relationship. The more leadership
you provide to this team, the more business you can ensure will develop from the relationship.
Start first by identifying people who are professionals in your target fields. Meet them in person and
qualify their interests and philosophies. Make sure that you are both simpatico in terms of business
philosophies. Make sure you match in some way. Once you begin the referral process, their work ethic
will reflect upon you. Test out their abilities to follow-up, their presentation skills, even their so-called
bedside manner. When you are sure youve got a match, trust your judgment and start sending them
business. If you feed them well, they will feed you in return.
Follow-up with both your team members and your clients and solicit feedback from the opportunities
they are involved in. In this way you hold yourself accountable for giving good referrals, and you hold
your team member accountable for handling your clients appropriately. Once youve started the referral
business, make time, perhaps once a quarter to meet with this team member in person---stay updated
on their life events, determine if they need more or less business. The scope of your team needs not be
limited. You should try to incorporate all facets of living. Below is a list of some professions that you
should target.
Examples of Team Builder Profession Targets
Accountant
Acupuncture
Appraiser
Auto Repair
Banker
Baker
Bed and Breakfast
Carpenter
Carpet Cleaner
Carpet and Tile Installer
Chimney Sweep
Cleaner
Closing Attorney
Chiropractor
Computer Repair/Data Recovery
Dentist
Doctor
Electrician
Eye Care
Flooring
Florist
Financial Planner
Foundation Crack Repair
Furniture
Furniture Rental
General Contractor
Gutter Cleaning and Repair
HVAC
Home Inspector
Home Stagers
Insurance Agent
Jeweler
Junk Removal
Landscaper
Laundry and Dry Cleaner
Lawn Care
Massage Therapist
Mold Remediation
Mortgage Broker
Mortgage Specialist
Moving and Storage
Music Lessons
Painter
Personal Chef
Personal Trainer
Pest Inspector
Pet Groomer
Photographer
Plumber
Property Manager
Salon and Spa
Shiatsu
Siding, Roofing and Window
Snow Removal

Elevator Repair
Locksmith
Tailor
Veterinarian
Research Markets
The more market knowledge you have, the better you will be able to serve your clients. The process of
mastering a market could take you years of dedication. In the meanwhile you can leverage the
experience of others, harvest what you can from online resources such as Zillow and MLS, get clues from
word on the street, newspapers and trade magazines, and also gain insight from your own drive-bys
within neighborhoods, broker tours and open houses. You have to be thirsty for this knowledge in order
for any business to be done.
You should spend at least 30 minutes every day, preferably more, dedicated towards market research.
Monitor both on-market listings as well as recently sold data. Absorb as much as you can. Learn The
Story behind each neighborhood of each market.
You may not need to specialize in every single neighborhood of the market. Pick your favorite
neighborhoods to become an extreme expert in. Then apply a slightly less aggressive research method
toward assembling a general knowledge of the market surrounding your favorite neighborhoods. Know
precisely what contributes to the property values in these neighborhoods, i.e. trains, buses, parks,
hospitals, attractive store front retail, etc. Know also what might positively or negatively affect prices in
the job creation, new commercial buildings, re-zoning, changes in crime rates, nearby schools rating
changes. The best example of this is the proposed extension of the Green line into Union Square and
points beyond. Already sellers are trying to realize higher than usual sale prices, based upon a future
expectation of value.
Absorption Rates
Youll hear this everywhere you go when someone finds out you are in real estate, Hows the market?
Do you want to know precisely what to say to them? Assume that person has a ton of cash or knows
someone who has a ton of cash. Be prepared to tell them exactly where to invest this cash. Part of this
preparation is acquiring the knowledge of the absorption rates of the markets in your surrounding areas.
Absorption Rate is a calculation of precisely how fast the inventory of a specific market is moving. Or in
other words, the rate tells you in Months, how long the current inventory would take to reach zero,
based upon the previous 12 months sales activity.
Heres the Absorption Rate Calculation: Number of Active Properties (divided by) 1/12 of the number of
Properties Sold in Past 12 months.
If there was 18 active properties in a market and 48 sold in the previous 12 months, the absorption rate
is 4.5 Months. You can really get sophisticated with this knowledge by breaking down your calculations
first by Town (or Neighborhood) and then by Price Range. And then even further by segmenting the
rates based upon type: Condos, Single Fams or Multi-Fams.
With these rates in mind, you will have definitive knowledge of whether or not a property is a Sellers
Market, a Stable/Balanced Market, or a Buyers Market. A Sellers Market is 0-5 months of inventory. A
Balanced Market is 5-7 months of inventory. A Buyers Market is 7 or more months of inventory.
Competition is fierce in a Sellers Market, youve got to be well networked to pick up deals there---

properties in this type of market are Blue Chip, very safe investments and that is why they are so highly
sought after. Clients willing to take risks while looking for good deals and weak sellers should seek the
Buyers Market.
The chart below is showing the Absorption Rates as of February 2014. Almost all markets appear to be
sellers markets. The low rates probably has more to do with the Off-Season than any other factor, but
none the less, at this particular time in the Market, conditions are very favorable to the Seller.
February 2014 Absorption Rates (in Months)

Town/City
Boston
Brookline
Cambridge
Somerville
Arlington
Belmont
Medford
Malden
Everett
Chelsea
Revere
Winthrop
Watertown
Waltham
Newton
Quincy
Milton
Dedham
Lexington
Winchester
Woburn
Markets
<$200K
1.3
0
0
0
0
0
0.7
2
0.5
1.8
1.3
3.2
0
0.5
0
1.8
0
1
0
0
0.8
Seller's - 15
$201300K
1
0
0
0.5
0.3
0
0.7
0.9
0.9
2.8
2.6
1.8
0.7
0.8
0.3
1.1
1.1
1.4
0
0
0.6
$301-500K
0.9
0.6
0.3
0.5
0.8
0.7
0.4
1.2
1.7
2.3
2.8
2.6
0.6
0.8
0.3
1.3
1.1
1.2
0.9
1.9
1.8
Stable 5-7
Buyer's 7+
* Active/Sold Date is for All Condos, Singles & Multis
>$501K
1.6
1.3
0.7
1
1
1.1
1.3
3.2
5.1
4.5
11
4.5
1
1.2
1.2
2.1
2.1
4.2
1.5
1
1.9

Marketing
With real estate education, a well-developed team, and up-to-date local real estate knowledge firmly
established, all that remains is notifying the world around you. By this point, you should already be
brimming with desire to meet clients, for you truly are a valuable asset to each and every one of them.
This market needs an agent like you. Everyone who is in need of real estate services or knows someone
who is, will instantly recognize this and promote you. Merely initiating the conversation is all you need
now.
What follows are suggestions for activities you can develop into your own marketing platform. For each
one of these activities, you should assign a monthly, quarterly or yearly budget. You should also create a
time schedule for how many minutes or hours you will dedicate to each activity and to how frequently
you will do these things. The more like clockwork you are with these activities, the more fruit you will
harvest by them. As for the money you invest in each activity, you should also adopt a practice of
inquiring from each lead how they found out about you. Use an excel spreadsheet to track the sources
of each lead. When you complete a deal, also track the amount of money each source produces. This
will inform you as to what activities are producing the best results, and allow you make decisions about
how you invest your marketing budget.
Suggested Marketing Activities
Word of Mouth Tell the world you are in real estate, watch what happens next.
Prospecting Start it and never stop, Prospecting is covered specifically within this manual.
Postcards & Letters Careful craft a message and a design. Choose streets and neighborhoods
to mail, capture immediate and long-term interest, repeat the process regularly.
Print Advertisements Local publications, Church fliers, trade organization publications
Online Advertisements Zillow, Trulia, Boston.com, Google, etc.
Websites Start one, enhance it, strengthen through SEO and Google Adwords, power it
through an MLS IDX solution, and YGL integration. Eventually pay someone to maintain it and
then repeat the process with another website and so on.
Blogs Integrate with your website, provide a steady stream of free information that is relevant
to the markets you are most interested in. Voice your opinion. Let your clients discover your
expertise and your virtue.
Question and Answers Trulia, Zillow, Yahoo and Active Rain have question and answer
sections where you can answer real estate related questions for people. Donating your time in
this way increases your exposure and your credibility. The answers you provide remain online
for a long time.

Suggested Marketing Activities (continued)
Testimonials - You should try to collect a list of testimonials from past clients. By asking a client
to write a testimonial for you, you cause them to think about all the good qualities youve
demonstrated and further increase the likelihood that they promote you to their friend
network. Additionally, you can use your assembled list of testimonials to increase your
credibility with new clients who are just getting to know you.
Referrals Agents from within your market and beyond your market can be great sources of
business to you. Some agents will take on all business single handedly, while some agents only
focus on specific segments of the market. Agents outside of your market may also never be able
to properly service their client but would be happy knowing they are referring them to a good
source. Reach out to these agents, offer a generous referral fee of 20-25% for business they
send your way. By investing a specific amount of time developing a referral network, you can
ensure that you are always working with clients.
Cross Marketing Take advantage of the marketing efforts of members who comprise your real
estate team. These folks are searching for clientele within the same market you are. You already
know you can help each other when serving the same client. Offer to promote their marketing
materials in packets you provide to your clients if they would do the same for you. Perhaps they
can include a write up about you with a picture in their newsletter. Some mortgage brokers run
constant contact drip campaigns and will include your contact information in their newsletter.
Real-Estate Activities Get visible at real-estate related activities, like workshops, seminars,
conferences, open houses. Promote yourself while learning.
Non-Real Estate Activities Your friends may have a real estate need or know someone who
does. When its time to kick back and relax, if youre surrounding yourself with friends and
family, youre staying fresh in their minds. Being present and caring makes you a first choice.
Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Prospecting for Listings
Gaining listings requires focus and daily application. Marketing via online platforms and postcards is one
method that generates listing leads, but not the only one. Other methods include property signs on
existing listings, hosting open houses, giving out business cards, word of mouth, social media, planning
and conducting free out-reach workshops, and in-person networking via social and professional
networks. Joining and participating in local religious, trade and social groups is a great way to increase
your book of business, suggestions would include (Church, Spiritual meetings, Meet-up.com meetings,
Adult Education courses, Chamber of Commerce, Cambridge Local First, Lions Club, Kiwannis,
Europeans of Boston). Position yourself with extra-curricular activities and be prepared to field inquiries
once prospects become interested in your professional life.
Expired and canceled listings are another method for attracting listings. You can use MLS to search
listings that have been on the market but have not sold for one reason or another. You can use Public
Records, White Pages.com, and the Massachusetts Secretary of State Corporate Database to uncover
the phone number and mailing address of the owner of record. Devise a plan to obtain the listing, which
includes first contact and follow-ups. First contact may be a phone call or a lead-in marketing piece. The
marketing piece in a situation like this could be a letter with your business card. Follow-ups are
necessary. The more you contact a prospect, the more likely you are to obtain the future business.
A Neighborhood Drive-by is one of the best most accurate methods for prospecting, because it yields
the most glaring information and is seldom practiced by the least productive agents. As you attempt to
develop a base within your favorite neighborhoods, you should also develop intimate knowledge of all
the properties within this neighborhood. And by all, I mean ALL. Start by driving through the
neighborhoods slowly, have a notebook with you. Spot check each property, observe the condition. You
will see quickly that there are some properties in pristine condition and some properties that are looking
very poor. All of the properties you see are potential listings. The owners with perfect looking properties
command higher values than the owners of troubled looking properties. You can easily approach either
owner and you should. Your approach for a perfect property owner would be to gratify their ownership
capabilities, praising them and suggesting their property could fetch a higher value than their neighbors.
Your approach with a troubled property would be to suggest that their property values could be greatly
increased in the near future if attention was paid to certain key elements, such as exterior painting,
washing stucco, fixing trim, adding or improving fencing and shrubs all to enhance curb appeal. For the
troubled property owners, you should work closely with your team. If you can take on a consulting role,
you will become the prime candidate for the listing once the true market value is reached.
Door Knocking In 2013, the top real estate broker in the Greater Boston area had a gross volume of
nearly $250,000,000 in sales. This broker started her career by simply knocking on doors in her favorite
neighborhoods, introducing herself as a local, friendly, honest and caring broker, and letting the
prospect know that whatever they needed, they should consider her first as their primary resource.
Before calling anyone else to have a problem fixed, she wanted them to call her. This approach is still
applicable and followed by some of the top producing sales agents in the city. From this first inquiry, it
may be possible to immediately move into a qualifying position. It may be required to follow-up via
letter and then by phone call. But so long as first contact is made, then you are in the game and moving
in the right direction. Then you will start to experience a boom of business via word of mouth, because
even if the prospect does not need your service now---he or she will undoubtedly know someone who
will in the near future. You will be the first person that comes to mind.
Qualifying a Seller
Out of the combination of good education, market research, prospecting, and marketing, invariably and
continuously, you will develop Seller leads. In order to manage this business properly, you must always
remember to fully qualify your leads. Know who and what you are dealing with. Leave nothing or very
little to chance. Enhance your time value and increase your ability to enhance the market value of your
seller.
You can begin the qualifying process by self-training. Memorizing scripts that have worked in the past
and translating the scripts into a manner of expression that is comfortable and natural to you. The types
of information you are looking for varies slightly depending on whether you are qualifying a seller of
commercial or residential property, and under the residential umbrella, whether the seller is one of
condo, single-fam or multi-fam type. The more you know the better you are. In addition, the very fact
that you employ a methodical qualifying process lets your prospect know that you are a professional
and an expert, and this builds trust bond. Some of the questions you need to have answered can be
answered by doing research of Public Record, so to the point of impressing the seller, get as much of the
property research done before you start asking questions---then you only need to ask that which you
could not find online.
Qualifying Question Examples
Condos
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
What is the square footage?

How many rooms, bedrooms and baths
Does the condo come with any parking? How many spaces? Deeded?
Is there laundry in the unit or just in the building?
How old is the kitchen and bathroom?
Is it currently rented? Until when? How much is it renting for?
Who manages the building? What is the condo fee? What does the condo fee include?
How old is the heating system, roof, windows?
Are there any special assessments that you know about?
How long have you owned this property?
Why are you interested in selling this property?
Single Families
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
What is the square footage? What is the lot size?

Any parking? How many spaces?
How old is the kitchen and bathroom?
Is it currently rented? Until when? How much is it renting for?

6)
7)
8)
9)
What type of heating system? How old is the heating system, roof, windows?
What type of siding does it have?
Have you conducted any major renovations in the past 10 years? Do you have permits for the
work?
10) Are there any underground oil tanks on the property?
11) Why are you interested in selling this property?

Qualifying Question Examples (continued)
Multi-Families
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
What is the square footage?

How many units in the building?
Any parking? How many spaces? Tandem or parking lot?
How old are the kitchens and bathrooms?
How many units are currently rented? Are there leases? When do they expire? How much is
each unit renting for currently?
What type of heating system? How old is the heating system? Are the units separately metered?
How old is the roof, siding, windows?
What type of siding does it have?
What are the taxes, water/sewer and insurance bills?
Have you conducted any major renovations in the past 10 years? Do you have permits for the
work?
Are there any underground oil tanks on the property?
Why are you interested in selling this property?
Pricing / Market Analysis
Once you know sufficient details about the Subject Property, it is time to investigate what other
properties sharing comparable details have sold for within the past 6 months (perhaps even in the past
12 months). Building off of the training you received from MLS, you can conduct a Comparative Market
Analysis and build a report with which you can furnish your prospective seller to come to terms on the
asking price.
Selecting the right price is both an art and a science. If the price is too high, it may scare of some
potential buyers, create lengthy on market times, dilute your time value and frustrate the seller. If the
price is too low, it will naturally attract many offers, but offers with price assumptions too low to
generate a property selling price.
Every factor from your qualification process of the property and your sellers motivations for selling, plus
every factor of the location/neighborhood of the subject property will come to bear in the Price per
Square Foot determination. It is not very hard to know what the actual market value of a piece of
property is. Even with no experience you can probably come to within a $10,000 margin of this value.
The hard part comes in securing your sellers interest in endorsing the price you suggest. The seller has
his own number in mind and probably has price opinions from a number of other brokers as well.
Therefore, when you select a price that you are willing to endorse, you should be able to rationally
explain your sales position, why you believe this number is the right number and all the reasons that
contribute to this belief. You should have at least 3 reasons to support your sales position. These

reasons touch upon the Size, the Quality and the Location. Other reasons could be the number of times
a similar property has sold in the past 6 months (Performance), as well as the number of similar
properties on the market currently (Competition).
If for instance, you know that a similar property has sold for $400/sq ft more than 10 times within the
past 6 months with average Days on Market less than 30, then you can say that this type of property is
in extreme high demand and warrants premium pricing. If on the other hand, there are 5 or more similar
properties active all with more than 30 days on the market, then competition is high and the market
may be flooded with that type of inventory; if your seller is highly motivated, then perhaps lowering the
price per square foot by a fair margin would be the best selling position to ensure your seller properly
motivates prospective buyers.
If you have been using a weak marketing system, you may end up servicing only troublesome sellers.
Troublesome sellers are sellers who want you to market their property well above a reasonable price
point, refuse to pay a reasonable sales commission, and expect you to pay for expenses that should be
paid by a seller, such as staging. When you find yourself agreeing to these seller demands, you are
engaging in a practice known as Buying the Listing in which case you are overly sacrificing time or
financial resources in exchange for the business opportunity. Though it is not unreasonable for you to
agree to some of these requests, there should be a give and take. If your marketing is top shelf, you
create leverage for yourself and are able to confidently say No to unreasonable seller requests. And
you should, if the seller is being unreasonable before you take the listing, you can count on him being
unreasonable for the entire length of time you are marketing and selling the property.
Create a Marketing Plan

How you go about marketing a property will depend largely on what type of property you have, its
condition, the asking price and certain sensitivities of the seller. A multi-family house will attract a
different sort of buyer than a 2 bedroom condo. So will a fixer-upper attract a different sort of buyer
than the product of gut renovation. And some sellers sensitivities will prohibit you from using onmarket strategies, like using MLS or online advertising, or even installing property signs---some sellers
want you to be very stealthy in your selling methods.
Hopefully if youve gotten to the point of preparing for a listing appointment, youve previously decided
upon which type of listings you want and this is one of them. If you do not occupy a specific niche in the
market, you will need to be prepared to think out a marketing plan almost each and every time you
engage a seller. However, if you cater to only specific segments of the market place, you can re-purpose
previously developed and successful marketing plans quite easily and swiftly.
The marketing plan that you choose, should be chosen with respect to the sellers wishes, above your
own. Customizing, even a little, is essential. The goal of the marketing plan is to maximize the exposure
of a particular property with respect to any restrictions the seller has given you.
If for instance the seller does not want you to utilize an On-Market Approach, no property signs, no MLS,
no advertisements, you can still prepare fact sheets, brochures, and a market analysis. Youll then also
imagine and/or brainstorm a list of types of potential buyers, starting with the ones you already know,

developing your rolodex, and get started making phones calls about the property and follow-up emails
to recruit interest and generate word of mouth buzz.
You should try to set yourself both a financial budget for the marketing of the property as well as a time
budget. Determine how much of your resources you are able to risk in the effort to sell the property.
Perhaps the property needs to be staged. Perhaps floor plans need to be generated. Perhaps
professional photography is in order. In some cases, it may be possible to negotiate with the seller to
pay for parts of the marketing expense. The first step, though, is knowing what the budget is and what
the expenses will be.
If you really want to be advanced, you should attempt to create a tracking system for each marketing
element so you can determine the return on investment per item. The true goal is not to sell just one
piece of property, but to use one sale to fuel the next 5 sales opportunities.
The full on marketing platform could include but not be limited to the following:
Just listed post cards to the surrounding houses
Beauty sheets/brochures about the property
Catered and well publicized broker tour open houses staff
Professional staging, the inclusion of local art on the walls
The presence of mortgage professionals
The presence of contractors needed for renovation (could be just quotes)
3D Renderings of what the property might look like after renovation
Professional photography
Inclusion on a real estate blog you run
Marketing Platform (continued)
Well publicized open houses for the general public

Spots in the local newspaper real estate section
Online advertising both free and sponsored (e.g. Zillow, Trulia, Boston.com)
Inclusion in MLS
Email blasts to past clients, property signs
Creation of a website specifically for the property (e.g. 123LordStreet.com)
Pay per click advertisements driving traffic to search websites
Flyers in surrounding venues, coffee shops
Brochures sent to local corporate HR departments
Listing Presentation
The listing presentation is your job interview. It should be handled face to face; preferably at the sellers
home, but in the company office as a secondary. Avoid meeting at third party locations, limit outside
distraction. Whenever possible, ensure that all decision makers on the seller side are present for this
presentation, to reduce the chances that your skillful presentation is mishandled by one seller
translating it to another seller.

You should come to these listing presentations prepared with a comparative market analysis, along with
a marketing plan and an exclusive contract form. Here you will present the seller with the precise
method by which you will sell his property, suggest possible situations that might arise, either during
marketing, negotiation or during the transaction, inform them how you will handle offers, hold escrow,
and the sales commission you are asking. Its here most where you convince the seller you are the best
possible agent to handle all elements of the transaction and worthy of a commission that is tens of
thousands of dollars.
You should paint a very general but detailed picture of the entire sale process at the listing presentation.
Once you finish the presentation, invite the seller to ask you questions. Carefully listen to these
questions, this is where the seller will pick your presentation apart. If there were any holes, or details
you left out, heres where they get filled in. The question and answer session is integral to securing the
listing as well as informing you how to deliver better presentations in the future.
Once questions and answers are complete, its time to push the contract. Turn it facing the seller, push it
forward and hand him a pen. Ask him to read the contract so you can answer any questions about it.
Point out key elements you feel warrant special attention. If the seller immediately signs, great. If the
seller hesitates or pull away, ask him if theres something on the contract he wants to negotiate or if
hes just not convinced that you are the person to get the job done. Treat all elements of the listing
presentation like a sale, fight to secure the business---show the seller that you dont back down from a
prospect---win the sellers regard and signature. The more listing presentations you go on, the better
you will be at winning signatures on your terms.
Secure Listing
If the seller signs the contract on the first listing appointment, you may head right into Marketing Lead
Time. If the seller balks in any way, you may then have to conduct one or more rounds of follow-up calls.
The importance of Follow-up calls cannot be overstated. Routinely initiate contact. Keep your name and
the prospect of doing business with you alive in the sellers mind. At each contact, probe for the current
hesitation in signing the contract. Requalify the sellers needs. His life is a changing variable, identify
what changes are affecting his decision making ability. Thinking on your feet, prescribe a solution and
ask if the solution works best for him. If you fail to achieve a Yes decision in any one follow-up call,
reflect on the possible reasons why, then formulate an email or letter, send that, schedule a follow-up
and try again. Continue this process until you do have a signed contract.
Marketing Lead Time
In some cases, there may be a time delay between the moment when your client signs an exclusive
agreement and the moment when you actually put the property on the market, or begin the marketing
process. The time that lapses between these events is known as Lead Time.
During the lead time, you should prepare your marketing materials, assembling a list of prospective
purchasers, prepare your blast, organize staging, plan and schedule your broker tours and open houses,
invite mortgage brokers to sponsor an open house or lure in any other professional that can assist you in
procuring a buyer, contact tenants to notify them of showing schedules, install lockboxes, install
property signs, and create your advertising on platforms like MLS, Zillow and Trulia.
As you gain expertise in a certain niche, your lead time will decrease significantly. The sooner you can
bring a property to the market, while maximizing exposure, the better an agent you will be. Your ability
to notify the entire world, and the persuasion you can employ in this notification, is what distinguishes
you as excellent, ordinary, or poor.
Condo Docs and Budgets
When marketing condominiums: very shortly after the exclusive agreement is signed and prior to the
first showing of the property, you should have in hand a copy of all condo documents and budgets for
the condo association. When you receive offers on this type of property, almost invariably the offer will
be subject to a satisfactory review of condo docs and budgets. You must be prepared to quickly and
efficiently gratify this curiosity for your prospective buyer.
As you gain experience handling these documents, especially the budgets, you can adequately gauge
whether or not a particular property management company is efficiently managing a property. Should
you discover inefficiencies, you may be able to win over new clients within the condominium by lining
up a more efficient management contract, saving them money.
Marketing
Marketing is the process where you obtain the most ideal selling scenario for your seller. It really all
depends on precisely what your seller is hiring you to do, that determines your marketing. In most cases
you are trying to not only recruit the highest and best purchase price, but also the least risky offer with
the fewest contingencies and shortest closing times. Sometimes your seller wants to be very quiet in the
process of selling, in which case your marketing should be stealthy and targeted, revealing very little to
the general market. Sometimes your seller wants to be loud and glaring, in which case you must pull out
as many stops as possible in your effort to notify the entire world. In either case, you must always
represent your seller and his property in the best possible light, in order to ensure the best possible
results. All properties have value. Value is present in a property regardless of where it is located, the
boonies or on the main drag, and regardless of its size or condition, it could be brand new construction
or the building could be shot and in need of gut rehab. You make an educated guess at what the value is
and establish a selling position. Marketing is promoting and defending this selling position.
The better you are at marketing, the more offers you will generate and the greater leverage you will give
your seller to negotiate these offers. Some popular tricks in marketing are setting the asking price below
the actual value. A lower asking price, for what is common in a particular neighborhood, tends to
generate a significantly higher level of interest. When this interest is channeled appropriately, a multiple
offer scenario can be created. With multiple offers you can incite a bidding war, by playing one offer off
of another. You may see real estate agents bragging about how much higher the sales price was over the
asking price---they are touting their ability to lever up offers via a multiple offer scenario.
A standard approach to marketing is to first start by spreading a word of mouth acknowledgement to
the key players in your market, i.e. tell The Money. The Money: the deep pocket buyers you know. The
Money could also be super well qualified clients, not necessarily with deep pockets, who have previously

expressed high desire to purchase a property like you have to sell. Let The Money know first about a
property and see if they are interested and if they will honor the sellers asking price.
If The Money passes on the opportunity, then notify all the agents within your own firm, to access their
client lists. If your internal agents come up short, proceed to court the outside brokers by inviting them
to a Broker Tour. The broker tour should occur on either the Tuesday or Thursday prior to your open
house weekend. The broker tour generates additional buzz, gives them a chance to feel out the property
on behalf of their clients and gives you a chance to convince them to promote the property on your
sellers behalf. Next in marketing is an open house, which could be a Saturday, a Sunday, a Monday or all
three days. When you know youve priced the property very well, its customary to set a deadline for
offers, usually by the end of business on Monday or Tuesday. This lets everyone know they should be
competitive and step forward by a certain time. If you do not sell the property by the first open house
offer deadline, youll move into private accompanied showings and then perhaps another open house
scenario. You should spread out open houses to every 2-4 weeks.
Offers and Counter Offers
Youve got to make a decision at the start of marketing how you will handle offers. From the first person
you clue into a property, you might start to receive offers. If you let one person tie up the property
before gaining appropriate leverage, then you will have no way of knowing whether or not youve
gotten the best possible price. Its a good practice to establish a review period, during which all offers
received will be held and reviewed only at a certain hour at a certain date. If a buyer knows about this
review period, they may write a more serious offer from the start, to avoid losing the property to a
competitor.
Openly communicating with agents and principals who are submitting offers is permissible. You want to
guard the seller as often as possible by not giving out specific numbers on any offers youve already
received or specifics about contingencies and closing dates. Let the buyers always think that they need
to make a better offer. You can say Your offer is too low or way too low or something like that if
you have multiple offers and youre trying to create a bidding war.
Keep your seller in the loop on the accruement of offers. Never keep a seller in the dark about any offer.
Always and instantly communicate when youve got an offer. Look the offers over carefully. You must be
accurate and honest when you are conveying details. It will be your job to find strength and weakness in
each offer and present these observations to the seller so the seller can appropriately decide what
action to take. In this phase of the deal, you are very much a consultant. You work through the sellers
decision making ability, give your opinions, but follow the sellers wishes.
If the offer is too low or too complicated by contingencies, or if you have multiple offers and you are
attempting to lever up a particular offer to a more favorable position for your seller, a counter offer may
be necessary. Counter-offers are tricky only when you do not have enough leverage. Leverage is either
multiple offers in hand or the very strong likelihood that another more suitable offer is coming. Be as
honest as possible with your assessment of the market. You will know very well how strong the winds of
opportunity are blowing, if you sense your sellers position is strong---go with a counter offer. The
stronger you sense your sellers position to be, the more potent your counter offer then is.

You must be careful not to deflate the spirit of the offeror or offerors agent when presenting a counter
offer. You must convey to the offeror or agent the strong sense that a deal can be made. Should it be in
your opinion and the sellers interest that no deal is made with the offeror, then simply give No
Response as your sellers answer to the offer. This response will shock the offeror into an inferiority
complex, to which they may respond with a much stronger and unsolicited offer. If not, you lost nothing.
To the offerors who have better potential, there then comes a game of getting them up from their
current position. You may develop your own style in this phase of the deal. You can counter the offeror
in multiple ways: Tighten down the Purchase and Sale dates, tighten the closing date, remove an
inspection contingency, say no to concessions at closing, offer only a $5000 break on closing price
instead of a $25,000 break, etc. In many cases your counter offer will be met with a counter offer from
the buyer. Little by little, nurturing these offers from phase to phase, you can affect a meeting of the
minds between your seller and the buyer. Never let fear of losing a deal affect the manner by which you
conduct the offer phase. You cant lose something you dont have and you do not have anything until
both the seller and the buyer sign the offer.
The one thing to keep in mind most, especially when presenting counter offers, is that negotiation is a
game of who needs it less. Be mindful of your sellers needs and with as much care as you can muster,
tone down the motivation, so to keep your seller from appearing desperate. The exception of course is,
if your seller is desperate and badly in need of a quick sale---then represent him according to his wishes.
However, in most cases its your job to drive up the sales price, which does not necessarily mean to
drive down the market time.
Acceptance
Once both parties have agreed to the terms of the sale, you will have acceptance. Acceptance is signified
when both the seller and the buyer sign the offer and a check for $1000 is conveyed from the buyer to
the seller to bind the deal. The buyer signs first, then the seller signs. Then the buyer sends over the
check. The agents should have copies of a fully executed offered as well as a copy of the check.
Contingencies
A contingency within an offer is essentially a clause that allows the buyer to back out of the deal for a
specific reason. There are many kinds of contingencies that can enter an offer. The two most common
contingencies are Inspection Contingency and Mortgage Contingency. Other contingencies include lead
inspection, satisfactory review of condominium documents and budgets, and the sale of a buyers
house. The more contingencies an offer contains the weaker the offer actually is, because should a
discovery be made that triggers these contingencies the buyer then has the right to back out. The
execution of this right can sometimes give the buyer a new negotiation stance to push the sale price
down below what was originally agreed to.
Inspection Contingency should be set to expire within the first 10 days, preferably first 5 days. This
means the buyer should conduct his inspection as soon as possible after acceptance. Some
contingencies will cite a specific dollar amount of damage as a ceiling limit, so that if during inspection it
is revealed that there are damages but not enough to trigger the contingency then the deal stays active.

If the damages exceed the dollar amount allotted then the contingency can be enacted. In most cases,
the brokers are using educated guesses to determine whether damages trigger the contingency or not.
Should it ever come down to the wire, the brokers on both sides of the equation, at their clients
expense, would have to order actual estimates from contractors to justify their clients positions.
Mortgage Contingency concerns the mortgage process and identifies a buyer who is using bank money
to acquire the property. Because the bank is involved, there is a whole new set of steps that are involved
in the process than if the buyer was using only his cash to purchase the property. The first agreement in
the Mortgage Contingency is the date upon which the buyer actually completes an application for a
mortgage. This date should come as close as possible to the end of the inspection period. The next date
that is involved is the Mortgage Commitment date. Commitment is the letter that the bank sends the
buyer notifying them that they have completed their due diligence and are ready to make the loan.
Commitment comes after application, after appraisal and before closing.
Condo Questionnaire
When you are selling a condominium, you will need to obtain a completed Condo Questionnaire form
from the manager of the condo building, whether that is a property manager or the seller. Property
managers should have their own forms. For a seller or a trustee of a self-managed condo building, you
will need to send them a template which you can get online or from a mortgage lender.
At some point in the mortgage process, the bank will request the condo questionnaire, as part of its due
diligence. You should have it on hand already so that there is no downtime in the banks process. One of
the things the bank is looking for from the condo questionnaire is whether or not the condo is
warrantable and conforming. In other words, they want to know whether or not the mortgage for the
unit can be sold on the secondary mortgage market. Some banks do not want to hold the property in
their own portfolio. Banks that do hold the property are making Portfolio Loans, usually absorbing
higher risk mitigated by higher interest rates.
In most cases it will cost between $25-125 paid to the property manager in order to get a completed
questionnaire. This is one of the costs that the seller pays and should be prepared for in advance. Its
best to order the condo questionnaire as soon as youve cleared the inspection phase of the deal. If
there is no inspection in the deal, then order the questionnaire upon acceptance.
Purchase and Sale

The purchase and sale agreement is a more in depth agreement and is an extension of the offer. In this
document the seller and the buyer officially come to terms with all of the details pertaining to the deal,
including anything negotiations that were agreed to in the offer, as well as any further negotiations that
were agreed to after inspection. The purchase and sale agreement is customarily drafted by attorneys
representing both sides of the transaction. Some attorneys will charge specifically for a Purchase and
Sale agreement. Some attorneys do a free P&S so long as the buyer or seller uses them for the closing.
Once the purchase and sale has been drafted, then four copies should be printed out and signed by the
buyer first.

A check representing the value of the brokers commission (4-6%) minus the $1000 already paid as a
deposit binder, should also be presented by the buyer at the time of purchase and sale. Its customary to
set the amount of money due at Purchase equal to what the seller will pay the brokers, because this
money will be held in the brokers escrow account and will be conveniently liquidate to pay his
commission when the deal closes. Essentially, the P&S phase is where the buyer sinks deeper into the
property and enhances his commitment to purchase. Should the buyer walk away from the deal after
P&S, he loses much more money than if he walked away after offer acceptance.
Appraisal & Commitment

Sometime after the purchase and sale agreement is signed, the bank will send an appraiser out to the
property to obtain an independent opinion of the value of the property. It will be your responsibility as
listing agent to get the appraiser into the property and answer any questions the appraiser has. The
property should be prepared in its best possible light, so if the yard is messy or the units are messy, a
cleaning should occur. You should also print out comparable properties that support the sales price.
Appraisers tend to push the market value of the property down, so you may need to fight with them a
little to make sure the property properly appraises. Know your comps, have a follow-up conversation
with them when you are in front of MLS and make sure you do not neglect to point out all the reasons,
supported by recent sold data, that support your sales price.
Should the property appraise low, the bank may not decide to make a loan for the amount the buyer has
applied for, instead they will make a loan based on the appraised price and the buyer will then have to
come up with additional funds out of pocket. If the buyer does not have the additional funds, he may
then attempt to renegotiate the sales price and use the appraisers opinion as a way to lower the price.
By the time you are in appraisal, you are 4-6 weeks away from the date of original offer, and theres a
decent chance that any buyers who saw the property at that time have already gone on to make offers
on other properties, so this is not a favorable position for your seller. Try to avoid it at all costs---mostly
by starting with a sales price that is well supported by Comparable Property Sold Data, but also by
choosing buyers/offerors, that seem to be financially capable and knowledgeable in advance as to
whether the appraisal will be high or low.
So long as the appraisal process runs smoothly, then the next step is the mortgage commitment letter.
This is where the bank sends a formal notice to the buyer stating that they are committed to making a
loan to the buyer to acquire the property. Written into the mortgage contingency addendum is the date
upon which the mortgage commitment letter is due. It is your responsibility to call the buyer or buyers
agent and ask them to produce the mortgage commitment letter on the date they agreed to do so.
Smoke Detector & CO2 Inspection

Sometime after the purchase and sale agreement, appraisal and commitment, the property needs to be
inspected by the local fire chief to make sure it has sufficient amounts of functioning Smoke Detectors &
Carbon Monoxide Detectors within the property. The fire chief will come to the property and test the
devices to make sure they are working and to make sure there are enough devices. This test must be
scheduled at least one week, but sometimes several weeks in advance. The certificate you receive for
passing the test is essential at closing; you cannot close without this certificate. The smoke/Co2 test

usually costs around $50 and this cost is paid by the seller. You should take no chances with this test,
put in a fresh set of batteries in all devices, add extra devices to be on the safe side, ensure that the
building or unit passes inspection on the first try when the fire chief shows up. And do not fall asleep in
the unit waiting for the fire chief, he will not ring twice!!
6D Certificate
Needed when selling condos. The 6D Certificate is obtained by the property manager or condo trustee.
It signifies that the seller has paid all owed condo fees, and that no condo fees are currently owed. The
deal cannot close without a 6D Certificate, so make sure youve got one. You should plan to get this
certificate within the final 10 days before closing. The seller pays the cost of obtaining a 6D certificate.
Final Water/Sewer Reading
Needed when selling any house or unit for which the utilities are separately metered. At the time of
closing, whatever portion of bills the seller has paid which benefit the buyer will be prorated and
credited back to the seller. This includes tax bills, as well as water/sewer bills and/or condo fees. All paid
bills for the period within the closing will be accounted for in the closing as a credit to the seller. All bills
that have not been paid during this period of time will be credited to the buyer. It is important that at a
time very close to closing, perhaps within 5 days of closing, you obtain a final water/sewer meter
reading for the unit, house or building. This reading can be scheduled through the city or town in which
the property is located. You must give enough lead time so that a reading can be done prior to closing,
to ensure it happens smoothly. If you dont give enough lead time, youll have to really sweet talk the
staff at the appropriate department for help accounting for your negligence, or face a delay in closing.
The cost of this final reading is paid by the seller. You must bring this reading with you to closing.
Final Walk-Through Inspection
The second to last phase of the listing process is the Final Walk-through Inspection. It typically happens
within 24 hours of the closing day/time, usually on the morning there of. This is where the buyer returns
to the property to visually inspect and make sure it is in the same or similar condition as it was on the
day the offer was made. This is the final chance a buyer has to back out of the deal, at the loss of
Purchase and Sale money, before heading to closing to pass papers.
Closing
Closing is the big day that the buyer gets the property and keys, the seller gets the big check and you get
the smaller check. Closing is the win-win-win day and has probably been somewhere between 6 to 10
weeks in the making. The closing location is usually arranged by one of the attorneys involved, probably
the sellers attorney, and typically occurs at the registry of deeds but sometimes occurs at the sellers
attorneys office. You should plan to attend the closing, in case last minute details are needed to be
shared. Once all the documents are presented and signed, the money will change hands. The attorney
will then record the sale and the deal is done.

Get a testimonial from your seller while your good work is fresh in his mind. Youll need this for
credibility with future clients. Plus the act of writing nice things about your work calls to mind and focus
your abilities and ensures the seller will promote you further. Always ask for a testimonial.
Just Sold Cards
Youve done the job, its time for bragging rights. Send 100-300 cards to the immediately surrounding
area of the house you just sold. Tell them what you sold it for and how fast you did it. Let them get
excited for and even jealous of their neighbors good fortune and come seeking it for themselves.
Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Prospecting for Buyers
The same energy and focus that goes into developing listings is also needed to recruit buyers.
Prospecting for buyers is a daily ritual. Assuming you have held up your end of the bargain in terms of
research and professional development, you should be a walking buyer magnet already. Virtually
everyone you meet is a potential buyer. Almost everyone desires to have their own piece of real
property, or many pieces, or a full on portfolio. If you become adept at finding this desire and harnessing
it, youve got a constant job opportunity as a buyer representative.
If you choose, you can approach the buying process as a one deal and done agent or as a consultant in
your clients lifelong wealth building campaign through real estate. You dont necessarily have to go on
the full life journey with any one client if you dont want to, but you might find that if you do so with
each client you get, the marketing budget you require to generate business becomes smaller and your
net gain increases. Repeat customers and referral business from past clients constitute are the least
costly and most effective sources of revenue.
So where should you begin to find buyers? The best method for finding buyers is by prospecting.
Prospecting is mining for now and future deal opportunities. You should adopt the habit of prospecting
every chance you get. Every event you attend, from breakfast to a dance hall contains prospective
buyers. You are never more than a 5 minute conversation away from securing a client for life.
Here are some suggestions of places to look for buyers:
Business Cards Hand out a business card to everyone you meet. If you are meeting a team member,
such as a mortgage broker or an insurance agent, give them a stack of your business cards so they may
hand them to everyone they meet. Work the symbiotic relationship routine with your entire network,
getting tens of people to pass out hundreds of your cards. You should go through a box of business cards
every month.
Rental Clients Folks in the rental market are prime candidates for becoming a buyer. Most folks dont
know that there are mortgage programs that allow them to buy with as little as a 3.5% down payment. If
they did know this, they might be less motivated to rent and more motivated to work with you to buy. If
you try to rent apartments as well as work with buyers or sellers, you can use your own rental lead
generation to fuel a sales lead generation campaign. Prepare brochures that show a comparison of what
the monthly rents are vs. the monthly mortgage payment with a certain down payment. Include this in
your move-in packets or follow-up emails. Constantly contact all of your rental clients with information
about the sales market. Recruit other rental agents in the market to feed you referral business---some
rental agents only want to focus on rentals, so proposition them with the prospect that you will pay
them a handsome referral fee for every lead they send you that turns into a deal. Proposition your
landlord clients as well. Landlords are some of the first people to know that a renter is leaving them to
search for a house. Ask every landlord you meet to give their tenants your business card when they
decide its time to buy.

Social Media Venues Craft a message to your friends and family. Let everyone know you are in the
business of buyer representation. Ask everyone to forward your contact information to anyone who
may need your service. Reach the friend of your friends.
Mortgage Brokers You will need to liaise with Mortgage brokers anyway. So while you are picking a
couple to be part of your team, meet with them and present your credentials and abilities. Ask them to
refer buyers to you. Mortgage brokers get requests for pre-approval letters all day long from potential
buyers. Some of these buyers do not yet have representation, and thats where you step in.
Open Houses Open houses that are hosted by other real estate agents are a major attraction to buyers
and would be buyers. Not every person who attends an open house is represented by a buyer agent.
Being present at open houses and being outgoing gives you an opportunity to meet prospective buyers.
Real Estate Workshops Everyday, somewhere within a 10 mile radius of your office, a real estate
workshop of some kind is being conducted. The workshop could be formal or informal. Its sometimes
created by real estate brokers, sometimes developers, sometimes mortgage professionals. In all cases, it
is part of a public outreach campaign to educate the public and create leads via word of mouth. You
should be attending these workshops for your own education. Get friendly with your fellows there.
Engage their desire, show interest, and recruit them to be your buyer in the future. Yes, in some cases,
this means you are stealing a lead from the leader of the workshop. But the buyer has a mind of his own
and it is best for the buyer to work with an agent he really likes and connects with.
New Home Builders Make friends with the players who build homes or fix and flip. These folk are
buyer magnets, but they are not in the business of representing buyers. They are in the business of
selling homes. Lets say for everyone one property they are trying to sell, they attract 20-40 buyers, a
certain percentage of those buyers do not have representation. Work out a referral system with these
home builders to get your name out there to their unrepresented buyers. Its an easy relationship to
negotiate because though there is a chance that the buyer purchases another home through you instead
of the home that the homebuilder is selling, yet you are still helping that seller by showing more
properties to clients who may end up buying his property in the end anyway.
Store Owners You Frequent If you are investing time and energy and displaying loyalty to particular
businesses, chances are good that the owners and managers of these establishments are very loyal to
you in return. Make sure to notify them of what it is you are doing on this planet and how it can benefit
them. Everyone from your hair-stylist, bartender, jeweler, restaurant worker, waiter, chef, psychiatrist,
dentist, yoga instructor---everyone is interested in real estate. Miss no opportunities. Get them into
your book of business and touch base regularly.
Religious, Social or Business Groups Participating in non-real estate activities for religious or social
purposes is a way to build trust bond with people within these spheres. Just by participating on a regular
basis, you engage in a constant contact campaign. You dont have to push your services, but you should
announce them. Eventually you will be the receiver of business on the merits of the good deeds you do
in your personal life. This will be high quality leads with trust bond intact and increased loyalty levels.

Qualifying Buyers
Almost as often as you mention to someone that you are in real estate, you will be asked questions by
the prospect about real estate. You should treat each and every one of these questions carefully and
with enthusiasm---the person who is asking them is your future client. First get to the heart of the
matter by asking them if they are interested in buying property in the future. As long as they bite, you
may launch into a qualifying session.
Use a light qualifying method for folks you meet in public places. Pick and choose your questions to gain
a functional sense of their buying position. Obtain their phone number and email for follow-up. If they
are close to being ready, prepare them for a more in-depth qualifying round by phone call and schedule
them for an in-person consultation that would take place shortly after the qualifying.
Examples of Qualifying Questions
General Questions
Have you purchased property before? Where and when?

What have you done with the property youve purchased?
Do you maintain a relationship with a broker?
Have you thought about buying property recently? How recently?
Where are you living right now?
What other locations are interesting to you?
Are you interested in something easy just for you like a condo, or more in depth like a single
family house; or even yet would like to become a landlord and start with a multi-family house?
Are you interested in fixing up places and flipping them for short term profit or buying and
holding for a long-term investment?
Have you taken any first-time homebuyer courses? Fix & Flip workshops? Landlord classes?
Have you spoken with a mortgage professional yet?
Do you know what your credit score is? Is it above 680?
If not, have you consulted with a credit repair specialist?
How much do you have to put down?
How much debt are you carrying right now? Debt payments per month?
How much do you earn per month?

Experienced buyers Fix and Flip
What type of property did you buy? What were the features?
Did you use a mortgage or are you putting down all cash?
Are you happy with your mortgage professional?
Did you do any of the work yourself or was it all through contractors?
Were you happy with your contractors work on the last property?
Where did you buy? What was the purchase price?
How did you find the property?
Was it bank-owned? Short sale?
How much did the work cost? How long did it take?
What time of the year did you put it on the market?
How long was it on the market?
What did it sell for?
Are you looking in that price range again? Thinking about a new area or the same?
How many times a year do you want to buy?
Debt to Income Calculation

Debt to Income ratio or DTI is one of the factors involved in determining eligibility for mortgage loans.
Consult with a mortgage professional to get a better sense of what the DTI is for various loan products.
Credit score also impacts the type of loan product available and/or what the DTI can be. You should get
into the habit of finding out the DTI of your clients before you refer them to mortgage professionals for
pre-approval.
To calculate DTI take the clients total recurring debt and divide that by the gross income. Use the
monthly figures. The number you get is the Debt to Income Ratio.
If your buyer is going to use the FHA loan program, for instance, a credit score of 680 will allow a debt to
income ratio of 38%, but a credit score of 720 allows a DTI of 55%. Find the nuances of all loan products
and youll be in a great position to consult with your prospective buyers who need mortgages.
Consultation
Consultation is an in-person meeting with the buyer. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss a game
plan for acquiring a particular piece of property, based upon the questions you have previously asked
during qualification. After qualifying but before consultation, you should map out the buying process for
this particular buyer and see clearly how all the steps will go. Find out what is needed. Brainstorm what
you will need to do in the lead-time and what the buyer needs to do in the lead time. Prepare a buyer
representation agreement. Prepare your pitch for becoming this buyers agent.

The consultation should be done with a computer nearby, so you may access on-market listings if need
be. Illustrate what the potential is and then discuss what the process will be to make the potential
reality. Address the gaps in the buyers readiness, whether it is the need for contractors or mortgage
professionals or down payment or credit repair. Obtain an agreement for the ideal date of purchase and
then suggest a timeframe for the remedying of the gaps that stand in the way of closing. Lastly present a
buyer representation agreement and convince your buyer to sign exclusively with you. Once the
agreement is signed, you may then feel free to open up your services to the buyer.
If a mortgage is to be used, then, before you begin the search in earnest a preapproval must be obtained
by the buyer. If the buyer will purchase using all cash, then you should have proof of funds in hand prior
to the commencement of the agreement.
Preapproval/Proof of Funds
The buyer needs to demonstrate to a seller the ability to buy a property in order to enter a contract with
the seller. Time spent searching for properties with a buyer who cannot first demonstrate the ability to
pay is a poor investment of time. If the buyer needs a mortgage to acquire property, then a preapproval
letter from a mortgage lender is required. If the buyer is going to use all cash, then proof of funds from
the cash sources is required. You must have this in hand before you begin the search in earnest. It will
be required in every official offer made on property. No seller will enter a contract with a buyer who
cannot show proof of funds or a preapproval letter.
Understanding the purchasing power of your client will greatly influence the search process. If the buyer
can only purchase up to $400,000 of properties, your choices of location become limited to the markets
that bear that median. Remember, Size, Location and Price are the Principle factors of every search.
Price is the anchor factor. Size/quality and location are the interchangeable factors.
Search
The search for properties is a team initiative, the responsibility shared by you and your buyer. It should
be a team effort. The best method is to recruit your buyer to do some homework about the potential
listings and to call out listings that are interesting to them. Especially with first time home buyers or first
time clients, there is a discovery process that occurs where you essentially learn the truth of the buyers
heart, that is, you will discover what type of properties or what locations they truly love.
You should set aside a specific set of time each day where you search for properties for a particular
buyer. As long as the process is carried out daily, the amount of time per day can be small 10-15
minutes. You should analyze at least 10 properties per day for your client. If there isnt enough onmarket data to obtain this metric, you should advise your client that he is too focused on a sellers

market and should broaden his location parameter to include at least a balanced market and perhaps a
buyers market.
You should use MLS to enter your clients search criteria. MLS will pull in listings that match these
criteria for you to comb through and share with your buyer. Each day you want to check in on new
properties, note changes in status and price of old properties, and observe open house schedules. When
combing over the MLS listings, you are trying to decipher if these results actually do match your clients
profile. Look over amenities, photos, days on market and market history (any previous offers). If youve
been studying this market well, youll be able to tell if the subject property is a good deal or not, and by
analyzing the market history, you might be able to tell how negotiable the sales price is.
You should be very diligent and aggressive about sharing matching properties with your buyer and
scheduling to have your buyer view properties. Work to minimize the time delay between discovering a
good match and having your buyer view it. Delays only enable competition and strengthen the sellers
position. Moving fast and efficiently is key in the search process.
A blended approach between sending your buyers unaccompanied to Open Houses and accompanying
them for private viewings may be the best way to serve your client and also protect your time value.
Most brokers in this market will honor your agency agreement and will not try to recruit your buyer
away from you. There are some brokers however that you will hear about who do not honor your
agency agreement and will attempt to subvert your buyers loyalty. Be on watch and guard for these
brokers, they stir a pot of confusion in an effort to deny your buyer an objective broker opinion.
Offer and Counter Offer

Once you identify a property your buyer wants, the next step is Offer. Offer can lead to a negotiation
through Counter Offers or could result in a straight deal. Offers must be presented in writing. Standard
Offer forms are available through company resources like E-Forms. You should read the offer documents
on your own time and practice filling them out, so that you can be more efficient in the time crunch that
accompanies the real-live offer scenario.
The pertinent offer documents include:
Mandatory Licensee Consumer Relationship Disclosure

Offer to Purchase Real Estate
Offer to Purchase Contingencies Addendum
The Buyers Preapproval Letter and/or Proof of Funds
The first step in the offer process is determining the offer price. This process is done through
consultation with the buyer. Use the knowledge you have developed about the particular market in
which the subject property is located. Form an opinion as to whether or not the property is priced low,
medium or high. Determine your buyers motivation level for this particular property, i.e. how badly he

wants it. If his interest is extreme then that would suggest making a stronger than normal offer to
ensure he gets it. Keep in mind your thoughts about how badly other people want the property as well.
You may never know this unless you witnessed acute interest at an open house or the subject property
is showing low days on market and interest is still waxing. Lastly, consider the buyers comfort level with
the payments he will face, or the work he will need to do to the property, should his offer be accepted.
He has a pre-approved amount at his disposal, if the property needs some immediate work, like
cosmetic or a new roof or something, that will affect the value. The buyer is in the drivers seat and has
the final say over the offer, but you are his advisor and should give him the best possible advice,
considering all factors. Sometimes you need to go lightly with your advice and other times be forceful.
The more you know about the market in particular, the more clear it is to you which manner you should
adopt.
Once you decide upon the offer price, youll need to fill out the breakdown of monies. The first item is
the $1000 due upon acceptance, this is a deposit binder. After that is the money due at Purchase and
Sale. It is usually 4-6% of the Purchase Price less the $1000 from the initial deposit. The 4-6% figure, in
most cases, is what is used for the P&S money amount because it is equal to the sales commission that
the seller pays brokers. It makes it easier for the seller to pay the agents if all he has to do is liquidate
the deposit monies in escrow. Less the deposit binder and the P&S money, youll have remaining the
amount of money that the seller must produce at closing. Add all these monies together and they
should equal the full purchase price.
Next comes deciding upon the purchase and sale date and the closing date. The seller will want these
dates to come as soon as possible. Your buyer may have certain situations, such as being on a lease or
needing to sell a home, which may make the closing date problematic. Again, consulting with your buyer
will let you know how aggressive he can possibly be in selecting these dates. Its best to err on the side
of comfort level for your buyer than to over-extend your buyer in a contract and have the deal fall apart
or become too troublesome later.
Contingencies also need to be decided prior to submitting an offer. Inspection Contingency and
Mortgage Contingency are common contingencies. Offers with too many contingencies are sometimes
automatically discarded, such as a Lead Inspection and Radon/Pest Inspection. The fewer the
contingencies the stronger the offer and higher level of priority it becomes. In extremely hot seller
markets, it is not advisable to include an inspection contingency for On-Market properties, especially for
Multi-Family homes---these types of properties, when priced appropriately, usually draw 20 or more
offers.
Counter Offers may ensue if your buyers offer is too low or he is making too many requests in the offer,
or if the dates for purchase and sale or closing are not favorable for the seller, or if there are multiple
offers. In some cases a counter-offer will be made. It is not guaranteed though that a counter-offer will
be made. Sometimes the seller just picks the strongest offer to work with and does not give the lowballs
a second chance. If you are receiving a counter-offer, treat it with respect, for it means that the seller is
willing to work with your buyer to come to mutually agreeable terms. Making a deal this way could take
several rounds of correspondence with your buyer and the sellers agent. Each counter-offer nullifies the

previous offer, going back and forth too often has a potential to backfire. There are only so many times
you can touch a butterflys wings before it never flies again. But as long as sufficient ground is given on
both sides of the table, then a deal should be made.
Negotiation
Negotiation is likely to occur after the first offer is made but prior to the signing of the offer by the
seller. Negotiation is a game of Who needs it less and is an art of conveying opportunity without overextending your clients motivation level. To negotiate you will either present evidence and then present
terms or present terms and then present evidence. It all depends upon who you are negotiating with.
Hot-heads need the evidence first. Cool-heads can handle the terms first. Use as few words as possible,
but do not neglect to firmly state your buyers position. Give the sellers agent something he can work
with and sell to the seller and also make him believe that if he doesnt sell your buyer to the seller, he
will not make a deal and the seller will lose significant market time seeking another buyer. On your side
in a negotiation is the old adage A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Make sure the sellers
agent believes your buyer is a bird in hand. If he doesnt believe this, the negotiation will be
unsuccessful. If he does belief this, you will reach an acceptance. Its that simple.
Acceptance and Delivery

Once your offer is accepted, create a deal folder to house documents. Upon verbal acceptance, theres a
matter of gaining signatures on the contracts. Buyer signs first, seller signs next. Make sure the buyer
obtains a copy of the fully signed paperwork and the office obtains a copy as well. Your buyer will have
to write a check for $1000 as a deposit binder, made payable to the Sellers Agents office, to be
deposited into an escrow account. This deposit binder must be delivered to the Listing Agent along with
signed copies of the offer paperwork. A copy of the deposit binder check should also be kept in the deal
folder. Delivery of monies to the listing agent is your responsibility and should be handled with
diligence.
Contingencies
Whatever contingencies were accepted in the offer must immediately be addressed after acceptance
and deliver. The first contingency to deal with is usually Inspection Contingency. Typically you will have 5
days from the date of inspection to get an inspector into the property, inspect it, and have the buyer
review a report from the inspector. In some inspections, your contingency includes a dollar amount that
damages are not to exceed. If the damages exceed the dollar amount, then the buyer has a right to back
out. Sometimes in executing this right to back out, a negotiation can occur between the buyer and seller
for an even lower purchase price, a credit for the amount of work given at closing, or an agreement for

the seller to do certain work. Its best for you to be present at the inspection so you can take notes and
gauge the opinion of the inspector. Some buyers are supper savvy and do not necessarily need a guide
during an inspection.
The second contingency to deal with is the mortgage contingency. The first act towards addressing this
contingency is having your buyer apply for a mortgage loan. This usually occurs after inspection and
before the purchase and sale agreement is signed and the date for mortgage loan application is written
in the offer. After the P&S is signed, the bank will conduct an appraisal, review the condo documents
and then issue a mortgage commitment letter. The date for when the mortgage commitment letter
needs to be issued by is written into the offer. If no commitment letter has arrived from the bank by the
date agreed to in the offer, then either an extension needs to be agreed to by both parties or the
mortgage contingency lapses and in all likelihood the deal falls out of agreement.
Mortgage Application
The mortgage application comes next in the process. By a certain date, indicated in the mortgage
contingency addendum, the buyer needs to file an application for mortgage with his bank/mortgage
lender, in order for it to be said that he is operating in good faith toward a closing. You should make sure
to remind your buyer of this step and be prepared to coach him into action. This task is the buyers
responsibility, your job is to make sure he follows through or adequately explains why he hasnt.
Purchase & Sale

Assuming the property passes inspection, you will head to Purchase and Sale Agreement. You must get
the buyer and seller attorneys communicating to each other. It is best if you have a buyer attorney CC
you on all correspondence, so that you may stay in the loop on the legal side of the transaction. Send
the buyer attorney a copy of all the paperwork you have to date, including the listing sheet, the offer
and contingency addendum, the preapproval letter and the proof of funds. You do not need to send him
the inspection report, unless it is requested. Obtain the seller attorneys contact information from the
sellers agent and forward it to the buyers attorney. Take the initiative in this segment of the deal. Do
not wait for the seller agent to do it.
There may be several rounds of drafts worked out before the attorneys to come to agreement on the
Purchase and Sale final draft. Once they finalize the agreement, print four copies and have your buyer
read the document and execute all four copies. In addition to the signed agreements, the buyer will
need to write a check, also payable to the listing agents firm, for the P&S Money amount indicated on
the offer.

The seller counter signs all four copies and you should receive back 2 original signed copies from the
listing agent, one goes to the buyer, one is held in the office. Sometimes the listing agent retains three
copies and gives you one, in this case, keep a copy in the office and give the original to the buyer.
Appraisal
By Purchase and Sale time the mortgage process should be in full swing. Check in with the mortgage
professional for updates. Sometime after the application is filed, the bank will send an appraiser to the
property to generate its own understanding of the property value. The banks appraiser will be in
contact with the listing agent for this. You should try to stay in the loop, but you will not need to be
present for appraisal.
Sometimes the bank finds that the purchase price is set too high in respect to the appraised value.
When this happens, the banks notifies the buyer that they will only make a loan based upon the
appraised value and not the purchase value, which means the buyer may need to come up with more
money out of the pocket. In some cases, where the buyer cannot or is not willing to increase the down
payment, a renegotiation with the seller over purchase price may occur.
Mortgage Commitment
Assuming appraisal is fine; the next step in the process is the Mortgage Commitment. The bank has
completed its due diligence and has finally decided it will make a loan to your buyer and sends your
buyer a commitment letter. The office needs a copy of this commitment letter, as does the listing agent.
This must be done by the date indicated in the original offer. If there is a delay in commitment, an
extension must be agreed to between the attorneys. The office copy of the mortgage commitment
letter is housed in the deal folder.
Pre-Closing
Assuming all has gone well in the transaction thus far, you will be good until a day or two from closing.
Final water/sewer readings will need to be taken in order to ensure that the buyer and seller are paying
the appropriate pro-rated amounts. This is the listing agents responsibility, but it is a good idea for you
to make sure that it has been done by calling and asking at least 2 days prior to closing. If possible,
obtain a copy of the final water/sewer bill for the office records.

Final Walk Through
On the day of closing, probably early in the morning, the Buyer is allowed to do a final walk-through
inspection of the premises. This inspection occurs to make sure the property is actually still there, in the
same condition as it was at time of offer, that no fixtures have been removed (unless agreed to
previously in the offer) and that the buyer is generally satisfied with the house. This is your buyers final
opportunity to decide if he wants to close. It is a good idea for you to be present at the final walk
through.
Closing
Assuming the property passes final walk-through inspection---its time to go to closing. The location of
the closing is usually decided by the attorney, most often the sellers attorney. Sometimes it happens at
the sellers attorneys office, but often it happens at the Registry of Deeds, so that the transaction can
immediately be recorded. Though its not required, it is a good idea for you to be present at the closing,
with the whole deal folder, in order to manage any last minute issues that may arise, present back-up
copies of documents if the attorney needs them, and observe any reactions.
When all paperwork is signed, the checks will be issued and passed to all appropriate parties. Youll
bring home a commission check for deposit and the following week you will be paid.
Total Timeframe
The most costly phase of time when working with a buyer is the Search Phase. This is the time when the
buyer is most cautious and discerning. Once the buyer chooses a property, from Offer to Closing should
take no longer than 8 weeks, unless the buyer negotiates closing date in a distant future. When working
with well qualified cash buyers, deal can happen in as little as 2 weeks. Some deals could take 6 months
to close.
Housewarming
Though not mandatory, it is customary and a sign of good faith to give your client a house warming gift.
These gifts do not have to be super expensive, but should per personalized in some way to reflect your
level of care for this client.

Get a testimonial from your buyer while your good work is fresh in their mind. Youll need this for
credibility with future clients. Plus the act of writing nice things about your work calls to mind and focus
your abilities and ensures the seller will promote you further.
Follow-ups
Youve made one deal with this client. Now youve got to nurture the relationship and secure the
referral business he can send you and the repeat business hell entrust you with when he is ready. Check
in every 2-3 months and inquire how things at the property are going and if he has any further real
estate needs. Remind him that you have a fully developed real estate team and can refer him to good
professionals for all of his real estate needs. You may also send him some promotional items,
information about the market, his neighborhood, and invite him to social or professional outings.

Sales - An A-Z Introduction

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Sales - An A-Z Introduction

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Prepared by Robert Ortiz Real Estate

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- General

The List Side

The Buy Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- General

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- General

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- General

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- General

February 2014 Absorption Rates (in Months)

* Active/Sold Date is for All Condos, Singles & Multis

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- General

Suggested Marketing Activities

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- General

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

What is the square footage?

What is the square footage? What is the lot size?

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

What is the square footage?

Pricing / Market Analysis

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Create a Marketing Plan

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Well publicized open houses for the general public

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Purchase and Sale

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Appraisal & Commitment

Smoke Detector & CO2 Inspection

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Final Walk-Through Inspection

Sales: An A-Z Introduction The Listing Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Have you purchased property before? Where and when?

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Debt to Income Calculation

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Offer and Counter Offer

Mandatory Licensee Consumer Relationship Disclosure

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Acceptance and Delivery

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Purchase & Sale

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

Sales: An A-Z Introduction -- The Buying Side

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