Boomer’s Blog

In your mind’s eye, pile up all the money you made last year on your dining room table. Take a long, hard look at it and think of all the hard work you put into building that pile. Just enjoy the vision of your accomplishments, and try not to not think about the chunk that’s going out for taxes.

Now ask yourself, and answer honestly: Are you following up on your warm leads?

Whatever amount of money you made last year, if you’re not following up on your warm leads, you might as well take half of it out to the BBQ and set it on fire. Sound crazy? Consider the facts.

Only 2 percent of deals take place after your first conversation with a prospect. The remaining 98 percent of real estate sales transactions take place after a dozen or so contacts with once warm and even some cool conversations with prospects.

More than ever before, this detail is critical to meeting the challenges of today’s rapidly changing real estate markets. Why? There are nearly as many reasons as there are absurd corporate bonuses being doled out on Wall Street. But for many real estate investors, the reasons are glaring in the recent headlines.

Real estate research and analysis firm HousingPredictor.com predicts that U.S.  housing prices will slip as much as 12.5 percent this year, compared to last year’s estimated 11 percent nosedive.

Even homeowners with equity are starting to feel the pain amid unemployment surges and credit market constrictions. For many, cost of living hikes are their only regular source of cardiac exercise.

And as we know, folks looking to downsize and rebuild their nest eggs after Wall Street’s collapse last year are finding that their homes are staying on the market like so many jars of tainted peanut butter.

Given these crushing variables, once-optimistic sellers who scoffed at your presentation even as recently as few months ago may be ready to roll out the red carpet if you can get them out of the red.

If you’re not following up on warm leads, you’re missing out on 80 percent of your deal potential. Think about it, if you’re just focusing on the 20 percent that your business’ front end brings to your plate, you’re throwing away $4 for every $1 you make.

The writing’s on the wall and by now, the song should be playing in your head: The real estate times they are a changin’.

Not too long ago, it seems that a real estate investor worth his or her weight in bandit signs couldn’t jiggle a lock box without finding a killer deal. The deals are still out there, but nailing them down may require a change in perspective, some new best practices and an action plan that meets current market demands.

Your solution could  be as simple as  a little yellow real estate marketing postcard — and you don’t even have to lick a stamp!

Ponder that. And if you’re interested in all the details that  easily can add $100,000 to your table in 2009, join us here at GaryBoomershine.

Just sign in using the yellow fields on the right side of this page or on the main page at GaryBoomershine.com and you’ll get access to the information you need to refine your approach and maximize your resources on the road to extreme real estate investing profits. Act soon and you’ll get your copy of my monthly report exclusively for real estate investors.

In the Chinese Zodiac, 2008 is regarded as the “Year of the Rat.” Those who bet on Wall Street are likely to agree. Some pundits however, and a great many more investors are recounting the most stellar mistakes of the year with a rueful cringe. Perhaps we’ll all fare better in 2009. This Chinese “Year of the Ox” is aptly named for the heavy load we’ll likely be carrying in our nation’s journey toward economic recovery.

Here are some of the more memorable blunders of the year, many of which are reported in Fortune’s “21 Dumbest Moments in Business 2008.”

1. Apple’s “Think and Glow Rich” App for Entrepreneurs: The geniuses at Apple have made a silk purse out of a dismal economy with the iPhone and its affordable interactive applications and games.  Most iphone apps cost around $5 and many are about as useful to enterprise as pet rocks. But this story may as well be torn from a chapter on psychic ability from Napoleon Hill’s century-old capitalist manifesto: “Think and Grow Rich.” Apparently, a stealth developer penetrated Apple’s channels with an application called “I am Rich” that sold at Apple’s store for $999.99. Eight users apparently bought the app, which produced nothing more than a glowing ruby-red image on their screens before Apple caught on to the hoax pulled the plug on their idreams.
2. Hopeless for Homeowners: In July, Congress passed a $300 billion “housing rescue plan” aimed at preventing an estimated 300,000 foreclosures when the plan took effect in October. Fortune reports that a mere 321 applications to the “Hope for Homeowners” program have been completed. And the Department of Housing and Urban Development says that the costly program has so far produced zero loan workouts.
3. Don’t Point that Bazooka at Me: When Mortgage servicing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac hit the pavement in July, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson convinced Congress that a federal funding boost would fix the problem. “If you’ve got a squirt gun in your pocket, you may have to take it out,” Paulson told them. “If you’ve got a bazooka and people know you’ve got it, you may not have to take it out.” Although lawmakers bought into the metaphor, in September, massive declines led the Treasury Department. Now the gun is pointed at American taxpayers.
4. The Man Who Would Be King: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s three-page, $700 billion economic bail-out plan for Wall Street that included less transparency than former mafia kingpin John Gotti’s tax returns.
5. The Primetime Bailout Bonanza: Congressional debate and subsequent beleaguered approval of Paulson’s plan was a circus sideshow of its own. The 450-page final bill they approved contained more sugar and lard than a Paula Deen fruitcake. While the plan did a miraculous job of preserving Paulson’s ambiguity about how the money would be spent, provisions extending tax breaks for toy arrows and wool products are among the few aspects of the Bail-out that were comprehensible to the peanut gallery.
6. Real Estate Entrepreneurs Succumb to Fear: Amid the softening economy, and crises on Wall Street, many real estate investors lost their shirts in 2008 for one simple reason: They failed to execute strategies that are calibrated to meet the changing demands of today’s markets. Too often, when the entrepreneurial belt gets tightened, real estate marketing is the first budgetary item for cutbacks when it should be the last. Without consistent and effective real estate marketing, the “Big Picture” fades and even potentially profitable businesses wither up and die.

See the “Big Picture” that Includes Your Thriving Real Estate Business

At GaryBoomershine.com, our focus is on delivering the the most timely real estate news, resources, tools and systems that build stronger real estate investment decisions and boost your bottom line. Armed with these tools, yor “Big Picture” always is in high-definition.

Sign up either here or on the main page at GaryBoomershine.com and you’ll get the best this industry has to offer in real estate news, real estate marketing, real estate training systems, and all the creative real estate ideas that drive success in this business. Members also get exclusive access to compelling multimedia content and jaw-dropping discounts!

Sales Masters Dan Doran and Richard Roop say that negotiation is the world’s highest paying skill. In the real estate investment arena they say, just a slight edge over your competition will give you phenomenal results.

Seven Habits of Highly Successful Sales Negotiators
Every day, Dan and Richard work with real estate entrepreneurs, helping them to address their weaknesses and build amazing negotiations skills as they invest in real estate. These efforts are deeply rooted in the duo’s “Seven Habits of Highly Successful Sales Negotiators.”

Dan and Richard helped to develop this nifty self-assessment for GaryBoomershine.com using insights they’ve gained through working with thousands of real estate entrepreneurs and developing their highly acclaimed “Sales Mastery for Real Estate Entrepreneurs” sales skills enhancement program.

Take this Quiz: Are you a Sales Master?
Take a few minutes to jot down your answers to these questions for a quick self-assessment. Dan and Richard address these issues and more in my review of Sales Mastery for Real Estate Entrepreneurs, currently posted in the Resources section of GaryBoomershine.com: Here, you can check your answers and see how you rate.

1. Are real estate sales negotiations a science, or an art form?
2. Do you pursue deals with clients who are first and foremost motivated, or qualified?
3. Do you use a prepared script for meetings and presentations?
4. Do you think that real estate is just a numbers game?
5. What’s the best way to open the channel of communication with prospective clients? Why is this important?
6. Is the sale made during your presentation, or during the close?
7. What’s your most valuable sales asset?