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.