Cleveland's Best Real Estate Training with Michael Kaim

For our team’s latest training session, we talked about how we got our start in the real estate industry, the model we used to build our team, and how experience can be shared for the greater good in our business.  Once again, I’ve provided timestamps of the video above so that you can skip ahead to the section(s) that interest you the most: 0:28 - How I got started in real estate 3:44 - Moving back to Cleveland and getting my ego in check 5:21 - Asking my sister Tina to join me 6:41 - How Tina got her start in real estate7:37 - The model we used to build our team 8:20 - Determining where the agents on our team have most of their business: the listing side, the buying side, or a 50/50 split8:58 - The importance of helping newer agents in the business As always, if you have any questions about this or any other real estate topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d be glad to help you.

Having a goal and setting a plan to reach it is important for any business. Today we’d like to share with you some realistic goals you can make for your business and how to set a plan in motion to accomplish those goals. For your convenience, we’ve included timestamps for each topic of discussion. Feel free to navigate to the section(s) you’re interested in viewing: 00:26 — Do you have a business plan?01:18 — What you need for business planning01:50 — Example of a goal02:40 — What you think about most is what happens03:20 — Doubling your goals04:05 — Four things to know about goal setting05:00 — Why we look at the number of units05:43 — Using a business planning worksheet08:30 — How the worksheet creates a plan to meet your goals09:08 — Prospects are different from contacts10:35 — Looking at the business plan summary11:17 — Monitoring your progress through production tracking If you have any questions or need more information, feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to helping you.

We recently hosted a seminar with one of our top agents, Jacob Sudnick, about productivity levels and how we can become more productive in our day-to-day lives. We discussed what we think makes someone a productive person, as well as what we can do to follow their example. For your convenience, we’ve included timestamps for each section in the video. Feel free to navigate to the topic(s) you’re most interested in viewing: 00:42 — Struggles with productivity01:08 — What makes someone more productive01:56 — Scheduling and preparation03:09 — Practicing what you say03:37 — Being a strong qualifier04:33 — Eliminating fear05:00 — Removing distraction “We discussed what we think makes someone a productive person.” 07:46 — Work as a distraction08:18 — Ignoring negative/limiting beliefs09:07 — Making quick and effective decisions09:36 — The drive to hit goals you set10:52 — What have you planned out?11:44 — How committed are you to your career?13:17 — Are you still challenging yourself?14:39 — Time-tracking assignment15:36— Handling what you’re putting off If you have any questions or need information, feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you.

Do you know what it takes to reach your goals? Our team recently had a meeting that helped answer that question for all of our agents by outlining the specific habits of highly successful people that we can all implement in our day-to-day lives in order to reach our goals. For your convenience, I’ve provided timestamps of our meeting so that you can jump ahead to the section(s) that interest you the most: 0:35—Writing down our goals.1:26—Calculating how much we’ll need to earn to afford the lifestyle we want when it’s time to retire.4:00—Introducing the four habits of highly successful people to implement into each day.5:38—No. 1: Schedule time each day to think bigger.6:45—No. 2: Filter the things you take in.9:00—No. 3: Be careful about who you surround yourself with.10:18—No. 4: Upgrade everything in your life and raise your own personal standards.11:04—The importance of also upgrading your appearance.11:50—How to upgrade the way you think.13:06—Recapping the steps we need to take to reach our goals. If you’d like to talk about how we can help you reach your goals or you have any other questions for me, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. I’d love to speak to you.

As a real estate agent, whether you’re on a listing appointment or trying to schedule one, you shouldn’t be afraid of objections. Objections are a good thing. Objections mean the seller is interested, and we have a four-step process that will help you deal with any and all objections. We’ve provided timestamps of the video above so that you can jump ahead to any section that interests you the most: “Handling objections for real estate sales is no different than for regular sales.” 1:43 - The difference between handling an objection and handling a condition.  2:31 - The four steps of handling an objection: acknowledge, ask questions, answer, and invite action.6:03 - A role-playing demonstration of how two of our top agents, Nick Slattery and Jake Sudnick, handle objections.6:27 - Scenario No. 1: “I have a friend in the business.”8:11 - Scenario No. 2: “Can you cut your commission?”10:58 - Scenario No. 3: “I’m going to wait until spring.”13:39 - Scenario No. 4: “Do you have a buyer?” (for FSBOs) If you have any more questions about how to handle objections or there’s anything else we can help you with, don’t hesitate to call or email us. We’d love to speak to you.

Today I’m here with my sister, Tina Hivnor, to discuss a common question that we’re often asked: “What can I do to win against buyers who are competing with me for the same house?” We train all of our Realtors to use a particular strategy that will help our buyers win out against the competition—the escalation clause. In our market, inventory is low, which means that many of the houses that are for sale are gathering points for many different buyers. This means that bidding wars are more and more common. An escalation clause is a means to give your client a competitive edge during these multiple offer situations. They’re forms that direct you to increase your client’s offer by a certain increment in case a competitor’s offer exceeds yours. “An escalation clause is a means to give you a competitive edge during these multiple offer situations.” Suppose a home is listed for $179,000 and you offer $182,000. If there’s a lot of competition and you suspect you might have to offer up to $187,000 to win, you can set up an escalation clause to automatically surpass a competing offer by, for example, $1,000 up until that mark is reached. You do need to make sure that the listing agent understands how these clauses work, however. We’ve had some suggest that it was illegal, when they’re not. Once the buyer wins the contract, the contract is modified and the escalation clause goes away. How do listing agents deal with escalation clauses? Naturally, the seller is at a huge advantage in this situation, because now they know what your buyer is willing to pay if someone else is willing to pay just under that amount. A lot of times, I’ll suggest that we go back to the buyer who wrote the clause at $187,000 and give them a counteroffer of $187,000. There’s nothing to lose, and in many cases, those buyers will accept that. If you have any questions about escalation clauses or about how to augment an offer so that it’s sure to win in a bidding war, reach out to us. We have a team of experts who are all prepared to guide you to success.

In the last 60 days, the Michael Kaim Team listed 131 properties. How do we get so many listings? How can you build your inventory so you can sell that many properties, too? To answer the first question, we train our agents to constantly be doing lead generation activities. In our world, that usually means prospecting, but there are lots of ways to get leads. For example, you can do what some agents do and buy their leads. You can also sit and wait for leads to come to you—someone from your Sphere of Influence (SOI) might call you, or you could sit at an open house. In our world, though, we teach our agents how to prospect. This method is repeatable, reliable, and it’s how we listed 131 properties in two months. When we prospect, there are many different sources we call, including expired listings, FSBOs, just-listeds and just-solds, open-house neighborhoods, and our past clients and SOI.  What do we say once we have a lead on the phone? All of our agents are professionally scripted—we train them on what to say and how to say it.  For example, if we’re on the phone with an expired listing or a withdrawn listing with releases, we’d say: “Hi, this is Michael Kaim with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty. I’m sure you’ve figured out your house came off the market as an expired listing, and I was calling to see when you plan on interviewing the right agent for the job of selling your home.” If we’re calling a FSBO, the script changes slightly: “Hi, this is Michael Kaim with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty. I’m calling about the home for sale. Is this the owner? Hi, Mr. Smith, I’m doing a survey of all the for sale by owners in the area and I was calling to see if you sold this home, where would you go to next?” Because we have so many buyers and a shortage of inventory, many times when we call FSBOs, we also say something along the lines of:  “We need help. We have buyers. We’re looking for homes to sell. I service the area your home is in, and as an expert in the field, it’s my job to know all the inventory that’s available for sale. How much are you asking for the property?” “These tips and scripts will help you build your inventory.” Sometimes, those FSBOs will tell us that they don’t know any Realtors and that they’re interested in having us determine their home’s value. Boom—there’s a listing appointment.  For just-listeds, the script is simple: “Hi, this is Michael Kaim with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty. I just listed a house over on Prospect Street. The address is 235 Prospect Street. It’s listed for $139,500 and I was wondering who you know who might be interested in buying in our neighborhood?” For just-solds, we use the same script, but instead ask who they know who might be interested in selling.  The script is easiest when it comes to our past clients and SOI: “Hi, this is Michael Kaim with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty. I’m just calling to see if you have time for a business call. Who do you know who’s looking to buy or sell real estate in the next seven to 10 days? Can you think of anyone in your family, your neighborhood, etc.? Would you mind if I give them a call? By the way, when do you guys plan on moving?” Where do we get the phone numbers for all of our leads? There’s a variety of different lead sources that’ll give you phone numbers, though there might be a fee attached. REDX, for example, is a service you can use that will send you the numbers for expired listings, withdrawn listings, and the FSBOs. Forsalebyowner.com and Zillow are also great sources for numbers. It’s helpful to try expanding your territory to prospect and find leads. It’s not inappropriate to learn about other cities or communities in your area and start working them. You can also try revisiting the prospect at a later time—just because someone’s not an active FSBO now doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in selling sometime in the near future. Markets change, values change, and situations change.  If you need any more tips on prospecting, lead generating, building your inventory, or you have any other questions for us, set up a free strategy call here. We’d love to speak with you.

One question that clients, friends, and other professionals in this industry always ask me is, “What does your typical day look like?” To tell the truth, the answer to this has not remained consistent over the years. My schedule has changed. So before I get into talking about where I am today, I’d like to discuss how I got here. At the beginning of my career, I was up at 5 a.m. each morning. After spending one hour at the gym, I was in the office six days a week by 7:00 a.m. I had a 7:30 a.m. roleplaying call where I practiced my scripts, and then at 7:45 a.m. I would get on the phones to prospect for three to four hours straight. I was calling my sphere, prospecting FSBOs, reaching out to expired listings, and more. This took me up until about lunch. I then prepared my afternoon schedule. Then, between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., I would make phone calls and take care of administrative work. If I had finished with that, I would work on following up with leads, instead. At last, I would end my day by scheduling appointments or doing more prospecting until 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. My goal every day was to make between 50 and 75 contacts. This was the schedule I had set for years. Since that time, I’ve had kids, I’ve built a team, and things have changed. Still, while my schedule may have been modified, this is still the same basic set of duties I work through each day. “Prospecting time is money time.” Working on the buyers’ side is a little different, though. That’s exactly why I’ve brought on Tina Hivnor to talk about her experience with our buyers agent’s schedules. One of the first things she emphasized was the importance of taking time off. And, according to her, this is something that holds true for buyer and seller agents alike. Our team likes to approach time off by looking at schedules a month at a time. We decide right away what time people will be taking off so that everyone can “recharge their batteries” from time to time. After that, our team focuses more narrowly on what each week’s schedule will look like. We look at which days an agent will be in the office and which days will be marked off of their schedule. This way, appointments can be set with certainty and confidence. Our agents block off all the time they are not available so that they can be clear with their clients about when they are available. An agent who spends 50% or more of their time with buyers, have schedules that are really formed around our clients, customers schedule. And, of course, there’s also the matter of prospecting time. In Tina’s words, “Prospecting time is money time. This is the one block of time that if you ever erase it, you must replace it.” The reason that agents on our team are so successful is that they take the time to follow up and make new contacts each and every day. My father used to say that if you did no prospecting in a day, you didn’t do any work. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.