Want to build more momentum and grow your real estate business faster this year?
These 17 real estate tips will help you focus on the right areas so you’re generating more leads, getting more deals done, and getting top dollar for the deals you do.
Tip #1 – Little Things Matter The Most
When you’re trying to get a deal done, whether you’re flipping to a new homeowner or flipping a contract to one of your investors, it’s the little things that matter the most.
Think about how curb appeal sells a home.
Attention to detail and knowing what people are looking for is what makes up “curb appeal”.
It’s the same for the properties you’re trying to move.
Before you get into conversation and negotiations, take a bit of time to think about the small things the other person may be looking for.
Many times, these small things won’t cost you any money but can make a huge difference in what you’re able to get out of the deal.
Tip #2 – Emotions Sell Properties
Something else that you can’t ignore, whether you’re helping a homeowner get into their dream home or you’re helping an investor lock down another fix-and-flip, is that emotions sell properties.
With a new homeowner, this one’s pretty easy.
Figure out why they want to buy, exactly what they’re looking for, and what they love about the home.
Then you can keep guiding the conversation toward those factors.
Typically, with investors, their biggest desire is having enough profit margin in the deal for it to make financial sense for them to move forward.
As long as that’s the case and there’s enough margin in the deal, keep leaning back into that while you’re negotiating the contract.
Tip #3 – Don’t Try To Time The Market
On average, only 11% of hedge funds are able to outperform the stock market.
That means, for 89% of investors, simply riding out the S&P 500 will generate a higher return than they would get by working with an investment firm whose only job is to time the market.
It’s no different in real estate.
Holding onto properties because you believe prices will increase, or the Fed will reduce rates, or any other situation that would force prices to move in your favor could actually cost you more than you would gain.
Most times, it’s worth more to just move the property or contract instead of trying to hold out and time the local market for a small increase in profit margin.
Tip #4 – Understand The Risks
Typically, losing money on a deal means you made the wrong decision at some point in time.
While you may have thought you were making the right decision, what actually happened was that you didn’t understand the risks involved when you made it.
These can be incredibly expensive learning moments.
If you’re looking to avoid making massive (or expensive) mistakes, spend some time trying to understand the risks involved with the decisions you’re making.
Tip #5 – Line Up Your Cash & Credit
In the beginning, you may be forced to move from deal to deal, using cash from one deal to help secure the next deal you want to do.
That’s something you want to get away from as quickly as possible, though.
Instead of spending the cash as it comes into your business, make sure you’re setting yourself up for future success by securing your cash and credit and keeping it liquid.
Then, as new deals come across your desk, you can move quickly.
You’ll also be able to weather any storm that may come your way — while other investors are getting pushed out because they didn’t have a financial war chest to lean on.
Tip #6 – Tap Into The Local Community
Deals aren’t done in a vacuum.
Sure, you can stay holed up in your office, sending direct mail (using proven high-converting templates like these) and emailing documents.
But the most successful real estate businesses and investors know the power of community.
They’re in the community networking, building relationships, generating word of mouth, and getting potential deals sent to them before anyone else — simply because they made themselves known.
If you want to grow your business this year, spend just as much time out in the community as you do inside your office trying to find your next deal.
The relationships you build will carry your business for years.
Tip #7 – Know What Improvements Pay Off
Inside a real estate deal, many investors believe the money is made when you sell the property.
But that isn’t actually the case.
The money is actually made when you purchase the property — and when you decide which renovations and improvements you’re going to make.
To make sure you’re actually generating the profit you were looking for when it comes time to sell the property, make sure you have a deep understanding of which improvements will actually pay off.
And if you’re flipping a contract, know which improvements the house will need and get accurate estimates so you can sell that value to the investor you’re looking to flip the contract to.
Tip #8 – Learn Why People Buy
On the same note, you want to make sure you understand why people buy.
For investors, turning a solid profit is generally their biggest motivator.
For homebuyers, though, the emotional drivers are significantly deeper — and can be used to help increase your profit margins.
These drivers could be the location and distance to schools or shopping. They could be the layout of the home or the curb appeal.
Your buyers could be motivated by a nostalgic feeling that the house gives them.
It’s up to you to understand what’s driving them to buy, though, so you can use that information inside your negotiations — whether you’re selling a house or flipping a contract.
Tip #9 – Advertise Like A Pro
For successful investors and wholesalers, advertising is the lifeblood of their business.
They know you can’t sit around waiting for things to come your way — they work on making sure those opportunities are generated every single day.
It takes a combination of marketing channels to build long-term success, too.
From direct mail, to paid advertising on platforms like Facebook, smiling and dialing with proven scripts, networking at local events, getting out and driving for dollars, building referral relationships — smart real estate professionals know how to advertise like a pro.
They embrace spending money to make more money and know their numbers inside-and-out.
If you want to learn what advertising like a pro looks like, check out our guide on real estate investor marketing strategies that can prime you for exponential growth.
Tip #10 – Embrace The Long Hours
One of the biggest mistakes new, hungry investors make is thinking this is a part-time gig.
While you can make a decent living investing or wholesaling on a part-time basis, if you want to turn it into a career you’re going to need to embrace the long hours.
Getting deals done at the dinner table is not unheard of — and the most successful investors either actively embrace that fact or embraced it early on in their career.
And if you stop and think about the most successful investors you know, you’ll see the similarities.
They’ve made real estate their lifestyle and it tends to bleed into every area of their life.
If you want to achieve what they’ve achieved, you’ll need to embrace the long hours they’ve embraced.
Tip #11 – Always Follow Up
It’s pretty rare for a deal to get to the finish line during your first conversation.
That means you’ll need to have systems in place to make sure you’re following up with prospects.
In the marketing world, the general rule of thumb is that you’ll want to “touch” your prospect between 7 to 12 times before they’ll actually make a decision on moving forward with you, or not.
These “touch” points can be anything from a phone call, a text, a piece of direct mail, one of your advertisements, an email, or any combination.
What you don’t want to do, though, is attempt to make contact one time and then expect an instant result.
Or, worse, get discouraged when you don’t get that instant result but also aren’t following up with your leads and prospects enough times to get the deal done.
Tip #12 – Know Your Business Model
Another similarity that most successful investors and real estate professionals all have in common is that they know their business model and they stick to it.
In the beginning, it’s expected to try a few different models, like wholesaling, BRRRR, fix-and-flip, etc. to figure out which one you want to pursue.
But when you’ve tried a model and it’s shown promise, double down on the energy and time you pour into that model instead of constantly spreading yourself thin chasing every shiny object available.
Learn to say no to potential deals that are outside of the business model you’re pursuing and you’ll build more momentum with the one that’s already shown promise.
Tip #13 – Invest In A CRM
When you start following up with leads and prospects, you’re likely to get overwhelmed pretty quickly if you’re not using a CRM to manage your conversations & workflows.
This is especially true when you have deals in every stage of completion, new leads being added on a regular basis, and prospects you’re trying to get to the table so you can close on the contract.
If you’re looking for a great CRM that can grow with you as your business grows, check out REsimpli.
Tip #14 – Grow & Nurture Your Network
The relationships you build are equally as important (or even more, in some cases) as the advertising and marketing you do.
When it comes to growing a strong network, you don’t want to just take, take, take.
Make sure you’re building two-way streets in the relationships you cultivate with people — you should be able to help them as much as they’re able to help you.
Then, when you’ve started those relationships, spend time nurturing them outside of just seeing what you can get from them.
People appreciate people who appreciate them. And, when they know you appreciate them, they’re more likely to return favors, like sending you referrals, introducing you to deals, and helping grow your business.
Tip #15 – Protect Your Reputation
On the same note, you don’t want to take advantage of the people you’re building relationships with.
And you definitely don’t want to be known as someone who takes advantage of your leads and prospects.
Developing an unhealthy reputation in your local area could make it extremely difficult for you to grow your business — and this isn’t something that happens overnight. It’s something you notice over time.
To keep from being known as “that investor” or “that realtor”, protect your reputation at all costs.
Go above and beyond to fix mistakes you make, even if it costs you time and money.
Your reputation and your word can carry your business to new heights, as long as you’ve become known as a person that can be depended on, keeps their word, and takes care of the people they interact with.
Tip #16 – Build Successful Habits
Everything that happens in business — from your successes to your failures — revolves around your habits, especially as your business starts to gain momentum.
From how you start your day, to what you do to grow the business each day, to even how you wrap your days up, the habits you build (especially early on) can make or break your success.
One of those habits should be consistently honing your skills and sharpening your sword.
If you’re looking to start honing your skills now, check out this blog post.
Then click here to browse through the rest of the guides we’ve created for you.
Tip #17 – Delegate What You Can
Now, probably one of THE best tips we can give you and one of THE most profitable pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten revolves around learning what you can delegate.
And then learning HOW to delegate it out.
In the case of growing your real estate business, two of the most time-intensive processes you’ll manage are answering the phone and generating fresh leads.
You can either train someone on your team to handle this for you or leave it up to the professionals.
Services like Call Porter can take answering the phone off your plate and help generate pre-qualified, pre-vetted appointments onto your calendar so you’re not getting interrupted at the dinner table or letting deals fall through the cracks because you’re tied up when the phone rings.
Then, when it comes to generating leads, services like Ballpoint Marketing can help you manage the art of direct mail marketing, using high-converting, time-tested templates. All you have to do is upload your contact list and a message then let the service handle the rest of the heavy lifting.
But take tasks like these and get them off your plate as early into the business as you can afford to because your time is best spent on nurturing relationships and closing contracts.
