Under Contract… Are your Clients Out of Sight and Out of Mind?

Transaction Coordination, Contract to Close, Closing Coordination, Transaction Management… Whatever you call it, this is the one service you should consider adding to your business.

Business Man

One of the challenges facing many agents today is keeping the paperwork and communications flowing during the closing process. When you’re out with new clients and can’t respond to calls or emails until the evening or the next day, the closing process for your Under Contract clients has been slowed down or sometimes derailed.

A Transaction Coordinator is on the job and working for you. She will be responding to those emails and phone calls during the day and making sure that everyone is “doing their job!” Then you can focus on new clients while still providing excellent service to your clients who are under contract.

Coaches and brokers recommend adding a Transaction Coordinator to your team when you are handling at least 20-24 sides per year.  A Virtual Closing Coordinator just makes sense.  Most Virtual Transaction Coordinators charge a flat fee per contract, paid at the closing.  No overhead, no additional phones or computers to buy and no salary.  Just pay as you produce!

Your Transaction Coordinator/Closing Coordinator is responsible for managing the process and deadlines, monitoring the progress, following up, communicating with all the parties in the transaction, and assisting your clients through the closing process.  When you stop and think about it, there can be up to 12 parties involved in just one deal: buyers and sellers, co-op agents, escrow companies, title companies, closing attorneys, appraisers, inspectors and don’t forget the loan officers and processors.  And with today’s market, deals are taking longer and are a bit more complicated!

Closing table conversation

The bottom line…  when you get to the closing table and everything has fallen into place, then you look good and your clients are happy!  Happy clients equal more referrals!

Real Estate Marketing

PC 100 Alden AveAnotherME Virtual Assistants offers Real Estate Marketing for both on-line and print media. From property flyers, postcards, listing booklets, feature cards to Real Estate Shows, Virtual Tours and email flyers.

Do you use a “template” flyer for your listings? If you don’t have an assistant to create your marketing pieces, let us design a template for you. A Listing Flyer Template includes all your information and logos in the basic design; and one that is easy to swap photos and descriptions for each of your listings. Using a template will save you time in getting up your listings set up and on the market. And will help you establish a marketing theme/brand.

Sending a video email to your sphere and top agents in your market area will give you leg up on your competition. Real Estate Shows is a wonderful program for Virtual Tours and property marketing. You can post your show to ActiveRain, your Blog, your MLS, REALTOR.com, and even email the show! Ask us about the special discount.

Check out this Real Estate Show of AnotherME Real Estate Marketing Samples!

Wordless Wednesday – Fans!

Ceiling Fans, Hand Fans, Window Fans, Cooling Fans; I think fans are Fantastic! fansblue fan

But I’m really talking about a different kind of fan… a Facebook Fan! Facebook Fan Pages are hot!

We need more fans for our Fan Page – AnotherME Virtual Assistants! On a mission to hit the magic number of 100 fans – to get our custom URL!

Takes 5 seconds!  Click here: http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/pages/AnotherME-Virtual-Assistants/106351018440

Facebook Fan PageThis is our Fan Page on Facebook – info on our VA’s, services, products, tips and hints, events and more!  Just click on the image below!

Want your own FaceBook Fan Page? We can help!  Email me at patty@anotherme.com

DIY-ers …Check out this great tutorial from CyberHomes!  http://snurl.com/leb5g

Become a FAN today –  AnotherME Virtual Assistants!

Are you LinkedIn… with the leading Social Networking site for Business?

This week I had the opportunity to attend a class for real estate professionals on using LinkedIn and how to “data mine” for new business with this Social Networking site.  I was surprised to see that out of 25+ agents in the class, only 7 or 8 had set up a profile!

The instructor was Richard Kirby, a recruiter who has developed a network of over 3500 connections!  He has successfully used LinkedIn to meet new clients, make connections with Corporate HR contacts and develop his business!

Here are some eye-opening facts about LinkedIn:

* There are over 40 million business users on LinkedIn, including managers and executives at virtually all major employers.

*LinkedIn is the leading online Social Networking website for Business.

*LinkedIn is a giant database of members who are relatively open to networking and inquiries.

*Nearly 60% of the members have incomes over $93,000. (based on a study done by Anderson Analytics)

Are you on LinkedIn?  It’s easy to navigate and set up a profile.  You’ll get the most visibility on your profile when you complete each section: Photo, summary of current position, email address, website links, interests, previous jobs and work experience.  Then start connecting with colleagues, old friends, new friends, past clients, etc.

Join a few groups: college alumni association, sorority/fraternity, special interests, employer groups, and of course, there are lots of real estate groups to join!  Once you have made connections, ask for recommendations.  Richard Kirby recommends getting 5-10! This will complete your profile and give you more visibility!

Start today using LinkedIn to find and develop new clients, connect with clients who aren’t on Facebook or MySpace, share updates, and establish yourself online!

And while you’re there – connect with me!

What's in your Mailbox?

Peanuts Mail

Sending a birthday card; is it Social Networking – IRL? (in real life)

When was the last time you sent someone a real card in the mail?  Did you get any actual “Paper” cards on your last Birthday?

Remembering someone’s birthday is an easy, personal way to stay in touch with your past clients.  Everyone loves getting a card on their birthday. Recently, I had a client call and thank me for sending her a Birthday Card!  And just last week, a friend at church came up to me and thanked me for her card!  Imagine that…A simple little card!

Today’s technology has made it so convenient to post a short birthday message to clients and friends on Facebook or send an e-Card via email.  Now, I’m not knocking those methods… they’re great and more than most folks do!

However, a card sent through the mail clearly demonstrates that you took the time to be thoughtful and shows how much you care. When you remember your clients, they will be more inclined to remember you… when it comes to referring your name to  their friends and associates!

But, I don’t have my client’s birthdays, you say? Here are 3 tips for building your birthday database.

1) For those who attend closings, ask the closing attorney or title company for a copy of your clients driver’s license for your closing file.  Closing attorneys and title companies always get a copy of the driver’s license!

2) Use Facebook to find friends birthdays! Depending on how many friends/clients you have, you just might need a Virtual Assistant to help you with this project.  It’s on-going, so remember to go back each month to find “recently added” friends.

birthday cards

3) Have your Seller’s and Buyer’s fill out a New Client Information Form that includes a section for birthdays.  Add children’s birthdays and pets, too… Talk about making a good impression!

Whatever method you use to build your Birthday Database – Start sending Birthday Cards and see what kind of reaction you get!

P.S. Send me your birthday and address, I’ll send you a card!

Wordless Wednesday – Meditation Garden at Memorial Dr Homeless Shelter

memorial drive shelter

My husband and I helped prepare and serve dinner at one of downtown Atlanta’s homeless shelters.  It was a humbling experience.  There were 4 families residing there while trying to get back on their feet.  Behind the main building some of the residents and volunteers had built a small meditation garden and planted flowers. It’s a quiet place in an urban jungle.

We just heard last week …the shelter is closing.

memorial drive shelter

Whether you like it or not… Sellers love their Listing Flyers!

If you take the time to create a flyer, then make it work for you.  How do you get a bigger bang for your buck (and your time) with a Listing Flyer?  Think outside the box, (the front lawn box) or the Kitchen counter display!

Start by using these 6 quick marketing tricks!

1) First – Save it as a JPG. Creating a JPG image of your flyer will open up a vast array of online tools for marketing your listing.   Save an ‘image’ of your flyer and e-mail it to area agents from Top Producer or Outlook.

2) Use that JPG image as one of your 25 photos on Realtor.com.  Instant visibility to hundreds of potential buyers!

3) Put your listing flyer on the internet. After you’ve e-mailed that JPG image, upload the listing to Postlets and Craigslist. Both are great sites for listings – And they’re FREE!  Postlets creates an attractive flyer automatically – it can’t get much easier than that!  Add it to your personal website as well.

4) Facebook. Of course, Facebook or MySpace! Upload your flyer image or the Postlets flyer!  With thousands of members you can take advantage of the huge pyramid of friends who will view your listing.

5) TwitPic –Share it with your Twitter friends using the free TwitPic tool.

6) Hyperlinks! And boost the impact of your flyers by creating a PDF version and adding hyperlinks to area websites like neighborhoods, community and your own website. Potential buyers can then visit these sites to learn more about the area and you. Email the PDF as an attachment to out of town buyers or let your sellers email it to their friends and colleagues.

Live Links in a PDF

Listing Flyers can be a fabulous tool for boosting visibility. Make your flyers work for you, by using them everywhere, for all to see!

(Special thanks to Pam Sherlock – Listing Coordinator – for assisting with the information in this blog post)