COLORADO 4-3-23

COLORADO EDITION

EMOTIONAL FLUENCY : HOW TO COMMUNICATE

WITH CLIENTS WHEN TENSIONS ARE HIGH

4 Ways Mentoring Up-and-Coming Employees Makes You a better Agent

5 Ways to

TRANSFORM RENTERS INTO OWNERS How to Answer the Inevitable Question:

WHY SHOULD I CHOOSE YOU? FEATURED AGENT

ANGELA MOSS COVER STORY

SHAWNA BELLENDIR

COLORADO EDITION

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SHAWNA BELLENDIR

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ANGELA MOSS

CONTENTS 4) HOW TO ANSWER THE INEVITABLE QUESTION: WHY SHOULD I CHOOSE YOU?

SHAWNA BELLENDIR

6) 5 WAYS TO TRANSFORM RENTERS INTO OWNERS

15) EMOTIONAL FLUENCY: HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH CLIENTS WHEN TENSIONS ARE HIGH 22) 4 WAYS MENTORING UP-AND-COMING EMPLOYEES MAKES YOU A BETTER AGENT

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Laughs!

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How to Answer the Inevitable Question:

Why Should I Choose You? In some markets, a real estate agent is competing against thousands of other individuals and teams. There are only so many bells and whistles—so many buzz words you can throw at prospective clients. To a buyer or seller who has interviewed several other agents already, all of it begins to blend together and every realtor sounds as though they’re reading off the same script.

Your clients want to know why they should choose you. They want to know what makes you different. It’s highly likely they’ll even 4

ask you this question directly in your initial interview, but as an agent, you might have a hard time coming up with a response that either you or your clients are truly satisfied with.

To answer your client’s why you must go back to your own why.

WHAT SKILLS DO YOU HAVE THAT OTHERS DON’T? Just because there are other agents in your area doesn’t mean those agents have the

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same skills that you do. We each bring our own backgrounds and experiences to the table. What comes naturally to you? Maybe it’s your negotiating skills or your ability to connect people that sets you apart from the rest.

WHAT PART OF THE BUSINESS DO YOU ENJOY THE MOST? There are skills and then there are passions.

In real estate, there’s so much to enjoy.

There’s the opportunity to match a family with the right home and the sense of safety and comfort that brings their loved ones.

There’s the ability to give someone a sense of financial security by advocating and negotiating on their behalf. And then there’s the houses and neighborhoods themselves— the architecture, history, and community.

WHAT ARE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS? When you look at your client list and the portfolio of work that you’ve built over the years, what are you most proud of? Sure, there are financial rewards, but there are also other accomplishments that your prospective clients will likely be eager to hear about, such as happy client testimonials, a thriving referral business, volunteer and charity work, or even how you lift and support your own team.

Everyone needs money, but those other accomplishments and how you speak about them show your client what kind of person Top Agent Magazine

you are and if that’s the type of person they want to work with.

WHAT ARE YOUR INTERESTS? Real estate might seem like your entire world at times, but you also have a life outside of work. Maybe you like music or traveling or being outdoors. The best part about being a realtor is that there are often ways you can thread these interests into your work, like hosting client functions and events.

WHAT DOES YOUR CLIENT CARE ABOUT THE MOST? Let’s face it, your clients likely care the most about only a few things: saving or making the most money, doing it as soon as possible, and making sure that doing so isn’t too stressful. Your response to your client’s question—why should I choose you?— should address these concerns.

Maybe you excel at creating systems that make the selling process efficient and profitable for your client. Or maybe you excel at providing a personalized experience for homebuyers.

Try out a few responses. You might even start with a template: My [skills or passions] helps me [provide this service] because I can [achieve my client’s goal].

Like most things in life, coming up with a compelling and concise response for why clients should hire you will take time and practice.

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5 Ways to Transform

Renters into Owners Perhaps the largest demographic of untapped business lies in the rental market. From major cities and suburbs to rural communities—renters across generations are opting to rent rather than own. The question is: why? For starters, many Americans are undereducated about the inventory and financing options available that might suit their budget and lifestyle. Secondly, many would-be homeowners have difficulty 6

visualizing the potential investment of purchasing property, and how homeownership can build wealth and security in the long-term.

As an agent, you’re always on the lookout for potential clientele. Now, to guide renters toward the real estate market, keep a few of these strategies in mind as you meet and greet this untapped demographic.

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Show renters that purchasing a home isn’t impossible

Possibly the biggest hurdle for renters is believing homeownership is possible. Beyond saving for a down payment and boosting credit scores, there are dozen more factors to consider: affording utilities, homeowner’s insurance, renovations, property taxes, and more. Besides that, assembling pay stubs, finding an agent, arranging house tours, negotiating a price, and timing the transition are all major considerations to surmount.

One way to combat this thinking is to make the process transparent and demystified. Find examples of past clients who made the leap successfully, or profile the average buyer in your marketplace and see how that renter compares. Provide evidence that it’s been done before and can be done again, then build a game plan from there.

into play. Consider making a checklist, or step-by-step road-map, that guides clients through the process from start to finish. This way, you’ll manage expectations and create a path to ownership that’s specific, instead of abstract. They won’t have to wonder what goes into buying a home when they can look at an interactive site or read a document and see the steps outlined before them, with you there to guide the way.

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Collaborate with mortgage professionals to find the right financing opportunities

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Help would-be homebuyers create a road-map to ownership

It’s no secret that buying a home can feel overwhelming. Compared to signing a yearlong lease on an apartment, taking on the house-hunting process is a daunting affair.

That’s where your expertise as an agent comes Top Agent Magazine

Many renters aren’t aware of the variety of mortgage financing options out there that cater to first-timers, offer low down payments, or down payment assistance. Most buyers believe that the standard 20% down is a hard and fast rule, when in reality, there’s far more flexibility out there to cater to renters where they are. There are even loan options catering to freelance workers, renovation options, and other unconventional routes to ownership.

Work with a mortgage pro and find the route that suits your renter best.

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pay monthly in a mortgage—while building a lasting asset.

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Compare and contrast rental rates with monthly mortgage payments One way to convince renters to make the shift is to demonstrate the savings potential of paying into a monthly mortgage, rather than throwing away rent on a property they don’t own. To do this, draw up the average rental rates in your area, then find some potential listings that would demand a similar amount in monthly mortgage payments. Sometimes placing these numbers and images sideby-side can prove to renters that what they manage to pay monthly in rent, they can

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Paint the big picture

For most, renting isn’t the most sustainable financial option when it comes to housing.

Rents rise, families grow, and retirement looms.

Building a financial future and homeownership go hand-in-hand. When planned appropriately, buying a home can create a path toward retirement and position homeowners in a better place for further investment in the future. A rental has little security or investment returns to offer, while owning a home makes a renter king or queen of the castle.

Prospecting renters as potential homebuyers may seem like a time-intensive way to cultivate new clients, but logic is on your side.

Keep these tips in mind as you broach the conversation with renters in your hometown.

All it takes is clear-cut value proposition and a listening ear.

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SHAWNA BELLENDIR

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S HAWN A B ELLE N DIR

Whether Shawna’s clients are looking for a new home, downsizing, or moving across the country, she’s there to empower them with the tools and guidance to make the best decisions. “Real estate has created a better lifestyle for me and I want it to do the same for others.”

REALTOR® Shawna Bellendir has always possessed an entrepreneurial spirit and passion for homes. Before getting licensed in real estate 8 years ago, she got a degree in architecture, owned a retail 10

store for many years, and worked in the healthcare insurance industry. Real estate offered a way for her to use her knowledge of sales while helping others and enjoying a balanced lifestyle. She now runs Top Agent Magazine

her own brokerage, Sellstate Altitude Realty, where she oversees eight agents representing clients throughout the North Denver Metro Area and beyond.

Born and raised in Colorado, Shawna knows everything about the state and why someone might move to a particular area.

She’s located in Erie, an old mining town just outside of Boulder that has experienced exponential growth in the past few years. Not only can Shawna direct clients to the best neighborhoods and schools, but she has a long list of businesses she

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recommends, including restaurants like Stacy’s Kitchen, 24 Carrot Bistro, Erie Social Club, and Piripi. “There are a lot of amazing businesses and people in Erie,” she says. “It’s a great place to live.”

Whether Shawna’s clients are looking for a new home, downsizing, or moving across the country, she’s there to empower them with the tools and guidance to make the best decisions. “Real estate has created a better lifestyle for me and I want it to do the same for others,” she explains. By going above and beyond for

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clients, including driving wherever they need her to be, Shawna’s business now comes to her almost entirely via referrals and repeat clients.

To market her listings, Shawna uses a combination of mailers, phone calls, talking to neighbors and social media.

In particular, social media has been a big part of her winning strategy for the past few years. “It allows us to get in front of people, be vulnerable, and share our lives, for better or worse,” she says. “People get to know us on a personal level in

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addition to hearing our thoughts about the pros and cons of homeownership.”

In her spare time, Shawna does a lot of work with veterans in her community.

She is sponsoring a golf tournament in July in support of vets in need.

This year, Shawna is aiming for her brokerage to complete around $50 million in sales volume. She’s thrilled to be able to help more clients by bringing on ten new agents by the end of the year. “It’s very rewarding to feel like you are impacting the lives of many families as they invest, sell, buy, and grow. I want to keep supporting our agents as they help more people in the community.”

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To learn more about Shawna Bellendir, please call 720-830-5158, email shawna@takeushomecolorado.com, or visit TakeUsHomeColorado.com www.

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Emotional Fluency:

How to Communicate with Clients When Tensions are High Managing emotions, expectations, and personalities are central to a successful real estate career. After all, this is a business based on relationships and interpersonal communication. Likewise, real estate is built on one of life’s central milestones—homeownership. This means that stress, disappointment, excitement, and competition are inherently Top Agent Magazine

involved in the process. As an agent, you take on the real estate world every day, but most of your clients aren’t well-versed in the norms of the industry and are likely riding an emotional roller coaster throughout.

Acknowledging this, how do you steer the ship when emotions and tensions are running high?

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For starters, it’s not always intuitive. Just like you add tools to your arsenal when it comes to marketing, social media, or lead generation, you also have to add emotional tools to your repertoire. Here are a few ways to diffuse tense situations and keep clients on an even keel—even during the ups and downs of the transactional process.

Create realistic expectations from the outset and reinforce them as you go As a seasoned agent, some aspects of the industry may seem run of the mill to you, but may come as a shock to your clients. That’s

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why communicating expectations from the beginning can help create reasonable touchpoints in the minds of your clients. In addition to talking through the steps of the transactional process with your clients, consider writing out a checklist or compiling a buyer’s guide that can serve as a resource for them throughout. Think of it like a security blanket, but one that’s built by facts, figures, and anecdotal experience. If you paint a clear picture of what to expect, clients are less likely to be taken by the surprise and react impulsively as a result. What’s more, reinforce next steps, expectations, and possible outcomes as you go. If your client is left to wonder or guess at what’s ahead or

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what will happen, they will either envision the worst-case scenario and panic, or they’ll misjudge the next step and be disappointed or left anxious as a result. Minimize surprises by communicating regularly, clearly, and with all options on the table.

When unveiling a problem, come to clients with potential solutions in hand Any agent worth his or her salt knows that bumps in the road are likely to occur along the way. You can’t promise a transaction free of stress or unforeseen issues, but you can minimize the ensuing stress by preparing you client in advance for any potential problems, and by addressing any problems

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clearly and with solutions already in hand.

Clients are likely to become agitated if a problem arises and they can’t understand why or what it means. That’s why slowing it down, talking it through, and offering potential avenues for recourse can quell fears and remind clients why they chose you to facilitate the transactional process. This means you’ll have to vigilant, proactive, and on the ball. Of course, it’s much easier to be an agent when everything is going great and flowing naturally. It’s when things take an unexpected or negative turn that true talent is really tested. Accordingly, show your clients that you are confident and in control by remaining adaptable, communicative, and clear in your problem-solving approach.

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Never underestimate the power of listening As an agent, you are probably well-versed in putting out fires and sourcing solutions. Sometimes, however, clients are really looking to you as a confidante and a listening ear. You’d be surprised how much nervousness you can resolve by simply offering a listening ear and offering reassurance. Sometimes it’s not about providing a band-aid or a practical solution; oftentimes, it’s all about listening. Clients need to feel like they’re being heard, even if you’ve heard it all before. By listening to their fears, acknowledging their perspective, and reiterating their goals—you display your empathy and understanding, which is often just what a client 18

needs to feel better. In other words, you don’t have to break out the graphs and data each time a client airs his or her insecurity. First, slow down, listen, and interact on a personal level. You may stop an emotional upheaval in its tracks simply by putting your listening cap on.

Not all clients are alike. Some will require a little more hand-holding than others, but it’s your job to put yourself in their perspective, recognize the milestone at hand, and managing the personalities you’re working with. The next time you feel frustrated by a client’s unpredictable emotional energy, keep these insights in mind as you diffuse the situation, steer them to a place of comfort, and fortify your interpersonal skillset in the process.

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ANGELA MOSS Top Agent Magazine

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ANGELA MOSS

With a reputation for transparency, honesty, and integrity, REALTOR® Angela Moss puts clients first, period. She has years of experience in the industry, beginning with buying, renovating and selling her own properties. Her late father was the person who really encouraged her to become a REALTOR® as he owned his own real estate company for many years in Florida and saw that her personality and skillset aligned with the industry.

Taking his advice, Angela got licensed in 2007 before moving to Boulder, Colorado two years later. From the sunny weather to the beautiful natural resources and mountains, there are many reasons why people would want to move to Boulder. Angela is the perfect REALTOR® to help them do so.

a partner at her brokerage as well as a coach and mentor to other agents and brokers.

Predominantly, Angela’s business comes from referrals. Her goal is always to find a good fit for her clients in a timely fashion for the best price, but her relationships are about more than just a transaction. “Through the real estate process,

While Angela began her career in a down market, she looks at it in a positive way — she had to learn a lot in a short frame of time to build her business.

Today, she works on a team of 8-10 other agents at 8z Real Estate serving home buyers, sellers and investors throughout Boulder county. She’s also 20

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many of my clients become friends,” she says.

Outreach is constant, whether through monthly newsletters with great content, phone calls, or the annual 8z client party.

There are several marketing strategies that make Angela’s listings stand out. To begin with, she is a firm believer in the power of staging.

“It’s the one way a listing can shine online,” she explains. Her husband has been a general contractor in their area for 30 years, and Angela also has the perk of being able to ask for 3D models, estimates, and feasibility studies for home renovations. Before a client makes an offer or before the inspection deadline, she is able to provide a reasonable quote for what it will cost to realize the potential of any house.

She also has the support of her company when it comes to marketing listings. They recently joined Who’s Who, which is an international affiliate that publishes luxury listings.

Angela and her husband have a blended family with seven children, which means that for many years, they were very active in the local school system. Today, she’s shifting her focus into helping out at Colorado University Boulder.

She also donates to and volunteers with multiple nonprofits, including Greenhouse Scholars, which is an organization that pays for the tuition of students who are the first in their family to go to college. In her spare time, Angela enjoys spending time with her family, whether through hiking, skiing, yoga or other outdoor activities.

As she previously had a catering business before becoming a REALTOR®, Angela loves hosting and cooking for everyone.

Last year, Angela completed $42 million in sales.Recently she has taken on a leadership role at her company where she is coaching and mentoring other agents while continuing to expand her own business. “I receive great joy in helping others, whether it’s my clients, colleagues or my family. Empowering people feeds my soul.”

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To learn more about Angela Moss, call 303-775-5295, email Angela@8z.com, and visit AngelaMoss.8z.com or facebook.com/AngelaMoss8zRealEstate http://

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4 Ways Mentoring Up-and-Coming Employees Makes You a Better Agent In the world of real estate, there are always new agents joining the ranks. Even if you’ve been practicing for just a few short years, you’ve likely learned your fair share of lesson along the way. As an agent, much of your working philosophy is derived from first-hand experience and your work on the ground. This means that new agents are less prepared for the inevitable curveballs of the industry. That’s where you come in.

While mentorship is often pitched as a relationship that solely benefits the mentee, there is actually plenty to be gained from becoming a mentor. After all, personal growth goes hand-in-hand with professional growth, and becoming a mentor asks agents to thought22

fully explore and demonstrate their own ideologies, practices, and rationale. With that in mind, take a look at some of the benefits of mentorship below, and you’ll get a sense of why counseling new agents can be a boon to your own business.

Teaching lessons to others reinforces your own professional values.

Showing the ropes to young agents is a great way to brush-up on your foundational skills.

Verbalizing and demonstrating processes, or walking through the rationale behind negotiation tactics—all cause mentors to think through their established practices and outline in detail why they’ve chosen this route over an

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alternative. This helps older agents fine-tune their routines, while getting back in touch with the critical thinking that went into constructing those habits.

Mentorships allows you to see the big picture.

surely sharpen your ability as the head of a team. What’s more, you’ll be building skills of empathy, understanding, teaching, and constructive criticism. Working on those skills will better your practice and your ability to lead in your office.

After a lengthy industry tenure, it’s not uncommon for battle-worn agents to lose some steam and begin to burn out. By devoting some time to mentoring up-and-coming agents, you’ll get back in touch with your early days, remembering the excitement, the trials, and the hard lessons gleaned. Spending time with the next generation of real estate professionals can reinvigorate your practice, as seeing the business from the eyes of an eager amateur can inject energy into your working life.

You’ll benefit from seeing things from a new perspective.

Just as working with young agents can help you remember your career’s big picture, you may also benefit from working alongside someone with a new perspective. Young agents bring a different set of skills and awareness to their work, and established agents can benefit from a fresh take. If technology isn’t your strong suit, or you’re interested in tapping the Millennial homebuyer market, working with a younger agent is an excellent way to see through fresh eyes.

Mentoring young agents makes you a better leader.

As a mentor, you’ll often direct the flow of your professional relationship—figuring out which issues to tackle, making an agenda, and imparting lessons in a clear way. These are all characteristics of a leader, and acting in a position of authority as mentor can Top Agent Magazine

While some may balk at the time commitment or energy required to take on a mentee or two, you might consider it an act of ongoing education or professional development. While your mentee will undoubtedly benefit from access to your expertise, there’s certainly much to be gained from taking the time to cultivate tomorrow’s real estate leaders.

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