MASSACHUSETTS 5-31-21

MASSACHUSETTS EDITION

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SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES REAL ESTATE AGENTS MUST AVOID

COOPERATION, NOT COMPETITION, CREATES

MUTUAL SUCCESS FOR AGENTS COVER STORY

MICHELLE FERMIN

FEATURED AGENT

BILL THOMPSON

THESE 7 HABITS ARE THE REAL SECRET TO SUCCESS Why MILLENNIALS Are Now The Hottest Segment of The Buyers Market

MASSACHUSETTS EDITION

BILL THOMPSON Bill Thompson started his journey in real 9 estate ten years ago when buying his own home. “I saw what our agent did, and I thought, ‘I want to do this!’” Bill says. “I wanted to show homes and be out in the world helping people.” With twelve years in the banking industry, Bill was able to hit the ground running, offering his clients financial education and counseling, going above and beyond your average Realtor.

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Leveraging social media an network of past clients, Bill case his clients’ homes to a “The nice part about having we can cover a lot at once,” make sure we are always ov clients will never lose out home, including working partners to accommodate sh We’re all always ready to st

Now the Managing Director for the With his personable approac MICHELLE FERMIN BILL THOMPSON Thompson Realty Group in Easton, and his passion for what he Massachusetts, Bill has built a thriving business using the most fulfillment from helping others an innovative model. “Other agents try to be solo or try solution-center for people,” Bill says. “I to be a team,” Bill says. “I have theCONTENTS best of both worlds. problems and being able to figure out so I’m a solo agent, but I have excellent administrators Bill is excited about the future and wha who do the parts of the job that are more behind-the4) 5 SOCIAL MEDIA 16) THESE plans7toHABITS grow his team, Bill is also focu scenes. I’m always the point of contact with clients, and MISTAKES REAL ESTATE ARE itTHEingREAL SECRET to provide top-tier customer service I leverage my support.

It’s a great model, because “We’re all about education and training allows me to spend my time face-to-face helping AGENTS MUST AVOID TO my SUCCESS don’t want to grow too fast. We hire ag clients.” Each member of Bill’s administrative team them.

Over the years, we’ve grown stead has their own area ofNOT specialty, from marketing, 6) COOPERATION, 20) to WHY MILLENNIALS beenTHE very methodical about it, and I’m h lead management, to operations coordination.

TheyNOW COMPETITION, ARE HOTTEST It means we’re doing our jobs well, and can offer MUTUAL excellent response time to their clientsSEGMENT as the CREATES OF THE growing so fast that we can’t serve our cl team works various schedules covering the hours of SUCCESS FOR AGENTS BUYERS MARKET ity is to maintain quality and client care 6am-11pm daily. “Our admin team specializes in one area, but also is cross trained to assist teammates during those peak hours, or when someone just needs a little time off to refocus, reignite,” Bill says. “We all work Phone 310-734-1440 | Fax 310-734-1440 very closely together.” mag@topagentmagazine.com | www.topagentmagazine.com NoWith portionaofclient-focused this issue may be reproduced any manner whatsoever without businessin model, Bill and his teamprior consent of the publisher. Top Agent Magazine is published by Feature Publications GA, Inc. Although precautions are taken to ensure the accuracy of published materials, Top have flourished, building a community of loyal clientele Agent Magazine cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied by its authors. who refer Bill toaddress, their send friends and family. “We work with To subscribe or change inquiry to mag@topagentmagazine.com.

Published in the U.S. a lot of buyers,” Bill says. “Because of the way the market is right now, we have to hustle for our clients. We’re creative and available. Once they see how hard we work for them, clients are so appreciative. Their gratitude is Top Agent Magazine what makes me want to come to work.”

For more about Bill Thompson, call 774

mailto:mag@topagentmagazine.com

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SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES

Real Estate Agents Must Avoid There is perhaps no greater marketing tool for agents these days than having a large presence on social media, but there is more to social media marketing than just opening an account and gaining followers. A lot of agents forget the social part of social media. It’s all about engagement, but it needs to be the right kind of engagement. This can often be the first impression potential clients or industry peers have of you, so make it count. There is no second chance to make a first impression, and that is especially true for real estate agents. Here’s just a few things you want to avoid.

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1 Using it to Vent

Social Media is a great place to complain and commiserate about things, but save that for your personal page. A real estate transaction is already a stressful ordeal, the last thing anyone wants is someone who seems like they’ll bring a negative energy to the process. Even worse?

Bad mouthing other Realtors® or listings. You’re selling yourself and your skills, so don’t sell anything that shows you in a bad light. Much like marketing a property, everything you put out should be professional and inviting.

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Lack of Consistent Branding

Yes, social media is about social engagement, but it’s also about creating brand recognition. While you don’t want it to be purely promotional, you are running a business, so create a consistent branding across all social media platforms. If you can afford a professional graphic designer to help you out with this, that’s great. But at the very least, have the same profile pic, cover image and highly visible contact information, across the board. And don’t forget to share links to your other accounts, some people prefer different social media applications.

3Not Posting Enough

It’s good to create a schedule of how many times you’ll be posting per day and to pick times when you might have the most engagement.

Don’t over do it, but three posts a day at the right time, tends to be a good goal. There are numerous tools on Facebook, for example, that

can let you see when interactions are the highest.

Stick to your schedule and adjust accordingly.

It’s also important to not just post your listings.

Be a resource for people who follow your page.

Post community events, or other informative articles that are relevant to home ownership.

Be a page they want to follow even when they aren’t buying or selling a property. They’ll remember you when the time comes.

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Not interacting With Your Followers

It’s called social media for a reason. The more you engage with your followers, the more they see you as a real person, and not just a marketing tool. Not only do you get to know your past clients and potential clients, on Facebook, engagement actually will make your posts seen by more people. So it’s a win/win.

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Not Sharing or Linking to Others

It might not seem like a good idea to not promote the blogs, pages or listings of other people, but it’s not only an excellent way to build goodwill, it will also increase your own presence when they reciprocate. So make a point to share posts and links for local businesses and even the blogs of your peers, if it’s a post that offers valuable insight into an expertise you don’t have. That will encourage them to share your posts and even your listings, which will increase your potential buyer pool. This is another incentive to create your own blog. Unique informative content is always of value, and more likely to be shared than promotional links.

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Cooperation, Not Competition, Creates

Mutual Success for Agents When people get along during a business transaction, everyone comes out happier. And in a service industry like real estate, agents have the power deliver that happiness. By working cooperatively, sharing advice and helping each other help clients, agents not only enhance their own reputations, but that of real estate in general.

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“Bring everyone together” Matt Kobelski, with Credentials Real Estate Group in Massachusetts, points out that providing good service involves more people than the party you’re representing. “I’m not afraid to bring together all the parties in a deal and say, ‘OK, let’s figure out a solution that works best

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Teaming up with an agent from a different brokerage on a transaction is not as uncommon or complicated as it might seem

for everyone,” he explains. “My goal is to avoid being adversarial.” Real estate, he believes, should always be a field in which each person can win. “It’s about working toward a mutual goal, shaking hands, and walking away happy that a seller sold, a buyer bought and everyone got what they wanted.”

But Is it that simple? Most agents have experienced the ways conflicting personalities and tension during a transaction can heat up even the most cordial relations. In reality, however, it’s more productive to let down your guard and work with others as a team than it is to allow stress and competition to preside. South Florida REALTOR® and broker associate, Risë V. Siegrist, for instance, has zero interest in competing with other agents. “It’s more important to be professional and associate with competent, caring people,” she says. By serving others with a cooperative spirit, experienced agents like Risë set an excellent example for emerging real estate stars. Risë hopes to be a model for the next generation of agents, training people who may one day become part of her team.

Risë’s position on cooperation inspires more reasons for nurturing relationships with other agents. Over the decades, many agents change brokerages several times. Who knows if that agent across the table will one day work at the Top Agent Magazine

same brokerage you do? Perhaps you’ll even have an opportunity to partner on an exciting, future transaction. Good relations keep doors open to endless possibilities.

Co-listing cooperation Teaming up with an agent from a different brokerage on a transaction is not as uncommon or complicated as it might seem. In fact, some agents cleverly capitalize on their collective attributes, rather than competing against one another. South Carolina REALTOR® Kimberly Pannit is a perfect example of the universal benefits of co-listings. Although she has always been an independent agent, Kimberly works hard to form professional alliances that give her business the feel of a cooperative network across brokerages.

This cooperative approach may be nontraditional, but it benefits clients in unique ways. By working closely with agents at other brokerages, she shows how agents can improve client service while helping one another.

Kimberly’s cooperative approach began in her own neighborhood, where an agent friend from a different brokerage also lives. “Several years ago, I approached her because both of us were friends with our neighbors. I asked, ‘Why don’t we give our neighbors superior service and

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co-list together? We both love our area and are passionate about our jobs, the location and schools.’” She also didn’t want to make their mutual friends choose between them when they could work together. “I said, ‘Let’s give them amazing service together!’” With their brokers’ permission, two weeks later the agents co-listed their first home and put extra energy into ensuring uninterrupted client service.

Networking and “Co-opertition” When the ultimate goal is to match a client with the perfect home or create optimal terms of sale for a listings, networking with other agents can facilitate that ideal buyer-seller match.

Nashville REALTOR® and broker/owner Lisa Land embraced every opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the real estate industry and to her local market, even before building her own team. “Agents would frequently ask me for help or advice,” she says, noting that she shares, rather than guarding, the methods she uses to get through difficult or confusing transactions. “I was fortunate to have great mentors when I started in real estate, so I’m always

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willing to offer help, even to agents outside of The Luxe Collective.”

Meanwhile, on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Janet Leigh Scott describes the climate between agents as relaxed and professional. “While the real estate market is highly competitive, we’re truly a ‘co-opertition’ market; agents work together and a have greater sense of community than you might experience in off-island brokerages,” Janet says. “If I have buyer coming into town, I’ll reach out to agents I’ve done transactions with to ask if they have anything coming up that might not be on the market yet.”

Even in hot, competitive L.A. real estate, independent agents such as Andrej Nagy of The Agency RE knows the importance of receiving and providing professional mentorship.

“My relationships with clients are extremely important,” he says. “But my relationships with agents on the other side of a deal are also important.” For REALTORS® like him, working smoothly with other agents is a privilege.

Doing so builds rewarding relationships while ensuring win-win transactions for everyone at the closing table.

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MICHELLE FERMIN Top Agent Magazine

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Top Agent Michelle Fermin is one of the top Realtors in her area of Massachusetts, but also the Team Leader of The Fermin Group—one of the top teams in the area.

Two and a half decades ago, Michelle Fermin struggled to find the right information to help her mother, and immigrant, buy a home. She decided to take a direct role and get licensed as a Realtor herself, and what started as a short-term solution to a problem turned into a full-blown career, as many other people in Michelle’s sphere started to turn to her for real estate guidance as well.

Over the years, Michelle has become not only one of the top Realtors in her area of Massachusetts, but also the Team Leader of one of the top teams in the area. In fact, Michelle’s team is ranked as the #1 Century 21 Small Team in the world, and has been the #1 NAHREP team in Massachusetts since 2017.

Michelle leads a team of 9 bilingual agents, all of whom are experienced, hard-working Realtors, passionate about homes and devoted to their craft. Collectively, her team averages between 250-300 transactions each year – they closed more than 10 Copyright Top Agent Magazine

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$100 million in total sales volume in 2020, and have closed more than $1 billion in sales overall. Two of her team members are President and Vice President of the NAHREP, and as a whole the team is heavily plugged into the Hispanic community and helps many Top Agent Magazine

minorities and immigrants on their journey to buy and sell homes.

As a Realtor who leads by example, Michelle’s focus is education. After learning real estate from scratch, she recognizes the importance of 11 Copyright Top Agent Magazine

Michelle leads a team of 9 bilingual agents, all of whom are experienced, hard-working Realtors, passionate about homes and devoted to their craft. allowing clients to make informed decisions for themselves, and passes that philosophy on to the agents on her team. “We are all about educating our clients,” Michelle says. “It is our duty to help our clients feel confident and empowered, and a big part of that is giving them as much information with as much clarity as possible.” The agents on Michelle’s Copyright Top Agent Magazine 12

team are transparent and exhaustive when delivering information to clients. Their clients appreciate that, as they receive more than half of their business from repeats and referrals.

As well as being an inspiring leader, Michelle is an elite agent in her own right. She has been Top Agent Magazine

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trying to maintain the quality of consistently excellent customer service that she strives for, and allowing the growth of her agents’ careers and the growth of her team as a whole to mutually enhance each other. Her message to people looking to dip into real estate. “Make sure you pick the right players to be on your side.

Whether it’s Realtors, lenders, contractors – having people who truly have your best interest at heart is so important, especially with how crazy things are right now.” If you’re looking for a hard-working Realtor in Massachusetts with integrity and compassion, look no further than Michelle Fermin!

Contact Michelle by phone at (978) 423-6545, email mfermin@c21ne.com, or visit thefermingroup.com for more information www.

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Success– These 7 Habits Are the Real Secret to Success What is it that makes some people so successful and others not? Is there a secret recipe one can follow, as easy as baking a cake, which will give them the strength to achieve their ultimate goals and have it all?

The answer is that, in a manner, there is. The trick is in how you think about success and what it means for you. Many people define success as achieving their personal goals, but could this be leading them to look at the world a little too narrowly? The people that are truly successful in every aspect of 16

their lives don’t stop at simply achieving their personal goals. They succeed in many avenues of their life, including their job, relationships, health, and family just to name a few.

It turns out that ultra-successful people tend to have quite a number of things in common. One main skill many seem to possess is high emotional intelligence, or the ability to manage your emotions so that you can stay calm and focused even in high

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stress situations. Luckily, it seems not all of them are simply born with this ability, but have many strategies they use to help them achieve higher emotional intelligence. Here are seven strategies and habits that will help you achieve success in every area of your life.

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BE COMPOSED The first thing successful people always seem to have under control is their composure. Successful people stay calm and composed when the going gets tough and fingers start pointing. They don’t panic. The secret? They understand that in life things are always changing. It doesn’t matter if something is bad at the moment because that will change soon enough. In this topsy turvy life all you can really do is adapt in order to stay happy and remain in control of how you react.

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BE KNOWLEDGEABLE Have you ever noticed how successful people always seem to have such a wide range of knowledge and interests?

Successful people do know more because they are always working to grow and learn. They strive to constantly increase their self-awareness. If a spare moment exists, then they will fill it with some kind of self-education. They do this because they are passionate about learning new things and ways to improve their life.

Ignore the fear of being judged and ask questions, because that is the only way you can learn. Successful people don’t

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fear asking questions. They fear not asking those questions and growing stagnant.

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BE DELIBERATE It is important to think and reason before you come to a decision. Successful people don’t rush. They seek out advice from other, they think of all the aspects, and sleep on their thoughts before finally making their decision. Your gut instinct can be misleading, and lead you to make a rash decision that you will come to regret later.

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BE CERTAIN, AND SPEAK WITH CONVICTION Successful people speak with certainty.

Unless you communicate your ideas with conviction and certainty, then you will have a hard time getting people to listen to them.

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BE POSITIVE Successful people use positive body language when they are talking to other people. Their tone is enthusiastic, they maintain eye contact, leaning in towards the person speaking to show interest.

Successful people use it to draw those other people in. How you say something can be just as if not more important that what you say to people. Positive body language can completely alter how your speech is perceived by others, and helps to keep attention on you and what you are saying.

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BE MEMORABLE BY LEAVING A STRONG FIRST IMPRESSION You only have once to make a first impression, and they are incredibly important, as they are closely ties to positive body language. You have around 7 seconds to convince a person to like you after you initially meet them. That is how long it takes them to decide when they meet you. After that a person is simply spending the rest of the conversation justifying that initial reaction they had. You can make sure you make a good first impression by having strong posture, a firm handshake, a warm smile, and open shoulders.

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BE FEARLESS Successful people know that to give in to fear is a choice. They don’t let the fear take over, instead focusing on the rush of euphoria that comes with conquering fears.

All of this adds up to having a high emotional intelligence. What helps you to succeed is the ability to control those whirlwind emotions so you can stay calm and focused on actually succeeding. These habits can help you gain a higher emotional intelligence, but as you probably already know, anything involving dealing with your emotions in a healthy manner takes serious work. So, don’t give up if you fail the first time. You must always try and try again.

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BILL THOMPSON Bill Thompson started his journey in real estate ten years ago when buying his own home. “I saw what our agent did, and I thought, ‘I want to do this!’” Bill says. “I wanted to show homes and be out in the world helping people.” With twelve years in the banking industry, Bill was able to hit the ground running, offering his clients financial education and counseling, going above and beyond your average Realtor.

Now the Managing Director for the Thompson Realty Group in Easton, Massachusetts, Bill has built a thriving business using an innovative model. “Other agents try to be solo or try to be a team,” Bill says. “I have the best of both worlds.

I’m a solo agent, but I have excellent administrators who do the parts of the job that are more behind-thescenes. I’m always the point of contact with clients, and I leverage my support. It’s a great model, because it allows me to spend my time face-to-face helping my clients.” Each member of Bill’s administrative team has their own area of specialty, from marketing, to lead management, to operations coordination. They can offer excellent response time to their clients as the team works various schedules covering the hours of 6am-11pm daily. “Our admin team specializes in one area, but also is cross trained to assist teammates during those peak hours, or when someone just needs a little time off to refocus, reignite,” Bill says. “We all work very closely together.”

With a client-focused business model, Bill and his team have flourished, building a community of loyal clientele who refer Bill to their friends and family. “We work with a lot of buyers,” Bill says. “Because of the way the market is right now, we have to hustle for our clients. We’re creative and available. Once they see how hard we work for them, clients are so appreciative. Their gratitude is what makes me want to come to work.”

Bill and his team are also skilled at helping sellers, and they create comprehensive marketing campaigns to ensure broad visibility and to attract competitive offers.

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Leveraging social media and an extensive network of past clients, Bill is able to showcase his clients’ homes to a wide audience.

“The nice part about having a team is that we can cover a lot at once,” Bill says. “We make sure we are always over staffed so our clients will never lose out on their dream home, including working with showing partners to accommodate showing requests.

We’re all always ready to step in.”

With his personable approach, his expertise, and his passion for what he does, Bill finds the most fulfillment from helping others. “I love being a solution-center for people,” Bill says. “I love taking on problems and being able to figure out solutions.”

Bill is excited about the future and what it holds. With plans to grow his team, Bill is also focused on continuing to provide top-tier customer service to every client.

“We’re all about education and training,” Bill says. “I don’t want to grow too fast. We hire agents to not lose them. Over the years, we’ve grown steadily because I’ve been very methodical about it, and I’m happy with that.

It means we’re doing our jobs well, and that we’re not growing so fast that we can’t serve our clients. My priority is to maintain quality and client care above all else.”

For more about Bill Thompson, call 774.280.5764 email bill@thompsonrealtyonline.com, or visit thompsonrealtyonline.com/team/bill-thompsonlicensed-real-estate-agent https://

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Why Millennials Are Now the Hottest Segment of the Buyers Market

and How You Can Attract Them to Your Home There are many factors when it comes to knowing how to sell your home to the Millennial generation. Millennials are becoming an important part of the buyer market, and to fail to cater to their needs will cut you off from a large and important segment. But, why have Millennials all of a sudden become interested in buying houses when they were perfectly content to rent for the rest of their lives?

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A number of factors contribute to what has recently made Millennials the hottest segment of the Buyers market. One factor is the improved job outlook for Millennials. Millennials took a serious blow during the recession.

Unemployment in this group soared to 14 percent, compared to the 9.6 percent for the population as a whole. But, in recent years that number has been decreasing, with unemployment for Millennials being 9.3 percent this past year.

Rising rents are also contributing to making Millennials more interested in purchasing homes now. Rents have risen so much that buying a home now just makes more sense. Half of all renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Millennials are becoming increasingly stressed over the constantly increasing financial obligation to something that isn’t even theirs to own.

The near-historic low mortgage rates are luring Millennials towards purchasing a home with their promise of affordability. When compared with the skyrocketing rental rates, buying a house looks even more enticing.

Another factor helping Millennials get over the hump of purchasing a house is the lower down payment requirements. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now offering new loan programs that require as little as a 3 percent down payment. This may just be the last push the Millennials needed to turn toward buying a home rather than rent.

So, now that we’ve established that Millennials are finally joining the Buyers market, the next thing that it is important to understand is what exactly Millennials are looking for in a home. What kind of floorplans do they prefer? What locations are they interested in? Here are some of the essentials that Millennials are looking for in a home: • Updated Kitchens and Baths: Almost everyone wants to buy a

home with new kitchen and bath fixtures, but this is especially true for Millennials Buyers. Millennials are going to spend most of their savings on the down payment and furnishings, leaving little room to update the Kitchen and Bath, which are also the most expensive parts of a home to

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update. Millennials who are on a budget simply won’t have the money to sink into those areas. An updated Kitchen and Bath is sure to bring in a younger crowd.

• Big Kitchen with Open Floor Plan: For Millennials, the kitchen has

become the room where they hangout in addition to the family room. This is why having an open space that can transition easily from the kitchen to the TV room is high on the list of things Millennials are looking for in a home. Along a similar vein, Millennials are attracted to an open floor plan rather than one that compartmentalizes the home. This has to do with how Millennials entertain. Millennials want their guests to flow through the rooms and mingle together, rather than be sectioned off in different rooms.

• Home Office: More than 13 million Americans now work from home,

and if you look at the trend, that number is only going to increase as the time goes on. With technology steadily increasing, more Millennials than ever have the flexibility to work from home. But, the home office isn’t just for someone working from home full time. Having a separate space dedicated to work helps people concentrate and focus on work while they are at home. They can separate themselves from the activities going on around the house and have a quiet space where they can set up their workday, plan a presentation, hold a meeting on Skype, or even pay bills.

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• Less Maintenance: Many Millennials work different schedules that

don’t conform to the 9 to 5 workday, as well as full social calendars. This doesn’t leave them much time to clean a big house. Lawn services and low-maintenance front yards are particularly appealing, as they take less responsibility to still keep the curb appeal high.

• Energy-Efficient Appliances: Millennials have been educated on

keeping the Earth clean from the time they were born. They want to do their part to help the environment and appreciate the long-term cost savings that come with it. Energy-efficient appliances and greener ways to heat and cool the home might end up being the tipping point that makes them choose one house over another.

• Hardwood Floors: Millennials don’t have the time or patience to clean

dirty carpets, especially those that own pets. Hardwood and laminate flooring is easy to mop up if there’s been a mess. The more time they can conserve, the better.

• Good Location: Millennial buyers are looking for homes that are in

proximity to public transportation and have a good walking score. Young Millennial buyers without children are more likely to want a location closer to the action of the city, while Millennials with children would prefer more residential areas.

• Technology: Technology rules the Millennial’s life. They do work on

their computers through an Internet connection and solely use cellphones for communication. They are going to ask about how strong the cell service is and about the Internet service provider. While these amenities are out of the seller’s hands, Millennials are still going to ask these questions, and you will need to know how to answer them.

Knowing what Millennials are looking for in a home will ultimately help you make the necessary changes that will attract these buyers to your home.

Since they are the a serious segment of the market now, updating your home to fit their needs will lead to more buyers and better offers. So, get with the times and embrace the Millennial buyer.

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