Northern California 11-20-17

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EDITION

BE THEIR REALTOR® FOR LIFE: How to Build a Relationship With Your Clients that Will Last a Lifetime FEATURED AGENT

FRAN PAPAPIETRO COVER STORY

STEVE & KELLY McCARTHY

5 Tips to GET NEW CLIENTS Why Millennials are Now the HOTTEST SEGMENT OF THE BUYERS MARKET

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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EDITION

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STEVE & KELLY McCARTHY

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FRAN PAPAPIETRO

CONTENTS

4) BE THEIR REALTOR® FOR LIFE: HOW TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CLIENTS THAT WILL LAST A LIFETIME

13) WHY MILLENNIALS ARE NOW THE HOTTEST SEGMENT OF THE BUYERS MARKET

21) 5 TIPS TO GET NEW CLIENTS

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Be Their REALTOR for Life: ®

How to Build a Relationship with Your Clients That Will Last a Lifetime In the world of real estate, an agent’s relationship with their clients can make or break their career. This industry revolves around working well with people, and being able to develop a strong relationship with your clients is the foundation that you business is based upon.

Just like with a house, if that foundation is weak, the rest of the structure is also going to be unsteady and fragile. The mark of a good REALTOR® is their ability to build up a good referral network and following of loyal clients. This isn’t something that just happens by accident. Building healthy, strong relationships with your clients takes work and knowing how to gain another person’s trust, respect, and friendship. Here are some ways to make sure you are building the right kind of relationship with your clients.

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1. Use Your Friendliness and Optimism to Win Them Over: No one wants a pushy, overly confident salesperson for a REALTOR®. Clients are much more inclined to put their trust in the hands of someone who is friendly when it comes to one of the biggest financial transactions of their lives. A pleasant, outgoing disposition will win you more clients as well as friends. You want to establish rapport in the first few minutes of first meeting prospective clients. Rather than starting with business right off the bat, begin your meeting with some small talk such as similar interests, hobbies, and family life. This will immediately help to put your clients at ease, and show that you are not simply trying to “sell” them something.

People also respond well to optimism. During what can be a very stressful time, clients need someone to help them stay positive when a situation looks difficult and challenging. Optimism also tends to radiate charisma, and people want to be around and do business with charismatic people. You want to learn how to understand, motivate, and inspire people.

2. Be an Inquisitive Learner and an Empathetic Listener:

out any potential concerns they might have.

After you’ve gained as much information as possible, you can then gauge their interest in your possible solutions by asking “what if” questions. Being inquisitive also demonstrates to your clients that you are genuinely interested and invested in their situation.

On the other side of this coin is knowing how to listen empathetically. Empathy involves actually putting yourself or your mind in their shoes so you can genuinely understand their concerns, needs, and opinions. That understanding and empathy is then reflected in your conversation with that client. Your clients want to know that you care about their situation, and that they’re not just another sale for you to make. People are much more willing to put their trust in you when they can sense that you are actually making an effort to feel what they feel in order to understand their situation.

Showing your interest through questions, and then thoughtfully listening goes a long way towards gaining trust. Showing empathy and acknowledging the feelings and emotions involved in your clients situation helps build a relationship founded on genuine care and trust.

3. Watch for Nonverbal Clues:

Don’t be afraid to show your curiosity and ask your clients a lot of questions. Some of these questions may even be difficult and uncomfortable. You want to discover and learn as much as you can about your client. Don’t make the mistake of jumping straight into the role of the know-it-all. Every different client has unique needs, so you want to learn as much as you can about their specific situation before trying to propose a solution. You want to uncover their primary motive for buying or selling, and flush

Most communication happens nonverbally, so knowing how to interpret your client’s body language can be incredibly helpful. Here are a few things to pay special attention to: Eye contact: Be careful with the level of eye contact you use with clients when first meeting.

Too much and too little eye contact can send the wrong impression. You want to try and maintain eye contact around 70 percent of the time. That is the amount that most people are comfortable with. Pay attention to your client’s level of eye

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contact to determine how comfortable they are.

When someone avoids eye contact that could mean they are not engaged in the conversation.

A good way to quickly build a feeling of rapport when first meeting clients is to make eye contact when you first meet them and then start nodding yes to what they’re saying. If the client reciprocates the eye contact and nodding, you’ve established a connection.

4. Prove your honesty and credibility:

Choose the right handshake for each client: One handshake does not fit all people, and that first handshake can be crucial to making a good first impression. The way to do a good handshake for each client is to try and mirror the other person’s handshake in strength, keep your shoulders aligned as you are preferably standing when you shake hands. While you shake your client’s hand make sure you make eye contact and give them a sincere smile.

Showing a little weakness can actually be to your advantage in this situation, and will actually make others more inclined view you as honest. You don’t want to come across as too good to be true. When revealing this weakness, however, the key to coming out on top is turning what sounds like a weakness into a strength. For example, your service may be more expensive, but that’s because you offer more personalized and extra services than your competitors.

Honesty and integrity are the two traits that 98 percent of buyers and sellers report are qualities they consider “very important”. The thing is you can say you have these traits all you want on your website, bio, etc., but trust has to be earned, and the only way to do this is to prove your credibility.

Here are a few tips for how to sound more credible:

When you talk to your clients avoid using filler words such as “um” and “uh”, which can decrease your credibility. You also want to watch the tone of your voice. People tend to translate a deeper tone as sounding more credible.

You want to develop a relationship to last a lifetime when interacting with your clients. There are many things you can do to accomplish this, and using these tips can take you from getting just a few referrals and repeat customers to gaining a loyal client following. Taking the little extra time to make sure you are projecting the right attitude and making sure that you are doing things to gain your client’s trust can make a world of difference for your business.

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STEVE & KELLY McCARTHY Top Agent Magazine

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Husband and wife real estate team Steve and Kelly McCarthy are agents playing at the top of their game in Yuba Sutter.

When it comes to getting top dollar for their many clients, husband and wife real estate team Steve and Kelly McCarthy are agents playing at the top of their game. With a commitment to outperforming their competition in Yuba City, California, this pair has achieved stellar success that is almost unparalleled in this sleepy Northern California community.

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The pair have always functioned as a team, having met after individually signing up for real estate school. “We had both signed up because we were interested in investing,” says Kelly, “but after we started selling real estate we realized we were really good at it, and decided we wanted to keep helping people buy and sell homes.”

Currently working with a Buyer’s Agent and a Transaction Coordinator, the McCarthy Real Estate Team is poised to grow substantially. “We’re building our team right now,” says Steve, “and we have about eleven peoTop Agent Magazine

ple who are about to come on board. We’re also hiring an administrative person to take a lot of tasks off of our plate so we can spend more time face-to-face with our clients.”

With almost 70% of their business based on repeat and referred customers, this duo is clearly doing something right. “I think the thing we hear the most from our clients is that we’re available to them. It’s kind of trend in real estate right now for an agent to take a listing and then suddenly become unavailable. With us, there are always two people available to answer any questions they might have.” Another reason for this client loyalty is their ability to realize the greatest profit possible from the sale of their homes. “We really push the comps when we Top Agent Magazine

list homes for people,” says Steve, “and it’s very easy to show them that value, when their neighbors homes are selling for less.”

And of course, there’s a reason that stands out above all others: “We’re very honest,” says Kelly, “and our clients can see that. We always put our clients before ourselves.”

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that completely remodel the house, because they might put 20k into the property, but get 50k out of it.”

Professional photography is of paramount importance to them, and they are among the first in their town to use it exclusively. hallmark of the team, it is something they enjoy the most, and they are constantly striving to do better than their competitors in this incredibly important aspect of selling a home. “Depending on the home,” says Steve, “we’ll even bring in contractor crews Copyright Top Agent Magazine 10

When asked what they enjoy most about their profession, Steve replies: “I love working with people, and being able to help them with what is possibly one of the biggest transactions of their lives. We take pride in the fact that our clients often don’t realize Top Agent Magazine

how difficult the process is, because we deal with any problems for them.”

Kelly echoes Steve’s sentiments.

“That’s the biggest thing for me,” she says, “to be able to help people buy their dream home or get out of a bad situation that they wouldn’t be able to get out of otherwise, such as not being able to afford their home anymore, or a divorce.”

Steve and Kelly, who are also best-selling authors along with co-author Brian Tracy, are looking forward to the future and to Top Agent Magazine

helping develop the up and coming agents who will be joining them soon. “Our goal is to train them in the way we work, and to instill our ethics and values in them, so they can continue helping people like we have.”

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For more information about

Steve and Kelly McCarthy, please call 530-415-0361 or email KellyMcCarthy@live.com 12Copyright Top Agent Magazine

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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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FRAN PAPAPIETRO “Buying or selling real estate is more than a financial transaction. Having an advisor and confidante who has your best interests at heart is priceless.”

Top Agent Fran Papapietro of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Sereno Group grew up in a military family, and she and her family relocated multiple times. Now a relocation expert, she has put that experience to good use helping her many grateful clients find sure footing in new communities.

“When I was growing up,” explains Fran, “my best friend’s mom was a Realtor for brand new construction in Southern California. That’s when I fell in love with real estate.” Upon graduation from college, however, Fran joined her peers in selling software products in the Silicon Valley. “It was a wonderful experience,” she says, “because I learned a lot about sales. I learned how to qualify. I learned how to make presentations.

I learned how to ask open-ended questions. I learned many skills that ended up helping me in real estate.”

Fran pursued a high-tech sales career for several years before deciding it simply wasn’t fulfilling. She made the switch to real estate because “I needed something that would feed my soul,” she explains.

Now fifteen years later, and Fran has established herself as one of the most dependable and conscientious Realtors working in the Bay Area today. One of her specialties that’s in high demand is relocation.

“I work closely with Fortune 100 companies here in the Silicon Valley,” says Fran, “as well as startups.

By working closely with these company’s Human Resource Departments, I’m serve as an extension of their recruiting efforts. Relocating an executive is multifaceted. Their candidates are not only considering a new position but also moving their family to a new community. I’m essentially a matchmaker. By completing a thorough assessment of their needs, I tailor our search to focus on the communities that best fit their criteria. Once the employee has been hired, I assist them with all aspects of settling in. It’s not just about buying the home, it’s about getting them integrated into their community.”

Honesty and a direct manner are characteristics that set Fran apart from her competitors. She pulls no punches when working with her clients.

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“I’m definitely a straight-shooter,” she says. “I tell my clients what’s wrong with a property often before I tell them what’s right with it. Showing them what’s wrong with a property is where I believe real estate agents have the most value. What’s right about a property is typically evident. The disadvantages aren’t always obvious.”

Clear and constant communication are also hallmarks of Fran’s approach to the real estate business. “I work full-time,” she says. “So I dedicate 100% of my focus to this business. I’m also a data-driven person. My clients appreciate the deep research I do on their behalf.

By keeping them informed of what’s happening in

this premier real estate market, they can make the best decision for their family.” This, among her many other virtues, has resulted in a business that is based almost entirely on repeat and referred clients.

Despite the financial rewards, it’s the more personal side of the business that Fran finds most rewarding.

“I think what I enjoy the most are the relationships I build with people,” she says, “and the fact I’m helping them create a new beginning, a new life. There’s an intimacy that comes with that, being part of the creation of somebody’s next chapter. And with that comes the responsibility of being upfront and honest from the very beginning of the process.”

For more information about FRAN PAPAPIETRO, please call 408 - 623 - 4155 or email Fran@SerenoGroup.com Top Agent Magazine

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5 Tips to Get New Clients If you’ve been in the industry for a while, you’ve probably built up a healthy percentage of repeat and referral business.

Although it can be tempting to just maintain those relationships rather than generating new business, there’s something to be said for staying on top of Top Agent Magazine

your game by never resting on your laurels. Actively pursuing new clients is not only a way to generate more business, but depending on how you do it, it could even lead to a profitable new niche. Here are just a few ways to build up your new client base.

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Become a referral partner with industry peers

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Cold Call Expired and FSBO Listings

Everyone from mortgage lenders, to financial planners, to insurance agents, can be potentially lucrative referral partners for a Realtor®. You may already have great relationships with some that just need to be more formalized. But, you don’t just want to partner with anyone, make sure these are people you also feel completely comfortable referring your clients to - people who share your values and work ethic.

Another avenue to consider is divorce attorneys – yes, you heard that correctly. Helping people go through this difficult period actually requires a very specific skill set.

You need to be able to handle the legal aspects, as well as the emotional ones. There are numerous training courses you can take if you decide to take this route, which could end up being a lucrative and much-needed specialty.

This is a route a lot of agents take when they are just starting out, that usually leads to great success. You probably haven’t cold called since you started out, and this is a great skill to build up again.

It will not only sharpen your sales skills, but could generate a lot more business.

People with For Sale By Owners (FSBOs) and expired listings, are usually very motivated to sell. This is a great chance for you to really hone in on why they need to hire you. Do you offer innovative marketing plans? Access to a large sphere of influence? Expired listing clients are looking for ways to sell a property that seems impossible to move. With FSBOs, you need to show them how you can get them more money in their pocket, even

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with paying you a commission. Pursuing both will really engage your mind to think outside of the box, which will not only get you more business, but make you better at what you do.

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Partner up with a Relocation Company

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Become a Builder’s Realtor® of choice

This is another niche market that you can really capitalize on if you want to pursue a new specialty. But, it is a specialty, so getting educated on the process will help you generate the business you want. It’s a complicated area of real estate, you’ll often

times be helping to facilitate dual transactions, as you try and secure a property at the same time you are helping your relocation client sell their previous home. This specialty is becoming an in-demand skill in areas that have major corporate headquarters.

This can be a real score for any Realtor®.

The competition might be fierce to land a client like this, but there are numerous ways to make yourself stand out from the rest.

Gain certifications and become knowledgeable about the construction process. Be wellversed on what trendy materials, features, and finishes will add value to a property.

Get the builder on board with you by offering to take just a segment of the subdivision then wow them with your marketing skills.

Take on properties they haven’t been able to sell. You can even offer to throw an open

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house for them. This is another way to show them the level of service they can expect from you. These clients might be harder to land, but the payoff will be enormous.

Create a Website that Offers Real Value to Potential Clients

Perhaps the most useful way of getting contact information for people looking to sell is by adding a home valuation feature to your website. When people are first considering selling their home, finding out how much

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it is worth is one of the first questions they want answered. By becoming a resource to potential clients (and current clients!), you just might be the first person that comes to mind when they’re actually looking to sell.

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