OREGON 3-30-20

OREGON EDITION

4 Reasons Why

MULTITASKING CAN ACTUALLY DERAIL YOUR DAY Every Player is Valuable:

HOW TO BOOST YOUR TEAM’S MORALE

BE THEIR ® REALTOR FOR LIFE:

How to Build a Relationship with Your Clients that Will Last a Lifetime FEATURED AGENTS

ARICA MITCHELL WINSTON MURRAY

COVER STORY

STEVE THOMAS

OREGON EDITION

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ARICA MITCHELL 23 WINST

When her team at Hybrid Real Arica a Winston Mu Estate is not working tirelessly clients. estate throu to market a new listing, Arica she thro starting a Mitchell can be found tending to relation years,events his r the garden around her house. In Recovery many ways, gardening provides to sprinC in the her with a relaxing break from pastPor cli him aall, vital the hustle and bustle of her career. the STEVE THOMAS ARICA MITCHELL WINSTON MURRAY However, Arica is still very much their liv and busines a gardener at the workplace, college educ having nourished a community Outside the nonprofi aroundcreate her life passion. out of nothing—s her hom something CONTENTS Christm The ceiling’s unlimited, but you ha Arica first discovered the real estate industry while Hybrid 4) 4 REASONS WHY MULTI15) EVERY PLAYER working as a Marketing Coordinator for IS a builder in her to Having watched his grassroots TASKING CAN ACTUALLYPennsylvania. InVALUABLE: TO BOOST 2004, she gotHOW her license, and her County Winston decided to try his hand at career took off from there. mission DERAIL YOUR DAY YOUR TEAM’S MORALE He spent the next few years learnin or arou Williams, which then inspired him t Today, Arica is the Listing Agent and Owner of the 6) BE THEIR REALTOR® 19) TOP 4 WAYS TO Song Real Estate Team at Hybrid Real Estate, where Lookin FOR LIFE: HOW TO BUILDshe services clients JUICEacross UP Today, YOUR OPEN HOUSE the Principal Br Lane, Winston Linn andis Benton the con A RELATIONSHIP WITH Counties. With her STRATEGY growing Real team of eight agents, success Estate, where Arica he supervises has certainly made a name service for herself in the area. In thethough YOUR CLIENTS THAT WILL clients throughout Portl 2019, her combined team sales volume ranked #2 in“I’llher tea a large range,” he says. take LAST A LIFETIME Lane County. Elsewhere, herSalem team has beenathe #1 real businesI to sell house—wherever estate team at Hybrid Real Estate in each of the past five relentle the momentum.” she say years, and her agents sell five times as many homes as plish gr the average agent in Lane County.

Phone 310-734-1440 | Fax 310-734-1440

And the momentum has been rolling

mag@topagentmagazine.com | www.topagentmagazine.com as Winston’s business has flourishe What’s the secret to all this success? Arica chalks it up No portion of this issue may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior consent of the publisher.

Top Agent reputation inyears the community.

Winst to aInc. work ethic, perhaps fromthe her ofpublished leadMagazine is published by Feature Publications GA, Although precautions aregleaned taken to ensure accuracy of building trusting relationships with ership training in expressed the United States Air “I care materials, Top Agent Magazine cannot be held responsible for opinions or facts supplied

by Force. its authors.

To subscribe or change address, send inquiry toabout mag@topagentmagazine.com. ships lastthat years after a deal i structure and integrity,” she which says. “If means Published in the U.S. 70% of his transactions come from working late into the night, so be it.”

or referrals.

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Utilizing this energetic work ethic, Arica and her team Top Agent Magazine can assist their listing clients through all manners When listing a home,ofWinston m

mailto:mag@topagentmagazine.com

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4 Reasons Why Multitasking Can Actually Derail Your Day Common wisdom dictates that a master multitasker is likely to garner the most success. After all, doesn’t juggling multiple projects at once mean you’ll work faster than if you took each one as it came? While multitasking is often cited as a desirable skill—and surely serves its purpose now and again—studies show that a mere 2% of individuals can actually multitask effectively. Meanwhile, the remaining 98% might be doing more harm than good by trying 4

to tackle too much at once. Take a look below at some little-known facts about the risky side of waging a routine built on multitasking.

1. Multitasking decreases productivity While multitasking gives us the illusion of completing two tasks at once, it actually means

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our focus and productivity is split. In other words, switching back and forth between two activities doesn’t mean they’ll each be completed sooner; it means that you’re getting half-as-much complete as you would if you focused on a singular task. Multitasking fatigues your brain, elicits stress, and make you less efficient in retaining new information.

2. Multitasking is actually addictive While watching TV or taking a walk, have you ever noticed the impulse to check your smartphone or scroll through your social media feed? Even though we think about multitasking as a workplace skill, it’s also an addictive form of mental stimulation. By satiating our need for distraction with constant check-ins online, we become accustomed to frequent breaks in our focus, training us to crave updates, messages, and push notifications—we even hit refresh when we’ve checked in five minutes prior! This negative habit-building makes it difficult to complete sustained bouts of concentration.

3. Multitasking has negative physical side effects Studies show that those who juggle multiple focus-intensive activities actually show spikes in cortisol, a stress hormone. Likewise, frequent multitaskers display symptoms of sleep deprivation: fatigue, disorientation, and lack of focus. Studies in Europe have recently Top Agent Magazine

discovered that those who consistently multitask may actually show decreases in empathy and emotional control. What’s more, a constant sense of anticipation—readying to switch from one task to another, or persistently checking for e-mail updates—can potentially cause a decrease in overall IQ.

4. Multitasking breeds mistakes When our attention is split between tasks, it’s difficult to perceive and retain detail-oriented information. Because of this, mistakes—typos, clerical errors, mislabeled documents, and the like—occur with greater frequency. We’re in such a hurry to complete a portion of a task and switch to the next project that we lose sight of prompts, deadlines, and tying up loose ends. This means multitaskers are far more likely to overlook a glaring error than an individual who is devoting 100% of their attention to the task at hand.

Now that we understand some of the dangers of multitasking, what can we do about it? While our tech-driven day-to-day might make focusing on a singular task a difficult endeavor, it’s the surest way to produce efficient, error-free work—while cutting down on stress, fatigue, and miscommunication.

Try approaching your tasks for the day with a clear-cut schedule, moving one task at a time down your to-do list. This approach can eliminate some of the inefficiency inherent in multitasking and make for your most productive work routine yet.

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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:

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 Top Agent Magazine

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.

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 THOMAS Top Agent Magazine

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STEVE THOMAS

Operating in southern Oregon, Top Agent Steve Thomas is the head of a three person team that last year closed nearly $30 million in transactions.

Steve Thomas’s passion for real estate started at a remarkably young age. When he was just eight years old, Steve accompanied his parents to an inspection of a home that they were planning to flip. “I 10 Copyright Top Agent Magazine

was instantly fascinated with the whole idea of being involved with real estate,” Steve recalls. “So I decided to make it my life’s purpose.” Both of his uncles worked in construction, so Steve would help them Top Agent Magazine

out on sites as he was growing up, and worked in construction himself while he was in college. When he graduated, he started a personal training business before eventually making the transition to working as a full-time agent.

closed nearly $30 million in transactions.

Operating in southern Oregon, Steve and his team work with all sorts of inventory and price points, but in particular, specialize in helping first and second time buyers find their perfect home.

Just three years later, Steve is now the head of a three person team that last year

Steve’s drive and motivation is evident in everything that he does, and nowhere

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“It doesn’t matter what the property is, or how much it’s worth, I give everything I’ve got to every single client I work with. On top of this, I’m 100% truthful – I’m never trying to push any property on anybody.” is this more true than with his schedule. Every morning he wakes up at 3:15 AM to work out for two to two and a half hours, before going home to meditate, prepare for the day, and cook his wife and daughter a healthy breakfast.

In fact, Steve credits his tireless energy along with his honesty as being the primary drivers of his success. “It doesn’t matter what the property is, or how much it’s worth, I give everything I’ve got to every single client I work with,” Steve explains. “On top of this, I’m 100% Copyright Top Agent Magazine 12

truthful – I’m never trying to push any property on anybody.”

When it comes time to list a property, Steve implements a targeted online marketing campaign that focuses on demographics of likely buyers. “We have quite a few buyers who are looking to move from California when they retire,” Steve says.

“So we target the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas whenever we have a home that matches the profile of what those buyers are looking for.”

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Outside of work, Steve is heavily involved with the Sparrow Club, an organization that brings together schools and businesses to help support children in need of major medical aid. “A school will ‘adopt’ the child in need, which means that they’ll have a big assembly where they introduce the students to the child and explain what they need,” Steve explains. “Then a business will donate money to that school and that child, and the students ‘release’ the money to the family by doing community Top Agent Magazine

service.” Steve feels a deep personal connection to this organization, given the fact that his daughter was herself a sparrow.

“It’s really amazing the kind of work that they do,” he says.

In looking to the future, Steve is excited to continue growing his business, and wants to take on a role coaching other agents.

“I want to coach other agents on how to be the best agent, parent, and person they possibly can be.”

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For more information about Steve Thomas, please visit stevethomasgroup.com call 541-326-6596 or email steve@stevethomasgroup.com www.

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Every Player is Valuable: How to Boost Your Team’s Morale In the fast-paced world of real estate, it can be easy to overlook the contributions of those lower-level employees who are instrumental in our success, yet are overlooked when it comes to recognizing the important roles they play in keeping our business operating smoothly.

Even a task that seems simple, such as answering phones, can be overwhelming at Top Agent Magazine

times. Letting these employees know that they are appreciated is something that often goes overlooked at busier companies, and can often result in impaired morale overall, as employee dissatisfaction tends to be contagious.

Here are some things that you can do to increase morale and productivity in your workplace: 15

While it’s important to point out when an employee is doing something wrong, it is equally – if not more – important to acknowledge when that employee is doing something right.

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While it’s important to point out when an employee is doing something wrong, and sometimes to reprimand, it is equally – if not more – important to acknowledge when that employee is doing something right. Even a simple compliment can go a long, long way towards building that employee’s morale, and therefore their willingness to go the extra mile for your team.

An example: “Sally, I just heard you on the phone with that client. You sounded very professional and I really appreciate your representing our business that way.”

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Determine what all of your employee’s goals are, and what their expectations for growth might be. There may be lower level employees who are perfectly content doing what they’re doing, and who have absolutely no expectations for growth in your business. Others, however, may have an interest in moving up the ladder. Make it your business to determine this early on, and try to take a personal interest in your employee’s growth with your company. Knowing there is room to grow is an important factor in employee satisfaction, and knowing who wants to grow and who

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doesn’t is something you should be aware of. Groom from within, and your employees will be grateful and work harder.

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If your workplace is highly stratified, with multiple levels of employees (agents, senior agents, loan processers, assistants, etc.,) make an effort to ensure that everyone feels valued as part of the team regardless of what they earn. Various team building exercises that encourage trust and a sense of familiarity can go a long way towards fostering an environment that is less unnecessarily competitive and more productive and cooperative. A quick web search for “Trust Building Exercises” will help you locate many good ways to achieve a newfound level of camaraderie amongst your team. Many of them are quite a bit of fun, too.

Hopefully these tips will assist you in creating a better-functioning, higher-achieving team of motivated, caring employees.

Remember, a chain is only as strong as the weakest link, so be sure to keep everyone feeling appreciated, supported and valued, and your company will only benefit.

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ARICA MITCHELL When her team at Hybrid Real Estate is not working tirelessly to market a new listing, Arica Mitchell can be found tending to the garden around her house. In many ways, gardening provides her with a relaxing break from the hustle and bustle of her career.

However, Arica is still very much a gardener at the workplace, having nourished a community around her life passion.

Arica first discovered the real estate industry while working as a Marketing Coordinator for a builder in Pennsylvania. In 2004, she got her license, and her career took off from there.

Today, Arica is the Listing Agent and Owner of the Song Real Estate Team at Hybrid Real Estate, where she services clients across Lane, Linn and Benton Counties. With her growing team of eight agents, Arica has certainly made a name for herself in the area. In 2019, her combined team sales volume ranked #2 in Lane County. Elsewhere, her team has been the #1 real estate team at Hybrid Real Estate in each of the past five years, and her agents sell five times as many homes as the average agent in Lane County.

Arica also prioritizes keeping in touch with all her past clients. On top of email outreach and monthly postcards, she throws regular events to celebrate and maintain her relationships in the Song Real Estate community. These events run a gamut from autumn pumpkin pie giveaways to spring pizza parties. “It feels great to reconnect with past clients,” she says. “They’re important to me. After all, the best part of life is helping people and bettering their lives. That’s why I do this.”

Outside of her career, Arica is an active participant in her hometown. Not only does she host local events like Christmas coloring contests, but she also has joined the Hybrid 100, a community action initiative that allows her to contribute to various charities throughout Lane County. “Helping others is at the top of my personal mission statement,” she says. “That can be in real estate or around the neighborhood.”

Looking ahead to the future, Arica looks forward to the continued cultivation of her team, maintaining her success through synergy and collaboration. For her, though, this all comes back to gardening. Through her team at Hybrid Real Estate, Arica has cultivated a business philosophy around strong collaboration and relentless compassion. “The more people, the better,” she says. “When we lean on each other, we can accomplish great things.”

What’s the secret to all this success? Arica chalks it up to a work ethic, perhaps gleaned from her years of leadership training in the United States Air Force. “I care about structure and integrity,” she says. “If that means working late into the night, so be it.”

Utilizing this energetic work ethic, Arica and her team can assist their listing clients through all manners of marketing. Beyond rigorous online advertising, Arica allots a substantial marketing budget to each home, helping her clients to orchestrate open houses and generate buzz around their property. Elsewhere, she can lean on her expert marketing team, which generates over 150 new leads per month.

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To learn more about Arica Mitchell email arica@songrealestate.com, visit songrealestate.com or call (541) 736-6314 www.

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Top 4 Ways to Juice Up Your Open House Strategy

by Rob Flitton

I go to open houses, but not just because of my profession or interest in architecture and interior design. I go to open houses to see how effective real estate agents are at selling. It has been rather eyeopening because there is very little selling going on—the average open house strategy needs work.

1.Build a Dynamic Open House Booklet After they leave, open house visitors will discard a one-page for-sale info sheet naming a home’s features. But they will keep, and possibly use, a 6 or 8 page booklet loaded with interesting items that directly solve problems for them.

Perhaps “selling” is considered an outdated skill, or that it feels socially awkward for agents to be regarded as a salesperson. But if you’re a real estate agent, you are a salesperson. At most of the open houses I go, I see money floating out the door every time a visitor leaves because of the agent’s inability or refusal to sell.

It will require some strategic thought to nail the content and design, but perhaps include: (i) descriptives about the benefits of buying the property you’re showing, and not just data, (ii) compelling reasons why they should consider working with you along with a web link to search for listings on your website, (iii) a web link telling them how to get a prompt, written estimate on the value of their home, or to find out what other homes in their neighborhood sold for, (iv) possible discounts on real estate related services—maybe a reduction in fees from your preferred lender, or a reduced home inspection price, (v) possible discounts on non real estate related items.

An open house is a lucrative opportunity to find buyer or seller clients –selling the listing itself may also be the goal, but an agent should not pass up this chance.

There are 4 distinct strategies an agent can immediately employ to juice up their open houses and get awesome leads.

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IfIf you you combine combine this this dynamic dynamic booklet booklet with with properly properly trained trained closing closing lan lan-guage, guage, as as touched touched upon upon below, below, itit is is something the average person will something the average person will either either keep keep and and use use or or pass pass along along to to someone someone they they know. know. A A well well designed designed booklet can bring you a lot of business. booklet can bring you a lot of business.

ofinteresting interesting data—and they they are are void voidof data—and or problem-solving problem-solving information. information. or

2.Work The The Neighborhood Neighborhood 2.Work A few few days days prior prior to to your your open openhouse, house, A find the the names names and and addresses addresses (from (from find tax records—or records—or elsewhere) elsewhere)of, of,say, say,20 20 tax homes in in each each direction direction from from the the homes Pre-internet, open house. house.

Pre-internet, both both open open houses houses for for open resale resalelistings, listings, and and model model homes homes for for cost of of postage postage and and some some new newconstruction, construction, relied relied on on strategic For the cost sweat-equity, mail mail aa postcard postcardto tothese these collateral collateral materials materials (handouts). (handouts). Vis- sweat-equity, homeowners inviting inviting them them toto the the itors ostensibly looking looking at sev- 80 homeowners itorswere were ostensibly eral house and and offering offering something something eralcompetitors competitors at at the the same same time, so open house collateral and compelling—perhaps compelling—perhaps aa collateral materials materials had had to to have the unique and giveawayfor forthose thosewill willing ing power power to to bring bring them them back back to your drawing or giveaway their opinion opinion on onthe theasking asking site—a site—a great great call call to to action, action, eye- to provide their home (and (and the theentry entrycard, card, catching catching color, color, identification identification of the price of the home will net net you you their their email email benefits of course, will benefits of of buying buying your your product. product. address and and phone phone number). number). People People Yetatatopen open houses houses today, today, I primarily are generally generally nosy nosy and and like like toto be be Yet see bland bland information information sheets sheets dis- validated, so so asking asking for for their their opinion opinion see cussing features—the features—the listing listing price, on something something hap happening pening in in their theirown own cussing the square square footage, footage, and and the the standard neighborhood neighborhood is is very very appealing. appealing. the 20

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And, it is best to mail them again right after the open house to talk about what happened.

“From our Saturday open house, we discovered 3 qualified and eager buyers that are now looking for a home in this neighborhood—if you would like to know what your home is worth for these buyers to consider, please give me a call.”

dynamic booklet and say: “Please enjoy our open house, and am hoping you’ll do me a favor. This booklet is loaded with great information about, and if you become interested at some point in buying or selling, would you please call and give me the opportunity to earn your business? Or if you happen to know someone now who is looking now, would you kindly pass this booklet onto them?”

Also, adding on door-knocking or If they reply with a “don’t know” type flyer-hanging to your mailings boosts of answer this usually means they are your neighborhood equity even more. indeed looking but are just not ready yet to reveal this to you, so you will 3.Close and Qualify need to work to make a connection.

Engage every single visitor in closing Good consultative sales connections dialogue, because every single visitor are made when you can make them feel you’re not pushy and are able to is there for a reason. directly resolve their problem.

While smiling, with shoulders erect, and maintaining suitable distance, A “yes” type of response is great, but look them in the eye and offer your you should take the qualifying step of handshake while stating your full asking them if they’re working with another agent. If they are, the dyname and company—and then ask: namic booklet comes in handy again: “Are you out looking to buy a home “If for any reason your agent is today?” unavailable to show you homes, I can be reached at the phone number in There are 4 categories of answers, this booklet. Plus, it contains fantastic and any answer they provide is an resources for searching online and a opportunity to get to the marrow of discount on financing.” what they need. There are “nos”, “don’t knows,” “yeses,” and “other.” If you can’t get a sandwich, get a bite.

If they are definitive about looking, If they reply with a “no” variety of and don’t have an agent, then they are answer, then you can hand them your available for you to work with and Top Agent Magazine

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here again you need the right type of closing and qualifying dialogue.

The goal here is to evoke from them their home-buying goals so that you can match and narrow down to a single opportunity. It’s a mistake to present multiple listings to a buyer at once. Ask broad questions and then narrowing questions followed up by “if-then” questions.

Example: “What types of functions do you want in your new home, or activities near your neighborhood?”

Followed by something like, “is the number or size of bedrooms important to you?” Followed by, “so if I can show you the kind of home we just described, are you ready to go see it and possibly make an offer?”

4.Have Interactive Tech Tools Onsite It is the worst feeling to engage someone as a potential client at an open house and then have no tools available to solve their problem— don’t assume they aren’t going to want to do business right away.

If you’re engaging a potential buyer, you better be able to instantly gratify their desire to see viable homes online so internet access and an easily view-able screen are necessary. They may ask you to go see other homes in-person, so you need to have a coagent available to either show them those homes, or spell you off as host while you do. You may be asked to write up an offer for them so you will need the tools and ability to create and e-sign documents.

Naturally, any objections or “nos” you receive in this process are just fan- When a potential listing client is in tastic opportunities to learn about their front of you, you need to be able to needs and earn a connected trust. show them recent comparable sales and may even be asked to list their The “other” thing they might tell you home and will need the tools and is that they’re not a buyer at all, but a ability to create and e-sign documents potential seller. Potential sellers often for taking that listing. go to open houses to find out how their home stacks up, but are you It happens sometimes—but it never aware what the number one reason happens if you’re not ready. they attend open houses is?

Potential sellers go to open houses to Rob Flitton is a Seattle Real Estate Mardirectly or indirectly interview you, a keting specialist helping independent agents to increase their income. Email Rob potential listing agent. And they hire robflitton@gmail.com at any time or call/ confident, prepared professionals. text him at 206-612-2314.

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WINSTON MURRAY Winston Murray arrived at real estate through, of all things, starting a nonprofit. For two years, his Fourth Dimension Recovery Center had thrived in the Portland area, giving him a vital boost of confidence and business savvy. “It was a college education,” he says. “In the nonprofit world, you have to create something out of nothing—similar to real estate.

The ceiling’s unlimited, but you have to figure it out.”

Having watched his grassroots nonprofit flourish, Winston decided to try his hand at becoming a realtor.

He spent the next few years learning the ropes at Keller Williams, which then inspired him to set out on his own.

Today, Winston is the Principal Broker at PDX Works Real Estate, where he supervises a team of agents to service clients throughout the Portland area. “We cover a large range,” he says. “I’ll take a two hour drive to Salem to sell a house—wherever I need to go to keep the momentum.”

And the momentum has been rolling for nine solid years, as Winston’s business has flourished through its earned reputation in the community. Winston prides himself on building trusting relationships with his clients, relationships which last years after a deal is done. Today, over 70% of his transactions come from either repeat-clients or referrals.

When listing a home, Winston merges his personal touch with a modern approach to marketing. With the help of his team, he offers a comprehensive package of photography and videography to boost a home’s online footprint. “Everyone gets our premier package,” Winston says. “My team markets a $350,000 house the same way we market a million dollar house.”

Still, Winston attributes the bulk of his success to the rapport he develops with his clients. “I love building Top Agent Magazine

relationships,” he says. “As a realtor, you have an opportunity to build a lasting bond with someone at a crucial point in their life. If you do it right, it can be meaningful for both sides.”

Meanwhile, Winston continues to serve the nonprofits that inspired his career. For every house he sells, he donates a portion of the proceeds to a local nonprofit of the client’s choice. Last year, Winston and his team were able to contribute close to $18,000 in donations around the Portland area. Better yet, the Fourth Dimension Recovery Center is steadily growing alongside his real estate career.

Looking ahead, Winston hopes to grow his team while maintaining his client-first business model. “My current focus is writing an operations manual,” he says. “I’ve modeled it on the customer experience that I provided as a solo agent. This way, we can continue to scale without sacrificing client care.”

On the day Winston started out on his own as a realtor, he went skydiving. The parallels are obvious to him. “I was taking a leap,” he says. Today, Winston has landed right where he wants to be—in his hometown, where he can service clients while giving back to the community he loves. “It’s who I am,” he says. “I do this naturally.”

To learn more about Winston Murray email winston@pdxworksrealestate.com, visit pdxworksrealestate.com, or call (503)936-5549 www.

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