All Forum Posts by: Catherine Emert

Xan, 

If you are willing to compensate a broker a lot of them will set you up to receive the same information for expired listings. Some times I have clients ask for it simply to run their own comps in a neighborhood to prepare an offer they feel is fair.

Last night was a great event! I am so glad I stumbled upon this group!

Thanks for all your hard work organizing these!

@Charline R. There are so many ways to do this. First you will want to figure out the value of the of business' assets if it has any, if you are keeping good books your balance sheet will help you figure this out. If your books are not up to date and clean I would suggest spending some time on that prior to figuring out the value. I have sold a lot of businesses in Oregon and it's soooooo much easier to argue the value with a good set of books. 

Then you will want to figure out your revenue. There are sites you can do searches for to see the multiplier for the type of business you are selling. Make sure you make it clear what is included and what isn't - for example I have a grocery store for sale, all fixtures, customer information, ordering information, employee information is included but because the inventory is every changing my client has opted to not include the inventory. I also have a mobile shredding company listed, EVERYTHING is included, trucks, equipment, shred bins, customer lists, etc.

@Jessica Schonter I think that depends on which state you are in and if you are charging an application fee to the applicants. If you have charged a fee to the first person it is really best in Oregon to see if they qualify for the home, otherwise you may get into a discrimination or fair housing issue.

@Marc Brenner I would highly recommend separate LLCs. There is a lot of risk in both, you want to make sure the assets from your investments are not tied to the LLC for your real estate.

Mathew,

I disagree with what you have just said, I am sorry. In Oregon we have a fiduciary responsibility to all our clients. We are required with representing the buyer and the seller to have them sign a dual agency letting them know that we owe both parties a fiduciary responsibility. I represent both buyer and seller all the time and I never have a client feeling like I am just a neutral third party. 

Olena,

I am a broker in Oregon, I used to be the IT Director for our MLS and Local Association. I know that Redfin has a bad reputation around here because they don't actually have any brokers physically here.

@Cameron Riley I have an amazing CRM that I use. I don't have anyone set up to receive an email automatically though as I like to add personal touches and conversations to each email that I send. Once a month I sit down and write email templates that start my emails for me. I have my system set up to make sure everyone is contacted once a week. I can long in as each of my brokers and send emails as if it were coming from them. I make sure that this system is followed every day. I work about 16 hour days (not ideal for most people but I love to be busy).

@Account Closed I use a lot of different systems for my cold calling. I first go back to listings that never sold (I do more than 6 months as most other brokers have given up on these listings and only go back a month). A lot of times the previous listing broker inserts their clients phone numbers in to our MLS system (I don't do this as I like to keep all my client information private). I also use Zillow's Make Me Move and all for sale by owner sites. I make sure before I call any of those that I have a buyer (or one of my brokers has a buyer) that fits the home I am calling on. I try to set up an appointment to preview the home prior to the buyers viewing it, this give me (or my broker) an opportunity to meet with the owner and get a feel for what they need from a broker and why they are selling FSBO. A lot of times people think brokers aren't going to give them the attention they need so they may as well do it themselves. I provide that attention and communication. Another thing I do is I call local professionals, I am big on cross marketing. I enjoy helping other local businesses get their name out there. I now have large companies (like plumbers, electricians, lenders) that send all of their friends and family to me because I make these calls. And yes, most of the time when I find a solid lead for a listing or a buyer wanting to see a property I connect them quickly to one of my brokers, otherwise, I put on that hat and go do what needs to be done.

The opportunities really truly are limitless. You just have to find creative ways to meet people. I may also be a bit of a queen at multi-tasking and honestly while writing this I have sent out over 100 emails and taken two listing calls. You just need to find your limit and make that work for you. Find what works and do it over and over and over again. 

Jonathan,

I think that since you already agreed upon the 15% reduction you can just politely state that is all you can do at this time. They may just be trying to take advantage of the fact you are willing to reduce their rent and if the other 3 have agreed to the reduction then I don't see why the 4th wouldn't.

Sadly it happens often.

I am sorry you are dealing with this.