You make a great points. You don't know how much help you are! I would ask to contact you off this message board but it seems your are in Canada.

Anyways, I am extemely comfortable door knocking in the area I grew up in. Yet, others have told me to try other places due to the value of these homes. All homes range from 400,000 - 1,000,000. However, as you stated, knock where you feel most comfortable. I feel I have the most in common with these people. I feel I can easily gain rapport by stating the fact I grew up in "here in this neighborhood and went to this school" However, I feel some of these peoeple may be a bit too snobbish not to use the big hitting agents and take a chance on a younger guy.
It also seems in high income area's EVERYONE KNOWS a Realtor. Is that case in middle class or working class area's too? Or are there a least a little less Realtors in the neighborhood?

Back to your points. It's funny though. What you said is coming full circle. I came home one day from knocking on $700,000 - $1,000,000 homes and thought damn, "that was easier than the cheaper priced homes across the street" Most of these people in these homes are a bit older than other neighborhoods around them. They are also likely wiser. Bottom line, they are at a point in life where choosing mister big shot agent is something they could CARE LESS about. They would rather help someone.

This is the bad news, at times during door knocking I have actually avoided older looking homes. Homes that look unkept or not having a freshly cut lawn with pretty little daisies on the door. I had thought I would not relate to older people. It seems I have it all wrong!

Thanks again! If you have anymore advice... I am all ears. Your advice is of MUCH help!

Best,
Will

Just print up a newsletter(3000-4000) and go and see them four times a year,
"Hi it's wonderful me and here is my newsletter" you don't have
to interogate them, without seniors as a 27 year old agent I would have starved.

Yes the granparents kids all have an agent but often the grandparents are not too impressed with there own children, they don't visit, live far away, are busy raising there own families, this is when they call you, you have taken the trouble to visit them and they perceive you as a worker plus they want to choose their own realtor and retain their independance.

These guys know a lot of people that don't have mortgages,
quite often the grandparents help their kids or grandkids
buy a home, they could well refer you!

Inspect property in your 4000 area farm, when you are up against a hard core guy like Lucky it will give you an edge because you can speak with authority
about the comparables, they will be impressed.

They didn't mind that I had a $3000 used Toyota Tercel, 2 door with
no AC.

Sorry everybody, will stop this rambling.

Will,

One thing I forgot to add is I had a major terror of doing
my listing presentation so for the first 6 months I would
take a seasoned agent out with me to the listing appointment
and share the listing with them, I learnt a lot and slowly
built up my confidence. I always chose an agent who I
thought was a good fit for that lead.

Good luck today with your:

- 150 doors.(attempts)
- 1 hour phone follow up/lead development.(as per Lucky)
- inspect 2 homes

Magic will come your way if you stick with it
on a daily basis.


Hunter.

Lucky,

Keen to know what value added information you use for your
SOI/PC follow up calls. Personally I just call them up
and ask them how's it going or for now "how was your Summer?"
I'm thinking it has to be simple to work.

Hunter.

After reading all the posts, I have come up with a summery.
Door knocking/cold calling are one of the effective/cheap way to generate listings, but it is somewhat degrading to the profession. No professionals such as lawyer, doctor, or CPA would knock on doors, (except Politicians if it is considered a profession).

In general, there are two type of agents, one that think he/she is a professional, and would not do anything that could hurt their professional image. The other, feel that real estate is a sales and number game, and the more people he or she talks to, the more chance for a sale.

So,, does door knocking really degrade our profession? If so is there a way to door knock without damaging our professional image?

Hello Boo,

You asked, does door knocking damage our profession?

I don't believe so if you are providing some value in
your visit, either a newsletter or some market info on
what has just sold/listed in their area. Most people
know an agent, so you have to be civil and respectful
to stand a chance of them considering you as their realtor.

The call can be very brief, hi I just sold a home around the
corner and was just dropping by to give you my newsletter.
It's very quick, now if they want to talk real estate they
will often start talking, if not thank them and leave.

You might be pleasantly surprised just how curiouse people are
about current real estate conditions.



Lawyers, Doctors, CPA don't door knock?

They are not sales people, they are specialized people much
like my auto mechanic. I have witnessed lawyers seriously
damage many of my clients equity through protracted divorce
casses, these people have been taken to hell and back by
unethical family lawers. As a door knocking agent I have
never inflicted this amount of pain on any client, ever.


Two types of agents?

When I started out in real estate there was a very talented
individual that joined our office, she was confident, had
superb people skills and came into the office every day dressed
for work. She only lasted about a year, I bumped into her after
she left the office and was glad to see her, she said the reason she failed was that she refused to canvass for business.

For a prospecting agent to win a client over means they have to
be very good at what they do, great market knowledge, good people/sales skills and often these guys are very serious about their business. Not all prospectors are doing massive volume, they are aware that if they do a superb job for this customer that they might get a referral or at least keep these
customers for life.


You mention cheap ways of getting business, my door knocking
newsletters cost me $300, my past client newsletters are $1
a piece, not exactly for free.


Hope this makes some sense to you.

We are Professional SALESPEOPLE! Sales people SELL! We are NOT Lawyers or Doctors and should stop pretending we are the same. They are not SALESPEOPLE, we are! Part of selling is aquiring new business. If you choose to sit and wait for it to come to you.... So be it. I choose to be pro active and my goal is to grow my business anually by 10-20% as a goal without buying my business.

Anyone who thinks it is degrading to the profession to call someone and ask them if they want to sell their house is missing a large point. We are in the business of selling homes. Asking someone if they want to sell their home is a normal part of the business.

I get plenty of calls, postcards and invitations to dinner from financial planners. You can't turn on the TV without some attorney saying "One call that's all". There is plenty of advertising for medicine which ends with "ask your doctor about xyz pill". Insurance companies hammer us with ads. The average person isn't turned off by cold calling or even door knocking, they recognize that it is advertising and is an essential part of or business. The ones who are, are on the DNC list and aren't getting called.

Don't compare yourself to Doctors. It takes them 8 years of intense training to become licensed. It takes us 80 hours of class to get our license. We are salespeople. Our reputation isn't that great to begin with. If anything, cold calling and/or door knocking probably improves it, because at least the public sees that we are actually doing something.

^^^^^^^^this all the way!

The Public doesn't not respect us because they feel we do NOTHING, are overpaid for doing NOTHING, and lie to the public. Get to work, tell the truth and earn the respect.

Superb daily affirmation for door knockers:


"As I walk through the valley of death I fear no one, for I am the meanest <censored> in the valley!" General George Patton.

Only applies to those who are doing their chin ups, very important excercise
for realtors, helps you climb trees very fast when a dog wants to bite you.
Now if a bear is chasing you don't friggen climb a tree, bears are like overgrown monkeys and can do chin ups all day long, just run for your life.


Hunter.

Pesky,


That quote is from one of your most famous
Generals in history, you shoud be proud of
his wise words, let them stand.


Hunter.

Just so our new member knows - IMO - I would have issued a time out for quoting those offensive words. Then the new member appears to have taken a parting shot at the Mod. I suggest the new member acquiesce and follow the rules - the new member has certainly made the top of the 'watch list'. (I keep saying it to all the Mods - no good deed goes unpunished)

Professionals? There is a huge difference in acting and behaving professionally in any job and having a career as a professional. One of course is the higher degrees earned to be considered a professional along with a period of time spent as an intern before actually being accepted as a professionals.

I don't think acquiring a GED and passing a 300 multiple guess questions test to get a 70% score to obtain a real estate license and then asking all your relatives, high school friends and sitting at open houses is the same as a doctorate and interning.

I do feel there are professional real estate agents and I feel there are real estate agents that are professionals - not exactly the same thing. But I also feel that the overwhelming majority of real estate agents are neither and nothing but real estate licensees.

So do you think joining and paying dues to NAR makes you professional? What type of organization is NAR classified as?

To me, it makes no difference how I am classified, I'll act and behave the same whether I a tradesman that acts professionally or professional that knows my craft.

Perky - you certainly are a kind and generous person.

As far as the real topic of the thread - Hey - Good cold calling has always paid off. It can be done professionally and if done regularly a great source of new business. Keeping an updated DNC registry and knowing the correct questions to ask is now key. Good luck with it - I may go back to it soon too.

We received complaints from other members of this board over the vulgarity you posted.

Regardless of who says it, this board has rules regarding the type of speech used.

Furthermore, many boards would have you put on a time out for disrespecting a moderator or moderator action. I suggest you cool your jets and behave yourself if you would like to continue participating on this board.

Pine - thanks for watching my back.

Perky Realtor,

The intent of the post was to tell other prospectors to
excercise first thing in the morning (chin ups). They will feel more confident when they walk up to their first door and their brain will be more relaxed which lends itself to being a better listener, which is vital for effective prospecting.

In the future I will not use a quote from any American National Hero.
I had no idea that you are our gatekeeper, especially knowing how
you feel about cold canvassing.


Pine, thanks for telling on me and for sharing your cold call tips
with us, I've learn't a lot and am looking forward to learning more
from you. Just curious to know how many calls you have made in your
real estate career?


Hunter.

My feelings about this topic have nothing to do with my status as a global moderator.

Quotes are fine as long as they fall within the Terms of Use Guidelines.