“Thank you so much for everything. I learned more in these 2 days than in all my 5 years in university.”
“Loved the energy and content. You exceeded my expectations. Never stop teaching!”
“I will never look at ‘selling’ the same way again. You have removed my negative notions about that word.”
These are just some of the amazing feedback we are honored to have received after our last Savvy Investor Agent Certification (SIAC) live training. We had out-of-province agents attend from Vancouver, Alberta and a wide range of agents from Ontario. There were newbie agents (two years experience or less) all the way to veteran agents (10, 15 and 20+ years in the business), and agents in their 20’s to their 60’s. About 50% of the agents already had experience working with investors but needed more insights, ideas and strategies to elevate their business to the next level, while the other 50% who’ve never worked with investors left the training with a full system to grow their business and income by adding more investor clients.
Over the course of the SIAC training, there were 3 common and profound themes that seemed to resonate with agents and kept being brought up. The results of our end-of-training surveys also confirmed that these 3 themes were some of the biggest lessons the agents took away. Below, we share the 3 themes that hold great value for you to apply in your business immediately.
1. Become an Area ‘Specialist’
I couldn’t be happier that the agents learned the real importance of this first theme. Being an area specialist doesn’t only mean being aware of active listings and sold listings in your area. A Savvy Investor Agent™ needs to know what specific sections within his city/town attract what types of tenants. What new developments are happening in your area and how far ahead are they happening? What areas of the city are in transition or redevelopment? What big employers are coming to town?
I always recommend going to the economic planning office of your city hall and finding out what kind of information you can get. Most importantly, an area specialist is one who knows the area numbers. The numbers in one section of your city/area will always differ from those in another, so become the full area specialist. Agents at the SIAC training learned where to get these numbers, how to calculate them properly (which so many investors and agents do wrong), and what numbers to focus on depending on what type of investors they’re working with. Numbers are critical to your success as an agent. We spent a half-day working on numbers; and the agents still wanted more (we focus on making numbers fun and easy to understand).
So become the specialist in your area and don’t focus on multiple areas until you’ve mastered your own. Once you become an area specialist and apply this knowledge, you will really begin to stand out and differentiate yourself from your competition.
2. Be proactive
The second theme revolved around the phrase “Be proactive,” which I believe has unfortunately lost its true meaning. Majority of agents who say they’re proactive aren’t actually putting forward a full effort. In fact, as we began talking about how a Savvy Investor Agent™ is proactive during the SIAC training, it inspired us to see some agents admit they hadn’t considered the level to which agents could really become proactive in their approach to winning business. In many ways, I don’t blame agents as hardly any training exists that provides the system, tools, resources, templates and most importantly, the mindset to succeed as an investor agent.
You would think this is a no-brainer for agents, but remember, what’s common sense isn’t common practice! At SIAC, we show agents what being proactive as a Savvy Investor Agent™ means in detail and how to practice it. Realize that investors will buy and sell many times if the deal is attractive; but if the investor feels the agent (you) provides a service that no MLS system or FSBO or search engine will provide, then your potential to earn more dramatically increases. It’s about knowing the area, its numbers, and the needs/wants of different types of investors so well that the investor notices your proactive attitude and becomes willing and excited to listen, learn and pay you the full commission you deserve. Being proactive means constantly presenting packaged investment deals to investors because each investor is at a different stage in his business, and one who doesn’t buy today might buy 3 months from now and vice versa.
At the SIAC training, we spent hours going over the step-by-step approach to finding, packaging and presenting deals, and finding, approaching and properly introducing yourself to investors in a way that leaves them compelled to pay you the full commission. One of the final components to becoming a proactive Savvy Investor Agent™ is being able to help your current traditional homebuyers become investors and tapping into your already existing list of clients and network. Teach them the benefits of investing in real estate. This is the best time for anyone to begin investing in real estate, and more and more Canadians are beginning to do it. This is possibly the biggest opportunity you have as a proactive agent to skyrocket your income and grow your business.
3. Be creative
Theme #3 is another powerful concept that kept being referred to throughout the training and is a core concept of the SIAC training. Being proactive is critical but you must fuse it with creativity. You shouldn’t rely only on finding winning deals or wait for “home run” deals to arrive. Start creating them! Most agents never consider the idea that investment deals can be, and most often are, created rather than found as is. Investors crave agents who showcase their value by becoming creative with investment properties such as turning a rundown home into a property that creates sequential cash flow for the investor. To give the SIAC agents a kickstart, they were provided with all the guidelines and strategies needed to become more creative. We were especially excited when even the veteran agents at the training began saying, “Why weren’t we taught all this in our mandatory real estate courses? This should be taught to every agent.” So remember, being a Savvy Investor Agent™ is just as much about being creative as it is about being proactive and an area specialist.
Not only were these three themes some of the biggest takeaways for the agents at the past SIAC training event, but they are also critical lessons for every agent looking to succeed in this business. I’m happy to share that SIAC has picked up more momentum: the Calgary Real Estate Board and seven other real estate brokerages have taken interest in the training and asked me to share it with their realtors. In fact, after recently speaking at a brokerage here in southern Ontario, realtors immediately began approaching us afterwards to sign up for the upcoming training immediately! I only say this to showcase that Canadian real estate agents are ready and eager to tap into the investor niche immediately. Working with investors is becoming more and more critical to thriving as an agent, so stop waiting to grow your business!
Invest in your business, invest in your life!
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