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The ‘How And WHY’ Of Building Rapport With Agents
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Real Estate Agents get a bad wrap...
They regularly rate among the least trusted professions, most recently in Roy Morgan’s 2021 Annual Image of Professions survey. This survey takes a look at 30 professions and ranks them on honesty and ethics. For the fourth year in a row agents ranked in the bottom three, only marginally higher than advertising people and car salesmen.
But despite their terrible reputation, Agents are super-important to our success as Developers. More often than not you’ll have to work with Agents to buy and sell the properties you develop and it makes sense to have a handful of Agents on your side, not only working with you, but working for you.
What exactly do I mean by that?
They regularly rate among the least trusted professions, most recently in Roy Morgan’s 2021 Annual Image of Professions survey. This survey takes a look at 30 professions and ranks them on honesty and ethics. For the fourth year in a row agents ranked in the bottom three, only marginally higher than advertising people and car salesmen.
But despite their terrible reputation, Agents are super-important to our success as Developers. More often than not you’ll have to work with Agents to buy and sell the properties you develop and it makes sense to have a handful of Agents on your side, not only working with you, but working for you.
What exactly do I mean by that?
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Well, as you’ve probably worked out, time can be one of the most limiting factors on our journey as a Property Developer. As an individual your ability to find deals is limited by how much time you've actually got available. But if you can find ways to leverage your time and get others to do the hunting work for you, you’re instantly ahead of the game.
Agents are in pole position. They’re able to source and scope out properties on your behalf through a range of different tactics.
First up there are listings they’ve already signed up that are advertised on property portals like domain.com.au and realestate.com.au. Then there are what’s known as off-market listings. These are properties that don’t appear on the property portals but are up for sale “on the quiet”. Finally, there are Vendors who haven’t yet listed with an Agent but may well be interested in selling if they’re offered the right deal.
Agents are in pole position. They’re able to source and scope out properties on your behalf through a range of different tactics.
First up there are listings they’ve already signed up that are advertised on property portals like domain.com.au and realestate.com.au. Then there are what’s known as off-market listings. These are properties that don’t appear on the property portals but are up for sale “on the quiet”. Finally, there are Vendors who haven’t yet listed with an Agent but may well be interested in selling if they’re offered the right deal.
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If you can build a fantastic rapport with Agents working in your target market, they can help you seal a deal on any one of these fronts.
They might even start contacting you before they sign-up a listing to say “Hey, I've got a property around the corner that I'm interested in listing and I think I've got a good chance. Would that be of interest to you?” When you move to that kind of relationship with an Agent you know you've built up a fantastic rapport.
So how do you move your relationship to that point? It’s a three-step process.
1. Identify the Agents you want to work with
You need to understand that there are Agents you buy through and Agents you sell through. Sometimes you’ll come across an Agent who you’re happy to do any transaction with, which is magic, but there are advantages to each type of Agent.
There are tools on domain.com.au and realestate.com.au that will list all the agents that work in any given area, and provide some insights into how much property they sell, the median price they achieve, the number of days on market. Use this information as well as their own profile on their website and Linkedin to make a shortlist of candidates. This research will also give you some conversation starters for when you first touch base.
They might even start contacting you before they sign-up a listing to say “Hey, I've got a property around the corner that I'm interested in listing and I think I've got a good chance. Would that be of interest to you?” When you move to that kind of relationship with an Agent you know you've built up a fantastic rapport.
So how do you move your relationship to that point? It’s a three-step process.
1. Identify the Agents you want to work with
You need to understand that there are Agents you buy through and Agents you sell through. Sometimes you’ll come across an Agent who you’re happy to do any transaction with, which is magic, but there are advantages to each type of Agent.
There are tools on domain.com.au and realestate.com.au that will list all the agents that work in any given area, and provide some insights into how much property they sell, the median price they achieve, the number of days on market. Use this information as well as their own profile on their website and Linkedin to make a shortlist of candidates. This research will also give you some conversation starters for when you first touch base.
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2. Organise at least three interactions with the Agents who appear to fit your brief
Start with a direct phone call and use your background research to get the conversation flowing. What you’re trying to do is have a meaningful encounter so they’ll remember who you are. Complimenting them on something can be a good place to start, then move on to what you’re looking to buy.
In order for an Agent to remember you they’ll need somewhere between 3 and 7 contact points. Agents are trained to collect contact details for people but like any other person they’re fallible, so they may not remember what you’re looking for when they compare you to the next person. So you need to manufacture opportunities to engage with that Agent until they can go, “Hey, I know who Rob is”.
You could go and meet the Agent at an open home and introduce yourself. If they’re busy, be polite and suggest a coffee catch up later in the week. This gives you a chance to sit down with them and tell them again what you’re looking for. Use this face-to-face meeting to show an interest in their job, their family and their hobbies which is a great way to build rapport.
Follow up this face-to-face meeting with an email, and then another phone call.
Agents are often bombarded with people saying they’re looking for a development site so you need to stand out from the crowd, otherwise they’ll just put you in their database and forget about you.
Start with a direct phone call and use your background research to get the conversation flowing. What you’re trying to do is have a meaningful encounter so they’ll remember who you are. Complimenting them on something can be a good place to start, then move on to what you’re looking to buy.
In order for an Agent to remember you they’ll need somewhere between 3 and 7 contact points. Agents are trained to collect contact details for people but like any other person they’re fallible, so they may not remember what you’re looking for when they compare you to the next person. So you need to manufacture opportunities to engage with that Agent until they can go, “Hey, I know who Rob is”.
You could go and meet the Agent at an open home and introduce yourself. If they’re busy, be polite and suggest a coffee catch up later in the week. This gives you a chance to sit down with them and tell them again what you’re looking for. Use this face-to-face meeting to show an interest in their job, their family and their hobbies which is a great way to build rapport.
Follow up this face-to-face meeting with an email, and then another phone call.
Agents are often bombarded with people saying they’re looking for a development site so you need to stand out from the crowd, otherwise they’ll just put you in their database and forget about you.
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3. Make your relationships with Agents a WIN-WIN
You’ve heard me say that Developers are problem solvers, and that’s no different when it comes to your relationships with Real Estate Agents.
Maybe they don’t want the hassle of going through an advertising campaign. Maybe they’re desperate for their next commission cheque and would love you to complete a speedy purchase. Maybe they don’t know how to analyse a listing for its development potential and you can add value by giving them a free site assessment. Maybe if a property doesn’t meet your criteria, you can introduce another more compatible buyer from your network.
And maybe – if you’ve met a top operator – you’ll be interested in not only just buying, but selling through this Agent too. That’s always a carrot we can dangle, but we have to be careful how we do it, because often the Agents that are good to work with when buying property are not so good when it comes to selling and vice versa.
It usually pays to let an Agent know that not only are you likely to be a repeat buyer, but also a repeat seller. So building a rapport with me potentially means multiple transactions.
I’ve got Agents on speed dial that I’ve had long term relationships with. Once you’ve got someone you can trust, you have the ability to have open conversations. If you’ve got the right rapport, you can have those conversations and there’s less game-playing, more realistic market appraisals, and better representation to Vendors.
Every time you’re in a negotiation it’s not just you and the Vendor, it’s you, the Vendor and the Agent. If the Agent’s not representing you, you’re not in the deal.
You have to ‘WIN’ the Agent before you get through to the Vendor. Show them how you’re the least amount of hassle and how you have the potential to provide multiple streams of revenue for them.
Agents are critical to our success! We want to have a multi-faceted approach to filling our pipeline with opportunities and Agents are one of the best ways to fill our funnel.
You’ve heard me say that Developers are problem solvers, and that’s no different when it comes to your relationships with Real Estate Agents.
Maybe they don’t want the hassle of going through an advertising campaign. Maybe they’re desperate for their next commission cheque and would love you to complete a speedy purchase. Maybe they don’t know how to analyse a listing for its development potential and you can add value by giving them a free site assessment. Maybe if a property doesn’t meet your criteria, you can introduce another more compatible buyer from your network.
And maybe – if you’ve met a top operator – you’ll be interested in not only just buying, but selling through this Agent too. That’s always a carrot we can dangle, but we have to be careful how we do it, because often the Agents that are good to work with when buying property are not so good when it comes to selling and vice versa.
It usually pays to let an Agent know that not only are you likely to be a repeat buyer, but also a repeat seller. So building a rapport with me potentially means multiple transactions.
I’ve got Agents on speed dial that I’ve had long term relationships with. Once you’ve got someone you can trust, you have the ability to have open conversations. If you’ve got the right rapport, you can have those conversations and there’s less game-playing, more realistic market appraisals, and better representation to Vendors.
Every time you’re in a negotiation it’s not just you and the Vendor, it’s you, the Vendor and the Agent. If the Agent’s not representing you, you’re not in the deal.
You have to ‘WIN’ the Agent before you get through to the Vendor. Show them how you’re the least amount of hassle and how you have the potential to provide multiple streams of revenue for them.
Agents are critical to our success! We want to have a multi-faceted approach to filling our pipeline with opportunities and Agents are one of the best ways to fill our funnel.
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