Albany Real Estate Career and Training Blog with Kevin Clancy

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ESPN's Mike and Mike explain Clancy Real Estate Opportunity

Be Successful in Real Estate

Today, I want to talk to you about my experience last week. I went to New York City and spent a day with Barbara Corcoran shooting a new commercial, which should be out in about a month.

Barbara is very humble about her success, and she is really a great person. One thing she said really stuck with me: "Always surround yourself with great people." She says that's the key to her success.

This advice really struck me. For example, I graduated with a marketing degree, got an MBA, and was working in banking when my entire division got wiped out. In eight years, I've built a real estate business. We've been able to go from zero to $50 million in sales, and that's not me. That's my team. I surround myself with incredibly talented people who do a fantastic job for our clients, and I couldn't be more blessed to have this team around me.

When you're buying or selling real estate, it's the same thing. You can sell your home by yourself. You can buy a home by yourself, or use one of those new sites that allows you to just Facetime an agent, tour a home, and pay the commission via rebate. I couldn't disagree with that method more.

You need to surround yourself with professionals. Consumers squander hundreds of millions of dollars every year in the real estate process by hiring inexperienced agents or trying to do things on their own. Whether it's my team or not, you need experienced professionals. We've done this enough times that it's second nature. We close hundreds of deals a year, so we just know what to do in any given situation.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I would be happy to help you.

What Is the Key to Barbara Corcoran's Success?

I want to talk briefly about a great opportunity I had recently to go down to New York City to spend the day with Barbara Corcoran - it's always a pleasure to be with her. I never want to be the smartest guys in the room - it's rare that I ever am anyway - but when Barbara is around I am far from it!

It was a great opportunity to thank her. Our business is up $12 million or so year-to-date. She said one thing to me that really struck home: "Treat your clients like family, have fun, and everything else falls into place." Think about what that means; it means you need to do a fantastic job for them, make the experience enjoyable for them and yourself, and everything falls into place after that!

How hard do we make real estate sometimes, with all the shiny new gimmicks and things we throw money at to generate leads and grow our business? When you boil it down, it's all about creating a great client experience, treating them well, and letting everything fall into place. Disney has a saying, "Get to the fun FAST," a great mission statement that rings true in all industries. If you're working with first-time buyers, finding a home should be fun! If you're working with an older couple who is looking to downsize, helping them find that new home should be an enjoyable experience for them! You have control over the experience your clients have - so it's crucial you help them to have fun and enjoy the experience.

Barbara built her $64 million business on that simple philosophy, so it's worth thinking about. If you have any questions or would like guidance in building your business, please don't hesitate to reach out out me. I would love to give you a hand in any way possible!

Build a Big Business with a Small Budget

Today I want to bring you more value and in doing so I also wanted to speak about how you can 'crush it' even with a limited budget in your business.

I recently got back from the real estate trade show, and everyone wanted to know what it was like working with Barbara Corcoran. However, after a while I noticed that everyone I spoke with was trying to tell me that they didn't have the money to spend on marketing with Barbara Corcoran.

I want to put the rumors aside, because I didn't spend $50,000 or $60,000 to shoot the commercials with her. I'm going to New York again, and I'm actually only spending $1,600 to shoot another commercial with her. I was fortunate enough to be invited by her team while they used the studio.

So, if you don't have the ability to work with Barbara, how should you compete?

I think Chris Smith hit the nail on the head with this one when he said that service is marketing. If you have no budget, then let your service sell itself. When your business is smaller, you have the ability to interact with each and every one of your clients. People enjoy that - and that's something I can't do anymore. I just don't have time to see everyone.

The edge that you have as a smaller company or team is that you have more time to devote to your clients. You can put more energy into your introductions, into your goodbyes, and into maintaining those relationships down the line. I have too many clients to remember all of their names and their kids' names. One trick I recommend is to write them a handwritten note after every transaction (which we actually still do to this day).

All in all, you have the opportunity right now to show your clients how much you care about them. Shake your clients' hands. Hug them. Talk to them. Just show them that you care! Make your service personable and memorable and they will come back to you!

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or concerns!

The #1 Thing to Focus on in Your Real Estate Business

Today I have some exciting news for you. I've been invited to speak at a conference in Dallas, and I've been scheduled to talk on the last day about my marketing plans. I'll be competing for marketer of the year, and while I'm a little nervous to present my marketing plans to over 500 people, I know that I can't grow while staying in my comfort zone.

Speaking of marketing, lets take a moment to discuss marketing, because a lot of people can confuse it with advertising. There are four pillars of marketing, and they are product, place, price, and promotion. Today I want to talk about the product in more detail.

In an industry like real estate, you need to be able to sell yourself as a product. You need to have your skills ready to go when that promotion kicks in. I recently went on a listing with five other agents, and I was chosen over them because I knew how to answer the tough questions. I told this seller everything I knew about the market, and that won me the listing. I was able to sell myself and my product, and that's what I always focus on first. Place all of your energy into your product before you start developing your other P's.

If you have any questions about how you can develop and refine your product, I'd love to sit down and share a cup of coffee with you.

I look forward to hearing from you!

How Do You Survive in the Modern Real Estate Industry?

Today I just wanted to talk about an observation that I made in the past few days. I've had multiple agents come into my office after starting their own firms, and they're at a loss for who to call to speak about leads. They've exhausted their databases and their contacts. They didn't know who else to call for leads.

One thing that I resent about this industry is that it's been taken over by large, Fortune 500 firms that sell leads back to us. I'm not a fan of this, but sometimes you must play by the rules that the industry creates.

Referrals alone are probably not enough for you, so at some point you may need to pay for your leads. I spend nearly $100,000 per year in order to gather leads. This gets me quite a lot of leads, and I depend on my team to follow up on them.

This is also why it's essential to be working with a team in our industry. As a single agent, you just can't respond to leads as quickly as you need to.

If you're struggling as a single agent, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. We're always looking for good people to join our team. If you have any questions about an opportunity here at Clancy Real Estate, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Are You Truly Committed to Your Real Estate Career?

Today, I want to share some insights with you, particularly if you are making under six figures in your career. There was a time when I struggled immensely in my career, and I wondered if I had made the correct choice. Ultimately, I made an absolute commitment to be successful in my career.

We all have fears. I was afraid of heights, and I made it a point to face my fears. Skydiving helped me realize that my fear of heights was just not rational. As the plane approached jump height, I was petrified. But once I jumped, I became totally relaxed.

Why did that happen? Because once I was in the air, I was committed. The entire plane ride up, I had the option to back out. It's the same with real estate. Once you commit to it, things change.

I really believe that the key to success in real estate is commitment. Commit to excellence, to learning something every day, and to doing a great job for your clients. That's how you get the $20,000 commission check every week. There's no point in dabbling in this business. You need to be all in.

If you have any questions, please give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to offer further guidance.

Why Do Agents Struggle?

Why do agents struggle? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? Why are you working in real estate?

I want to share a quick story with you that I've heard from some of my mentors. It's the story of Cortez conquering Mexico. Other conquistadors had tried but failed. When Cortez landed, he had his men burn their boats. They couldn't retreat, so they had no choice to conquer Mexico. And they did!

This proves a good point: your "why" needs to be big enough that it makes you get out of bed with excitement. What is your "why"? What gets you motivated? What do you need to accomplish?

I've been very fortunate in my career and my "why" has changed over time. Initially, it was to give my kids a good life. Now that they are set, my "why" is to help my agents meet their goals, help my clients meet their goals, and to give to charity.

So this week, think about why you do what you do. Find something that makes you excited to get out of bed and get to work. If you have any questions, please give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help you.

How Have We Stepped up Our Marketing?

The days of putting a home up on the MLS, putting a sign in the yard, and praying you get a call are over. If you are not employing internet-based landing pages, virtual tours, and use of drones, you may be missing the boat.

After you’re done reading this article, we are excited to show you some incredible video of a home we just listed. This 4,000 square ft. custom brick home is on the market for $775,000, and we got a ton of great aerial shots with our drone. The backyard itself is worth $250,000 and has a 40-ft $40,000 water slide. We are going to market this video through our various social media channels to make sure it gets out to all our target markets.

If you have any questions for us, or are interested in joining a team where you can sell 50 homes a year and have all your leads provided, give me a call or send me an email. Have a great rest of your summer, we will be in touch soon!

How Can Creating Massive Value for Clients Help You Grow Your Business?

Recently, I was lucky enough to have a conversation with Kevin O'Leary and Barbara Corcoran of Shark Tank about what it takes to create a successful business. Today, I want to share what they shared with me.

The number one thing they said you should focus on to grow your business is creating massive value. The goal is to create massive value for your clients! We're in an industry that, very likely, may go the way of travel agents. If we are not careful, if we don't go above and beyond when working with clients, websites like Zillow and Trulia are going to put us out of business.

The days of big commission checks and fees are going to go by the wayside unless we create massive value. To do this, you need to strive every day to be an expert. Knowing your numbers and staying in close contact with the client are both signs that you're not only a serious professional, but an expert who offers value that can't be found anywhere else! You want to end every deal knowing you got the best possible price for your client and that you care about them.

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Treat your clients like family and make sure they are happy with your services. In fact, if a client comes to the closing table unhappy, I will write them the commission check back! We then go back and forensically reconstruct what we did wrong and what we could have done differently to get a better result!

If you have questions about how you can add value to your services and your business, give me a call. I'm always available to help you build your business!

How I Was Voted the #1 Realtor in Albany

A few years ago I was voted in as the #1 Realtor in the Times Union here in Albany. This competition only took place once, but I'm going to tell the story today.

One morning I was sitting in on a City Council meeting and I started getting messages congratulating me for winning this award. I didn't even know the competition was happening, and this was before I started doing radio or television.

The reason that I won was quite simple. I was active in a lot of business groups, and I was constantly meeting people. I'd accumulate hundreds of business cards at the end of each month, and that went the same way for many other people.

So, I was meeting people, but not really forming relationships. In order to deepen my contact with these people - whom I had maybe spoken to for 10 minutes, I started writing a Monday Morning MOJO email.

I put every single business card into my database, and in my Monday Morning MOJO email, I would talk about something valuable. I talked about my family, my fears, or even about the time that I went skydiving.

What happened was that people became comfortable with me, and I was at the top of their mind when they were asked about the best Realtor in Albany.

Essentially, my database allowed me to grow my real estate business. It was very simple, and very cost effective. It took a lot of time to grow my database, but it was well worth the effort.

As always, if you're interested in joining my team, please call me. I'm always looking for good people and I would love to speak with you. I want nothing more than for you to make six figures selling real estate this year.

Make it a good one!

What Does It Take to Be Successful?

Hey everyone, thanks for joining me today. I want to answer a question that I've been getting a lot lately. Our team has been lucky to be very successful in the real estate world, and people are wondering what makes us successful. Today I want to tell you a little bit about me and why I have succeeded in real estate.

Only a few short years ago, I was unemployed and struggling to support my family. I sat down and wrote down what I wanted in life and what I was willing to give up for it. Since then, I have surrounded myself with and tried to learn from the best, and my goal is to always strive to be better.

It's easy to stay even with the pack and enjoy mild success. It's very difficult to struggle, to fail, and get back up again. When you are used to winning in life, you're going to get complacent when you realize there is always someone out there working harder than you.

I ran cross country in high school, but didn't have a lot of natural ability. Every day after school, I would run a grueling 1.5 miles up a steep hill. There is nothing harder to do, but the dedication made me a better runner and allowed me to compete at a higher level. I kept working at it, and didn't let my failures indicate my future performance.

Succeeding in anything comes down to hard work and sacrifice. It's not easy to succeed in life, but you can as long as you learn from your failures, and persevere through them. It's always darkest before the dawn.

If you have any questions for us, or if we can help you in any way, give me a call or send me an email. If you're struggling, I'd be glad to give you some advice on how you can turn things around. I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Advice from the Sharks: Know Your Numbers!

I was recently able to attend a mastermind in San Diego, and I had a great time. All the big players in the real estate world were there, including Barbara Corcoran and Kevin O'Leary, AKA Mr. Wonderful. They talked to us about the contestants that win on the show, and what they have in common. Here are the three things that they shared with us that the winners have in common:

1. They are able to articulate the opportunity in 90 seconds or less.
2. They are successful in convincing investors that they are the right team to execute the business plan.
3. They know their numbers inside and out and have a comprehensive understanding of their business models.

This advice actually translates pretty well when talking about listing presentations. Here are 3 things you need to do in every listing presentation:

1. You've got to convey the benefits of working with you.
2. You've got to convey that you're the right person for the job by expressing it in the right way.
3. You better know your numbers inside and out (list-to-sale ratio, median home prices, absorption rates, etc.).

This will likely be one of the largest investments that a person will make. Ensuring you do these 3 things will ensure your success on listing presentations.

If you have any questions, or would like to consider joining my team, give us a call or send us an email. My goal is to have all of my agents making 6 figures, and we are well on our way to accomplishing that.

How Can You Sell 100% of Your Listings?

Welcome back to my coaching blog. I always get asked the question, "Are you practicing what you're preaching, and are the things you talk about working in your business?" Yes we are, and yes they do work. So far this year, we are at 132 closed transactions and have received 68 seller requests in the last week alone.

I recently visited San Diego and got to attend an awesome mastermind. All the big players in the business were there, including Gary Keller, Jay Kinder, and Shark Tank's own Barbara Corcoran and Kevin O'Leary.

The potential in this industry is huge if you apply yourself, so I wanted to share with you some of the takeaways I got from this mastermind. If you are not selling 100% of your listings right now, listen to this. A friend of mine named Jason Bramblett sells 100% of his listings, and here is how he does it:

He requires the sellers to come to his office, so that automatically weeds out the unmotivated sellers. He then requires them to pay for an appraisal, a home inspection and home staging if necessary. By doing these things, he knows exactly where to price the home so it sells the fastest and for the most money possible. He may be listing a smaller group of homes, but he is selling them all. He doesn't have any expired listings.

You may be skeptical, but I think if you wrap your head around it and apply this type of process to your home sellers, you'll see how effective of a strategy it could be.

If you have any questions for us, we would be glad to answer them. Just give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

What Two Traits Does Every Successful Person Have?

Today, I want to share two things I know you'll find helpful. First, I want to share a talking point about our low inventory you can discuss with potential clients. Then, I want to share two traits that all successful people have, whether they are Realtors, doctors, CEOs, or investment bankers. Let's jump right in!

Many people in the industry are claiming that inventory is very low right now because of the severe winter we had in the Albany area. To me, this couldn't be further from the truth. My training tells me that low inventory is the result of the fact that real estate markets run in 7-8 year cycles. This current cycle started around 2007, and we're clearly due for an upswing.

According to the NAR, people move every 7-8 years on average. So, when looking at the people who should be interested in purchasing a home right now, it's likely they bought their current home in 2006 or 2007. If they didn't put much money down, they have little or no equity in their home right now! In the last two weeks, we've had 63 people contact us who want to sell their homes. Of those people, around 25 of them had no equity in their home and can't sell; this is the reason inventory is low, not the harsh winter.

When working with buying clients, explain to them where we're at in the current cycle. A lot of people who should be looking to list their home at this time have little or no equity, so they're waiting to sell. This has led to a tighter market, in which buyers are having trouble finding a great home. Telling them the low inventory is a result of a harsh winter is going to give them the idea the inventory will rise as the weather begins to improve, which simply isn't the case.

Now, on to some more positive news. At the end of the week, I'm lucky to be going to a mastermind in San Diego. Kevin O'Leary from Shark Tank and Keller Williams CEO Chris Heller will both be there, so I will CERTAINLY not be the smartest guy in the room. I hope to get some interviews with those guys and other top real estate minds from around the country, so I can share what I learn with you right here on this blog.

What I learned last year at this mastermind with these folks is that all successful people have 2 traits:

Self-awareness: This has to do with how you fit in and how you are perceived by other people. It's how you view your place in the world and how those around you view you.
Authenticity: This one is the most important. Be who you are and call it like it is; don't try to sell anyone a bag of goods they have no business buying. Be real and you'll find it not only makes you more comfortable, but more successful.

If you focus on these two traits, you'll be one step closer to success. For more tips and tricks to help grow your business and take your career to the next level, give me a call or shoot me an email. I'm always available to talk.

The Secret to Marketing Your Listings

Hello, and thanks for joining me today! I know your time is important, so thank you for spending it with us!

Most of the coaching programs I've been involved in are focused on "getting the listing." They spend a whole lot less time teaching how to actually market a home and what the systems and processes are to get the home sold once it's on the market.

Today, I want to talk about the use of flyer boxes in front of the listing. In my opinion, they are a complete waste of time!

A few months ago I had a $600,000 listing that had expired with two top agents in the past. They had flyers in the house and in front of the house that were professionally done and of a high quality, but they clearly didn't work.

I haven't used property flyers for 2-3 years. When I talked to the agents who failed to sell the above listing, they said they had only handed out 5 brochures because they only had 5 showings. Here's the problem: people are only seeing flyers once they're in the house. As an agent, your job is to drive traffic to get people in the house in the first place - not to make fancy brochures and just hope people show up!

We use an 800 number now, and we highly recommend giving it a try. If you put a flyer in front of your listing, you have no way of knowing if and when a buyer takes one. If you put a phone number for a call capture system outside the house, you will be instantly notified when a buyer calls it. You will have access to the callers' names and sometimes even their current addresses!

This is a more effective and more trackable way of gauging interest in your listings. Instead of using the old-school technique of flyers, put an 800 call capture system in front of your house! We think you'll see some fantastic results.

If you have any questions about this topic, or if you're looking to work with a better team, give me a call or shoot me an email. I would love to hear from you!

Grow Your Business with Social Proof

Today, I want to share some great ideas you can apply to your business to help you earn the income you deserve!

One of the best ways to attract new customers to your business is through social proof, which is what happens after you deliver excellent service to someone who then raves about you to other people.

A great way to manage social proof is to reach out to past clients who had a good experience with you and have them record a testimonial. Once you have recorded them talking positively about your business, you need to post the recording on Trulia, Zillow, Google+, and wherever else new customers may first see you.

You can hear an example of one of my video testimonials in the video above if you're interested!

As always, give me a call or shoot me an email if you would like to discuss this topic further. I would love to help you generate more business!

Three Keys to Driving Business Through Marketing

Looking to improve your real estate career? I'm here to help you make a smart decision when it comes to growing your business, improving your bottom line, and choosing a place to work in real estate sales. If you'd like to learn more about working with Clancy Real Estate, contact me at (518) 861-7016 or Kevin@ClancyRealEstate.com.
The other day I had the wonderful opportunity to speak at Siena College, where I majored in marketing and graduated from in 1991. I spoke to the students about marketing and how I managed to grow my business.

So, to cut to the chase, I'll share some of the more important points that I spoke about with the students.

Using marketing to differentiate yourself: If you do what everyone else does, you'll get what everyone else gets. Don't do what everyone else is doing. You need to make people investigate why you're different and why this is beneficial to them.
Track your marketing: We spend money to advertise on television, radio, and the internet. However, you have to figure out what's bringing in leads and what is not. Once you figure out what's working for you, your marketing budget is much easier to handle. If you could spend $1 and bring in $2, you'd be spending that money all the time.
Risk reversal: Nobody likes taking risks, and that's why we offer our guaranteed sale programs. It's a great piece of marketing, because we still sell homes and we also keep our customers happy. This also forces us to work really hard in order to ensure the customer's happiness.

Once you have a solid marketing plan in place, you'll go from chasing business to attracting business. The goal of your marketing should be to attract inbound calls, and this way you don't waste time calling people who may not be interested in doing business with you.

By the way, I never do this but I have a fantastic property on 109 Willow St. in Guilderland, NY. It's only $479K, and it's a 4 bedroom-4-bathroom Colonial-style masterpiece! At 4512 sq. ft., it's only $109 per sq. ft.! If you have any buyers, I could cut you in on 3% of that sale.

Please call me anytime with any questions or concerns you might have with me.

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About

Kevin Clancy is the #1 Realtor in the Capital Region as voted by the Times Union Readers "best of" poll. He has been providing real estate brokerage and appraisal services to the Capital District for over 25 years. He is a New York State licensed real estate broker, Insurance broker, and general certified appraiser. Kevin is a HUD approved broker and started his career specializing in the sale of HUD homes.

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Kevin Clancy
Clancy Real Estate

1 Fletcher Road,
Albany, New York 12203

518-861-7016
Kevin@ClancyRealEstate.com
clancyrealestate.com