It amazes me how much is out there for our (real estate agents, I mean) use – AND IT’S FREE!! Looking for material to send to clients is time consuming and darn right difficult sometimes, that’s why I look for  you and post it on my blog when I find content you can use or at least point you in the right direction. Well, I found another source…. HouseLogic from our Realtor(r) Association. Just enter your NRDS number and it opens doors to information you can send out to your clients – seasonal information and again – IT’S FREE!! I just love being a Realtor(r) and have everything handed to us to make us great agents – for free. Okay, we pay annual dues – but we’re getting more than we ever would be paying for.

So, here’s another source to get articles to send out to your clients, which should be once a week. Or cut and paste to insert into your newsletter.

If you need help with your client data base or setting up a mailing system or even setting up a newsletter, just give me a jingle.

Have a very Happy & Profitable Labor Day!

This can be placed on your blog or website.

September is Realtor® Safety Month

We know the drill, we’ve read the literature from our Realtor(r) Associations about it, but are we thinking SAFETY when we go out on showings or on listing appointments? How many of us are guilty of jumping into that car heading out to meet up with them and we just got a phone call?

Well …. Perhaps we should take a breath and see if there wouldn’t be a safer way of conducting our real estate business. Here are some safety tips in honor of Realtor(r) Safety Month:

• Before you show a commercial property, confirm you have cell phone coverage; thick walls or remote locations may interfere with reception.
• Find out what you can about the client before meeting them. (www.pipl.com, google.com or 123people.com – in Iowa, www.IowaCourtsOnline.com a judicial website open to the public showing individual’s state court records- do you have something like that in your state?)
• Don’t get parked in. When showing property, park your car in front rather than in the driveway.
• Protect your clients. Warn them that not all agents, buyers, and sellers are who they say they are.
• Bring up the rear. When showing a home, stay slightly behind prospects and gesture for them to go ahead of you
• It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Don’t assume everyone has left at the end of an open house. Check entire property before you lock up.
• Lock your purse in your car, carry only non-valuable items (except mobile), don’t wear expensive jewelry/watch or carry a lot of money.
• Take two seconds as you walk towards your destination to check out potential risks. Be aware and empower yourself.
• All of your marketing materials should be polished and professional. Don’t use alluring or provocative photography in advertising, on the Web or on your business cards. Victims are targeted because of their appearance in the photograph.
• Install caller I.D. on your telephone, which should automatically reject calls from numbers that have been blocked. This will provide you with immediate information about the source of the call.
• Be careful how much personal information you give verbally as well. Getting to know your client does not need to include personal information about your children, where you live and who you live with.
• Before the appointment, call the client to ask for driver’s license number, plate number and the make, model and year of the car.
• Plan ahead and have someone who is keeping track of where you are and what homes you are showing and the addresses of all of them.
• Carry pepper spray.
• Keep your keys in your hand.  Hold one key through your fingers so if you punched, it would stab.  You should also make sure you have a panic button for your car that will make the alarm go off by pushing a button.
• Have a secret text you can use with your point person to let them know if you are in trouble and a different text if you are ok.

Do you have safety tips? Please let me know – we just can’t keep ourselves safe enough!

(Sources: Realtor® Magazine, Realtor.com, Washington Real Estate Safety Council; Louisiana REALTORS® Association; City of Mesa, AZ found on Realtor.com)

Stay Safe Out There!

Jeffrey gives value away free of charge every week – EVERY DAY. Here he discusses the importance of giving away value and expecting nothing in return.

So, how do you “Give Value First” on a consistent basis?

• Set up a Client Data Base – use Outlook, Top Producer, Ace of Sales – an Excel spreadsheet of addresses – anything
  Gather content to send out – use Realtor.org / Realtor.com / Realty Times – your local paper/ Lowe’s
  You can also include Seasonal fun stuff – here are some samples – Portfolio
  Send out a Community Market report
  Email your Client Data Base this useful information once a week – one of those weeks as a newsletter – here are some samples
• Phone your prospects, current and past clients just to see how things are going and if they have any questions
• Send out reminders to sign up for homestead a month before your county’s deadline
• Get a copy of the 1st payment coupon and either email, snail mail or hand deliver it to your buyer before the payment is due
• Do not let your voice mail be your receptionist – why not answer it?
• Do not have your email on auto responder …
• Above all – if you do have to return calls, do it the same day along with email response
These are just a few ways of giving value to your clients in addition to what you already do … providing professional real estate assistance. These will help keep you in the front of your clients so when they are asked who to use or when they are ready to purchase or sell again, YOU will be the expert they are calling. I have more ideas I’d love to share with you – for free!


I’m always searching for new and innovative ways of giving value – please let me know what you do.

Whether you hire an on-site non-licensed assistant or a Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant, you will need to know what they can or cannot do in your state.

Realtor(r) Magazine has an online article detailing rules for a licensed and unlicensed assistant. Here’s the link – Realtor Magazine.

I am licensed in Iowa which really gives my Iowa Clients a real advantage – AND, there is also an advantage using my services in the states Iowa has reciprocity (AL, AR,
CO, GA, IL, ID, KY, MA, MN, MS, MT, NE, NC, ND, OK, SD, TN, WV AND WY). However, there will always be an advantage working with a seasoned licensed real estate agent/broker as your assistant.

Call me today to find out how I can “Bild” your Business.

What would make working with Bild a Better Business different than working with any other virtual assistant? Why is my business so special?

I am a real estate broker who had my own business for 10 years. I was my office. I did everything from generating leads to my own closings and everything up to and past the transaction. I sold over $2 million dollars worth of houses when the median price of a home in my community was $40,000. I worked from 5:00 am to midnight, 7 days a week and vacations were only slow afternoons when I could run 40 miles away get groceries. I breathed real estate. I heard one Realtor(r) commercial which stated that being a Realtor(r) wasn’t a job, it was a way of life. And I lived that life. Everything in my house was real estate. Our answering machine never had a personal message on it and my daughters were taught at a very early age that if they answered the phone, it was to be in a very professional manner and NEVER to give out any information. I had two Rat Terriers and my daughter had two dogs and all of them and a key chain with our logos on it on their collar -  constant free advertising.

One of my daughters followed me into my business as an assistant and then as an agent. My other daughter was my assistant for awhile, but decided that she didn’t want anything to do with real estate – she didn’t want to work that hard. But sad as it is to admit, if they worked in my business, it was a way for them to have time with me. Many of our mother-daughter conversations were at my office desk. It became our meeting room. They also learned strong work ethics and how to work with the community and clients and especially how to work with other agents.

I learned a lot and had a good support system set up when I had legal and real estate questions. I had an array of vendors I could trust and get straightforward information. I learned a lot. This knowledge was also given to my clients. For I really didn’t see myself as a salesperson, I saw myself as an educator. I wanted them to make informed decisions and understand the process, not just puppets.

In 2005 I saw a trend that business was starting to downturn – I thought it was mainly in my little community, so I looked at ways to supplement my real estate business if it would slow down. I looked into Virtual Assistants. I have an art background and did all my marketing myself – listing sheets, ads, fliers – everything. It was a smooth transition and mixing two things I love – real estate and creativity.

2006 a situation came up to where I had to leave my business and move to a different community. I had to choose starting completely over with no network in place or go full bore with my Virtual Assistant business. And here I am four years later and I know I made the right choice.

Real estate is my passion. It’s in my blood, but I also want to have moderation with what I do. I see now how much I worked – over worked – to keep my business top notch and out in front. I see other agents in the same situation and that is what I have to offer – I KNOW what you are going through. I understand the intense pressure you are under everyday. I understand the industry.

Having over 4 years experience as a Virtual Assistant, I have the training and knowledge of what you need to do. It’s not that you hire my services and then have to tell me what to do, I have plans we can implement together. I can organize your client data base and start a systematic drip campaign using email or snail mail or postcards. I have ways to free up your time and get you to the top of your game - cost effectively.

Contact me today to see how I can Bild a Better Business for you.