How to Make Truckloads of Money From Buyers and How You Can do the Same

Traditional wisdom in the real estate industry says that if you want to succeed in real estate, you must chase listings. This mindset springs from the fact that, historically, working with buyers was very much a hit and miss situation. Because there was no such thing as buyer agency, it was quite common for agents to spend hours and hours driving buyers from house to house to help them find a home, only to have these buyer prospects find a home through another agent. In too many cases, all your hard work with Mr. & Mrs. Buyer would net you a big, fat goose egg.

What was wrong with this picture? Well, lots of things were wrong with it - on both the agent's and the buyer's part.

I'm sure you can see why this method wasn't very good at getting buyer loyalty. The problem, of course, is that like so many bad real estate marketing practices, this manner of working with buyers doesn't focus on the buyer's needs. Instead, it focuses on the agent's loose interpretation of these needs and his or her own self interest. No wonder buyers freely and guiltlessly used and abused the services of several real estate agents. It was the only way they could be sure they were getting a broader perspective than a single agent's bias.

But use and abuse agents they did. You all know the feeling of being taken advantage of by a buyer -- of being taken for granted. Because they didn't have to pay for your services -- either with money or their loyalty -- they didn't value the time you were giving them. Working with buyers for the average agent used to be a lose/lose situation.

While all of us work with buyers as a normal and expected flip side of working with sellers, most agents look upon buyer agency as a relatively new concept. I know that many of you are still not using buyer agreements, which means that you almost certainly have been in situations of the kind I've just described.

The fact of the matter is, if you do not have a system for working with buyers, including a mechanism which ensures your compensation...

You're cheating yourself!

In fact, you're sending a clear message to your buyers that your time is not worth anything, and you're giving them permission to abuse you.

Would you agree to list a seller's house without getting them to sign a listing agreement? Of course you wouldn't. Well, I can't think of a single reason why the situation should be any different with buyers. You all know that helping someone find the right home can be a time-consuming process. Don't give your time away!

The purpose of this newsletter is to map out a comprehensive system that will help you work effectively with your buyers to ensure that:

	Your buyers get what they want:  a home they love at the best possible price, and
	You get what you want:   fair compensation for your efforts, and a happy client who will send you referrals

With this newsletter, I also want to give you a wake up call to the fact that buyer agency is no longer a new concept and, contrary to what you may think, buyer agency is here to stay.

In fact, according to a now 3 year old study conducted by the National Association of Realtors, 41% of all buyers used a buyer broker to help them purchase a home.

This figure is surely up by 5 or 10% since this survey was conducted meaning that more than 1 in 2 buyers understands the value of, and is willing to sign, a contractual buyer agreement.

This is really good news for our industry for two important reasons:

	You now have a legal way to ensure that you get paid for your efforts in helping buyers, and
	Buyers actually represent an easier, less expensive, more predictable and steadier client base than sellers do

Let me explain this last point, because I'm sure many of you will read what I've said and disbelieve this statement.

But let's look at the facts.

When you list a seller's house, you make a contractual promise to this seller that you will effectively market their property to ensure it sells fast and for top dollar. What this means is that you will write and place ads on their behalf, hold open houses (or, if you're smart, prescheduled multiple home tours for multiple clients), prepare feature sheets, etc. etc. I don't need to tell you that all of these things take time. More to the point, they take money. Your money. So, when you list a seller's house, you make a substantial commitment of time and out-of-your-pocket money.

What happens if this seller's home does not sell? Forget about the reasons why it didn't sell for a minute. We all know there are lots of reasons why properties don't sell: 

	some of these reasons may have to do with the agent (how effective or ineffective their marketing was)
	some have to do with the client (too high a price, poor showings of the property etc.)
	and some have nothing to do with either of you. Maybe the market is just bad because the economy is down (fewer buyers, lower prices, higher inventory etc.)

Whatever the reason, we all know that a certain percentage of homes listed don't sell the first time. The seller will then either take their home off the market, or they will try to sell it again. And if they try to sell it again, three times out of four they will relist with another agent because they perceive that the reason their house didn't sell was because you didn't do your job.

So what happens in a case like this where one of your listings doesn't sell? Well, what happens is that you are out-of-pocket for the money you invested in the marketing of this seller's property, AND you've wasted time you can never recover. (You can always earn more money, but you can't earn more time.)

Now you may counter that you have an excellent "Success Ratio" (i.e. the percent of listings you sell vs those you list) Well, so do I. I have a great success ratio because I have proven systems that market my client's homes in a highly unique and effective manner. If I have the odd listing that expires, that doesn't change the fact that the listing side of my business is highly rewarding and profitable for me. But the fact remains that there are always some slow periods in the market, and buyers represent not only a highly profitable opportunity in and of themselves (which I'll explain shortly), but they also can buffer your business when times are bad.

Let me explain.

When you sign a buyer to contract, you have NO out-of-pocket costs. You're not on the hook for advertising or promotion of any sort. Your only contractual obligation is to help them find a home.

But that's not all. I want you to think about something that might not have occurred to you before. In a bad economy when it's tough to sell your listings and many of them expire, this is in fact the BEST time to work with buyers.

Think about it. If buyers have signed a contract with you to buy a home, they will buy . . . especially in a poor market when "deals" are easier to find.

Now, of course, this also means buyers themselves are harder to find in tough markets. The fact that the market is bad is the result of there being less buyers. That's why it's so critical to have your Automatic Reverse Prospecting System running like a well-oiled machine, because if you have a system to automatically attract ready-to-buy buyers, and to sign the qualified and motivated ones to contract, you will make money from this lucrative side of the business.

Like so much of what I teach agents, this view of buyers represents a paradigm shift -- a shift in thinking. The toughest thing to fight against sometimes is the status quo: this is the way it has always been done so it must be right.

What has made me so successful is that I will always challenge this status quo, and I want you to do the same.

I hope you now see why buyers are such an important group to work with.  In future issues, I'm going to show you how to profitably accomplish this.  Specifically, I'll show you:

	How to find good buyer prospects
	How to prequalify them so you only take time with the best qualified and most motivated
	How to compel them to sign a contract with you so you'll always get paid for your work

In the course of this discussion, I'll help you understand what two needs are most important to a buyer and how you can address these needs, and I'll take you briefly through the all new, completely revised and field tested VIP Buyer Presentation that I am using so successfully in my business every day.   I'll show you what to present, why it works, and how you can obtain your very own customized copy.

Craig Proctor is a regular contributor to TopAgentSecrets.com.  Craig has been consistently one of the RE/MAX agents worldwide over the last 10 years.  His easy to use Quantum Leap Real Estate Success System has helped over 3800 agents to achieve a consistent 6-figure income while working less.

Top Agent Secrets Insider Newsletter Closely-Guarded Moneymaking Secrets Delivered to you Each Week via E-Mail Don't miss out! - Free for a Limited Time - Click Here