Coldwell Banker

            I arrived at Coldwell Banker in Marion at 9am after my AP economic class. I had a chance to meet the agents for the first time and see the office staff again, some of whom I had first met when I came for my interview back in January. The morning began with a meeting where I was to introduce myself and give some background to the team. Afterwards, marketing techniques were discussed to boost public awareness of the Marion office. Plans were made to put advertisements in regatta brochures in order to target the sailing orientated market who maybe looking for a waterfront property. Marion is an affluent location so another idea was to put a half a page spread in theater pamphlets which would target the upper middle socio-economic segment. I learnt that there are eighty Coldwell Banker offices throughout the New England Area; Marie Lovely, my manager, is head of the Marion and Plymouth branches.

            I learnt that the secret to being successful in real estate lies in the previewing of the property in order to gain as much knowledge as possible. Four points in particular seemed to be key:

1)   Market knowledge – previewing property will teach you what is available in an area, what homes are listed for, what homes are selling for, what homes are worth and what to expect in a particular price range.

2)   Know the inventory – as agents are self employed people if they don’t know their market inventory with a clear understanding of the availability of what’s outs there they will lose precious and valuable time which is their main assets.

3)   A powerful listing presentation – knowing information about the property in detail such as other homes for sale in the area, on the same street, the power lines details and property boundaries will help to boost credibility as an agent.

4)   Meet potential buyers and sellers to work with – it is good to knock around on the doors of houses in the surrounding area to learn from the neighbors about previous properties sales and what the area has to offer.

            After the meeting I spoke to some of the agents, I learnt that there is a 5% commission on property sales of which they receive 2.5%, the other agent, from say the buyers side, would receive the other 2.5%.

Marie Lovely talked me through the database they use to compare information to other branches, the agents portfolio of property sales and information regarding the properties themselves. My last task of the day was a “diversity and cohesion program”. This was done on the intra-net to which the head office had sent in order for workers to become more aware of different nationalities, cultures and backgrounds in the workplace.