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 Quick Skim
Being a celebrity — if even in your local market — gives you a major edge over your competitors, says PR guru Steven Van Yoder in his new edition of Get Slightly Famous (Bay Tree Publishing, 2007). Be that one person that prospects think of when they hear the word “real estate.” But you'll need a special marketing plan aimed at generating fame. In Van Yoder's 304-page book, he shares strategies for boosting star power, from becoming the media’s go-to person to creating buzz from speaking engagements. Along the way you’ll also read informative mini-profiles on how small businesses found fame.
Buy the Book
From the Book: 5 Ways to Get Slightly Famous
Your top objectives in becoming a local celebrity: boost your visibility and establish credibility. Here are ways to accomplish those goals, according to Van Yoder’s book:
1. Be a media favorite. Local news coverage offers instant credibility, enhanced status, and expanded consumer reach. But getting reporters to listen to you is a different story. When introducing yourself, let reports know your expertise and tell them you’ll be reachable on tight deadlines. During interviews, focus on being quotable: speak succinctly and conversationally, avoid professional jargon, keep your message simple, and be enthusiastic. Keep in mind that reporters are turned off by sources who merely promote their company and make statements with no inherent news value. Instead, view your business from the media’s perspective and provide reader-centered, timely information.
2. Speak up. Public speaking showcases your knowledge and gives you visibility. Clubs and associations are often on the lookout for speakers for their seminars, conferences, and workshops. Offer to give a speech to a service club, chambers of commerce, industry association, or continuing education program — or even holding your own seminar. Toastmasters can be a good resource for honing your public speaking skills. Some presentation tips: Look confident, start with a personal story related to your business, ask the audience
questions, make regular eye contact, and have a beginning, middle, and end to your speech (for example, introduce the scope of your topic, go into more detail and offer illustrative stories, and then point out conclusions).
3. Become an info-entrepreneur. Turn the spotlight on your specialized real estate expertise by producing informational products such as booklets, CD-ROMS, and audio series on a topic that appeals to your target market. Consider creating a video training program, a booklet full of useful home owner tips, a special report or downloadable file, or an e-book. To promote your product, announce it to your existing clients through your Web site, flyers, or by taking samples with you to networking events and speaking engagements. But before you start mass producing a line of information products, determine who will buy your product, why, and how much they’ll spend.
4. Seek virtual fame. Your Web site is a chance to be a “star of your own show” and tell your story, Van Yoder says. The Web’s large consumer reach can help you continue to solidify your brand. The best Web sites are informational, simple in design (avoiding fancy graphics that serve no marketing purpose), easy to navigate, and offer incentives to visit, such as a free report or sample product. To boost your virtual star power more, offer blogs and podcasts on your Web site.
5. Do good. Show your commitment to a worthy cause by building a philanthropic reputation within your market. After all, most consumers prefer doing business with a company that stands for something beyond profits, Van Yoder says. He encourages “strategic philanthropy,” which combines self-interest with support for social causes. Support charitable causes by donating resources, expertise, or service. For example, you might organize a charitable event or offer pro bono work. The charitable or social cause you support can become a central component in your brand identity, which ultimately will help humanize your business in the eyes of consumers.
Sneak Peek
“In a crowded marketplace, where your potential clients and customers have lots of choices, you can stand out by being just slightly famous. This is the exact opposite of mass marketing. It’s not about being all things to all people but being a mini-celebrity to the right people. It’s about targeting your market and developing a reputation as a great resource — trustworthy, knowledgeable and close at hand. Your goal is to become the lord of a small, profitable domain of your choosing. Within that domain, you will attract more customers and clients, including those you want most.”
About the Author
Steven Van Yoder is a public relations and marketing expert who manages Get the Word Out Communications, a San Francisco-based marketing firm. He’s also the founder and director of Global Initiative to Alliance Entrepreneurship, a worldwide alliance of business and nonprofit partners that aim to alleviate poverty.
Check back on Tuesday, Sept. 4, to read Van Yoder’s responses to your already submitted questions.
 The Staircase Principle Applied to the Salesperson
By Terri Dunevant
—Kim LaMantia, GRI, Windermere Professional Partners, Spanaway,
Wash.
 Success is a Choice: Ten Steps to Overachieving in Business and Life (Broadway Books, 1998)
By Rick Pitino
— Bill Fields, president of Bill Fields and Associates in St. Petersburg, Fla.
 The Four-Hour Work Week (Crown, 2007)
By Timothy Ferriss
Your Successful Real Estate Career (AMACOM, 2006)
By Kenneth W. Edwards
— Jennifer Allan, GRI, author of Sell with Soul: The New Agent’s Guide to an Extraordinary Career in Real Estate (AuthorHouse, 2007)
 Half of a Yellow Sun (Anchor, 2007)
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
—Kathy Miller, Prudential Preferred Properties, Winnetka, Ill.
Tell us what you’re reading. Send an e-mail to bookblog@realtors.org that includes the title of the book you’re reading and the author, along with your name, contact information, and your photo.
 Here are today’s top sellers on real estate, according to Amazon.com:
1. The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor’s Kit: How to Make Money Buying Distressed Real Estate — Before the Public Auction, By Thomas Lucier
2. Rich Dad’s Advisors: The ABC’s of Real Estate Investing: The Secrets of Finding Hidden Profits Most Investors Miss, By Ken McElroy
3. Saving the Family Cottage: A Guide to Succession Planning for Your Cottage, Cabin, Camp, or Vacation Home, By Stuart J. Hollander
4. FLIP: How to Find, Fix, and Sell Houses for Profit, By Rick Villani and Clay Davis
5. Real Estate Investing for Dummies, By Eric Tyson and Robert S. Griswold
6. Home Buying for Dummies, 3rd Edition, By Eric Tyson and Ray Brown
7. Flipping Confidential: The Secrets of Renovating Property for Profit in Any Market, By Kirsten Kemp
8. Rich Dad’s Real Estate Advantages: Tax and Legal Secrets of Successful Real Estate Investors, By Sharon L. Lechter and Garrett Sutton
9. Flipping Houses for Dummies, By Ralph R. Roberts and Joe Kraynak
10. What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow … And 36 Other Key Financial Measures, By Frank Gallinelli
Real Estate Investments and How to Make Them (Fourth Edition) (Prentice Hall Press, 2007)
By Milt Tanzer
— Walid Muhammad II, Exit First Choice Realty, Indian Trail, N.C.
 The Real Estate Professional’s Handbook for Starting and Running a Successful Business (Kaplan, 2007)
By Tim Baker
The Secret (Atria Books/Beyond Words, 2006), By Rhonda Byrne
Dress Your House for Success (Three Rivers Press, 1997)
By Martha Webb and Sarah Parson Zackheim
— Terri Camp, DFW Texas Homes, Southlake, Texas
Billion Dollar Agent - Lessons Learned: Success Secrets of Top Real Estate Agents (Best Agent Business, 2007)
By Steve Kantor
— Paul Pastore, ABR, GRI, RE/MAX Achievers, Chandler, Ariz.
 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007)
By J.K. Rowling
— Phyllis Beedle, Carlson GMAC Real Estate, Winchester, Mass.
Tell us what you’re reading. Send an e-mail to bookblog@realtors.org and include the title of the book you’re reading and the author, along with your name, contact information, and your photo.
Real estate legal expert Barbara Nichols, author of The No-Lawsuit Guide to Real Estate Transactions (McGraw-Hill, 2007), responds to your questions.
Q: What’s the most common reason agents get sued?
A:The most common reason agents get sued is failure to disclose material facts related to the transaction. These usually relate to physical defects. Buyers do not like surprises. They want to know what they are buying before the deal closes.
Q: Is there a statute of limitations after completing a transaction where a buyer or seller can no longer bring a lawsuit against you?
A:In most states buyers or sellers have two years after the deal closes to sue for misrepresentation. If the accusation is fraud, they have three years after the fraud is discovered. I recommend holding all transaction files at least five years.
Q: Can you really get sued if you don’t tell a buyer the house is rumored to be haunted? Would that really stand up in court?
A:When I ask agents attending my risk management course if they have haunted houses in their area, they almost always say yes. However, I have never consulted on a lawsuit which involved non-disclosure of a haunted house. I don't think most courts would consider that claim reasonable or provable. There are some buyers who would avoid a house thought by the neighborhood to be haunted and others who might like the idea. These properties are usually where a notorious murder took place. A death on the property is disclosed based on state law. In California, any death within three years of sale must be disclosed regardless of circumstance.
Q: What are some common things that lead to a dual agency lawsuit? What should agents watch out for in these transactions?
A:Dual agency can be problem because the buyer wants the lowest price and the seller wants the highest price, and one agent or brokerage is in the middle, trying to make both parties equally happy with the final result. One side is often happier than the other and the less happy party calls an attorney. I consulted on one lawsuit with a dual agent who was also one of the buyers. He was sued by the seller for talking the seller into accepting a price that was too low. I would strongly advise against being a dual agent/buyer. Careful attention to detail and documentation are critical. Fairly representing comp sales to both sides and letting each side decide on the offer and final accepted price are key in dual agency. Agents should also be very careful in keeping confidentiality with each side. A dual agency should never be promoted with comments like, "if you don't work with me (seller's agent) you won't get the house," or "if you work with me (seller's agent) I can get you a better deal."
Q:During a home inspection, what should you do if a buyer asks about the flaws noted by the inspector? Can you get in trouble for commenting?
A:It's a good idea to have the buyer ask the inspector directly about any flaws noted in the report. It is not a good idea for agents to try to interpret the inspector's comments. Agent's do not want to be accused later of "minimizing the significance of the defect" in their explanation or interpretation.
Q:After buyers sign off on the Inspection Contingency Removal Addendum following a home inspection, can the agent still be found liable if subsequent problems with the property are found? For example, if the buyers move in and hire another inspector who then finds mold, can the agent get into trouble?
A:Yes, the agents can get into trouble for undisclosed defects if the agents had information from the seller or from other sources, or had prior knowledge of a potential problem and did not disclose the defects. Agents are not expected to see through walls, and neither are home inspectors. The best approach is to refer only the most qualified inspectors to your buyer client who will be more likely to see clues of problems others may miss. I have a chapter in the book dealing with the importance of referring qualified inspectors and how to qualify them. I also have several useful ideas in the book if you are the seller's agent, to protect you and the seller if the buyer hires an unqualified inspector who may miss something. You could later be accused of knowing and failing to disclose the defect that was missed and still be vulnerable to a lawsuit.
Q:To avoid a lawsuit, what's a good way to respond to buyers who ask you about what kind of people live in the neighborhood (such as racial composition or if there's many families with children)?
A:Be very careful when asked by a client to profile the neighborhood. I always provide the buyer with a "property profile" from the title company which provides appropriate information on neighborhood composition by education and income. I suggest that clients drive around the neighborhood on evenings and weekends, and I decline to answer any question that would appear inappropriate.
Q:If a buyer and seller in a multi-unit residential real estate puchase contract agree in the signed counter offer that "all contingencies will be removed 17 days after acceptance," will that take precedence over the pre-printed language in the contract regarding contingency time periods?
A:Yes, the counteroffer can modify the preprinted contract time schedule for contingency removal, or any other term of the contract. The contract should include a check box that says "buyer and seller sign in agreement, subject to the attached counteroffers # 1-3," or similar language.
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