What To Look For in a Real Estate Sales Manager
Once your administrative tasks have been taken care of by a virtual assistant your next step will be to Hire a real estate sales manager. This person will be responsible for selling all of your properties once they're under contract.
Selecting the right person to do this job should be well thought out and understood. The job is very demanding, and it's where the money is realized for everyone on the team.
What I mean by that is, the money is MADE when you negotiate the deal with the seller, but the money is realized when the buyer validates your skills with an offer to purchase the contract from you at a price higher than the one you've agreed to with the seller.
Your real estate sales manager needs to have a few personality characteristics in order to work well on a team and be able to get these deals to the closing table quickly.
Here are the Top 5 things to look for when hiring a sales manager, and the reasons why:
Organizational Skills
If you're doing any level of volume, you may have multiple properties (contracts) that are being offered at once. The real estate sales manager needs to know all of the facts about each property so that he/she can properly communicate these facts to potential buyers. Occupancy, pricing, condition, bedrooms, baths, SF, etc are all things that need to be readily available by the sales manager.
An organized person will study the facts about the properties once they become available, memorize what they need to know and have them organized in a CRM or something on their mobile device so that the info is readily available.
The buyer typically want to see photos and/or videos of the house. Your real estate sales manager needs to be organized so that links to photo albums, rehab estimates, videos, etc can be sent quickly via email or text.
Communication Skills
When dealing with buyers, a real estate sales manager must be able to communicate clear details. There's a lot of back and forth chatter when it comes to negotiating deals, so being able to communicate effectively can help the transactions get to the closing table in a smooth fashion.
The real estate sales manager must also be able to communicate effectively in his team. Everyone wants to know what's going on all the time with deals. The team may even be on edge" until the thing finally closes. So just keeping the team updated is a big tension reliever. Suspense is no fun and may get you yelled at.
A "People" Person
What is a "people" person anyway? Well, it's definitely NOT me. I have zero patience, no tolerance for ignorance, and no time for games. So when it comes to dealing with buyers, I'm not the best person for the job. That's why I absolutely need a real estate sales manager on my team to handle this job for me.
Buyers (and sellers) do business with people that they know, like and trust. And being a people person puts things in your favor, especially in a sales position.
Ability to Work Well in a Team
When you first start out as a real estate wholesaler you're all by your lonely. Working as an individual, figuring things out on your own, and depending only on yourself. But when you start to grow as a company and a business, you'll need to build a team. The phrase "team player" never meant anything to me until I built a real estate team. Then I realized the importance of working with other people.
Being on a team means that you're willing to do what it takes to get the whole team to the end result. It means not letting the team down. Not forgetting to take care of a time-sensitive matter that may negatively affect the whole team. Listen to other people in your team and being willing to offer your help if they need it in order to accomplish the goals of the team.
Working on a team means that it's not just about you. If everyone else on the team is working their ass off to get deal closed, then you shouldn't be lying on the beach somewhere sipping on a cold beer. You should be right there with them, brainstorming and looking for solutions.
Teams celebrate the wins together and fall down together
It's hard to identify someone who works well (or doesn't work well ) in a team. but once you start working with a real estate sales manager, keep your eyes peeled for any indication that they're not willing to take one for the team. And if you find someone who is volunteering themselves to go above and beyond their job to get things done, then you've got yourself a team player!
Detail Oriented
This quality is important when it comes to the paperwork part of working with buyers. There's a ton of tiny little details that the real estate sales manager needs to pay attention to. If something is missed or written incorrectly, it can cost you money.
Some things that can be missed if the details aren't paid attention to:
a). Earnest Money Deposits - how much is the buyer offering on the deal, how long do they have to turn it in , and who will the check be payable to.
b). Closing Dates - how long does the buyer need to close? if they're paying cash (which they should be) then there's no reason why they can't close tomorrow. if a buyer fast-talks his way into a 30 days contract, then he's not really a buyer, he's a real estate wholesaler. Probably not the best match and a detail that could be caught.
c.) Closing Costs - closing costs is a detail in the contract that can cost you money if it's not put on the buyer side. Your real estate sales manager should always ask the buyers to pay the closing costs. This isn't required but suggested since you're offering the buyers an awesome deal in the first place.
Hire Slow, Fire Fast
Choosing the right people for your team is definitely a challenge. I've been through several dozen people in my 18 years as a real estate wholesaler. While people aren't perfect, and you have to allow for a period of training. Real Estate is no easy business. In fact, there's ALOT to learn.
So be selective in your choice when it comes to hiring a real estate sales manager, and then enjoy the experience of having someone on your team who loves what he/she does, and has a burning desire to achieve more, sell for more, and learn more!