Defining Success in Leasing: Member Outreach Event, June 6

There's a reason why some leasing agents are more successful than others. Those who win are those who carve their own niches while also recognizing the patterns that can make for best practices in leasing, and also define healthy client relationships.

C.A.R. members Greg Pekarsky, Vesta Preferred, and Vincent Cabansag, Kass Management, led a session on "Successful Patterns in Leasing" for the C.A.R. member outreach event held in Skokie on June 6.

Patterns that make for success, they said, include:

- Knowing your community inside and out, and working in your community. "You know the public transit routes, the local festivals and other benefits of the neighborhood that renters want to know," Vince said.

- Build positive relationships with vendors in your community. Not only will doing so make you more informed, but vendors can also be a source of additional listings.

- Advertise your listings often and in many places -- including on the bulletin boards of coffee shops and other local businesses you frequent.

- Respect your own time. Learn to say "no" to potential clients who have no urgency about renting. Look for people who want to get the job done and sign within one or two outings.

- Once you identify clients, put yourself in their shoes. Do they have pets? Love vintage? Live for night life? Try to envision their perfect home and then draw on your in-depth neighborhood knowledge to find it. "The key to excellent client service is responsiveness," Greg said.

- Work effectively. Schedule a daily routine that allows for prospect mining, follow-ups with current and potential renters, and other essential desk work, yet leaves the bulk of your afternoon free for showing listings. Manage your day -- don't let it manage you!

Supplementing this and other wisdom from Vince and Greg, Taft West, of the Community Investment Corporation, offered insight into the art of property management and smart tenant selection.

At the core of a well-run building, Taft explained, is a set of no-nonsense rules that are applied uniformly to all tenants. Start with a good application form that the tenant fills out completely, and that includes a small fee for a credit check and requirement of photo i.d.

In addition, know and observe established landlord-tenant laws at the federal, state, county and municipal level. Maintain the curb appeal of your property, as well -- and conduct quarterly or other regularly scheduled unit inspections to keep tabs on cleanliness and the state of the tenant community.

Taft, who's had years of successful experience as a property manager, also urged REALTORS not to show units until they're move-in ready, and use a checklist if you're not used to remembering all the details to share with new tenants.

Click here to access the event's PowerPoint presentations.

Top 5 Take-Aways: Global Real Estate Roundtables

Thanks to all who attended the C.A.R. Global Forum and Emerging Markets roundtables event, May 30 at Gibsons. It was an educational, energizing time -- with awesome networking. The event included five roundtables of which participants chose three at which to engage in discussion. Topics included:

- How to break into the global real estate business

- Marketing to global clients

- Financial considerations in global real estate transactions

- How to open a real estate business in another country

- NAR resources for global REALTORS

Here are five great take-aways from the discussions:

- Make friendships with your peers in other countries, not just business relationships, encouraged Debbie Maue, Jameson Sotheby's International, who hosted the roundtable on opening a business in another country. Make several trips to your country of interest and get to know its people, real estate and culture.

- Be persistent. It takes an average of two years to break even and begin to make money with a global real estate business, Maue added.

- Build relationships with lenders, urged Melvin Cox, a private mortgage banker with Wells Fargo. An established relationship with a bank can be an important asset when securing loans for international transactions.

- The number-one factor for obtaining a global real estate loan is for the client to have a U.S. social security number, Cox said, or fall into one of several non-conforming foreign national categories that exempt the requirement.

- Develop a target buyer profile before marketing global listings and develop your niche. What's your target country and region of that country? Don't cast your net too widely, advised Dr. Margot Weinstein, MW Leadership Consultants, speaking to best-practices in marketing to global real estate clients.

See photos from the roundtables networking event.

REALTOR® Nationwide Open House Weekend: Why Participate?

What’s in it for me, you may ask, if debating opening a house this weekend, April 20-21, in recognition of REALTOR® Nationwide Open House Weekend.

What you gain is the ability to leverage the power of national and local advertising to promote the event, and a high-visibility opportunity to engage with consumers about the benefits of home-owning.

Locally, CA.R. is supporting the event with a concentrated Nationwide Open House ad campaign on powerhouse WGN-AM, running from this Thursday through Saturday. We’ve also informed local media about the event and will direct consumers who visit ChicagoREALTOR.com to search open house listings on REALTOR.com.

According to NAR’s 2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 45 percent of all buyers used open houses as a source in their home search process. Here’s a look at NAR findings about who comes to open houses.

Take advantage of this weekend to connect with consumers and help people find the home of their dreams. REALTOR® Nationwide Open House Weekend is organized well beyond Chicago; it’s a project of state and local REALTOR® associations across the country and around the world.

Get event logos and more from C.A.R.