NEW JERSEY EDITION
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE NICHE 3 TIPS FOR MASTERFUL TO-DO LISTS
FEATURED AGENTS
RACHAEL HAN-ONG REBECCA LA PIRA COVER STORY
JOHN SCIPIONE
WHY MILLENNIALS ARE NOW THE HOTTEST SEGMENT OF THE BUYERS MARKET
NEW JERSEY EDITION
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JOHN SCIPIONE
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RACHAEL RACHAEL HAN-ONG HAN-ONG
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REBECCA LA PIRA
CONTENTS 4) HONEY, I SHRUNK THE NICHE
13) 3 TIPS FOR MASTERFUL TO-DO LISTS
19) WHY MILLENNIALS ARE NOW THE HOTTEST SEGMENT OF THE BUYERS MARKET
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Honey, I Shrunk the Niche by Rob Flitton
“Space” is what one tries to occupy when they promote a product or service, and in an industry like real estate, there is usually a ton of traffic in that space. We’re fortunate, though, to live in a culture that has virtually unlimited capacity for “specialization.” There are three things to begin with: • Your industry • Your marketplace • Your product and/or service The “industry” you have chosen is “real estate,” and that won’t change or innovate much, if at all.
in Seattle, or offer commercial real estate in Manhattan, etc. But where the vast majority of agents fail to gain traction is through: • Identifying their product/service in accordance to need; and • Niching The “space” of the marketplace you have chosen is massive, and the space of the real estate industry is even more massive—almost impossible to calculate—yet, most agents seek broad appeal as, say, a “real estate agent.”
It may seem counter-intuitive, but The “marketplace” you choose within the trick to becoming a bigger that industry can vary—it can be occupier of the space is to first determined or segmented by geo- become much smaller. For any graphy, socio-economics, product “product or service” you offer, you pricing. Under the broad industry of want to come up with an extreme “real estate,” you can choose from niche—i.e., niche, and then niche hundreds of marketplaces. Perhaps again, and perhaps then again. You you are targeting residential first-time can have multiple niches, or “storebuyers in Tacoma, are a property fronts,” but they should never manager in Sacramento, handle luxury intermingle and these brands should condos in Las Vegas, lease houseboats remain distinctly separate. 4
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Johnson’s Baby Shampoo is one of the biggest occupiers of the shampoo space because it purposefully became very small and niched to concerned parents of babies—“no more tears.” It grew from there after being perceived as very valuable to that small niche, and when others outside of the niche “self-included” in that niche. Moms, Dads and older children don’t like tears either.
In that same line of thought, our Las Vegas real estate group had good success appealing to Mormon and Catholic women contemplating divorce by advertising to “become happily unmarried in Las Vegas.”
The narrative of Neutrogena soap was to suggest that women use it every couple of weeks “to remove soap film and excess oil.” When women came to their own conclusion Johnson’s never tried to create that they could use Neutrogena to not “shampoo for all people.” get soap film or oils on their skin in the first place, it became huge. An amazingly popular divorce law firm in Las Vegas will only hire men Neutrogena never tried to create for clients—their advertising is “soap for everyone.” brazenly pro-husband, and accordingly very appealing to husbands Under Armour, currently a hugely popular clothing and shoe company needing a divorce. Top Agent Magazine
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for men and women, started out when a frustrated young entrepreneur offered a very small market of football and hockey players, moisture-wicking athletic shirts.
Many very pretty real estate websites are invisible—like billboards on a deserted highway. I would rather have an ugly website on a busy highway.
And now, as Under Armour is constantly adding products to appeal to everyone, it will be interesting to see if they will lose that powerful niche value.
What makes your business and website (your planet) become noticed and chose by search users is to grow in size within the solar system or “space” you choose—i.e., to become a highly valued authority on a certain niche. This is done by creating content to build onsite SEO value, offsite SEO links from more powerfully valued websites (links to your website from Facebook and LinkedIn are pretty darn powerful planet-growers), and a variety of other ways to gain or become a domain authority.
When you are looking at how to strategize your real estate business, these lessons ought to provide powerful motivation to not only find a smaller space, but to become smaller within that space. Every business today relies on, or would like to rely on, market growth through internet search (predominantly through Google). Using our “space” analogy, every website in the world wants to grow through “PageRank”, the algorithm Google uses to rank websites (and what makes them show up first on search results).
Again, though, just like strategic product niching, you must first start out small in order to become large. By trying to compete against majorsized planets, you will spend a fortune in time and money and likely come up empty-handed.
Think of websites as “planets within the Google solar system.” Some are So niche … and then niche again … large, or considered by Google to be and then niche again … an authority on their chosen market niche or “content and keywords.” Rob Flitton is a Seattle Real Estate MarSome are small or perhaps not even keting specialist helping independent agents to increase their income. Email Rob noticed by Google—which, is the case robflitton@gmail.com at any time or call/ with almost every real estate website. text him at 206-612-2314. 6
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JOHN SCIPIONE Top Agent Magazine
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JOHN SCIPIONE makes sense for them. Servicing real estate needs in Hudson, Bergen, Passaic, Essex, and Union Counties, John and his team can help you with you your condominium in the city or your home in the suburbs. “Our clients are so happy with their results, they ask us to help them with transactions all over Northern New Jersey and we are obviously grateful for that,” says John.
John Scipione, Owner and Managing Broker of Court Street Property Group in Hoboken, New Jersey, understands the true meaning of client service and has built a thriving business based on customer satisfaction. John, a pricing specialist, is dedicated to pricing his listings at fair market value so buyers are motivated to have their agents show them the property quickly and will respond with strong offers. John’s team is also dedicated to working closely with buyers by listening to their needs and helping them find the perfect home at a price that 8Copyright Top Agent Magazine
“We are passionate about delivering exceptional consumer experiences. Our team is extremely well versed and we have in-house professionals that can help you at each step of the process. Whether it be our Listing Coordinator who assists you in getting your home ready for market or our Transaction Manager who makes sure you get from an accepted offer to closing, we are by our client’s side throughout the entire process,” says John. Court Street, which boasts a roster of twenty highly professional licensed real estate agents, has a remarkable rate of over 50% repeat and referral business, the result of a focus on detail and attentiveness to customer’s needs during the process, from listing to closing. “We’re always accessible,” says John. “And we’re super-transparent. In our office, I handle all the negotiations and offers and we communicate extremely well with our clients, which they appreciate. We Top Agent Magazine
get them the result they are looking for in the time frame they need.” John’s very advanced “Marketing Plan of Action” plays an important role in his success. With this plan, each listing is marketed with high quality professional photographs, floor plans, and thorough advertising remarks. On average John’s listings sell for two or three percent over asking price, and generally within 14 days of hitting the market. When asked what he loves best about working in real estate, John says, “It’s the different Top Agent Magazine
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o “I am thankful for my great team and my loyal clients who continue to refer me business and trust me as their local market expert.”
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they participate in many of the local festivals to try and educate the community on the real estate process, they are also working on a partnership with a local animal shelter and are excited to share more news about this in 2017.
clients I get to work with. I love the fact that I’m always busy. I also love that the sky is the limit in this business, there’s no cap on our success. You can’t just sit and wait for the business to come to you, you have to go out and find it and I love doing that.” Community involvement is important to Court Street Property Group, and to that end Copyright Top Agent Magazine 10
As for the future of his company, John’s plan is to continue to grow his business while sacrificing none of the high level service that has been the foundation of Court Street’s stellar reputation. John received the NJ Realtors® Circle of Excellence® Sales Award® for the fourth consecutive year, having received the gold level award the previous three years, but in 2016 received the platinum level (for doing well over $20 Million in Sales). With the company Top Agent Magazine
doubling their transactions in 2016, he simply wants to continue out-selling and outperforming the competition. “We take a lot of expired listings meaning the owner was on the market previously with another real estate agent, but the home didn’t sell. We’ve picked up a lot of these listings and re-marketed and re-positioned them successfully. It’s shocking how little effort some inexperienced agents put into their listings causing owners to have Top Agent Magazine
a bad taste in their mouth about real estate agents in general. It’s tough, we’ve had to clean up some messy situations; however, once the smoke settles we show them how our plan is different…helping these people is incredibly rewarding.” says John. “We love helping people succeed in this market, and when our clients come out of the transaction breathing a big sigh of relief, we’re just as satisfied as they are.” Copyright Top Agent Magazine 11
For more information about John Scipione, call 201-841-8935 or email John@courtstreetpg.com Copyright Top Agent Magazine 12
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3 Tips For Masterful To-Do Lists by Rob Flitton
Here are three masterful tips to easyto-prepare and easy-to-perform todo lists. 1-Important v. Urgent. Always prepare your lists based on what is important, not what is urgent. Why? Let’s define our terms. “Important” in this context is about what matters to you. “Urgent” in this context is about what matters to others. People have a tendency to not only assemble their lists based on the needs of other people, they get derailed by interruptions and distractions from the pressing needs of others—they get on phone calls, discussions, text-threads, or emailexchanges that take away their focus.
The corollary tricks here are to (i) negotiate for time and space in advance, and (ii) learn to say “no.” Since you want to focus on what’s important and not on what’s urgent, it causes you much less friction to negotiate ahead of time with those who matter to you for the time and space you need to be able to focus. This keeps you from worrying about family matters when at work, and work matters when enjoying your family or leisure time. When we are afraid in life to politely say “no” to the wrong thing, we makes ourselves unavailable to say “yes” to the right things. Those who appreciate and understand you will cooperate—those who do not will simply have to adjust.
2-Obey The Crow. Sometimes these urgency-intruders There should never be more than 7 can be close to you and hard to say items on your to-do list. No one no to—your spouse, boss, children, can concentrate on too many things at once. customers, or strangers.
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To be able to focus, a person needs to be able to discern which activities or ideas are most important to him at that moment, and at any given moment a person is only able to hold, focus on, or visualize perhaps somewhere between 4 and 7. This limitation was understood from an experiment observing a flock of crows gathered in a clearing. When various groups of men would cross the clearing and then enter the nearby woods, the crows would flee to the 14
treetops only to return when the full number of men could be accounted for—i.e., when they felt safe. If one man went in and then came back they would return to the clearing. If three men went into the woods and only two returned, they wouldn’t. If five men went into the woods and only four returned, they felt safe to return to the clearing. This means that the crows could only hold 3 or 4 units of the men in their focus. Top Agent Magazine
Focusing on where the money comes from strips away all of the non-essentials. For humans, the same is true but may be slightly higher. Look at a forest—you can perceive and focus on and count about 6 or 7 trees at one time, but you can never focus on or count an entire forest.
being the most important, and 1 dollar sign being the least important—like movie, book or restaurant ratings. At the end of the to-do list period— whether it is a daily, weekly, monthly or annual list—you need not have completed every item, but you need to have entirely completed or accomplished the 4- and 5-star items. You would rather fully complete three 5star items than partially complete all seven items on your list.
The powerful piece of knowledge here is that by using unit economy— by limiting your ideas and activities into manageable groups—you can greatly overcome these limitations and leverage your means to tackle more and more work. By breaking lists down into groups of 4 to 7 Money is a measuring stick for how units, you can accomplish hundreds, effective you are at conducting your if not thousands, of important jobs business—it is really the only objective means of measuring your and tasks annually. effectiveness. Yes, there are plenty of non-monetary goals and outcomes 3-Dollar Signs. The matter of deciding what should we all want to achieve, but I assert be at the top of your list should that being profitable matters the come down to the money. Money is most, and your to-do lists need to best barometer of what you should establish the mental attitude required spend your time on. Bookkeeping is to achieve maximum profitability. an important task in business, but Focusing on where the money comes closing sales is significantly more from strips away all of the nonimportant—no sales adds up to no essentials. need for bookkeeping. Rob Flitton is a Seattle Real Estate MarAssign everything on your to do list a number of dollar signs, 5 dollar signs Top Agent Magazine
keting specialist helping independent agents to increase their income. Email Rob robflitton@gmail.com at any time or call/ text him at 206-612-2314. 15
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RACHAEL HAN-ONG 17
RACHAEL HAN-ONG Cherry Hill, New Jersey-based Rachael Han-Ong has been helping satisfied clients buy and sell homes since 2005, This bi-lingual speaking agent came to this country from China when she was 17 years old, and has built a solid career based on solid customer service and a vast knowledge of her chosen industry. Rachael’s interest in real estate had its genesis in 2003, when she and her husband moved to Cherry Hill from New York following the birth of her first child. They began flipping houses, which sparked her desire to assist others with finding their dream homes, and two years later she obtained her license. When the market went south soon after, they began a second venture as the owners of a restaurant called “Pho Barclay.” Her husband, also a licensed realtor, managed that business while Rachael continued to perfect her real estate acumen. With a staggering rate of over 90% referral business, Rachael has made a name for herself as a realtor who strives to go above and beyond for her clients. “I give 125% and more to help them. Most of the time, we become good friends.” Staying in touch with them post-transaction is also important to her, and she does so expecting nothing in return. “I’m different than any other agent,” she says. “I’ll do anything to help my past clients, and I don’t expect anything in return.”
professionals. Not just that, she followed up on each and every small thing, and made sure it was up to standard. I can’t stress enough how stress-free Rachael made the selling process for us by always being available, responsive and proactive.” As for the future, Rachael plans on growing a team, and would also like to venture into commercial real estate someday. Her altruism is also on display with another goal: to mentor up and coming real estate agents. “I just think that there are so many goals people can achieve in life, if they have the intension to make a difference in life, and as long as you focus on what you want in life, and turning ‘I should’ into ‘I must,’ you can accomplish anything in life. And I really want to thank my great mentor and leader George Denny at Keller Williams who made a difference in many realtor’s lives. And I am the living proof of that. My parents immigrated to this country with nothing twenty-some years ago, and their sacrifices made me who I have become. We only have one life to live, and If you want to leave a legacy, you will need to change yourself, utilize that burning desire within yourself…and If you desire that, you can achieve anything you want in life.”
With 40 - 60% of her clients being Chinese, being bilingual has been incredibly beneficial, and she is proud of her ability to service these clients. “When a minority comes to this country with no money at the beginning, it can be very difficult for them. I’m there to help them with any real estate needs,” says Rachael. “When they’re relocating or moving to the area, and they don’t speak the language and don’t understand the process, I take it upon myself to educate them and to make them experts in real estate so they know what they’re doing and feel good about purchasing or selling. That makes me feel good about myself.” Another thing that sets Rachael apart from her competition is her tenacity. “I never give up on a deal,” she says. “Even at the beginning of my career when I was doing a lot of short sales, when I make a commitment to my client I will get it done, completely. That’s pretty much my goal in life, to not give up on anything I focus on. This tenacity has paid off in a multitude of grateful clients, as this five-star Zillow review makes clear: “The best agent I’ve known. Rachael knows what she’s doing and has been in the industry for a long time. Rachael is a great listener and very client-focused. She is also a skilled negotiator and helped us get almost all necessary repairs done by 18
For more information about RACHAEL HAN-ONG, please call 856-685-1685 or email RachaelOng@comcast.net Copyright Top Top Agent Agent Magazine Magazine
Why Millennials Are Now the Hottest Segment of the Buyers Market
and How You Can Attract Them to Your Home There are many factors when it comes to knowing how to sell your home to the Millennial generation. Millennials are becoming an important part of the buyer market, and to fail to cater to their needs will cut you off from a large and important segment. But, why have Millennials all of a sudden become interested in buying houses when they were perfectly content to rent for the rest of their lives? Top Agent Magazine
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A number of factors contribute to what has recently made Millennials the hottest segment of the Buyers market. One factor is the improved job outlook for Millennials. Millennials took a serious blow during the recession. Unemployment in this group soared to 14 percent, compared to the 9.6 percent for the population as a whole. But, in recent years that number has been decreasing, with unemployment for Millennials being 9.3 percent this past year. Rising rents are also contributing to making Millennials more interested in purchasing homes now. Rents have risen so much that buying a home now just makes more sense. Half of all renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Millennials are becoming increasingly stressed over the constantly increasing financial obligation to something that isn’t even theirs to own. The near-historic low mortgage rates are luring Millennials towards purchasing a home with their promise of affordability. When compared with the skyrocketing rental rates, buying a house looks even more enticing. Another factor helping Millennials get over the hump of purchasing a house is the lower down payment requirements. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now offering new loan programs that require as little as a 3 percent down payment. This may just be the last push the Millennials needed to turn toward buying a home rather than rent. So, now that we’ve established that Millennials are finally joining the Buyers market, the next thing that it is important to understand is what exactly Millennials are looking for in a home. What kind of floorplans do they prefer? What locations are they interested in? Here are some of the essentials that Millennials are looking for in a home: • Updated Kitchens and Baths: Almost everyone wants to buy a
home with new kitchen and bath fixtures, but this is especially true for Millennials Buyers. Millennials are going to spend most of their savings on the down payment and furnishings, leaving little room to update the Kitchen and Bath, which are also the most expensive parts of a home to
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update. Millennials who are on a budget simply won’t have the money to sink into those areas. An updated Kitchen and Bath is sure to bring in a younger crowd. • Big Kitchen with Open Floor Plan: For Millennials, the kitchen has
become the room where they hangout in addition to the family room. This is why having an open space that can transition easily from the kitchen to the TV room is high on the list of things Millennials are looking for in a home. Along a similar vein, Millennials are attracted to an open floor plan rather than one that compartmentalizes the home. This has to do with how Millennials entertain. Millennials want their guests to flow through the rooms and mingle together, rather than be sectioned off in different rooms.
• Home Office: More than 13 million Americans now work from home,
and if you look at the trend, that number is only going to increase as the time goes on. With technology steadily increasing, more Millennials than ever have the flexibility to work from home. But, the home office isn’t just for someone working from home full time. Having a separate space dedicated to work helps people concentrate and focus on work while they are at home. They can separate themselves from the activities going on around the house and have a quiet space where they can set up their workday, plan a presentation, hold a meeting on Skype, or even pay bills.
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• Less Maintenance: Many Millennials work different schedules that
don’t conform to the 9 to 5 workday, as well as full social calendars. This doesn’t leave them much time to clean a big house. Lawn services and low-maintenance front yards are particularly appealing, as they take less responsibility to still keep the curb appeal high.
• Energy-Efficient Appliances: Millennials have been educated on
keeping the Earth clean from the time they were born. They want to do their part to help the environment and appreciate the long-term cost savings that come with it. Energy-efficient appliances and greener ways to heat and cool the home might end up being the tipping point that makes them choose one house over another.
• Hardwood Floors: Millennials don’t have the time or patience to clean
dirty carpets, especially those that own pets. Hardwood and laminate flooring is easy to mop up if there’s been a mess. The more time they can conserve, the better.
• Good Location: Millennial buyers are looking for homes that are in
proximity to public transportation and have a good walking score. Young Millennial buyers without children are more likely to want a location closer to the action of the city, while Millennials with children would prefer more residential areas.
• Technology: Technology rules the Millennial’s life. They do work on
their computers through an Internet connection and solely use cellphones for communication. They are going to ask about how strong the cell service is and about the Internet service provider. While these amenities are out of the seller’s hands, Millennials are still going to ask these questions, and you will need to know how to answer them.
Knowing what Millennials are looking for in a home will ultimately help you make the necessary changes that will attract these buyers to your home. Since they are the a serious segment of the market now, updating your home to fit their needs will lead to more buyers and better offers. So, get with the times and embrace the Millennial buyer. 22
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REBECCA LA PIRA Rebecca LaPira was working in outdoor movie nights. The entire corporate America, in Disney’s community is invited to Demarretail store division, when she est Day for a day of fun, with began looking for a career that kids’ rides, music, face painting, offered a little more flexibility for dance performances, and more. In a working mother. That’s when 2016, Rebecca was also elected she found real estate. It has been as a councilwoman for the town, 11 years since Rebecca joined and for the past 10 years, she has the industry. Now she’s one of served as the President of the the owners of a newly opened Closter Animal Society. RE/MAX signature homes franchise in Bergen County. RE/MAX, This kind of dedication and desire Rebecca explains, has an entreto give back extends to her local preneurial spirit. She’s able to run Edward An, Rebecca La Pira, and Michael La Stella real estate community as well. the office like her own business. She is the President of the Eastern Under her and her partner Edward An’s direction, the office Bergen Board of Realtors’ Young Professionals Network. In has brought on 30 agents in its first month since opening, her role at the YPN, she educates and nurtures the careers of and in the future, Rebecca has plans to open more offices in new agents. “This is a business with very high turn over,” nearby locations. Rebecca says. “Being able to give young agents a support system is extremely important to me.” The association is only While it would be easy to credit Rebecca’s strong work five years old, but in 2016, they received national recognition ethic for her success, it’s merely one factor. With nearly when they were awarded Medium Association Network of ninety-five percent of her business coming from repeat and the Year. “Be yourself,” Rebecca often advises newer agents. referred clients, it is Rebecca’s loyal nature that sets her “Sometimes realtors can come off as being sales-focused, apart. “I become close to clients and keep in touch with them even going so far as to exaggerate their numbers. Be humble. long after the transaction ends,” Rebecca says. “I get invited If you’re good to people, it will definitely come back to you.” to weddings, baby showers, and birthday parties. My clients truly become part of my family.” When she’s not working, Rebecca spends her free time with her family. Sunday mornings they can often be found hiking She keeps in touch with clients primarily through Facebook, in the Tenafly Nature Center or in the Palisades Interstate using the social media outlet in both traditional and more Park along the cliffs of the Hudson River. unique ways to create buzz about a property and create conversations with prospective buyers. When she gets a new listing, she might offer a prize to the first person to take a selfie in front of the property. Other times, she might ask her followers to guess the listing price. These posts often garner hundreds of comments, with clients tagging friends and family members. In Demarest, where Rebecca lives and volunteers on the Recreation Commission, she hopes to reinvigorate the town’s sense of community spirit with the help of a group of dedicated parents and the support of town officials. “Demarest is an affluent town, but three years ago, there wasn’t much going on here,” Rebecca says. There were no local events or concerts—the types of things about a place she loves sharing with her own clients. “I decided to get involved and do something about it.” Now, every summer, there are concerts and Top Agent Magazine
To learn more about Rebecca LaPira, visit RebeccasHomesForSale.com, email RebeccaLaPira@gmail.com, or call 201-779-1630 www.
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