Nelson Zide – ‘Sphere of influence’

Want to know how to turn a $150 investment into a $370,000 home sale?

Realtor Nelson Zide may be the one to tell you how.

Speaking to brokers at the 2001 Massachusetts Association of Realtors Convention and Trade Expo last week, Zide explained how a $150 sign he installed on his mini-van advertising his business led him to a Walgreens pharmacy technician who wanted to sell her home.

Zide drove up to the drive-in window of the pharmacy this past Labor Day weekend to pick up a prescription when a technician noticed the sign and asked if he was in the real estate business. Zide, one of the broker-owners of ERA Key Realty Services in Framingham, left his phone number and ended up as the listing agent for the woman’s $370,000 home.

“That alone … should be enough to make you go back and, on your own cars – I don’t care if it’s a Caddy, I don’t care if it’s a van – you should put your name or car signs on your car,” Zide.

That was just one of several tips Zide provided last Tuesday in a session titled, “How to Get More Listings in a Tough Market.” The session, which took place at the annual convention in the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, started about an hour before last week’s attacks on the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., and the World Trade Center in New York City.

Zide spoke to a full audience for 90 minutes, before news broke about the attacks. The Realtor – who says he has handled 65 transactions or more a year and has not closed less than $10 million worth of sales annually in the last 12 years – threw out several suggestions.

“There are things you can do over a long period of time that will help you generate more listings,” Zide said.

Among some of the tips Zide offered were monthly mailings. Zide said he has collected a “sphere of influence” list – basically a mailing list of colleagues, former clients and acquaintances – and sends monthly mailings of newsletters and postcards to people on the list. Zide provided several examples of how that has led homebuyers and sellers to do business with him over the years.

“If you do it [mailings] for six months and nothing happens, don’t quit.” Zide said. “A mailing list is a long-term project. It is not short-term.”

Zide also suggested enclosing a buyer flier within the newsletter mailings letting prospective sellers know that there are buyers searching for homes in the area. That could help a Realtor get both a listing and a sale. The mailings will cost little compared to the commissions Realtors can make, he said.

“Does it [marketing strategies] work all the time? No,” said Zide. “If you throw enough of it out there, some of it will stick.”

‘No Magic’
In addition to that tip, Zide said listing brokers must be prepared when they meet with prospective sellers and should be able to distinguish between listing presentations and consulting appointments.

Zide told brokers never to go into a consultation appointment and immediately give sellers the comparative market analysis. Letting sellers know how much their homes can sell for before getting information from them about their motives for selling, and before telling sellers what kind of guidance and services they can provide, can mean that a broker doesn’t get a listing.

“If you give them the price first, you lose,” he said.

One conference attendee said he disagreed because he felt that the single most important service a Realtor provides is the market analysis and pricing.

“I don’t want to minimize price,” Zide said. However, Zide said that once a broker gives a prospective seller the market price range – all that a seller wants to hear – the seller will not listen to a presentation about what makes the broker different or better than others in the real estate field.

Realtors should also offer statistics to sellers about how many sales they or their offices handle to give them a better idea about their experience. Further, they should push their Web sites.

For those that don’t have a Web site, Zide suggested getting a Realtor.com link. A toll-free telephone number also attracts more sellers, particularly out-of-state residents wanting to relocate to Massachusetts, he said.

Advertising the designations of a Realtor also can be beneficial and Zide suggests getting prospective buyer feedback from property showings. That ultimately helps a listing agent and seller know why a property is not selling and could assist in selling the home.

Zide said there have been several occasions when a prospective buyer didn’t like a house simply because of the paint on the walls and has reconsidered when the seller volunteers to repaint the home.

He also advised brokers to call former clients within three or four years after they’ve bought a home to find out if they are considering selling and said brokers should check tax records for absentee owners who don’t realize how much their properties are worth and may want to sell.

Nancy Hamel, a top producer with Realty World Sawicki in Amherst, asked Zide what to do about sellers who ignore the market analysis and want to ask as much as 20 percent more than the market price.

Zide said one option is to ask the seller to hire an appraiser and, if the appraisal comes in closer to the seller’s asking price, offer to pay the appraiser. However, Zide said if the appraisal comes in closer to the Realtor’s assessment, the seller should pay for the appraisal.

“If they’re not willing [to pay for an appraisal] then they know they’re being unreasonable [about the price],” said Zide.

“If they aren’t reasonable, do you want the listing?” asked Zide.

Hamel said Zide provided some helpful tips, adding, “There is no magic to this business.”

“Marketing strategies are a great thing,” Hamel said. “[But] it doesn’t always work for everyone.”

Mary Pizzimenti of Century 21 North Shore in Gloucester said Zide was “very enlightening”.

“It was a good experience,” she said.