On Wednesday, June 26 breakfast, we hosted the “Unlocking Inventory” breakfast featuring guest speakers Emelin Brown, Realty of Chicago, Perdure Carter, Dream Spots Leasing, Jason O’Beirne, Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty, and moderated by LaQuan Henley, HomeSmart Connect. Here are key takeaways from the breakfast and business tools we think you’ll enjoy.
Read Key Takeaways:
Golden Nuggets of Advice
Enjoy a more in-depth recap below. But if you’re looking for quick inspiration, here are takeaways we loved:
- Stay in touch with people. List all the ways you can stay in contact: social media, email, text, phone call, mailed postcard, etc. Think of the contacts you make today as business for the next 5-10 years.
- Perdure gets to know his community. His billboards and bus stops are in the neighborhoods he has investment properties in. Go to your local Home Depot and introduce yourself to contractors! They’re your new connections to potential inventory and clients.
- Become indispensable to developers by filling knowledge gaps. Only 5-10% of Jason’s work is sales. The rest of the time, he’s researching comps, zoning floor plans, etc. How are you researching? Where can you time-block this into your daily routine?
- What makes a strong cold-calling script? Emelin said it’s simple: fearlessness and knowledge. Have your value proposition written down in bullet points. Have your numbers and market sources at the ready.
- When researching the financial feasibility of a property, look up the city liens and if it has a history of building violations.
- If you don’t already, learn to love numbers or partner with someone who does. Emelin is very spreadsheet-driven, and she empowers her decisions with data and formulas.
5 Insights for Real Estate Success from Top Chicago Agents
If you’re less familiar with markets like short sales, auctions or new construction, breaking into niche areas like this can be intimidating! Our guest experts shared the business practices that helped them build successful lead pipelines and convert people into lifelong clients.
When it comes to “unlocking inventory,” exploring auctions and foreclosures can be a creative way to bring your expertise and customer service to someone who needs your help.
1. Cold Calling Still Works
Emelin emphasizes the value of cold calling expired listings, canceled listings and pre-foreclosures. Where do you begin? Start with a script and pick up the phone. That initial moment is often the scariest part, and rejection doesn’t feel good. No matter what, she and her team keep up the work.
They also record their calls to track improvement over time. One of her rising team members practices his cold calling at home and listens back to his recordings in his free time. In his first few months, he’s already at the closing table!
Perdure and his team also will cold-call to generate business. He added, “Don’t be afraid to start a conversation – you can always hang up if needed!”
2. Leasing Can Lead to Listings
Perdure Carter started with leasing, which opened doors to listings. He built relationships with landlords who may have multiple properties. They know and trust him as a reliable source of tenants and someone who has their back when it comes to managing and supporting their properties.
Perdure recounted one story: “One of my landlords that I leased a lot for, he said, ‘Do you sell properties?’ I was like, ‘I don’t, but I can.’ I was a managing broker. I never did a sale. And he wound up giving me six commercial buildings to sell for my first listing.”
You can also convert tenants to buyers by highlighting ownership benefits. If you’re in the leasing space, how are you educating your renter clients about homeownership? Be the person they can come to with questions through newsletters, social media, postcards and more.
Remember, when you are doing your work, no matter how big or small, if you’re proving yourself as reliable, trustworthy and knowledgeable, you are building relationships with future clients everywhere.
3. Think Long-Term with New Construction
Jason focuses on new construction, which has a 12-18 month sales cycle. He explained, “In December, I closed on a piece of land that I had written four different offers on starting ten years prior. My first emails were from 2013. We finally closed in 2023 in December and that development won’t be saleable until 2025.”
How can you possibly build a sustainable, scalable business where you can pay your bills while still working on something so long-term? Jason encourages staying humble and working on smaller deals in the meantime.
When he first started, he took the calls and properties that the larger agents in his office didn’t want. He was writing dozens of offers a month with small payouts, but in the end, it strengthened his contract skills, expanded his reputation among developers, buyers and sellers, and created a steady stream of income to supplement his business.
“Do the work today that will pay off next year,” Jason said.
4. Find Off-Market Properties
Perdure offered a unique tip: “90% of investors will ask you to find them a property that’s not on the MLS. Whenever you see something for rent, I would call those for rent signs.” Sometimes landlords express fatigue or frustration with managing tenants directly on that call, to which Perdure replies, “Dang, it sounds like you’re tired of that building. You thought about selling it?”
Check sites like Hudson and Marshall or The Judicial Sales Corporation for auction properties. Research foreclosures on sites like PropStream.
After you start your research, get away from the computer and go to properties to see the inventory for yourself. Sometimes, the system may mark a property as occupied when it’s actually vacant.
“I was interested in auctions, and I would go to them all the time. After a while of looking and not doing anything, it felt discouraging,” Emelin said. “One day, an investor reached out and told me he wanted to learn how to invest his money and if he could shadow me. He uses me to this day to many his multi-million dollar portfolio.” Today, she regularly manages hedge funds for other clients as well.
Emelin had been putting the time, research and effort in, and she said yes when an opportunity arose! You never know when your next relationship could be your next opportunity.
Where else are you building relationships with people in the real estate industry? Reach out to sponsors at events like the breakfast and book lunches or coffee meetings with the lenders and attorneys. They are great sources of expertise! They also have their own pipeline of customers and can help you expand your business.
Go to Home Depot or Lowes in the morning and introduce yourself to contractors. You’re not only adding a potential contact when you or a client need something fixed; you’re also connecting with people who are actively in people’s homes and can recommend you as a resource for potentially listing their home.
5. Build a Support Team so you can focus & innovate
“I started building a team when I realized that my income was stable enough to just say, I can pay these people every month,” Jason said. “I know how much I’m going to make. I know how much I can spend. And I just built a staff of people that are facilitating the tasks that I don’t love to do or I don’t think are the best use of my time.”
Take the time to write down a list of the tasks you don’t enjoy. Maybe you don’t mind them but they take up too much time. Look at that list and consider it a job description! There are many business models you can choose from, but help is always a great choice when you’re scaling volume.
If you’re struggling through this exercise, reverse engineer it. Focus on high-value activities and client relationships; as the core of your business, that’s where you likely shine! The administrative pieces that fall in between those major areas can be automated or delegated.
Emily Passion sums up the mindset needed for success as: “Being patient and consistent, working on time management, finding that balance between being a broker, a REALTOR®, a mom, a wife… just continuing to do it.” Stay dedicated, be willing to experiment for a period of time and trust your process.
The panelists emphasized that success requires consistent effort patience, and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone. By implementing these strategies and playing the long game, you can unlock new inventory sources and grow your real estate business.
Business Tools & Member Benefits
Training & Classes
- Mastering Real Estate Lead Generation
- Harnessing The Power Of CRM For Optimal Client Management
- Real Estate Investing
Real Estate Statistics
Our quarterly and yearly stats are your best resource for housing market trends in Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods and 293 suburbs. Statistics consist of average sales price, median sales price, market time, units sold and percent changes for Chicago and the suburbs.