Selling Real Estate By Chris R. Jones Realtor Sacramento

T'henealtg Blue Book of Colifotniu'

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CHRIS JoNEs R.oltar EacraDtento 'tlic. Catiforflia Reat Pr.tiddi EstuIc nssa.iatiar Merlber E d itati|l Cortnri ll c c Rcalt! Bl1tc Book

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Tke Resl,tuBLueBook of California

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Selling Real Estate B3I CHRISR. JONES

Ilrcentive fu' Stud! Knololed.ge Necesfaru-Seviltg Holn.es-Ini,tx&ti1)e and I deas Reqlireil.

OMEONE has said, "Th€re is nothing new under the sun." All of the themesfor poemshave beenused. The numbe! of plots for books,stories, and plays have been card indexed,and any author that has w tten anything for hundredsof yeals is only putting one of the oid themesinto new languageor making a different ro;bination of circumstancesof the old material. So wheD I attempt to discuss some simple principles of real esatesalesmanship, I must tell you in advance that you must expect [othing new. I r-eadmany books and a*ic]es on serlilLo,and frankly I seldom expect to ever' find anlthing new. The most ore can expect is to find some of the old truths dressed up in new clothes, sometimes in so beautiful a fashioD that we think they are new, or on the other hand perhaps these truths ale really ne$r to us becausewe have never real,l! thoxlght about them before, or never ?is€d,r€?r. And unless vre test a truth with use we do not really know it. Frequently when I hear a man talking about selling, I say c]4rically to myself, "I wonder if that fellow with his clever speech muld avoid stanation if he had to get out in the cold world and sell a house or lot." So that you will put me in proper perspective I will say at the staft (as you can easily discover as I proceed) that I nake my living selling real estate, not selling information about selling. I have been selling real estate in Sacramento for twelve yeaN, and have been through the mill from commission, selling with a horse ard buggy, to a point when I now do not sell the customer but try to sell my salesmen,and 1vhild my point of view is necessarily that of the smalltown man, some of the lessonsI have learned may be of interest and profit to you. OFTHERB L ESTATESALESMAN OPPORTUNITY Fodunate indeed is the man who likes his job, and in which job he can lay up a competencefor his old age. Where is there any other businessthat furnishes the thrill and profit that does the selling of

estate? No thrill in the world equalsthe successfulclosingof a when the prospecthas beena difiicult one or where the sale strategy, finesseaDd skill.

Whereis there any other businesswherethe bosswill say, "I will

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pay ail the overhead,the rent, light, heat, sterographers, bookkeepe;, advertising, financin& closing, etc., and out of all the comhissions you ftake I will pay all the expensesout of my half, This is the custom that has grown up in the real estate business,a custom that does not prevail in any other businessthat I Imowiof. There is no busiless in the world ihat I know tjral pays so liberally for suc.essfuleffort asdoeslhdsellingofrFal estate. I havemen.eeor.kinq for me who are making three or four times as much moneysellingre;l eslatc on commissionas they couldon a sslary. Here is even a bigger reason for joy for the real estate salssman. While he is selling on a corrunission,if he is thrifb/ and savessome of his money- the }nowledge and experience he is getting paid to acquire will enable him to get rich. For it is obvious that if he can make money for his clients he can make money for himself by investments. This to me is the biggest incentive yet for study and industry for the rcal estate salesman. KNOW YOUR BUSINESSAIIOROUGHI'

_ The aft of salesmanshipis unquestionablythe most far-reaching and vital JorceoJ businesstoday. Obviously,b emicientlyserveyour cliej1t,you must lnow more than your client, A salesmanmust sl,udy lo know himselt. know his customerand know his goods. He musi k-eepup qn rhe financial affairs of the day; know aomethingaboul the gro*'th of cities; be able to talk convincingty on hafiic co;ditions aDd their iDiuence on valu€s; know rental values. I,he sood real esla{esalesmanshouldbe fam;liar in a generalway witlibuilding laws and building constr.uctioncosts; know somethingabout archi-teture i of )andscapegardening,and all those things which app€al to the customefs emotion as well as to hb reason. We know that more sales and easier sales are macle through the €motional reactions to a customerthan to the intellectuel. SELLING EOMES

Many readers of this volume are etgaged in selling homes. Let us consider for a minute this lhase of selling. In selling a hohe you are dealing rr'ithr one of the three fundamentals of life. The thrce pdmary essentialsof existenceare: frrst, food; second,shelter; third, clothing, You sell shelter. One of the pdmitivd instincts of the race is working for you. I don't think a woman exists who doesn't long for a home. It is as natural for her to \pant a home as for a fox to want hh oecnburrow, or a bird to want its own nest. Remehbering this, do not plale so much stress on the finarcial side of it with h€r. Whetler she xrill make a Drofit on it is a verv secondarymatter. I think lhat ppople\^ho could afford tlrem would buy homesif they cost ten times as much as they do. They would only be controlled by their ability to finance them. I{ere is a sood argumentto useon a homeprospect.ll can bF posirivpllprovenlhat it's cheaper to own a home than pay rmt, but what profit can equal the daily dividendspaid the home owner in happiness,joy and contentment, the fact that he is a fli(turc in the community, the fact that his- childr.en_are gTowing up in a district and making life-long sssociations,the best and most permanent friends, the friends oi

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youth,with o[her children like his o\i/n? Is there any stock or bond that can equaldividendslike these? Stressthe emotionalsideof your ' prospect'snature rather than the inancial. . INTUATIVE AND IDEAS RiEQUIiED

In a limited article it is clificult to say much about this wonderful businessof selling real estate. I am convincealthat no man can be permanently successful in selling real estate who is nol a a'eatiue sale$nan, for no offce can supply enough prospects for each man on the force to enable him to makemore than a meagre living. Initiative and ideas are the biEg€st qualties a real estate men can possess. I avoid melrtiorr oI integrita, for I have no time to consider a man who is itr any doubt on this elernental. It is essential in a real estate salesmanto remember that fundamentally he is not selling real estate. He is selling ld@osabout real estate. If the salesmanis able to conceivea sound idea as to the selvice and proit that the purchase of a glven parcel will secure, it ' remains only for the sal€smanto convince the prospective buyer that the idea is conect. wlren this is proven the sale is made. Millions ol dollars' worth of real estate are sold annually to peoplewho had ]lo itrtentio! of buying until an intelligent salesmansold an idea.that the plospectsaF would bring service and proft.

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