By Lesley Geary
Jessica Gaines and Mollie Younger
The Younger-Gaines Team
Keller Williams Realty Louisville East
Years in real estate: Jessica: 4 Mollie: 6
Years as an agent team: 1
Number of team members: 3
Region Served: Louisville, Kentucky and the surrounding counties.
We formed an agent team because….Mollie and I both loved the business but we needed motivation and in the type of market we were in we knew that we were going to have to team up and go out and get business instead of just waiting for the phone to ring. We were right. By teaming up our business quadrupled in the last six months-it makes us excited to come to work every day. When we met we balked at the idea of partnering. But our personalities and the way we do business just mesh and it has ended up working perfectly for us.
What are you doing differently this year than last with your buyers?
It’s harder than ever today. So we are trying to educate our buyers and make them aware that now really is the best time to be buying. We are also making sure that we are informed and up to date on everything real estate related. We have a big white board in front of us. Every morning we go through the new listings and decide who to tell about the new listings. There are a lot of great investment deals out there and we have to be really up on everything and very proactive in letting everyone know about everything they could buy.
What are you doing differently this year than last with your sellers?
It’s the same thing. We keep our sellers in the loop and educate them and communicate with them constantly. Also we are totally up front with them at the beginning. We are not listing at a high price so we can secure the listing and then lower it-we are very honest. Again, we have to be knowledgeable about the market so that we know exactly where a new listing needs to be priced to sell. We are also doing lots of Web optimization and communicating. We call our sellers once a week.
What are the three most important things your team does for sellers in today’s market?
Communication is the most important thing you can do in this market. We also have to be knowledgeable about what the market will bear. The third thing is to do daily maintenance on marketing. It all comes back to us calling for two hours a day, every day, to find buyers for our listings. Everybody we know at some point will move so we feel we have something to offer.
What type of advertising works best for you?
The Internet. Our website is www.WeKnowLouisville.com and we are trying to beef up our web optimization. The biggest thing we do is send a professional photographer out to every listing, whether it’s an $80,000 listing or a $1 million listing and that has really helped. Then we also make sure that we purchase the showcase spot on Realtor.com. Last but not least, we still do a lot of open houses.
Are you spending more or less on advertising and marketing than last year? All inclusive, we are spending more this year but it’s a different type of marketing. This year we are not spending money on indirect advertising, like magazines or farming mailings. In this type of market, it’s better to have marketing that will drive people to take action immediately-for example, we may put out an ad that says, “This home has $50,000 in equity and must close this month.” That type of ad gets people to act now not some time in the future.
How is the team structured? We both take out buyers. But on the seller side, the seller of our listings will speak to me (Jessica). Once we have a contract, Mollie takes it from there. Mollie is now a master at contract negotiation and contract repair.
What’s the one thing your team can’t live without?
Each other.
What’s your philosophy for a successful life in real estate?
Contribution. We truly believe that we want to help people. It’s about helping people make the best decisions.
