In the following article, real estate pro Hans Wydler offers insights on time management, building a great team and more.
Hans Wydler
Long and Foster Real Estate
Years in Real Estate: 14
Region served: Washington D.C. and surrounding areas
You and your brother have built an award-winning team, Wydler Brothers. How does your team help you stand out in real estate?
With the technology that is available today, having a team makes everything more efficient. We have our own marketing department that produces all of our marketing materials and our direct-mail programs, and an event group that creates and takes care of all of our events. You can’t do all of these things as a sole practitioner in today’s market—it’s just not efficient. What’s more, there are many things that I am good at in real estate. With a team I can do those things, such as negotiate deals. But you do not want me designing brochures. A team allows us to do everything that we do best in class.
What do you think real estate agents tend to waste the most time on?
One area that many agents could do better in is lead generation. For instance, people tend not to have as many interactions with their potential clients—and that’s where most leads come from—as they could have. We have an expression—“get in it”—which means you have to get out there in the community and make sure people know you can help them with all of their real estate needs.
What’s the most important thing real estate agents can do to raise their overall reputation for professionalism?
My brother Steve and I have written a book called, “Inside the Cell,” about best practices in real estate. One area that we look at is the fact that a lot of real estate advertising can be self-serving. For instance, when a REALTOR® advertises that he or she sells over 50 percent of his or her own listings, is that really a plus for consumers? There are a lot of places in advertising that could be re-worked to raise the perception of honesty. Another place where REALTORS® can raise the level of trust in the business is by being genuine, trying to help the community at large. There is a local charity that my brother and I feel is doing an outstanding job of trying to end the cycle of poverty and we have joined it. There is a huge need for beds. So we are doing the 1,000 Bed Challenge. Every time we sell a house, we will buy a bed for a needy person. A number of our partners match this, so we are on track to donate 1,000 beds to the community in 2015.
What are you currently reading?
I am reading a book called, “Start with Why.” It’s all about being inspired by the work you do, and then leading your company by inspiring others. It is a truly great book.
What is the key to success in real estate?
Connect with the people you work with and the people you serve.
For more information, visit http://www.longandfoster.com.
