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Archive for Approved Real Estate Academy

Jim Forde ImageYoung home buyers are more comfortable texting than talking, which means big changes for Real Estate Agents and Lenders.

This article was commissioned by DitechMortgage Corp, Keller Williams Realty-Irvine and Jim Forde of Approved Real Estate Academy.

Stephanie Guiles
Editor, OCRENews.com

Both Tim Walsh, the Division Manager at Ditech Mortgage in Tustin, CA and Jim Forde, the Real Estate Trainer, at Approved Real Estate Academy, Keller Williams Realty and Diamond Resorts International, know from their own experience as fathers of “millennial children” that they quickly had to learn a new way to speak to their sons. Jim Forde remembers trying to call his son, Brian, with no results, so he sent his son a quick text and to his surprise got a quick answer back. Welcome to the new world. What Tim Walsh and Jim Forde are discovering is that while millennial home buyers rely on technology, they still value face-to-face contact with an agent and lender.

For decades, the telephone has been the real estate agent’s tool of the trade, but a new wave of younger home buyers is changing the way agents use those phones. Millennials, those born between 1980 and the late ’90s, don’t want to talk. They want texts. “We’re on our phones all the time and this generation does not like to pick up the phone,” says Dave Almazan, Branch Manager at Ditech in Tustin. “They don’t want to bother with a conversation if it can be texted.”

Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation or Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X.

As the millennial generation, also known as Generation Y, takes a greater role in the housing market, young people’s preferences are starting to shape the way real estate business is done. Jim Forde predicts that his school Approved Real Estate Academy, will have more and more millennials and will overtake baby boomers as the generation purchasing the largest number of homes this year.

“Because of their size, whatever they decide to do will have an impact on the housing market,” says Jim Forde, Director of Approved Real Estate Academy in Irvine. Forde is now the leading trainer of new Millennial Agents that want to get into the real estate business. Forde is adviser to Keller Williams Realty, Ditech Mortgage, and the Real Estate License trainer for Diamond Resorts International. It goes without saying that this group relies on technology. According to data from the National Association of Realtors, more than 50 percent of millennials search for homes on their phones, and among those, 26 percent end up buying a home they found that way.

“Mobile traffic to apps has outpaced traffic to our desktop site dramatically,” says Jim Forde, “Folks first go to their iPhones and their iPads.”
Dealing with these tech-savvy buyers has posed a challenge for the nation’s real estate Agents who are considerably older than the home buying population they serve. A NAR survey of its members in 2012 found that only 3 percent of agents were under 30 and 81 percent were older than 45 of which 25 percent were over 65. This is a problem that Jim Forde hopes to solve by spending most of his time talking to students at universities in Southern California.

“We’re seeing a population on the consumer side that is not being served by its own age group,” Forde says. “It’s causing a significant change in the way experienced agents are having to communicate.” At Approved Real Estate Academy we teach the basics, but have added new sections on how to “communicate” to different groups.

To meet the needs of Millennials, Jim Forde creates groups of young agents in Southern California to help Diamond Resorts International, Keller Williams, and Ditech meet the needs of younger customers and recruit young agents. We do this, said Forde, since many millennials had a negative image of real estate agents and loan officers. When we show them the technology and have them meet similar-age agents they quickly see the endless possibilities and sign up for our school.

“Millennials are driving change in a lot of industries,” Forde says. “They’re making these industries revisit some traditional practices.” Keller Williams Realty is an example of a company that has changed some of the traditional ways real estate is bought and sold, with technology taking a key role. Customers can ask for home tours online or via the company’s app, as well as sign up for alerts about new listings. They can use their phones to search for open houses near them. The KW.com app lets customers keep tabs on the process of their transactions 24/7.

“We find that our buyers, and particularly millennials, like having that information at their fingertips,” Forde says. Both Ditech and Keller Williams Realty have found that customers still value face to face contact with an agent. Predictions that technology would make agents obsolete have proved unfounded.

“Agents are needed because they are that trusted resource when it comes to signing a contract,” Forde says. “If you are on your own, it can be overwhelming. It would be a second job.”

Both Tim Walsh of Ditech and Jim Forde of Approved Real Estate Academy see the following ways millennials are changing real estate:
Don’t call us and we won’t call you. Many millennials prefer to communicate by text, but some prefer email. It’s important for agents and customers to clarify up front how they will communicate and how often, as well as how quickly they can expect a response.

We’ve done our homework. Millennials rarely need agents to find homes for them to see. They usually have their own list, and they’ve already researched comparable sales and chosen a neighborhood. “With millennials, we do not control information,” Walsh says. “What they need is for us to interpret the information.” At times, that can mean demonstrating that the information is not accurate. This generation may not simply take the agent’s word without proof and visuals.

We don’t like surprises. Younger buyers want to know what to expect and when. “I see them wanting to understand what’s going on at any time in the process more than any other generation,” Forde says. They like timelines, checklists, and charts. “If they don’t know what’s coming around the corner, it could cause paralysis when they get to the next step,” Walsh of Ditech says he sees this every day.
We want customer service and we want it now. Millennials expect to be partners in the home search and they want quick answers to questions. “They want information – valid information – and they want it right now,” Walsh says. “They’re the generation of Google at your fingertips.”

Real Estate Classes Orange County and MillennialsIs there an app for that?

Younger buyers live on their smartphones and use them as a key tool in their home searches. Apps are often their preferred method to check listings and collect other information.

For more information on Millennial Real Estate Clients and how to serve them contact Jim Forde for Real Estate Classes Orange County

Jim FordeJim Forde – Orange County, California

 

For over 30 years Jim Forde has been one of the lead­ers in South­ern Cal­i­for­nia Real Estate. Jim Forde has cre­ated a well inte­grated sales and com­mu­ni­ca­tion struc­ture which allows the entire team at Keller Williams Realty to work hand-in-hand. Details below on: Jim Forde.


 

  • Story: Jim Forde is considered one of the leading authorities on Social Media and Google + for the Real Estate Industry.
  • Introduction: Get the facts about: Jim Forde He does his “One Thing” better than anyone – Recruit great agents. A great recruiter is a special person that has to love their work. The job is tough but without the recruiter most real estate companies will not grow and will shortly be out of business. When looking for great agents.  I am always on the lookout for a person that is doing well but is otherwise unhappy and maybe thinking of making a change, someone who may have made a comment about wanting to go into business for themselves but not by themselves.  I also talk to a lot of salespersons selling every type of product. Quite often I would go up to a salesperson and just say: “I like your style, I like what you are doing, have you ever thought of being a Real Estate Agent. I also spent many a day at a career fair at the local universities. Many grads just can not find work.  A Real Estate Agent is a great way for a young person just out of university to make a lot of money.
  • Bragging rights: Jim Forde does his “One Thing” better than anyone – Recruit great agents.

Jim Forde Keller Williams Tustin Orange County

Jim Forde; Reviews

Jim is an amazing asset to anyone’s business. And more than that he is a friend. I met Jim when I was just starting real estate at the age of 31. I had moved to a new city, didn’t know anyone, and was trying to sell houses! Jim took me under his wing and helped me get off the ground. Although my journey has taken me through many obstacle and has landed me in a different city, now just 3 years later my business has grown, I’m recognized as an elite agent, and I love what I do. Thank you Jim for believing in me at a time when I didn’t even know if I believed in myself.

Jeremy – 06/06/2017


JIM FORDE IS TOPS IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA FIELD, FROM BELIEVING IN IT AND TEACHING IT TO MAKING IT A PART OF HIS DAILY LIFE. RESULTS ARE HIS GOAL.”

Terry Costa – 05/21/2011

JIM FORDE IS HIGHLY QUALIFIED IN THE GROWING FIELD OF SOCIAL MEDIA. HE HAS PROVEN RESULTS THAT HIS APPROACH BRINGS RESULTS. FRED HALT”

Fred Halt – 05/08/2011

Jim Forde is the best! He helps everyone he can because he truly likes to. He set up my web page in one day!

Carol Graff – 06/15/2011

David Rollo – 05/11/2011

Jim Forde is a wiz at the Social Media game. Highly recommend. Go get your Google Love!

Beach Cities – 06/10/2011

I would highly recommend Jim Forde as Social Media Director.

Graham Carrigan – 05/31/2011

I highly recommend Jim Forde as Social Media Director.

Bonnie Marshall – 05/10/2011

Highly recommend – Jim Forde.

Jamie Carrigan – 05/10/2011
Oct
13

Jim Forde

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Jim FordeJim Forde

Jim Forde is a pos­i­tive, self moti­vated per­son, who simply loves what he does! His spe­cialty is Busi­ness Devel­op­ment with a proven track record in Southern California Real Estate. He believes that to have a great real estate com­pany you have to have great Real Estate Agents. While other com­pa­nies are down­siz­ing and even clos­ing offices, Keller Williams Realty is expand­ing in Cal­i­for­nia and much of that suc­cess can be traced right back to Jim Forde and the entire team at Approved Real Estate Acad­emy.

For 30+ years Jim Forde has been one of the lead­ers in South­ern Cal­i­for­nia Real Estate. Jim Forde has cre­ated a well inte­grated sales and com­mu­ni­ca­tion struc­ture which allows the entire team at Keller Williams Realty to work hand-in-hand.

Jim Forde, Director of Approved Real Estate Academy Teaching Real Estate Practice

Jim Forde, Director of Approved Real Estate Academy Teaching Real Estate Practice

Jim Forde, of Keller

Williams Irvine. knows that there are thou­sands of real estate pro­fes­sion­als out there who are find­ing it dif­fi­cult to get beyond work­ing leads that they just can’t close. Wouldn’t it be nice to feel totally con­fi­dent that the leads you have worked hard to get are good, have poten­tial and aren’t a waste of time? With Keller Williams Realty Irvine you can! What you need is a sys­tem that takes in the leads you get, and man­ages them for you with­out you hav­ing to work them into dead ends.

 

The “Jim Forde Keller Williams” cus­tom approach pro­vide both the stu­dent and agent with ser­vices that can­not be matched by any school in Cal­i­for­nia. From learn­ing how to buy and sell new and pre-owned homes to leas­ing and other com­mer­cial prop­erty ser­vices Keller Williams Realty has com­bined its many resources with a per­son­al­ized touch, giv­ing each and every stu­dent the care and atten­tion they deserve.

What about Leads?

Jim Forde believes all Realtors need a sys­tem that takes in the leads provided and man­ages it for the real Estate Agent.

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