Former real estate agent on how an entrepreneur can buy a house !

By Cain Ndhlovu

Your dreams determine what you do today. It is important therefore, to dream big. For someone like me with a real estate background there is no bigger dream than buying a house, a piece of land, a garden flat or any type of real estate. But even if you do not have a real estate background you may agree with me that immovable property is arguably one of the best investments of all times for many reasons. Some of them are value appreciation, regularity of income, security of income, divisibility of investment to mention only a few. Hence one real estate agent once said, “Invest in land because you can’t hunt on a stock or bond.”

It is important to dream big because the size of your dream determine the size of your business. If you define success by doing nothing less than buying a house then you will put a lot of effort in order to ensure that your business is big enough to raise required funds needed to make this dream become reality. If you don’t have a dream at all then it shouldn’t be surprising seeing you being content with running a vegetable stall on a street corner the rest of your life!

Do you have big dreams ?  If your answer is yes then this blog post is what the doctor has prescribed because I would like to give you real estate tips on how an entrepreneur like you can indeed buy a house. Iam a digital marketer and entrepreneur today but it is real estate agency that started first.

My real estate career started in the  August of 2007 at MS Real Estate Consultancy PL in Harare. For nine years I worked at various other real estate agents including Floburg Real Estate PL. Within the first few months I got a major source of motivation when I managed to sell a 2000sqm piece of land in the flourishing Mnt Pleasant Heights suburb. I earned a lot of commission, bought a nice suit, a pair of tan boots called “Demolition” and I remained with change!

I also realized that properly advising clients before signing agreements of sale was key for real estate agency success. To this end I found studies with the Real Estate Institute of Zimbabwe (REIZ) very helpful. For example it was critical to ensure that both the buyer and the seller are aware of extra costs they faced. On one hand buyers are responsible for conveyancing or property transfer fees and these are additional to the price. On the other sellers are responsible for capital gains tax and agent’s fees. These are deducted from the price. It was therefore, important for buyers to be financially well and sellers to have a correct property valuation.

By being financially well I mean having a high monthly income. Whether a buyer is using mortgage finance (a loan) or cash having a high monthly income is advantageous. Remember even the smallest of real estate payments can be in thousands so a high monthly income will therefore help you to confidently satisfy your obligations as a buyer.   

So as an entrepreneur dreaming of buying a house how do you generate a high income? To answer this lets start by defining what a high income is. A high income is money you earn through a high income skill. A high income skill is a skill that is determined when demand for it is high and supply low. An example is a medical doctor. There is another type of income and its called an average wage income. This type of an income is money you earn through an average wage income skill. An average wage income skill is a skill that is determined when supply for it is high and demand low. A good example is a commuter bus driver.

At this juncture let me note that you do not necessarily need to be a medical doctor to earn a high income. Many skills like teaching, coding, digital marketing and yours can become high income skills. But how do you make this happen as an entrepreneur ?

Well you can do this if you manage to position yourself as an expert in the eyes of prospective customers. People usually pay high prices if they believe the price is worthy it. Value is a matter of belief. People consider the prices an expert charge as being worth it. Consider lawyers and medical doctors. People consider these as experts or authorities in health and legal matters so whatever they charge people pay. If they do not have the money people can even borrow or make some kind of a plan.

So even though you are not a lawyer or a medical doctor digital marketing can help position you as an expert in the eyes of prospects so that you also can charge high prices as other experts do.  But how can digital marketing do this ? Well let me tell you an overarching principle your marketing should follow.

This principle is you must give free value first before asking for a sale. Through various content formats like blog posts, PDFs, video etc you can deliver free value. This means that you do nothing but teach. No pitching, no selling yet but only teaching. What is marketing to you ? To me marketing is what positions me as an expert so that I earn a high income in order for me to buy a lovely house which is my dream.

Exactly, what do you teach ?

Well you teach about how your prospects’ lives can become better. There are two ways through which an entrepreneur can make a person’s life become better. These are you either take away pain or give pleasure. So you teach about this first then ask for a sale later. When you eventually do they will not hesitate to open their wallets because you would have first positioned yourself as an expert, authority or thought leader.

What are the tools needed to really do this ?

Surprisingly, what you need to do this is not found overseas but right in front of your very eyes in your cell phones and PCs because of the internet ! One good example of such a resource is a blog and it is the right tool for positioning you as the expert.

A blog is a website that is part of the Web 2.0 generation of latest website technology that is distinct by facilitating interaction between the site and users for example the comments section. Web 2.0 is the technology that build social media websites e.g your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram to mention only a few. So a blog is really cool, indeed a great website an entrepreneur must have.

More about a blog …

A blog allows you to publish content in various formats like text, video and images. Content once published becomes a blog post. A blog has posts instead of web pages and you can publish as much posts as you want at no additional cost.

Here is an example of a structure you can use when creating blog posts with a view to position yourself as an expert, authority or industry thought leader.

1.Attention grabbing headline

2.Opening - Pain, agitate, solve

3.Your story of the struggle

Talking about your own challenges, associated struggles makes you real and relatable. You should also know that people like stories and stories sell.

By sharing the story behind how you got your solution and associated results a blog is helping you turn your experiences into effective marketing.

4.Results

After telling them how you found solutions you must tell them about the results you got or those you helped other people to get. This position yourself as a Results Expert. If you are trying to teach what you don’t have results in yet then you should at least do it as one of the other two types of experts;

a. Reporter Expert: A person who synthesize lots of ideas from everybody else and reports that so that they minimize your time of research.

b. Role Model: The person you admire and respect who is going to help you improve your life and grow your business.

5. The solution framework

Numbers 1 to 4 is giving context which is getting the person the right state of mind to hear you. Number 5 is giving content through the solution framework which is the big picture process in which you are going to teach them.

6.Call to action (C.T.O)

So how do you set up a blog ?

Well the good news is there are free platforms like Blogger.

However, some people prefer an experienced person to set up a blog for them. If this is your preference too I can help in this regard.

Please note what you stand to gain if I do it for you.

Benefits

• Blog administration manual which hold your hand as you get started using your new blog.

•A blog is multi-purpose you can therefore use it as a blog, website, landing page etc

•Having an expert do for you what you can’t do for yourself helps you get a better quality product.

• The free hosting will enable you to save money.

•Owning and running a blog also mean you are upgrading yourself with latest Web 2.0 website technology.

•Blogs are number one favourites of search engines like Google because they are regularly updated and answer user “how to” questions.

Features

•Built using the Blogger platform.

•Comments section that facilitate online community creation which helps in stimulating sales.

•x 1 blog post written on your behalf using expert know how and to get you started.

Price

$60 only *

To buy now please submit your details.

SUBMIT DETAILS

* Get a 5% discount plus a free Agreement of Lease template I used for years if you buy before 31 January 2023!