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Featured Client of the MonthOctober 2008:Valeria Grunbaum E-Mail Address: info@ValeriaGrunbaum.com An Interview With Valeria Grunbaum:
Advanced Access: How did you get started in the Real Estate Industry? Valeria Grunbaum: My parents have been in Real Estate since I was a child. Watching them working in the business inspired me. We used to live in Venezuela, and their specialty was working with big corporations that were relocating their executives, so I learned how to work with International customers by watching my parents and later working alongside them. I got very “into” the international business. I remember that when I started to call prospective sellers to get listings, they did not take me seriously as they could tell from my voice that I was very young. I figured another way around – I started looking for buyers and telling them that I was about to get the properties that they where looking for, and then I called the sellers that matched with my buyers and got the listings! In Venezuela there is no MLS or buyer’s agents. Usually buyers call the listing agent directly and the seller’s agent keeps the full commission, so when I was offering to find the buyers the property, which was not usual, I am sure they really liked that service. In a few days I had a huge list of prospective buyers, and they were calling for other listings that we didn’t have. When I was going back to the sellers and showing them how many buyers had asked me to find properties for them, they trusted me and give me the listings! AA: Do you have a specialty or favorite niche market group?
AA: At what point did you realize your need for a website? Describe your journey to Advanced Access and why you chose us as your provider. Valeria Grunbaum: I came to the US to promote Miami real estate to Latin American buyers. I knew that a website was a must, so I hired a good friend of mine who is a web designer. I paid a little more than $1,000 and was very happy with the design. Later I went to her home office to learn how to update the website myself and not pay extra fees or depend on someone else. I can tell you that the only thing I got from that training session was a headache! At that point I did not know anything better, so I kept the page and I had to call my friend to update it every month, but it was not frequent enough as I had things almost every day that I wanted to add or change, like new properties and pricing, etc. I ended up paying every time I updated the site, and I was not happy at all. Then one day I learned about Advanced Access through my good friend and international expert, Deborah Valledor. She showed me what could be possible with AA, and it was a no-brainer. I was amazed with what I was seeing. Just the fact that I can update it myself and it was easy to use was great, but having the templates so I could play with the design without the need for a designer was great. Also Intellicards!!! I love it as I was using Constant Contact before and I couldn’t add all my contacts as it was so expensive. I fell in love with AA almost immediately, to the point that today I have 2 websites with AA: One is for my Real Estate business, http://www.investmentsinsouthflorida.com; and my second website is www.ValeriaGrunbaum.com, where I have my training, coaching, and my new book, Success with International Customers. AA: How has your real estate website impacted your business? (include statistics, financials, etc - anything noteworthy) Valeria Grunbaum: At the beginning I thought about the website as an information center for my current customers and potential customers, so I loaded it with info and started a marketing plan to promote the site. Suddenly a huge amount of people visited my site, and I started to receive emails from potential customers from all over Latin America, asking for information. At one point I had to reduce the marketing and stop the newsletter as I had more potential customers contacting me than I could handle. That’s when I decided to create a team of people to support me. I remember one day I was in my office and I got an email from a customer who was reading my website. He said that my site came up first when he did a search. To be honest, I don’t know how that happened but I thought that I must be doing something right. This customer explained what he was looking for. He was coming to Miami the next morning, so we made an appointment for the afternoon and I invested about 5 hours with him. That day he put 2 contracts for a total of $600,000. That represented about $25,000 in commissions. This customer would never have bought from me if I was not on the Internet. I have had many customers come to me because they find me on the Internet or they like what they see on my site. AA: What other resources through Advanced Access and life in general have contributed to your success? Valeria Grunbaum: I learned that success is 80% mental and 20% technique. Part of my 80% has been determination, focus and consistency. And on the 20% technique, my website has been a very important part, as I use it to connect, inform, promote and support my international customers. And now with my new website for the trainings for International Real Estate agents, I am providing lots of value. AA: Can you share with us some information about a recent transaction that began as a result of your website? Valeria Grunbaum: Someone gave my name to a potential buyer in Venezuela. He did not know my phone number, but he googled me and found my website. When he phoned me, I was getting ready to go for lunch in a restaurant. After he explained what he was looking for, I directed him to the secure area of my website that I have set up for my customers. I asked him to review the info about different properties that I had in detail there with a list of units available, prices, and a letter of intent. I added that he could call me back for questions and to go over any details. About 30 minutes later he called and said that he and his partner were on the line and that they needed to ask a few questions. That conversation took about 20 minutes. Less than an hour later he called again. He had just emailed me the letter of intent, and he wanted me to prepare the contract and send it to him. I’ve had many other cases where customers find me over the Internet or decide to work with me because of what they see on my website, so my site has been worth every penny. AA: What are some of your goals for your website and your online presence? Valeria Grunbaum: With http://www.investmentsinsouthflorida.com I will continue doing what has been working for me in the past, and with my new website, www.ValeriaGrunbaum.com, where I have also parked the domain www.SuccessWithInternationalCustomers.com, my goal is for that site to become the main resource center for International Real Estate Agents. I want to grow my network of agents all over the world and at the same time help other Real Estate Agents to have the same success that I have had with the international market. AA: Tell us a little about your family, your history, and what you like to do in your spare time. Valeria Grunbaum: We came to the U.S. about 6 years ago and have enjoyed very much our life here. I was born in Argentina, was raised in Venezuela, and now I live here, so I consider myself international. I enjoy living in a city like Miami, where there is a huge variety of nationalities. I love the fact that here is like having a little bit of every part of the world. In my spare time, I like the beach, riding my road bike, and most outdoors activities. I also love to read, to be with friends and learn new things. I am a Senior Leader for Anthony Robbins’ events, and volunteer to help and support others at these events to transform their lives. That is one of my passions, and I practice it whether I’m selling real estate, coaching, training, or working an event. Also I am an NLP practitioner, which has been very useful in my trainings and coaching. Using NLP, I can better help the agents I am working with as well as the customers, because at the end of the day we are all people, and it is great to have the tools to help someone break through whatever is in the way to achieving their goals. |
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