T'henealtg Blue Book of Colifotniu'

CHRIS JoNEs
R.oltar
EacraDtento
'tlic. Catiforflia Reat
Pr.tiddi
EstuIc nssa.iatiar
Merlber E d itati|l Cortnri ll c c
Rcalt! Bl1tc Book

l
ii
L
 Tke Resl,tuBLueBook of California r67

Selling Real Estate

B3I CHRISR. JONES

Ilrcentive fu' Stud! Knololed.ge Necesfaru-Seviltg

Holn.es-Ini,tx&ti1)e and I deas Reqlireil.

OMEONE has said, "Th€re is nothing new under the sun." All
of the themesfor poemshave beenused. The numbe! of plots
for books,stories, and plays have been card indexed,and any
author that has w tten anything for hundredsof yeals is only put-
ting one of the oid themesinto new languageor making a different
ro;bination of circumstancesof the old material.
So wheD I attempt to discuss some simple principles of real
esatesalesmanship, I must tell you in advance that you must expect
[othing new. I r-eadmany books and a*ic]es on serlilLo,and frankly
I seldom expect to ever' find anlthing new. The most ore can expect
is to find some of the old truths dressed up in new clothes, sometimes
in so beautiful a fashioD that we think they are new, or on the other
hand perhaps these truths ale really ne$r to us becausewe have never
real,l! thoxlght about them before, or never ?is€d,r€?r. And unless vre
test a truth with use we do not really know it.
Frequently when I hear a man talking about selling, I say
c]4rically to myself, "I wonder if that fellow with his clever speech
muld avoid stanation if he had to get out in the cold world and sell
a house or lot." So that you will put me in proper perspective I
will say at the staft (as you can easily discover as I proceed) that I
nake my living selling real estate, not selling information about sell-
ing. I have been selling real estate in Sacramento for twelve yeaN,
and have been through the mill from commission, selling with a horse
ard buggy, to a point when I now do not sell the customer but try to
sell my salesmen,and 1vhild my point of view is necessarily that of the
smalltown man, some of the lessonsI have learned may be of interest
and profit to you.

OPPORTUNITY OFTHERB L ESTATESALESMAN

Fodunate indeed is the man who likes his job, and in which job
he can lay up a competencefor his old age. Where is there any other
businessthat furnishes the thrill and profit that does the selling of
estate? No thrill in the world equalsthe successfulclosingof a
when the prospecthas beena difiicult one or where the sale
strategy, finesseaDd skill.
Whereis there any other businesswherethe bosswill say, "I will
158 The Realtu Bluz Book ol Califol.nia

pay ail the overhead,the rent, light, heat, sterographers, bookkeepe;,

advertising, financin& closing, etc., and out of all the comhissions
you ftake I will pay all the expensesout of my half, This is the cus-
tom that has grown up in the real estate business,a custom that does
not prevail in any other businessthat I Imowiof. There is no busiless
in the world ihat I know tjral pays so liberally for suc.essfuleffort
asdoeslhdsellingofrFal estate. I havemen.eeor.kinq for me who are
making three or four times as much moneysellingre;l eslatc on com-
missionas they couldon a sslary.
Here is even a bigger reason for joy for the real estate salssman.
While he is selling on a corrunission,if he is thrifb/ and savessome of
his money- the }nowledge and experience he is getting paid to
acquire will enable him to get rich. For it is obvious that if he can
make money for his clients he can make money for himself by invest-
ments. This to me is the biggest incentive yet for study and industry
for the rcal estate salesman.
KNOW YOUR BUSINESSAIIOROUGHI'

_ The aft of salesmanshipis unquestionablythe most far-reaching

and vital JorceoJ businesstoday. Obviously,b emicientlyserveyour
cliej1t,you must lnow more than your client, A salesmanmust sl,udy
lo know himselt. know his customerand know his goods. He musi
k-eepup qn rhe financial affairs of the day; know aomethingaboul
the gro*'th of cities; be able to talk convincingty on hafiic co;ditions
aDd their iDiuence on valu€s; know rental values. I,he sood real
esla{esalesmanshouldbe fam;liar in a generalway witlibuilding
laws and building constr.uctioncosts; know somethingabout archi--
teture i of )andscapegardening,and all those things which app€al
to the customefs emotion as well as to hb reason. We know that
more sales and easier sales are macle through the €motional reac-
tions to a customerthan to the intellectuel.
SELLING EOMES
Many readers of this volume are etgaged in selling homes. Let
us consider for a minute this lhase of selling. In selling a
hohe you are dealing rr'ithr one of the three fundamentals of life. The
thrce pdmary essentialsof existenceare: frrst, food; second,shelter;
third, clothing, You sell shelter. One of the pdmitivd instincts of the
race is working for you. I don't think a woman exists who doesn't
long for a home. It is as natural for her to \pant a home as for a fox
to want hh oecnburrow, or a bird to want its own nest.
Remehbering this, do not plale so much stress on the finarcial
side of it with h€r. Whetler she xrill make a Drofit on it is a verv
secondarymatter. I think lhat ppople\^ho could afford tlrem would
buy homesif they cost ten times as much as they do. They would
only be controlled by their ability to finance them. I{ere is a sood
argumentto useon a homeprospect.ll can bF posirivpllprovenlhat
it's cheaper to own a home than pay rmt, but what profit can equal
the daily dividendspaid the home owner in happiness,joy and con-
tentment, the fact that he is a fli(turc in the community, the fact
that his- childr.en_are gTowing up in a district and making life-long
sssociations,the best and most permanent friends, the friends oi
 I
Tke Redta BIue Book ol Cdilom'ia 169 I
youth,with o[her children like his o\i/n? Is there any stock or bond I
that can equaldividendslike these? Stressthe emotionalsideof your '
prospect'snature rather than the inancial. I
. INTUATIVE AND IDEAS RiEQUIiED
In a limited article it is clificult to say much about this wonderful
businessof selling real estate.
I am convincealthat no man can be permanently successful in
selling real estate who is nol a a'eatiue sale$nan, for no offce can
supply enough prospects for each man on the force to enable him to
makemore than a meagre living. Initiative and ideas are the biEg€st
qualties a real estate men can possess. I avoid melrtiorr oI integrita,
for I have no time to consider a man who is itr any doubt on this
elernental. It is essential in a real estate salesmanto remember that
fundamentally he is not selling real estate. He is selling ld@osabout
real estate. If the salesmanis able to conceivea sound idea as to the
selvice and proit that the purchase of a glven parcel will secure, it
' remains only for the sal€smanto convince the prospective buyer that
the idea is conect. wlren this is proven the sale is made. Millions
ol dollars' worth of real estate are sold annually to peoplewho had ]lo
itrtentio! of buying until an intelligent salesmansold an idea.that the
plospectsaF would bring service and proft.