Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
Last week I spent some time with my local YPN planting trees at a nearby park. Next week we are hosting an elegant networking event in ther 43rd floor penthouse at the newest condo tower in downtown Bellevue, Wash., complete with valet parking and a red carpet. In the past 12 months, we have also hosted free clock hour classes, educational panels, and “get to know you” happy hours in a casual environment.
The reason for this blog post is a simple one: Get involved!
You never know who you’re going to meet or connect with. Our local network is focused on bringing REALTORS® together along with professionals from other industries (law, finance, etc.) to foster relationships and help one another grow our businesses. We have taken many cues from other YPNs around the country, and their efforts have been a great inspiration to us.
So there you go — a shameless plug for YPN!
Keep up the great work, everyone. There is something for everybody – and the more you get involved, the more you can help make it what you want it to be. Invite your friends, invite your colleagues, and encourage them to attend your events. From community service, to athletics, to education, to parties…be there or be square!
Cory Brewer is a REALTOR® in the Seattle area and Operations Manager at Windermere Property Management / LGA in Bellevue. Connect with Cory at www.wpmnorthwest.com.
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
My blog entry for this quarter will not come as news to most of the people reading it, but I think it’s a good reminder nonetheless: Every now and then, the clients and colleagues you work with will tell you one thing, but then do another.
Raise your hand if you’ve heard this one before from another agent: “I’ve got a great offer for you and my clients are really excited about the house.”
This “great offer” may even be full price…only you find out later that the buyer has a horrible credit score and can’t get a loan.
The point I’m trying to make is this: Nearly everyone I’ve talked to lately can feel the market starting to come back. Buyers, sellers, agents, lenders…everyone. It can be easy to get wrapped up in the excitement but I think it’s important, as an agent, to keep your cool and be level-headed while coaching your clients. It’s important to cover all the details of a deal, and a positive, optimistic attitude is key. But I also think it will serve you well to prepare your clients for the worst-case-scenario, because unfortunately sometimes that is exactly what can happen.
Draw on your experience – that is probably a big part of why your clients hired you in the first place. Cover your bases, and do your best to set the proper expectations from the beginning. So when that dream deal actually DOES come together, your clients will be thrilled that they were lucky enough to be working with you…rather than expecting everything to go smoothly only to have to suffer through unforeseen bumps in the road.
The market is coming back. It’s true. But don’t get caught up in the hype. Remember that a deal is not a deal until the ink on the contract is dry.
Cory Brewer is a REALTOR® in the Seattle area and Operations Manager at Windermere Property Management / LGA in Bellevue. Connect with Cory at www.wpmnorthwest.com.
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
I was recently a guest on a local radio show to discuss my brokerage and our services. The platform for the show revolves around business, finance, and real estate…and the other two guests on the program were an investment fund manager and a representative from a non-profit group advocating cancer research. It was a well-rounded group and we had some good conversation before and after the show off-air.
Near the end of the program, after completing our individual interviews, they brought us all back on the air to have a round-table discussion to answer the question “How do you find a trustworthy professional to work with?” The gut reaction answer is “get a referral,” but the producer of the program told us specifically to come up with something a little more creative than that. My initial input was to “ask for a referral from a professional that you already know and trust in a related industry,” and the conversation stemmed from there.
Across the board, we agreed that the best way to find a trusted professional in one industry is to find someone you already know who has exposure to them in a professional capacity from a related industry. It’s great to ask Aunt Sally if she knows a good dentist…but wouldn’t it make more sense to ask your doctor for a good dentist referral? In the real estate world, I believe there’s a lot to be said for this sentiment. Anyone who has spent an appreciable amount of time in the real estate industry can’t help but to have built relationships with other professionals in related industries (and if you haven’t, you’re doing something wrong).
Align yourself with a professional network of people who are likely to have exposure to your would-be clients. Continue reading »
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
Having a buddy who is a handyman, or a friend of a friend who paints in their spare time, is great…but trying to save a quick buck or two now could cost you, your brokerage, and your client a lot more down the road.
When prepping a home for the market or making inspection repairs, thoughtful consideration must be given to those who are hired to do the work. Movers, stagers, plumbers — they all fall into this category.
One recent example from my brokerage where this comes into play: A vendor was brought in to do some cleanup work in a top-floor condo unit of a multi-story building. Oops…he stepped on and broke sprinkler pipe up in the attic/roof space and damaged not only the unit he was working on, but the two units below as the water leak went wild. The insurance claim reached six figures and involved multiple home owners. Our brokerage policy is to only use vendors who are properly insured…and this is exactly why. This particular vendor came forward and processed the claim through his insurance.
Hiring someone on the cheap may sound good at first – especially when on a budget – but the time and money it costs to fix something that wasn’t done right the first time can really add up. Scrutinize your vendors and make sure that they will stand behind their work. If anything goes awry, your clients will thank you for recommending the right people to work with.
Cory Brewer is a REALTOR® in the Seattle area and Operations Manager at Windermere Property Management / LGA in Bellevue. Connect with Cory at www.wpmnorthwest.com.
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
In the past year or so I have run across several examples of REALTORS® (myself included) being tempted to be a “jack of all trades” when it comes to serving their clients. Let’s face it, we don’t want to give up control and we are also worried about potentially giving up a paycheck.
However, is it really in your best interest to step outside your area of expertise? More importantly, is it in your clients’ best interests? Sometimes the answer to these questions is no, and that’s when you have to step back and think about giving up a little bit of that control.
I had an eye-opening conversation with a local colleague of mine recently who focuses his entire business on short sales. I have closed my fair share of them, but that is virtually ALL he does. The point of the conversation came down to a key statistic: Success Rate. This REALTOR® closes about 90 percent of all short sale listings that he puts on the market, whereas the national average is somewhere around 25 percent.
Here is the food for thought: Are you better off busting your hump to have a 25 percent chance at a 100 percent commission (which could very well be reduced by the lien holders, especially if you’re not a seasoned short sale negotiator) or are you better off referring it out and having a 90 percent chance at a 25 percent referral commission? Think about all the time, effort, and marketing dollars that go into a listing. Now think about how much longer (and how much more work) it takes to see a short sale through to closing successfully. And finally, think about who is truly doing a better job for the client…you, or the specialist that you trust to take care of them? Continue reading »
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
Here is a quick story to inspire my fellow REALTORS® to keep after it (prospecting), even when it feels like a lost cause:
This past winter I volunteered to coach a youth league basketball team at my local Boys & Girls Club. My interest in volunteering was two-fold: 1.) I love basketball and have always wanted to coach, but I don’t have kids yet. I was ready/able to do it this year and there was a coaching spot open. 2.) What better way to forge relationships with potential clients in the community?
The experience was very fulfilling on a personal level for me, and at the end of the season most of the parents told me they will request me as their coach next season. That was the best compliment I could have received. It came as “icing on the cake” when after the season one of those parents told me he’d be checking in with me soon about some real estate related matters. In the back of my mind I was thinking, “Wow, it worked!”
Long story short, he had already been out looking around at open houses on his own and figured it was time to “get serious” so he brought up the subject with me. After following up a couple of times, I didn’t really hear back from him until a few weeks later when he informed me that he’d found a place that he liked during an open house and made an offer with the listing agent. Continue reading »
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
Last summer, an agent in my office took on a listing with high hopes…the market in this particular neighborhood was moving fast and prices seemed to be pretty stable. Unfortunately, though, by the time the clients were ready to hit the market, some of the neighboring comps had slashed prices (assumably to try and get sold before the start of the school year). As time went on, the comps dictated that there was really no way we could sell for our asking price, which meant we were approaching the dreaded “short sale territory.” This was a major game-changer, and there were many occasions on which our clients thought it would be best just to pull the house off the market and maybe even stop making their payments.
At times we almost felt like this was going to be a lost cause, but two things came to mind: If that house didn’t stay on the market, there was no other way it was going to sell…and the sellers are in a position where they have a legitimate hardship and NEED to get out from under the house and move on with their lives. I also didn’t want my agent’s sign to come down from what is a very high-traffic neighborhood.
Long story short, the sellers agreed that keeping the house on the market truly was the best course of action to meet their goals. At press time, we are thick in the middle of a win/win situation: They have accepted an offer on the house from a buyer who is willing to wait out the short sale process and our negotiator is well underway with the lienholder in getting that approved. In the meantime, the agent received several sign calls on the house…each time knowing that there was little chance the house would sell to that caller given the short sale situation. No matter…they pursued the sign calls and are currently under contract with one of those buyers on another house nearby (scheduled to close later this month). Continue reading »
Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
An agent in my office recently had a deal where the clients on the other side of the transaction carelessly posted information online and it ended up costing them, BIG TIME.
When selling a house, it’s very important that the seller provide full disclosure about its condition.
When purchasing a house, it’s very important that the buyer provide full disclosure about their ability to qualify for financing.
Posting more personal or emotional details online for the world to see, however, is a different story.
My agent was representing the seller and received an offer from Mr. & Mrs. Buyer. My agent then caught wind of the fact that Mr. & Mrs. Buyer were posting the step-by-step details of the deal on their online social networking account, which severely compromised their negotiating position. Among other things, they gushed about how often they drove by the house, how badly they pined for it, and how worried they were that they weren’t going to get it, or that another buyer would swoop in. The biggest mistake they made, however, was posting the actual amount they were willing to pay (which was A LOT MORE than the amount they originally offered).
OOPS! My agent’s sellers counteroffered for said amount, and were able to benefit from Mr. & Mrs. Buyers’ carelessness.
This is just one of the many ways that people can get into trouble by misusing social media. Think twice before you hit the “post” button!
Cory Brewer is a REALTOR® in the Seattle area and branch managing broker at RE/MAX Preference on Mercer Island. Connect with Cory at www.CoryBrewer.com.
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