Jason O'Neil
By Jason O’Neil
Are the two at odds with one another? I say yes. I begin each buyer consultation with the simple question: “Do you want a great deal or do you want a great home?” The responses are typical:
“Both! Ha Ha Ha…I mean, can’t we get both?”
“Uhhhhh. Great home?”
“Somewhere between.”
“Great home. Good deal. Is that possible?”
Most home owners forget what they paid for their home the instant after they move their stuff in. And while most of them get a monthly reminder about how much they owe on their home, very few remember the asking price, let alone the prices of the other 10 homes they looked at before they found “The One.” The hang up on the good deal is so over emphasized that I predict it will fade in the next 12 months.
I know that there are naysayers out there, but I am having some serious deja-vu. In 2006, home sellers had the golden tickets. Price? Price had nothing to do with selling a house, heck, if you missed the mark on price the market would quickly appreciate so fast that the market would catch up with the price. Sellers didn’t have to negotiate and buyers were at their mercy. My how the tables have turned. But have they really? I am starting to see the same type of overreaction in buyers. I had a buyer ask the seller to fix the neighbors house during an inspection negotiation!
Sellers are saying enough is enough and our market is normalizing. The great homes sell and sell quickly for close to their asking price…some get multiple offers. The homes that languish on the market are the ones that have been over looked, or been rejected by other buyers and the market as a whole. Do you want a great home or a great deal?
Jason O’Neil is a broker and an owner of McKenzie Real Estate in Indianapolis. Visit his Web site: www.McKenzieListings.com
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
If you are reading this post and are still active in real estate, congratulations! You have survived a year of many challenges. You can pat yourself on the back remember how hard your worked. Feel a sense of accomplishment and embrace every challenge that was put in front of you.
We faced many challenges. We had good times and bad times. From all of it, I hoped you’ve learned something!
Now, let’s look ahead. Here are some things you should be doing in 2011:
Send out quarterly/yearly market updates to your clients. Market updates allow you to share accurate information based on factual data within your local area. I do this in an e-mail to my clients. Thank goodness for 10K Marketing’s “The Thing.” It’s one of my favorite tools to use to share local real estate information with clients.
If you read an article or hear a news story, share and comment on it. Post on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. Use your expertise to expand or argue the story. It’s also a great way to combat negative media attention.
Share your own success stories. I came across a blog that had pictures of their clients in front of their new home they just closed on. I thought it was a pretty neat idea. Continue reading »
Toby Boyce
By Toby Boyce
I stood quietly waiting for the smiling-innocent faces to calm down as they stared back at me. They were so fresh and ready to change the world.
Was I teaching another class of new REALTORS® in one of my CE classes? I wish; the faces were third-graders at a local middle school. I was their “guest teacher” for the day.
Yep, that’s right, for the second time since becoming a full-time agent in 2006, I’ve had to pick-up a second job to stay afloat. I know I just lost a collection of you — as I’m now one of those part-time agents. Really? I am? Tell that to my wife and she’ll laugh at you.
Too often this question becomes too black-and-white. Is real estate my only source of income? No. So I’m not a full-time professional? That’s crazy talk. How many of us have accountants, lawyers, doctors, etc. who are doing property management to add a little extra income? So does that make them less of a doctor?
The bottom line is that it isn’t whether an agent is full- or part-time on the clock, but how they are in action.
I have two short-sales in contract and buyers are represented by a full-time and part-time agent. Which one responds to e-mails, calls, and knows the contract verbiage better? Yep, you guessed it — the part-time one.
So next time you go to bash a “part-time” agent — remember it could very easily be you.
Toby Boyce, MBA, is a real estate practitioner with Keller Williams Consultants Realty in Westerville, Ohio. Visit his Web site: www.delawareohrealestate.com.
Brian Copeland
By Brian Copeland
If you are a young professional and have entered the real estate profession any time from 2004-2007, I want to be the first to congratulate you.
When you can no longer consider yourself a whippersnapper and Lady GAGA music is now playing on the Golden Oldies station, you can then say one thing proudly as a REALTOR®, “I’ve seen the best market in our time. I’ve seen the worst market in our time.”
You’ve officially navigated both and come out on the other side stronger. Remember, our defining moments arise out of adversity. I thank goodness every day for that teacher who said I’d never make it past my first year of college. I’m grateful for that boss who knocked me off my employment platform in my first job. Soon, you will be thanking the passing economy for making you one of the strongest real estate advisers of your day.
While millennial generation agents will still be able to say the same statement, our generation will be able to say our training grounds were in these two markets. Who wouldn’t want an airline pilot who was trained during the worst storms of the century simply because that was the time he got his pilot’s license?
I hope you will begin today, preparing yourself for tomorrow’s market. It’s going to be amazing, and the consumers will know more than ever that a smart, savvy REALTOR® who has navigated these treacherous waters needs to be on their side.
Use the next few months to finish a designation like GRI or CRS. Use 2011 as a time to get more involved in your local association than you ever have been before. Use the coming weeks to school yourself on the legislative issues that continue to affect your and your clients’ future. You’ll want to do it now, because the business you’re going to see in 2012 and beyond requires you to be at the top of your game. I’ll see all my YPNers AT THE TOP!
Brian Copeland is a real estate practitioner in Nashville, Tenn. You can follow Brian on Twitter: @NashvilleBrian
Jeremy Williams
By Jeremy Williams
It’s raining around here, but not raindrops. The sounds of complaining and worry are always in earshot when working in a real estate market that has softened and seen some additional challenges as a direct result of government policy and tightening financial markets. Sometimes it is a drizzles and other times it is a down pour. The raindrops always seem to gather in the same places forming nimbus clouds of doubt and complacency. Getting caught in one of these storms can just flat out ruin your day and potentially your career.
My recommendation is to carry with you an umbrella, in case you end up around conversations that lead to a chance of rain. Keep your head up and focus on the key component of your business; lead generation. Don’t get sucked into the updraft created by an impending storm.
How do you avoid the rain? Know your market statistics and factors influencing your business. Be able to convey this information to your home buyer and home seller clients. Be willing to have the tough conversations with your clients if needed and always be upfront and honest. Get ready to adapt your business to meet the current market. Just as a ship will typically sail around a looming storm, learn how to stay clear of those who have chosen to focus on what might be a challenging situation as opposed to the solution to the situation.
Avoidance of the rain is best and typically your gut will provide an accurate forecast, but just in case, make sure you pack your umbrella before heading out today. Also know that the rain to shall also pass. Have a great week in the business.
Jeremy Williams of Keller Williams Realty NE in Kingwood, Texas specializes in the residential real estate market of Kingwood, Atascocita, and Humble, Texas. Visit his Web site at www.williams4yourhome.com.
Kelly Reark
By Kelly Reark
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with some other real estate agents within our local association’s Board of REALTORS®. I noted something while I was talking to each of them that I want to pass along to all of you.
There’s no question that this real estate market is challenging and unique. There are agents out there who have learned to make the most of our current conditions. Like myself, these agents have a sunny outlook on the market in general. We have been proactive in identifying where the conditions are ripe for both buyers and sellers. We acknowledge the negative side of our market conditions, and find the benefit to it instead of dwelling on the downside. We are realistic and optimistic, and share that with our customers and friends.
On the other hand, some agents have a dismal outlook and approach to their business. They broadcast negativity and therefore attract negativity. Their sales are suffering and they are unhappy. Their customers have a similar, unhappy outlook for our real estate market. They have not realized that to every situation there is a possibility for good.
In real estate and in life, when you hear someone dwelling in negativity, take a step back. Be the one to take the time to find some good in the situation instead of getting sucked in to the whirlwind of bad. When you practice positive thinking and positive action, you will experience far greater success.
Kelly Reark is a native Floridian and e-PRO® with Gasparilla Properties, Inc. in Boca Grande, Southwest Florida. Visit her blog: www.BocaGrandeRealEstateNews.com.
Jonathan Osman
By Jonathan Osman
If you ever want to start a heated discussion among agents in my area, ask them their opinion of short sales. What will pour forth is the most draw-dropping tales of sheer lunacy; always ending with “I’ll never show or sell another short sale again.”
This presents a problem for me on a number of levels. First, to my own self interests, I list and sell short sale listings. While most of the agents I have interacted have not done business with my group, they are hesitant to jump back into one of these transactions with anyone…and I totally get that. Out of the four short sale contracts written by my buyer agents on other listings, only one closed. Today in the Charlotte area, we have more than a 13 month supply of short sale listings and only a 3 month supply of REOs. That may not say much until you learn that the actual inventory numbers for the REOs are slightly higher than the short sales; the results of those bad experiences.
Beyond my own interests is the interest of a home owner facing foreclosure. Due to any number of hardships, they now face the difficult prospect of losing their home, a future deficiency judgment, and possible bankruptcy if things don’t work out this time. Along with that home owner is a neighborhood with values that drop with every foreclosure, pushing another home owner to a short sale, strategic default, or walk-away. The most profound statistic I compiled through data in our local MLS and through the state was that last year, more home owners lost their home to foreclosure in my county (the largest in North Carolina) than agents closed homes through the MLS. Continue reading »
Jeremy Williams
By Jeremy Williams
I encourage you today to fit in your schedule a time to drive to a parking lot of one of the most trafficked places in your community. Park your car. Turn off your cell phone. Clear your mind from your daily activities. This is an activity where the requirements are simple. Open your eyes and watch. What do you see? You see people from all walks of life, a “portfolio” of career types, and all dealing with different life situations.
What does it mean to you? Everyone of these persons could be a potential client. If they are not a potential client, then what are they to you? These people could be prospects, referral sources, and maybe even a future friend. You never know how life works. The key is to realize the potential and to keep an open mind.
So how does this correlate with the title of this post, “Market Does Not Matter?” In up or down markets, there will always be people needing the services of a REALTOR®. Realizing the potential in the market is key to your success as a REALTOR®. Look at all the people moving in and out of your market area. Go meet them in the places they congregate. You always here, “Everyone knows someone.” Why can’t this person be you? Realize that millions of potential dollars pass by you each day as a REALTOR® whether the real estate market is considered “good” or “bad” in your area. You just have to find your unfair share.
So again, I challenge you when you think the real estate market is tough, go through the exercise I mentioned above. Your potential is only set by the ceiling your create. Look at all the people that pass by you each day as either a direct piece of business or a referral source. Now the real estate market in the new perspective seems great all the time whether “up” or “down.”
Jeremy Williams of Keller Williams Realty NE in Kingwood, Texas specializes in the residential real estate market of Kingwood, Atascocita, and Humble, Texas. Visit his Web site at www.williams4yourhome.com.
Dave Robison
By Dave Robison
How many times have your clients or friends asked you about your crystal ball? My clients ask me all the time. It’s almost daily you hear, “If I buy this house, how much do you think it will appreciate in the next 2 years, or 5 years?” or “How much more money will I make on my house if I wait a year to sell it?” Practitioners need a new core course to renew our licenses titled, “Gypsy 101,” or “Palm Reading 201.” Or you can just read this blog entry and you can become pretty good at being psychic. There are two parts in being psychic right now to know what is happening with the market: know how to price listings, and to know what to tell your clients.
First, you must follow the rules. In 2006 when the market was booming in Utah, there were numerous people that came to me and asked, “Should I buy this home? All I have to do is use my credit and flip it the next day.”
Many of you now are thinking, that’s common sense. But then it wasn’t. It was very enticing, someone’s friend just made $100,000 doing one flip supposedly. I asked 2 questions. Continue reading »
Nobu Hata
By Nobu Hata, 2009 NAR Conference Blogger
It’s been an interesting couple days home!
Your thoughts, Joe-Six-Pack? We’ve got a site for that.
Lost amid the cocktails of the YPN get together, and the hubbub of HouseLogic/RPR/NAR Second Century Initiative babble, was the Houston Association of REALTORS®’ win of NAR’s Visionary Award.
Taqi Rizvi, CTO of HAR, “created one of the first MLS public Web sites in the country, HAR.com, and led a team to implement more than 100 practitioner and consumer tools.” On Monday, they took home NAR’s Game Changer badge, effectively securing NAR funding and support of these initiatives, paving the way for these tools to be implemented nationwide in the future.
One of these new consumer-oriented tools HAR developed is a “Client Experience Rating.” The idea is that any consumer in the HAR market can use this wonderfully sticky Web site to rate their REALTOR® experience while they are browsing for a home, identify the process needed to buy the home, and *gulp* choose a REALTOR® to help them do so.
Coincidence or not, in the couple days I’ve been home from NAR’s 2009 Conference & Expo, I’ve had three conversations regarding some sort of public rating system of REALTORS® with a very one-sided view point: over my dead body will that ever be allowed in my/our/this association!
We REALTORS® are a fickle bunch, afraid of what we cannot control. What we fail to realize though is that in this day and age, Joe-Six-Pack-jilted-by-insert industry here-practitioner, is already taking it to their Facebook page/blog/Twitter/yelp!/Angie’s List pages and airing their disapproval in a very public forum, tainting all who read them.
Ask Horizon Realty about their Twitter post lawsuit, or a law firm partner you know about abovethelaw.com. Untold damage was done because grievances, real or not, were never immediately addressed nor countered on the very platforms they were aired on. It’s just a matter of time before someone decides to pool together real estate grievances onto a blog or a professional social networking site with a large user-base (LinkedIn? Yelp!?). They’re going to need a tool like this to stay relevant. It’s inevitable, people; get used to the idea.
I say bring it on! While HAR’s and Peoria Association of REALTORS®’ sites will have its share of skepticism with a perceived conflict of interest and lack of transparency – Hello? Rating REALTORS® on a site RUN by REALTORS®? – it’s a wonderful step forward to rebuild the trust lost in us. In a climate of unprecedented consumer pessimism regarding our share of the blame for the economic condition of this country, a consumer-centric site like this is taking a huge step forward to do just that. We owe it to our past, present, and future clients to lend insight into our industry by having sites like these, and addressing the good and bad that comes of it.
More of these sites will come… so embrace it! Google Alert your name, along with “REALTOR®” and the name of your state, to keep an eye peeled on your presence on these and any future Web sites. Counter it immediately, like-kind. Control what you can! Hop on LinkedIn, get recommendations, and flex your REALTOR® muscles by answering questions posed by home owners, buyers, and sellers, and drive folks off LinkedIn to it. Get involved in online communities like TruliaVoice and HouseLogic, and reaffirm yourself in the public eye.
And for heaven’s sake, make your online presence transparent! Really, if you’ve done your job, what are you worried about? Game Changer indeed.
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