Residential Real Estate
A Q Environmental, Los Angeles, California is announcing new methods for analyzing air for Mold Spores. A Q uses an inexpensive new method. An air filter cassette is used to collect air in a room, the process takes a few minutes, and the sample cassette is then analyzed. The results will show the type of mold, how many mold spores are present in the air and the concentration per cubic meter of air. The levels of hazardous mold can be determined and the health risks associated with the mold.
It seems to me that most people who rely on onsite wells for drinking water are not testing the water on a regular basis. And that is a big mistake that I do not want you to make. True, testing costs money. But, getting sick because you did not test is crazy. And even if you do not care about your own health, how about your kids?
Advancements in technology have forever changed many aspects of our lives, especially in our homes. While smart home devices have been around for as long as 30 years now in small numbers, a new breed of computerized products from a new diverse group of suppliers is ready to enter the marketplace. This is good news developers who, if they add smart home automation systems as a value added service, can expect long-term revenue streams.
Evidence consumer ignorance is also contributing to the growing number of foreclosures, more than one in three home owners couldn"t tell you what type of loan they have if their home ownership counted on it.
Pick a room, any room in your home.
Another study about the increasing incidence of equity borrowing habits among home owners should be a red flag not to equity drain your home
Question: My husband and I have recently retired, and are supplementing our income by giving music lessons in our home. Recently, the Board of Directors of our condominium association has advised us that our legal documents specifically state that our unit can only be used for residential purposes and that no business of any kind is permitted. However, we have confirmed that local law permits us to obtain a home-office permit and that we are not in violation of any laws. We do not teach any bands, and do not have concerts in our house. We only teach children -- ages 7-15 -- piano lessons. Does the association have the right to restrict our teaching?
The current market appears to meet the demand for all forms of housing for aging Americans -- assisted living, skilled nursing, congregate care and continuing care facilities. But several reports suggest that expected growth spurts could quickly leave the market far short of the housing it will need.
If you"ve bought or sold a home in the past year, now is the time to go through your paperwork to find the forms, bills, and old checks you"ll need in April -- and beyond.
I"ve just bought a house, and I"ll need to bring a homeowner"s insurance policy to the settlement table.
Anthrax. It used to be a cool name for a rock band (and now they are considering changing it). The bacteria has changed the way many of us live. Some folks aren"t even opening mail at home -- even though the chances of them receiving the powdery substance in their mailbox is essentially nil.
Market expert Emily Bonton says now is an ideal time to buy in southern Nevada, as mortgage interest rates remain at historically low levels, effectively lowering the cost of buying a home.
A significant portion of contractors" business comes from repairs that could have been prevented. Financially speaking, the earlier a homeowner spots a problem, the better. Early detection often results in less-expensive repairs.
Unless your homeowner association transacts all its business town meeting style, a regular newsletter is essential to keep the owners informed. There are tricks of the trade to increase its effectiveness and readability. Here"s a "baker"s dozen":
Your insurance broker has undoubtedly advised you to create a thorough inventory of your household possessions. You can certainly keep written records and save those records in a safety deposit box, but it"s best to back-up documents with a photographic inventory.
As two of the nation"s largest industries go toe-to-toe to
One of the hardest questions for a condominium association board regards management: Is it better to do-it-yourself or should you hire a pro?
U.S. consumers and businesses are expected to save $19 billion during the next 30 years as a result of new efficiency standards for household appliances.
Now that we"ve turned back the clocks and have officially settled into
If you have older horizontal window blinds that haven"t been retrofitted to prevent to dangerous loops, you should replace the blinds or obtain free repair kits to make them safe.
As the Canadian real estate market drops from record-breaking levels to a more traditional sales pace, more listings are coming on the market and competition for buyers is heating up. It"s perfect timing for a new book from home staging expert Christine Rae and journalist Jan Saunders Maresh, who recently released Home Staging for Dummies.
I"ll admit it: I"ve been suffering buyer"s remorse of late. The previous owners of my home-to-be had finally moved out, and the place was officially mine. I don"t know what I expected as I turned the key in the lock of the now-empty house. After all, how attractive can a vacant house look? As I stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the walls, I suddenly realized that this place was in dire need of a fresh coat of paint. Without furniture to distract me, the walls suddenly appeared yellowish, tired and well, depressing. The small holes in the walls left from small nails needed caulking. Ugh. I needed to bring new life to this place, and do it on a first-time buyer"s limited budget.
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" was the time-worn, but necessary call to disaster preparedness underscored long before hurricane season by the Weather Channel Forum on Hurricane Preparedness and Response, developed by the Atmospheric Policy Program of the American Meteorology Society.
For a significant percentage of first-time homebuyers, merely closing the deal is an economic feat in itself. From the earnest money to the appraisal to the (gasp) closing costs and that unforgettable rite of passage called the first mortgage payment, you"re feeling broke at precisely the time when you want to rip open that wallet and spend an absolute fortune on improvements to the home you waited so long to purchase. And here lies the primary frustration of first-time homeownership (and homeownership in general, for that matter): The house consumes a larger chunk of your financial resources, leaving you with little money to make improvements. You"re left with the difficult to decision of what projects to tackle first.
Many consumers who purchase new homes or update their current homes with new appliances, systems or other home products are warned to be careful to fill out and send in warranty cards and paperwork in order to have these shiny new items back up by their manufacturers. The misplacement of these important documents or the failure to fill them out and forward them to the manufacturer can result in an unsympathetic ear by product customer service divisions when a problem occurs, leaving consumers high and dry. These and other bothersome details of home management can now be handled online from the convenience of a home or office computer.
Understandably, homeowners who reside in hurricane-prone regions are preoccupied with creating evacation plans for themselves and their families. After the creation of those plans comes consideration of one"s personal belongings. What may be stored in a safe? If the family has to evacuate, what should go and what should be left behind? Families are wise
The prospect of a newly remodeled home, while certainly tempting, often
These days, it seems as if manufacturers and retailers are on an endless
Proud new parents have an infinite number of pressing issues to consider
Ignorance is bliss ... and danger. Children often seem hardwired with an inherent curiosity for all that is hazardous. If you"ve lived in your current home for a length of time and are convinced you"ve covered all your bases when it comes to childproofing, here"s betting you haven"t. And if you"re preparing for a move, it"s easy to overlook hazards around your new home, given all of the excitement and hustle-bustle that you unpack with your belongings.
Thanksgiving has passed, thank goodness. You opened up your house to 10
It hardly bears repeating that Y2K has gotten its share of press and yes,
Chances are, as a real estate agent, some of your clients are real estate investors. If that"s the case, they may have been rocked recently, to learn about Freddie Mac"s new lending changes going into effect on August 1, 2008. This rule change could mean hundreds of thousands of real estate investments are now in the wrong business structure.
Editor"s Note: This is the second part of a two part series. Part I was: Home Sweet Business: Qualifying For The Home Office Deduction
homes. Last winter alone there was over $1.5 billion dollars in insured
It"s Murphy"s Law that the majority of household emergencies occur at the
Once you"ve arrived home from your weekly grocery expedition, you can
The reasons for providing shade outside and inside your home -- whether it
You"ve taken the plunge ... you"ve decided to build the home of your
Homeownership has often been referred to as the American Dream. And for
As we usher in the spring break months, our thoughts turn to sun, surf,
In the midst of natural disasters, homeowners have occasionally found
It ‘s often said, "What’s Past is Prologue." In real estate, the past can indeed determine the future, when buyers choose to restore or preserve a historic property.
In an increasingly mobile society, our automobiles are as important as horses were a century ago. Horse thieves were shot or hung, and we don"t feel much differently about our horsepower. That is why we go to so much trouble and expense to house our cars in garages, which are quickly becoming the number one home amenity.
Nearly 30 percent of homes in the United States were built before 1940. That fact, coupled with the additional fact that both Martha Stewart and Tim Allen are highly revered members of our society, means that the remodeling/renovation industry is likely to remain strong, as the do-it-yourself drive continues. While the rate of growth in remodeling has actually slowed, the market is expected to grow an average of 4 percent to 5 percent through the end of the decade. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) estimates that Americans will spend $130.6 billion on remodeling in 1998; $47.3 billion of that total is expected to spent on maintenance/repair and $83.3 billion is expected to be spent on improvements.
It"s cold outside, so you have all the windows shut tight. Along with other energy-efficient measures that you"ve taken, you should be all snug as a bug in a rug for the winter. But by keeping the cold air out so effectively, you could be adversely affecting the quality of your indoor air, trapping pollutants that could make you and your family potentially ill.
1999 has been a good year for condominium sales in Canada and particularly in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is having a record year. Even in the midst of a booming market, location still reigns when it comes to getting top dollar. However, strong demand for condominiums did allow one Halifax condominium owner to compensate for a soft location and still get her price.
More than a year has passed since one of Canada"s most significant changes in
You know the old saying about not being able to have your cake and eat
Question: So far in my real estate career I"ve worked exclusively in residential real estate. I"m doing very well and I really enjoy working with home buyers and sellers, but I"ve heard that specializing in a specific area, such as investment real estate or commercial properties, is the road to the really big bucks. Any suggestions?
I love this market! My last market as a top agent was the Southern California real estate depression of 1990 through 1996. It made me rich and set my family up for generations. Let me share the first eight of the silver linings to be found in tough markets.
A lot of times people will ask what they can do to generate more referral based business, since as everyone knows, referrals is the lifeblood of any successful Realtor.
Over the years, I"ve had the opportunity -- sometimes painful -- of seeing many different agents" marketing campaigns. I"ve seen photocopies of letters that looked like they were typewritten during the Lincoln administration. I"ve seen garish photographs of agents that would scare away Canadian geese. I"ve seen postcards printed with such bad ink that a light rain turns them into a finger-painting.
In the late 1800s, an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto observed that, in Italy, a small group of people held nearly all the power, influence, and money, which they used to create a significant advantage over the rest of the population. He theorized that, in most countries, about 80 percent of the wealth and power was controlled by about 20 percent of the people. He called this a "predictable imbalance," which eventually became known as the 80:20 rule.
Have you ever wondered why even the very best, in any profession receive coaching? Have you ever thought about why a top-notch athlete, like Tiger Woods, would need coaching? Why is it that so many successful real estate agents have used coaching to get to the top?
Our industry has shifted to a buyer"s market. The mortgage industry"s woes have come to roost in the building industry"s branches, and builders are rightfully concerned about how they can be as successful as they were in the past.
Have you often wondered how you can become even more successful? Has it ever seemed to you that you have a "glass ceiling" on your level of success? In spite of all your hard work, do you find yourself still falling short of having financial security? Do you see people climbing the ladder of success, only to take one step forward and two steps back? This is not simply a case of bad luck or poor planning. We can only be as successful as the "success blueprint" embedded in our subconscious minds. This article describes ways that you can create your own "success blueprint".
In setting prospecting goals, focus on three core areas: The number of contacts you should make each day and week, the number of leads you should develop, and the number of personal appointments you should set.
We invest large amounts of time with buyers. There is nothing more frustrating than spending a lot of time with buyers and than never getting paid for our efforts. The key component to successfully working with buyers is the qualifying process. Qualifying is the lost art of the sales process. Sometimes we get so excited that we have a lead that we fail to determine its value. That is why the process of qualifying is focused on determining the value of leads.
"If you can get Internet leads to respond, you can start the relationship," states Michael Maher -- a Kansas City realtor.
You have seen the agents (or perhaps even been one) who seem to always hang in the shadows and keep to the fringes of business success. Whether by fear, indecision or inexperience these individuals find themselves more stealth agent than sales agent.
Question: In my first transaction as a Realtor I went from incredible exhilaration to a deep purple funk in about three days. Customers with whom I was working made an offer through me on an expensive home. The seller, a nice widow lady, decided after she got the offer not to sell her place at all and took it off the market. I"m convinced the buyers think I messed things up because I"m a rookie real estate agent. After over a month of showing them homes they are now working with someone else. Does it get any better than this?
My wife and I bought a dog recently -- a black Lab we named Jazz. Now, the thing about Jazz is he"s only four months old, which means everything he sees is a brand new experience.
Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death in children aged 1 to 4. Drowning deaths involving children younger than 5 in pools and spas is up and the number of emergency room treated pool and spa submersion injuries numbers remains in the thousands every year.
Marketing strategies for title companies have changed dramatically over the years. From the wild and crazy 1980"s to the most recent re-fi boom, there was little regulation as to how much money title companies could spend on their marketing efforts.
Setting the table for a successful new year means starting early for savvy real estate professionals. While much of the competition falls into cruise control -- simply waiting for the economic shift to suit their style -- top producers turn up the heat to sweep the market share in their absence.
There"s one thing I feel pretty strongly about with regard to our beloved rookie agents. They don"t know what they"re doing. If they"re fresh out of real estate school, I guarantee that they don"t know any more about selling real estate than, well, than I did when I was fresh out of real estate school! And trust me, that"s not much.
Hiring a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialist to boost your site traffic is expensive (if you hire a legitimate professional). Driving substantial new traffic to your site doesn"t have to be. In fact, there is an exciting and clever strategy that is proven to drive traffic, and won"t cost you a dime! Now before we look at the 10 proven ways to drive traffic to your site, we first need to explore the principles behind these steps that make them work so well.
I spend a lot of time coaching real estate professionals and one of the things I hear often is, "Rory, I have no success at open houses! They"re a pointless waste of time." To this I respond the only way I know how: "Then you"re not doing it right!"
When it comes to inspection reports, not everyone agrees on just what to do with them. The report is a representation of the general "health" of the home, a snapshot of what was there the actual day and time of the whole house inspection. It will reveal numerous details and defects depending on the inspector used and the detail of the notes they made. Some items will be a big deal, others so minor they are completely unimportant to your clients.
In today"s changing market where the predominant energy is fear, your challenge is to be extremely vigilant about what you focus on. Why is your deliberate focus more important now than ever?
In a tough market, kicking your career into high gear involves implementing some obvious strategies such as realistically pricing listings, holding open houses, and deploying reliable, effective marketing campaigns. Savvy agents who are successfully dishing up consistently high production also know that the secret to success lies in some of the not-so-noticeable solutions for building a better business and a better life.
It"s a lot like dusty prospectors packing up and leaving a mother lode of gold that"s been tapped out.
In working with branch managers over the years I have discovered one commonality: a feeling of discomfort or weakness in coaching agents. New agents are typically easy to coach. Teach them the contracts, schedule them an open house, and have them work their sphere of influence amongst other rather simple activities to get them up and running. But bring on the top-producer and you could experience a shut-down.
Hiring a buyer"s assistant or buyer"s agent can be a very large and expensive decision -- with the duties of a buyer"s assistant varying as greatly as their compensation plans. So is it profitable to hire one?
The biggest mistake that most real estate agents make in dealing with their clients and colleagues is that they are unconsciously committed to "people pleasing." This article shows you the signs to watch out for. These signs will clearly show you whether you are inadvertently falling into a "people pleaser" pattern. If so, you"ll be shown an alternative strategy. You"ll learn what it means to commit to "win/win" or "no deal."
You"ve heard the cold caller"s philosophy ... for every 100 phone calls you make, you"ll get five appointments; for every five appointments you go on, you"ll get one listing. Therefore, if you make
A lot of times I"ll get asked by new agents what they can do to stand out from the crowd in a highly competitive industry. Let"s face it, we all pretty much have access to the same tools -- the internet, MLS, financing options from mortgage brokers -- so what sets you apart from the agent up the street?
Just because you live in a homeowner association (HOA) governed community doesn"t mean you always need permission to go green at home.
Many agents are having trouble finding their footing in today"s swiftly changing market. Standing inventory, unrealistic sales prices and a dynamic economy require agents to get organized, adopt a winning mindset, hone their sales skills and provide a sense of realism for both buyers and sellers.
Although the bubble never popped, it is true that some of the air has gone out of a number of real estate markets around the country. One evidence of this is an increasing number of foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies. And when that happens, real estate agents experience an increase in calls and inquiries from investor clients who want them to be on the lookout for distress situations, where the owner is in default but the property has not yet gone back to the lender.
Congratulations! Your digital masterpiece has just been completed -- a brand new "killer" website and it is beautiful! You carefully thought it through and hired the right people to make sure your site sees major traffic. You can almost taste the flood of new leads, sounds good doesn"t it?
In setting prospecting goals, focus on three core areas: the number of contacts you should make each day and week, the number of leads you should develop, and the number of personal appointments you should set.
The local, state, and national associations of Realtors® rightfully take pride in the Realtor® Code of Ethics to which all of their members subscribe. Indeed, this past year the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has spent a considerable amount of money on a public awareness campaign designed to better acquaint the general populace with the fact that members of the Realtor® associations are governed by the Code in their business dealings.
Oftentimes when working with my coaching clients or speaking in front of commercial real estate audiences, I"ll ask the agents, "How much would your income increase in the next 12 months if you were prospecting 10-12 hours every week?"
Market expert Aaron Janus says the first half on 2008 has reinforced the idea that all real estate is local.
After a showing, you"ll receive an abundance of feedback (hopefully!). Much of this information can come from the buyers agent. Here is some common feedback and what it means.
A few years ago a large national real estate brand conducted a survey of all their buyers and sellers. They studied the satisfaction levels of clients before, during, and after the sale. They then surveyed the clients to learn what, if anything, they thought was missing in the services they were receiving. Then they went a step further. Rather than stopping with success and resting on their laurels, the researchers looked to see what new opportunities the facts were unveiling.
Suppose you went to a store and bought a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, but it didn"t have a picture on the box of what the end result should look like. Wouldn’t you have a much harder time putting the puzzle together than if you had a clear picture of the end result? Absolutely! Through trial, and a lot of error, you may eventually figure it out, but the process will be long and arduous.
Real estate is cyclical by nature. And in our current market, conditions are rapidly changing both in my market and across the nation.
Key Performance Indicators are like the instrument panel in your car"s dashboard, but instead of telling you how your engine is operating and how fast you are going, a set of real estate KPIs will tell you how well you are doing today and give you a very accurate prediction of what the next three months will look like. KPIs give you an easy way to know how your real estate business is running and give you early warning signals about potential problems so that you can make adjustments before little difficulties become big problems.
Real estate investors and income property owners may not know it, but they"re on the verge of getting some important federal tax benefits from an election-bound Congress.
In the late 1800s, an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto observed that, in Italy, a small group of people held nearly all the power, influence, and money, which they used to create a significant advantage over the rest of the population. He theorized that, in most countries, about 80 percent of the wealth and power was controlled by about 20 percent of the people. He called this a "predictable imbalance," which eventually became known as the 80:20 rule.
The 1990s saw a frenzy over websites; every agent had to have one. Costs were excessive and results were mixed. Eventually the urgency passed, and websites became part of an overall marketing strategy. With more options and better pricing today, now is the ideal time to incorporate the Internet into your business plan.
First impressions by real estate agents, home sellers, and buyers carry a lot of weight. If you appear well-groomed and properly dressed -- your stock and credibility go up.
Being successful seems to be everyone"s desire. We all want to achieve what our definition of success is in life. Have you ever wondered why successful people are successful; why they seem to go from one successful situation to another, from one victory in life to another? There is one thing that separates the successful from the unsuccessful. It is not a huge thing -- successful people act on their thoughts.
During the past few weeks the Southern California Multiple Listing System (SOCALMLS) has been distributing to its members a new security device, known as a SAFEMLS token, which is intended to bring a new, much-needed higher level of security to the MLS system. SOCAL is not the first MLS system to adopt this security program, but, with more than 30,000 members, it is so far the largest.
It can happen in any market, and it still happens now and then in the one we are in. A property that is especially "hot" becomes available. Maybe it is simply a matter of price. Maybe it is location, or some special feature -- physical, historical, or otherwise. Whatever it is, many people want the property, and sometimes at whatever the price. In short, it is the kind of property listing that produces a bit of a frenzy.
In some homeowner associations, the number of owners who rent their units is extraordinarily high, sometimes even outnumbering resident owners. With absentee owners and just a few irresponsible renters, there may be a move by the board to limit or eliminate rentals altogether. What things should be considered?
Over the years I have used thank-you"s to cultivate more futile ground for business. Although not everyone mines for gold this way, there are many who understand the value of being pleasant and letting everyone know who you are and what you do.
In successfully accomplishing the first four steps of selling, most of my efforts were directly or indirectly geared toward succeeding at the fifth and most important step: getting paid. Contrary to what most people naively assume, the object of the game is not to close deals. The object is to walk away with chips in your hand.
For more than 30 years, I have been in the business of selling the American Dream of homeownership. I live to find families the perfect home for their budget and lifestyle, and I take great pride in helping to set these families on the path to pursuing happiness.
One of the biggest challenges I see facing new agents is not having a clear idea as to who their prospects are. Ask any agent what their typical prospect looks like and most will give an answer ranging from "everyone," to a vague elevator speech that might sound good while networking, but has little in the way of specifics.
Over the past few years in many of our markets, as listing agents and buyer"s agents, we"ve become spoiled with quick sales from limited choices of little or no listing inventory.
"I am sick and tired of having tenants fail," yelled Mulroney at his property manager. "You need to do a better job screening those tenants," he exploded as he slammed the phone down.
As a broker, you have much more control over your company"s bottom line than you realize. Here are some surefire ways to generate revenue for your office.
Probably, the most common questions our firm gets are related to the required holding period for real estate with which clients intend to do a 1031 exchange. A good reason for all these questions is that there is more confusion about this issue than any other issue involving 1031 exchanges.
A growing number of crooks who steal your identity don"t swipe your personal information to pilfer from your financial accounts.
Tips from the 11th new rule of online marketing:
Do you ever notice how some agents seem to succeed easily in this business while others seem to struggle a lot? And in using the term "succeed easily," I"m not talking about agents succeeding while coasting and not doing their work. I"m talking about agents who work hard in this business who also produce outstanding results in the process.
Assuming it will be approved by the Governor, a new bill in the California legislature will change the educational requirements for all real estate licensees within the state. Assembly Bill 223 (McLeod), sponsored by the California Association of Realtors (CAR), provides that risk management shall be a subject covered as part of the existing continuing education requirements for real estate license renewal.
When we think of "opportunities," we often think of chance occasions that cross our path, or are presented to us. We don"t think of opportunities as something we have to actively go in search for, because opportunity knocks on our door -- not vice versa. Right?
Question: At our annual meeting, the procedure for voting in person and voting by proxy was different. Those who attended the meeting registered by signing in. Proxies were only counted if the signature on the form matched the signature of record. Is this standard procedure?
If you are receiving complaints in your real estate business, and everyone does sooner or later, here are a few suggestions that can help you handle them with confidence and class:
They vary widely in management styles, philosophies, and attitudes. But CEOs never lose sight of a very important fact: They are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of their business. And one thing I"ve found from talking with hundreds of agents from around the country, is that top producers approach things as if they are the CEO of their own business.
The measure of you and your institution"s character is the way you deal with a complaint. Here"s a short quiz to help you judge your corporate "character" in the way you deal with complaints:
In any market, there"s nothing worse than a listing that languishes unsold for weeks or months.
It"s been a long time since online lead generation companies provided free seminar-style training for their future customers and existing subscribers. Free seminars are profit drains, and training is the first weight to be thrown overboard when a company is in trouble, but HouseValues, an online lead generation company out of Washington, believes training is crucial to making their services better understood and better utilized by their Realtor customers.
The Internet has changed so much in our real estate industry. But on the residential side of the business, the changes have definitely been much more profound. Having one"s own agent website, locating prospects through the Web, closing transactions by utilizing automatic email "drip" message campaigns for both client and prospect follow-up, and having downloadable forms and information packages on one"s website are all very much the norm on the residential side of the business.
What can the rhythm and flow of a pendulum teach us about balance and personal growth? Everything in life happens in accordance with a certain rhythm. This rhythm is a constant movement between two opposites. In and out, up and down, back and forth, positive and negative, excess and deficiency, high and low, order and chaos, ignorance and understanding.
Having been in sales my entire adult life, one of the things I"ve noticed most salespeople have in common is a belief in their gift for conversation. Whether we"re on a listing appointment touting our skills or company, telling a buyer about all the features and benefits of a hidden gem we"ve discovered, or chatting about all the wonderful attributes of a neighborhood as we give relocation buyers a tour of potential homes, we love to talk.
Science and technology doubled the sum of human knowledge by 1900. By 1950, it had doubled it again. By the 1980s, knowledge was doubling every five to eight years, today it"s doubling every two to four. Technology continues to speed up the world, pushing us ever faster just to keep from falling further behind. Our culture reflects this pressure, by demanding that we constantly do more, get more, be more.
Have you ever had a prospect call you to announce that they bought a new home over the weekend, and will not be buying the existing home you thought they would? If so, learn from it, and do not shy away from selling new homes.
Jane Bartlett, our market expert for Wayne County, North Carolina, says that the local first quarter figures did show some slowness, however, the market is showing positive signs that this is going to be another great year for Goldsboro and Wayne County, where it remains a great place to live and buy a home.
Today it"s in vogue to talk about having a buyer"s agent. It seems everyone who is anyone has one, two or even three! Yet behind closed doors agents keep asking me: "Greg, how can I make my buyer"s agent work? I thought a buyer"s agent would save me time and make me money, but they have turned into a giant headache that"s keeping me up at night. I am too embarrassed to tell anyone it"s not working for me, when all those other agents keep talking about how great life is with their buyer"s agent."
April 15 may be months away, however, year end is a great time to start planning for next year"s tax-filing season. As a result of many recent tax changes, early tax planning is crucial, and it"s not too early to begin today by crunching some numbers and mapping out your tax plan. Remember, there may be a little you can do to reduce your taxes for this year after Dec. 31.
A very bright man I know once told me his favorite saying - "I"d rather be lucky than smart."
It"s what you do now that is going to determine whether you start 2005 from ground zero or with momentum and focus. If you are proactive this month, you will reap the rewards next year.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.55 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.60 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.06 percent.
Bob Ferrigno in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, says the market HAS shifted, but homes priced correctly and in good condition continue to sell.
The real estate industry, like so many others, has undergone restructuring over the past several years with many smaller firms being purchased by or joining one of the large nationals. You basically have two choices - a large national franchise firm, or a smaller, locally-owned firm.
Being a real estate agent can, and should be, a very rewarding career. However, go into it with your eyes wide open and your homework done.
As interest rates creep upwards, and hot markets like Las Vegas and San Diego start to cool, pundits predict that the nation may be headed more toward a buyer"s market in housing. And that"s the worst thing that can happen to the industry because it"s still woefully unprepared to work effectively with buyers.
Don"t underestimate the importance of a powerful sales meeting. And don"t underestimate the challenges a poor sales meeting can create for you. All of us have sat through one and some of us have delivered one…a sales meeting where there is no value.
As a real estate agent you probably already know how important your image is when enrolling your prospects in working with you exclusively. The sum total of everything you present to your prospects will have them decide to hire you, or one of your competitors instead.
Why did you choose real estate as your profession? This is a question that I have asked thousands of real estate professionals over thirty years of coaching agents and brokers, and speaking for associations, conventions, and companies.
New business models are emerging every day in real estate brokerage, that constitute small changes from the norm in splits, training, office space and oversight.
The greatest and most successful real estate agents are masters at overcoming the objections that their clients and prospects toss their way. They weren"t always great at overcoming these objections but they learned over time how to handle them in the most effective ways possible. Now you as an agent, no matter what level you are currently at in your real estate business, can learn how to become a master at overcoming these objections also.
According to the National Association of Realtors, 76 percent of people who decide to sell their home with the assistance of a licensed real estate agent, interview only one agent for the job. Are you that agent? If not, who is?
In real estate sales and leasing, it"s very easy to get caught-up in what"s going on in the moment. You constantly have so many demands placed upon you each and every day to follow-up on what must be done for every prospect and client you are working with. As a result, it can be very easy to focus on what"s happening now and completely lose sight of the trend and the direction your market is heading in.
It is well known that people feel a higher trust level and believe they are more likely to be understood when they are with someone who mirrors their style and communicates to them in the way they can best process things.
If you"ve ever had to take over tidying a home to get it ready for a showing or an open house, you already know how challenging it is for sellers to get a home ready for sale and keep it that way.
When you"re making a listing presentation there always comes that moment when it"s time to discuss how long your listing agreement will be valid for. What you must know here is that the way you present this subject to the owners often completely sets the tone for how long of a listing they will be willing to give you.
Do you know exactly what you need to do on a daily basis to hit your goals for 2004? Do you know exactly how many sphere of influence calls you need to make, or how many appointments you need to go on each day?
Sometimes it is not closing more deals that make a difference in our profit margins, but rather it is about increasing how much we retain from our deals that counts. It is all about profit, and how much we walk away with at the end of the day.
And the second largest single-family price jump was in Peoria, Illinois -- which rose 10.4 percent to $119,000.
Ruthless, aggressive, calculating, fierce … Attila the Hun earned the moniker, "Scourge of God."
If you are new to sales you are probably scared to death your prospect will give you an objection you cannot answer.
Everyone loves referrals. When a referral comes our way, it feels great, we tell everyone about it, our manager brags about us at the office meeting, we know we are doing good. In our mind, a referral is a client’s way of bestowing on us their appreciation for our hard work, outstanding performance and personal care in helping them buy or sell a home. We know that eventually our hard work will pay off with an endless stream of referrals from loving clients.
Was it only a year ago when hardly any of us Realtors knew anything about swapping reciprocal links with other sites? Then, boom, it was the rage. But why?
Most of us discover leverage on the playground when we wonder at our ability to lift a parent, sibling or friend into the air with the help of a seesaw. What a powerful concept: Using something outside ourselves to accomplish more than we could alone. The truth is – even though we drive cars we didn’t build and wear clothes we didn’t sew – most of us are unaware of how leveraged we are and overlook opportunities to consciously apply leverage in other areas of our life. In my experience, this is especially true in the business of real estate sales.
See Part I of this two part series here.
Homestore made news this week by reaching a year-long high following the incredible run-up of its stock shares on Tuesday, closing with a whopping 46 percent increase to $2.62 per share. The increase is even more significant considering that it took place without any news, announcements, or rumor-mill activity, (except that traders are gleefully speculating that the class-action shareholder suit is close to being resolved or that media mogul Barry Diller has his eye on the company.) The shares closed Wednesday at $2.58 after profit-taking, still over three times the volume of its daily average.
You know the feeling: you are a businessperson, a spouse, a parent, a caregiver to your parent and a volunteer on many community activities…..so the only way to be time-efficient is to do several things at once. Sort mail while talking on the phone, send e-mail on your PDA while sitting in a committee meeting, help with homework while designing your next marketing piece. Multitasking seems the only way to keep juggling and to get it all done. Sound familiar?
You may have already seen the stats -- approximately 16 percent of the U.S. population moves each year, mostly on weekends. And with spring soon segueing into summer, the continuous herd of moving vans, trailers and trucks will be migrating in large numbers from neighborhood to neighborhood. In fact, more than 21 million Americans move between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
A dear friend has her homestead for sale. The tales she tells me about what agents and buyers are saying about the house are causing her to wonder whether some buyers" agents are closer to limousine drivers than real estate agents. They don"t want to move properties, she says. All they want to do is chauffeur buyers around.
In response to a recent Agent News article, a buyer named Alan wrote the editor to explain why he feels he has to use multiple agents. He scores some valid points, but there could be other reasons why he hasn"t found the home of his dreams.
When I was new in the business back in the early 1980s the manager of the company I was working for decided to pair me up with an agent who had 40 years of experience in the business. His name was Dave Smith and I must say that in working along with Dave I received an education on how to become successful in real estate sales that was unlike any other education I had ever received.
If you"re a commercial/industrial agent who does any leasing the chances are very high that you"ve been experiencing a market that"s very different than the one the residential agents have been experiencing. While interest rates constantly hover near all-time lows the economy has been consistently lagging for about two years now. This has hurt the leasing market as many companies have had little or no interest in leasing and expanding into larger facilities. But at the same time these low interest rates have fueled a strong demand for companies to purchase properties as they can do so while keeping their monthly loan payments unbelievably low--sometimes even lower than what they would pay in rent for a similar facility.
Publicly, most agents say that they never represent family or friends. But upon closer analysis, most agents end up doing it anyway – and then regretting it. Then, swearing they will really never do it again. Then, doing it again. It seems that attempts to help out family and close friends is a temptation agents can’t resist.
In real estate sales it"s easy to get wrapped up in doing a lot
Whether you’re in the deserts of California or the moss forests of Washington State the one thing humans gravitate toward are green spaces. To those us who specialize in Evolutionary and/or Environmental Psychology this preference is of no great surprise. Dating as far back as our hunter-gatherer ancestors, green spaces were paramount to the human psyche.
One of the great qualities that top-producing agents have is certainty. And I"m not just talking about certainty with clients here. I"m talking about constantly living in the mental and emotional state of certainty day-in and day-out in your real estate business.
Real estate professionals from all over the country who are owed monies from slow-pay or nonpaying asset managers may obtain some help with relief through a Texas attorney. Debra Parker, attorney at law, is representing broker Joe Gluckman to help him collect over $2,500 he says he is owed by Cartel Asset Management, an asset management company located in Colorado.
I love technology. I am not a technical person but I admire the techno-things that have helped my business, productivity and profitability. Things like laptops, the Internet, and email have cut costs and boosted productivity and profits dramatically during the last decade.
Mold is everywhere in our environment, indoors and out. Mold is considered harmless in the outdoors. It is only considered harmful in enclosed areas where spore concentration is generally higher. Most homes, and other buildings are thought to have some degree of some type of mold presence. Some authorities believe as many as 50 percent of all homes may have some level of Stachybotrys infestation.
Market expert Shelia Ferguson says it"s still a buyers market in Miami-Dade county.
While having excellent presentation skills with your clients and prospects in business situations will carry you very far in your real estate sales career, nothing will solidify your long-term relationships with your clients more than regularly schmoozing with them in social situations.
New challenges in life present new opportunities. We are given opportunities to grow and improve our skills and abilities that we might not learn otherwise.
Holiday decorations can make a home look warm, festive and inviting, but they can also make it look overcrowded, or obscure the home"s greatest selling features. This poses a dilemma for listing agents who want to help their clients stage their homes the most effectively. How much is too much when it comes to holiday decorating?
For some reason buyers think purchasing a property is a two-step process: finding the right house and negotiating the transaction. Make sure during the Initial Interview that they know it is a three-part process. Alert them that their lives are no longer their own after the contract is signed. Contingencies need to be satisfied, time is of the essence, and the clock is ticking.
The National Association of Realtors attracts over 10,000 new members a month. But close to as many agents wash out and go inactive, most in their first year. Why isn"t the success rate higher for new agents? One reason - lack of preparedness - may be the answer. Don"t fall into the same abyss as others. What you know in advance can help you ride out the rough spots better than your peers who turn their licenses in after they find real estate sales more difficult than they bargained for.
In the "good old days," when most of us thought of mold in our homes we thought of the gunk growing in that jar in the back of the refrigerator. Today we worry about mold growing in the walls, or attic, or under the floor.
Expert Dan Sight reports that in 2008 the Kansas City Commercial Real Estate market is staying strong, and increased activity in downtown Kansas City has put the area on the map with national investors.