professionalism: You May Not Need A New _______!
- 01/06/11 07:06 AM
You May Not Need A New _______! Get Your _______ Checked By A Specialist Once upon a time a prospective home seller ordered a pre-inspection to learn what maintenance and repairs might be needed to prepare the home for sale. A good inspector conducted a thorough inspection and made several typical recommendations that good inspectors make, including that a specialist be contacted to further assess the _______. One _______ Specialist Said The homeowner found a specialist, who visited the home to inspect the _______. Actually, that's not quite what this specialist set out to do. It would be more accurate to … (4 comments)
professionalism: I Would Love To Have This Listing
- 01/05/11 06:31 AM
I Would Love To Have This Listing It All Started At A Brokers Open House One day a couple of years ago I toured the local brokers open houses as I do nearly every week. I remember the day because there was a home that really stood out as being most interesting, and I commented to myself, "I would love to have this listing." It Wasn't Priced Correctly Unfortunately the price was hundreds of thousands of dollars above the market value, and even after hundreds of thousands of dollars in price reductions, the listing didn't sell. At that point I was … (2 comments)
professionalism: Commit - Contribute - Benefit
- 01/04/11 10:20 PM
Commit - Contribute - Benefit Helping Each Other Prosper This week I saw an effort come to fruition in a manner that I believe will materially enhance the business growth and improvement of several of my colleagues and myself. My challenge to you is to do the same in your office, in your community, here at ActiveRain, and/or with your colleagues. Commit This doesn't work on autopilot. There is some work to helping others grow. Human nature resists change and embraces comfort zones. And for that same reason it takes some work to accept the help of others, too. This takes … (4 comments)
professionalism: Test The Real Estate Waters
- 01/04/11 09:30 PM
Test The Real Estate Waters Curious About The Real Estate Market Curiosity about the real estate market is healthy, and you don't have to be concerned about whether you're in the market or not. Curiosity leads to information, especially when you can seek information on your terms and from sources you trust. Gather information, weigh its credibility, and trust your gut if you're considering whether or not to get into the real estate market as a buyer and/or seller. The Best Market Information The best market information tends to come from informed, thoughtful, sources who care about the quality of information … (2 comments)
professionalism: I Remember You
- 01/03/11 11:42 AM
I Remember You I Met You A long Time Ago It was quite a while ago when you and I met, and you weren't really ready to buy or sell real estate at that time. You were just curious about your options, and were worried that you might be wasting my time. I Listened You weren't wasting my time at all, and I listened to everything you said, especially the part about not being in any hurry. I paid attention to your goals and your situation. I stayed In Touch I didn't write you off just because you didn't represent a … (5 comments)
professionalism: Hate Your Client Like You Hate Yourself
- 12/29/10 03:22 PM
Hate Your Client Like You Hate Yourself A Shocking E-mail Message Shortly after closing a transaction in which I represented the buyer, I received a short e-mail message from the listing agent. The agent, referring to their own client, wrote "...I'm just glad they're leaving town. I wouldn't want them hanging around telling everyone what they think of my services." This wasn't the first revelation that this broker hated their client, but it was amazing that it was put in writing! Over the phone the broker had referred to their client using derogatory names and descriptions throughout most of the transaction. … (38 comments)
professionalism: Checking Keybox Time Restrictions
- 06/05/10 06:14 PM
Checking Keybox Time Restrictions Have you ever arrived at a property with your buyers for a morning showing or inspection and found that the keybox won't open because it has been set to open only after a later time? This has now happened for two consecutive 9:00 a.m. inspections for me. By default, my MLS allows keybox access at 8:00 a.m. However, individual listing agents may program each keybox to open only at a later time as they and a seller see fit. Sometimes they forget to reset the keybox to normal when transferring it to a new listing. Who This … (9 comments)
professionalism: Convergence And Congruity
- 06/04/10 10:01 AM
Convergence And Congruity Great big things happen when a bunch of tiny little things converge. Your next big success isn't likely to come from one big thing you've done. It will occur when some little things you've done happen to cause action at the same time and place. How To Create Convergence The exact time and place may not be completely predictable, but convergence isn't just random. You can cause it. It's not that hard to do. Start paying closer attention to the congruity of your busines activities. The more congruity there is among the day-to-day things you do in your business, … (4 comments)
professionalism: Present An Offer?
- 05/29/10 09:55 PM
Present An Offer? A tiny minority of real estate agents take the time to personally present offers to listing agents and sellers. A vast majority of offers that are presented personally lead to closed transactions. That has been my experience, and that is why I love to present offers in person when I represent buyers, and have them presented to my clients and myself when I represent sellers. Not Always Practical Or Possible There are sometimes legitimate obstacles to presenting offers personally, such as major snowstorms, volcanic eruptions, war, critical illness, and bad hair days. Chances are some of these happen … (24 comments)
professionalism: Cancel Your Listing
- 05/27/10 08:22 AM
Cancel Your Listing When a home seller's goals and circumstances are no longer compatible with the current real estate market, cancel the listing. There is no point having a stale listing lingering on a thin hope that some lucky event is going to occur that will get the property sold before the listing expires. Frequent Updates Set a regular schedule for discussing the current status of the market, and the current status of the seller's goals and circumstances. Neither update is useful without the other. Either can change for countless reasons, and just because one hasn't changed, that doesn't mean the … (3 comments)
professionalism: Perfect Open House Weather
- 05/22/10 10:36 AM
This morning I was scheduled to be in my office, and that's where I was, sitting at the front desk working and watching the pouring rain. My agenda for this afternoon included holding an open house 17 miles away from my office. I kept thinking about how aweful it was going to be putting out open house signs and picking them up in the rain, I don't enjoy that. This was an open house that I wasn't obligated to hold,but it was in my plans. The lack of obligation and the rain caused all sorts of plausible excuses to run through … (1 comments)
professionalism: Thursday: What I Did To Improve My Business
- 05/13/10 01:48 PM
Sunday I posted a blog about doing one thing to improve your and my business each day for a week. This is actually something I do every day every week, but this week I challenged you to join me. Here is what I did to fulfill Thursday's part of this week's commitment. Establish Electronic Archiving After reading Organized Crime? Nope, Just an Organized Office in 6 Steps! by Jamie Carroll Wednesday, I took action and outlined a process for archiving documents. My process includes redundancy in location of electronic storage and in storage media. It also includes quality control to assure completeness and … (3 comments)
professionalism: The Time For Feedback Is NOW!
- 05/09/10 01:45 PM
How often do you get a feedback request from a listing agent several weeks after you showed a property? It happens to me a lot. It often comes in the form of a phone call with a nondescript question like; "Hi, this is so-and-so at such-and-such Real Estate, and I was just wondering what you or your client thought of my listing on Some Street. Maybe I can zero in a bit. "Could you remind me what city that is in?" Of course the answer is usually a city in which I have shown 30 other houses to several different buyers recently. … (3 comments)
professionalism: Contact Management Migration
- 05/05/10 06:52 PM
Business growth necessitates change in advance of problems in order to prevent adverse impacts to clients. In my business, this means it is time to move up a couple of notches in my contact management system and strategy. The specific system I have chosen isn't terribly important, other than to the extent that it fits with my business and where my business is headed as it continues to grow. Of greater importance is the timing. I didn't wait until I couldn't manage my contacts effectively any longer. Instead, I have monitored my capacity to stay on top of things with my … (4 comments)
professionalism: Don't Step On Your Garden Weasel®!
- 05/04/10 04:46 PM
Part of today was my time to spend tilling some nice rich two year old compost into a 1200 square foot section of my garden. This is the prime section that gets the most sun, the most sprinkling when it needs it, and the best soil care. This is where I will be growing tomatoes and sweet corn this year. The sun was shining this afternoon and the temperature was cool enough that I only worked up a modest sweat. Everything was going along just great until three quarters of my work was done. That's when I made a turn with … (3 comments)
professionalism: Anxious To Be Patient
- 05/03/10 07:57 PM
I don't know about you, but I love patient, selective, thoughtful buyers. I'd rather show dozens of homes before a purchase, than just one. Am I nuts? Isn't that a lot of work? No, I'm not nuts, and yes, it is a lot of work. I'm in business to work, and I'm paid fairly for it. Like any real estate professional who has been working with buyers for a while, I've had my share of buyers who have purchased the first house I showed them. It happens sometimes, and sometimes it's the right thing. But it makes me nervous, and I strongly … (6 comments)
professionalism: Hoeing The Real Estate Garden
- 05/03/10 06:52 PM
It's a good business practice to take a look from time to time at things in our businesses that we've grown attached to but aren't helping us best serve our clients and achieve our business goals. We need to replace those things with things that nurture and propel our businesses, instead of robbing our business vitality. Whether it is a contact management system that has been outgrown, a habit that's become comfortable despite being non-productive, a vendor that hasn't kept up with the ways our mutual clients expect to be served, or any number of other auld attachments we've accumulated, there is … (3 comments)
professionalism: I Know You're Not An Attorney, But...
- 05/01/10 08:25 PM
One of my clients called me recently with some questions. I was expecting the call, because he had mentioned during a previous conversation that he would be calling with a few questions. But I wasn't expecting the kinds of questions he had, which weren't directly related to the business he has with me. "I know you're not an attorney," he started. "But..." Client: "[Legal advice inquiry #1]?" Me: "The best advice I can give you is to talk with an attorney about that." Client: "[Legal advice inquiry #2]?" Me: "All I can tell you about that is that you really need to ask an … (2 comments)
professionalism: Commission Disclosure
- 04/25/10 01:00 PM
I'm a big believer in the (essentially) free market system, including its application to real estate commissions. I'm also a big believer in disclosure of unusually high and low commissions offered to me when I am representing buyers. The free market doesn't require me to work for either lower or higher commissions than what my work is worth, it simply allows prospective clients to choose how much value vs. risk they want in their potential transactions and the services that lead to them. Recently I was working with a buyer who was very interested in a property for which a selling … (19 comments)
professionalism: What An Education!
- 04/21/10 09:37 AM
I've heard a lot of real estate agents grumble about having to spend a few hours at an inspection with their buyers, but I absolutely love attending inspections! I've never failed to learn something new during my buyers' inspections that can be applied to my own home management and to helping my clients buy and sell their homes more efficiently. Part of what makes the experience good for me, over and over and over again, is that the inspectors I recommend to my clients make the experience good for them. I recommend inspectors who I know to be knowledgeable, thorough, objective, … (2 comments)
You May Not Need A New _______! Get Your _______ Checked By A Specialist
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