Greg's Blog - Archives November, 2008

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Home : Blogs : Greg Wilson : Greg's Blog : Archives November, 2008

Housewives of Atlanta Realtor - 11/30/08 03:36 PM

I accidently started watching this show the other night and now I'm addicted to it. One lady on the show, Lisa, is a real estate broker.

Anyway, on one show she sold a multi-million dollar house and earned a commission of $250,000. My jaw hit the floor. She didn't do anything to show the house, explain the history, or anything... it was only through her connection (husband a pro footballer) that she landed this client.
More power to her but my commission aren't anywhere close to that amount. Maybe one of these day!

… (1 comments)

Are You Giving Your All? - 11/30/08 03:18 PM

With the economy being so bad, a lot of professionals aren't really giving 100% to their customers. But as a customer, how can you tell if you're professional is working hard for you?

Well you can't look at someone and tell by their face if they're trying 100% unlike armwrestling. If you list a house with a realtor, then you should expect to be in contact with that person on a regular basis. Also, you should be given feedback of showings. Price drops will occur if you don't have any showings so thats also important for getting a sale. If … (0 comments)

How To Spot A Scam On Active Rain - 11/30/08 02:14 PM

Since I've been a member of Active Rain, I've received a lot of phone calls from everything from scams, pyramids schemes, buying referrals, ect. So I wanted to write a post about how I can dig through the bull by just looking for a few things.

The first thing to look for is when you get an email for someone to call you in order to talk business. Whenever someone wants me to call them, I just tell them to send me an email explaining what opportunity they are looking for. I just had a call from a guy and … (1 comments)

Streamwood Area Market Report - 11/25/08 07:56 AM

Are you buying, selling, or just curious about the real estate market? Check out my weekly market report on the local housing market. Don't make the mistake of not understanding market conditions when buying or selling a home. Take a look and the report for the current market and start understanding housing market in your area. If you need someone to help you find the perfect property, please call me at (630) 707-4734. I am more than happy to help. Greg Wilson

… (2 comments)

Schaumburg Area Market Report - 11/25/08 07:55 AM

Hoffman Estates Area Market Report - 11/25/08 07:53 AM

Elk Grove Village Area Market Report - 11/25/08 07:51 AM

Arlington Heights Area Market Report - 11/25/08 07:48 AM

Another Year End and More Continuing Education - 11/24/08 08:19 AM

Well its almost December and the one thing I'm thinking about now is continuing education for the loan originator and real estate agent. The loan originator allows you to get credit for an online class so I don't have to attend any training. For the real estate agent, I do have to go to a class in order to get credit. So that's the fun in being licensed is doing all of the continuing education :(
… (3 comments)

Price Drops Around Thanksgiving? - 11/24/08 08:16 AM

As a general rule, I usually tell my clients that there is no need to drop the price of a property around Thanksgiving and Christmas because not many people are looking for homes around then. But after a holiday week, then I get to work with dropping the price of a listing. So for the most part, I think its a good idea.
… (0 comments)

Do You Get Invited To House Warmings? Part III - 11/23/08 02:03 PM

In addition to providing a gift, I've made countless referrals. Painters, moving companies, ect. They've pretty much used everyone that I've recommended and I'm lucky there has been no bad experiences. Its time to go to the party and enjoy myself. I wonder if I should hand out business cards? lol Previous post: I've picked out my gift for next weekends house warming. I'm going to give the couple a portable GPS unit. They are new to the area and this will help out a lot. Its the least I can do to help them out. I can't wait to see … (1 comments)

Do You Get Invited To House Warmings? Part II - 11/23/08 02:02 PM

I've picked out my gift for next weekends house warming. I'm going to give the couple a portable GPS unit. They are new to the area and this will help out a lot. Its the least I can do to help them out. I can't wait to see how they've decorated the place. I'll be sure to put the experience in my blog after I go. Should be a lot of fun and a great way to advertise.
Previous Post:
I get invited to all of the house warmings from clients that I've worked with in the past. I also still … (0 comments)

Do You Get Invited To House Warmings? - 11/23/08 01:57 PM

All of my clients that I've delt with in the past have all invited me to their house warmings. I always work hard to get my clients the best deal possible and even after the sale, I still get calls about questions. I'm more than happy to continually help them through any problems. So my question is do you get invited to house warmings or after you finish a deal, you don't really communicate with them? Just a question to see how other agents view this.
… (1 comments)

Do You Get Invited To Parties? - 11/23/08 01:56 PM

Just a question. I've delt with a lot of agents that are really lazy and after the sale, they are no where to be seen. So please share some of your experiences if you've been to house warmings. How did you go? Did you pick up any additional business? I'll let you know how my house warming party goes in a few weeks.
… (0 comments)

My Experience With A Short Sale Part II - 11/23/08 01:53 PM

I wanted to continue my post about the short sale. I wanted to talk about the agent that I worked with. Agents that do short sales a lot are good at pushing deals that really aren't deals yet. I can't blame him but what can agents do in this type of market? They're at the banks mercy.
Previous post:
I had the good luck of closing on a bank owned property recently. A lot of people told me that they can be a pain and I can see why. I did the loan and the sale of the property. The bank … (0 comments)

My Experience With A Short Sale - 11/23/08 01:52 PM

I had the good luck of closing on a bank owned property recently. A lot of people told me that they can be a pain and I can see why. I did the loan and the sale of the property. The bank was slow, slow, slow. My clients had a time table to get items out of storage. The biggest problem of dealing with the bank was getting that final commitment letter. They came thru but it was only one day before closing. I'm lucky it went well but the deal could have easily went the other way. Bottom line, my … (4 comments)

Elk Grove Village Market Report - 11/19/08 07:00 PM

Barrington Market Report - 11/19/08 06:59 PM

Barlett Market Report - 11/19/08 06:57 PM

Rolling Meadows Market Report - 11/19/08 06:54 PM

Hanover Park Market Report - 11/19/08 06:53 PM

Streamwood Area Market Report - 11/19/08 06:50 PM

Schaumburg Market Report - 11/19/08 06:48 PM

How Do You Meet New People? - 11/19/08 02:54 PM

As a realtor, I find it very important to continually meet new people in order to get their business. I participate in a tennis league where everyone knows i'm a realtor. Unfortunately, I haven't had any business yet from this group but i'm still trying. Any group that you can join in order to get your name out will help your business in the long run.
… (0 comments)

Another Listing - 11/19/08 02:38 PM

Well I'm going to do another listing this weekend. I do love referrals. They cut down on the amount on spending dollars on marketing. I have to drive 30 minutes to the property but I don't mind driving to get a listing. I'm always happy to help my client list his property and make any needed suggestions. The market may be slow but I can't tell! I'm having a good outlook and its working for me.
… (0 comments)

Question.. Can A Home Owner Have.. - 11/18/08 03:49 PM

an open house if its currently being listed by an agent? Someone asked me this question and I'm not really sure of the answer. I can see arguments on both sides.
Thanks for your replies. I just wanted to hear some other opinions. There are no rules against having a home owner hold the open house but I wouldn't want to make a practice out of doing that. I prefer to be at the property passing out my cards to new business.
… (4 comments)

Deerfield Area Market Report - 11/16/08 01:29 PM

Barrington Market Report - 11/16/08 01:27 PM

Barlett Market Report - 11/16/08 01:25 PM

Rolling Meadows Market Report - 11/16/08 01:23 PM

Elk Grove Village Market Report - 11/16/08 01:22 PM

Arlington Heights Market Report - 11/16/08 01:20 PM

Hoffman Estates Market Report - 11/16/08 01:18 PM

Schaumburg Market Report - 11/16/08 01:17 PM

Hanover Park Market Report - 11/16/08 01:13 PM

Streamwood Area Market Report - 11/16/08 01:04 PM

A Penny Spent Is A Penny Earned On Listings - 11/11/08 07:55 AM

Have you been paying a lot to market a particular listing? I have and fortunately, the marketing has paid off for a few of the properties. By putting the property on numerous websites and also on Craigs List, I've had more volume than you would expect. Putting time into the listing can only help you out in the long run. We all just have to learn that lesson.
… (0 comments)

The Best Part About A Listing - 11/11/08 07:53 AM

Now with the weather turning bad, having listings are not a bad thing. The sign out in the yard is good advertisement for my and my services. I can always expect to get a few calls from people asking questions about the house or real estate services. Even though listings can be a money pit, it does pay to have them.
… (0 comments)

Come Join WaMu! - 11/10/08 08:20 AM

A few years ago, Washington Mutual Bank had my mortgage on my house. I've paid that off years ago now. But what I remember is that every time I went to pay my mortgage, the staff was always trying to convince me to switch to their bank. The convience of having a large number of branches would help me they would always say. I told them I was happy with my small bank that I've been dealing with for years. I'm glad I stayed with my small bank because WaMu is no longer around and it would have been a pain … (0 comments)

Banks Going Under - 11/10/08 08:16 AM

It seems like everytime I look at the news, another bank is closing up. So it can be harder to get a loan because there are fewer banks and fewer loan brokers in the market place now. I hope that my clients keep their credit score up because in this economy, it pays to have a high score in order to qualify for a loan.
… (0 comments)

Price Drop After Price Drop - 11/10/08 08:14 AM

The economy is so bad and a number of listing are having the prices drop really fast. I recommend a price drop every few weeks. I have a pretty good schedule that I like to follow until we can't go any further. So I was wondering if anyone else had any price drop strategies for a listing? I would love to hear what other people are doing out there.
… (1 comments)

How Far Would You Travel For A Listing? - 11/10/08 08:11 AM

A lot of agent tell me they will only travel within 30 minutes of their home for a listing. I on the other hand don't care where I have to travel..within 1.5 hours of my house. I wonder why agents don't like to travel at least an hour for a listing? Is it laziness, gas prices, the amount of work? I'm always happy to get a listing and in Illinois, there are a number of good areas worth driving to.
… (1 comments)

Showing Feedback From Agents - 11/10/08 08:08 AM

Whenever I show a property, I try to give as much helpful feedback as possible to the other agent. When I have a listing and try to get feedback from other agents, its like pulling teeth. No one really wants to be that helpful. I have an automated email that goes out and I seem to get one word answers for everything. I pretty much have to pick up the phone and have try to have a conversation with these people in order to get anything useful. That's why I can't send the feedback to clients because they'll say..."This feedback isn't … (3 comments)

Cold Weather Means Fewer Showings - 11/10/08 08:05 AM

I have a few listings with clients and now that the weather is starting to get cold, I'm starting to see a slow down in the activity of showings. I've already told them to expect a decrease in volume around the holiday season. So to try to get more clients, I'm increasing more marketing for these properties. As long as I can get a few people in the door, I'm hoping that good things will happen.
… (0 comments)

Broker Open... Time To Feed - 11/10/08 08:01 AM

A few of my agent friends always seem to complain to me about how no one shows up for the open houses that they host. One of the agents goes all out and buys food and drinks for broker opens. Its funny when he calls me the next day and say a few agents stopped by, ate the food and grabbed a drink and was out the door. I'm telling him.. and you're not surprised? It was just a quick lunch stop for them. Anyone else have these types of problems so that I can suggest to him what to do?
… (0 comments)

Repo Companies - 11/10/08 07:58 AM

I'm starting to see more and more repo companies starting up and promising to help consumers with a possible foreclosure. The only help I'm seeing is that they send them to a real estate agent and get the property listed immediately. Seems that people are more comfortable working with one of these companies as opposed to working with a real estate agent directly that specializes in short sales.
… (0 comments)

Why Do Agents Never Follow Directions? - 11/07/08 01:48 PM

I just wanted to put up one of my pet pieves about real estate agents. I have several listings and in all of my listings, I have to call the listing agent and not the office. What surprises me is the number of calls going to the office. I wonder if they even bother reading directions or just look at the first number they see? I think its kind of funny but it can be a sign that they're not paying close enough attention to the details about a listing.
… (2 comments)

Pianist / Realtor / Mortgage LO - 11/07/08 01:44 PM

I was a little bored this weekend so I added some additional piano solos out at this site: http://www.evernote.com/pub/gwilson/gwilsonsnotebook If you want to take a break from your busy real estate job, then go and listen to some of my favorite songs on the piano. I've been play piano since I was in 5th grade and was almost a music major but my parents wouldn't let me major in music :( I've taught, played for restaurants, churches, weddings, choirs, and lots of other occasions. But I still love playing piano and I hope you enjoy some of my own special arrangements. … (0 comments)

The Trouble With Short Sales - 11/06/08 07:52 PM

Some peopel thing that short sales are easy to deal with. Unfortunately, I know how difficult and time consuming a "simple" short sale can be. Approval from the sellers, paperwork from the bank, and accepted offer that all parties can be happy with are all issues that need to be handled during one of these transactions. The profit from buying a short sale can easily outweigh all of the touble. Going into one of these deals, everyone should their eyes wide open.
… (2 comments)

What Is A Good House Warming Present? - 11/05/08 08:51 AM

I'm looking to purchase a gift for a house warming and I was wondering what would be good as the real estate and loan originator for the deal. I could get a fruit basquet but I feel that that is a bit cheezy. Since they moved from a different state, I was thinking of getting a GPS navigation system. They would be able to find anything in the area. What house warming gifts do you normally give to clients?
… (2 comments)

A New President - 11/05/08 08:47 AM

After voting yesterday, I realized that none of my candidates won in the last two elections. This is the first election in a while where the person I voted for ended up winning. Now the true test begins. Will the economy continue to spiral downward? Will the stock market gain back its status? Will I feel comfortable purchasing an investment property? Well, there's really no quick answer to any of these questions. Only time will tell.
… (0 comments)

100% Financing? - 11/05/08 08:44 AM

Doing loans is pretty difficult in this particular market. So when a client asks me about 100% financing, I'm really curious as to why they don't have a downpayment. There are some 100% financing programs out there now but you'll really need to have great credit. It is a lot easier to do a loan that has a downpayment. Anyway, I just wanted to write some about it on my blog. Feel free to add any of your experiences.
… (0 comments)

Halloween Is Over, Now Thanksgiving Coming - 11/05/08 08:41 AM

During the course of October, I managed to get a few listings. I've received a few calls for showings but at this time of year, it can be difficult to sell anything. So with Thanksgiving coming up, I hoping that people will want to at least think about getting a new home.
My plan for this slow time of year is to keep getting listings. The buyers will eventually come.
… (0 comments)

Handling Calls Asking About Listings - 11/04/08 12:42 PM

As a realtor and loan originator, I value calls from potential clients. Whenever I get a client call that asking about a listing, I make sure to do the following:
Always introduce myself as a realtor and loan originator Get their name Make sure to get the number (mostly from caller id) Find out if they need to sell Find out price range I can keep them on the phone by saying, my pc is a little slow today so let me just get some information. It always works like a charm. If you're like me and you've made cold calls, … (0 comments)

Christmas Is Almost Here, Are You Ready? - 11/03/08 06:56 PM

With Christmas coming around the corner, are you ready to survive in this economy? While shopping and purchasing gifts are on everyone's mind, are you more concerned with how to keep your business going? I've been working on several listings over the last month. Its no secret that November and December are going to be the slowest months of the year. So why not put your time toward something more productive like education, marketing strategies, or even joining a social group?
When next year rolls around, you'll be surprised how much of a help it is for your business.
… (1 comments)

Are Short Sales The Way To Go? - 11/03/08 06:46 PM

In this economy, it seems that the best business for real estate agents is to work with short sales and foreclosures. I've seen my business get really slow but the one thing that has helped to push my business activities up is to work with short sales and foreclosures. Having a buyer is always golden but they're hard to find.
So how can you get started with working with short sales? One way is to start contacting banks and register with them as a listing agent. I did and now I have some great listings. If it worked for me, … (0 comments)

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Greg Wilson

Schaumburg, IL

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1st Cornerstone Realty

Office Phone: (630) 891-9003

Cell Phone: (630) 707-4734

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My blog is written to help other agents become better. By including my every day experiences, I hope that other people can learn from my adventures. I love being a real estate agent and I hope that I can help as many people as possible.

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