Liberty MO, Parkville MO, Kearney MO, Smithville MO, Gladstone MO, Platte City MO and Kansas City North Real Estate

Using Facebook to Sell Real Estate

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:30:35 -0500

I started using Facebook about one year ago and at that time it seemed like a pretty good way to keep in touch with people. I'd login and see what others were doing, look at photos of their kids, and every now and then come across someone from High School. Recently though, it seems like EVERYONE is now on Facebook. I'm sure it's probably true too, because I just read a statistic today that said Facebook is the 5th most popular website in the world.

Just a few months ago I realized that the online flyer service I'm using through Postlets.com now gives me the ability to post my new listings directly to my Facebook account. I thought that was pretty cool and a good way to let my friends see my homes for sale, but recently I'm seeing another benefit from using Facebook. I'm actually getting REAL business through Facebook.

Because all my Facebook "friends" are seeing how many listings I'm taking and homes I'm selling, I'm actually solidifying my business in their minds. So much so that when they run across someone that needs to buy or sell a home, they're remembering to refer this business to me.

I think Facebook could become my new "farming" community. Instead of doing expensive mailings to my friends, family and past clients, I can now keep them up to date with what's going on in "real time" by using my Facebook account and hopefully even sell a few of my listings in the process!

Maybe I Shouldn't Discuss This on a Public Forum?

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:56:08 -0500

I need some advice and I truly value the opinions of all you other top agents out there on AR so please tell me what you'd do in this situation.

I've been in real estate for 5 years now, I currently have about 30 listings and consider myself more of a "listing agent" at this point in my career. I tell you this so you'll understand that I've worked with all types of client personalities from the very strong opinionated sellers to the ones that do everything I tell them to do. I have studied the DISC profile systems and read many books on human personalities. I feel I can work with just about any personality type and rarely have any issues with my sellers, but I currently have two different clients that are EXACTLY the same and they both frustrate me to no end.

They are both attractive, single women in their 40's. Both own very nice homes with higher income jobs. Both intelligent, very business oriented women. They are both obviously driven to success and I could guess that both are very used to getting their own way most of the time. Honestly, they're both great clients to work with except for this one issue. When they feel like a showing is invading their time, they'll just cancel the showing!

I know we all realize that sometimes things come up, but one of them has canceled 3 showings and the other one has canceled 5 showings. I've spoken with both of them twice about this and they always have some excuse. My family was over last night and the house is a mess. I forgot to put the dog in the kennel before I left for work today. I don't feel like leaving the house tonight. Whatever!!

I'm spending a lot of time and effort to market these two homes and it REALLY frustrates me to have a buyers agent call to ask why they can't show the house. Of course they never try to show it another time and they never come back either. I don't blame them. There are way too many other homes on the market so they don't have to.

To this point, I've let it go, but today was the final straw for me when a buyer called me directly, wanted to see one of these homes this evening, and my seller says, "The house is a mess and I don't think today will work for me." Just to put this in perspective, we just lowered the price of her home another $5,000 this week and she's complaining to me that she wants her home sold. Seriously!

Honestly, I'm seriously considering dropping both of them. I'm doing pretty good right now and don't really need the hassle. My wife thinks I should just let it go and maybe she's right?

Any suggestions?

CUSTOM BUILT RANCH HOME ON 1.75 ACRES IN KEARNEY, MISSOURI

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:31:58 -0600

CUSTOM BUILT HOME ON 1.75 ACRES with attention to detail inside and out. Large circle drive with 2 formal landscaped gardens, 3rd car garage has a shop. Zoned heat/cool. This home is built for entertaining with formal living, dining room, large rec room in lower level, and a beautiful sun room in back. Kitchen has tons of cabinets, laundry on the main level, all bedrooms are very large (4th bedroom is non-conforming) and a small den/office on the main level too. Wonderful subdivision of upper bracket homes.

To see more photos of this home, visit http://www.clayandplatte.com

Northview Place Real Estate in Kansas City

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:03:37 -0600

EVERY UPGRADE IMAGINABLE throughout this beautiful 2 story home. Very open floorplan with the ultimate chef's kitchen that includes a $12,000 WOLF range, enormous walk-in pantry, center island and custom quartz counters. Large master bedroom w/cozy fireplace. Finished walkout basement w/fam room+bar+gym. Full sprinkler system and $8,500 in custom landscaping. Front door security camera, custom blinds throughout, basement has 9 foot ceilings, way too many extras to list here!! THIS IS A MUST SEE HOME!!! To see more photos of this home, visit http://www.clayandplatte.com

NEW CONSTRUCTION with a SMALL TOWN FEELING in Edgerton, Missouri

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:38:29 -0600

Staley Farms in Kansas City Missouri

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:20:23 -0600

TO SEE ALL HOMES FOR SALE IN STALEY FARMS, GO TO http://www.clayandplatte.com

Short Sale - Kansas City North Townhome for Sale

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:26:51 -0600

SHORT SALE,subject to lender approval. Opportunity to gain immediate equity. Sold AS-IS, with no warranties or guarantees. Very nice maintenance free townhome for this price in great neighborhood. ALL EXTERIOR MAINTANCE PROVIDED. Home is priced $10,000 to $15,000 under some of the others, but is in really good condition.

To see more photos of this home, visit http://www.clayandplatte.com

Short Sale in South Kansas City

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:17:58 -0600

SHORT SALE, subject to lender approval. Opportunity to gain immediate equity. Sold AS-IS, with no warranties or guarantees. Very nice home for this price in great neighborhood.

To see more photos of this home, visit http://www.clayandplatte.com

The Best Year EVER!!!

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:28:44 -0600

I have to tell you that it's been a great year for real estate in 2008. That's what I tell everyone that asks, and almost every single one of them are shocked to hear this, but it's true.

This next week I'll have the last two sales of the year and with these two sales, I'll creep just over the $5 million mark for 2008. I think that's pretty good considering all the bad press we've been hearing about the real estate market.

The news media just keeps blasting out their garbage to the point that the typical home owner today thinks they couldn't possibly get their home sold in this market. I'm here to tell you that's simply not true. OK, I'll admit that it's not easy and you may have to take slightly less for your current home than you'd like, but you'll more than make up for that on the next home you're buying, especially if you're buying a more expensive home.

I've had MANY examples of this in the past 12 months. Sellers that had to take $5,000 to $10,000 less for their home to get it sold, ended up buying their next home at a $15,000 to $25,000 discount. One of my clients that is closing on their new home January 2nd, 2009 purchased a bank repo at easily an $90,000 discount!

Honesty, it's a mystery to me why more people haven't figured this out. It's called a "buyers market" for a good reason. Let's get the word out and get more people back into the market in 2009!

Agent to Agent Referrals

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:05:58 -0600

Last week our office finished teaching the Keller Williams 36:12:3 class. That stands for 36 listings in 12 months with 3 hours of lead generation per day. I personally taught two of these classes myself, one for Marketing and the other for Agent to Agent Referrals. Although every one of the 12 or so classes was worth the time spent, I personally enjoyed teaching the Agent to Agent Referrals class the best.

The manual says, "Agent to Agent Referrals is probably the most overlooked source of income for real estate agents." I would agree with that statement because there were actually several agents in the class that have never taken advantage of this. Of course now they will not forget this opportunity that exists and I'm sure will be much more proactive about it the next time one of their sellers is moving out of the Kansas City area to another state.

Teaching this class forced me to think about my own A2A referrals I've had this last year. I won't go into detail, but I will say I've made some VERY good (and easy) money from them in 2007. It also made me realize that I've done a terrible job of keeping in contact with the agents that referred me the business in the first place.

Because of this class, I've decided to do a better job of cultivating more of this business. I know there has got to be hundreds of agents out there that have clients moving into the Kansas City area every single year.

I would like to use ActiveRain to meet these agents and offer my services to them. To show them that I'm an experienced agent here in Kansas City and that I will take very good care of their referral clients because I realize it reflects back on them. Oh sure, the best part is that they get paid in the transaction, but if you're like me, you want to know that your client is in good hands.

If any one out there currently has a client moving to Kansas City this year, please don't hesitate to call or email me. I'd love to help you!!!

50 Showings on a Busy Trafficway

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 20:09:37 -0600

When I took this listing http://www.postlets.com/res/211101 I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I thought it would be a great challenge and I'd look like a champ if I could pull it off. Well, 6 months later I've spent a lot of time, effort, money and I'm looking more like a CHUMP, than a CHAMP.

The problem is that this home sits right on a fairly busy trafficway here in Kansas City at 2227 NE Vivion Road. Vivion Road is certainly not a highway and although you can back out onto the street fairly easily if you just wait for a break in the traffic, it's taught me a lesson about how paper thin the market is for buyers that are willing to live on a busy street.

Just so you'll know, today we got our 50th showing and this buyer was actually willing to make an offer. The buyers agent even went to the trouble of writing it up, but I could have saved her the time and trouble if she would have simply called me first.

Of course it was a low-ball offer (is there any other kind in this market?) but the real problem was the contingency. When I got to that page of the offer, I knew we were dead. I even showed it to one of the other agents in my office and said, "Hey, I haven't seen one of these forms all year long" and we joked about the last time someone actually accepted a contingency offer.

50 showings! I can promise you I'll never, ever take another listing on a busy street. It's not worth the hassle.

FORECLOSURE in only 2 months!

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:18:26 -0600

I'm right in the middle of a horrific ordeal and just thought I should let everyone know about this.

In August I picked up a listing from a guy that had completely rehabbed this little house. He bought it from a guy that just needed out and the place was apparently a real mess. He did a great job but as most rookies do, he spent more money and more time on it than he'd planned. This was his first flip, but he did a good job and stood to make some decent money on it when it sold.

About 45 days ago we got a full priced offer on the house and everyone was happy. My seller ended up having to do some extra work to get the FHA appraisal to pass, but he got right on it and took care of everything. I told him a appreciated him getting all that work done so fast and he commented, "I really need this thing to close and I'll do whatever it takes".

I really didn't think much of that comment until the title company asked me if I knew he was a couple of months behind in the payments. Of course I didn't know this, but said, "Well, we'll be closed in another week so it shouldn't be an issue.

Well, last week the seller came in and closed on Wednesday and the buyer was scheduled to close on Thursday at 4:00pm. At 2:30pm on Thursday I received a phone call from another real estate agent. She asked about this house and wanted to know the background. I said, "We're closing in about 1 hour, so it's a done deal at this point". What she said next just about caused me to faint.

Her exact words were, "I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but your seller was behind in his payments and I actually purchased this house on the courthouse steps just 2 hours ago."

SHORT STORY: My client had purchased this house by refinancing his current home, then taking the proceeds and investing it into this home, and he used the same lender for both loans. Little did I know, but when we received an offer on this house, he was already 6 months behind on his current home and 2 months behind on the one I had listed. He's sunk every last penny he had into fixing this home up and I guess he thought after we got it sold everything would be OK. Since the lender financed both homes, I guess they took at look at them and decided to forclose on both at the same time.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the home had been treated for termites at $600 and had a brand new furnace and A/C installed at $2,800, both of these costs were being billed at closing and since I'd found the buyer my full 6% commission was vanishing into thin air.

This week the horror continues. I now have negotiated a new contract with all the vendors getting paid AND my full commission, but we have since found out that HUD views this as a "flip" and won't approve it for another 3-6 months. We've seeing if they can go conventional, but it's not looking good. I know we have other options like renting back for 3 months, but no one wants to do that.

I know it's all my sellers fault, but I can't help still feeling sorry for him losing both homes in the same day. The last time I spoke with him on Friday, he was trying to get a rental truck so he could move out of his house over the weekend.

If he would have just told me, I would have advised him to call the lender and tell them we're selling the house and he'll get it all caught up. If the lender varified this, there's no way they would have foreclosed on him.

UPDATE: We can't give it to you if you don't ask.

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:34:34 -0600

In October I told you about a friend of mine that was having trouble making his new house payments after the loan adjusted on his ARM "We Can't Give It To You If You Don't Ask"

Many of you on ActiveRain.com thanked me for bringing this to your attention. It appears now that President Bush and Congress are jumping onto the bandwagon too "Bush subprime plan offers help to 1.2M"

I wondered if anyone caught what the President said in his speech about this. He said, "You have to ask for it". Hummm. I wonder where I've heard that one before?

For those of you that would like to hear the update from my friend. He tells me they've officially approved him for a lower interest, fixed rate loan (I guess in October they told him he qualifies, but was not approved). The lender has done a "drive by" appraisal for his home and it's been assigned to a processor. He tells me they're taking their time, but has been told the process typically takes 90 days.

Getting Price Reductions

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:53:14 -0600

Getting a price reduction in this market should be easy if you've gained the sellers trust and you've managed their expectations up front at the time of the listing. The only time it's a problem is when the seller is simply not that motivated.

When I take a listing, I talk about being aggressively priced at the start. Of course every seller thinks their home is better than all the others, but it's important to realize that today's buyers are actively looking for a home that appears to be a "good deal".

Quite often a seller will want to "just try it for a while". They're hoping to find that one person that will pay them what they want in less than 30 days. I must admit, I too have fallen victim to allowing myself to become emotionally attached to a beautiful home that should sell for the asking price, but when it doesn't it's time for a price reduction.

In talking with a few other agents, I've heard them say how much trouble they have with this. I don't personally have too many problems with getting price reductions because I manage my sellers expectations right up front at the time of signing the listing agreement. Here's my suggestions.

BE HONEST

Talk to the client about this market and please be honest. It's not impossible to sell a home in this market, but it can be very challenging. They need to be prepared for this right up front.

UPDATE, PAINT, AND REPAIR

Before the listing goes on the market, I get my clients to update, paint, and repair everything in their home. I talk to them about how many homes are on the market. I explain to them that in this market, buyers are looking for a home that's ready to go. Buyers are not willing to consider a home with stained or worn carpet, with walls in need of paint, and dated appliances. Since my sellers have repaired or replaced everything that could potentially be an issue, if they still have not gotten an offer within a reasonable amount of time, then we're priced too high. I say, "You know Bob, we've already fixed everything we can fix in this house, so it's got to be the price".

STAGING

If you're not staging your homes today, then you're making a huge mistake. It's now more important than ever before to properly stage the home. This is pretty much the same as the paragraph above. "Bob, we've staged your home and it looks good, but we're still not getting any offers so it's got to be the price."

SETTING EXPECTATIONS

This is the single most important aspect of getting a good price reduction. You should be having this discussion at the beginning when they're signing the listing agreement. I tell my clients that if we don't have an offer after the first ten showings, I'm going to ask them to lower the price. This is called my "Up Front Contract". They know it's coming and after 10 showings, they'll typically expect it. As a matter of fact, I've even had clients count the showings and let me know when we're at number ten!

SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten emails from other agents telling me they've lowered the price of a home by $2,000. Woop-tee-do! Come on. If you're going to lower the price, you'd better get more serious than that. I never lower the price less than $5,000 no matter what price range it's in. My personal opinion is that if you're over $300,000 you should be lowering the price in at least $10,000 increments or you're wasting your time. Trust me on this one, if your current price is $325,000 - lowering the price to $320,000 won't do anything.

JUST THE FACTS

When it's time to have this discussion about lowering the price, I always bring the facts with me. I show the seller how many homes have sold and/or pending in their price range within the time we've had it on the market. I tell them, "These were people that might have been motivated to make an offer on your home if it was priced more aggressively, but they're gone now and have already bought another house. We don't want to lose anymore potential buyers, so we need to lower the price. I will also show them the number of homes currently on the market that we're in competition with. Sometimes this can be a frightening number just by itself and enough to make them more motivated if handled correctly.

Getting a big price reduction will always get the home sold faster and in my experience, the sellers will many times thank you for it after getting an offer.

Home Staging for the Holidays

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:28:47 -0600

This is an article from my good friend and professional home stager, Sue Shores. She's wonderful. Thanks for the helpful tips Sue!

The holidays are just around the corner . . . how can we miss it with all the commercials. Yeah! What a time to decorate . . . wait a minute, put the breaks on your decorating sled . . . your house is designed to sell the house, not the decor.

Tips to simplify your decorating (also known as decorating for the holidays without overwhelming that buyer that walks in the door)

1.    When you place a holiday item, ALWAYS remove an existing decorative item. Never just add without removing first!

2.    Do not display an entire collection, pick one to 3 items and group them together.

3.    Hold on to the garland this year..try simply twisting it around the posts instead of displaying it on the entire staircase. We want the buyer to see the staircase, fireplace, front door, porch posts..

4.    Christmas tree..maybe this year, go for the small version, remove a chair or table to make room. Remember to keep the furniture placed to show traffic flow and function.

5.    Stick to 2 complimentary colors with your decor. We want to go calming on the eyes and possibly colors that work with your current decor.

6.    Scented items are great for the holidays, keep it simple, scented candles can be overwhelming..try using one scent.. clove, cinnamon, or of course, evergreen just to name a few.

7.    Finish the marketing concept with your wrapping paper as well. Colors that blend, with the decor..an inexpensive idea is white/cream paper with 1 or 2 ribbon/bow colors

8.    As always, the entry needs to remain open, the windows not cluttered and covered up with decor.

9.    Ice and snow, oh no..keep in mind to clear your walks, you don't want the buyer to drive by because they don't want to get their shoes snowy!! Also, safety first!!

10.    Enjoy your holidays, you may like the simplicity of just a few items being displayed this year. Keeping it simple can actually be a relief!

Sue Shores
Changeit Room Redesigns Home Staging
"Creating homes you'll love to come home to"
816-584-1393
http://www.changeitkc.com

Procuring Cause or . . . How I Almost Lost a Sale

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:46:23 -0600

This last weekend I went to a family gathering with my wife's family. One of her relatives that I hadn't seen in a while was there and mentioned they were most likely going to sell their current home and move this next summer. I asked them where they were thinking they'd like to live and he mentioned they'd been looking at a beautiful new community called Seven Bridges in Platte City, MO.

Realizing that the Fall Homes Tour was going on just last month, I assumed that they'd been browsing around at different communities and simply looking at homes. "Actually" he said, "We've been out there two times and have chosen two homes we really like".

Knowing that they may have already spoken to the listing agents one too many times, I asked them if they'd ever thought to give me a call so I could go out there with them (since I'm 100% sure they would want me to represent them) and he said to me, "Well we were just looking at the homes and didn't want to bother you yet. We certainly would call you when we're ready to start negotiations in the Spring".

I asked him if he'd ever heard the term "procuring cause", but of course that's a real estate term that the general public wouldn't know about. I explained to both of them, "Procuring Cause is a real estate term that basically means 'the uninterrupted series of causal events which results in the successful transaction.' Of course I realize that's not the NAR official statement, but I read it somewhere and thought it was a little more basic terminology.

I explained a little further by telling them, "You have been out to this community twice, you've probably spoken with the listing agent both times, and she's most likely learned a little more about you and directed you in some way. If you've signed in during an open house tour, called a real estate agent for information about a property listing, toured one or more homes with one or more salesperson's, or provided your e-mail address over the Internet to receive property listing updates, you enter a gray area that may cause me to be left out of this transaction and not able to properly represent you.

This is a very typical situation that we deal with in real estate and since I am both a listing agent and a buyers agent, I can certainly sympathize with both sides of the debate. My client didn't realize that what they were doing might be a risk to their future opportunity to be represented by the agent of their choice.

Now that I've explained this to them they've agreed that it might be in their future best interest to call me the next time they decide to go look at more homes, even if they're "just looking".

We can't give it to you if you don't ask

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:00:06 -0500

I just spoke with a friend today that has discovered something bizarre and he wanted me to know about it.

A couple of years ago, he refinanced his house with an adjustable rate mortgage that was scheduled to reset in two years time. He told me they thought they would probably move before that time, so the lower interest rate was enticing to them. Last month that interest rate jumped up enough to make his house payment go from $1,350 to $1,825 - an additional $475 a month!

When he called today, he confessed to me that his business wasn't doing very good right now and they've had to make their house payments late for the last two months. This not only destroyed his credit scores, but also made the payments go even higher with all the late payments and extra interest that was due.

Today his mortgage company called again to see when he would be making his October payment (today is October 29th) and here's the interesting part. When he told them the higher interest payments were killing him, the woman on the other end of the phone asked him to explain. He told her he needed some help to see if they could possibly work something out to lower his payments back to the old rate, so she transferred him to what she called, "our loan workout department".

Apparently, this lender has been so swamped with people having trouble making their payments and even risking forclosure, that they've created an entirely new department for helping people "work out" a new payment plan.

After taking some general information over the phone, my friend was able to negotiate a lower fixed rate interest payment and lock it in for a 30 year term, all because he asked. Apparently the woman told him, "We can't give you this option unless you ask." I suppose it's their corporate policy.

After he called me, I did some research and have since found out that this is becoming very common these days. Lenders are "working out" new plans that are more affordable, especially for people that got locked into a situation like my friend where their interest rate and payment made a huge jump seemingly overnight. These lenders have decided it doesn't benefit them financially or from a public relations standpoint to force people into these bad situations.

If you're having trouble with an adjustable rate mortgage such as this, you have 3 choices. Sell the house, refinance the loan, or you might simply try calling your lender to see if they're willing to adjust your current interest rate.

Working with a Christian Realtor

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:39:46 -0500

I've had several people refer clients to me this last year and they tell me, "I told them you were a good Christian man".

I guess I always felt uneasy about this until after a mutual friend of mine told me, "I don't know why you worry about that Ron. Christians want to work with other Christian businessmen and non-Christians will want to work with you too because, since you're a Christian, they'll know you're going to be honest with them."

Now that I've thought more about this, I guess he's right. I take my car to an automotive repair shop that's owned by an awesome Christian man (and that's why I take it there), I joined Keller Williams Realty because I found out there were quite a few strong Christians within that office, and most of the vendors I use are solid Christians too.

For me, it's the same reason that people refer clients to me. People want to feel comfortable and have that strong level of trust. I feel if that person is a Christian, there's already an instant bond or at least a moderate level of trust . . . even if I don't know that person!

Do you have a client moving to Kansas City?

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:27:04 -0500

Last week I posted an article about the amount of clients that I get relocating to the Kansas City area. A great deal of the business I get for this is through on-line advertising and targeted relationships I've cultivated, but this last week when I posted on the Active Rain community I was actually very surprised at the number of phone calls and emails I received from other agents that have clients to refer to me.

I enjoy bogging and reading on Active Rain, but I guess I never thought about using it as a vehicle for this type of referral business. I always try to help my clients that are moving to another city by referring a great agent to them for the city they're moving to, but now I'll consider finding these agents on this network.

To all the agents that called me last week, I just wanted to say thank you. It means a lot to me to have the opportunity to work with your clients and I look forward to paying you for this wonderful privilege.

To anyone out there that has clients moving to Kansas City this next year, I hope you'll give me a call or send me an email to let me know how I can help you and your clients.

Ron Henderson Keller Williams Realty 816-651-9001 ronhenderson@kw.com

Relocating to Kansas City

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:14:08 -0500

About 3 months ago I went back to look at where all of my business has come from over the last two years to see if I could locate a tread. The information that I gathered from this little exercise has completely changed the way I market myself and caused me to think differently about the type of business I'm going after.

My research in looking backward uncovered that my very best clients for listings all came from referrals of friends, family, and referrals from other real estate agents outside the Kansas City area. What I also found is that the very best of the best buyer clients were all families relocating to the Kansas City area. I guess I knew that a large part of my business came from relocating situations, but I was actually surprised to see how many there were and the quality that they represented.

Since then, I'm now target marketing medium to large corporations, human relations managers, and headhunters that have influence in making these decisions and it's beginning to pay off. My pipeline as of today shows, one buyer moving here from Topeka KS, one buyer moving here from Columbia MO, one buyer from Alaska, and a buyer moving from Lincoln NE. Come to think of it, this Friday I'll be with a buyer that has just moved here from Washington DC several months ago but has been renting an apartment for 6 months.

I love these buyers because they are VERY motivated to buy right now and typically are very appreciative if you treat them right. Most of them will be here in the next two months and the one from Alaska is planning a May 2008 move, but will be here in mid-March to look at homes and be ready to go ahead and make a purchase at that time.

Yes, these clients do need more help because they don't know the areas. You'll typically be talking to them months in advance of their move, but for me it's time well spent. I love taking care of them and helping them find that perfect place they can feel comfortable in and call home.

If you know of anyone moving to the Kansas City area, I would LOVE to help them. I take very good care of my clients and am more than happy to pay referral commissions.

I called the listing agent, but she never returned my call.

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 21:45:02 -0500

"I called the listing agent, but she never returned my call."

It never ceases to amaze me how many times I've heard this statement from buyers. Just this morning I received a phone call from someone I'd met almost 6 months ago. For whatever reason, she'd saved my business card but never called me.

This morning she called to ask me about a particular house and half way through the conversation, she mentioned that she'd called the agents phone number that was on the yard sign, but that agent never returned her phone call. As a matter of fact, she'd called that agent's number three times over the last two days!

When this first time home buyer called me this morning, she appologized and said, "I know it's not your home listing, but I was hoping you might be able to show me this house?" Of course I didn't mind and explained to her (again) that I can show her any listings from any real estate companies.

Too bad for the listing agent on that house. As we were leaving the house this afternoon, talking about how I would email her some listings that she might like to see this week, I was thinking I'd like to leave the homeowner a note and ask why their agent was too lazy to pick up the phone, but of course I didn't do it. No, it's more fun just to keep this buyer to myself and imagine that agent being out of business in a few months.

How's the Real Estate Market in Kansas City?

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:32:56 -0500

How's the real estate market in Kansas City? This is the number one question I get asked every single day. I don't take it personally because I realize that most homeowners are concerned about the equity in their home and they hear all the negative news from the media that makes them worry.

My response is that it's just like the stock market. Sometimes it's up and sometimes it's down. Right now it's down a little but it will certainly come back. I think most people can grasp that analogy and they believe that it will come back too, but like the stock market, we just don't know when.

I then use this opportunity to explain to them that it's a great time to buy right now. Using my stock market analogy, you buy low and sell high, right? So if the real estate market is depressed, then wouldn't this be a great time to buy a 2nd home or a rental property? Most of my investors get this and they're buying like crazy right now.

Ironically, what's bad for your average homeowner is actually fantastic for the real estate investors. Think of it this way, the market is depressed and there are hundreds of homes on the market making it a very strong "buyers market". This is an excellant buying opportunity for someone that has the ability to purchase rental properties. On top of that, the subprime lending market has dried up, so now all these people that were able to qualify for a loan in the past, will now have to go back to renting apartments, duplexes, and single family homes. Because they will be flooding the market for rental properties in Kansas City, rental prices should rise.

It's simply the logic of supply and demand and it's the best of both worlds for an investor. Buy cheap and rent high! Most of my investors are currently on a 2-5 year buy and hold strategy. The market for flipping is still alive but I'm showing my investors why it makes more sense (and more money) to buy and hold right now.

Grandma Cuffed for Brown Lawn

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:19:33 -0500

Strange but true. Be sure to water your lawn in Utah!

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/09/19/intv.hill.lawn.arrest.cnn?iref=videosearch

Relocation Companies and Double Dipping

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:56:15 -0500

You know, I've had the "pleasure" of working with several relocation companies in the last couple of years and although I love working with relocation clients, I've about had it with their relocation companies.

I suppose it's bad enough that they "double dip" from both the company paying for their services and also charging a "referral fee" to us real estate agents, but when they give me a 12 page document that spells out the most ridiculous procedures that I'm expected to follow, well I'm just not sure it's worth the hassle anymore.

For instance, on the current document I now have in front of me, they want to know in exact detail what my marketing plan will be for this home. They want to know the cost of my advertising in specific publications, the frequency of which I will continue to advertise in the disclosed publications, and they want to know the number of expected leads I will generate from each of my advertising.

Don't get me wrong, I know these numbers and I could certainly give them this information, but honestly, why do they care? Is this really how they justify their involvement to their client, by micro-managing my business?

My favorite line in the Performance Clause document is, "I agree to abide by the NAR code of ethics and my state's Real Estate Laws." I guess I'd better take this seriously now that I know what they expect, right? Ha Ha.

The absolute deal breaker for me was their reference to the listing period. "Listing period MUST NOT EXCEED 90 DAYS." There's no way that's happening, but when I called them to decline their generous offer, they agreed to let me list the home for 6 months without an argument.

I figured I'd go for broke and try to get them to drop the weekly "market analysis" or possibly renegotiate their 35% referral fee, but they didn't go for that.

I suppose I'll end up taking this one because it's in a good subdivision and the sellers appear to be reasonable about their need to sell quickly and price the home accordingly. Oh and I'm sure I'll probably learn how to properly market a home from their relocation company too. RIGHT.

Fed Cuts Rate by a Half Point!

Ron Henderson (Keller Williams, Northland Partners) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:50:01 -0500

The Federal Reserve voted to cut the Fed Funds rate by a half-percentage point to 4.75 percent. This is the first time the central bank has cut the fed funds rate since June 2003.

The Fed Funds rate affects a range of consumer loans, including home equity and mortgages. Lower mortgage rates would add to the number of home buyers able to afford to make purchases, increasing demand for properties and buoying home prices. Buyers generally care less about the actual purchase price than they do about the size of their payments. If rates drop, so will monthly debt obligations

The fed funds rate has stood at 5.25 percent since June 2006, as the Fed has sought to balance inflationary pressure with the threat of an economic slowdown brought on by the housing market collapse.

But the recent rise in mortgage defaults and the tightening of credit have raised expectations on Wall Street that the Central Bank will have to cut interest rates so as help protect the economy and to keep financial markets stable.

The decision Tuesday seemed to reassure investors that the Central Bank will do what it can to keep liquidity flowing and try to protect the economy from falling into a recession. Stocks rallied today reassuring investors that The Federal Reserve was taking aggressive action amid the credit and mortgage market meltdown.