1. Your photos are unimpressive. The vast majority of home buyers start their search for a home on the Internet, your house had better look great in print. Not just nice... downright fabulous. Today we are considering internet views as a 'virtual showing'... if your house gets past that, then they might (just might) make an appointment to see it in person... We consider that your SECOND showing. Today's buyers are expecting good quality photos (and lots of them... just 1 shot from the street won't cut it!), a virtual tour, maybe even a floor plan, if applicable.
2. It's overpriced. You've got to view your own property as objectively as possible. Look at the home like a "buyer"... if necessary, go out with your Realtor and view other homes that are priced comparably to yours. Be objective. Given the other options on the market (and yes, you DO have to include short sales and foreclosures on your list... your potential buyers are!), would YOU buy your home, over the others on the market?
If no, then you either have to "update" your home to meet or beat the competition... or lower your price to adjust for it. if you can't afford to sell for the price, that you KNOW it sell for, you may want to consider just removing it from the market.
3. It shows poorly. This could mean almost anything... from the barky, barky dog, to the smell of the diaper pail. Maybe the carpeting is a bit worn, or the woodwork shows a lot of wear. All things that don't show up on the internet, but whoa.... once you get inside the house... they show up, like a cat-urine-smell on a 95 degree day in New Orleans!
4. You're invisible. Today's buyer comes from the internet, almost exclusively. Have you (or your agent) simply plopped the property on the MLS, and started praying? Are you on all the websites...(Trulia, Zillow, Craig's List, Google Base, etc...) all the places that buyers are searching? If not, you want to be.
5. Your listing is tired and stale on the market. Okay... yes, you overpriced your home initially when you first came on the market 2 years ago. But since then you have reduced your price almost monthly... constantly chasing the market down.... Now, finally you're truly priced where you should be... but your listing is tired and stale. Everyone looking for your type of property (ie: 3br/1.1 bath) in your area has already seen it, sometimes twice... and they remember that there was "something" about it that they didn't like... but what they don't remember is... what they didn't like.... was the price. Time to take the listing off market. Let it cool off (3-6 months), and bring it back on fresh in the Spring. Yeah, you'll have 6 mos. worth of holding-costs... but you'll more than make up for it in your purchase price.
btw... Avoid the temptation to bring the house back on at a higher price, than when you left the market. Just "don't do it"!
6. Your house won't appraise. The house looks great... you've finally gotten someone to bring you a bid on your slightly over-priced, but beautiful pied-a-terre. But the bank appraiser says it's worth $20,000 less than what they've agreed to pay. Heavy sigh... bite the bullet.... negotiate with them. If you have to drop the price $20,000 to make it work.... "make it work"... chances are, anybody else trying to buy your house will run into the same problem.
In challenging markets...like the one we currently face...it's difficult to find new clients.
Why would you even consider firing a client?
Purely and simply, even the best client relationships can turn bad...and when they do, it's time to end them by firing the client.
Most of us are too busy to allow deteriorating client relationships to drain time and energy from attracting new clients and serving existing clients. With that in mind, here are 5 reasons for firing a client.
1. Perfection Obsession
These are the buyers who are obsessed with finding a perfect home, in a perfect location and at a perfect purchase price.
Or they are sellers who insist on selling their homes terms and conditions that they consider perfect.
Perfection rarely exists in our world, and besides, your responsibility is to give clients the best possible service, helping them find the best possible deal...not the perfect one.
2. Lack of Trust
This can cut both ways.
For whatever reason, you no longer trust your client or vice versa.
Since trust is a key element of all client relationships, once the trust is gone for either party, the relationship is essentially over.
3. Miscommunication
Sometimes miscommunication is inadvertent or accidental.
Others times it is deliberate.
In either case, when miscommunication becomes a common element it represents a problem to be addressed.
If the problem of miscommunication itself cannot be resolved, it's time to end the relationship.
4. Conflicting Advice
We all have advisors who offer opinions and suggestions on our decisions.
Some of these people are professionally trained, qualified and well informed. Others are well intentioned but otherwise poorly informed and mis-directed friends relatives and acquaintances.
It is the second group of advice-givers that have the most potential for causing problems in client relationships.
When clients start to be guided more by this group than by your professional advice, it's best to reserve your time, energy and expertise for clients who value it.
If clients do not value what you offer them...fire them.
5. Indecision
Certainly changed circumstances result in changes in clients needs and wants.
However, when clients continually change their minds for no obvious reason, it's hard to be sure of what they really want.
If they don't know what they really want...how can you help them?
Is it not better to devote your resources to helping clients achieve what they know they want?
What other reasons might there be for firing clients?
As we all know - in years past; just about anyone could get a mortgage. Of course there were standards; but they pretty darn loose. A mediocre credit score; very little cash and even shaky job history - would get you qualified for a mortgage.
The Pendulum had swung so far - that my dog could have been pre-approved to buy a home!
Now things have changed. DRASTICALLY !
I have had clients will PLENTY of CASH. GREAT job history. GOOD - even GREAT Credit. But the hoops they are now having to jump through is getting simply - CRAZY !
Many of the agents in my office joke about buyers needing to supply a DNA sample when applying for a loan. It's almost the truth. Banks and their underwriters are being super-cautious when approving loans for people.
The Pendulum is now at the opposite EXTREME!
Some things Borrowers Need to know:
- Work with a reputable lending institution. With so many changes in lending standards - make sure you are using the best in the business. Remember: Biggest is not usually Best.
-Get your loan officer every single piece of paper he/she asks for immediately. Not quickly - but immediately. They need every hour; every day to get things processed.
- Be ready for last minute requests. An old tax form; an old check stud - keep all your important papers close at hand.
- DON'T move money around. Large deposits or withdraws are big old RED flags to underwriters. If you need to transfer money for closing. Do it as soon as you can and preemptively send your loan officer documentation as to where the money was transfered from and where it was transfered to.
- The Banks are backed-up. Period. They have cut staffs and now are overwhelmed as the volume of sales and re-fi's are increasing. For many of the large banks - be prepared for long hold times and overall lousy service. Even lenders whom I have worked with for years are victims by their own banks lack of resources and personnel to process the loans.
- The closing date - with so many delays and last minute requests from the underwriters - don't bank everything on moving the day after closing. Expect a couple of day delay.
Lastly - be patient. Easier said than done; especially in a big move; but it is the way things are today.
Contact James Downing of the Downing Real Estate Group, if you are selling, buying or have questions!
Office: 202-362-5800 Cell: 703.244.3971
Licensed in Washington DC, Virginia & Maryland.
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Chevy Chase 5028 Wisconsin Ave NW Suite 100 * Washington DC 20016
While the real estate market has seen many changes over the last couple of years, it appears that the luxury market is facing even greater challenges. While it has become more difficult to sell a luxury property, it is still possible and we are able to get it done!
Here's the Bad News ... (As reported by the Luxury Home Marketing Institute) The luxury market is facing increasing pressure, aggravated by credit market difficulties in the jumbo mortgage market. As a result, The National Association of Realtors reported that the share of home sales above $750,000 has fallen from 4.4% of total home sales in 2007 to a projected 2.3% of total sales in 2009 (NAR Projection based on partial year statistics).
Limited loan availability, higher than usual interest rates for jumbo loans (from 150 to 200 basis points higher than conforming loan rates), and stringent loan qualifying requirements have slowed sales of luxury properties. This has caused the national inventory level of homes priced above $750,000 to rise from 18 months worth in 2007 to more than 40 months worth as of the second quarter of 2009.
The lack of refinancing opportunities, fewer qualified buyers for luxury homes, a growing inventory of unsold luxury homes, and an economy in recession are all creating the "perfect storm" for luxury homeowners who need to sell and can't. NAR also reported that as of October 2008, the foreclosure rate on jumbo loans was more than double the rate on conforming loans.
Here's the Good News ... While the above facts are creating greater challenges for us, as Realtors who consider the luxury home market our forte, we are steadily looking for options for our luxury home owners in selling their property.
In fact, we made a trip to the closing table today, representing the seller of a luxury waterfront home today, with a selling price of $1,100,000 here in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
One of the most critical bits of criteria for this home sale was the fact that this luxury home had all the basic necessities - meticulously maintained, in perfect condition, appraised for the selling price or better, and had a great location. Knowing that we had a great home that we believed would pass the inspection and appraisal process, along with the fact that we had an extremely savvy businessman as the seller, we began to look at options for him and his wife.
We knew that our seller's first interest was to sell the home outright and move on. However, in this difficult market, we realized the chances of that were getting slimmer based on the facts mentioned above. We began to discuss the "trade" option to our seller, as we believed that this would be an option for our savvy seller to reach his final goal more quickly, while he sold his large luxury home, and then scaled down to a smaller, more sellable property.
We then reviewed all the previous potential buyers who had expressed any interest in the home, and believed that we had one that would love to buy the home at a fair price, but he also needed to sell his waterfront condominium (valued around $400,000) at the same time. We approached this buyer's agent and began discussing a trade option, and to make a long story short ... it was a perfect match.
The trading of real estate property does take some creative matchmaking skills and extra work, and it can be done as long as we have the two major ingredients ... 1) Great property and 2) Savvy seller willing to consider options.
Debi Jones of the Kennedy Team volunteered as one of the auction items in a local fundraiser for the American Cancer Society sponsored by Reed Plumbing last week. While Debi was glad to help with a good cause, Debi knew that it would be an interesting evening when she agreed to be one of the Bachelorettes to be auctioned off to an unknown bidder. Jeff and I (Paulia) attended the big event and enjoyed the show of Bachelors & Bachelorettes as each paraded across the stage, anticipating who would be their next date. When it came Debi's turn on stage, Debi turned beat red as she stood and watched two nice gentlemen begin a bidding war for her. Glenn Wilkins wound up as the lucky winner with a date with Debi, and the American Cancer Society appreciated the generous donation he made.
Paulia forwarded an interesting article to me entitled, "Top 10 Fashion Colors for Fall Provide Clues to What's New in Home Décor" from here.
Sellers seeking advice from listing agents who wish to update their properties with the freshest colors can take a look at the fashion industry for direction. A color palette seen first on the fashion runways is picked-up by decorators and builders from wall paints to furnishings, towels and placemats. The Top 10 colors for 2009 can be downloaded and viewed here . This year's color range spans from semi-bold hues to catch a consumer's eye to a collection of subtle, basic colors which coincides with today's economic uncertainty. All of the 2009 colors are harmonious with each other reflecting our country's desire to 'get back on its feet'.
Color hues range from American Beauty Red, which is described as a 'feel good color' depicting cohesiveness and patriotism. Fashion designers such as Charlotte Ronson selected the color Iron for her collection, which has been described as today's 'new black'. Iron can be illustrated as a deep gray which pairs well with other metal colors, deep navy and chocolate browns. Ms. Ronson found inspiration with Iron to be "...a Postwar decadence that combines elements of military menswear with feminine tailoring." Since our country is still embattled in war with Iraq, the color Iron reflects today's cautious atmosphere. Home décor will also reflect the same. With widespread hope mirrored through a new President and the change promised, today's hue reflects this tenacious optimism.
"According to Pantone, in this time of economic uncertainty and political change, optimism is paramount and no other color expresses hope and reassurance more than yellow." The top color for 2009 is Mimosa.
Home decor updates do not have to be extensive or expensive color changes either. Homeowners can create a table setting with today's hues, change towels, paint a door, add rugs or change-out lampshades for example as each of the listed colors is compatible with each other as well as with most neutral tones. Builders consulting with decorators, agents and stagers can offer the similar options and can present wall colors reflective of this appealing palette.
These colors give a fresh new look to properties and just the right colors can set one home apart from another. In today's competitive market, updated 2009 colors may just be that edge agents need to sell a home.
Website statistics for our primary web site, www.BestofHotSprings.com broke another record today! This site had 76,348 total hits during the month of March. That tells us that the real estate market is very active and heating up!
Along with this great news, one of my favorite financial analyst, Dave Ramsey, appeared on Fox News today and gave his opinion on the economy with much focus on the real estate market. Dave believes that the housing market will be the major player in getting the economy back in shape. He called attention to the most recent report on home sales being up around 5% in February nationwide. He also reiterated the wonderful opportunity for home buyers at this time with terrific interest rates around 4.5%, there is a huge inventory of homes to pick from, and then wrapped it up by stating it's the "best opportunity for buyers in 50 years". Dave also predicted that the real estate market would be "vibrant" by this fall and "on fire" by next spring. When asked "if we've hit the bottom yet?". He stated that he thinks we may have hit the bottom about a month ago and we're now on the upswing.
I tend to agree with Dave Ramsey, as we are seeing many signs of the upswing. Let's get busy and have a wonderful 2009.
It's a great week this week in Hot Springs. The spring weather is here with temperatures in the 70s, the Bradford Pear trees are blooming, the lake levels are back to normal, and the streets are packed with tourists in town for the horse races. You can feel the excitement!
On top of all this great news, our local Chamber of Commerce made the headlines in the local newspaper with their very positive reports on statistics. Here's some of the information that they reported earlier this week:
Arkansas's unemployment rate is currently 6.4% - much better than the national average at 8.1%
Hot Springs unemployment rate is 5.9% - even better than the state & national average, and also improved from Hot Springs' rate 5 years ago at 6.4%
Hot Springs experienced a 28% growth in per capita income since 2004. This is the highest percentage growth in Arkansas.
Arkansas experienced a 3.8% increase in tourism in 2008, & a portion of that increase can be attributed to Hot Springs, which saw a 1.54% increase in hospitality tax collections.
As a major contributor to the tourism sector of Hot Springs, the Oaklawn Horse Racing Track is seeing higher attendance than virtually ever other race track in the country. Attendance at every race track in the U.S. is down by an average of 30%, while "Oaklawn" is up 2% over last year in attendance and bets made.
Home prices in Hot Springs fell only 0.35%, while Arkansas reported an 8.3% decrease. Home values are holding in Hot Springs.
In addition, we are also pleased to report that our web site: www.BestofHotSprings.com is booming with hits. We are now averaging 55,000 hits/month over our last year's average at 35,000 hits/month. This tells us that we have more interested buyers out there.
So let's turn the TVs off and get out & enjoy some wonderful Hot Springs.
Website hits are up! The Kennedy Team's website, www.BestofHotSprings.com expects more than a 33% increase in site hits by the end of January. Historically, this website averages 35,000 hits per month. As of today, with one week remaining in the month, 42,500 hits have been calculated with an average of 1,635 hit per day! That's 470 more hits per day than the usual 1,166! If this increase in web activity continues, and it is expected that it will, The Kennedy Team should have 52,300 hits by the end of January 2009. What a great way to begin the New Year!
The Broker at the main office at Trademark Real Estate, Inc. also reports a swell in activity with increased showings on all of the office listings.
I asked Paulia Kennedy, real estate marketing guru, if she was advertising her listings any differently. Paulia's reply was, "I recently changed our print ads and focused on a professionally designed general print ad in the homes magazines which is different from the other agents' ads showing just little pictures of houses."
Paulia continued to explain, "Another reason for good hits on the site has been the attention paid to our holiday gifts that we sent out in December. We received lots of thank you's along with good referrals." The gift that keeps on giving!
Paulia and the Kennedy Team have a number of new listings this month. I've been posting virtual tours nearly every week. As a result, there are many more Kennedy Team lawn signs out there as well. Paulia said, "We're also getting more people say they see our signs everywhere... (and we've got more signs out there now)."
Along with these results Paulia is confident that the market is changing for the better. She has seen an increase in buyer confidence, and the Kennedy Team is preparing for a booming real estate market in 2009!
After posting my initial Tough-Love Real Estate Marketing entry, a number of people asked me to clarify the details of a Paulia Kennedy's 'honesty talk' and what the criteria was for 'being choosey'.
Paulia explained that, "We first determine how motivated they are (if they really want and NEED to sell). If they say, 'We don't really have to sell' -- then we really do not want their listing. If the need is there, then we spend a lot of time during the interview process explaining the complete process. We want to make sure they are ready to work with us - which means we need their full involvement and participation in order for us to be successful. We consider the seller the No. 1 person on our marketing team."
Paulia continues, "In order to sell a home, there are 3 things that the seller has control of -- the home must be priced right; it must be in good condition; it must be easy to show. If the seller sticks their head in the mud and ignores our advice along with all of the ongoing information that we send them after we enter into a listing agreement, such as the showing feedback reports, the ongoing market reports and the competition home reports then we try to amicably exit our listing agreement. It then becomes only a waste of our time and their own. We also consider the other factors of the property (which are out of our control) -- location, the actual property, etc. -- and determine if we think it has a chance of selling."
Resulting in continued, steady sales, Paulia exclaims that many agents are sending their listings to The Kennedy Team knowing that this Tough-Love approach means that the property has a better chance of selling.
I asked Paulia why outside agents would give up their listings to The Kennedy Team. She explained, "Actually, I think the referring agents' biggest problem is that they do not have good follow-up systems with their sellers. The agents do not keep their sellers involved - which then causes the seller to be disgruntled. At that point, the agent has totally lost the relationship which we work so hard to develop and nurture between agent and seller. So by referring the property to us, I think it is the other agents' way to try to hold on to the deal somewhat and at least earn a referral fee. We also hear from those sellers we take on that they are seeing our homes all over the internet, with virtual tours, etc., and they wonder why their agent is not doing the same marketing for them. All of the internet work is standard marketing for us."
Paulia concludes that, "The Realtors have to work much harder now, and it takes a full team to handle all the work involved with a listing. And it seems to be a survival of the fittest mode now. The Kennedy Team saw this coming and we have been fully prepared."
Janine Gregor Real Estate Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
1. Your photos are unimpressive. The vast majority of home buyers start their search for a home on the Internet, your house had better look great in print. Not just nice... downright fabulous. Today we are considering internet views as a 'virtual showing'... if your house gets past that, then they might (just might) make an appointment to see it in person... We consider that your SECOND showing. Today's buyers are expecting good quality photos (and lots of them... just 1 shot from the street won't cut it!), a virtual tour, maybe even a floor plan, if applicable.
market?
5. Your listing is tired and stale on the market. Okay... yes, you overpriced your home initially when you first came on the market 2 years ago. But since then you have reduced your price almost monthly... constantly chasing the market down.... Now, finally you're truly priced where you should be... but your listing is tired and stale. Everyone looking for your type of property (ie: 3br/1.1 bath) in your area has already seen it, sometimes twice... and they remember that there was "something" about it that they didn't like... but what they don't remember is... what they didn't like.... was the price. Time to take the listing off market. Let it cool off (3-6 months), and bring it back on fresh in the Spring. Yeah, you'll have 6 mos. worth of holding-costs... but you'll more than make up for it in your purchase price.
In challenging markets...like the one we currently face...it's difficult to find new clients.
Website hits are up! The Kennedy Team's website, 
Resulting in continued, steady sales, Paulia exclaims that many agents are sending their listings to The Kennedy Team knowing that this Tough-Love approach means that the property has a better chance of selling. 
Paulia concludes that, "The Realtors have to work much harder now, and it takes a full team to handle all the work involved with a listing. And it seems to be a survival of the fittest mode now. The Kennedy Team saw this coming and we have been fully prepared."
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