Looking for Agents that want to succeed.  I am actively seeking agents for PPAR and DERA member sales agents.  If you are looking for a change please consider and contact me for an interview.  If you are looking to get into the business contact me for some guidance.  If you want to share some ideas contact me for soundboarding.

I am preparing to open a new office in Boise, Idaho to be managed by Gina Lovejoy.  Gina is the consumate professional and I am confident that she will be successful.  If you are in that marketplace and read this please contact me to share ideas.

I believe that together we can make success in any market and this is as good as a time as ever to go out and make it happen.

Is this the question that you are asking yourself?  Have you talked to agents that say that they are knocking them out of the park and keeping busy?

If you have come across those agents have you been asking them what they are doing to stay busy in this sluggish market?

Here are some good questions to bring up are you busy listing houses, selling houses, listing and selling houses, showing houses, or closing on houses.  Then ask them how they are doing it.

To be honest, I have been busy keeping the doors open in this market, but it isn't because I haven't been able to conduct business.  I have been avoiding business because of this market.  I have taken myself mentally out of it and gone into survival mode because I have to say that I have been listening to the buzz so much it has lured me into a instinctual trance.  I became so focused on survival that I stopped being a professional realtor and started becoming the occasional realtor.  Working a second job to pay the bills and waiting for the buzzing to stop so that I could refocus.  It is the preverbial, "I once was blind, but now I see."

I am not really sure what has recently awakened me, but I again notice that there are buyers and sellers that are out and want to do business.  Now is the time for "carpe diem".  Don't get yourselves into the cement shoes and get out and do some business.  Everyone will be thankful for that.  No more negativity in our talk about the market conditions.  Today is a great day to sell some real estate.

Do you view contingent offers as nice safety nets, or do you see them as a vampire sees sunlight.  I have seen agents recommend against properties that have contingencies or first rights of refusal and I have seen buyers request to not see them as they think that they will have to pay more than they would to supplant the offer in first position.

Do you have a feeling about homes with contingency contracts on them?

Do you think that the slow market that several areas have been experiencing is a red flag to acceptance of offers with a contingency?

I have a theory about some of the practicing real estate agents and their representation of themselves and the real estate market as a whole.  I think that those practicing agents are giving some misinformation to the public and in some occasions, peers that they are mentoring are receiving a perception that becomes their reality.  This misinformation usually starts in the following manner, "In this market, ...".  Buyers chew this up and it becomes part of their mindset when looking for a home.  Rookie Agents swallow this whole and begin to place their foundation as a salesperson (and yes friends, we are salespeople first and foremost) on these three dangerous words.

As Real Estate Professionals and not practicing real estate agents we owe our industry better than that.  Just as a supervisor in a Corporate America job needs to only hear negativity once to approach it and nip it in the bud, we also need to make corrections to our peers and in some cases, subordinates as well as the general public.

A prime example is making a professional recommendation to a buyer client to present an offer that is 10% or even in excess of that less than the asking price.  Now if the property is overpriced that is one thing, but to use "In this market, ..." as the justification for this is nonsensical.

Another example is a buying client wanting to make an offer that is 10% or greater below the asking price and you (or me) not counseling that buyer that an offer such as this can cause a straight rejection as opposed to acceptance or a counterproposal.  Instead the way that the agent responds is "Well, In this Market, ..." and unknowingly is creating a buyer that is looking to steal properties as opposed to going out and purchasing real property that they love and want to own.

I'd like to see us Real Estate Professionals do better than this and help keep our markets healty, even during periods of correction.

This is just my observation.  Any thoughts you would like to add?

Feel free to comment, email me at vince.kelly@kellyrg.com, or call me at 719-201-8580.

Thank you, Vince

What do you think is the most appropriate closing gift?  Do you get extravagant; or do you have a standard gift that you provide to your client?  Do you purchase something different for seller's versus buyers?

I have fallen into the duldrom of not getting closing gifts.  It is a habit that I picked up from a former mentor and I have not shaken it as of yet.  Each time as the closing gets closer I lose my thunder of the closing gift.  Believe me, it isn't greed.  Although I do remember Gordon Gekko once saying, "Greed is Good".  I have taught myself to believe that it is a little odd that I give a gift to someone for working within the parameters of my contract.  I sure would love to employ someone and have them bring me a gift each payday.  That would be very nice.  I would like to have my mind changed about it.

My wife shakes her head at me when I tell her I am off to a closing and I am empty handed.  I need to have some inspiration, so please let me in on your ideas of good closing gifts and inspire me to not be a closing scrooge.

What do you do when you are pricing a custom home and buyers and agents who aren't familiar with custom cannot grasp the difference in price per square foot?

It is easy to enter a production neighborhood and say that the price is $XYZ per square foot, but in custom land it is a little more complex than that.  Build a custom home in an area that has older homes and the comparison is even more skewed.

So what is the home owner and the real estate professional supposed to do?

1.  Set the price what the home will cost to reproduce and wait for the buyers to accept that is the cost?

2.  Set the price at what the home would cost to reproduce and flex to the market?

3.  Go off the comps that the area has and take the loss?

Is there a real right answer?  I believe you give the client the information and your professional opinion and allow them to make their decision.  The problem is that when the home is not closed in a specific amount of time it must be the fault of the Listing Agent.  That seems to be the attitude that sellers often assume, regardless of the number of offers that have come in and amount of activity. 

 Best of luck selling and please use caution when quoting price per square foot with your buying clients.

Hey ther AR community.  I am trying to establish some associates in the Active Rain Community.  I am not trying to limit my associations to a specific area or field, I just want to see how many I can accumulate prior to the end of March.  If you don't mind please add me as an associate and I will reciprocate with you.  I hope to establish a huge networking system.

My wife is a photographer and direct sales consultant (www.tarakellyphotography.com and Lia Sophia Jewlery www.liasophia.com/tarakelly if you are looking to purchase some jewlery and/or have some photography done)and she has been attending networking meetings and has met some of the most facinating people and the energy that she gets from being with people who are working at their businesses and working at their self-promotion is exciting.  I am looking to get that and share that.  I am needing to get going with this before she is outpacing me and I lose the title as primary bread winner.

So with that being said, please help me out and add me as an association.  Also feel free to say hello in response to this unconventional blog or tell me about your successes with blogging and networking on AR or Localism.

Hey there Active Rain Community.  I am blogging a question and hoping for some reply.  I want to open a property managment division with my real estate company and I am looking for someone with experience to come along and spearhead this venture.

I am looking for an honest and hard working individual who is ready to roll up the sleeves and build a portfolio of rental properties that will be highly competitive in the El Paso County and Pikes Peak Region.  I have been looking at doing this for an extended period and just have not had the time to put together a solid plan and want to bring in the right person for the conception phase of this venture.

If you are an investor with multiple rental proerties and want to offer some advice of what you like and dislike about your property manager I'd love to hear it.  I would also like to hear about what rates you pay and what rates you think you should be paying.

If you are in the industry and in the El Paso County and Pikes Peak Region and want to establish a referral network for your business please feel free to contact me in a comment or add me as an associate and I'd love to network with and for you.

Help me out here.  Thanks for taking your time to read and respond.

I am sure that we all know that opinions are like, wait a second, this isn't the place for that type of talk.  What I meant to say was that I am sure interested in your opinion and want you to know that I don't think yours stinks.

It is a trying time and I was thinking about what makes success in selling real property?  Is it the properties alone?  I don't think so, because I have seen some really nice properties priced well not sell; and I have seen some horrific properties sell for amounts that I cannot believe.  There must be reasons for this.

I know, it is us, the Realtor Professionals.

Now it is time to tip your hand and pull the curtin back to expose the wizard behind the switches and buttons.  What is it that makes your listings sell before the competition?  I really would like to hear your opinions.

Is it your staging of the home?  Is it your aggressive marketing plan which costs a heafty portion of your commission?  Is it your extensive internet marketing campaign?  Is it your office location?  Is it your unique brochures and awesome yard sign?  Is it your reputation in the community that people want to go to you for their real estate needs?  Is it all this and more?

Please take this opportunity to not be shy, heck this is hardly public speaking.  Share your "I love me" stories of how amazing you are.  If you really aren't amazing and know someone who is and their secrets you can either give them the credit, or for the fun of it claim it as your own and brag to your fellow Active Rain bloggers how wonderful you are.

How are all of you doing?  Is the market treating you well?  Are you being all you can be as "The Real Estate Professional"?

I'd like to say that I can offer all of that to you, but the reality is that it really is your decision and your responsibility.  I am looking for agents to build a company around.  My company is in place and I am in need of more agents to get signs in the ground and create the name recognition.  I am not concerned with making money from my agents, I am concerned with making a name for my agents.

I have vision to open offices in several states and to grow this company into a nationally known real estate tool for all the public to use.  I am looking for people who are both salespeople and ideapeople. 

I am not looking for people who are driven only by the commissions they earn.  Don't get me wrong, I am in sales for the unlimited income potential, but not at any cost.  I am proud of my ethics and hard work and will not compromise that.  As my father continually tells me, "A good name goes far, but a bad name goes further."

Back to my inquiry.  I am setting a goal of 50 agents by the end of this year.  I now have 9.  Who is going to be 10, 11, 12, 13...?

Experienced, part-time, new agent, considering a real estate career.  Come one, come all.  Let's build something together.

Here it is, the boring post of nothing but text.  Sorry I have not been schooled in the information technology as so many in the industry have over the past few years.

My posting is about losing focus during this slowing period.  I am guilty as charged.  I made a choice to open an office just before the market took its first round of beatings.  I labored through the year and somehow ended up going from an independent broker to an office of 10 agents.  Not to say this was a bad thing, just all of a sudden had agents to take care of and no business to pass out.  I am sorry to say if you are not or have not been an employing broker you may not understand this problem.  I am happy to say that I do have agents who are self-sufficient and do not expect to be handed income.

Well, back to the blog.  As the market softened and business became more dry, I decided to take on a part-time job to bring something into the bank account.  I took a mindless job as to not get caught up and low and behold what do you think happened?

I got caught up.

Working for little income and many hours of shift work and shift trades and shift pick-up because I am a salesperson (translation, WORK-A-HOLIC).  What do you think is the problem here?  My Real Estate existence is suffering because of it.  I have lost a hold on the market and its conditions and I have stopped talking about it when I am out (what I formally called networking).

Don't make this error.  Keep the course and ride out the market while maintaining your focus on the real estate market.  Keep updated to the rates, the bank owned properties (REO), the FSBO properties, the short-sale processes, the job market, and the retail market.  You can make it through this and will be positioned properly for the recovery that hopefully is just a season or two away.