How To Plough Deep While Sluggards Sleep*

By Ken Brand on November 16, 2009 

 

By Ken Brand on October 19, 2009

 

 

2009 Completely Sucked.  It’s Not OVER.  Don’t Fret.

Did your business grow up or shrivel in 2009?  Did you earn more or less?  Were sales easier to close or harder?  Were people stressed or blissful?

You made it this far anyway, right?  Congrats!  You made it through the first 9 months of the worst year EVER.

You and I are apparently survivors – Yea!

What’s 2010 Next?

If you’ve been around awhile, you know seasonality in the real estate business will shrink the opportunity pie through January 2010.  Doesn’t mean there’s NO business for you and I, just a smaller pie.

Some will decide to bask in the seductive glow of the Holiday Season.

We Have Some Choices..

Most will slow to smell the pine-cones and sip eggnog.  The cozy-comfort crowd will hibernate till January 7th, then Spring forward, blah, blah?  That’s what most will do.  Because it’s the easy thing to do. It’s a cozy-comfort zone and common.

Can I ask You A Semi-Personal Question?

How’d you work your way from  bloody-back-there to hopeful here?  How did you scratch, bite, claw and hard-work-navigate through the Wall Street Melt Down, the Rip-Snort-Recession and Housing-Bubble-Blow-Up?  By doing what’s easy and comfortable?

Hell NO!  I didn’t think so.

What’s Next?

Here’s what might happen…

1. Job losses begin slowing – less people lose their houses, more people can afford stuff, the economy turns.
2. Corporations begin reporting profits – people feel confident, companies hire more people, people spend more money.
3. Retirement portfolios are slowly re-inflating – people feel safer.
4. Interest rates will most likely remain low the 1st half of 2010;  but talking bobble heads warn double digit interest rates loom – this creates a sense of urgency and fear of loss (loss of flea sized interest rates).
5. Case Schiller reports home prices are on the rise – previously cautious buyers begin to feel homes have bottomed.  6 month and 1 year leases begin to expire; the flood of families who chose to rent consider taking advantage of supremely low rates and bottomed home prices.
6. People who have the ability to up-size, downsize, rightsize, etc., have postponed needs and desires; this is called pent up demand.  Desire and need doesn’t go away, it smolders and sparks to eventual satisfaction. When it’s safe, these able buyers and sellers will leap. This is called pent-up demand and a screaming opportunity for the prepared (you and me).
7. Instead of my Pollyanna perspective, imagine your worst nightmare scenario unfolding in FUBAR slow-motion.

Pick your recovery mode; V, U, W or FUBAR; relaxing into the Holiday Season will kill your chances to explode into the 2010 New Year.

Knowing the “slow season” will seduce most into a cozy-comfort zone of inactivity and invisibility, you can choose the same and hope for the best in 2010 or you can choose…

Hyper Visibility and 2010 Majesty.

READ THE REST HERE

by: Ken Brand on September 21, 2009

Flea Food

A Short Story – By Simpleton Ken Brand

Shoulders Slumped, Blue Eyes Castdown, She Leaned In, Whispering…

“My sales couldn’t feed a flea.”

I Thought…

Ugggg.  Man, this business can be brutal.

Steven Rand’s words flit by, ”You’re doing all the business you’ll ever do based on the people who are aware of you now.”, trailed by Marilyn Eiland’s, “It takes contacts to make contracts.” and “You’re raise is effective as soon as you are.”

It’s fixable.

I think in quotes an cliché’. Sigh.

I said…

“The solution is a simple as 1, 2, 3.  Sorta.  It’s simple, but it ain’t easy.

People list and buy real estate in your market everyday.  There are only three reasons they didn’t choose you.”

Reason 1:  THEY Didn’t Think Of YOU

How do your friends, past clients, friends of friends and strangers choose a real estate agent?

They ask someone they know for the name of a trusted real estate agent. Or, they contact the 1st person they think of, sometimes the first 2 people. Either way, if you’re not the 1st or 2nd person they think of, you’re screwed.

In this case, you have some sweaty Top Of Mind Awareness to work on.  I pointed her to AgentGenius.com and said, “Read UP, you’ll find bushels of bright ideas.  Pick a few and ACT now.”  I sent her HERE too.

“There’s a 2nd Reason your fleas aren’t fed”, I said.

You Can Read Reasons 2 and 3 at AgentGenius.com - Click HERE

 

Sizzling Steak and Magic

I love dinner.  I love eating out.  I love to eat dinner at Flemings Steak House.

I live in Houston Texas.  Steak Houses are everywhere.  They all cook Steak and serve cocktails.

What’s the real business of a Steak House?  Is it to cook steak and sling drinks?

NO.

Their real business, if they crave raving fans, Yelps and profits, is to serve “Emotionally Evocative Experiences”, “Visual Delights”, “Tongue Tease” and “Feel Good”.  It’s not ALL about cooking steak, it’s about the entire dining experience.

What Business Are We In?

[FYI: This share was inspired by content and comments contained in twos posts authored by Erion and Lani.  Check'm out:  E = ONE and L = TWO.]

I hear, ” I sell houses”.   I say, “WRONG”.

Selling a house is the result of what WE DO. A myopic focus on selling houses leads to survival, short term success and finally, Burn-Out.  Want to open a can of Break-Out Thrival?  Read on.

We live, work and play in a Trust (Consistent, Accurate, Timely, Honest, Safe), Experience (Evocative and Engaging) and Entertainment (Fun, Interesting, Unique, Provocative) society.

Serving true Trust, emotionally evocative Experiences and Entertainment leads to loyal fans, perpetual referral recommendations, closed sales, big-bank and Break-Out Thrival.

IMHO, Our Real Business Is Communication. Presentation. Solutions. Inspiration and Leadership.

Communication:  How we broadcast and share.

If you're UP for it, you can READ the rest of the post HERE.

 

Real Estate Market Report For The Woodlands TX - Listing Inventory and Written Sales / August-September 2009 - By Ken Brand from Ken Brand on Vimeo.

Hello Friends,

Wondering what's going on in The Woodlands TX real estate market?

It's been an "interesting" year. Year To Date there have been 1,501 Contracts Written (all brokers combined) compared to 1,848 in 08'. That's 18.7% less. No big deal really. We can all be thankful that our market is the opposite of all the market horror stories we hear about.

Sales prices have remained stable. Yea!

In August, according the HAR Multiple Listing Service, there were 173 Contracts Written. 7.4% fewer than August 08'.

For the first time in months, Listing Inventory fell below previous years inventory. Current For Sale listings = 863. Last year at this time = 880.

Average Days On Market for Active Listing Inventory = 106 Days.
Average Days On Market for Sold Listings in August = 71 Days.

What does all this mean?

Look at the trend lines. Seasonality is about to kick in. There will be fewer sales and fewer active listings through the end of the year.

Seller's - Consider adjusting your price. If you have merchandising/staging things that can be done to enhance the perceived value and your competitive position, act now. Re-examine your marketing. Now is the time to take action.

Buyer's - Selection is good. If you're a 1st Time Home Buyer, time is running out on the 8K Tax Credit, get a move on. Mortgage rates are still at historic rates, which means you can buy more house for your money. No doubt, as the economy improves rates will rise and most likely home prices too. Act now, or?

Real Estate Agents - There will be fewer listing and selling opportunities in the last quarter. If you'd like to keep your success steady, you'll want to increase your personal contacts, conversations and networking.

I'll be publishing more market data in the next few days. Till then, if you need anything or have questions, give me a call: Ken Brand - 832-797-1779.

Cheers.

Related Stuff: Should You Reduce Your Listing Price = http://www.brandcandid.com/2009/08/29/should-i-reduce-my-listing-price-how-much-what-should-i-do-first/

What's up with the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit: http://www.brandcandid.com/2009/08/10/when-does-the-8000-first-time-home-buyer-tax-credit-expire/

Should I Reduce My Listing Price? How Much? from Ken Brand on Vimeo. I prepared this video for my friends with Listing Inventory and unsold properties.

Summer Is Setting. Kids Are Back In School. Is The Pool Of Qualified Buyers Shrinking?

3 THINGS TO CONSIDER

1. Marketing / Promotion / Advertising
2. Merchandising / Staging / Emotional Appeal
3. The Price / The Price / The Price

5 MARKET FACTORS TO CONSIDER

1. Seasonality
2. Days On Market
3. Months Supply
4. Immediate Competition
5. How Much To Reduce

CONSIDER YOUR COMPETITION ReSale New Homes Amenities Price Per Square Foot Sales Velocity – Current Pending Qualified Buyer Behavior CONSIDER MONTHS SUPPLY OF INVENTORY CONSIDER SOLD PRICE TO LIST PRICE %

FACTOR EVERYTHING IN AND THEN MAKE YOUR DECISION.

If you have any questions, give me a call: Ken Brand 832-797-1779 If you'd like that 2 page checklist on preparing your property for sale: Kens411@Gmail.com I update the collection of market reports during the 1st week of every month. You can find them HERE.

When If Ever Should You Form A Real Estate Team

In this episode, Tim Harris, Brian Wilson and I talk about the pro's and con's of real estate teams. What is a Team? When should you form a Team? When is forming a Team a bad idea. What are the pitfalls? What are alternate ways to increase production without the hassel and expense of creating a team. The show's about an hour long. Click on the start arrow located in middle of the player below and the show will start. Then you can launch a new window, continue with your work and listen to it in the background. Let me know what you think? Cheers.

Is Facebook A Toad? from Ken Brand on Vimeo.

Is Facebook A Toad Or A Prince?

Everywhere I go, I hear earfuls of Facebook yadder. It’s a time suck. It’s a tool. It’s the future. It’s a fad. I don’t get it. Who cares. Get a life. I’m an addict. Don’t you work? Etc. You hear it too, right?

Here’s the deal.

In 2010 and beyond, Facebook will be the most important conversation channel, persona differentiator and relationship builder in the history of humans.
Facebook will also render the unimaginative as irrelevant and invisible.

I could be wrong, but I believe Facebook is…

The Most Important Tool Of Our Future

Here’s why:

Given a choice, people choose to engage/hire an agent they know, like and trust. Studies and experience confirm this.

People remember the names of people/agents they know, like and trust. Common sense and experience confirm this.

People recommend, refer and hire agents they remember. Observation and experience confirm this.

If 1, 2, and 3 are true, then creating Top Of Mind Awareness as a person who is liked, known and trusted and happens to be a kick-ass real estate agent, is the Golden Key to success.

It has always been so.

How do we create Top Of Mind Awareness you might ask?

Creating Top Of Mind Awareness requires 3 R things. Repetition, Relevance and Remarkability. Simple to grasp, harder to do.

Yesterday we muscled and monologued our Top Of Mind Awareness with direct mail, door knocking, billboarding, TV commercials, telephone calls, print ads and social butterflying at networked gathering like Chamber Of Commerce, Drunko, PTO, etc.. Most of flexing was rude, crude and demeaning.

Today, pointing Facebook properly engages, entertains, enlightens, informs, attracts and nurtures relationships — with permission.

When we comment and engage with FB friends about what they’re sharing, our relevant comments and conversation can be viewed by all their FB Friends. Exponential amplification is possible. Where else is this relevant and exponential engagement and conversation possible?

Of course if you give bad Facebook, it’ll detonate exponentially and turn your Facebook into a hot-mess Faceplant.

The Three R’s and Facebook

Repetition
In the real world, you can’t be everywhere all the time…duh. In the real world unless you’re physically talking to someone, you have no idea what’s going on in their life (exception = gossip).
On planet Facebook you can be in front of your friends/suspects/prospects wherever they are, at their convenience. We can engage with our Facebook tribe daily. Done properly, with respect and consideration, it’s not spam, awkward, inconvenient, random or demeaning. It’s permission based conversation.
I recommend to my friends that they review the status updates of their FB friends daily – comment, share, encourage, engage and click the “Like” link often. Update your status and share your stuff once or twice daily.

Let’s remember, nobody posts their updates to Facebook hoping that nobody will notice. Human nature screams for attention and an sense of significance. How are we satisfying our friends basic human needs? By commenting, sharing and conversing with others, not focusing on ourselves and sell, sell, selling.

Relevance
By engaging with my FB friends about things that are happening in their lives, everything we say or share is relevant to them specifically. Our engagement isn’t random it’s relevant and memorable.

Remarkability
According to TechCrunch.com, there are over 250,000,000 million active registered users of Facebook. How many of the 250,000,000 are Realtors? The opportunity to create Top Of Mind Awarness is monstrous. Commenting, sharing and engaging others, specifically about what’s going on their lives, will absolutely make you remarkable. Especially if you’re not shouting and foaming at the mouth about you! Instead, focus all your fizz on smartly smiling, liking, winking, laughing, sharing and hugging the most important person on the planet — them. This behavior is remarkable.

But, let’s beware, just like the real world, if you’re a knuckle-head , this digital mojo can backfire.

Avoid Facebook Faceplants

You can read the rest of this blog post @ AgentGenius.com

Here's the link: http://agentgenius.com/g-rants-insanity-more/real-estate/suckface-with-facebook-today-or-tomorrow-youll-just-plain-suck/

PS. Find me @ http://www.Facebook.com/KenBrand

Cheers.