Wow.  It can happen.  You can close a short sale...

I did it today.  It wasn't easy.

My seller first called last September.  "Hi Ken, I found you on the internet," he announced as he introduced himself...

At the time it was a very important call...

I had just began work at my new office and didn't have any listings.  Without listings a real estate agent is practically out of business, and the first listing is always the hardest to get.

It was also my first client that came directly from my blogging efforts here on Active Rain. 

"Do I ever get any business from blogging??"  Yes I do.  Thank you very much...

Finally, it was my first experience listing a short sale.  I had been warned about the challenges of selling short sales.  What better way to learn?

We put the home on the market in late November, and after enough adventures to fill an Indiana Jones movie, the home was sold today...

                                              
                                                   10 S 087 Alan Road, Naperville

Congrats to the nice family who bought the home.

Ken

To buy or sell a home in Naperville or anywhere in Chicagoland, go to my website anytime.

It just happened this morning.  One of the first statistics I started following here on Active Rain was the number of times my Active Rain profile has been viewed.

I have been watching this number slowly climb over the last year and a half...

Today it happened.

"Your profile has been viewed 10,000 times..."

Viewed by fellow agents across the country. 

Viewed by potential clients in Naperville and the surrounding area. 

Viewed by real people who need to buy or sell homes...

10,000 times that someone has been exposed to me, my services, and my listings. 

And it didn't cost me anything...

That is a lot of free exposure.  Pretty cool.

Thanks Active Rain.

Ken

To buy or sell a home in Naperville or anywhere in Northern Illinois, go to my website anytime.

I just became a Trulia Pro.                  

It feels good.  My original commitment is fairly small, and for extra exposure to myself, my services and my listings...

It seems like a potentially great investment.

Trulia is the fastest growing real estate website.  They currently have over 5 million users.  If you are considering buying, selling, or are an agent that wants to learn more, you should check out the site.

They offer a free profile for real estate agents as well as an upgraded account called Trulia Pro.

There are two main benefits of becoming a Trulia Pro over the free Trulia profile:

FEATURED LISTINGS:  All of my listings are now "featured" on the Trulia search pages.  Featured status generates 4-7 times more traffic to my listings.  More traffic equals more exposure for my listings and more leads for me.

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT ADS:  Trulia creates a "spotlight" ad for the agent.  This ad is placed conveniently on the side of the search pages for my covered areas.  For example, someone searching for a home in Naperville may see my ad on the side of the search page.  The ad is complete with links to my website, tag lines, and my smiling picture... 

Trulia also offers two payment options.  A month to month for $39/month.  The other has a year committment for $29/month.  Anyway, I signed up for a month to month plan.  I am looking at this as a test drive...

Ohh.  That reminds me.  An awesome feature of Trulia is that they will send you and your clients free "traffic" reports.  They look quite nice, your sellers love them, and will let me see the impact of becoming a Trulia Pro!

Trulia also offers all Keller Williams agents a free month trial.  With that in mind, and fresh off an important closing, I thought it was a good time to make an investment in my business.

I just became a Trulia Pro.  If you are a fellow agent and have any experiences with Trulia or Trulia Pro, I would love to hear them.

Ken

To find a home in Naperville or anywhere in Chicagoland, go to my website anytime.

I was claiming usernames for my two Facebook accounts last night.       

I claimed www.facebook.com/KenTracy for my personal page.

My plan was to take www.facebook.com/KenTracyRealEstate for my business page.

Bad news.  Apparently Facebook requires a business page have 1000 "fans" before it gets a username.

1000 Fans?

Are you kidding me...

After today's marketing blitz, my page has 9 "fans".  I just added my wife, a brother, and a brother-in-law.

I have a lot of work to do.  I need 991 new fans...

And since I am neither Ashton Kuchar nor Coca-cola, I need some help.

Will you help me?

Go to my page and become a "fan". 

The page is a work in progress, but I hope to make it an active and social place full of valuable real estate information.

Thanks so much,

Ken

To find your next home in Naperville, go to my website anytime.

Big closing today...

It's not that it was big from a $$$ point of view.

But it was an important closing for sure.  It was my first closing since the week of Christmas.

My first closing of 2009.

It seems ridiculous writing that.  But true.

This business is much harder than I anticipated.  But just as fun...

My next closing is June 30th.

Ken

To search for homes in Naperville and all of Chicagoland, go to my website anytime.

My wife and I hope to buy a home this fall.  We have been watching one home in Naperville closely...

Although the house is fairly small, we love the yard, the location, the neighborhood, and most importantly, we love the price... 

Unfortunately over the weekend, someone else loved the price, too.  Someone bought "my" house...

Although we have a few months until we are ready to buy, I did start picturing our family in the home...

It is odd.  There will be more.  I know that.

But I still feel a sense of loss...

Ken

To search for homes in Naperville and all of Chicagoland, go to my website anytime.

I have heard many an agent speak of the time they have "wasted" with a client.

Almost every time I am with a group of Realtors, I hear some agent bemoaning their wasted time. "I drove my client all over Naperville, showed them 57 houses, and they are still sitting on the fence!" or my favorite "Buyers are liars (and sellers are too)."

My first response is my time is never wasted with a client.  Every time I show a home I have an opportunity to learn.  Every home, every client, every day, we have the opportunity to learn something about the business of real estate...

Are you taking advantage of that?

My second question is who called who?  Did you, the agent, call a prospect and pull out one of those scripts that we Realtors are famous for?

I am available Thursday from 2 to 4 or would Saturday be better?

If you feel like you are "wasting" a lot of time with clients, I suggest you try a different strategy...

Stop calling your clients to set up appointments.  Let them call you.  If they want to move, they will call...

What?  Huh?  Blasphemy!!!  Aren't we, after all, sales people?

I would argue that Realtors are not, in fact, salespeople, but rather in the service industry.  We help people achieve their housing goals.  We don't, in fact, sell houses...

Houses sell houses.  Realtors blow sales...

So stop harassing your clients.  Believe me, when they want to move, they will contact you if you have done your job correctly.  It shouldn't be the other way around...

The client has to want to move.  They won't (or shouldn't) move because their agent needs a paycheck.

I feel that too often, the agent needs the transaction more than the client needs to move.  Clients can smell your desperation...

And no one wants to work with a desperate agent.

Ken

To search for homes in Naperville and all of Chicagoland, go to my website anytime.

There was a time when driving by a nice home in Naperville would get my heart pumping...

I could almost smell the granite.  The hardwood.  The new carpet...

Today I find myself thinking "It seems like a lot of house to clean..."

Maybe my needs are changing.  My goal is to provide a comfortable home for my family, not buy a mansion...

Am I alone?  Or is real estate still sexy?

A couple of years ago, it seemed the goal was to buy the biggest and best home possible.  Jobs were secure.  Businesses was booming...

Why wouldn't we buy that huge home?  It's only going to go up in value.  Better buy it quick...

But now, we are not so sure.  We have seen home prices decline by 30% in many areas.  Real estate is no longer a sure thing...

But we do need a place to live.  A place to call home.  A place for family.  So, although I will be buying a home this fall, I wonder...

Is real estate still sexy?

Ken

To search for homes in Naperville and all of Chicagoland, go to my website anytime.

Have you updated your Trulia profile?  If you are a real estate agent and you haven't, you might be missing the boat.  I know I was...

I just created my Trulia profile last week.  It was very easy.  In a few minutes you can download your photo, add links to your websites and blogs, and claim your listings.  Once claimed, the listings become "branded" with your information.  It's pretty cool...

Although my listings are automatically placed on Trulia when I enter them into the Keller Williams Listing System, I never really "worked" the website.  I will now...

About a week back, I received an email.  It was from Trulia.  They said they had a referral for me??

Dear Ken Tracy,

I was searching on Trulia and found your listing. Please send me more information on **** **** *******, Chicago IL. - looking for a quick close - Thanks  *** ********

I called the customer.  They wanted to see my listing and one other.  No problem.  I showed them the homes, and now they want to write an offer on my listing!

I thought they liked the other home.  That shows you what I know...

I might just have a happy buyer, a happy seller, and a nice paycheck...

That is a win, win, win.

Thanks to Trulia.

Have you updated your Trulia profile?  Don't miss the boat...

Ken

To search for homes in Naperville and all of Chicagoland, go to my website anytime.

Which home would you look at?

This courtyard welcomes you.  The plants are green and the sun is shining.  It is bright and full of life.  I want to take a look at this building...

Brrr.  I get a chill looking at this picture.  Is it a prison entrance?  It looks cold and uninviting.  If I am a buyer, I am probably not looking at this home...

I recently wrote a post that questioned the role pictures take in selling homes.  After looking at the above pictures, it is pretty clear I was wrong...

As you may have guessed, the above pictures are of the same building.  They are both active listings on the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

As Realtors, we at least need to try and take nice pictures.  I don't believe we need to be professional photographers, but really, let's work a little harder...

Which home would look at?

Ken

To search for homes in Naperville and all of Chicagoland, go to my website anytime.