Hello all! It's been a while since I have had a free minute to put down any thoughts or experiences on my blog. The reason being I have been completely busy listing and selling homes--finally. And that's a good thing--unfortunately, to the detriment of my blog.

Bank property transactions are a little different than typical owner transactions. There is no personal attachnment to the home and prices are arrived at by strictly looking at empirical data. Lately, asset managers have been very aggresively pricing property and the results have been overwhelming. But--it proves that price is king and people know where to find a well priced home. All the advertising in the world won't sell an overpriced listing.

For those of us working with hopeful buyers of foreclosures--the market is worse than it was at the height of the 2004-2005 market. I received 31 offers in two days, on a home priced at $164,500. The home eventually sold for $227,000. That's a colossal increase. Every single offer was above full price. I am positive the strategy is to get multiple offers on the table by seriously underpricing property. The beauty of the situation was that the home sold for nearly retail even though it had some issues.

Recently our group marketed a home that should have sold in the mid to high $400,000's starting at $299,000 until title problems quickly revealed and the home was removed from the market on day 1 and before the 50 agents who showed it had the chance to submit their offers.

It has clearly demonstrated the old addage that "price is king"! If you are dealing with an overpriced listing or have a seller that wants to overprice his home, this is a great example of how pricing gets the job done. By relating this to my real sellers I have been able to keep prices reasonable and receive multiple offers!

Once upon a time there were two little pigs. The first pig had built himself a beautiful home of bricks. Every year he made sure that all of the exterior maintenance on his home was complete. He trimmed his bushes and took care of his landscaping. He kept the inside of his home clean and tidy and over the years he replaced his kitchen appliances, installed granite countertops, upgraded his heating and air conditioning unit, and even installed new carpet. His home was sparsely furnished, but well appointed and neutrally decorated. All of his neighbors knew how nice his home was and he even won the best house on the block award from his neighbors!

The second little pig had built his home from wood. His home was not so well maintained and he only addressed problem spots when they became emergencies. His roof often leaked during rainstorms, there where overgrown shrubs by the front door which made it difficult to get in the home. There were weeds in the lawn and he had neglected to paint for several years so there was rotten wood around his window sills. His kitchen appliances had been replaced ten years ago and he had painted the inside of his house vibrant colors during the seventies. His bathrooms were original except for one new vanity in the master bath. His neighbors often wished he would better maintain his home because they thought he was bringing the housing values down ion the neighborhood.

One day the two pigs were talking and they both decided they wanted to move to the beach so they could enjoy some time surfing, fishing and start a new business selling surf boards. The first little pig called his real estate agent and scheduled an appointment in one week.

For the next seven days the first pig cleaned his home, removed boxes from his basement, repainted his kitchen and installed new bright lightbulbs in his living areas. He cut the lawn and remulched his flower beds.

When the real estate agent arrived, he was pleasantly surprised at the amazing curb appeal of the first pig's home. When the first pig opened the front door the REALTOR could smell the fresh lemon fragrance of the cleaner that the first pig had been using. The agent walked through the house and complimented the pig on how well maintained and nicely the house showed.

The real estate agent and the pig went over all of the comparable sales info at the dining room table and both were very pleased at the conclusion. They agreed too list the house at the highest comparable value and stay within the neighborhood values.

At the end of the meeting the first pig told the agent to call the second pig.

A week later the agent arrived at the second pig's house. He was immediately put off by the overgrown lawn and unkempt landscaping. He noticed the home needed paint and the rotten wood around the window sill. He caught his jacket on an overgrown shrub walking to the front door and ripped it. When the second pig opened the door the agent could smell the fish that the pig had cooked for dinner. He asked the agent to overlook the mess of newspapers and boxes on the floor. The second pig made excuses for all of the neglected repairs and pointed out the new, ten year old kitchen appliances. When they sat down at the table to discuss the details of the sale the second pig was insulted when the agent told him he would need to make many repairs to the property and that he would have to price his house on the low side of the comps. The second pig decided the agent was wrong and so he listed with another agent at a price much higher than the first agent suggested, without making any of the repairs.

Both pig's houses went on the market the same day. During the first week the first pig's house was shown more than 20 times and he received three offers on his home. One offer was above full price!

The second pig only received 5 showings and no offers.

Several months later the first pig was packing his moving van and getting ready for the trip to his new beach condo. The second pig still had not sold his home. His agent had done several open houses and run several ads, but no one made any offers.

After many price reductions and multiple realtors the second pig was ready to give up. The first pig urged him to call the first agent back. The first agent came back and made a detailed plan with the second pig. For the next several weeks the second pig had his house painted, he replaced the leaky roof, put new carpet and kitchen appliances and fixed all of the problem areas. Then the first real estate agent listed the home for sale.

In one week the second pig had multiple offers on his home and in no time he had moved into his new condo near the beach and the first pig.

From then on, the second pig made sure that he maintained his home, cut the grass and got rid of all the clutter--just in case he didn't like living at the beach!

I woke up singing Killer Queen this morning. An old song by the super rock group Queen. The one about the high society lady who keeps the Moet Chandon in a pretty cabinet.  So, when I powered up my twin 24's I went straight to Youtube and found a Killer Queen Video.

Anyhow, the next in line was a live version of Under Pressure. I am not usually a live track person but I let it play. As I read my e-mail I coudn't help but turn and watch Freddy Mercury. The guy was a captivating front man. The intensity was visceral. You could tell he felt what he was singing. It came from the heart and he was able to reach 50,000 people in a stadium with his words. They were all in unison watching, listening and singing along. He put everything he had in to that peformance, the words, the emotion, the delivery!

Do we do that as real estate agents? Can we be so convincing that we can get people to repeat what we are saying back to us and stare in awe as we show them our listing presentation?

I doubt it. We aren't rock stars jamming out on stage singing our lungs out! Come on. But, I think there is definitely a lesson there. The lesson is to put everything you've got in to it. Leave it at the kitchen table. Beleive what you are saying. Connect with your audience. Make sure that it is real and comes from the heart. If you beleive what you are saying and you know your subject your audience will sense your confidence.

The bottom line is that a great performance is easily reconizable by all. You might not be a rock star, but you can still leave it all on the stage!

REOs and Short Sales   Gaithersburg Maryland Real Estate

"It's been a long time since I rock 'n roll"! The real estate business has gotten the best of me over the last month! I have been busier than, hmm which cliche' works best here? I'll leave it to you! But I am back blogging!

So, sometimes my brain works overtime, it's what I have heard others describe as revving! Makes sense to me! And I came up with something that I think has helped me over the past several months to really take advantage of what I now consider a hot market! Go figure, when it rains it pours. I am now working on 11 REO and personal listings and have written more contracts in one month than I have in a long time.

What is the secret? Well--I figured out that when I really determined my sense of "purpose"--my performance followed! Purpose preceeds performance!

Purpose can have meaning on so many levels. My purpose in life, my purpose in my career, my purpose for wearing a red tie, my purpose for a listing presentation, my purpose for showing a client theses statistics, my purpose for looking them in the eye when I speak with them.

Without purpose--the are no intended results. Yes, you might luck into something, even more often than not, but with a clear purpose you will take deliberate steps to generate results.

Unplanned downtime can often take a toll on ego. While business slowed down, I decided to examine my purpose. Why am I here? What things do I intend to accomplish? What is my intended outcome for determing my purpose? Here's how it kind of went:

1. Teach my children to love, learn, and respect others while enjoying their lives.

2. Provide a nice home, a loving atmosphere and plenty of activities to keep my kids from doing the wrong things.

Then I thought about my career and what I wanted to do and accomplish. I realized I enjoy helping people even more than I thought. It's a selfish thing really. But by helping others I feel more important. I gain self esteem. I HAVE PURPOSE!

So I analyzed all of the activities I was using to generate good will, business and self esteem. I went as far as re-writing each document in my listing and buyer books. I took out every "fluff" page without purpose. I focused intently on every step of my day, taking deliberate action with purpose. I invested in the most efficient computer, the most technologically advanced software, the best equipment I could afford to help me with my purpose--BTW, two 24" computer monitors increased my efficiency by 30% when I am on the computer!

So, every activity I engage in has purpose--and I am aware of that purpose.

Define your purpose and you will develope your performance. Yes it's like goal setting only more analytical. It's been said before in a million different ways, but I think I like, "Purpose preceeds performance" because it encompasses everything you do.

What is my purpose for this blog? To help you find your purpose! Good luck!

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