We are going to be at the NAR Convention in Orlando in November, are you? If you are, please feel free to stop by and visit us!
We are going to be at the Distressed Property Institute's booth. We're helping get word out about the Certified Distressed Property Expert Designation, and there's no better place to do so than the NAR Convention.
We have events coming up before and after the convention, so, if you're at all interested in learning how to take advantage of this shift in the market, and help the public and the economy, just let us know. You can see the upcoming schedule at www.cdpenow.com.
I'm not sure if you have seen "The Last Lecture." It has received a lot of publicity. If you haven't, then it is a must watch. If you have seen it, then watch it again. Last week Randy Pausch passed away after his courageous fight against cancer, so I decided to watch his last lecture again. I also watched a speech he recently gave at the Carnegie Mellon University graduation ceremony. Even if you have seen it before, it's worth watching over, and over, and over.
When I heard the news that he had died, I thought to myself, "I remember him and that speech he gave." And when I watched it again, it sent chills up my spine. So, even if you have seen it before, watch it again. We all need to take his advice, because we never know when it may be our "last lecture."
Pricing Strategy - Which Do You Subscribe To, If Any, And Why?
$349,877
$349,900
$350,000
Where do you price your listing? What is your reasoning?
Our understanding, and the "history" of our pricing strategy goes a little something like this...
When we first entered the real estate business, we were taught to price our listings at $349,900, for example. That's because the MLS Book was still in use, and the computerized MLS was "fairly" new. We were told that if we priced it there, then it would show up "before" the other listings, priced at $350,000, in the MLS Book. If ours showed up first, then it would likely get more showings. Also, it sounds like less money than $350,000. "That's why gas prices are listed at $.99 and 9/10, rather than $1.00. It sounds like it's less." Obviously, that was a while ago!
Then after a few years, we learned to price our listings at $349,877, for example. Then our listings would show up even before those priced at $349,900! Also, our listings would stand out from the other listings, and if we had a reputation of doing a good job, and being good to work with, then other agents, working with buyers, would notice our listings, and show and sell them first. Honestly, we didn't really notice a difference in our showing activity.
Now, we price our listings at $350,000. It's called, "pricing on the quarters." With the MLS information now being "public" information, and all searches being done online, you can get broader exposure by "pricing on the quarters." How, you ask? Well, when you search for listings in the MLS, do you search from $314,386 to $349,877 or do you search from $300,000 to $350,000? On Realtor.com, and all of the other "consumer MLS" websites, the price points aren't usually editable. They're preset to $300,000 to $325,000 and $325,000 to $350,000.
So, if we price at $349,877 or $349,900 then our listing will only show up in the $325,000 to $350,000 search. If we price it at $350,000, then it will show up in the $325,000 to $350,000 search and the $350,000 to $375,000 search. Since we started "pricing on the quarters," we have seen a noticeable increase in our "virtual" showings, along with the "real" showings. We regularly track the traffic that "view" our listings online, and that number has jumped up! We have also seen a significant increase in the number of "real" showings as well.
That is just one of the many things that we're doing in this market to help get our listings sold.
We're continually educating ourselves, so that we can provide the best service to our clients, and get our listings sold. So, we ask again...which strategy do you subscribe to, if any, and why?
Having gone through the extensive training to get our Certified Distressed Property Expert designation, we feel a responsibility to help the public. So much so, that we are actually involved with the Distressed Property Institute, and helping them train Realtors all over the country, so that we can have a lot more people out there helping the public.
Please, let people know about this. There is help...and hope!
We have created a new ActiveRain group for graduates of the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation course to share successes, ask questions, stay informed, and send referrals to other effective, efficient, and EDUCATED Realtors.
If you haven't earned your CDPE designation yet, then visit: www.cdpenow.com to look at the schedule, and sign up! Then, when you graduate, we will be thrilled to have you join the group.
We need as many CDPEs as possible...over 7 million families need our help!
A recent survey and a rate increase could mean more competition for homes
Recent indication is that first time home buyers are getting tired of sitting on the sidelines. According to a recent online poll taken by the National Apartment Association, 17 percent of renters plan to make the jump to home ownership in the next year; 41 percent of the 2,041 respondents planned to be home owners within two years. Only 31 percent planned to still be paying rent five years from now.
Another factor that could very soon contribute to an increase in home buying could be rising mortgage costs. Fixed-rate mortgage rates rose to 6.32 percent, the highest it has been since October. After months of aggressively dropping interest rates, many lenders are worried that the Fed will be forced to raise rates back up. As interest rates rise, so do mortgage rates. According to a press release on freddiemac.com, Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist said that, "Mortgage rates jumped this week after a number of Federal Reserve officials, most notably Chairman [Ben] Bernanke and Vice Chair [Donald] Kohn, expressed concern over a threat of inflation." We may very well be seeing the beginning of the end of the super-low mortgage and potential buyers may realize that with rising rates, now may be the time to jump in. Nothaft added, "Moreover, pending home sales for April unexpectedly rose by 6.3% and mortgage applications for home purchases ... were also up last week."
Mariana Wagner, a Colorado Springs, Colorado Realtor and blogger, has come to the rescue!
She is a terrificblogger, and has compiled a list of blogging topics for all of us, literally, from A to Z!
Check out her blog entries, An Alphabet of Localism Post Ideas. There are 6 different blog entries outlining blogging topics, to help jog your memory...WOW!!!
So, if you're stuck for an idea, don't avoid writing. Simply visit Mariana's blog for some great ideas, and get to work!
The Fed did this! The Fed did that! Rates are up! Rates are down! Aaaagggh! Okay, now exhale. In turbulent economic times the media can't wait to report what interest rates are doing. Pundits prognosticate, forecasters forecast and soothsayers sooth. When should you buy a home based upon interest rates and when is it the right time?
The fact is that interest rates, while important, have little impact when it comes to buying a home. Alright, alright, I'll admit: it's important...but it's not a deal-killer.
There is a fixation on what rates are doing. A fixation on what rates will be in the future and what rates were in the past. I've heard potential home buyers tell me, "I'm not sure I want to buy now because rates are ¼ percent higher now and I think I'll wait." I say, "Wait for what?" I say let's not look at the rate but instead concentrate on what that rate actually represents ... your monthly payment.
Let's look at what an interest rate move of ¼ percent really does to a $200,000 mortgage. Say a 30-year interest rate at 6.00 percent "jumps" to 6 ¼ percent. Shall we sit on the sidelines, thinking such a move is suddenly unaffordable? No. The payment on a $200,000 loan "jumps" by about $32 a month!
Now let's get a bit more draconian and look at a ½ percent increase and the monthly payment increases by $64. Putting that into daily financial terms, $64 is about a tank of gas. While not insignificant, it's hardly a reason to stay on the sidelines of home ownership. Right now, buyers should have more urgency than ever. Home prices have declined enough to make buying more affordable than it's been in recent memory and interest rates (whether at 6 percent or 6 1/4 percent) are historically low. It's time to act.
Are rates important? Sure they are. But are they the end-all? Heck no. Interest rates over the past few years have been in a very tight range, with few major swings. Just remember what interest rates represent, your monthly payment, and pay less attention to the headlines.
We do at least an hour of focused lead generation every morning that we work! Our "Power Hour."
The idea is simple. Each morning between 9 am and 10 am, we start our day with an hour of focused lead generation. The results are simple too: we close more deals and make more money.
We are trying to reach our past clients and sphere of influence (SOI) personally. It is no longer good enough to simply leave a message on their voicemail.
When we get them on the phone, we:
Thank them for their past business and support.
Let them know about value added programs: that we can help people avoid foreclosure, Free Moving Truck, upcoming Client Appreciation Party, etc.
Ask questions, listen, and record the answers in our database (we use Top Producer).
Oftentimes, we use the F.O.R.D. method of asking questions:
Family: "How's the family?"
Occupation: "What's new at the office?"
Recreation: "How did Suzie's first basketball season turn out?"
Dreams: "Have you given any thought to investing in property to fund the kids' college education?
After we call our past clients and SOI, we then focus on Expireds, and unrepresented sellers (FSBOs).
The results are terrific!! We've been getting more and more listings and referrals.
No matter what type of business you're in, if you need clients/customers, then you should be pro-actively searching for them.
You owe it to yourself to commit to an hour each day. We understand if you don't want to do it though...success isn't for everyone! ;-D
Have you ever had a "nightmare" client? Someone who makes it really difficult to do your job? Someone who makes it hard to smile when you're dealing with them? Someone who causes you a LOT of stress? Someone who maybe even makes you second-guess yourself?
No matter what your business, if you interact with the public, then you probably "bump heads" with your clients on occasion.
So then, how can you minimize that friction? The answer is by attracting more "perfect" clients.
The next question, then, is how do you do it?
Define what you want. As an example, this is how we define our "perfect" client for our real estate business: "Someone who we like, and who respects us and our team. Someone we really connect with, who understands the current market, is motivated, financially capable, and who wants to buy, sell, invest or refer us to someone who does or wants to, in the next 30 days."
Once you've defined what you want, then you have to go "kiss a bunch of frogs," to "find your Prince." Go find your "perfect" clients. You have to lead generate to get in front of potential "perfect" clients.
Type up your definition, and post it in your office, and anywhere else that you will see and read it regularly.
Visualize meeting a "perfect" client every day. If you see it, you can realize it. The Law of Attraction states that "you get what you focus on." If you focus on the positive thought of finding more "perfect" clients, rather than the negative of, "I don't want to work with any more jerks," then you will get exactly that.
Write down, every day, "I am in the process of meeting another "perfect" client, or more, today."
We also recommend reading the book, "Attracting Perfect Customers," and watching the movie, "The Secret." (www.thesecret.tv)
Doing this has helped us attract more "perfect" clients. When we're interviewing buyers and sellers, we're going over our "perfect client criteria," in our heads. If they don't meet our standards, then we're passing on them. It's a great feeling to work only with nice, happy, cooperative people who appreciate your efforts.
We hope that you benefit from this as much as we have. As we said, no matter what type of business you're in, focusing on your "perfect" client will bring you a LOT of success and happiness.
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.
Recent indication is that first time home buyers are getting tired of sitting on the sidelines. According to a recent online poll taken by the National Apartment Association, 17 percent of renters plan to make the jump to home ownership in the next year; 41 percent of the 2,041 respondents planned to be home owners within two years. Only 31 percent planned to still be paying rent five years from now.
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