Home buyers in Silicon Valley often shop not just for a nice home in a nice area, but for schools as well.  Sometimes buyer clients tell me the API scores that they want to enjoy with the local schools.  Until recently, this was very challenging to research.

Now, however, some very bright minds put together a website that enables consumers to search for homes by API scores (academic performance index, scale of 1 - 1000 with larger numbers being better and 800 being the county's target for success): SchoolAndHousing.com. Brilliant!  Adding to that, it's free and very intuitive!  Not only that, consumers can input an address in Santa Clara County (also San Mateo, Alameda and some nearby areas) and the site will provide the schools of attendance and their API scores.

Years ago, I did think that this would be a great business model - so I can't say "wish I'd thought of that". But it takes a programmer to figure out how to do this, and that was never in my skill set.  Kudos to the wonderfully nice and very smart people at SchoolAndHousing.com for filling a very significant need in the San Francisco Bay Area. We wish them much continued success, and they have our undying appreciation for making Realtors' work easier throughout the San Jose area.

Disclaimer: I like this site well enough that I do advertise there.  This is not a paid endorsement, though.

How's the Cupertino real estate market right now? Let's start with the most basic window into conditions: supply and demand. (This graph and more info comes from my Cupertino Real Estate Report. Please click on the link for much more data and information - with statistics and trends dating back many years. Also you will find reports which are monthly, quarterly and annually generated. Finally, there's a "property analysis" tab which enables you to check sales - and see images - around any Cupertino address. Please allow the analysis tab to do its slow load - it's worth it - enjoy!)

Cupertino Real Estate Supply and Demand

The realty market barometer is going through the roof!

But home prices are telling a different story....

To read the entire article, please visit my Valley of Hearts Delight blog:

Cupertino Real Estate Market Trends and Statistics

As your blogging, web marketing and social media efforts grow into more contacts from consumers requesting assistance in buying and selling real estate, you will find that many of them are not quite in your own market area. Maybe right now you are too busy to take on one more client so ask someone in your office to help.  Or perhaps for whatever reason - they want a short sale and you don't elect to do those, for instance - these people should be referred to another great realty professional.

Carefully, you locate and select just the right Realtor or real estate licensee for this valuable person who needs guidance.  You agree on a referral fee and make the placement. 

What happens from this point on? It varies wildly - and often the results are not what an otherwise organized professional would expect. The communication from the agent receiving the referral may be good, but often isn't, and you may never hear what happens after the initial contact unless you chase down that agent (or, if needed, the client).

Lately I've made several outbound referrals and have realized that it's important for me to establish, up front, what I expect in return (beyond a referral fee at the close of escrow).  Because this is also part of my business, it should be tracked. Here's what I suggest as a better standard of practice with referrals, whether we are sent them or sending them:

1. When sending out a referral, the source should explain expectations about communication
2. The agent receiving the referral should agree upfront to communicate at agreed upon intervals to update the referring agent:

• When contact is first made
• When a short term decision has been made (such as "they're renting for 6 months" or "we are actively looking now") with a time frame
• When a contract is signed (buyer broker agreement, listing agreement, purchase contract)
• When a purchase agreement is ratified and the client is in escrow
• When there's a closing date

The agent receiving the intervals should agree to updating the referring agent on any important issues, challenges or problems ("the buyer lost her job" "it's an REO, we won't be paid immediately at closing" or any other major issues).  In other words, anything that would impact the referring agent's expectations should be shared.

How do you follow up with buyers and sellers? Do you have a tickler system for prospects?  It's easy to add a periodic task for updating the referral source, if so. Or just make a calendar entry or a task with a date on it.  The agent who sent you the referral initially will be very grateful for your effort and professionalism and it will greatly increase the odds that you will get more leads in the future.

Over the years I have casually tracked which agents close the business I send to them and who communicates the milestones with me.  Not all leads pan out, of course, but I am much more inclined to send referrals to a particular agent when he or she closes the transaction, the client is happy and I am informed along the way. When I receive a referral, I extend that professionalism to the agent or broker who's the source of my business too, of course.

These are basic guidelines but in my experience, many real estate sales people who decide to work with a referral client often never look back at the source of the business and deem it necessary to update him or her. Worse, some appear to resent it if you follow up to see what's happening when there's a lack of communication. There are plenty of horror stories about agents who get a referral, close the business and never pay the referral fee.  As a group, we Realtors and other real estate sales people need to do a better job of running our business like a business, and this includes incoming and outbound referral treatment.  The more you blog, and the more consumers contact you (you have success with lead generation), the more important this facet of your real estate business will become. Let's raise the bar and create a better standard of practice for communication about referral based business.

This morning I sent out a Happy Halloween note (and a link to a Halloween JibJab video) to quite a few people - clients, friends, family, prospects, and agents (both in my market and far away).  I love to stay in touch and think holidays are a great time to reach out and say hello.

What surprised me is that a couple of agents immediately wrote back and asked me to remove them from my database.  No problem, of course I respect all such requests and immediately delete them so as not to be a bother in the future. 

Ironically, though, one of these agents had a line at the bottom of her email stating that she's never too busy for my referrals. Huh!?  If I delete you from my database, how on earth am I supposed to contact you when I have a referral for a buyer or seller in your area?

I thought it was pretty funny.

Have a wonderful Halloween!

Do you blog about your neighborhood or community? If so, I have an idea to share with you this Halloween season to help you promote yoru hyper-local site.

Many parents are concerned about their kids getting candy from people they don't know.  But if you wrap up the candy and put an address label on it with at least some of your contact information, it's far less spooky for the adults! 

Several years ago I started doing that and on these labels I put our names, address and the link for my Haunted Real Estate Blog since it fit with the spirit of the season. Sometimes I use the small zip lock snack sized bags and other times the inexpensive Halloween goodie bags which you can find at a drug store.

Not so long ago I moved a small neighborhood website onto the wordpress platform (BelwoodOfLosGatos.com) and am getting some good attention from it. (The area isn't  big so the daily hits and page views are not huge.)  

This year, then, I decided to add the neighborhood blog URL to the label for the Halloween candy gift bags.  Guess what?  It's now a marketing piece (and I hope should make the candy tax deductible too).

We'll see what happens but in my neighborhood, the kids who come trick - or - treating are all pretty local, so for them to get (and their parents to see) the url not just for my fun haunted blog but also for the neighborhood site/blog should be helpful. 

Here's what the label looks like upclose - I blurred out our exact address, which I do include on the baggies (there are 4 candies in each bag):

What do you think?  Is this an idea you think might be worth sharing?  To me it's a win-win.  The kids will probably be allowed to keep the candy since their parents will know where it came from.  Hopefully they will have a look at what's written and at least some of them will check out the blog.

Wishing you all a very, very happy - and safe - Halloween!

 

 

One of the biggest quandries that bloggers face is how to use photos appropriately on their blogs.  Newbies sometimes make the mistake of thinking that if they see an image on the web, they can appropriate it. No, no, no!  That's called theft of intellectual property!  More seasoned agents may use photos they pay for by permission.  I say "no, no, no" again!

Why pay for images when your phone has a camera and you have access to free online tools such as Picnik.com?  Don't do it - "just say no!"

I have never paid to use images on the web.  You shouldn't have to, either.  Besides, having a unique image is better for your ranking, isn't it?

There are a LOT of ways to create your own graphic images for free using services such as Picasa, Picnic, and Paint. Here are a couple of quick tips:

1. Take a lot of photos! If your cell phone has a camera, this is easy since I bet you are seldom without your phone. Photograph carpets, lawns, flowers, bushes, the sky, desks - you name it!  Save them into a folder.  See something weird? Snap a pic and later you can blog about it.
2. Be prapared to simply create a text image on Paint, Picassa or Picnik.  Picnik is especialy easy as you can upload an image (including, say, a color background) and then overlay words on top of it.  

Want to know how to do this for FREE? Here are a few easy steps.

• Either take a photo of a background (wood floor, colored carpet, painted wall) OR create one by opening up Paint on your computer and dumping a color - any color - into it and save it as an image file.  Better yet: create a folder on your computer for blog images and under that folder, another called simply "colors".
• upload the color or background to Picnik.com
• crop to create the shape you want
• click on the "text" link
• add whatever text you wish - in whatever font is available
• if you like, frame (my fav is drop shadow)
• and then save in the size you want

Here's what it looks like:

1 - upload a background or color to Picnik:

 

 

Next, add text

 

Then tweak it (font and color per your preferences).

 

Then crop it (basic edits).  Add a frame if you like, then save it. Voila! You can even save it as a particular size!

It's easy, it's free!

 

Do you love social media?  Is it helping you with your business, or do you want it to?  Many real estate professionals are dabbling in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and many more new online venues, the most recent addition of which is Google +.

The first question that many people fail to answer for themselves is the most basic one: what do I want to get out of this experience?  Is it recreation? Is it more leads?  Is it to help convert people I already know from aquaintances to clients? 

If you are engaging on social media sites and want to make this part of your real estate business plan, I have a few suggestions:

 

1. Be authentic - be yourself.  This means no ghost writers for Facebook, Twitter etc., no virtual assistants making comments or "liking" pages etc. in your name.  (They can post links for you, of course, create your biz page and tidy up your photos but they cannot "be" you online anymore than they can in real life.)  If you have an imposter (assistant)  writing and engaging people on your behalf and they later learn that they were not talking with you at all, they will feel duped (because they were) and will not be happy about the inherent dishonesty involved.  There are ways that the ghost writers or VAs can ADD to your online presence, but they cannot really "be you" and have it be authentic.    When our clients meet us, they may ask us about our blog posts, for instance.  If you hadn't really written what they are asking about, how will that look?  So whether it's with other agents or the general public, keep it real!
   
2. Listen at least as much as you speak, maybe more.  Many agents view Twitter and Facebook (and Linked In) primarily as a place to blast their messages.  There are Realtors who go online and all they "say" is a series of links to listings or to blog posts.  Then they are gone!  No engagement at all.  This is getting the idea wrong - social media is for a conversation, not a series of blast messages!  If you blast, you are boring!
   • Have a look at your Twitter page (your own profile) or your Facebook profile.  What do your messages to the world look like?
   • When you log on to Twitter or FB, READ!  You don't have to read for an hour, but at least scan the most current messages, perhaps of a list you are keeping at least.
     
   • Find someone's tweet or FB post that's interesting, and comment, share it or retweet it.
   • Important:  Try to vary your online "voice" so that some of your tweets or posts are simply comments, some are retweets, some are links, some are responses to someone else's tweet.  
   • Make sure that the links you share aren't all about you, you, you.  (Or your blogs.)
     
   • Make sure that the comments you make aren't all about work, work, work. Sometimes breaking news is shared on these sites and people will find you a great resource if you are the one sharing it.
     
     
3. Be careful about "games" on Facebook if you're trying to have a professional presence online.  It's one thing to mention the Sunday barbecue, but another to have your page filled with Mafia Wars and Farmville.  If your clients are waiting for the CMA and they see you enlarging your online empire through some game, that's not going to help your business to grow.
   
4. If you create a profile for yourself on Facebook, log in at least once a week - if nothing else, just to wish a happy birthday to your connections.  This only takes a moment and it tells your online friends that you care about them as people.  On Facebook you can see your online relationship with others on the right side of the screen on their profile.  If you click on the "see relationship" button and there's no interaction and it's been 2 years, why bother?  Or if they've spoken to you but you've never responded, how's that going to make them feel?  Remember, these are real people online! 
   

Social media sites can be a time drain, so to make use of it wisely, have a clear idea of your goals and implement with the realization that your online connections are also your offline ones who may one day be your clients or the agent across the negotiating table from you.  Keep it authentic, listen as well as share, stay connected and - have fun!

Great articleon the basics!  (He's going to have to keep updating this as we all learn what to do with things like Google +  !)

One of the best reasons to hang out in Los Gatos (as opposed to any other part of Silicon Valley) in summer is all the awesome entertainment.  In addition to a lot of free musical concerts, for about three weeks in July and a little of August, you can watch Shakespearean plays performed under the stars at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos.

The new seasons starts next week!  Get your tickets now - and read about what's being performed on my Live in Los Gatos blog.  Hope to see you there!

Monte Sereno, California- the small neighbor next to Los Gatos in Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley)

Nestled against the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains on the west side of Santa Clara County (about an hour south of San Francisco and a few minutes from San Jose), Monte Sereno is a scenic, small city which is semi-rural with neither sidewalks nor street lights. It has, in fact, the smallest population of the 15 cities within Santa Clara  County, having just about 4000 residents in about 1.6 square miles. There are no businesses in town, just residences, the city office and post office, and Daves Avenue School. It is one of the most highly regarded and upscale communities in Silicon Valley.  In other words, it's expensive!

More than half of all homes in this small city are at least a half an acre, but the smallest ones are at least 8000 square feet.  All of them enjoy a sense that there's a slower pace of life here, as opposed to the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley.

Continue reading the rest of this article

 

For more information:
The Monte Sereno Real Estate Market (trends and statistics)
Public schools serving Monte Sereo (some of the best in the state!)