Recent Quotes about the Positive Signs in the Real Estate Market: Mortgage Applications Rise 5.4 Percent for the Week Ending April 4 Mortgage application filings rose a seasonally adjusted 5.4 percent last week compared with the last week of March, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported on Wednesday. Both applications for mortgages to purchase homes and to refinance existing mortgages rose on a week-to-week basis, according to the Washington-based MBA's weekly survey. -- “Mortgage Applications Rose 5.4% Last Week: MBA,” by Amy Hoak, MarketWatch , April 9, 2008.   Mortgage Rates Drop in Weekly Survey The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped 16 basis points, to 5.96 percent, compared to last week, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. Four weeks ago, the mortgage index was 6.39 percent. -- “Mortgage Rates Decline a Bit,” by Chris Kissell, Bankrate.com , April 10, 2008.   NAR: Upturn Expected in Second Half of 2008 Little change is expected in existing-home sales over the next few months, before improving notably during the second half of the year, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors ®. With lower interest rates and flat home prices in many areas, NAR’s Housing Affordability Index is projected to rise 14 percentage points to 127 in 2008. “We’re looking for essentially stable sales in the near term, before higher mortgage loan limits translate into more sales in high-cost markets. The wider access to affordable credit should increase sales activity notably this summer as pent-up demand begins to be met.” -- Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, “Existing-Home Sales to Stabilize Before Upturn in Second Half of 2008,” PR Newswire, April 8, 2008.   Senate Passes Bill to Help Housing Market The U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan package of tax breaks and other steps designed to help businesses and homeowners weather the housing crisis. The plan combines large tax breaks for homebuilders and a $7,000 tax credit for people who buy foreclosed properties, as well as $4 billion in grants for communities to buy and fix up abandoned homes. "This is just the beginning of the process. This bill will go to the House. With the House and the White House we can come up with a piece of legislation fairly quickly.” -- Harry Reid , Senate Majority Leader (D-Nev.), “Senate OKs Bill to Boost Housing Market,” by Andrew Taylor , Associated Press, April 11, 2008.   Young Buyers Find Opportunities in Current Market Younger and first-time buyers with solid credit can suddenly afford homes. Although many people expect prices to fall further, some analysts think waiting could be a mistake. “Nobody knows where the bottom is. But if you wait much longer and prices go up, then the opportunity is lost.” -- Robert Aalberts, editor of the Real Estate Law Journal, “Young House Hunters See Opportunity in Crisis,” by Adriana Loeff , The Ithaca Journal , April 4, 2008.   Good Agents Facilitate Fast Sales Some properties seem to sell at lightning speed without sprouting for-sale signs and open-house balloons. Behind the scenes, the agents for both (buyer and seller) had been matchmaking, a practice that regularly goes on before houses turn up in the listings, and benefits parties who can act quickly. “All good agents, they have a network of agents -- not only in their office, but other agents. First, I am going to market it to my buyers, then my team and then other people in my office. Then, I am going down my short list.” -- Tom Atwood, Baltimore area agent, “The Hush-Hush House,” by Andrea F. Siegel, Baltimore Sun , March 30, 2008. Regional Update: Good News from Markets Around the Nation Connecticut Closed sales for single-family homes increased by 31.9 percent between February and last month, according to data from the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors ®. During the same period, the average days a home spent on the market decreased by 13.8 percent. “Since the beginning of this year pending home sales have been increasing from month to month, and the increase in closed sales last month appears to be a direct result of this forward looking indicator. It strongly suggests a path in the same positive direction that is expected for the national market.”   -- Jeff Arakelian, president & CEO, Greater Hartford Association of Realtors, “Good News in CT Real Estate - Closed Home Sales Increase 31.9 Percent,” RISMedia.com, April 8, 2008. Gainesville , Fla. The median home price and sales of existing homes have slipped lately, but some positive signs have recently emerged. More buyers are beginning to look at properties, and agents are starting to receive more offers. “We've largely been an insulated and stable market.”   -- Craig McCall, president-elect of the Gainesville Alachua County Association of Realtors, “Close to Home: Housing Market Stable in Gainesville, Fla.,” by Christine Dugas, USA Today, March 31, 2008. Charleston , S.C. There are signs that buyers are budding. (Local) real estate agents said open houses are full and they are busier with showings than they have been in months. The Charleston Metro Area Chamber of Commerce expects almost 13,000 homes to change hands this year, a 6 percent increase from 2007. The chamber said activity is poised to pick up thanks to attractive mortgage rates, a relatively healthy local economy and demand from out-of-town buyers.   -- “Local Housing Market Shows Signs of Spring Thaw,” by Kyle Stock, The Post & Courier, March 30, 2008. Minnesota Existing home sales in the Twin Cities jumped 6.6 percent in February over the previous month — and bumped up 2.9 percent nationally during the same period. Additionally, pending sales of existing homes in the 13-county metro area rose 20 percent from January to February, according to a local real estate association.   -- “Some Good News amid Real Estate Gloom,” by Kendall Anderson, Finance & Commerce (subscription required), March 24, 2008.

The FSBO

 

Many listing agents cringe when their brokers encourage them to work the for sale by owner market.  In many ways I have found it rewarding and challenging and an almost untapped market.   I have found two primary reasons that homeowners try the FSBO market first.

When someone needs to sell their home they obviously want to make the most money they can out of the deal. With the recent reduction in home values nationwide, many home sellers feel that FSBO is one way to save a few thousand dollars.  Let’s face it, they are inundated with messages on late night TV and the internet on how easy it is to sell their homes themselves and save money. So why not give it a try.

Secondly the FSBO has either personally had, or knows someone who has had a bad experience with a REALTOR in the past.  Lets’ face it, people talk about their bad experiences much more openly than their good ones. When you list your home with an agent who never calls you back, never keeps you in the loop as to the weekly goings on about your home, and only calls to tell you to reduce your price or just lets you sit for weeks and months on the market with no advice, guidance or reassurance, why would you want to continue that type of relationship?  Obviously if one agent does that to you, then they must all do that.

I find myself talking to several frustrated FSBOs each week. Most entered into the FSBO marketplace with good intentions and high hopes.  Most of them also entered into the market not knowing what they were really getting into.   Their market price was a guess or based on an arbitrary number such as their tax assessment, or worse what they “felt” was a good price based on what they paid plus some appreciation in property value.  Many have no idea if their title is clear or what to do about it if it isn’t.  It’s not that these people are uneducated or unprofessional.  The inner workings of the world of real property transactions is confusing to most and a complete mystery to the rest.

Many FSBO’s have entered into contracts with marketing companies that promise to help sell their homes, and have paid large upfront fees to do so. They find themselves disappointed with the results and frustrated.  They have a nice home,  it’s priced well, it’s being marketed, but the phone never rings.  The “buyers” who do call are more often than not “just looking”, and the FSBO doesn’t have a good follow up plan to handle them.  They often feel tied to their home.  They can’t leave for fear that an actual buyer might show up.   

So what is a responsible, ethical hardworking Realtor® to do about the FSBO’s in their market area? First and foremost be honest, open and willing to lend them a hand.  Working with FSBO’s can be a long and drawn out process.  Understand that a few, a very few, will actually succeed in selling their homes themselves.  Kudos to them, they deserve it.  Many have a timeline for which they will use to determine when it is time to throw in the towel and hire an agent.  I find most will go eight or nine weeks before their frustration comes to a boil and they decide they need help.  Some are actually shopping for an agent.  What better way to find someone who will aggressively market and sell their home, then to put out a sign and say come list my home.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to working with FSBO’s. The first, and the one that I don’t like, says go after them hard and try to list them from day one.  You can hit them with all of the statistics and stories of how they will fail and they are better off listing with a professional.  To me this is like being a car salesman that is three months behind on his quota for sales.  As a consumer this turns me off immediately.

The second method, and the one I prefer, is to be helpful.  Assist them in any way you can.  Schedule a tour of their home.  Give them an honest and realistic CMA.  Don’t fluff it up to make the numbers look good.  It does you no good to promise them the world and tell them they can make twenty percent more than they really can.  You will just end up with a listing that sits on the market and expires will little or no activity.  Be a powerful and knowledgeable resource.  Ask the same questions you would of a client when you list their home.  Look for the trouble spots and advise them on ways to overcome them.  Are there possible title issues? Are there repairs that just have to be made?  Help them prepare and stage their home.

But what if you do all this work and they sell their home? Like I said earlier, kudos to them.  They did the work and they sold their home. Someday they will have a friend or family member who needs help in the real property world that doesn’t want to do it themselves.  If you did your job correctly and you continue to follow up with them as part of your sphere of influence, they will remember you and your help.  If you treated them right and with respect they will be glad to give you a referral.  Don’t forget that they have sold their home, and they will need a place to live after it closes.  They just might need you to help them buy their next home as well.

If they don’t sell and need to turn to a professional Realtor® you will be on the top of their list of folks to call.  You already have an established and good relationship with them.  If they know they can trust you and your advice, they will pick up the phone when the time comes.

We must all remember that real estate is a business of long term relationships, networking and referrals.  We all enjoy the quick and easy sale.  But ultimately without developing and nurturing these relationships our business will falter and fail.  So embrace the FSBO.  The market is out there for you if you are willing to put the time and effort forth.

Please feel free to review my flyer collection.  These flyers cover everything from my listings to services offered to clients.  I hope you can find some use for them.  Vflyers can be posted in a widget like this to any website, sent as pdf e-mails and posted to places like craigslist and backpage.  The also post them to google, trulia, oddle and hotpads for me.  

The population continues to grow in North Texas, and that puts you in the prime area in which to be a real estate professional.  Dallas-Fort Worth placed among four other areas in the Texas as the nation’s top 10 growing cities.  Census Bureau estimates recently released show that we added more than 162,000 residents between July 2006 and July 2007, more than any other metro area in the state.  Houston, Austin and San Antonio also placed in the top 10. 

Remember, REAL ESTATE IS LOCAL.   People move to our area because of the strong local economies, cost of living,  and the fact the have some of the most affordable housing the country.  A report earlier this month by Global Insight found that housing prices in our area are undervalued by as much as 30 percent.  This allows homebuyers more purchasing power where they can buy more home for their money than other cities in the country.

Economic drivers like the Barnett Shale, DFW International Airport and the other various major companies help to make our area thrive.  Share this with the consumers you work with and show them why more families and professionals are choosing Dallas-Fort Worth as their home.  The buyers are out there!

Last week we discussed some of the more traditional marketing techniques, that although still used, have fallen by the wayside and have minimal effectiveness.  This week we will discuss marketing techniques that appear to be more effective.  

 

The key to sales, whether it is a car, office products, grocery items or your home is, of course MARKETING.  Companies like Proctor and Gamble, GM, Toyota and any other name brand company out that is a "household name" spend millions of dollars each year on marketing.  They spend those dollars so that when you think of their product type you think of them.  No doubt they hope that their marketing campaigns will get you to rush right out and buy their product today.  In reality, they know that this is only a small portion of the market.  Impulse buys are important, and they do market to your impulse through store displays and in store marketing campaigns, but their true goal is long term sales and generalized marketing campaigns.

 

How does this relate to you?  You only one to sell one home, your home.  You are not looking to sell hundreds of homes to hundreds of consumers.  True, that is not your goal, but it is the goal of every major real estate brokerage firm in the country.  The big three, Coldwell Banker, Re/Max and Century 21 each spend millions of dollars every year to get buyers and sellers into their offices.  You must remember that when you are looking to sell your one home you are competing against all of these professional brokers that are looking for long term business.  According to realtor.com as of this morning, in the city of Fort Worth alone, there are 6,470 homes listed for sale, by professional Realtors®. In Dallas there were 9,110 homes listed for sale by professional Realtors®.  This does not include the countless number of sellers who have chosen to sell their homes themselves and are never listed in the multiple listing service, MLS.

 

Whether selling you home yourself or through a Professional Realtor® it is important that a marketing plan is developed and implemented from the beginning.  In most cases I have a general marketing plan that I can adapt as necessary to any particular listing.  I market consistently with each listing and for the most part the marketing is done the same each time.  The target audience for my marketing campaigns vary from home to home.  It does no good to market million dollar luxury properties to first time home buyers living in an apartment complex. 

 

With todays tech savvy consumer the internet is our most valuable resource as a Realtor®.  I am constantly reviewing new internet marketing tools.  The key is to find the tools and resources that will give my customer the most bang for my buck and be the least time intensive as they can be.

 

When speaking to customers who were previously listed with other Realtors®, I am often told that the previous agent kept telling them to lower the price.  Although price is very important, it is only one part of marketing.  If a home is properly priced from the beginning, significant repositioning should not be necessary.  I will say that if you did not price appropriately in the beginning you will need to reposition.  The problem is that by the time most sellers get around to repositioning, their home has already gone stale, and a good marketing plan may not be enough. 

Marketing to other realtors has not changed greatly since the advent of the digital MLS system.  We all still primarily use our local MLS service.  Once a Realtor becomes proficient with their MLS system the capability to search is much stronger than most public internet web sites.  I do highly recommend that you add as many pictures, virtual tours and documents that you can to your local MLS service.  Obviously you need to follow your local MLS rules, i.e. unbranded virtual tours and no agent signs in the pictures.  As a Realtor, when I am searching properties for my clients, I am much more inclined to recommend properties with lots of pictures and documentation.  The more there is the less surprises you have in the end.

 

Of course, we now find ourselves in the position that most buyers, although wanting a buyers agent, often come to us with a list of properties that want to see.  They have already done most of the research and found the properties they think will fit their needs the best.  As a listing agent this puts much more responsibility onto our shoulders.  Now we must make sure that we emphasis our internet marketing more heavily than any other.

 

I highly recommend using the enhanced features of realtor.com.  They are still the premier web site for buyers looking for homes. With realtor.com's  new enhanced features you can post up to twenty five still pictures, virtual tours and video tours. Yes you can now post video to your realtor.com listings. Although it is still in the "beta" phase it appears to be working well.  They have fairly straightforward directions online for posting your video.

 

Another option are services like youtube.com.  You can create a free account on youtube and upload your videos there as well.  Youtube.com is a very active site and not heavily used by realtors at this point.  When I searched youtube.com for "fort worth real estate" I had one hundred and thirty seven hits. "Texas real estate" garnered over one thousand hits, and "real estate" garnered over twenty-seven thousand hits.  Hmmmmm just think of the possibilities.  You always wanted to be a move director didn't you.

 

Electronic flyers have changed my business in many ways.  I know I harped on not using flyers in the first half of the article.  Now I advocate electronic flyers.  The thing I like about the electronic flyer is its versatility.  I use vflyer.com, but there are probably hundreds of different venders that offer similar services.  When I create an electronic flyer I can e-mail it to my clients,  sphere of influence and other agents.  In addition I can auto post to multiple electronic advertising services such as googlebase, trulia, oodle, vast, zillow.com, hotpads.com and backpage.com. They don't auto paste to craigslist.com, but it is very simple to do so. 

 

I get a lot of flyer traffic from backpage.com and a fair amount from craigslist.com.  The others seem to be hit and miss.  In addition They give me the html code so that I can post these flyers anywhere I want on the internet.  I also like the fact that I don't have to do just property for sale flyers.  I can build personal marketing flyers that can be posted as well.  They also allow me to track my traffic levels and where it is coming from so I always know how effective I am being.

Ultimately it comes down to developing a strong plan and following up on it.  If you want to use electronic services like craigslist you have to update it almost daily if not multiple times a day. Other services are more user friendly and you can repost more easily.

 

Electronic marketing seems to be the key.  I can honestly spend most of my marketing time in front of the computer.  Don't get me wrong, they will never replace call arounds,  door knocking and meeting and greeting and pressing the flesh.  Networking and pressing the flesh in today's market is more important than ever. You need to get your name out there, brand yourself and become known as the local expert.  You want to be top of mind at all times when someone thinks about real estate.  I still keep a stack of business cards at my barber, my local grocery stores and the gas station.  I send an electronic newsletter out to over a thousand e-mail address every month, and I send out "personal" e-mails to my client base and sphere of influence every month.

 

 

Well every day in Real Estate is a new day.  It just amazes me the number of opportunities we get everyday to make a change in someones life.  Generally it is a positive change,  we sell their current home so that they may "move up", or we help that young couple with their first home.  

 

I am finding as my experience grows as a Realtor that there are more and more business opportunities that I ever realized.  I live near a military base, and a major military contractor.  Networking with the folks from these two organizations gives me daily leads both in the listing and buying side.  The networking doesn't have to be at some formal function or gathering.  You would be amazed how many times someone at Walmart sees my Realtor sign on my car and stops me just to ask a question.  That passing question, a well placed business card and the occasional e-mail, and monthly e-newsletter often results in a phone call down the road.  Nice thing about living in a semi-transient area.  I say transient, but these folks typically stay for three to four years before moving on.  They often prefer to own their own home, and they will need to sell it when they move on.  

 

I stopped into my local bank branch the other day.  I almost always go in instead of using the drive through.  I was making a deposit and chatting with the teller, when she said "Your a Realtor, right?"  of course I replied "yes".  She had "heard" I was an agent from one of the other bank employee's that I had taken the time to just have a conversation with some months earlier. 

 

Networking doesn't have to be fancy or formal.  Just talk to people.  Tell them who you are and what you do, and don't forget to remind them on occasion.  There is nothing wrong with handing someone your business card "just in case" they have a need someday.  

 

So remember, talk to everyone and talk to everyone everyday.  You never know, your informal networking may soon pay off in ways you never imagined.  

Please Help one of agents. Her granddaughter is running a marathon to help raise money to fight cancer. Below is the text version of her webpage, I haven't figured out how to post the actual page on her. The link to her webpage is: http://www.active.com/donate/tntntx/gabriellepickle Thanks for your help. Roger Smith, REALTOR Residential Marketing Consultant Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Running 26.2 Miles to Save Lives! Help Gabrielle Fight Cancer! Men, women, and children all over the DFW area are dying because current cancer treatments aren't successful. I run five days a week and will end the week with a twelve mile long run. That averages to about 25-30 miles of running this week. In the time it takes me to run those miles 30 people will have died from a blood cancer and 60 will have been diagnosed with it. The Problem: March 4, 2008 The Lymphoma and Leukemia Society has an endurance training program called Team in Training that has raised over 750,000,000 for cancer research and patient care in the past 20 years. 75 cents out of every dollar donated goes to cancer researchers and patient care. This fund raising organization has been around for 20 years, and in that time their research has resulted in the PortACath (a central line implanted so patients aren't constantly stuck with needles), drugs to make the symptoms easier to bear, and a little treatment called chemotherapy. As you can see, this money makes a difference. The Solution: http://www.active.com/donate/tntntx/gabriellepickle My personal fundraising goal for the summer training season is $4,400. That means 44 donations of $100. Will you join me in this fight against cancer by donating? http://www.active.com/donate/tntntx/gabriellepickle Your Part in the Fight against Blood Cancers: I need YOUR help. My running mates and I cannot beat cancer alone - we need you! In two weeks the researchers make out their budgets for the next year - that means they decide how many new drugs can be developed - based on the money raised at that point. I am personally aiming for $2,000 in the next two weeks. Will you help me reach that goal? I am running an average of 30 miles a week, fighting blisters, and icing my joints, but I decided that wasn't enough. If I ask you to give, I need to be the first to give. So I gave up Starbucks for a week and donated that $$ to find a cure for cancer. Will you give up a lunch out or cokes for a week and donate that $$ to save lives? These little sacrifices make a huge difference: the difference between life and death. Things to think about: Five dollars is less than you spend on junk food most days, yet it can help save a child's life. No matter how broke we are, we waste $5 every day on things we don't need, like the snack machine.And all donations are tax deductible, Federal Tax ID: 13-5644916. TO DONATE Online: http://www.active.com/donate/tntntx/gabriellepickle Check: Lymphoma and Leukemia Society Thank you for caring, ~ Gabrielle TO DONATE Online: http://www.active.com/donate/tntntx/gabriellepickle Check: Lymphoma and Leukemia Society