Barry the Broker's Real Estate Blog

Broken Owner

Barry Curtis (Curtis Realty Group, LLC) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:29:59 -0600

Shortly after purchasing our franchise from another Broker/Owner, I was talking to a Realtor in San Antonio at a Star Power Conference and when I told her of our purchase, she said "So you're a Broken Owner". When I asked what she meant, she said "you'll See!"

Boy was she right!

As agents, we loved the RE/MAX organization. As owners, not so much. Keep in mind, I am not blaming the RE/MAX organization for our difficulties. However, I have not recieved much sympathy or support from them.

We have a succsesful team that has several licensees that either work as staff members and don't produce anything, or they work partime and produce very little. These people are vital to the overall success of our team. However, RE/MAX has no provision for this arrangement, and they still have to pay monthly fees. This cost the Team well over a thousand dollars a month, with no benefit to these agents, as they do no business of their own. Other brokers have suggested having a "referral" company, but RE/MAX says "NO Way!"

I have also had a very difficult time recruiting in our area. (I have had lots of interviews) Agents here are not comfortable with a monthly fee, even when you show them on paper that they could save thousands of dollars a year! They don't want to be responsible for advertising, and they think you're going to nickel and dime them to death with extra monthly charges. There are several good alternatives to the RE/MAX System in the area, including Realty Executives and Keller Williams. I am also stuck between the three offices owned by the largest Broker/Owner in our area, and they are big enough to offer "deals", including straight splits to agents who don't produce a lot. On top of all that, agents seem to be afraid that they are going to be competing with our Team.

When I began to discuss these issues with corporate over a year ago, they had very few suggestions. They did suggest that we move to a better location, which we did. That almost doubled our office expenses! Then we began losing some of the agents that we had. Since our franchise agreement ends in March, I asked if there was any way to end it earlier. I was told no way, because they wanted our numbers. I was also told that if we tried to do anything "under the table" we would be billed at our full "Quota". This would pretty much put us out of business. They are obviously more concerned with their numbers than their customers.

We are currently still paying more than $20,000 a year to RE/MAX with no discernable benefit. This is money we feel could go right to our bottom line. Consequently, we will be leaving the organization in March. I am just wondering if any other Broker/Owner's have experienced similair difficulties.

If it sounds to Good to be True. . . . . .

Barry Curtis (Curtis Realty Group, LLC) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:48:01 -0600

Our Team typically handles between 160 and 180 transaction sides a year and we see all kinds of Lenders. The Good ones who still understand what it means to provide the customer and the agent with genuine service.(Very rare!) The Bad ones who could care less about service and surprise the customer and agent at the closing table with a "bad" loan with lots of fees that's very different than promised. (Not so rare) And finally the Mediocre ones who will get the job done, provided you call them every day, and do half the work for them.(The Majority)

Having serviced home buyers and sellers in Jefferson County Missouri for more than twenty years, we are familiar with most of the local Lending institutions and how good (or not) their service is. We have established relationships with several of the more competent lenders in the area and recommend them to our clients.

Unfortunately, most of our clients today have already talked to a lender when they come to us. This is due to the idea planted in their heads that they can get a better deal with a pre-approval letter. Realtors on both sides of the table understand that the majority of these pre-approvals are not worth the fax paper they're printed on.

In the last few years, we have seen the lending business change with many "Lenders" soliciting business on radio, television, and the internet. The ones who advertise on the radio are usually local, the ones on TV are usually big national companies, but it seems most of the ones who advertise on the internet are small out of state mortgage brokers who coax buyers in with promises of low rates "regardless of credit" and shop the loan to the last minute with the end result being something much less appealing than what was promised.

Recently, I had a customer come to me to looking for a home in the $230,000 price range.(This is a nice home in our area with our average sale price being around $180,000) He had already been in touch with a lender who told him he could do 100% financing with payments less than $1,100/mo.(do the math) I was immediately suspicious and asked him who the lender was. It was some company out of California that had sent him an email. I warned him of the problems we had encountered in the past with these lenders and offered to provide him with the names of some local lenders. He chose to stay with the lender he had been talking to.

After several phone calls from our team members and the customer, we finally received a "loan commitment".(worthless!!) When it came time to close, the lender was not ready. After a week delay, they finally sent the Title Company the docs needed to close. The loan they finalized was an 80/20 loan with an 8% 40 year on the first and an 11% fifteen year balloon on the second! (with outrageous fees) His payment would be $1,847/mo before insurance and taxes! Needless to say, he could not afford this kind of payment and was ready to walk away. I quickly called one of the lenders that I routinely work with and told her the situation. She had loan approval in less than 24hours, and closed in less than 48 with a loan that he could live with.

If you want to avoid these kinds of complications, consult with your Realtor. Tell them your financial situation, and what you're looking for in a loan. They can point you in the right direction. You may find that you can't get what you want. Better to know before, than to get stuck with a bad loan due to contractual obligations.

All lenders basically make money the same way, and its market driven. So when it's all said and done, the only real difference is how much money the lender is willing to work for.

Are there good, "internet" lenders you can depend on? Sure. The problem is you need some way to verify their track record. The bottom line is: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Northern Jefferson County Missouri Market Conditions

Barry Curtis (Curtis Realty Group, LLC) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 16:19:40 -0500

Overall:

Preowned Closings from 1/1/2005 to 9/12/2005 - 1706

Preowned Closings from 1/1/2006 to 9/12/2006 – 1573

Down 8%

Currently 1126 Preowned Homes on the Market, Average Sale Price $166500

New Construction Closings 1/1/2005 to 1/1/2005 – 493

New Construction Closings 1/1/2006 to 1/1/2006 – 463 Down 6%

Currently 792 New Homes on the Market, Average Sale Price $220,400

Closings by School District:Seckman:

1/1/2005 to 9/12/2005 – 246

1/1/2006 to 9/12/2006 – 266

Up 8%

Currently 255 Homes on the Market Average Sale Price $226,000

Fox:

1/1/2005 to 9/12/2005 – 446

1/1/2006 to 9/12/2006 – 411

Down 8%

Currently 257 Homes on the Market Average Sale Price $233,000

Northwest:

1/1/2005 to 9/12/2005 – 421

1/1/2006 to 9/12/2006 – 407

Down 3.5%

Currently 362 Homes on the Market Average Sale Price $219,500

Hillsboro:

1/1/2005 to 9/12/2005 – 290

1/1/2006 to 9/12/2006 – 240

Down 17%

Currently 260 Homes on the Market Average Sale Price $205,400

Festus:

1/1/2005 to 9/12/2005 – 325

1/1/2006 to 9/12/2006 – 289

Down 11%

Currently 309 Homes on the Market Average Sale Price $221,000

Windsor:

1/1/2005 to 9/12/2005 – 231

1/1/2006 to 9/12/2006 – 182

Down 21%

Currently 115 Homes on the Market Average Sale Price $265,000

Herculaneum:

1/1/2005 to 9/12/2005 – 96

1/1/2006 to 9/12/2006 – 102

Up 6.25%

Currently 186 Homes on the Market Average Sale Price $205,000

DeSoto:

1/1/2005 to 9/12/2005 – 248

1/1/2006 to 9/12/2006 – 221

Down 11%

Currently 186 Homes on the Market Average Sale Price $159,600

Statistics from St Louis MLS

Losing Control

Barry Curtis (Curtis Realty Group, LLC) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:56:40 -0500

I just joined ActiveRain a few days ago. I have already enjoyed many of the blogs, and I have decided to try and contribute as well. This is my first blog! Hope someone is able to get something from it.

I started in the Real Estate business in 1987 at the very beginning of the "information Age" that we now live in. Back then we (Realtors) had all the information. Listings were published in "phone book" style books that the public had no access to. There were no .com lenders advertising on radio and TV about 3.9% financing and worthless pre-approvals regardless of credit. We had control! Sellers relied on our experience and expertise to price and market their homes. Buyers came to us with a list of wants or needs, and we picked out a list of homes we thought they would be happy with. We pre-qualified buyers or had lenders we could rely on at open houses. You could almost always send buyers to a lender you had worked with before and trusted to get the job done, or tell you they couldn't right away. Those days are gone forever!!

The Internet has changed all of that. Now everyone with a computer and high speed access has virtually the same information we do. Sellers see what the house down the street sold for, and they want a similiar price for their home. (even when it's not similiar) They complain about the pictures or the description on the internet not being a good enough and so on..... Buyers come to us with bogus pre-approvals, having already chosen the home or homes they want to see from a web site, many times calling a different agent to see each property. Often they choose based on price alone, or picture alone, wasting time looking at homes they would never buy and passing up homes they would love. So, what can we do?

Well, if we want to maintain our commission rates, we have to do more than put up a sign and a take-one box, or sit and wait for the phone to ring for the next buyer. We have to change our way of thinking about our value to the customer. It's no longer about having control of the information, but about educating them that having access to information is not enough. Experience and training has equipped us to process the information and use it to their best interest.

I can go the internet and find step by step instruction on how to remove my gall bladder, which is good information if my Doctor has told me it needs to be removed. But I'm not going to do it myself and I'm not going to give the Doctor step by step instruction. (wouldn't it be nice to be able to anesthetize our "patients".)

For the sellers we can evaluate their motivations and current market conditions, and develop a pricing and marketing strategy just for them. Educate the buyers that spending a few minutes with us in the office can save them hours of surfing and drive-bys and dashed hopes because we are familiar with the market, different communities, lenders, and Title Companies. It also gives us an opportunity to fill out the dreaded Buyer's Agency Agreement.(which we let clients out of at any time, for any reason)

P.S. The upside to all of this is sites like ActiveRain, that allow us to share ideas and information with other professionals, making our community a little less Dog-eat-Dog.