Carmine's Blog

Fear of being new.

ERA Team IV Homes — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 10:21:34 -0600

Here you are.

Your license has just arrived from the state and you are ready to start your real estate career.

I hate to tell you but that 45 hour class you just finished did not prepare you to sell real estate. The 45 hour class and licensing exam can better be described as initial CYA training for new agents. It does a good job of defining where the gray areas of the real estate practice are. The areas where, if you find yourself there, you should sit down with your broker/manager and discuss the situation.

Real Estate sales or any sales for that matter is a mix of generally two things. First, finding out specifically what your client's needs and wants are. This skill is about asking specific questions and then being quiet and listening to your client's responses. Sounds simple enough, but you would be surprised by how many times I have had my competitor's clients come to our office and say "my last agent never really listened to what I wanted".

The second skill required is maybe not so much a skill as an attitude. Seasoned agents have a confidence about their understanding of the market that clients can see, hear and feel. Seasoned agents have seen this market before or this situation before and know what the solution is. Even if they don't specifically say it in those words (most good seasoned agents wouldn't) you hear it in their tone, in their body language.

You might be thinking -wow- how can I compete with a seasoned agent. Well, I say you can. First, let me give you my definition of a seasoned agent. It has nothing to do with the number of years they have had a license. There are agents out there that have had their license for 5-10-15 years who could not sell fire to the Eskimos. For a new agent the most important thing you have to work on is between your ears. Yes, your have to learn how to market houses, price them correctly, yada, yada, yada. I have known lots of excellent "agents" who could figure house pricing to the penny, had extensive marketing plans--- everything perfect. How many houses did they sell? bupkiss (don't really know if I spelled that right).

What's needed is an inner conviction that you know what you are doing. The first person you have to convince that you have a clue is YOU. You cannot expect to sit across the table from a homeowner and convince them that you have what it takes to sell their home if you are not convinced yourself.

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CLOSING

ERA Team IV Homes — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:28:07 -0600

by Carmine Pagano with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the night before Closing, we'll move out tomorrow
the buyer will be there, with money he's borrowed;

The belongings we packed by the front door with care,

In hopes that the mover soon would be there;

The realtors must be nestled all snug in their beds,

The visions of closing checks danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature Hummer, with eight forward gears,

With a little old driver, so lively and true,

It's that Realtor Carmine, he's brought a whole crew.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Lender! now, Lawyer! now, Mover and Title!

On, Appraiser! on Agents! That Inspection is Vital!

Fix the rail on that porch! Paint up that wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

So off to the closing the coursers they flew,

With folders full of papers, and that Carmine guy too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,

Down the chimney that Carmine he came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

The closing will happen, I'm sure it'll work,

Even though your lawyer has been such a jerk,

He sprang to his Hummer, to his team gave a toot,

And off they all drove, to collect all the loot

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Closings to all, and to all a good-night."

Welcome to ERA Hudson Valley Network

ERA Team IV Homes — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:30:17 -0600

Greetings,

This group is just a place where I believe that our spread out group of brokers can exchange ideas about the franchise and real estate in general.

My name is Carmine Pagano. I am the principal broker at ERA Team IV Homes. We have been with ERA for more than 15 years.

Thanks for posting,

Carmine

SELL, SELL, SELL .... Get out now!!!

ERA Team IV Homes — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:51:49 -0600

Oh my God. If you had read any of the national newspapers over the last few months you might be feeling just a bit nervous about owning any kind of real estate.

Lets just take a step back and take a look at where we are. Our area is 70 miles from NYC and about fifty miles from White Plains that won't change. For years we have been the beneficiary of a natural ripple effect of migration from NYC. This kept a floor under real estate prices in the early 90's when IBM, our major employer, "downsized".

Speaking of IBM, even though they're not as big of an employer as they used to be, they ARE still here and are another buttress of real estate prices in general.

Interest rates are high? Your kidding right. My first mortgage the interest rate was 11.25% and I thought I had gotten a deal. Just a few years earlier rates had been 15-16-17%. Those are high interest rates.

People are saddled with debt they can't afford. If your read the newspaper you, would think that everyone is hugely in debt. I don't buy it. There IS a group of people who don't know how to manage their finances and the worst of these is who we read about in the standard media. I believe that most people manage their debt wisely, it's just not profitable to write about them.

I believe that the current real estate market that we're in is about resetting the expectations of sellers. When the market rises by 10-15% for several years the natural expectation of sellers is that this will continue forever. That is the reality shift that has just come into the market. Prices have NOT dropped! The seller's expectation of what their house is worth has had to drop.

IBM is not going away, NYC is not going away, Interest rates are not going to 10%, average people can still get loans ..... Real estate is STILL a safe investment.

50 / 50 proposition

ERA Team IV Homes — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:49:14 -0600

Being a real estate agent is a 50 / 50 proposition. 50% of your time is spent generating new business and the other 50% of your time is spent doing everything else that needs to be done to bring a transaction to the closing table. In order to generate income consistantly agents must spend time consistantly (on a daily basis) doing each. Spend time on the process of a transaction at the expense of generating new business and your income will suffer. Spend all your time genrating new business and neglect your current transactions and your income will suffer as well.

Forest and the Trees

ERA Team IV Homes — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:46:03 -0600

Just a little story about some trees in the city of Poughkeepsie. About a year ago we were working with buyer clients who were coming to the area from NYC. We found them a new construction package from a local builder in the city of Poughkeepsie. As the foundation was built we realized that there was a tree that would be quite close to the house and asked that the builder remove the tree at his expense. The builder explained that the approval of his subdivision was conditioned on his not removing certain trees on this plot of land. Of course, the tree in question was one of those trees.

After speaking to our clients, I suggested that they write a letter to the city of Poughkeepsie stating that if they did not let us remove the tree that we felt should be removed that the city would be responsible for any damage caused by that tree should it fall. My feeling was that if my clients would send that letter the city might relent on that particular tree rather than have a written letter giving them notice of a potential liability they had been notified about.

My clients never sent the letter. The home was completed in January and closed in early February. Unfortunately, my client's situation changed which forced them to put the new house back on the market for sale. Marketing the home thru the spring it appeared that the tree in question was not blooming along with several other trees on my client's property. It appeared that every tree that had been marked by the city for preservation had not made it thru the winter. Now my clients are saddled with tree removal costs that should have been removed by the builder during construction.

Several things:

had my clients sent the letter I believe the city would remove at least that one tree
It's curious how trees that have made it thru years of winters in Dutchess County all died this particular year.
the city says they feel the builder caused the trees to die during construction and they feel he should remove them (we'll see)