Here’s proof that sales are still being made

Yesterday, sales numbers were released on resale activity in Palm Beach County. Essentially they were the same from last year to this year.

In June of 2007, there were 764 transactions. This June, 744. A draw. Sales are still being made and pretty much at the same level. The average sales price was down, but the sales are there. No surprise to me.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

Not only is lower priced gas easier on the wallet, my car likes it better

Last week, before the gas prices started to trickle down, I filled up my car for $4.08 a gallon – the lowest price I could find without driving all over town. Then I let my son take the car to Orlando for a few days. He got gas there for $3.89. When I drove my car last night it seemed happier, smoother, more energetic. I think it likes the lower prices, too.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

What are we – salespeople or mice?

Can everyone see and hear me from my soapbox? I hope so.

Almost everyday some headline or news program talks about how difficult it is for real estate sales, but why should this stop us or slow us down?

What started out as a type of media mantra to convince the consuming public that the housing market was overbuilt, that lenders had made a trying situation even worse through questionable lending practices, that current homeowners would not be able to sell their present homes, that builders were "unloading" their inventory, and that essentially it was a housing market "free-for-all" has now so permeated the consciousness of America that real estate professionals are buying into to this negativity.

OK, name me a period in recent history when it wasn't difficult for at least someone in real estate sales. Oh, you cite 2004 and 2005 when people were just throwing money at properties. Did we just sit back and get commission checks in the mail or did we have to look for buyers and sellers? Did we have to compete against other agents for business? Did we have to compete against other investment opportunities? Did we have a limited supply to work with? See, even in a so-called good market there were challenges.

So today, when people aren't just buying a home to flip, when lenders are taking a harder look at who'll they will finance, when properties are in foreclosure because several people bought something they couldn't afford, when people are expecting too great a return on the sale of their current home, when some builders are still selling off inventory because they're overextended and didn't adjust to market conditions quickly enough, and the media keeps reminding everyone of how supposedly dire it is, are home sales being made? Absolutely! Without question.

Now the only question is, do we want to step up to the challenge and participate or do we want to succumb to today's issues and chalk it up to "difficult times"? Oh, there's no guarantee that there won't be challenging, changing, or difficult times in real estate. In fact, that's pretty much a given.

Welcome to "difficult" times. Welcome to life. Wouldn't have it any other way. That would be too easy.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

What a difference one row makes

What a difference the top row of letters to the second row makes on the keyboard. I’m talking about the “r” and the “f” as in “or” and “of” – 2 commonly used words and 2 that I invariably manage to use to mess up the meaning of what I’m writing by typing the wrong one. They are in basically the same physical position on the keyboard, just a row apart.

I know what I mean to say – it’s just that what I type is not always what I mean. Not only that, but spell check won’t help here!

“Of” something has a whole lot different meaning than “or” something as in “piece of cake” not “piece or cake.” If you are looking at one of my posts and it doesn’t seem to read correctly, maybe I used the wrong 2-letter “o” word. Sorry.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

How’s that again?

This morning I got a voice mail message from a number that I didn’t recognize. When I accessed the message, it only said “press 1 to continue in English, press 2 to continue in Spanish.” Mind you, I still don’t know who it is or why I need to do this, so I figured no harm going on so I press “1.” Then it said “press 1 to continue in English, press 2 to continue in Spanish.” I pressed “1” again. Once more, it said “press 1 to continue in English, press 2 to continue in Spanish.” I hung up – forgetting it was a message. I still don’t know who it is.

Then I googled the number and the whole page is full of nothing but complaints from people getting a call from this number without knowing who it is and not able to reach them. FYI the number is 813-830-7822.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

Can’t we play nice?

With almost 100,000 now playing in the Rain, there are going to be some minor disagreements and maybe a few bruises of various sorts, but lets see if we can’t be civil to one another.

If we don’t agree with what someone writes, we can politely express a different opinion - but it’s not up to us to set them straight and it likely won't be appreciated. Even some factual errors can be tolerated – it’s their post.

The best policy when we seriously disagree with a post is just to go to another post without leaving a comment.

As for whether someone is blogging for points or writing about “non-real estate” issues, does it really matter? I think the Rain is big enough for that. IMHO, the wacky or personal posts happen to be some of the best posts on here.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

Adding insult to injury

As if Congress couldn’t foresee an energy management issue brewing and then just stood around and got in the way by continually denying ANWR exploration and not encouraging new refineries, off-shore drilling, wind farms, and nuclear plants, their current absurdity is to raise the federal gas tax by a dime – not a penny or two but a dime! Aren’t prices high enough already?

Read our lips: no new taxes!

I don’t know if this is one person, a group, or a large contingent of legislators, but this kind of indifference to our country harkens back to the Boston Tea Party days.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

Calling all of you firefox experts - help!!

OK. I posted a question on Thursday in my blog asking whether Internet Explorer or firefox was better – and the overwhelming concensus was that firefox is the way to go – especially for Active Rain.

So I switched. But I have issues:

(1) My outside blog Steve Hoffacker’s Home Sales Insights (blogger.com platform) won’t post in firefox. When I copy and paste, it converts everthing to html and then tells me I’ve made an error. For now, I’m still using IE but would rather not.

(2) My Goggle tool bar with the best spell checker I used so far is gone.

(3) My pictures look much better in firefox but it takes 45 seconds for them to upload and must go through Active Rain first rather than just to my window.

(4) When I copy and paste I get an intermediate window and when I paste using “Control+V” as it suggests, all of the formatting disappears – paragraphs, italics, bold, hyperlinks, everything. Even when I try to copy a properly formatted footer from another post, the same thing happens.

Am I missing something here? I must be.

Somebody, please HELP!!! Thanks.

Oh, if it makes any difference, I don’t know html so everything I do is in WYSIWYG.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

What’s orange, grows in Florida, and is not a fruit?

The southern part of Florida (on both coasts) is the only place that I’m aware of in America where the Geiger tree grows. It has very vivid and bright orange flowers. It is truly striking. We have one in our yard, so here are a couple of pictures to brighten your Saturday:

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips visit my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.

“Meet the Experts” opportunity in Orlando

If you’re going to be close to Orlando at the end of the month – or you want to be, why not take advantage of some of the great educational opportunities and exhibits that are going to be at Orange County Convention Center for the Southeast Building Conference?

I have assembled a panel of sales and marketing experts – including many from Active Rain – to conduct informal roundtables and answer your questions and address your issues. Plus, it gives you a chance to interact with professionals from other markets.

Starting on Thursday, July 31, 2008, here’s the schedule:

9am-10:15am – “Working with Agents to Make Sales,” Rick Bavec, Tolaris Homes, Sanford FL, and “Internet 101,” Melissa Stockstill, CMP, MindKube, Viera, FL;

10:30am-11:45am – “Sales Management in a Changing Market,” Lou Ludwig, MCSP, Ludwig & Associates, Boca Raton, FL, and “Working Effectively with E-Leads,” Ralph Hudson, American Builders Network, Winter Park, FL;

2pm-3:15pm – “Becoming a Top Marketer,” David Hoke, MIRM, BLF Marketing, Nashville, TN, and “100 Percent Financing Programs,” Jason Kotar, Kotar & Associates, Fort Lauderdale, FL;

3:30pm-4:45pm – “Generating Leads with Personal Marketing,” Steve Hoffacker, MIRM, Hoffacker Associates, West Palm Beach, FL and “Overhauling Your Advertising Program,” Deborah Fisher, CMP, Fisher & Company, P.A., Jacksonville, FL.

Continuing on Friday, August 1, 2008:

9 am-10:15 am – “Unlocking Internet Marketing Secrets,” Melissa Stockstill, CMP, MindKube, Viera, FL, and “Collecting Dividends from Your Brand,” David Hoke, MIRM, BLF Marketing, Nashville, TN;

10:30am-11:45am – “The Sales Role in Financing the Purchase,” Barry Kotar, Kotar & Associates, Fort Lauderdale, FL, and “The Internet in a Challenging Market,” Ralph Hudson, American Builders Network, Winter Park, FL;

2pm-3:15pm – “Creating Buyer's Urgency,” Lou Ludwig, MCSP, Ludwig & Associates, Boca Raton, FL, and “Alternative Advertising Strategies,” Deborah Fisher, CMP, Fisher & Company, P.A., Jacksonville, FL;

3:30pm-4:45pm – “Maintaining Contact with Customers,” Steve Hoffacker, MIRM, Hoffacker Associates, West Palm Beach, FL, and “Offering a Product That Will Sell,” Rick Bavec, Tolaris Homes, Sanford, FL.

See everyone there.

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For more information on my coaching services or sales tips vist my website stevehoffacker.com or my blog homesalesinsights.com.