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Listing Appointments/Presentations....Phase Two

By
Real Estate Agent with Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office

This is my first blog on ActiveRain and I'm very excited to be here; I am grateful beyond words to Bonnie Erickson  (and Maureen McCabe) for pointing me here. Knowledge is exhilarating and I can only hope I have some knowledge to share as well.

 Today I dedicated several hours on new listing presentation sheets.  This is my fourth year in Real Estate, and while I had a "presentation" book before, it was in some ways templated and certainly not recently updated!  When I was finished with my days work (I still have to rearrange things into the book), I had a realization.  I took a lot of what I had been using, and updated it in a way that shows why a potential seller needs to listen to what I am saying and see the value of my professional experience.  Maybe that is all part of hitting year four.  I've always had helpful hints for getting your house ready to show and sell; this time I rewrote everything using humor mixed in with a 'pulling no punches' approach.  You want to sell your home? So do the other 270 people in this area with a home to sell.  What will make your home sell instead of theirs? What will make an agent want to bring his/her clients to your home. and not the other 270?  That was my theme throughout all the articles I updated today.

One of the things buyers have honed in on over the past year while I show them homes concerns technology. How is the home wired?  If it's a newly or newer constructed home, is the wiring in the home adequate for a whole house security system, a theatre system, a remote control system?  These were questions I pondered while doing the updating today so I developed a sheet that asked some of the questions buyers have asked and also included a technology website potential sellers can go to in order to see what they might do to give their house that competitive edge via technology.

 I guess my only other thought was, my first Listing Presentation Book had a lot of information in it and yet I didn't know enough when I developed it to add my own flair.  Now it's sink or swim baby because most of it is all mine!  I have an appointment Tuesday evening (tomorrow) so I will let you know if the book was more of a help now that it's updated   :  - )

Bonnie Erickson
Tangletown Realty - Saint Paul, MN
Hooray, I'm the first to comment on your first post!  Welcome to Active Rain and congratulations on your first entry.  Your listing presentation book has the key to all of life: you've developed it with your personal flair and your personality.  When we each get comfortable in who we are, we also become better professionals.  You're going to find the same is true with blogging, Carole.  You're going to love it or hate it.
Sep 18, 2006 01:30 PM
Bob Pavey
RE/MAX Hometown - Aventura, FL
CRS
I have to be honest I have never had someone ask me about the home being wired for internet or anything else
Sep 18, 2006 01:47 PM
Pam Hofmann
Third Tennessee Realty & Associates, LLC - Crossville, TN
Your Crossville, Lake Tansi & Fairfield Glade Specialist

Welcome to the neighborhood!

Sep 18, 2006 02:32 PM
Linda Mardi
AuctionFirst - Austin, TX

Welcome - and interesting first post.  I actually had a huge issue w/our realtor when we bought our new to be built not-custom home - on wiring. We had planned an entire system/network and wiring was critical. I never thought about how it'll make a selling feature if we ever sell.
Linda

Sep 18, 2006 02:51 PM
Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO

Bonnie, you rock and thank you!  I love the idea of the listing book being a living and breathing work in progress! Bob I hear you, and I was as surprised this year as you sounded about me talking about tech wiring. I guess as we have become more techie as realtors, the public is moving along at same or maybe even faster pace. Thank you for your welcome Pam!

Linda so when and if you sell your home, it could be that wiring will give you the edge you need to sell over a neighbor's home where the new owners did not ask for the latest wiring. Thanks for commenting!

Sep 18, 2006 03:26 PM
Maureen McCabe
HER Realtors - Columbus, OH
Columbus Ohio Real Estate

Hooray I am 5th to comment on your first post... days later or am I 6th? I am just being silly. 

Welcome to Active Rain.  I think you will learn a lot about blogging here, hands on.  Already three entries!  WOW!

Sep 21, 2006 10:32 AM
Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO
Hi Maureen, yes my head is a buzz with learnin lol.  Thanks for all your good wishes and your help. We are getting ready for a grand opening of a nifty town house community here today, first grand opening I have helped plan. Now I'm doing my 'please no rain dance'.  Have a great day!
Sep 22, 2006 01:03 AM
S. Leanne Paynter ☼ Broward County, FL
United Realty Group, Inc. - Davie, FL
Davie, Plantation, Cooper City & Weston Specialist

Hey Carole... I'm just checkin' out your early posts... hadn't read them yet.  Puuurty darn good start, I'd say.  So... how is your revised listing presentation book workin' out?

I'm sooooo happy Bonnie invited you!  Thanks, Bonnie!

Dec 07, 2006 12:18 PM
Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO

Awww, Leanne, ty; I've been to scared to go back and read the really early ones lolol.  Yes, Bonnie made my life a lot better didn't she, and I got to meet you too!

As for the Listing Book, omg it seems so much more natural now. I guess I will keep changing it as I go along, but this is all a direct result of getting motivated and focused on AR.

Dec 07, 2006 12:24 PM
S. Leanne Paynter ☼ Broward County, FL
United Realty Group, Inc. - Davie, FL
Davie, Plantation, Cooper City & Weston Specialist

Glad to hear the updated listing book is working out well for you.  I'm sure it allows the "real you" to come through and that's as it should be.

Soooo... your listing book is going to be like South Florida's highways... always under construction!  LOL!

Dec 07, 2006 12:43 PM
Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO
Hmmmm, I guess Florida and Northeast Ohio DO have something in common LOL
Dec 07, 2006 12:47 PM
Bonnie Erickson
Tangletown Realty - Saint Paul, MN
At least in Minnesota we have only one season when road construction happens so we get a reprieve for a few months out of the year.  Leanne, you poor Floridians don't have the cold to give your construction a rest.  Maybe hurricanes?
Dec 07, 2006 03:54 PM
Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO

Bonnie, we have I think from the first snow fall till early April without as many orange barrels. Some years the only advantage to a long winter of snow is that fact, but then you have traffic issues of the mother nature kind instead!

Thanks!

Dec 08, 2006 05:45 AM
S. Leanne Paynter ☼ Broward County, FL
United Realty Group, Inc. - Davie, FL
Davie, Plantation, Cooper City & Weston Specialist
The construction is in part due to the incredible population increase and the need for the infrastructure to keep up with the demand.  I think when I moved to Florida in 1990 the pop. was something like 12 or 13 mil, now it's 18 mil - that's a 50% increase in 16 years.
Dec 08, 2006 06:08 AM
Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO
Wow Leanne; I can only be envious of that kind of population boom. Cleveland needs both jobs and residents.  Well at least I can see what the results are: orange barrels.  LOL  I guess I remember those days from the DC area.
Dec 08, 2006 06:44 AM
Maureen Francis
Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel - Bloomfield Hills, MI
Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel
16 comments on your first blog on activerain. That has to be some kind of record.
Jan 23, 2007 12:59 PM
Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO
LOL OMg MO, I have to tell you, your comment came up in my box and I saw the title, and I said hmm, wonder why I had that box checked and who wrote that post? LOLOL  TY lol
Jan 23, 2007 02:18 PM