residential real estate: There's No Substitute for Excellent Customer Service
- 08/24/08 03:59 AM
It's a simple principle, and it applies to any industry, not just custom home building. If you go above and beyond and consistently provide excellent customer service you will build brand equity and a lasting reputation. Of course, this is much easier said then done - being consistent at anything is difficult and being consistently excellent takes a tireless focus. Residential real estate is about as fragmented as any industry I can think of, where the customer has an unbelievable number of choices when it comes to home builders, agents, and mortgage officers. There are many who will claim to provide excellent … (9 comments)
residential real estate: The True Real Estate Professionals Stay in the Game
- 07/24/08 01:39 AM
One thing about bubbles - they do tend to draw less qualified people into the trendy "bubble" profession or "second career". How many of you know someone that had never bought or sold a single stock / equity - that is until the days of the online brokerages and the internet boom in the late 90's. Suddenly everyone was a day-trader. The market only went up, right? Well, there are still many folks that actively trade, but generally with quite a lot more caution and less frequency. For the most part, the "rookies" moved on and left the equity markets to those with a little more experience and savvy. … (4 comments)
residential real estate: The Psychology of $140 Barrel Oil
- 07/02/08 03:22 PM
It's well documented - with every passing day, oil prices seem to be setting a new record. With the triple combo of an ever weakening dollar, insatiable demand in emerging markets, and the "speculation factor" from hedge funds and the like, many project there is no end in site to the price escalation. While a recent conversation I had with an executive in a major domestic oil company revealed that the "industry insider" opinion is oil should be priced somewhere in the $70 a barrel range right now, I have a feeling that we are still far from seeing the top of this "super … (1 comments)
residential real estate: Custom Home Buyers Waiting in the Wings
- 06/22/08 06:45 AM
While the timing of the true turning point and bottoming out of the current cycle is still uncertain, one indisputable point is the amount of pent up demand that exists in the marketplace. With uncertainty and negative press surrounding residential real estate for 18+ months, many would be buyers have been sitting on the sidelines for quite some time, waiting for that critical turning point to provide them with the confidence to move forward with their next purchase. Our custom builder group manages a pipeline or funnel of potential customers, which serves as the best leading indicator of future year activity. For 2008 YTD, the … (10 comments)
residential real estate: The Capital Market Correction - Painful But Necessary
- 04/21/08 08:25 AM
While the recent credit crunch has certainly extend the nationwide downturn in housing, the much needed correction in unscrupulous lending programs and practices should set the stage for a much healthier and sustainable growth trajectory in residential real estate over the long term. The painful medicine in the short term, however, is a lack of confidence and trust among financial institutions and between borrower and lender that continues to serve as a drag on new sales activity. Once confidence amongst all transaction parties is restored, the emergence of a more sustainable growth market should prevail over the medium and long term. Many industry obserevers see the "bottom" for the … (0 comments)
residential real estate: The Rennovation - A Recurring Trend Ahead of the Market Turn
- 04/16/08 04:54 AM
While the spring season has seen an uptick in sales activity in luxury homes for our Atlanta / North Georgia niche market the negative after-effects on the home buyer's confidence from negative media coverage, tightening credit standards, and general pessimism in the residential real estate industry is sure to continue for some time. For those who have an interest in moving forward with a new home, but still maintain a "glass half empty" view of the industry, now may be the perfect time to consider a signifcant rennovation of an existing home. For many homes that were purchased as new construction 5-10 … (2 comments)
It's a simple principle, and it applies to any industry, not just custom home building. ;)
;)
