Realty World Wichita

My worst customer, Part 1

No names will be mentioned!!

1.5 years in Real Estate, and I get my first referral - the referral company gets 35%, but I’m glad to pay it for the biz.

Air Force guy, moving to town. Took him and his wife around, and they found a new home to build. Next day, we write an offer. House is just past framing, and I take the buyers to the carpet place, tile, cabinets, paint lighting and appliances. All in one afternoon. Closing in 2 months.

Buyer leaves town, and I call on them about once a week. I leave messages mostly, about how their home is coming, what’s been installed, etc.

Now, to give them updates, I’m walking in their home as it’s being built. About once a week. This is really before digital photos, or email. Cell phones were “Bricks”, and I used pay phones a lot. The sellers agent keeps telling me she’s not worked with another agent who comes onsite so often. I must be young and stupid I guess, but I thought that’s what you’re supposed to do.

Walk thru’s, scheduling, contract amendments. They are out of town. I think they came here twice during construction to inspect. I’ve done it all for them.

Closing day - they need to close on Saturday, can’t be here during the week. I get a closer (and the builder too) to close Saturday morning. Buyer shows up, and we sit in closing for 3 hours. Buyer is doing an 85-15 loan (2 loans, one for 85%, and one for 15%) - and like an engineer, reads every word of every document in each loan.

I can handle all this, and I’m not critisizing the reading (tho by the second loan, you would think some of the docs would be the same?) - BUT, after closing, I thank them, and hope they are pleased. Wife looks at me and says I did a bad job, after all, I missed that the wrong vinyl was laid in the bathroom. She won’t reccomend me to anyone.

Geez. I spent hours here, and I would think the floor company would be the ones to blame for the flooring mix up. Wish I could remember their floor choice. I was destroyed. I thought (and had been told) that I was working way too hard for this client.

I got paid, one of my first “Big” closing checks. Sometimes tho, I’d rather have gratitude….

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What is a Virtual Tour worth?

Fact is, I have no idea what they’re worth, and neither do you.

We don’t know, because on 21-23% of the listings in the MLS have virtual tours (according to my study anyway). And those that have tours, some of the photos are SO bad, you can’t really tell much about the home.

With gas close to $4.00 a gallon (more in some places), shouldn’t we eliminate homes that are GROSSLY wrong for a buyer?

WHAT? you say? Not show a buyer a home based on the computer? We already do that. Right number of bedrooms, footage, garage, location. We do it every day.

Pictures are different tho, right?

I don’t think so. We can tell (or should be able to tell) what a home will feel like based on 2D photos. We can get space feeling, decorations, yard condition, home condition, lots more.

OK, you say they are expensive. You can’t afford them. Look again, RealEstateShows.com is $125 a year unlimited shows (lees if your Broker buys it). RealTourVision is $10 a show forever. Visual Tours are $30 per month unlimited.

No time? How long do you need to take pics while listing a home. And MAYBE, if you’re that busy, you should hire it done. Cause gas aint’ getting cheaper for a while.

I say VT’s will save you money. I say VT’s are a service we should provide our FELLOW REALTORS. I say VT’s save our sellers time, frustration, wear and tear. I say if you are not using this tool you are so far behind the curve, it may be time to leave the profession.

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Good Real Estate market, bad mortgage times

MSN announced just last week that a study by Sperling’s Best places said Wichita Kansas is the best place to own a home in the US. Good employment, low average cost of home, good appreciation.

#1 in the US, I think Dallas was 4th or 5th. We should be riding high here. Normal DOM, inventory being absorbed at a reasonable rate. Easy for Realtors

EXCEPT: Can’t borrow money to buy a home. It seems that the really Bad markets (California, Vegas, Florida, Detroit) have so hurt our lenders that NORMAL people in the midwest can’t borrow money.

IndyMac went under Friday. The Feds took it over and put into recievership. Stock for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went into the crapper. I read today (Sunday) that the Feds are moving (on a weekend no less) to keep Freddie and Fannie up and running. The MSNBC article says they want to see the stock come up on Monday.

The article further states that the Feds aren’t likely to help any other lenders. The signals are they will help Freddie and Fannie, and let the rest figure out their own problems.

So, when you have a stable market (are others out there in a good market), but the lenders can’t loan, what do you do?

We know that Real Estate should be a very local issue - location, location, location. But it seems some speculators and some issues elsewhere can change the game all over.

Hope oil speculators don’t do the same for gas….

My Website works REALLY well - Sorta!!

I’ve done things well. Page 1 on Google for 12 terms or so. Lots of traffic, and 9% capture of email. Set them up on a drip, and 50% or so open the drips.

I have new listings sent to buyers. Works well, and lots of them open the email with listings. All good right? We should be rolling in the leads…

SO:

Last week a competing Realtor called me. His client had found one of “my” homes on the internet, and he was a little lost. Could I tell him how to get to the home? Could I set up a showing? He had the client in the car with him.

I told him it wasn’t our listing, I could find no record of it. He told me it had to be, his client had printed out the page, had our phone number on it, and the “Listing”. OK, I asked him if he knew what IDX was. Nope. This guy doesn’t have a site. Of course, the listing wasn’t ours. A 3rd company.

Should be the end, BUT, since he had his client right there, he asked if I could look up the number for the other company, so he could call them. I did. I’m nice.

Makes me wonder tho, am I just giving out free info? Will my company be rewarded for my hard work on our site?

Good Web site Good Web site

Spurling’s names Wichita #1

The cities to pick from had to have a population of at least 500,000. The idea was to compare where it was the BEST place to OWN or to Rent. Wichita won the top spot. Consider:

Pretty good numbers (appreciation is GREAT for most parts of the country). Compared to #2’s appreciation:

We’ve stayed steady for 20+ years in Wichita, and I don’t see it changing much.

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The Housing crisis is over

Article in the Wichita Eagle on Saturday discussed how Home Values had risen 2.59% over the last year. I had a problem with this quote:

(the Realtor quoted)“credited a concerted effort from the local housing industry to control new and existing inventories” is the reason our homes were still appreciating.

How did the industry do that? Appraisers finding higher prices for homes? Realtors convincing clients to sell for more? Builders raising prices on new homes to raise profit? Suppliers raising prices to builders for more profit (not to cover gasoline prices…)? Local bankers lowering interest rates so loans are more affordable (without regards to National Rates)?

My opinion is we’ve had a steady market in Wichita for some time. I think the national trends (seen below) indicate that we’ve reached bottom, and the mortgage industry has made housing affordable again because of monthly payments.

Quick study I did this morning shows me that 51% of WAAR agents closed more dollars worth of homes in the last 12 months than they did in the previous 12 months, and on average they sold the same number of homes during the same 24 month period per year.* Active Realtors are still selling homes about the same numbers, and for a little more money. We’re getting more money because the public is willing to pay more. Pretty simple stuff.

The Wallstreet Jounal ran a Great Article by:

By CYRIL MOULLE-BERTEAUX
May 6, 2008; Page A23

Titled: “The Housing Crisis is Over”. I suggest everyone read it. I won’t put the article here (since I don’t have permission….), but an brief excerpt:

“So what’s going to stop the housing decline? Very simply, the same thing that caused the bust: affordability. The boom made housing unaffordable for many American families, especially first-time home buyers. During the 1990s and early 2000s, it took 19% of average monthly income to service a conforming mortgage on the average home purchased. By 2005 and 2006, it was absorbing 25% of monthly income. For first time buyers, it went from 29% of income to 37%.”

I’ll say 2 things here - 1st, this article made more sense to me than anything else I’ve heard about the housing industry history.

2nd - Do Realtors REALLY believe we control the market?

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The front four, make your client feel lucky

I was reminded recently of the late 80’s when I worked for a man I admire, George Wayman. George owned an auto repair shop and a gas station. Big places. Full service gas, 12 mechanics, parts supply, and more. George was worth a pretty good amount of money, and employed around 50 people or so. And George had a rule. Always keep the front four open. He meant the front four parking spaces - the ones by the front door. Seemed simple, people pulled up, ran in the door. We’d move their car for them so the next person could park by the front door. People felt good.

Look at this psychology. We all feel lucky when we find a parking spot close. Sometimes we even joke that someone saved a spot for me. Fact is, George was saving a spot for everyone who came to the shop. The front four. Getting your car worked on was no fun, so George made sure everyone started off feeling lucky. Same when they picked up their car. We used the front four. Nothing complicated, some work to run accross the lot. And George ALWAYS helped. He asked nothing that he wouldn’t do.

Realtors, so you make your clients feel this important? Do they feel lucky as you work hard for them? We need to think about where we park at the office or at an open house. Leave the easy way for the clients. Let them feel lucky. Set up searches in the MLS for new listings. Show your buyers listing the day after they become available. Let them feel lucky.

How many times has a listing client called you to tell you about the new listing on the block. What if you called them first? Every morning, check your MLS for new listings around current listings. Send an email flyer to the client before he calls you. Call your client when interest rates jump up or down.

Little things. Simple systems that make your client feel lucky. They say you make your own luck with hard work. Maybe we should be making our clients luck with our work. Let’s give em the front four…

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52 and still learning, How to close a Sale!

I’ve been pretty good at sales. I didn’t set the world on fire, but year 2 in Real Estate I closed 28 homes. No assistants, no real clerical help. I became a broker shortly after that, and I think I closed 35 or so homes in a year. Good numbers, not great, but better than average. I closed using my instincts.

2 days ago I listened to Kim Dickey giving a seminar, and Judy LaDeur on CDs. I understand my closing skills now, and I can TEACH what I did by instinct. Sell with emotion, close with logic.

Background - I loved logic in my college days. I loved understanding the arguments, cutting through the crap. Used this well in my life, but again, mostly by instincts. I get asked to chair Professional Standards hearings a lot. I’m told I cut to the chase. I’m told I don’t listen to arguments that have no bearing.

Back to selling. I can see now. I love my product (homes). I love people. I like helping them. I’m passionate about getting them the homes they want. Until the close. I can see now, when I sell homes I get to the logic. I detach and work through steps. One by one. I find their objections and offer solutions. What I’m learning now is about stalls.

The problem isn’t me doing, it’s me teaching. How many of us do things by instinct, and can’t teach assistants to do it our way. We can’t teach them because we don’t know what we do. I’m now learning that teaching my agents to close; to talk to people; to solve the problems; these things mean I have to study myself and others. I have to help guide those around me to the solutions that work for them.

I’m 52, I just learned to Close with Logic, yet I’ve been doing this for years. I have to learn to teach. God I love this biz, I get to keep my mind sharp, and learn learn, and learn some more. Then go teach.

PS; I get to learn from those I teach too!!!

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An Insurance company with a heart

So often, we hear the horror story of Insurance companies, Mortgage companies, troubles the consumer has. GUESS WHAT? We’re consumers TOO.

We’ve had a rough 3 years. Brother in law had 5 major surgeries, and we’re next of kin. No insurance/wife/job. Wife had 2 surgeries, pneumonia 3 months ago. We’ve had 2 weddings in 6 months, and Brother in law died suddenly April 6th (looked like he was on them mend, but alas…)

A few of you in Real Estate may have noticed the last 12 months haven’t been the best years we’ve had. So, we got behind. Our mortgage is being caught up, and things are being paid slowly, but our Credit Scores took a big hit.

Enter American Family Insurance. This year, they’ve decided to rate homeowners based on Credit ratings. Our Homeowners was going up. From $2200 to $3600 per year. OUCH. Enter my local agent. She recalled we may have been having some medical issues (Some?). Was it possible I could write a letter about our troubles? Could I? My wife had just written 4 pages to our mortgage company about how ALL our resources (Money, Family, emotions…) had been tapped for the last 3 years. We faxed the letter.

2 Days later, our agent called. No problem. They threw out the credit score based rate, and took our insurance to a mere $4.00 raise. BUT - if I wanted to raises our deductible to $1000 (instead of $500), our rate would go down MORE than $200 per year.

Thank you American Family. Thank You (Agents Name here) for caring. Thank America that we still listen to people and not just numbers. Thank God, for everything….

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RealBird shameless plug

I’m teaching a class on Postlets in about a week. I think it’s a good and simple system for Realtors to use, UNTIL TODAY.

Yes, I’ve heard of RealBird before. iHomefinder uses them as a choice for mapping, But I’ve never really looked into them. I say an ActiveRain blog today talking about them, and looked into it.

I LIKE IT. I may keep the title to my Webinar, but change the content. RealBird is easy, has tons of features, and works with several tracking devices. For all Realtors, LOOK INTO IT. Use the publicity and mapping. Request their services. I think they could go far.

Now the plug, they advertise that if you blog about them (good or bad), they’ll give you one year on their Realtor advertising. Here’s the blog, I really believe what I wrote above, and I’ll follow up with whether they deliver or not… HAH!!

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