Real Estate Investing

All of the marketing schools and conferences tell you you must.  All the advertising pros tell you you should.  Find your niche!  Figure out a saying!  What’s your slogan?  BRAND YOURSELF. 

It makes me think I should find a horse, ride up to a campfire, take a piece of metal with a fleur-de-lys on the end, jab it into the flames until it turns red hot, and then stick it on my letterhead, computer, car magnet, in magazines, on billboards.  It sssssizzles.  It’s swanky.  It makes me break into a cold sweat.

I admit it.  I do have a saying, “Helping You Find the Right Home.”  I can think of about 28 reasons it’s the lamest saying ever, but several years ago it was the top reason people said they loved their Realtor, “He/she helped me find the right home.”  Reason #1 it’s lame?  It leaves the home seller out of the equation.  Reason #2?  It doesn’t have my name or other cutesy way to recognize me.

An agent in my area says she’s the “Superlative” Realtor and in her advertising she features pictures of her “Superlative” clients.  I had to look “Superlative” up because every time I read the word, my brain saw Superfluous and couldn’t begin to imagine why she’d describe her business that way.  But her idea has blossomed because superlative has become the word du jour in these parts, especially for the superlative hair stylist, the superlative plumber, and the superlative florist.   I’m just uber happy… or should I say superlative happiness transcends my soul.

All joking aside, even with my helping you find the right home and the other agent’s superlative service, we aren’t near the worst that I’ve seen.  I give you Keepin’ It Realtor, a web site that explores (with pictures!) the slogans and advertising used by agents from (thankfully) other places.

Though not an ad I’d use for myself, the agent may be banking on the ad being memorable because it’s not one I’ll soon forget!

The site featurs a dozen different ads that professionals have used.  They’re just keeping it real.

Let me preface this by saying I am NOT an attorney, I have never studied law, and should you have any legal questions, seek the opinion of a legal professional.

Liability is actually a nine-letter word, but it may as well be the four-letter kind in the real estate dictionary.  An agent recently shared her experiences with a seller who had already moved out-of-state but had a swimming pool in the back yard.  The pool was behind an eight-foot fence.  There were two sets of gates any trespasser would have had to go through to access the water, yet she was still a nervous wreck.

Why?  Because the son of the seller lived nearby and he’d come over every day or two to check on the house.  When he left - every single time - he’d leave at least one of the gates wide open.  The agent begged the seller to tell the son to close the gates, but when the gates were left open repeatedly, she took matters into her own hands.  She bought two padlocks, placed them on the gate latches, and her liability is hopefully gone.

A swimming pool can be a huge liability issue for an agent (on both sides of a transaction) and a homeowner.  The implications for the homeowner are obvious - if they haven’t made efforts to make the water inaccessible for trespassers, neighbors, children and something happened, they could be held liable.  For the listing agent liability is less clear, but if we are knowledgeable that a pool is accessible to someone and the owner is absent, we must make every effort to protect both the possible drowning victim AND the absentee homeowner.

But how could the buyer’s agent be liable?  The same way another agent was sued because their buyer went into an attic space and didn’t walk on the rafters.  They put their weight in the wrong place, went through the floor and fell out of the living room ceiling.  They buyer sued the agent because the agent didn’t clearly warn the buyer to “Watch your step!”  (This is why we often see signs at homes under construction that say “Warning: Construction area.  Enter at your own risk.”)

The buyer’s agent should warn their clients, “Careful! There’s a swimming pool!  Watch your children.  Don’t drown!”

We face all kinds of potential liability issues as Realtors every single day.  Ryan Shaughnessy, a Realtor in St. Louis, wrote an excellent article about who is required to disclose what on his Active Rain site.  I think his best tip for avoiding liability is,

Where appropriate, suggest to the owner/seller that they retain a building inspector to conduct a building inspection prior to the listing of the property for sale so that the potential problems can be repaired before the property is listed for sale.  Verify that pre-listing repairs are documented and accurately disclosed to the prospective purchaser.  The resolution of problems prior to listing can lead to a quicker sale at a higher price.

Read the rest of his post for some great insights.

Photo from Me’nthedogs via Flickr.

Most Realtors like to talk.  They have to be somewhat outgoing, knowledgeable, and informed about the world around them in order to provide good service to clients. When we aren’t talking to customers, we’re talking to each other and this is how I came upon some really great insights from one of the best agents around.  Justin Holder grew up in the business.  Because his Mom and other family members are agents, it was a natural fit for him.  But you won’t find Justin resting on his laurels and counting on family to throw him leads.  He works hard to connect with people and when he does, he expertly guides them through the sometimes volatile home buying and selling process.

Justin agreed to let me share his thoughts and insights on how to be successful in today’s interesting market.

Every Thursday, I’m on an hour long conference call with some of the top agents in the country.  There are about 70 of us on the call- all committed and obsessed with excellence in our business.  We discuss what’s happening in each others markets- from Hawaii to Huntsville, we are always tracking trends. This week, as we discussed the status of real estate, both nationally and locally, one of the agents summed it up perfectly.  He said “we’re in a pricing war and a beauty contest.”  Those few words summarized everything I’ve been telling my clients over the past months.  What does that mean?  I’ll explain both:

Pricing War.  Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen inventory increase in some pricepoints beyond what the demand has been.  For example, at one point the construction of homes $300k + was far exceeding the amount of folks that were looking to purchase in that price range.  So, as builders realized this, building slowed to allow these homes to be absorbed (purchased).  However, we’ve now not only seen builders offer hefty incentives to sell these homes, we’ve also seen existing homes try and compete…by dropping their prices as well.  Not only does this result in diluting of property values, it also reduces the amount of equity that homeowners have worked so hard to build.  Drastic, continual reductions are not always the solution.

Beauty Contest.  Let’s say you were in the market for a new car, say a Nissan Maxima for example.  If you were to hit the road, searching dealers, you’d have a lot of cars from which to pick.  There would be some that showed horribly - they’ve not been well maintained, the paint is worn and they’re not worth the price.  There would be some that would just show vanilla - clean, well kept, but nothing special.  But then, there would be some that showed GREAT - the paint is shiny, the interior is spotless, it maybe even has an extended warranty.  Now…all things being equal…which one will you choose?  The answer is obvious.

A home hitting the market is no different.  With folks now having more options than ever before, they are demanding to be WOWed.  Does this mean you have to coat the home in granite and the finest furnishings in order to sell?  No, but the home has to be ready to compete.  Not only will this ensure you’re walking away with the most amount of money in your pocket, but it increases the odds of selling multiple times over.

That being said, how do the properties I represent sell at 98.6% of the list price?

1. Heavy internet exposure.  87% of buyers are finding their homes online.  I owe it to my sellers to be everywhere a buyer is looking.
2. Decorator/ stager on staff.  Allows me to list a home shown in the best possible condition and outshine the competition.
3. Interactive 800#s.   A voice interactive system that links to all of my listings allowing buyers to learn about a home in a non-intimidating way, with the option to schedule a tour immediately.
4. Handyman & landscaping service.   Who wants to go through all of the prep work of getting a home ready to sell?  I make the process a breeze.  I bring in the appropriate folks to take care of any issues and make the curb appeal top notch.
5. Virtual Tours on ALL listings.  The days of one exterior photo are gone!  Internet buyers want to see LOTS of photos…from the comfort of their robes!
6. Realtor.com Featured Agent.  With millions of hits, Realtor.com is a first stop for many buyers.  I secure a stop to make sure my listings are front and center.
7. Homes.com Featured Agent.  Also a site that receives tremendous hits.  My listings hit their site immediately.
8. Rigorous coaching.  I employed one of the top real estate coaches in the country last September.  He keeps me accountable to my goals and makes sure I hit the numbers that I pledge to my clients. 
9. List Price Vs. Sales Price.   I have become an expert in pricing- a critical skill in this economy. This not only keeps my list-to-sell ratio at 98%, it’s lowered my Days on Market to 36.
10. Running my business like a business.  I’m not a part-time agent, I am in the market every day and I am constantly tracking the trends.  I want to know a trend months before my competition, keeping my sellers in front row.

My thanks to Justin for sharing his thoughts.  If you’d like to learn more, visit Justin’s website and follow his blog!