Real Estate Investing

As I see it, there are several types of real estate agents who are surviving this market:  lions, teddy bears, and vultures.

Lions

• Very aggressive, fearless and used to results.
• Not afraid to hunt for business.  Make phone calls, send mailings, get out and meet with people, shake hands, ask for business.
• When they catch their business, they know exactly what to do.  They don’t like to see their prey clients suffer, so they efficiently market their listings online and through print publications.  They’ll hold an open house, talk about the listing to everyone they see, and write an awesome description on the MLS while using the maximum number of available photos.

Teddy Bears

• Understanding, knowledgeable, and safe.
• Gentle soul who looks out for the best interest of clients, all the while providing comfort during transaction.
• Brings coffee to displaced homeseller, brings snacks to homebuyer for long day of property tours.
• When they work with a seller, they also efficiently market listings but hold hand of seller the entire time keeping them informed of efforts. 
• When they work with a buyer, they encourage questions and provide answers in layman’s terms so first-time buyers easily understand the process.

Vultures

• Desperate, hungry, and will do anything.
• Work is legal but focus is primarily on building business from someone else’s sorrow or hardship.
• See them sending letters to other agents offering 25% referral fee to take over listing because the seller is in a short-sale situation and they are happy to do tedious work on behalf of original listing agent.
• See them offering rides on the foreclosure bus so that groups of investors, regular buyers, or first-time buyers can see lots of homes all together and join in on sing-a-long in between houses.
• Focus on bulk, not one-on-one service.

My own business personality is pretty far from aggressive, so I lean toward teddy-bear.  But there are many top-notch agents who are like lions who are highly effective but scare the bejeezus out of me.  The vulture agents are worrisome to me because their work so closely relies on the hardship of other people.  It may be smart business but it’s definitely not suited to all agents.

What kind of real estate agent do you want when you’re ready to buy or sell? 

Lion photo from Dougwood via Flickr commons.
Teddy from DeeAuvil via Flickr commons.
Vulture picture from kthypryn via Flickr commons.

On this dreary, rainy day, I invite you to curl up in a blanket listen to this true story about why you should be careful when you select your Realtor.  Late in the summer, I went to a listing presentation for a woman I sort of knew - the neighbor of one of my friends.  The homeowner had scheduled appointments with four different agents.  Interestingly, only two of us showed up (can you believe two *didn’t* show up in this limping market?!)  In any case, my interview went very well, or so I thought.

Two days later I saw another agent had listed the home.  It was priced exactly where I told them it needed to be in order to sell quickly (but without giving it away).  The staging I suggested was done.  They listened to everything I said, yet still used the other agent.  I asked the seller for feedback so I’d know what to improve for my next listing appointment. They had absolutely no criticism of me, but said they just “clicked” more with the other agent.

Two months later, I got a phone call from the seller’s neighbor (my friend) asking for MY advice.  Apparently the other agent was nothing short of a disaster.  They closed, but just barely and at a great personal cost to the seller and the seller was in her kitchen crying uncontrollably looking for help*.  So let’s have a short pop quiz** on the situation they faced:

1.  When you’re selling your house for the first time, you interview the agent and ask:

A.  How long have you been a Realtor?
B.  How many listings have you sold?
C.  If you’re new, do you have an experienced agent helping you?
D.  All of the above.

2.  When you’re selling your house, you interview the agent and ask:

A.  Do you provide flyers for an information box in my front yard?
B.  Do you return phone calls?
C.  Do you return email?
D.  All of the above.

3.  When you’re selling your house, you interview the agent and ask:

A.  Do you know what a HUD or settlement statement is?
B.  Do you have referrals from past clients?
C.  Do you have referrals from other agents?
D.  All of the above.

4.  When you get an offer, you should:

A.  Go over the contract carefully - not just the highlights of how much and when - because you’re legally bound to it once you sign.
B.  Ask the agent what your rights are if it doesn’t close when specified.
C.  Ask that you retain possession of the home for at least two days after closing (possession with delivery of deed, funding, and two days) so that you don’t pack everything in a truck that is parked in your driveway for 14 days … forcing you to both pay $1500 extra for truck rental and sleep on the floor because your beds are loaded.
D.  All of the above.

Clearly the sale didn’t go well.  I should have felt vindicated for losing the listing when my friend told me the seller admitted they should’ve chosen me, but I didn’t.  I just felt sad for these first-time home sellers and hope that next time they move, they’ll learn from their horrible experience.

*I suggested they contact the agent’s broker if they had a serious concern.

**If you answered D. All of the above, then you get an “A” on the quiz.

Photo by RBerteig from FlickrCommons.

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.