Jim Zirbes - 602-769-6833 jim.zirbes@gmail.com

My Bio & Resume...

2010-08-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

About Jim; Professionally and a Bit Personally.

One-Liner Regarding His Career:
Jim specializes in helping real estate brokerages and agents better serve their clients & themselves.

******* Short Version Business-wise*******
Jim is a real S.O.B. - a Son Of Broker - the year Jim was born, Jim's dad got his real estate license and was a selling agent, brokerage owner, property investor, homebuilder and developer of commercial and multifamily properties... so Jim has been around the real estate business pretty much his whole life.

Today, after more than 20 years in the profession of real estate himself, Jim still has most of his sanity & all of the experience that comes from being a top performer in the business.

Jim has worked full-time for all those years here in the local Phoenix area as a sales agent/trainer/manager/coach/leader/mentor and friend to many!

******* Long version ******* - Personal background intermixed with more detailed professional accolades:

Jim grew up in Bismarck, North Dakota. Jim also lived for years in both Texas & California.

First moving to Arizona in 1979, Jim went on to attend ASU and then in 1990, he started as a new Arizona real estate salesperson, working his way to become a top rookie sales agent for his company. He is a second generation REALTOR.

He has now been licensed as a full-time real estate practitioner here in the greater Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale area for better than two decades.

After years of helping people list and sell numerous residential properties, Jim was recognized for his leadership skills and his ability to model his sales success to others and was hired into real estate brokerage management.

Jim was married for more than 16 years, but was divorced and is once again a single male and, as always, a committed father. Today he enjoys much of his personal time as a devoted dad to his three children; Sierra, Ryan, and Zachary - the very best kids ever...they make Jim so proud that he is part of their lives!

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Quote from Jim: "Training is only as good as the person delivering it to the participant who will use it outside of the classroom to better themselves".

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Jim's Real Estate Accomplishments:

* Jim took the advanced education and exams required to achieve his Arizona real estate brokers license (plus his becoming an Arizona state-approved instructor and licensed real estate school owner) and has since utilized his professional skills in most every capacity imaginable, from top sales agent to trainer, to recruiter to branch manager, to vice president of marketing to regional sales manager; all with a wide variety of types of firms, from smaller independent niche brokerages to larger ones, including the 4th largest stand-alone residential brokerage in the USA (HomeSmart), to those associated with internationally recognized brands such as ERA, GMAC, Prudential and RealEstate.com networks. Jim has also long been a real estate investor himself & today he still owns rental property, while being an active self-employed broker.

* Was profiled in a dedicated article for his unique contributions to the growth of his company in the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) magazine, and he is a widely quoted source of real estate knowledge who has been featured in local newspapers including The Arizona Republic, the East Valley Tribune and The (Phoenix) Business Journal. He has also appeared in several segments as the sole real estate subject matter expert on the local NBC-TV affiliate in Phoenix, Channel 12 KPNX.

* Authored many different articles, reports and training modules (now at over 50 courses), including both "The Fundamentals" system and the "StartSmart" series in their entirety; as well as parts of the "Jump Start...How to List and Sell Real Estate" and "Residential Office Assistant Training" offerings for The Arizona School of Real Estate and Business, where he was a faculty member for over 15 years.

* Is committed to learning as well as teaching, including taking hundreds of hours of course-work (well above the minimums required); programs such as those in the CRMS (Certified Residential Marketing Specialist) workshops, along with completing all of the training required towards earning several more including the ABR (Accredited Buyers Representative), the QSC (Quality Service Certified), the e-Pro (technically, a technology based certification endorsed by the NAR), the SFR (Short Sale & Foreclosure Resource), numerous train-the-trainer types etc., all of which enables him to better serve those he works with by being more up-to-date and contemporary on all matters relating to real estate.

* Trained and coached hundreds of top residential sales agents, including experienced pros and brand-new rookies. He has mentored many new agents who have earned over $100,000 in personal sales income their first 12 months in the business, including a National Rookie of the Year and a 2nd runner up for the entire 2,000 plus office franchise and both of those agents earned in excess of $150,000 each in their first year. His top first year agent ever earned over $250,000 in gross commission income selling ordinary priced houses. The very best experienced sales agents he has guided to new pinnacles of success serve hundreds of clients per year and each typically earn exceptional annual incomes.

* Is approved by the Arizona Department of Real Estate to teach continuing education courses in all categories & has done so on most every topic within the residential real estate industry. Jim has taught over ten thousand students in areas such as Disclosure Issues, Agency Law, Contract Law and Fair Housing, etc. at many venues, including the Professional Institute of Real Estate & several of the local Realtor trade groups, including the West Maricopa Regional, as well as both the Southeast Valley Regional and Phoenix Association of Realtors.

* As past president of many different professional trade entities, including the Metro Phoenix Broker's Group, the Arizona Broker's Council and the Arizona Real Estate Educator's Association, Jim constantly refines his skills to deliver a variety of programs. He has also addressed small and large groups at both regional & national real estate conferences, as well as having led many structured training courses- among them: Acceleration, Blueprint for Success, Quantum Results Series, Real Estate Dynamics, The Personal Success System and classes in the Maricopa (County) Community College system, including semester-long ones such as "How To List and Sell Real Estate" and "Principles of Salesmanship".

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Resume of Jim Zirbes

255 S. Kyrene Rd. #232 / Chandler, Arizona 85226
Email: Jim.Zirbes@Gmail.com

Employment

2007 - 2010 - HomeSmart International - Phoenix, Arizona - Director of Agent Development - Designed a brand-new University-style of a training curriculum for this company; the largest residential brokerage in the Phoenix area and one of the biggest in the entire United States - one with over 3,500 agents. Charged with creating learning initiatives targeted to existing Realtors to increase their competency and professionalism through the program; both live classroom training and web-based. Oversaw many aspects of running the firms realty schools' on-going state-licensed continuing education offerings numbering at 36+ modules. Put into place a coaching and mentoring system to attract, train and retain real estate agents; both rookies & seasoned ones.

2006 - 2007 - RealEstate.com, Realtors - Scottsdale, Arizona - Regional Sales Manager -Responsible for launching IAC/LendingTree's subsidiaries' company owned brokerages entry into the greater metro Phoenix area market. Oversaw all facets involved in a start-up, including staffing temporary location, assisting in permanent site selection and design, as well as many other details of opening. Layed the groundwork for recruiting and training of Realtors, which grew in just months from 0 to over 60 agents who were needed to service the mostly internet-based inquires from the RealEstate.com website through to the successful conversion to closings.

2005 - 2006 – Diamond GMAC Real Estate – Mesa, Arizona - Branch Manager – Take charge leader managing all facets of day-to-day operations. Answered most all agent questions so they could better serve their consumers. Doubled the number of sales agents from 20 to 40 in just months. Recruited, trained and managed Realtors in this high volume and most profitable branch office of this 5 location company; a brokerage with over 225 sales associates. Designed new systems to enable both the Realtors and the office to be more effective and productive.

1999 - 2005 – Prudential American Associates Real Estate – Tempe, Arizona -Vice President, Sales and Marketing – Managed all aspects of recruiting, training, and marketing. Developed and implemented program to train managers to handle these same duties in their branch location. Helped grow the company from two offices and 18 agents to five offices and almost 250 agents. Performed all of the full-charge Designated Broker’s (DB's) duties in the DB's absence for weeks at a time.

1993 - 1999 – ERA-American Era, Realtors – Tempe, Arizona - Recruiter/Trainer/Marketing Director – Hired and coached hundreds of top residential sales agents, including a National Rookie of the Year & a second place runner-up. Taught virtually all new and seasoned sales agent training programs, including as a contract trainer for the national franchiser. Held numerous recruiting career events resulting in many salespersons hired and retained.

1993 – By Owner Network/National Network of Homes – Phoenix, Arizona -Office Manager Assistant – Oversaw real estate brokerage with the individual sales managers of each part of this firm, which was a blend of a non-traditional discount brokerage with a sister company that was the full-service division. Created appointments for agents, handled both incoming and outgoing calls. Put into place systems for regulatory requirements and lead-management for this company.

1992 – 1993 - New Home Centers Of Arizona – Phoenix, Arizona - Real Estate Salesperson – Performed real estate agent duties with an emphasis on working with buyers of newly constructed homes.

1990 – 1991 – ERA-American Era, Realtors – Tempe, Arizona - Real Estate Salesperson – All duties of a residential focused REALTOR; primarily a listing agent who was recognized as a top rookie by the state ERA Broker Council.

References, (personal & professional), & an Educational Summary are available on request.

A Better Way to Convert Internet Leads

2010-05-31T23:09:00.000-07:00

Meeting Consumers Earlier in the Process Means You Need to Adjust Your Approach as the Internet-empowered consumer demands immediate information, and the real estate industry’s race to get to the consumer first means we are “meeting” the customer earlier in the buying process than ever before. Working with Web leads can be a challenge—but it is also a great opportunity! You just need to know how to engage with these consumers at the earlier stages.

In handling leads that come from your online activities (including your website, your brokerage’s site, blogging, social media or third-party websites, such as a lender or paid provider), there are three core truths to keep in mind:

1.While there are some distinctions between leads generated from various online sources, they’re more similar than different.

2.There are “inquiries,” and then there are “leads”. An inquiry is someone who makes a one-time contact (be it by text, email or phone call) who wants answers to one or two questions. A lead is someone who has the DNA—Desire, Need and Ability—to move forward. Hopefully with you as their agent!

3.Not all leads are created equal. There are “good” ones and “weak” ones in the virtual world just as there are in the bricks-and-mortar world.

Seasoned agents often have a difficult time working Internet leads because they use the old “tell ‘em & sell ‘em” approach. However, if we try to use that approach before the consumer is ready, we just drive them away!

One of the keys to Internet lead conversion, much more so than from other sources (i.e. sign calls), is to remember to have a conversation, not an interrogation. This is especially true on the first contact and in other early conversations. If we go right for the closing (or even push a showing or in-person meet-up), these consumers will often pull back.

Take this traditional approach to handling an initial inquiry:

Agent: “Hello, this is the real estate agent. How can I help you?”
Consumer: “Yeah, I’d like to know if this house is still for sale that I found on this website of yours.”
Agent: “Sure, I can find out for you. Have you been pre-approved for a mortgage yet?”
Consumer: “No, not yet.”
Agent: “Well, that is an important first step. I can get you the name of a loan officer friend of mine who can help you.”
Consumer: “I really just want the information on the home.”
Agent: “Well, I am driving right now on my way to an appointment. I have a very full day of working with clients. I will be back in the office in a few hours. I could look up the property then and call you back.”
Consumer: “I really just have a simple question. Are you the listing agent?”
Agent: “No, but I can find the information just as easily and help you buy that one.”
Consumer: “OK, sure. Call me back at _____.”

Two hours later, the consumer does not answer the agent’s call, so the agent leaves a message. Two days later, the agent follows up again, and the consumer does not answer or return that call either. And so this lead becomes a dead end.

The agent’s conclusion might (understandably) be: What a waste of my time! These Internet leads are all but worthless! I need some real and serious buyers, not these flakes. But was it the caller? Or was it the agent’s approach and “go for the sale now” mindset?

Instead of trying to go right for the “qualification,” try these three steps instead:

1. Listen to what the consumer is asking for—and deliver. They just want someone who will provide the information quickly. Ultimately, though, they prefer it from someone they like and trust, which brings us to step two.

2 . Look for common ground. Try to identify with the consumer. What do you have in common? Use a friendly approach to find out more about them. Here’s an example:

Agent: “While I get you those listing details you asked about, may I say I think I hear some little ones in the background?”
Consumer: “Yes, it will be naptime soon.”
Agent: “That’s great. How many children do you have?”
Consumer: “Three.”
Agent: “Three, wow. I’ll bet they keep you busy! What are their ages?”
Consumer: “Three, five and seven.”
Agent: “So they’ll be getting ready to go school soon, huh?”
Consumer: “Yes, and there are days I feel like I can’t wait.”
Agent: “I totally understand. I have a few children myself, and as much as I love them, I do look forward to school starting again. Are area schools important to you?”

3. Take the pressure off. Tell the consumer you understand that they’re in an information-gathering mode. Let them know that when they’re ready to move forward, you could help them by assessing their needs and providing information tailored for them.

Don’t use the old, tired approach that comes across as pushy. They don’t even know you—yet! Remember, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

I recently authored this at the request of staff at the AAR and the article orginally appeared in the May 2010 edition of Arizona REALTOR® Magazine.
http://aaronline.com/AZR/2010/May/a-better-way-to-convert-internet-leads.aspx

As Good As It Is...

2010-03-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

...the Arizona Department of Real Estate's "ADRE" endorsed and Arizona Association of REALTORS "AAR" updated and propagated "Buyer Advisory" < "http://www.aaronline.com/documents/buy_advis.pdf" > has many disclosure issue-related websites that are NOT found in it for one reason or another.

In all fairness some may ask "The Buyer Advisory already has over 100 web links in it, so who would want more?". I'd say that indeed people can become overwhelmed by too much of anything, but in this case several more probably won't hurt and instead could really serve to help at least some persons!

Be a step above and ahead of other agents by giving more than the very good ADRE/AAR tool by offering the following list of websites that may help people get a better understanding of their area and the one(s) they may be considering moving into:

www.Familywatchdog.us

www.CrimeReports.azcentral.com
www.Ope.ed.gov/security

www.Profpub.com

www.Greatschools.net

www.Neighborhoods.realtor.com

www.ToxicMoldLab.com

www.TestYourHome.com

www.Phoenix.bbb.org

www.RipoffReport.com

www.FairHousing.com

www.ScoreCard.org

www.HomeWarrantyReviews.com

www.FeeDisclosure.com

www.AZmap.org/fissures

ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/AZ/phxshrinkswell.pdf

http://www.kpho.com/video/13338431/index.html

http://www.kpho.com/download/2007/0516/13332639.pdf

http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/az1223/

NOTE: Some of these will NOT work because of the "www" at the beginning; if that happens follow the "Did you mean... (current, likely correct, website here)" link provided.

As always, please share any others - not listed here or in the Advisory- here (by commenting) that you've found helpful for you and/or consumer's you dealt with!

Internet-Originated Lead-Generating Companies for Agents

2010-02-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

Are you interested in taking action on earning more commission income by increasing the number of closings you have, in full or by part, by meeting more new prospects through the internet? If "Yes!", read on...

What follows is a "micro-course", a self-tutorial of sorts for you; covering what you should do in this arena to start generating more leads for yourself from the world wide web.

One way to get more business from the web without you having to pay directly for leads (including, in most cases, a portion of the commission earned at closing to these lead generating firms; ones whose websites I have listed below for you) is to better manage your own web presence.

Know too that REALTOR.org has many good resources in this regard...about getting you up-to-speed on these kinds of topics that are very specific for our industry. By exploring what you'll find there (know that some is password-protected & for Realtor members only!) you can get & keep current on some very affordable ways you can drive more traffic (then inquiries, then leads...etc. to clo$ing$) to your website(s) - and yes; many agents have multiple websites for various reasons.

If you implement some of these ideas you already know of (or learn of at Realtor.org), be it from so-called search engine optimization or pay-per-click, you then just need to compel more people who are buyers and sellers to register at your website so you actually covert more of the lookers into bona fide leads that come right to you, not through a third party who is expecting a referral fee.

But besides that, on what is sometimes called organic or internal methods, meaning you get more buyers and sellers to come directly to you, if you instead want/say/think:

"Hey, this is all too complicated; I would prefer to pay someone else who has already figured a bunch of this stuff out already",

meaning if you would rather go the route to pay to have more leads delivered to you, I would say for you to start at

http://HomeGain.com/agent/realestateagent as the best place of this type.

I say this because I've had more agents have more success with HomeGain than any of the other internet real estate lead generating systems I have listed below. And they, unlike virtually all of their competitors, specialize in seller listing leads, although they do also have buyer leads available too.

That being said, HomeGain does not work for all agents (what does?) and there are some other good lead generating firms out there for Realtors,ones that agents I know who have also got good results from...these companies would be found at:

http://www.marketleader.com/products/

http://corporate.homes.com/products/real-estate-lead-generation/

https://www.agentconnect.com/Agent_Signup/

https://www.leadtorealty.com/secure/join-in.asp

http://incredibleagent.com/

And lastly, http://www.housevalues.com/ which I have seen strongly mixed results from...a few agents love it & make mucho money from their leads; most I know that have tried it have dropped out because it was not paying for itself...but it is certainly worth a look!

By the way, this time 2 years ago, I could have provided you a list of a dozen plus of these kinds of firms...but most of them have left that business for a variety of reasons; these 7 will hopefully be the only ones you need!

If you have looked into some of these types of services already, then you already know that the cost to participate varies...some only charge per "lead", while others for "qualified leads". Typically the better the quality, the higher the cost to you; usually meaning the more expensive they are, then the more likely they are not "raw" inquires, but rather that they have been, as sometimes labeled "scrubbed" and/or "incubated"; these are the leads that are supposed to be the "hotter" prospects. They state this because they have often begun a more detailed email and/or phone dialogue with the prospect and established that they meet some qualifications of legitimacy before they send them to you.

Most of these entities also charge an upfront fee and/or a monthly charge, ranging from a few dollars to thousands. Most charge a percentage of the sales commission based referral fee from 20-35% instead of (or in addition to) their other smaller ongoing charges.

Three quick tips before signing up for one of these programs:

1. Always ask about any specials they may be running!
2. Avoid the ones with outrageous claims and too-good-to-be-true guarantees.
3. And certainly don't sign any long-term contracts! If it's so great, you'll renew!

Let me know how you progress with this! What have you found? Any I missed that you like?

"What Up" with those DNC Rules?

2010-01-15T11:26:00.001-08:00

Picking up from the last post about real estate agents making phone calls of a sales nature & the federal Do Not Call (DNC) requirements on those, I've put together a list of Questions & Answers to at least fairly common items that I'm asked about in this regard!

Note that these Q& A’s that follow are NOT intended to be the final word on the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), but rather are based on my best understanding. I am not an attorney & I do not play one on television...or here for that matter. :-)

The National Association of REALTORS has done much research (and lobbying) towards getting clarity about the TSR from the FTC on our behalf as an industry as it pertains to the telephone sales activities of realty licensees….and they have incredibly detailed & good information on the subject at: http://www.realtor.org/library/library/fg707 and there’s nothing like going directly to the source at https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov/FAQ/FAQBusiness.aspx

After a great amount my own time spent at these websites and others, I’d offer that these answers that follow are perhaps the best words of advice – and safest ones. And it is my intent to make updates and changes to these as the FTC TSR DNC related interpretations and clarifications evolve...

Q. Are there any exemptions to the Do Not Call rules?

A. Yes. There are six primary ones.

The first is you may call any personal telephone # not in the registry as “don’t call”.

The second is someone who you have a personal relationship with regardless of their being on the DNC or not. A “personal relationship” is defined as a family member, friend or acquaintance of the person making the call.

The third is someone who is on the registry as a DNC who is not someone you have a personal relationship with, but who expressly states (preferably in writing) to you that you may call.

The fourth is that you may call consumers with whom you have an existing business relationship. An “existing business relationship” is defined as customers you have had a closed sale through and this is allowed for up to 18 months after closing.

The fifth is if a consumer makes an inquiry, you can call that person for up to three months after the inquiry, unless they specifically request to you that you do not.

The sixth is that the DNC registry is for personal telephone numbers only. You may still call any business telephone numbers, as they aren’t eligible for DNC registry.

Q. Do the rules apply to calls made to For Sale By Owners (FSBOs)?

A. Yes. You are prohibited from initiating a telephone call to a FSBO seller who number is listed as a DNC in the registry if it is an attempt to, directly or indirectly, obtain a listing agreement. There is one instance when a real estate professional would be allowed to call a FSBO seller whose personal phone number is on the DNC list. This would be a buyer’s representative who believes his/her client might be interested in a FSBO property. There is no problem with a buyer’s representative contacting a FSBO owner whose number is listed in the DNC registry about a client’s potential interest in the property, as this call is not a telephone solicitation by the buyer’s representative. A buyer’s representative can only discuss his/her client’s interest in the property and not use a purported client’s interest as a way to also discuss the possibility of the FSBO owner listing his/her property with the buyer’s rep.

Q. Do these rules apply to contacts made to expired and canceled property listings as well?

A. Yes. Again, you are prohibited from initiating a telephone call to anyone on the DNC, as it would be considered a sales call UNLESS they fall into one of the six exemptions mentioned on the previous page. If your call is an attempt to obtain a listing, it would be considered a sales call. This includes calling expireds and canceleds at their personal phone number if it is listed as a DNC one. However, as in the FSBO example, if you truly believe you have a buyer prospect, that call would be allowed.

Q. A consumer calls me to inquire about a property listing I have. May I lawfully later call them to talk about other listings over the next three months, or I am limited to only discussing the property which prompted the consumer’s call?

A. Yes, any calls within 3 months would be allowed. The DNC Rules permit you to call a consumer following an inquiry for three months after the inquiry or until the consumer requests to be placed on the company’s individual do-not-call list. There is no limit on what you can discuss with the consumer during those three months. Thus, other listings & other real estate related matters may be the basis for an outbound call to the consumer over the next three months.

Q. A former (past) client calls and tells me a friend of hers would like me to call her to discuss the possibility of her listing her home with me. Do I still have to check the Do-Not-Call registry before making this call?

A. Yes. Even though it’s a past client, you still need to check the telephone number you have been provided against the DNC list to be in compliance because this sort of indirect inquiry triggers the rules.

Q. May I call visitors to an open house who provide their phone numbers to me?

A. Yes - BUT it's allowed only if you obtain their expressed permission to do so. One way to do this would be to provide notice on the sign-in sheet, book, register... letting visitors know that by providing you a phone number (and or email) that they are consenting to receive a follow-up call/contact. Another method can be having a space, a box, next to their phone number which allows the visitors to check “yes” that they would allow a follow-up call(s). Again, even if a consumer’s telephone number(s) is on the DNC and they give you permission to call, you may do so. There is no requirement that such permission be in writing, but by doing so, such as in the open house example above, you will minimize confusion and reduce the likelihood of a complaint against you being filed.

Q. Are there any “safe harbors” for real estate licensees and the company they are licensed with, meaning there would be no $11,000 fine per violation if certain preventative steps are taken?

A. Yes. There is a “safe harbor” for inadvertent mistakes that can help keep you "out of trouble" if followed. To qualify for the safe harbor protection, the persons making the calls must demonstrate they are doing ALL of the following:
- Have and abide by internal written procedures to comply with all of the DNC requirements, which these Q & A’s are an example of as a starting point,
- Be "trained"on procedures…which this can also lead to a form of.
- Maintains a company specific list of “Do Not Call” telephone numbers.
- Accesses the national registry no less than 30 days prior to calling any consumer and maintains records documenting this process.
- Any call made in violation of the DNC rules which was the result of an error; a one-time “honest mistake”, if you will.

There are so many more questions that come up about these rules, but know that the TSR was not put into place because of real estate agents. To date, in 5 (actually now more than 6) years since the rules were instigated, not one valid & proven complaint of any significance has been successfully lodged against a realty agent or brokerage. So don't you be involved in the first! Play by the rules & you'll probably be fine...instead of "fined"!

What You Need to Know When Using the Telephone for “Selling”

2010-01-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

As we begin this time of year, many active listing & selling real estate agents look to what they can do better, differently &/or more frequently to improve their sales success. Some will come to the conclusion (often being led to it by a real estate coach, mentor or trainer) that they need to use the phone more in selling, be it in identifying prospects, re-connecting with "old ones" (e.g. existing already-known contacts) to ask for their business & for referrals and in setting appointments.

The phone is a GREAT ally in the selling professions, be it as applied here or otherwise. This realization often quickly leads to fears or outright paranoia from these same real estate agents about the laws on "telesales".

In year 2003, the U.S. federal government implemented more stringent regulations on "telemarketing" (including adding the wildly popular list that consumers could/can add their phone numbers to no longer receive most "sales" calls), thus making it more difficult to access new consumers for all business people, including real estate folk. Yet all these years later, many questions and concerns exist.

What you do NOT want to have happen is to allow yourself as a selling Realtor to become so afraid of violating Do-Not-Call "DNC" rules as required by Federal Communications Commission "FCC" rules and enforced by the Federal Trade Commission "FTC" (with the US Dept. of Justice I believe) that it strikes fear into your heart to a degree that it basically ends up paralyzing you from using the telephone in your ongoing business development, marketing & prospecting efforts.

Know too that there are additional federally-mandated requirements as it relates to unsolicited:

- Faxes (under the Junk Fax Prevention Act),

- Emails (under the CAN-SPAM Act), and

- Text messages (also under the DNC rules).

In many cases, there are specific regulations that dramatically restrict your ability (or outright prohibit their use) to lawfully employ these in first cold contact, a.k.a. unsolicited “marketing”.

The safest thing to do is to NOT send items to persons who have not specifically represented to you through their prior consent (preferably in written form) that you have permission to send them messages through any of these methods.

By being considerate and using only “opt-in” marketing, you’ll thus be increasing the receptiveness of your contacts with the communications you send their way, regardless of what mechanisms you employ in the delivery of them! As has been widely publicized, there is a federal government national telephone DNC registry for which consumers can register personal phone numbers of theirs on which they do not want to receive telephone solicitations.

The telephone sales activities of real estate licensees need to comply with the requirements of these regulations and this registry. Many real estate brokerages provide look-ups for their agents. If not, there are free web-based look-up services, including at least one that requires no registration, user-id or password, to access up any phone # nationally, as to finding out “Are they on the DNC list - or not?”; all as an additional step to aid in the ease of your compliance with DNC rules.

As a real estate agent trainer, I get many questions from realty sales licensees about what is acceptable under the related rules, especially about the FTC/FCC requirements are on phone sales. What will follow in my next post later this month is a collection of some of the most common questions and the answers to those rules, especially as it applies to real estate agents.

In the interim, please know that if you specific questions related to the DNC list & the like, please post them here and I'll do my best to answer!

Crow'n on Escow

2009-12-17T12:48:00.000-08:00

With today's real estate market, we get many extremes. On one side in the Phoenix MSA, we have the 40% or so of all transactions (year-to-date through Oct. 31st) that are all cash. Many times these close escrow in a matter of only a couple days or weeks at most provided everything is good to go. Then there are the short sales, REO's & "normal" sales now that are taking 45 days to several months to get to a closing.

Distressed sales are now at about 2/3rds of sales & the remaining 1/3 are those normal ones. Ah, normal sales at or around 35%. A normal residential real estate market is about 95% of sales. Nothing is normal right now it seems...

But occasionally there are still normal escrow lengths; the time from when a offer to purchase is accepted. This describes one here in the greater metro Phoenix area as to what is done when.

And here's to a more "normal" 2010!!!

A Timeline of Things a Title Company / Escrow Agency Does:

The following timeline is based on a hypothetical "normal" 30 day escrow. Of course, each individual escrow is unique following an at least a somewhat different schedule & requirements.

DAY 1 The residential resale purchase agreement serves as instructions to escrow. The contract, along with an earnest money deposit, is delivered to the escrow entity.

DAYS 2-3 A different opening letter is sent to both the Seller & the Buyer within these first few days. The letter to the Seller asks them for the information necessary for the payoff of any existing loans, details on the HOA (if any) or other local governing entities, for 1099 information (if later deemed necessary), a non-foreign investor certification (as applicable), and how their proceeds (if any) from the sale are to be delivered. The letter to the Buyer requests their preference for how they will be taking title, the details as to who will be providing their new homeowner’s (fire) insurance & their new lender information (if not yet received).

DAYS 4-5 Escrow company sends out a preliminary title report to all interested parties (including the sales licensees) and a copy of the CC&R’s are sent to the Buyer.

DAYS 6-10 All payoffs potentially owed (to lenders, HOA, sanitary district, etc.) are ordered by escrow, pending the receipt of the paperwork requested from Buyer & Seller.

DAYS 11-18 Buyer and Seller return all requested documents to the escrow entity. Typically at or about the 2 week mark before the scheduled close of escrow an internal audit of all the escrow requirements is performed by an employee of the escrow entity. If any needed documents are missing, all parties are notified what they are.

DAYS 19-25 The Buyer and the Buyer’s Agent should be in consistent contact with the lender to better ensure the timely delivery of the needed loan documents to escrow. The purchase contract calls for loan documents to be delivered 3 days prior to close of escrow, but it should be at least one week if Buyer’s need documents mailed to them. A Timeline of Things the Escrow Entity Does (continued)

DAY 26 The Seller’s & Buyer’s signing appointments are scheduled to be held. KNOW THAT THE SIGNING date is NOT the CLOSING date. Loan documents are received by the escrow entity. Buyer signs loan documents & they are returned to lender.

DAYS 27-28 The lender reviews documents. Buyer's closing funds must be deposited into escrow before lender funds the loan. Lender schedules transfer of funds. Funds in the form of a Cashier’s Check or wire-transfer for the balance due must be received (and payable to) the escrow entity to close the transaction.

DAY 29 Title receives lender's wired funds. The closing (recording) is the next business day.

DAY 30 Escrow closes when escrow holder receives confirmation that title was recorded. Within a few days, the final HUD-1 Settlement Statement (by the way, it's "all new in 2010...we've used the same one since 1974!) is mailed to all parties.

Property Managers

2009-12-03T07:13:00.000-08:00

I often get asked for referrals to many different types of businesses, including 3rd party residential rental property managers.

As you probably already know, it's always a good idea to check with multiple sources before hiring any company, including a professional property manager.

In my networking with other brokers & agents, as well as looking online at the rating information with the Better Business Bureau, plus in review of a couple of the local & State of Arizona government agencies and couple of various consumer commentary websites, I have done some of the "legwork" for you.

Here is "my" list:

"Property Management Companies to Consider"

By part of the Valley - the greater metro Phoenix, AZ area - put in quadrants (Southeast “SE”, Northeast, “NE”, Southwest “SW” & Northwest “NW”), as I have yet to find one with valley wide coverage that I could in good conscience add to this roster of sorts...

SE-

PRS Property Management

Desert Wind Property Management
------------------------------------------------

NE-

Trilogy Realty

Management Masters
------------------------------------------------

SW-

RPM West Valley

Active Property Management
------------------------------------------------

NW-

Key Management

Primary Residential Management

=================================+

Now it's your turn... who do you know - good, bad or otherwise? Any on my list that you disagree with? Maybe one(s) that you love; be they on the list already or not? Your feedback can potentially help provide all readers here to get a more complete look at the experiences of others in the perceived service delivery quality of area home property managers.

Contract Diligence - Part 2

2009-11-17T08:18:00.001-08:00

Picking up on the line of thoughts from Part 1 of this...

INSPECTIONS - Explain the inspection period via the Buyer’s Inspection Notice & Seller’s Response “BINSR”. Recommend that inspections be done by licensed contractors or home inspectors. Make sure all parties know what kinds of things that the inspection clause includes. Have the Buyer attend the inspection themselves. You may accompany them, but you should not be the only one to attend. If you are, you may have taken on the responsibility of knowing the condition of the property. As to the Seller's Response to buyer's requests in the BINSR, and per the form, the buyer has only two choices - to accept or reject the seller's offer - but not to ask for a cash concession in lieu of repairs, understanding as a practical item this does sometimes happen!

SIGNED, SEALED, AND DELIVERED - A contract is binding to all parties when it is signed, sealed, and delivered. This means that you must deliver a copy of the signed contract to the client (or the client’s salesperson) immediately after acceptance. Digital signatures (through providers such as DocuSign) are now accepted in most places & have been for over a decade. Either party can change their mind until the signed documents are delivered. The sooner you get it to the other party, the faster it is "officially" accepted.

TIME FOR ACCEPTANCE - The time for acceptance should not say “upon presentation.” It should be specific. Typically allow at least one working day. Remember that most contracts state “This is intended to be a legally binding contract”. If you make the response time “upon presentation” it could be reasonably argued that you are putting the Seller under duress. If so, and this causes the Seller to do something that they claim has had adverse consequences, you can be held liable. This does not preclude you from getting a signature when you present the offer; it merely removes duress.

WRITTEN, TYPED OR PRINTED - A general "rule" is that any language that is hand-written is taken over added phrasing that is typed and that added-typed takes priority over the pre-printed text on a document. This is important to know when there is a question as to which kind of clause or notation takes precedence over another (and potentially conflicting) item. So in being aware of this, be careful that any additions don’t compromise the standard form unless that’s indeed what you intend. And the safest thing to do (so that all readers know this fact) is to lead in with a statement that this is the intent, i.e. "This language supersedes conflicting language in this form found at..."

REAL ESTATE FEE - The AAR Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract "Contract" should not be used to address payment of commission issues. Understanding that the licensees want to be paid for their efforts, the Contract is NOT the place to address or cross-reference compensation, as the licensees are not a party to the Contract. Rather, the Contract is an agreement solely between the buyer and the seller outlining each party's rights & obligations in the sale of a home. Therefore the Contract should not be utilized to negotiate (or renegotiate) the rights and obligations of third parties, including the payments to brokers. Agents need to keep commission issues out of the Contract! To add it to the offer process is a potential violation of both the Arizona Commissioner's Rules & Realtor Code of Ethics.

REVIEW ALL - It is usually a good idea to have someone else review the documents before presentation and/or final acceptance, such as a trusted experienced agent or your Broker, Trainer or Mentor. Use the best, clearest, most unambiguous language possible and use the “4 Corners” Principle; meaning that “it” is clearly stated in writing; shown on, within, the 4 corners of the page. You may also want to consider it from the “12 Year Old Rule”, meaning is the language lucid & simple enough that a typical 12 year old could understand what is being stated?

Speaking of "reviews"...I hope this was a healthy re-introduction to you of the many key components of proper contracts!

Contract Diligence - Part 1

2009-11-02T10:11:00.001-08:00

One of the goals of a real estate agent (or at least it should be) is to always complete clear and competent contracts so that everyone involved has both a smooth & pleasant experience - well, at least as much of one as is reasonably possible!

Understanding that if we do not have "excellent" contracts, we cannot make an "excellent" living is one thing. But, more importantly for our consumers, if we have careless, sloppy contracts, we can harm them...and ourselves in the process! The truth is that your license, and really, at some level, your reputation, are on the line every time you prepare a contract. So - keep your real estate license unblemished and your good name by treating everyone fairly, researching the property, and by disclosing any and all pertinent (material) information to all concerned parties.

Integrating the following practices in your contract processes increases the likelihood of doing a great job for yourself & all persons who are part of the process!

ADDENDA - Addendum means “something added”. Addendum are simply documents used when additional space is needed to add to or remove something to any document, be it a listing agreement, a purchase offer or a contract that has already been accepted. You do not need to use an official Arizona Association of Realtors “AAR” Addendum (or Counter Offer) form to have a valid one. Use this when appropriate - many times we see an Addenda used when a Counter Offer should have been & vice verse.

COUNTER OFFERS - Counter Offers "Counter(s)" are used when most of the terms of the contract are agreed upon by both parties, EXCEPT for one to several points. Only once all of the terms (and Counters, if any) are agreed to in writing is there a binding contract. To create a Counter is to create a new offer. If there is more than one Counter, the second (and betond) should incorporate all of the acceptable terms of the first Counter & any additional terms needed, with language such as “All other terms & conditions remain the same”. This way you will have only one final counter form signed. There is a reason in our electronic documents, called "Zipforms", that the Counters are not numbered any higher than 5, being this: if it goes beyond the 5th Counter, it is often best to go back & effectively start over,"re-draw" it all up as it were brand new - on a “fresh-from-scratch” resale purchase contract. If you don’t do this, it can easily lead to more confusion than there might otherwise be.

DATES AND TIMES - Dates should be written out with the name of the month to avoid confusion. A date written as 11-2-09 can be seen as either November 2nd, 2009 or as February 11th, 2009. Most (if not all) of the AAR designed forms we use are already designed to clarify this, but when you are using a document that does not, be clear as to what is meant. And when writing times, such as a time for acceptance, always add the proper time zone if it is not already stated on the document as most of the AAR ones are. This will avoid any confusion concerning the actual times used. Remember - here in most parts of Arizona, we are on "Arizona time", as we do not participate in Daylight Savings, witnessed by most of the rest of the USA "falling back" one hour this past weekend!

DUE DILIGENCE - If you are diligent, you cannot be negligent. Employ competence with reasonable skill and care when preparing contracts and addenda so that the interest of all parties will be treated with fairness and honestly, knowing that full diligence is a duty you owe to all of your clients.

HOME WARRANTY - Offer a home warranty program to buyers (and sellers!), explaining the benefits and costs. The AAR Resale Purchase Contract specifically gives and asks for information on this topic. There are a whole host of competing plans to choose from; maybe offer consumers three to select from...and like an independent home inspection, it is highly recommended that there be a home warranty on EVERY closed transaction!

I'll continue in this vein in a new post (Part 2) later this month!

Understanding The Showings-to-Home-Pricing Dynamic

2009-10-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

Now that two of my properties are to be listed for sale, I need to be more conscious of this than ever...and so will you &/or your seller clients the next time you are looking at pricing issues!

Know this...

1. If the house is not being shown at all, it usually means the buyers & agents think the asking price is too high for the house & neighborhood. Recommendation: A major price adjustment.

2. If the house is being shown, but infrequently at best, and/or you not getting any offers during the 1st two weeks, and most certainly no later than the 1st month, it more often than not means buyers are finding nicer homes for the same or less money. Recommendation: A moderate price adjustment.

3. If the house was one that agents say was seriously considered by the buyer, but the buyers end up purchasing something else, &/or if the buyers view the house a second time, but still end up buying something else, it means that the current price is probably closer to what it will sell for. Recommendation: A minor price adjustment.

This information is culled from a National Association of REALTORS "NAR" study. It did not (nor any other research that I am aware of) however define what a minor, moderate or major price reduction is... but in my experience & professional opinion they should be considered as such:

Minor - 1-5%
Moderate - 6-10%
Major - 11%+

Additionally in this report prepared by the NAR, it stated that if a "typical" house (one at or near the median price for the area) listed for sale is priced correctly, it should, on average, be getting at least 1 written offer from every 6 showings. The NAR study also finds that, also on average, a property for sale should be getting 2 showings a week.

So, if you are not getting to these numbers listed above, you of course can always look at waiting longer, and/or at doing more marketing, but the harsh reality is that what is probably needed is a price adjustment; most likely a moderate to major one!

Avoid what I call "Death by a Thou$and Price Cuts"; meaning many too small price reductions too infrequently done...resulting in these most unfortunate outcomes: 1., not accomplishing the objective of a sale at all, or 2., to dramatically delay a realistic time frame for it to occur, and/or 3., end up selling for much less than you likely would have been able to if you had simply priced it right at or near the beginning...by PRICING IT CORRECTLY NOW!

In closing, remember these two key concepts:

1. All you are doing when you select the asking price on a house is "How long will it take to sell?",

and

2. There is nothing wrong with any home listed, not selling, that a proper price reduction won't cure!

WHICH PROFILE DESCRIBES YOUR BUYER?

2009-10-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

Savvy sellers hire listing agents who already have a sense of the profile of the most likely buyer for the property. Marketers of all types of products and services do something similar.

As an example in residential real estate, brand new home builders often have dozens of different defined market niches of prospective purchasers that they then typically select 2-3 from when deciding what to build and who to promote the new construction product to, both by demographic & psychographic needs and characteristics, and often times with clever labeling names, i.e. Blue Color Blues, Upper Crust Elites, D.I.N.K.s (Double Income No Kids), etc.

Once you identify which one or two categories is most probable to be attracted to the type of home, you can then better determine how to market the property listing!

In residential resale, let us start with several basic ones, understanding that while these categories tend to contain many generalizations, there is more truth regarding these more often than not.

5 Buyer Profile Categories:

Who they are and what they often want; important items & considerations that are things to emphasize in your marketing efforts and showings:

1. First Timer's -
“A house like Mom’s”
Low Cash Down
Credit Issues o.k.
Affordable $ payment per month – lowest possible
The feeling of "Security"
Many Community Amenities.

2. First Move Up -
Newer "Everything"
"Good" schools
“A real house this time”
Size; more space inside & out–
Corner Lot, cul-de-sac’s, more yard
At least 2, possibly 3+, car garage

3. Second & Third Move Up -
The "Dream Home"
Quality (The higher-end, the better)
Designer brand names
Even more exclusive schools
Pool w/ luxury features
Status, prestige, exclusivity

4. Empty Nester -
Low or no maintenance
Service-orientated area
No kids bedrooms
Downsize, but in place
Smaller space-but keep stuff

5. Retired -
Single Level Home
Open Floor Plans
Extra energy efficient
Want easy access to close by eating, shopping, medical service
Reputation of area must be good
Smaller yard maintained by HOA.

=====

Now these 5 are all owner-occupied kinds of likely purchasers. Both the 1st time buyers and investors have been driving the majority of our home sales here as of late, so investors would be an example of another key group to do something similar for and about.

Target the buyer and thus you're much more likely to get the target price & time frame for a sale!

A “Backup Agent” Is A Must When You Aren’t Available!

2009-09-24T07:16:00.000-07:00

Few things are more annoying to fellow real estate agents and the public than licensees who do not seemingly ever answer their phone & maybe even worse, such as those agents who rarely even return voicemail left for them.

The "good" agents do answer their phone with regularity and actually get back to people when messaged; be it by phone or text. But what about when even those "good" agents will be away (unavailable) for one reason or another? What must they (you?) do about handling potential inquiries for you when you won’t personally be there to take care of your real estate matters?

Quick answer - Appoint another agent! A so-called "backup agent".

This really needs to be required for any absence of more than one day - even you’re accessible by mobile phone! Just because you can answer your cell most anyplace doesn't mean that you can, in all circumstances, work on what is required if you are not physically nearby or available. SOME things CANNOT - even today in our technologically advanced world - be done without you being there!

You truly need to make detailed arrangements with a backup agent before you are “off”– I say 24 hours or longer...but if busier, less than that – for any reason, be it just some quiet time, heading out on a trip or taking vacation! This is even more true on a on-going basis for "dual-careerists", (sometimes called "part-timers", etc.) - those Realtors, who regardless of the identifying label, have limited availability most of the time, not just from time-to-time!

So who is a good backup agent in your absence? Well, the right Realtor will be another agent at your company (yes, it should be a real estate licensee with your current brokerage, not one at a different firm); an agent who can take inquiries from anyone who wants to contact you regarding real estate. This should be a Realtor who is prepared to be familiar with any listings you have and is hopefully as motivated to do as good of a job as you - irrespective of what they are called on to do!

More often than not it is best that you must let the designated broker (or one or more of their duly-appointed representatives) and those who answer your phones (i.e. a primary receptionist) know who will be handling your business in your absence. In practice, that means that if any inquiry is made for something connected to you (e.g. someone decides to call, email, fax, etc. you or wants to see, buy or list a property before you return), the backup agent needs to be aware of all your listings and sales you have in escrow.

Certainly any failure on your part to safeguard your clients’ interests when you go away is a violation of your fiduciary responsibility and may result in you not getting paid all of the commissions you thought you would be receiving. Your broker(s) are there to help you, but not to take your place. It's simply unfair to impose on them, expecting them to do more for no extra income!

Know too that if you have hired a specialized "open transaction coordinator", be it a virtual one or otherwise, this someone who is not a full-charge & tasked personal assistant to you; that s/he is only there to take care of some of the details on your in-process sales, not to be all things to all persons when you are not fully available.

Again - who could this "backup" person be then? Let us begin with the fact that the (or one of the) most common ways is probably that agents often "team up" to cover for each other. This means when you won’t be available, another agent of your choice will serve as your backup. And when that agent is unavailable, you agree to take care of his/her business. No change in compensation is offered or exchanged. Agents who have a reciprocal relationship may be motivated to help each other simply because such mutual back-scratching is in their interest.

But a more powerful incentive for a backup agent is to get a piece of the commission that comes with the required work. Again, you need to reach such an agreement in writing with your backup agent before you take some time away & submit this form to the office. Such agreements are typically available from your brokerage, some even showing various options to payments between the agents depending on what services are performed by the backup agent in your absence and vice verse.

In summary, it's an old joke in our business that "If things have slowed down, take some time off; it will suddenly get busy!" And just because you say " I have nothing going on - I don't have any listings or active buyers!"...believe me - as soon as you are not available, an inquiry will come in for you - often from a source you would least suspect!

Please help us all in the industry collectively - and aid the consumer to minimizing their frustration- complete the following (or something similar) before you become temporarily unavailable!

SAMPLE FORM(AT) - ASK YOUR BROKERAGE IF THEY HAVE ONE SPECIFIC TO YOUR FIRM:

Print Agent Name ___________________________________

I will be gone from _____________ to _________________.

Any real estate related business for me will be handled by ________________________________________________

They can best be reached at this phone # & email _____-______-________ /______________________

In case of emergency, you may reach me at _________________________________________________

Special Instructions ________________________________

*PLEASE NOTE: It is the Sales Associate’s responsibility to notify their r.e. brokerage to cancel these instructions, or if plans change, if applicable, upon your return or modification of the original arrangement.

Real Estate is as Easy as 1-2-3

2009-09-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

If you decide to read Bob Boog's book, "Selling Homes 1-2-3" (subtitled "Insider Advice on Becoming a Surprisingly Better Part-Time or Full-Time Agent"), you will easily gain a wealth of new information on the processes that could very well increase your job satisfaction and your income.

The essence of brilliance is to take the complex and make it simple (to perhaps poorly paraphrase Albert Einstein) and Bob Boog does that in this excellent book. By the way, is "Bob Boog" a cool name or what?!

We in the industry have made this business much more complicated than it really needs to be. For all of the changes in the profession, it still, at its core, remains very much the same as it was when my dad obtained his real estate license - 1966 - also the year I was born. Selling Homes 1-2-3 cuts away the complexities we've collectively laid over it all for too long now and makes it much more simple for everyone involved. It also contains many quality sales approaches and techniques for agents that I've never seen or heard of in any real estate training tool - be it a book or otherwise. And I have seen most all of them!

The book has a heavy emphasis on working with buyers, which is relatively rare in a residential sales agent book. In the spirit of conventional wisdom in the business, most books of this type overly favor discussing working with sellers; getting listings. While there is a lot to be said for classic statements such as "If you're going to last, you better list", "Listings are the name of the game" and my favorite, "Old Realtors don't die, they just become listless", many agents look for educational offers on buyers (including books) and often times come up short when looking for such a tome. This book fits the bill for the agent looking to work with more buyers much better than they have been.

One good example of the "1-2-3" concept in the book title in action is this dialogue to use with a prospective home purchaser - O.K. - in the spirit of the book..."home purchaser" - let me just call it what it is - a buyer. Here's the script from the agent to the buyer:

"Buying a home is really as easy as 1-2-3. The 1st step is to make sure the money is there. If you are not paying all cash, you want to first work on getting pre-qualified for a new loan. The second step is to narrow it down to just the right area for you. And the third step is - again you have the money to buy lined up and selected the neighborhood you want, is to find the exact right home for you - at the best possible price, the most favorable terms, in the time-frame you want -- all with the fewest hassles possible. Does that sound good?"

As famed trainer of realty salespeople, Tom Hopkins has said of this book Selling Homes 1-2-3, it's a "great one that real estate agents should keep handy". I AGREE!

Getting a Commitment for Buyer Loyalty

2009-08-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

One of the top complaints from real estate agents about prospective home "buyers" is that some of them are, shall we say politely, a bit (or a lot) flaky. And not in a delicious croissant sort of way.

Some of that "flakiness" goes to buyers who use an agent's time and knowledge, and later that same buyer consummates a real estate purchase through a different realty licensee, resulting in no income for outgo that the Realtor expended.

Bummer! That hurts, man. Cuts deep when they do that, doesn't it?

So how do you get better, loyal buyers? Well, it's really pretty simple!

Here's your talking points, ones you should use at the tail end of a typically 45 minute or so in length initial in-person meeting with the prospective home buyer:

"When I as your Agent take you on as a client, I am obligated to provide you:

- Loyalty

- Obedience

- Confidentiality

- Accountability, and

- Diligence.

(As a quick aside, you might want to briefly define these and give an example or a benefit statement with most or all of those 5 duties...but if not, that's o.k. too)

What I expect in return when I do put these out for you is that the one duty -Loyalty - needs to be a 2-way, not only a 1-way, street! As a someone who is telling me you are looking to buy a home, you need to know that if do you change your mind, there is never any obligation buy. But as your real estate agent, I need to be assured that if you do decide to buy, and I have been performing the duties above, that you will have me represent you by showing you any property first and completing the purchase offer on your behalf. So - I need to count on your Loyalty! Can I?"

Virtually every buyer says "Yes".

And then you can decide to proceed to confirm that loyalty pledged from the buyer in writing through use of an "Exclusive Right to Locate Property Contract"...also known as a "Buyer Broker Agreement"...and I highly recommend that you do so.

Know that it is very hard for people to say "Yes" to loyalty verbally and then attempt to back out when you look to put it in writing!

If they do say "No" (most unusual, especially considering you ask this towards the very end of a consultation, when the rapport & trust is towards its peak), you'll have to decide where you want to go from there. Understand that the pressure is on them, not you, to explain. But perhaps by you stating something such as the following will help clarify and continue the dialogue:

"Really? No? That truly surprises me you say that...

Most everyone says 'Yes!' at this point and then we get to go do the fun stuff - like look at homes that may contain 'the One' for you!

Now, I did cover quite a bit & go over the information fairly quickly with you. What is your real question or concern?"

At this stage, you often find the objection, if any, is little or none and most will sign after you address the one or two items they are wondering about before they agree to proceed.

Or you can go purely on a "handshake" agreement. NOT recommended, but you could.

Or you can think to yourself -"Next!" - & refer them out to another agent or just turn them away. Again, these kinds of situations rarely happen.

Asked the right way, at the right time, as described above, and most will buy through you and make that commitment in writing!

WRITING ADS THAT WORK WELL TO SELL!

2009-08-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

The purpose of advertising a home currently listed is to get inquiries on the property for sale. That's a real revelation, huh? :-)

We also know that many agents have cut their property advertising budget to effectively zero in light of current market conditions. Still others think that they don't really ever run any "ads" on their listings. But virtually all real estate agents do place advertisements, even if they don't think of them that way.

For example, the MLS Remarks will probably be your most frequently read ad on a home for sale, especially when considering that some of that language is used in the syndication to consumer websites as well. So we all run ads on our listings!

Next, we need to understand that the difference between a great ad and an average ad is response! It costs no more to have ads that "pull" very poorly (received few inquires on) than to have an advertisement that gets dozens of contacts; calls, emails & texts.

In order to write a great ad, you need to determine exactly what you want your ad to accomplish!

There are three things to keep in mind when writing your ads. Write your ad so that it will do this for:

1. QUALIFIED PROSPECTS: Attract qualified buyers and/or the agents who will bring them to the house.

2. FUTURE SELLERS: Tell prospective Sellers/Clients that we know how to advertise.

3. ENHANCING THE IMAGE: This applies to both the property & the agent, Conveying that you are a professional agent; one any buyer or seller could have complete confidence in working with as their Realtor!

Know too that response to any ad is in direct proportion to the reward the ad promises. A reader will not respond if he does not perceive a sufficient reward. The effective ad sets your house apart and mentions items that buyers are interested in.

Additionally, here are some thoughts about:

PRICE - One study showed over 50% of the readers will not call if the price is missing. Include in the price all the for sale ads. No one likes to call only to find out the house is out of their price range. The caller will usually just quickly hang up when they find out the price anyway, so just give them what they want upfront.

CALL TO ACTION - Use descriptive words to create a feeling for the house. Finish your ad with a strong “call to action” phrase, i.e. Call Now! Create a sense of urgency!

CONDITION - Of interest to buyers are things such as a newer roof, or air conditioning, freshly painted, new carpeting, etc. See the following page for more do’s and don’ts.

CONSTRUCTION - The style, number of levels, type of construction, unusual architecture, and custom floor plans interest buyers.

ENERGY FEATURES - List any “green features,” i.e. extra insulation, lots of shade, solar features, etc.

LOCATION - Research has shown that at least 46% of the readers want to know the specific area the home is in, not just a general area. Give a main intersection or a well-known landmark such as universities, malls, hospitals, etc. Subdivision names alone are not always familiar to many people, so be sure your directions (if any) are clear and start from large well known major freeways and/or intersections.

PHOTOS - Man! How many times do consumers have to tell us this is a top desire of theirs until we all comply? So use photos - lots of them - whenever you can. And decent to awesome quality only please. A little video wouldn't hurt either. As you've probably heard...a picture is worth a thousand...dollars.

DESCRIPTIVE WORDS FROM A TO Z TO USE THAT HELP POSITION HOMES TO SELL FOR THE BEST PRICE POSSIBLE-

Appealing
Beautiful
Captivating, Classic, Creative
Delightful, Dignified, Dramatic, Distinctive
Enchanting, Engaging, Enduring, Enticing, Exquisite
Friendly
Grand, Graceful
Hospitable
Immaculate, Impeccable, Investment, Inviting
Just Perfect
Kind of Like What you've Always Wanted
Lovely
Magical, Matchless, Memorable, Meticulous
Newer
Outstanding
Prestigious, Privacy
Quality
Refinement
Sensible
Tempting, Thrilling, Treasure, Tranquil
Unique
Vast, Velvety
Wise, Wonderful
X-cellent
Youthful
Zestful

======

Now it's your turn! Please share with us some of your best ad writing tips!

A Buyer's Rights vs. Their Responsibilities

2009-07-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a home buyer who makes a statement that they may have a claim for damages are indeed justified by a genuine lack of disclosure or a dishonesty on the part of a seller and/or realty licensee.

But the reality is that, more often than not it seems, the claim of monetary damages is actually one for which the buyer should be taking responsibility for...now, that's not to say that we are still in (or that we should return to) pure Caveat Emptor (Latin for "Let the Buyer Beware"), but what concerns me (and numerous others) is the expansion of buyers collective opinion that if something goes wrong, it's every ones fault but their own and that they are going to sue.

To that ends, the following is a Top 10 Roster of Rights and Responsibilities of a Purchaser of Real Estate:

1. Buyer has the right to be represented. Buyer has the responsibility to fully communicate their, needs, intentions and objections.

2. Buyer has the right to review property condition disclosure documents. Buyer has the responsibility to investigate any items that are material (a.k.a. important) to them.

3. Buyer has the right to professional general home inspection. Buyer has the responsibility to notify seller of any items to be repaired or replaced that one should reasonably expect to be in working order or condition.

4. Buyer has the right to a separate specialist roof inspection. Buyer has the responsibility to pay for this and any other inspections and act accordingly based on the results.

5. Buyer has the right to either take the risk that it may not be or make their own confirmation about connection to water service or well and sewer or septic services. Buyer has the responsibility to decide if the property as represented actually is as stated & if not how to proceed.

6. Buyer has the right to a home protection plan (a.k.a. a one-year home warranty - renewable). Buyer has the responsibility to determine the limitations of coverage in the warranty plan.

7. Buyer has the right to a walk-through not long before the signing &/or closing. Buyer has the responsibility to confirm that everything is in substantially the same condition as was at time of offer and any repairs agreed are completed.

8. Buyer has the right to review all documents (be they CC&Rs or otherwise) that govern the community where the house is located. Buyer has the responsibility to become fully informed about the rules that are agreeing to live by found in these.

9. Buyer has the right to review a "Pre-Audit" (a.k.a. a Settlement Statement or HUD-1) which lists the varies costs of the transaction with the various credits and debits to both buyer and seller showing for all to see. Buyer has the responsibility to confirm that it is all accurate & act now if not.

10. Buyer has the right to have any and all of their questions answered by subject matter experts from their respective fields of knowledge. Buyer has the responsibly to seek these out at their own time and expense.

=======

Even the "rights" have responsibilities, don't they?!

All real estate agents, be they buyers or sellers representatives should make buyers aware of all of these. It is good for everyone in the process to do so! At the same time agents for the client you represent -protect your clients interests. Be the kind of agent you would want to have if you were buying or selling. Remember that Article 2, standard of Practice 2 of the REALTOR Code of Ethics states that we as licensees "...are obligated to discover and disclose adverse factors reasonably apparent... (to them)..."

Feel fee to adopt this post as you see fit - I did! This is not fully an original work. The source is unknown. If you know the author of something like this that is eerily similar, please let me know and I'll give them their credit due!

Getting it $OLD - Part 3 of 3

2009-07-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

Alright - you're doing well, but maybe it's taking more time than either you or the seller had hoped? Onward & forward!

Property Marketing & Servicing Plan – the 3rd 30 Days

____ Contact seller weekly and debrief on all activities.
____ Discuss concerns about why property hasn’t had offers or sold.
____ Follow-up with other broker showings.
____ Brief Sellers on all other feedback from other broker showings.
____ Revise CMA; what is new? Price adjustment needed?
____ Discuss price reduction with Sellers.
____ Brief Sellers on any current market trends affecting property.
____ Submit any ad changes or marketing alterations to Seller.
____ Outline all pro-active efforts to Seller.
____ Schedule another Open House (if warranted).
____ If price reduction occurs, activate “Tell 25” endeavor again.
____ “Open House” with day and/or time “Sunday sign rider.
____ Submit any changes to MLS, office, and electronic marketing.
____ Submit changed data to Seller.
____ Examine need of incentives and submit to Seller…such as…
____ A Commission increase?
____ Seller buy-down on Buyers interest rate?
____ Floor covering/Carpeting replacement?
____ Pay part of buyers closing costs?
____ Change of financing terms?
____ Repairs still needed?
____ Are the Pre-Sale Inspection & Home Warranty value/ benefits being conveyed?
____ What is the condition of property, inside and out? How does it compare?
____ Review and discuss Seller needs and deadlines. Get a listing extension, if wanted.
____ Discuss with other agents or office staff any recommendations they may have.
____ Share those recommendations with the Seller.
____ Share concerns about the lack of property activity with Seller.
____ Communicate….communicate….communicate!!!!!

Property still not sold at end of the first 90 days? – Well, as it says on many bottles of shampoo, Repeat! Be certain you work hard to enhance and modify this plan as needed to obtain the needed result you were hired for – GET IT $OLD!

NOTE: Home sellers have often relied on incentives to spur sales in real estate downturns. Some of these include (for the buyer and/or the buyer’s agent):

- Giving away a quality television,

- Gift cards of many types for at least several hundred dollars, (i.e. for gasoline or to area restaurants),

- Paying for 6 months to one years worth of maid service, pool cleaning, or homeowners association fees,

- Giving rebates, airline points, a vacation, adding fancy furnishings or even including a vehicle!

Probably the two most effective & simple items are cost buy downs (for example-an interest rate reduction) for the purchaser &/or a cash bonus offered by raising the amount of commission for the agent who brings the buyer, perhaps one conditioned on either (or both) a deadline or a particular price.

Consider (and add as needed) one or more of these incentives to help yours stand out!

Getting it $OLD - Part 2

2009-06-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

O.K. - that listing still does not have an accepted offer from a buyer on it?

No? Let's continue then...

Property Marketing and Servicing Plan – the 2nd 30 Days

____ Discuss future plans with Sellers.
____ Send “Thank You” card to Sellers.
____ Prepare Sellers for “lower than expected” offers.
____ Discuss activity (or lack of) with Sellers.
____ Discuss efforts by you, office, ad company to sell property.
____ Follow-up on all repairs and property condition.
____ Consult with Seller on next Open House efforts.
____ Check on status of house keys/lockbox.
____ Compile list of all ongoing marketing and plan for implementing others.
____ Create a prospective Buyers list (type of buyer, and names).
____ Update CMA; any new Sales? Actives that went Pending? Pendings that Closed?
____ Preview any of the new comparables “comps” in area.
____ Give feedback on comps to Seller.
____ Check on all inquires; be they calls, emails and showings again.
____ Check on status of outgoing referral(s), if any made.
____ Check on “Tell 25” and Open House leads.
____ Held a Broker Open House? If "Yes", work on the "when" & other details.
____ Review any periodic price reductions discussed at time of listing.
____ Revise any ongoing marketing efforts, and update.
____ Review any changes with Sellers. What else do they need to be doing?
____ Update any financial alternatives or incentives for the property.
____ Discuss market trends that may have changed since Sellers first listed.
____ Devise “new” special brochures and distribute to “Tell 25” owners.
____ Mail (&/or email) out the special brochures to past “interested” parties.
____ Review e-marketing information; is it on the top websites? Is the information all complete and correct? Any enhancements you can make?
____ Follow-up phone calls &/or emails to all agents who have shown property.
____ Renew “pitch” at area agent meetings and office meetings.
____ Report any Listing Status Changes at MLS meeting.
____ Report any Listing Status Changes at office meeting.
____ Promote the listing at area businesses.
____ Schedule an update meeting with Sellers.
____ Meet in person with Sellers-get some agreement of new enhancements.
____ Discuss any offers (if any) that were turned down by Sellers.
____ Try to re-activate previous agent/buyer interest/offers.
____ Inspect newest market trends now showing and discuss with Seller.
____ Check on condition of the sign(s) on property
____ Consider what else can be done -- and ACT ON IT~

O.K. - it's your turn to share. What is something you would add to the checklist so far?

Getting it $OLD!

2009-06-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

As part of the process of the REALTOR working hard to get the property they have listed for sale to under contract for sold, the following is a checklist that can be helpful in implementing the steps needed to do just that.

And a 2nd & 3rd 30 day period portion will soon be available here as a new post...

"Property Marketing/Servicing Plan – the 1st 30 Days"

____ Prepare all listing legal + MLS input forms & other company required documents for your files; begin the implemenatation of each.
____ Tour property with Sellers (note any “marketing distractions”, etc.).
____ Use a Walk-thru inspection checklist that notes any needed repairs.
____ List all replacement items and assign dates for estimated completion.
____ Decide on presale appraisal, home inspection and/or home warranty.
____ Prepare Sellers of issues relating to showings; “No shows", "Walk-ups,” etc.
____ Advise Sellers to save agent cards from showings for follow-up activities.
____ Discuss with Sellers the importance of their absence during showings.
____ Get from Seller items they may have such as floor plans, appraisals, etc.
____ Make an extra sets of keys, if applicable.
____ Schedule feedback frequency and type with Seller.
____ Take & upload photos, video and/or virtual tour of property.
____ Prepare print promotional items-e.g. a flier, highlight sheet, brochure, etc.
____ Order “Just Listed” postcards and get them mailed.
____ Install a Keybox, if allowed and appropriate.
____ Order/install post(s), sign(s) + any riders; esp. those w/ interactive text or voice.
____ Process all remaining paperwork; be sure Sellers have copies of all.
____ Prepare Sign-in sheet for property & any other point-of-sale items.
____ Contact a local lender for financial work-ups to have at property.
____ Install financial work-ups at property and any other materials.
____ Check periodically on sign condition and ask seller to notify.
____ Prepare Seller to help stock and distribute brochures/fliers.
____ Distribute promotional brochures/flyers at agent meetings.
____ Promote the property at any meetings where agents are present.
____ Check on appearance of website profiles of the property.
____ Schedule Realtor Broker open tour, hold & give Seller the agent feedback.
____ Submit ad copy on property to newspapers and magazines, if applicable.
____ Advise sellers of additional promotional possibilities and results.
____ Upload more photos (i.e. of area) for MLS & other e-marketing images/video.
____ Discuss Open House appropriateness and dates/times with Sellers.
____ “Tell 25” activities (notification of property’s availability to 25 neighbors).
____ Prepare list of alternate homes on market as “spin off” homes.
____ Double-check MLS and web-based marketing for accuracy of information.
____ Check with Seller to see if repairs have been started or been completed.
____ Compile advertising activity to date and cover with Sellers.
____ Follow-up on all showings and calls from advertising and sign(s).
____ Report follow-up information to Sellers.
____ Plan and prepare for Open House(s).
____ Conduct open house(s), if agreed upon.
____ Review open house results with Sellers; act on negative feedback we can.
____ Follow-up with open house attendees, including agents.
____ Explain “Reverse Offering” to Seller & conduct with most buyers who view the home.
____ Meet with Seller to review activity or lack of activity recommendations...or more of the details of the accepted offer on their house and what comes next...again, watch for the 2nd 30 Days list!

Feeling Down? Try This!

2009-06-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

I always have felt when you have the blues, if you are a bit down in the dumps, that it's best to get busy & serve others. As Rupert Holmes sang "Get Out of Yourself". Or as Rick Warren famously opens his mega-bestseller book The Purpose Driven Life, "It's not about you."

And as Tony Robbins says ...""Get moving...exercise more...savor some sunlight!" ...knowing that (positive of each) "Motion creates Emotion".

I also suggest that you volunteer; help a worthy organization and/or individual...someone less fortunate than you. In the process of reaching out to others, you'll feel better about yourself! This will probably also help you develop, as Zig Ziglar coined, "An Attitude of Gratitude".

Lastly here, if you are looking for something else to get you into this mode of completing your check-up from the neck up, I suggest you take in Art Berg's "The Impossible Just Takes a Little Longer" - this inspirational work is sure to get you pumped up!

You can see how to get it at www.ArtBerg.com ...there are also several very good 'Archived Newsletters' that you can view for free at the website. I was fortunate enough to see him speak live and own a video of his "....Impossible..." talk; I watch it from time-to-time & it always lifts me up. Art lived with joy and brought joy to others! I encourage you to do the same.

How do you "pump yourself up"? I'd love to hear about your approaches to this!

Open for Business

2009-05-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

One of the very best ways to launch (or re-energize) a real estate career is to develop an incredibly proactive & aggressive schedule of a veritable campaign of frequent open houses. I have seen real estate agents go from outright distress to massive sales success by doing just this!

Here's a “Quick Glance” of my suggestions for you to get "Started (or Re-started as needed) doing Open Houses":

Begin by finding listing inventory (residential resale houses for sale) that you can hold open for other agents licensed with your brokerage, if you don't have any of your own--at least ones that make good sense to hold open.

Know this: Most agents who have listings (and their seller clients) are more than happy to let you do open houses on their properties!

Ask another agent in your office/company or a manager/broker how you can get a roster of current listings with the firm, so that you can locate potential properties to hold open. (You can get some of this in the MLS, but typically not all and not always very easily).

Once you begin to locate homes that might work, choose 3-4 different ones that are the types of homes you have interest in by price, part of town, etc. so that you end up with at least one that works out being best and right for you.

Next, contact the listing agent personally (I recommend by phone, not email for this) about their listing and say something very close to this power language; words that position you as 1. a valuable resource person (instead possibly coming across as a "job beggar"), and 2. by asking in a way that is very hard for that other agent to say "No" too:

“Hello. My name is __________. I don’t know if you and I have met, but I am a agent at our company, __________. I see that you have a listing located at _________________. Looks like a sharp home! Say-I have a quick question for you: 'Would your sellers have any objection to us doing some more promotion on the home to get it sold?' (Usually the answer you’ll receive is “no”). You can clarify exactly what you want to do by saying, “I’m available to hold the property open on (date) or ______? Which would work best for your seller and you?” If the listing agent can’t give you a definite date and time, set a deadline to hear from them (usually the same day). If you haven’t heard back from the lister by the short deadline period you’ve set, call them again. Be persistent; you may need to ask more than once until you ultimately connect.

Your next step is to go physically see the property so you can be certain it is something that will likely get "traffic" (people visiting). Don’t choose a house to hold open that doesn’t show at least reasonably well. For example, if it is dark and dreary and way off the beaten path, perhaps in bad shape and/or over priced – it’s a waste of your time. If it isn’t what you really want, don’t be uncomfortable in letting the listing agent know why. This should be a property that is something you would be proud to represent!

More tips for you:

* You should schedule an open house a minimum of once a week. Even better would be to hold an open house two or three times per week. Saturday and Sunday aren’t the only days of week you can do these. Weekdays are excellent as well. You will generally get fewer people on weekdays, but the quality of prospects is usually better than on weekends, which usually have more quantity of attendees.

* Use at least 3 open house signs; 10-15 is better! However, make yourself aware of any signage restrictions. Signs are "free" advertising and if you hold open houses three days a week using, say ten signs, you will get business! Lastly, when the open house is being held, check your directional signs at least once an hour to be sure they are all still where they should be as they can fall or be pushed over, etc. If you are holding another agent's listing open ask to use their open house signs. Even better yet -- ask them to leave theirs at the property to be held open! This way you save yourself driving around to pick-them up before and then needing to drop them off someplace else afterwards. And at the very least, once the open house is over, wipe them down with a damp cloth, dry them & leave them in as good (or maybe a bit better) condition than when you got them!!! Lastly on signs, if you do borrow another agent's directional (open house) signs, take good care of them!! If one is severely damage or stolen during the time, pay for them!

* Send (by mail or hand deliver) open house invitations (a flyer, door hanger or a more traditional, formal invitation all are o.k.) to a minimum of 25 of the surrounding housing units around the home that you are holding open each time. They should be delivered one to two days before the scheduled open house.

* Another way to boost attendance of neighbors is to do another quick reminder the day of the open house. Also, put up a sign rider with the date and time of the open house.

* Be prepared with highlight sheets, property brochures, or fliers (those are names for what are usually about the same thing -- just 3 different titles for 'em) that have your name and picture (not the listing agents--if not your listing), although if it's not your own listing, the listing agent will usually have one you can modify and use. Also have copies of your "resume/bio/credentials", copies of your web site (or better yet show it on a notebook computer along with a virtual tour of the home) and maps of the area.

* Have every one who visits sign in on a "guest register" or "marketing survey" --or you can ask for them for their information and make note of it yourself. Be sure you are asking for email addresses, too. This is so you have information to be able to follow-up with them later, if desired and appropriate. You might want to offer a small drawing, or something of value to help increase attendance and to increase the completeness of your sign in’s with their valid contact information.

* Make sure you preview every other property that is for sale (new and resale) in the area (say--in a 1-2 square mile radius) that are priced 10-20% (or $25-50 thousand) higher and lower. You want to do this because you may be asked about other properties in the area and/or it’s easier for you to sell other possible properties that you have seen which match the open house visitor/buyers criteria (if the home you are holding open doesn’t meet their requirements). Know your marketplace and what’s available and you will make more sales!

* Ask for appointments to show these or other properties to these buyers after you determine that they are not already being represented as a buyer through another agent! Your objective for the time at each open house you hold is to get as many leads and appointments as possible.

So, in summary, what is the benefit to you of doing all of this Open House activity?

You will be able to meet prospective buyers and seller clients who are yours to work with towards earning you commissions! Meaning you get paid when those prospects you meet, buy that or any other house where you write the contract. If a buyer comes to and/or learns of the property through another REALTOR (who writes the offer) the other REALTOR gets paid, not you.

Again, your commission participation comes from #1, the new listings you obtain as a result of meeting the neighbors and others who put their real estate on the market with you and #2, the buyer who you assist in buying the open house, or more likely, any other resale (or new home) you eventually find buyers which result in an accepted offer on a property that closes escrow!

Hey -- you more experienced pro's -- give us some of your best Open House tips!

One for Owner/Broker Types - Recruiting Agents

2009-05-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Yikes--I caught a flu and have been out & away from business for a week or so...

Although in my current role for my primary "day job" as the Director of Agent Development for HomeSmart Real Estate, I am not involved in the hiring of real estate agents (although some have commented, looking at my title, that it sounds as if I am), I have done/performed those duties for many years, having recruited around 1,000 over the years. As a result, I am asked for guidance by those whose job it is to do that -- to sign up agents to join/hire on with their realty brokerage.

Most of my failures in recruiting have been all mine (the "error" part of "trial and error") and most of my successes were a result of what I learned from others and in just committing to the activity when called upon.

Should you ever want/need insights into recruiting, I have had many weeks of training & coaching on the subject, primarily through the following 3 "Top Real Estate Agent Recruiting Experts", each of whom I have listed below for your consideration -- and who I would highly recommend each one of them to you!

Here are those recruiting guru's & their websites:

1. Jim Gilreath - www.RecruitTheBest.com

2. Carol Johnson - www.RecruitingPipeline.com

3. Steve Friedman - www.SteveFriedman.com

I also know of, and have heard good things about (but I don't know first-hand of their systems),

this lady-

Judy LaDeur - www.RecruitingWithJudyLadeur.com

and this gentleman-

Rich Casto - www.TheRealEstateRecruiters.com

===

As it is with real estate agents in their business development activities for clients, there are so many different ways to attract and retain good agents. I encourage you to reach out to one or more of the five folks mentioned above, & if I can ever be of assistance in answering your questions in this regard, please consult me.

Just Say "Real Estate Agent" Instead?

2009-04-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Not that most (if any) readers here give a darn about things that bother me, but just so you know one of them, I am now identifying one of my major pet peeves--that being the mispronunciation of the word "REALTOR®”.

Understanding this, also know that (as my wife likes to remind me), I routinely mispronounce other words. So this post is not meant as an elitist criticism from a stuff-shirt ex-English college major (or former grammar teacher), but rather is just me trying to do my part in attempting to make you sound even more professional than you already do (a difficult task I am sure)-- if you have been one of those folks that has said the word REALTOR incorrectly.

By the way, some of the (otherwise) sharpest Realtors I know of say the word REALTOR improperly.

To me it's certainly one thing when non-REALTORS say it wrong (i.e. members of the media or consumers), but another thing altogether when those who should know better--e.g. Realtors or others in related industries (such as title & escrow or lending) mess it up.

Upon hearing me discuss the correct pronunciation of "REALTOR", a loan officer once remarked to me " That's why I just say 'Real Estate Agent' instead." Go figure.

So to be correctly pronouncing the word “REALTOR®”, first know that “Realtor” is said properly with only two syllables, not what I frequently hear; three syllables. As it is often said...“Real-ah-tor” or “Real-i-tor”...nor is it proper to call a real estate brokerage (a realty firm) a “real-i-tee” company.

If it helps you to get it right (or explain it to others), think of it this way. When you are not feeling well, you do NOT go to a “DOC-A-TOR”. You go to a “DOC-TOR!”

Remember: there's only 2 syllables in the word; REAL-TOR.

In summary, be sure to spell and pronounce the word REALTOR correctly. If you are one, you do belong to the nation’s largest professional trade organization, so you --especially-- proudly state the word right- REALTOR!

Please help spread the "good word" on this!

P.S. To those that love to "correct the corrector", I add this bit; Yes, I am well aware of the NARs guidelines on usage of the word REALTOR® as it relates to use of all CAPS and the ® symbol...I have used it here without one or both several times now--but I HAVE always capitalized the first letter...and I am pronouncing it correctly.

The Residential Rental Tax - A Rip-off?

2009-04-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

A student recently said to me:

"I was in your rentals class. I enjoyed it & received a lot of good information.

I have a 'situation' that I'd like your guidance on- I am working with a couple who are relocating to the Phoenix area. They have found a property that is handled through a property management firm. They have been approved, but have not signed the final papers. They are questioning the rental tax.

They were told that the City of Phoenix charges a 2% rental tax. The prospective renters are now repeatedly saying to me that they think that the property management company is charged that tax and so the renters believe the property manager is unfairly passing it down to the renters; that the renters are being taken advantage of (or even ripped-off) by the property manager or owner.

Is there anything else I can tell them besides, 'Yes, that is normally what they do- that the renter pays the tax'? I keep politely telling them to contact the management company or City with any more of these kinds of questions, but these renters still continue to contact (pester) me about it. They are going to be renting for one year and then are going to buy, so I want to leave a good impression in hopes they will purchase their next home through me when they do make that decision.

Jim- any input from you will be helpful. Thanks!"

Before my reply, a quick aside...here is a link to a helpful post that Phil Sexton did on the subject, including a 'cheat sheet' of the many different rental tax rates of the various municipalities who charge them in the greater metro Phoenix area:
http://phoenixrealestatebrokerage.com/2008/05/07/city-tax-cheat-sheet-for-property-managers/ (I give out an updated list like the one found at that link, based on Phil's original information, in the rentals course I teach -- thanks Phil!)

O.K.-- my reply/answer to the Realtor student...

"The renter is certainly within their rights to question the rental tax.

But their concern is, in the end, misplaced and futile.

I'd simply mention to them that their interpretation of the rental tax is not how it really works--the tax is on the rent itself.

Standard operating procedure is that the renter/tenant pays it.

Maybe make an analogy to the retail store; when you go to buy something in one, there is sales tax to be paid...and who pays it? Is it the owner, the manager of the store, or the purchaser?

(As an aside, residential rental tax is considered to be in the same category as tax paid at retail; a privilege tax--one that is often the a similar amount--and is usually found in the same area of each municalpity's tax code. Remember--of the about 8% sales tax here, on average, around 2% goes to the local city/town--the balance, elsewhere--mostly to the State of AZ--and there is no State privilege tax on rents; renters should be glad for that!)

So the "rental tax" is added on to the "purchase" of rent. The tax is not included in the price, as it is in a store on merchandise. Nor is it a tax on the store or the owner, but rather it's one owed by the purchaser.

And so it is in rentals--again--it is not a tax on the owner of the property they are renting, nor is it one on the property manager, but rather it is on the purchaser's purchase-- in this case, a renter on the rent they pay--and the related benefits derived form it.

Hope some of that might help...should you want to use some of what I just said to these persons, feel free to cut & paste from my text and edit as you see fit."

And this applies to you here now reading this too...use the information in this post if you care to & how you see fit!

By the way... for owners of rental properties-- make sure you are complying with the requirements; the enforcement of collections has been stepped up in many areas-- see this article from last December for more background: http://www.azcentral.com/realestate/articles/2008/12/31/20081231renttax1231.html

Who Am I? I am Real Estate!

2009-04-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

My dad, an old real estate sage, a broker/owner/investor of real estate for 45+ years, recently gave me a copy if this...

"I AM REAL ESTATE-

I am the basis of all wealth, the heritage of the wise, the thrifty and the prudent.

I am the poor man’s joy and comfort, the rich man’s prize, the right hand of capital, the silent partner of virtually countless successful people.

I am the solace of the widow, the comfort of old age, the cornerstone of security against misfortune and want.

I am handed down to children, through generations as a thing of great worth.

I am the choicest fruit of toil. Credit respects me. Yet I am humble.

I stand before everyone bidding all to know me for what I am and possess me.

I grow and increase in value through countless days. Though I seem dormant, my worth increases: time is my aid and it raises up my gain.

Fire and the elements I defy, for they cannot destroy me.

My possessors learn to believe in me; invariably they become envied of me.

While all other things wither and decay, I survive. The centuries find me younger and better, increasing in my strength.

The thriftless speak ill of me. The charlatans of finance attack me.

But I am trustworthy. I am sound. Unfailing, I triumph and detractors are disproved.

Much good comes from me. I am the producer of food, the basis of ships and factories, the foundation of banks. I give place for warmth, comfort, shelter.

Yet, I am so common that millions pass me by, unthinking and unknowing.

I am Real Estate."

Words to live by! Remember -- love & real estate -- get all that you can!

Get a Home Inspection Done at Time of Listing?

2009-04-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

Over the years, I have made many predictions of what the future holds for the residential real estate processes. Perhaps like a stopped clock, I am right about things, in general, maybe twice per day. :-)

One that I made in the early 1990's was that by the year 2000...

(as an aside--remember that?--when, in the last millennium, predictions of all types often started with "By year 2000...")

that most homes at the time of listing --or right before officially put on the market-- would have a home inspection done at the time of listing as ordered by the seller and/or listing agent.

Wrong I was! Today this is still a rarity.

But what a shame that I was incorrect; that this has not (YET-I'm still hoping!) come to pass --that not only is their a home inspection done by and when the buyer has an accepted purchase contract pending in escrow, but rather that one is done long before that time-- that a "pre-sale inspection" is completed too.

So to "sell" yourself and your seller clients as to the "why" this should be ordered (and if it's been done by the seller and you're the buyer's agent--to let them know how GREAT this is that it's being offered), here is a list of 14 reasons, benefit-statements if you will, as to what is often gained as a result.

By the way, most of these benefits ALSO apply to why a seller & the listing agent would want to have an independent fee-based appraisal done upfront too!

1. Early ones result in discovery of actual or potential deficiencies in the home.

2. Minimizes the frustration of unexpected repair costs when understood upfront.

3. May result in a faster sale of the home, when used to properly price and repair.

4. Establishes a benchmark in pricing the home. You know, the buyer knows, and all involved better know the value of the home and many things about its condition.

5. Can result in many more inquiries when it is communicated that it’s been done.

6. Having copies of these (perhaps in a “Marketing Manual”) left in the home results in prospective agents and buyers having a more positive attitude toward the home.

7. This unbiased 3rd party evaluation of the home establishes credibility with buyer because it minimizes the fear and concerns of many of the “unknowns”.

8. It often results in more offers from qualified buyers (ultimately, in the offer from the buyer) because the home stands out from competition who haven’t done it.

9. It can, in many situations, result in the property selling for more than anticipated.

10. In many cases, it has been shown to result in a smoother offer/negotiation process.

11. Always a possibility of recouping at least some of the cost of these inspections.

12. Results in a faster mortgage process; increases the chance sale will close on time.

13. Reduces delays in processing and closing the sale; few if any BINSR surprises.

14. Eliminates a tremendous amount of frustration, emotionalism and anxiety.

Any I missed or that you question the veracity of?

The Top Complaint from Home Sellers About Their Listing Agent

2009-03-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

The call or email to the managing broker usually goes along the lines of this:

"You don't know me, but one of your agents -- Realtor so & so -- has our house listed for sale; and we are not happy. The agent listed the property for sale & that's about the last we heard from them--and that was months ago. We want to cancel the listing!"

So the number one complaint that current owners who have their house on the market is: “The real estate salesperson is not working to sell my home; they rarely (if ever) contacted me once they signed me up & took my listing!”

People (including sellers, many of whom are, in general--reasonable) will be usually be satisfied with their lister if they know that this salesperson remembers them (at least says "Hello" to them once in awhile) and that they are not being taken advantage of.

To help achieve this sense from your seller clients, start and keep the lines of communication open to them. Make certain that they are called and or emailed at least once per week so they can see, hear and feel their salesperson (YOU!) are really working for them to get their property $OLD!

Some of the agents who don't do this usually say they have nothing to tell the sellers. A few are so blunt to say that when they have an offer, they'll contact the seller then only. WOW! That doesn't sound very customer-service orientated to me!

The following are items are things that can be discussed with your sellers in your contacts with them to update them about the progress and activity being made-even more macro market conditions can be helpful for them to hear about as well:

FLYERS- By it in an e-format, print or both. Have the hard-copies of these flyers (a.k.a., highlight sheet or property brochure) made for the house and give one to the sellers. Leave some at the property. If there is a yard sign post in use at the property and it's owner-occupied, ask the seller to please be in charge or restocking the brochure box or tube (if you use one) and that they should let you know when the supply of the flyers are running low, so you can get more printed and to them in time.

REALTOR TOUR(S)- Be they newer-fangled e-tours or the old-fashioned live events, getting these scheduled and coordinated (mostly through local REALTOR Associations) can be a real plus for a variety of reasons. You can see a complete list of the live-caravan-to-each-one-on-tours at: http://paronline.com/pdf/2009_Marketing_Session_Comprehensive_Table_for_2009_as_of_11-11-08.pdf . Confirm with your seller the date and time their property is scheduled for tour. After the tour, tell them the salespeople’s reactions and comments. Filter what you feel you need to but be direct. Sometimes they may not want to hear it, but they need to! Include comments regarding appearance, condition, financing, price and suggested improvements.

OFFICE SALES MEETING- Tout it there. Show the YouTube video you've made of the listing (or burn some on a CD--or both) and share it at the meeting. Afterwards, give the sellers the reaction of your associates after pitching their property at the office meeting.

MARKETING FEEDBACK- Let sellers know when you have talked about their property and/or distributed flyers or e-flyers, # of visitors to websites and any reactions received.

GETTING FEEDBACK FROM SHOWINGS- While this can be precarious & some Realtors doubt the veracity & effectiveness of it, the preponderance of the evidence is that if done consistently, this can provide valuable insights into the saleability (and even a sale) as a direct result. Have sellers save the business cards of salespeople who show the property and then you, either through our flexMLS or otherwise, you reach out to those agents with their names, company, and phone numbers. Call or email those salespeople and respectfully jog their memory as to which home it is and give sellers that other salespersons (and/or buyers) comments about their property; good, bad or otherwise.

FINANCING MARKET- Give sellers an update on interest rates, discount points, availability of money, current processing time and any changes in loan approval requirements.

REAL ESTATE MARKET- Give sellers an update on new sales, listings and closed properties in their area. Also let sellers know of listings that have expired in the area.

TAX CHANGES- Let sellers know if tax changes occur that could affect them and recommend that they contact their accountant for further information. AS ALWAYS, DO NOT GIVE TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE.

WARM CALLING- Tell sellers when you have made contacts to neighbors in their area to let these folks know that their property is available and to ask for potential buyer referrals. This is often considered to be a "warm" contact as you are very targeted & have a good reason to be reaching out to these folks as up to 18% of buyers learn of the home they buy from someone who lives in the neighborhood. You could do this in surrounding neighborhoods-looking for move- up or more-down buyers who may soon be buying in the adjoining area where your listing is. You could also do this to nearby apartment complexes. If done by telephone, those phone numbers (and more & more--email addresses) can be obtained from criss-cross or reverse directories; either free ones online, or purchased for a small fee, or provided gratis through a title company.

DOOR KNOCKING- Same as Warm Calling, except you do this face-to-face. Look at tax ownership records before starting.

ADVERTISING- Tell sellers when their property will be advertised and where. This can be in print and/or online. Maybe you re-syndicated their listing to hundreds of websites or set-up an 800 call capture &/or texting or IM system to reach more buyers. You could tell them how you just contacted agents (be it in a high-touch, but low-tech way or high-tech means--or both) who currently have other listings in the area to let them know about the property.

Regardless of "how", be sure to tell your seller clients when their & how property is being promoted by you!

Let your sellers know about anything that relates to the real estate market and their home and situation that may affect them. Let sellers know what you’re doing to earn your commission!

CONTACT YOUR SELLERS WEEKLY TO UPDATE THEM!

MAKE IT IMPACTFUL!

LASTLY--VARY THE METHOD –- CONTACT THEM BY PHONE, EMAIL & IN PERSON!

Whadya Mean I Don't Get My Way?

2009-03-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

Since I last left off on the subject of title and escrow, let's continue down that line of discussion...

Few things inspire more spirited discussion in the residential resale business than this question:

"Who Gets to Choose the Title & Escrow for this Sale?"

This meaning to most agents (not normally the consumers, as they rarely care one way or the other):

"Is it (collectively) the buyer & their agent or is it the listing agent & the seller who gets to have the final say on who will handle these two items?"

The truth of the matter is, in most cases, it's the buyer’s agent (in a "normal" sale--but remember--we have fewer of those than ever right now) who will usually determine where the escrow is opened and correspondingly (directly or indirectly) as a result, who will be the insurer of title insurance, because he/she as the buyer's agent is the one completing the purchase contract and is because he/she is usually in possession of the earnest deposit.

Again, this is most of the time, in an ordinary "arms-length" transaction, one where buyers and sellers will have no preference and the responsibility for choosing falls on the agents. Ultimately, the nature of the transaction, sophistication of the principals, and the experiences of those in your office with the many title companies in the market will determine whom you use for escrow.

And yes, if it is is it a lender-owned repo, a 3rd-party corporate relocation listing or a brand new home purchased through a builder, it likely will be the seller & seller's representative, not the buyer or their agent who will have the final say or "trump card" in this game of choice. This sometimes upsets buyers (but mostly buyer's agents) that they don't get to go with one of their favorite sources of title &/or escrow, but instead must play the game of real estate with the seller's selection...well, if they want to buy that property. And many just don't think that is proper, fair or right. But it simply is what it is...at least I've made peace with and am resigned to that--others want to "fight" it.

Note: Contrary to popular belief, RESPA (a federal law-- the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act) does not prohibit a seller from choosing the escrow firm; it only forbids a seller from requiring a borrower getting new purchase financing money under a government loan program to be required by a seller to get title insurance from a specific company. Most anything in most real estate transactions can be negotiated by mutual agreement--including any and all vendors; among them the provider of the title insurance policies and escrow services!

What’s the Difference Between a Title Company & an Escrow Agency?

2009-03-04T07:47:00.000-08:00

This one comes up once in awhile as a question from Realtors I interact with--

"What is the difference between a company that does title and one that performs escrow?"

Often is not said or asked; instead it is misunderstood by many agents, witnessed by the fact that they usually use the term "escrow" when they mean "title" and vice versa--they say them interchangeably, as if if they were the exact same thing.

Usually when fully and correctly speaking, a title company is the one who issues the title insurance policies, while an escrow agency is the one who attends to the many details involved in opening, maintaining and closing a real estate sale transaction.

Title companies are almost always large, hugely diversified, publicly-traded corporations. Many title companies in Arizona also operate their own escrow offices under the same brand name as the actual title insurer, while other firms are exclusively in escrow side. This has been the case here in Arizona for many years and is now a growing trend throughout the country.

Stand-alone escrow agencies are not "title" as that is not their business; these are typically smaller entities with less “financial muscle” that a full-fledged title company. For purposes of illustration, let’s use the analogy of some of the common differences between a mortgage banker & a mortgage broker for comparison--a related segment of the industry that most do already understand the differences.

More often than not it takes a significantly larger amount of capital to be a mortgage banker than a mortgage broker. The same holds true with a title company versus being purely an escrow agency. Generally speaking, a title company is a more substantial operation with larger financial backing and stability, whereas escrow agencies are smaller. Again, generally speaking.

You can know the difference at a glace as to is a firm only in the escrow business, as it must be said on virtually all of their materials the word “Agency”.

Hope that helps some of you! I know when I cover it in a class or on a one-to-one basis, I usually get at least a few "Now I understand it!"(s)

In Defense of Print

2009-02-28T08:22:00.000-08:00

It is with continued sadness that I witness the decline of the print media and it's perceived value by much of the public as both an information source and as an advertising vehicle.

Witness this disturbing trend with one more of the large metro areas to no longer be a "two newspaper town" -Denver- with the last edition published yesterday of The Rocky Mountain News, leaving The Denver Post as the sole large daily for that area.

If you need more evidence, this last Wednesday's THE WALL STREET JOURNAL had an article (yes--I read it in a real hardcopy of the paper itself) showcasing the slow demise of The San Francisco Chronicle, which made it look probable that because of lack of money from advertising revenues they might soon to be gone, leaving only the Examiner there in that community.

Here in our area, it's been about a decade since we became a one newspaper town when The Phoenix Gazette ceased publication; we have been both news & commentary poorer for it ever since.

Last week a study came out and said that for the first time ever more Americans are getting their news from the internet than newspapers. Yikes!

I think the true trained journalists and reporters have one of the most honorable and important jobs for what they contribute to society. Correspondingly, news on the internet is a good addition, but not a true substitute for what the professionals do. And, yes, I am aware of the irony of me using a Web 2.0 platform to write about this...

It appears that a growing amount of Americans want their news delivered in a different format and they want it for "free".

So-it seems I am in the new minority because it's pretty simple for me--this Gen X'er LOVES NEWSPAPERS!

For an example of this, my 43rd birthday was this week, so I took that day off from work and did just what I enjoyed most, starting with me going out to buy 5 different newspapers and taking them to read them during breakfast at the outstanding Morning Glory Cafe at the Farm at South Mountain.

I love how newspapers feel, look and work.

Feel...The paper in my hands, being able to hold it in my hands, folding it how I want, tearing, cutting, circling with a pen when I want. And I can hand a story I want to share with my wife with greater ease than sending here it in an email while I keep on reading something else.

Look...It can be seen in most any amount of light, in the same size, not having to read off of a PC or a notebook or PDA screen. My newspaper can be taken most anywhere--many places that it would simply not be polite &/or practicable to take those other devices.

Work...They are scan-able, not just search-able. I come across incredibly interesting items I never would have seen on the internet, because I would not have sought them out &/or clicked on a link to see them. And I learn (and often act on by purchasing) about products and services in the print ads, ones that I rarely, if ever, would have paid any attention to (or even seen) on the web.

And yes, I recycle all of those newspapers when I'm done with them.

But--more than enough about my deep emotional attachment to newspapers.

For real estate agents, to totally ignore print as both an advertising and as a communication vehicle is something you do at your own peril. To rely solely on the digital equivalent of newspapers, newsletters, postcards, fliers, notecards and letters with all of your current and potential customers is foolhardy at best.

Print is not dying and it certainly is not dead. Long live print!

===

UPDATE: On March 18th, 2009, Investor's Business Daily (again - yes- I read it in the actual newspaper ;-? ) reported that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published it's last print edition the day before. They have shifted to be a web-only "paper". Also, days earlier, Rupert Murdoch took a 1 Billion $ write-down on his acquisition of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ... O.K....so I'll concede that print, as far as large daily newspapers, are on the decline (I'm not a member of the Flat Earth Society or something), but I still believe that real estate agents need to tailor-make their communications for their audience...especially when communicating with older baby boomers and the greatest generation, who especially tend to read print more than online forms of messages.

Setting up Your COI Systems

2009-02-17T06:51:00.000-08:00

Following through on my commitment to get you more information on working your Circle Of Influence "COI", here goes...

There are many ways to set up your COI system, insofar as getting your COI names & contact information together and then keeping it all organized & updated.

You can either go the “digital” (computerized) or “analog” (paper-based) route--or have both.

If you decide to go the automated way, there are numerous software options you can use such as Outlook, ACT, GoldMine, Maximizer, TopProducer, etc. Specifics about all of these applications can be found on the web by simply adding ".com" to the end of their names; from there you can explore details on any or all things related to them that might be of interest to you, as to features, pricing, etc.

The simplest system is to use something you already have and like. If you don’t now have and use one, consider looking at some to the product reviews and/or talk to other Realtors who have one they use and find effective. Closely contemplate the time it will take to learn to use the application & the costs. If it’s not “right” for you, don’t waste your time or money kidding yourself that one is. Understanding this, more and more agents are finding that the advantages of using technology, be it to “get their act together” with their COI (or otherwise), significantly outweigh any and all downsides.

If you prefer paper, a simple 3-ring binder with tabs that have the 12 months of the year & a companion set with the #s 1-31 on them can work well too. This way you have a single page with each COI contact’s information on & then you simply move it to the next place representing when you are to next contact that person in the binder once done with your most recent contact to them. The major trade-off with using only a 3-ring binder system is that you really miss out on some great ‘tech tools’ that are difficult, if not outright impossible, to duplicate with just basic paper & a binder.

Some agents do use both a computerized database and a paper-based one. Regardless, be sure you have a back-up that is properly maintained in case you lose your data.

The worst system is to have none. The best system…is the one you use!

The Many Different Types of Property Listings

2009-02-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

As a quick aside, today marks the one-year anniversary of my starting this blog and the first posts. Happy A-Day to me! :-))

Be it during one-to-one consults I have with individual Realtors, or as it comes up in some of the many real estate courses I teach, questions and confusion both abound as it relates to the several sorts of property listings--as far as the legal intent, purpose and practical possible of outcomes as a result each.

So here is a breakdown of what they all mean:

- A Pocket Listing: This is a listing that is, for all practical purposes, not really a listing. “What the heck does that mean, ‘a listing that’s not a listing?’ ” you might (very understandably) ask. A pocket listing is almost always an “I-know-a-guy-who-would-sell-at-the-right-price-and-terms” kind of listing. The word “pocket”, as used here, probably came to be because this kind of a “listing” is not known to anyone else; it might only be known to the realty agent-- it’s hidden in the agents “pocket”--you can’t “see it”. So, except for one or two persons (the real estate agent and the seller)—as sometimes the owner/seller doesn’t even know or consider the property “listed”, as they may have simply once said something to the realty agent that they might sell. In other words, a Pocket Listing is often a verbal listing (& certainly not binding if it is only a verbal “understanding”) – it’s then worth the paper it’s written on—it’s not & thus in not a valid listing in Arizona. If it is more formal and in writing, then it is then a “real” listing and it must be acknowledged by the designated broker. It is then just not promoted much-if at all; it’s pocketed. Bottom line: Not recommended. Could be a good thing, but usually not--what’s the point? Bragging rights?

- A Net Listing: This is a listing where the owner of the property has said something to the affect of this to the real estate agent; “If you get me this price, you can tack on whatever commission you want on top of that.” In other words, “As-long-as-I-as-the-seller-net-at-least-this-amount-you-can-then-have-the-rest” type of listing. Like a “Pocket Listing”, this just looks to many to be at least somewhat underhanded and potentially secretive. It is ripe for abuse--of both buyers and sellers. Bottom Line: It is discouraged; strongly discouraged-- & often simply not acceptable to designated brokers.

- A One Party Listing: This is a listing where the owner/seller has agreed to list the property naming only one party as the prospective purchaser, meaning if the person(s) stated on this type of listing contract purchases the property under the terms defined, they will then compensate the agent. While not truly a one party listing agreement in the tradition sense, there is a document that is an eerily similar variation of this (and for all practicable purposes is often considered one de facto) that is designed by the Arizona Association of REALTORS “AAR”; it is titled the “Unrepresented Seller Compensation Agreement” form. This one originates from a buyer’s agent to the owner/seller and often has applicable language. Many “true” One Party listing forms can be found on the internet. Bottom Line: Caution!

- An Open Listing: This is an “upgrade” of sorts (at least as viewed by many) over a one party listing agreement, which is that if that one party named doesn’t buy the property listed from the owner named, there is effectively no possibility of it having any other value. So, the Open Listing is sort of an expanded type of a one party listing agreement; the Open Listing is one that it is "open" to any buyer, not only one. This means that if any buyer brought by the agent named on the One Party agreement purchases the property during the time between the beginning & end dates, and under any other terms defined, the real estate agent has earned the commission as agreed. Again, like One Party listing contracts, know that there are many versions of Open Listing forms available on the internet and/or at a variety of retailers, including office supply stores. As with any legal document you can acquire from these kinds of sources, beware that they are often the same for all 50 states and may contain terms that are not practical or even legal in Arizona. Bottom line: Use if you must-when there is no other option. It's not suggested, as the owner can have Open Listings with as many agents as they want; thus defeating the progression to Exclusive Listings, certainly in the sense of the use of the Exclusive Agency or Exclusive Right to Sell kinds of listing contracts.

- An Exclusive Listing: Ah, the “Exclusive Listing”. These two words used together mean so many different things to so many different people (and circumstances) in the real estate business.

Let’s try to cover all of them here:

* “Exclusive Listing” as in...the seller and buyer have “arrived” financially. Maybe they make or have a lot of money—or just the ability to borrow much. Perhaps they obtained the money the old fashioned way; they inherited it. Or maybe they actually earned it. It matters not here as to the “how”. Regardless, all that is really trying to be communicated under this ense of the word "exclusive" is that the person attaching this label here feels you should know this is one that is likely located in a more “exclusive” area cost-wise. This could also be (better) said to be a more “upscale” or “prestige” property, or a “luxury” home…maybe it’s a mansion and maybe it’s just something in the top 1/3 of higher-priced property in the area --or in a gated community--or it could just be “fluff”.

AND/OR

* “Exclusive Listing” as in...it’s listed with another agent and “there-is-no-commission-that-will-be-coming-from-the-seller-through-the-listing-agent-to-any-other-agent-who-produces-someone-who-buys-it”. In other words, if you as a selling (buyer’s) agent procured a purchaser and you expect to get paid for that, you better make other arrangements--like get your payment of any professional fees owed you directly from the buyer.

OR

* “Exclusive Listing” as in...it’s listed for sale and there is probably a commission available to be paid, but only to the listing agent,

and/or ONLY any other agent who is a member of the same office as the lister will be paid a commission if they bring a buyer,

and/or perhaps in a multi-office/location brokerage situation, only other agents in the entire same company as the listing agent is affiliated with will be paid a commission if they procure a buyer.

OR

* “Exclusive Listing” as in...it is listed for sale, but the lister (with the expressed consent of the owner/seller) has probably not placed the home in the Realtors Multiple Listing Service “MLS”; however--the listing broker may be also mean it in this context—which is fairly common--that they will pay a co-broke to another agent who produces a buyer who consummates a sale for them on this property. How much commission? You will have to ask…

So how do you know for sure what type of “Exclusive Listing” you are dealing with in each individual situation?

Again--you’ll have to ask!

And then, do whatever you can to ensure that such verbal representations made about a particular “exclusive listing” are next provided to you IN WRITING --at least the payment of commission to you portion--and preferably signed by the designated broker--for it to truly valid it must be--not only the listing agent, if the two are separate persons…which is usually the case! Ignore this at your own peril as a selling (buyer’s) agent. Most listing agents are honest, by why take any unnecessary chances that there will be a failure by them to deliver as promised?

- An Exclusive Agency Listing: This came into more common use and prevalence in the 1950’s and 60’s, as agents wised-up to the fact that with only an Open or One Party listing, the probability of them getting paid thinned considerably than doing what this is—if you as an owner/seller list your property for sale, you will only list the property with one agent and that one agent will get paid, regardless of where the buyer comes from—EXCEPT if the owner/seller finds a buyer on their own; a buyer not introduced, procured if you will, by any agent; be it the lister or another licensee. Thus, Exclusive Agency listings are one where the owner has the right to find a buyer on their own and (unless modified—which they sometimes are) owe no commission to any agent—even while it is listed with on agent.

- An Exclusive Right to Sell Listing: Starting in the late 1960’s and into the ‘70’s, with the continued rise and proliferation of REALTOR MLSs’ throughout the country, most of the MLS rules (“by-laws”, as they are often referred to) allowed only for “Exclusive Listings” in the sense of those that are either “Exclusive Agency” or “Exclusive Right to Sell”. Today, Exclusive Right to Sell is the by far and away the most dominant type of listing taken. It is safe to say that in most MLSs’ these account for over 90% of homes found in them. Exclusive Right to Sell means that the listing broker is to be paid regardless of who procures the buyer. Period. Well, almost. You certainly need to be familiar with the terms and conditions of any listing agreement (contract) for all of the impact of it’s exact wording. In our local greater Phoenix, Arizona marketplace, the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service “ARMLS” has designed both an Exclusive Agency and an Exclusive Right to Sell (the “Listing Legal”, as the subtitle of both of these are labeled, in part). It is key to read these "Listing Legal"s and know what each says, as well as how they related to the ARMLS Data Input Profile form, which is used to get the many, many details about the property for statement, advertisement, into the MLS.

Note: Anyplace the term “agent” was used in this article, as it relates to who the listing actually belongs to and about compensation (commissions, etc.) to be paid, it is referring to the agent as a real estate licensee and their brokerage collectively, for--as is always the case in Arizona--all listings are technically the designated brokers and all payments of commissions are only lawfully to be paid to the designated broker, then distributed according to their agreement, but not first or directly to a salesperson or associate broker with the designated broker's approval.

Your questions, comments and/or clarifications about any of this here are--as always--welcomed!

Top 10 Reasons to Buy a Brand New Home

2009-02-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

It's been said (and is historically correct) that in the greater metro Phoenix area that out of every 3 homes purchased, 1 is brand new from a builder.

But that is not true today.

Maybe it's closer to 1 in 10 right now. If that.

"May You Live in Interesting Times"...that is a said to be an ancient Chinese curse. These are interesting times we are living through...no doubt about it.

"Interesting" stated here = "Out of Whack"

Here are 4 "Interesting" statistics about our current Phoenix metro area residential resale market to consider (all rounded to the closest 5% and all taken from the most current MLS information) and relate to what these percentages usually are (again, rouded to the nearest 5%) to what we see in a more balanced "normal" market (remember those?):

1. 40% of homes being purchased are paid for in all cash--no financing. (Normal= 10%)
2. 45% of those that are financed are going with a new FHA loan. (Normal= 20%)
3. 85% of homes being purchased are vacant. (Normal= 10%)
4. 65% are REOs (foreclosed homes re-sold). (Normal= 5%)

Interesting enough for you yet?

So, new homes are out of favor right now. There are market specific reasons why. And, even in "normal" times, a new home is not for everyone. Many don't like the drawbacks (as they feel about them) of new construction.

But I find that for numerous buyers, in many cases, including today, a brand new home bought from a builder still has a LOT of upside...more than downside, for many, many buyers.

When I have a choice, for my own personal residences, I am pre-disposed to new construction. Part of it is that I am no handyman--an understatement if there ever was one--and I find no joy in remodeling, etc. but even setting aside those possible character flaws (as some might see them; I like to think of them as possible strengths), there are still so many more reasons to buy brand new over a second-hand, used resale home.

There are numerous other reasons, but here are 10 to get you started, based from a list given to me many years ago (maybe from a homebuilder?), that I have now expanded and updated, presented here alphabetically by the 1st letter in the title:

1. ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Want to be truly "green"? A new home is required by law to meet stricter energy codes than homes built in the past when legal codes didn’t exist or were more lenient. Many homebuilders use materials that are designed to exceed the strict limits in order to produce further savings for their owners.

2. FAVORABLE PRICING: Competition among homebuilders means new homes are less likely to be overpriced. New homes are easy to compare to other new homes in the market as to equating value. All the homes are the same age and the options are listed up-front with price breakdowns for comparative shopping.

3. FABULOUS FINANCING: Most homebuilders make the financing so attractive that you just can't replicate it elsewhere in resale. Builders have researched the market and find that attractive loan terms mean so much to most buyers. Some homebuilders now include the closing costs in the price of their new home and offer lower down payments, interest rate buy-downs & more.

4. FLOORPLAN OPTIONS: Builders of new homes offer a variety of functional floor plans to fit a buyer’s requirements of the type and style that are not out-of-date. If it’s not a “spec home,” the homebuilder may provide the opportunity to eliminate or add rooms, upgrade materials, include new architectural details and generally customize the home.

5. FINISHING CHOICES: With a new home, it’s possible for the buyer to be “a decorator” before moving in. There are so many fun choices of floor and wall coverings, paint colors, lighting fixtures, window treatments, etc. enable the new home owners to live with their personal selections and not be restricted by the "taste" of the previous owner. And once again, it is all beautiful and all brand new!

6. HOMESITE SELECTION: “Location, Location, Location.” Unlike a used house that is stuck in one location, a new home enables buyers to select the home site they really want; as choosing the correct home to fit the buyer’s lifestyle. Many homebuilders offer a wide selection of sites including golf course, lake front, mountain preserve, mountain view, hillside, cul-de-sac, view lots and more.

7. INCREASED LIFE: It is true that all manufactured products have an expected life span. Daily use, weather and quality of care all play a role in longevity. Buying a new home eases the nagging question of “How long before it breaks down?” With a new home the answer is simply, "A substantially longer period".

8. LATEST MATERIALS: Low maintenance is one of the most important features of new homes being built today. New technology in building materials has made new homes virtually maintenance free, especially the exterior. No longer does a homeowner have to worry about painting every 3 to 5 years.

9. MOST MODERN APPLIANCES: Appliance manufacturers introduce new models every year and thus homebuilders are able to offer the latest state-of-the-art equipment at the time of completion of a new home. And because the builder buys for the entire production of new homes, the builder’s purchasing power can reduce the cost to the home buyer...and reduce your costs and "carbon footprint" when you begin to use them!

10. LONGER WARRANTIES: New home buyers are likely assured of at least a one year warranty on the home itself, probably as is required in Arizona for a full two years “bumper-to-bumper” like a vehicle and most likely five on major systems, i.e., air conditioning and heating, with as many as seven years. Today’s homebuilders in Arizona are also required to go to 7 or 8 years if something was defective to begin with and might even extend structural warranties for a full ten years through policies underwritten by insurance companies.

As I said, I could go on espousing the benefits of new vs. resale, but I won't right now--I have more than about double the 10 reasons stated on this list.

Even after challenging probably hundreds of other real estate agents to do so, I have still never had anyone give me as many (or more) reasons (around 20) than that as to the opposite--why you should buy resale over brand new. Ah, right there, an idea for another post someday. :-)

Following up to Stay in Touch with Your Contacts

2009-01-29T07:47:00.000-08:00

Designing and then implementing a quality follow-up system for your Circle Of Influence (COI) is a key item for most agents’ sales success.

First of all, let’s acknowledge that there is no “one way”, no “magic way” to do this.

At the same time, there are many successful real estate agents who swear their process is best, often meaning to them that what they send is well-thought of by the people who receive it --witnessed by favorable comments from the recipients to the Realtor-- and that these agents receive referrals that they can directly attribute to these staying in touch processes.

But understanding you can't take "favorable comments" to the bank; well you could--I am just pretty sure you can't deposit them & spend 'em like cash :-) --the real goal of course is to convert these contacts to contracts to closings!

By staying in touch with your ever-expanding COI, and then asking for the business, you'll thrive!

The three key area’s where there are differences of opinions on "the best" COI systems seem to relate to,

#1, How often to contact these persons,

#2, What method to use to do this (by phone, in person or by some form of media; snail mail or email), and

#3, When using a media contact, what to send (postcard, letter, handwritten note, newsletter, e-card, etc.).

The most common systems involve use of at least two, if not all three (again, these are-- by phone, in person, or media --usually direct mail sent via the USPS--but email works great too--or instead of--for many).

"Twelve" seems to be the most popular number of annual contacts (once per month anyone?), although some agents insist that eighteen or even twenty-four contacts should be made each year so that people don’t forget their Realtor.

Usually I suggest (because I have found it works well!) that agents first get some form of their system into place and then--weeks or months into it--increase the sorting and qualifying (segmenting or classifying, if you will) of their COI and then to closer consider increasing the frequency of contacts later on for some or all of their COI in the near future!

This could be all by mail, but a mail monthly and call/in-person three or 4 times works well, too. The 8/8/8 system is quite popular, too. (Call 8 times, visit 8 times and mail 8 times--again, per year).

A compressed 8/8/8 schedule is to mail 8 times in 8 weeks with 8 other types of contacts in-person, by phone and email. This accelerated progression builds your name association with your real estate profession and quickly generates more leads.

Another system you may hear of is the 12/6/4/2…12 monthly e-mails, 6 personal notes, 4 phone calls and 2 in-person visits. The key seems to be select what you will follow-through, to do this fairly frequently and to vary the type of contacts!

In future posts, I’ll cover even more specifics of what to send, say & do to get FANTASTIC Result$ for you!

So, what is your COI contact system going to consist of? Or what are you doing now that works well for you? Let us know!

How Many Real Estate Agents is Enough?

2009-01-21T05:47:00.000-08:00

Someone recently said, "I believe that 1 real estate agent to every 55 people in Arizona is way too high. Why not just license everybody who lives here?"

I understand that it's not a popular opinion in the real estate business, but personally don't think that we do have too many real estate agents.

Now I know many do think there are too many realty licensees, witnessed by jokes like these...

"There are so many people who hold real estate licenses in Arizona, that if you don't have a friend in real estate, you don't have any friends."

and/or

Q. Why do more people here in Arizona have real estate licenses than driver's licenses?

A. Because it's harder to get an Arizona driver's license than an Arizona real estate license.

But on to those #'s--just how many real estate agents per person are there in Arizona? Maybe its 1 licensee for 100 people in Arizona, but it's certainly not 1 in 55. Even counting every type of real estate licensee (i.e. active, inactive, in a grace period, membership camping, corporate entities, etc.), 1 in 55 is not even close.

Let's do the math...the total current population of Arizona is estimated to be 6,500,000 million people. (2010 Census here we come!) What's that? You say that a bunch of people have left the state? You say the estimates are too high? O.K.- drop it by a 1/2 million people. The math still doesn't work to arrive at 1 agent for every 55 people.

It's like when I hear people say things like "There are just too many agents. I heard that there's over 100,000 Realtors in the Phoenix area alone." Huh?! Almost 100,000 real estate licenses of all types in the entire state at one brief point in 2006...but that's obviously not the case now, nor was it ever--100,000 agents--there has never been anywhere near 100k realty agents in the Phoenix area.

Right now we are at about 57,000 people with an active real estate license in the whole state. "Active" is in the sense that a license is active with a brokerage. As most of our reader's here already know, you can have an active license and be inactive otherwise.

A better example might be that there is around 30,000 (the last numbers I saw) of paid MLS subscribers here locally in the Phoenix area. Paid MLS users are usually a pretty good indicator as to about how many real estate licensees are doing at least a little bit (or more) of residential business.

Now, the greater Phoenix metropolitan area population is most currently estimated to be 3.92 million. (Source: Maricopa Association of Governments) From here, round up--just a bit...to 4 million people. (UPDATE: March 19th, 2009--No need to round up--the US Census Bureau says we're now at 4.28 million people.) Then divide by 30k MLS'ers--that's 1 in 133...see? By the way, those MLS #'s at 30,000 may be too high, making it even higher…1 in 150 maybe.

I'll bet the #'s statewide for other local Arizona populations and their MLS's would be of a similar number/ratio. Regardless, that # (expressed in a ratio) is more than (perhaps MUCH more) 1 in 100.

This still puts us here in Arizona in a higher range nationally of "real estate agent to population ratio", according to numbers showing on a table of "real estate licensee to persons" for each of the 50 states found in Norm Stefaniak's excellent book, Real Estate Marketing.

It's also true that not all of the 100 people (or so) people for each realty agents are adults & and adults who have the capacity, or inclination anytime soon (or otherwise), to buy or sell real estate.

But it also does not take into account or adjust for the fact that there are agents who primarily practice in some other type of real estate besides residential resale. This group may represent as much as 10% of those with an active license.
Nor does it compensate for those who are solely licensed to do business only by (& with) themselves as principal. This too is estimated to be around 10% of licensees.

Another key consideration here should also compensate for (or at least factor in) the fact that there is just so much more business to be had here in the population centers in Arizona, as compared to the majority of areas in most other states; we just have so many more residential units close escrow than most areas in the USA.

Moment of a sidebar discussion truth here: We are real state licensees. Most of us do help people buy and sell residential real estate, mostly primary residences. We want the consumer to do this frequently; to buy and sell their own home as often as possible.

To this point, there are 2 words we don't like that start with the letters "R" & "E". No, not the abbreviation of Real Estate. They are, 1. REfinance, and, 2. REmodel.

We do not want consumer to refinance or remodel if either means the alternative would be to sell and buy again through us. What we do want is to have the consumers we work with to have at least a little bit of a nomad in them; clients who move around fairly often--and the more frequently the better.

We earn income on turnover, turnover, turnover--we LOVE that!

Our toughest contacts (those least likely to become prospects) are the people who buy a home & then "never" (i.e. decades) sell it or buy any other real estate.

Understanding this concept, there is simply SO much more opportunity in the form of turnover here; people in Arizona buy & sell real estate more frequently than any other state a substantially more often than the national average.

A survey done some time ago (but I/we have no reason to believe it's changed much -- if at all -- since then) on behalf of the Chicago Title Insuarance Company said that we in Arizona are number 1 in the country as to the frequency of our consumers buying and selling homes, at an average of once every 6.2 years. The national average was shown to be almost twice as long at around 12 years (it was exactly 11.9 years -- for you exacting ones!).

So, taking that all into consideration, of course, we do NOT have too many licensees in Arizona!

Now some are saying that we will soon have a massive drop in the # of r.e. licensees, so those who agree that there are too many agents may get their way, witnessed by those who are predicting that in just 4-5 years our industry will operate with only 1/3 of the agents now in the business.

In closing, I have discovered that this idea of "there are too many real estate agents" comes mostly from those in one of these 2 thought-process camps:

1. You are a consumer and feel "pestered" by agents (maybe because that person being "pestered" is a crank) OR,

2. You are a real estate agent who isn't earning enough income--you say you'd make more money, but the reason you are not is that there are just too many agents cutting into what should be your pieces of the money pie to allow that to happen.

In summary, remember that markets, including real estate ones, do adjust and correct! In those real estate market situations when it is perceived that there is more real estate business to be had and done, then soon there are more agents. And when it is thought by most that real estate is in a down mode, it adjusts and there are soon many fewer agents.

No doubt about it – the truth is that (as I see it) we have about the "right" # of real agents at most any given time!

Where to Buy Your First (or Next) Real Estate Rental Investment Property

2009-01-13T06:48:00.000-08:00

A student recently said to me:

"I enjoyed your course on residential rentals. I am interested in buying a rental for myself. If you were looking to buy your first rental property, what part of the valley would you target? Any expert advice would be appreciated. Thanks!"

My reply and additional thoughts to this...

"While I appreciate it & take it as a compliment, I don't know that I would call myself a real estate investing 'expert'. :-)

Where to buy? By that, I see that you are asking about specific geographic areas. I'll come to that...but first...and probably as (or more) important in this regard I say:

Stay near what you already own (and/or) know!

I say this because, understanding that it's a generalization for sure, I think that most people who buy a rental property faaaaaaaaaar from where they now reside are usually in for trouble. 'Oh, I can handle it' they tell themselves. And they are usually just really only kidding themselves in the process. Kidding themselves to probable heartache & remorse...and more probable--financial strife!

Here is why I find this to be true. For most, if they buy something a ‘long ways away’ (to them), they typically can't, won't & don't do what needs to be done to make that real estate investment work.

In particular during the early years of having a rental(s), it seems as if you are ALWAYS having to drive there to do something--(and the more rentals you have; even if it's 'only' 1, 2 or 3 properties...)--the more you are going there to that (those) rental(s) AND then, even when not there at a rental property you own, it takes you much more time (than you usually at first image it will) to attend to the many details required.

Can you find a great, already rented home, with a long-term tenant, one with no deferred maintenance, that is far away from you, maybe even in another state?

Sure. It's possible, just not probable.

And then, if you do find one like that (and/or you use a 3rd party professional manager), you likely pay a premium price for one in that situation. So, that it is one way to get your first rental—to acquire the ‘dream deal’; but it just isn't the way it normally works.

Part of this ‘early years phenomenon’ as I’ll call it here, is that most residential rental investors want to (and should!) keep a closer watch on the home(s) they have, much more so than the typical veteran investor feels the need to--it's like a first child for a parent--you worry more--and then if you have more children (or with the passing of time and a little more insight and wisdom), you begin to realize it's gonna be o.k.--that they are fragile and that they do need to be watched & cared for--but just not in the way, with all the fear and the time you put in (as often was or at least we thought it was) necessary when you were a novice.

That being said, today for me, months can go by and I have not visited even one of my rentals--'cause I don't feel I need to--it's kind of on auto-pilot of sorts, at this point. And today, with the several rental units I do have, they are now a bit spread out in different areas, some being 20-25 miles (each way) from where I currently live. Now, when I acquire the next one, I'll have to be back in that more fully engaged role for that property; regardless of what and where it is!

As to specific areas where to have that first rental--to me, it looks like the best 'deals', (purchase price-wise and other 'upside' potential) right now are in the ‘exurbia’ areas. For example, I just got an email for, I'm guessing, looking at it, a 2003 (or so) built home in Tolleson; a sharp-looking home with 2400 sq ft. for $84k. WOW!

With something like that, if you can 'suck it up' with your longer commutes to get there and put up with the mucho other rental property competition that is probable in the area, I think the more immediate cash-flow that is resembling 'true net positive' (or at least closer to it), is probable sooner than in the more 'popular', established areas & is well-worth the trade-off.

I'm not saying to ignore the 'established areas' of much of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale, etc., but what I am saying is that those more outlying areas (but not too far for many) would be my choices as a real estate investor.

What is 'too far' for most? ‘Penturbia’, not ‘exurbia’ as it is sometimes defined.

Specifically, from my P.O.V., the towns and cities of Maricopa, Buckeye (in the west metro area), and ones like Florence and Gold Canyon in the east, are among these in the proverbial hinterlands.

What is kind of 'out there', but not 'too far'? I say, in addition to the one I already mentioned (Tolleson), I’d add the cities of Avondale, Surprise, plus the very west parts of Peoria & northwest portions of Phoenix and then way east into Mesa, as well as Apache Junction & much of the Queen Creek areas are ‘close enough in’.

But that's easy for me to say--I do not currently own, nor for that matter have I ever owned, rental real estate in any of those 'not so far out areas'.

If you really, honestly, have the drive, the hustle, the esprit de corp, to do that—to buy far from the current core of the metro areas--and then do what is needed to make it work--GO FOR IT--do go ahead and buy something 'way out' of the main parts of the metro area & then be prepared to wait. As Will Rogers said ‘Don’t wait to buy real estate, buy real estate; then wait!'

Now, if you currently live in (or otherwise already know exceptionally well) one of those outlying areas, then the good news is that it's not really that outlying to you. Then, still proceeding with caution of course, to those persons in this limited circumstance, I say buy, buy & buy in those penturbia areas! NOW is the time to get 1/2 off of real estate prices!

I also say that the easiest way for most anyone to get their first rental property is to move out of their current home and simply keep it as a rental! I've done it more than once; it works great!

There are many other upsides of doing this as well, including being able to move into your next home at your own pace & still taking the gain tax-free if you do go to sell it within a few years & you've lived in at least two of the last five years.

Again, this is in general--this doesn't always work (but that's true with most anything for that matter), but it often is the simplest solution to getting that first (or next) rental property. As always, consult a competent tax advisor (and your property insurance agent too)!

Today's financing environment can make this 'move-out-of-your-house-and-make- it-a-rental' strategy a bit more of a challenge for some; that being to move out of your primary residence that you own & then converting it to a rental for the first time.

But once you have done it--once--then it's easier on the next rental home, because you have been 'tested' --and you passed :-) --you have had a type of so-called 'seasoning'. Now this is with the understanding that in the current lending environment, this strategy can be all but a virtual impossibility in some cases if you are desiring to go with a 'normal' loan (FHA, VA, or Conventional) on the next one you want to buy to live in. But it can be done in many situations! Consult with at least one, if not multiple, residential lenders (perhaps one who more routinely works with investor loan products and guidelines) to help find a way to do this in your unique circumstances.

Now, in all fairness and disclosure, I never lived in the very first rental property I bought-a cute little single family detached home in Tempe. But I did live and work only a few miles from it! And it was a successful endeavor, so I acquired even more residential rental investment real estate!

In summary, buy what know about and where you will realistically take care of/maintain. I feel more often than not, for most, this is better than just going to the 'deal' or targeting a particular part of our area."

Yes, that was/is a longer answer--but I think a very decent one for him-- and now you too! :-)

This Year Will Be Your Year!

2009-01-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

As many agents look forward to the year ahead, they often come to the realization that there is at least one essential component that needs adjustment in their business and their personal life.

It is that, well, THEY NEED MORE MONEY!

As I sometimes say in sessions I am leading...

"Contacts lead to Contracts",

or said another way, having additional clients usually brings additional income.

More prospective clients results in more actual "real ones" (sorting & qualifying).

"Prospective" clients = "Prospects". To find prospects, you must prospect. You can call it marketing, or lead generation, networking etc., but here, collectively, in a word, I'm calling it all "Prospecting". O.K. - how 'bout "Business Development", since the word prospecting has negative connotations, at least in some real estate circles.

So, with that in mind here are "4 Steps For You As A Realtor To Get Started With Your Business Development Prospecting Activities". You might want to Cut, Copy & Paste this into a Word Processer and get to work on it:

(1) Choose 3-4 niche areas to prospect to from the various ones you’ve been introduced to here. Factor in the buyer or seller control philosophies, the probable minimum upfront and ongoing costs you can associate, looking at both the passive or proactive methods that you are most apt to perform (phone, in person and media).

(2) Design a simple, one page, plan for each niche area that you’ve chosen. These should be very specific and exact as to the how, when and where you will conduct these client generating activities.

(3) Be sure you schedule the times and summary of the activities you’ll be doing in your calendar. Then be true to yourself and the system.

(4) Refine the strategies and tactics as you start to learn more by doing. Work the plan and start to enjoy the Re$ult$ of your efforts!

Now, understanding this, that these are the 4 simple steps needed to begin, let’s at least start with Step 1 for you…

List the 4 niche areas you feel that you are most interested in earning business from:
#1. ________________________
#2._________________________
#3._________________________
#4._________________________

Knowing this, what would be a reasonable date that you can commit to put into place your own personalized system to develop clientele from? ___________________.

Since you have chosen a date when you feel you can begin to do this, go ahead and “contract” with yourself to perform as you’ve promised yourself!

Why, here it is--and it's so simple:

“I hereby agree to complete the implementation of my initial prospecting processes (and then follow through as needed) by the date I have freely selected from as stated above.”

Signed, ____________________(Your Name)
Today’s Date__________________

*You now owe it to yourself & loved ones to now honor this “self-agreement”!

====

Use it, thrive by it, love it...and let me know how you did & are doing!

Purchase Offer Presentation Verbiage

2008-12-22T14:17:00.000-08:00

As agents look at some of the ways to "give themselves a raise in selling", one of the strategies that can be a valuable component is what I call "improving their ratio's".

One tactic in this regard is to do no increase in gross business productivity, but rather to do more (and get more $$$) with the same amount of business.

Let's look at getting the same number of offers on listings you represent, but getting more of those offers accepted. There are several outstanding real estate purchase offer presentation dialogues that agents can use to help sellers make good decisions when considering an offer on their property and in the process, get a higher percentage of them accepted.

Here goes; there are 8 different ones, with a title of & sample for each, plus additional explanations as needed:

Peace of Mind – “There is an advantage to you in knowing your house is sold, so you can make definite plans. In addition, you can relax and live in your home until closing, not having to worry about showings, and simply enjoy the time you have left here. You can move on with you life and be pleased that you got at least a decent offer.”

Asking ‘When’ Questions to Put into Perspective – “When you bought this home did you pay full price and all of your own costs?” (for when the buyer is not offering to) and/or

“When you buy your next house, will you offer full price & terms or will you expect a discount?”

and/or “When you bought this property, did you buy it to eventually sell to make a killing in the real estate market or did you buy a place to call your own & to create nice memories?” and/or

“How much pure profit are you making over what you originally paid for the house?” (If they have a larger amount of equity and bought some time ago).

Trade Offs Not Yet Considered – “As you can see, they didn’t ask for personal property such as washer, dryer, etc. Perhaps they will raise their offer if these items remain, since they felt they had to reserve some cash to buy them.” This positions the offer as a higher net to them.

'Hidden' Holding Costs – “Let’s consider the reality of not having another offer for three or four months. When you add your mortgage and maintenance costs, you’ll be out of pocket the same amount or more. So we really are not gaining anything.” (Particularly effective if the home is vacant and/or if they have or are about to have two house payments.)

Leave 'em Alone (for a bit)– If there is more than one decision maker, many times people need or want to discuss the offer in private. Accommodate them by stating, “I think you might want to discuss this in private for a bit…I'll leave you alone to discuss it for several minutes. I 'll go out to my vehicle for something and be back momentarily.”

Unnecessary Risk – “When you consider your proceeds of $______, think carefully about your position now of literally risking this money on the probability of getting another $_______. Do you really want to take this gamble? Is it worth the risk?”

You Can be a Buyer or Seller – “At this point, it may come down to this fact; you can either be a seller or buyer. You see, by refusing this offer, in essence you have “bought your house back” at that price you want instead of their offer. Is this what you really want to do?” This can really emphasize the reality of what they are doing if they do not accept the offer.

Split the Difference – (Use this only when one or more of the others have not worked!) “Often the American Way indicates compromise. If we can show the buyers you are willing to meet them halfway, perhaps they will be willing to meet us halfway. This way, no one feels they have to give in.”

O.K. -- those are some REALLY good ones to use on your next offer presentation--and on all of them from here on out! What is an approach you use with success that I have not stated here?

BPOs - Barely Paid Opulently?

2008-12-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

More and more real estate agents are doing BPOs.

In my role as a trainer, I get a fair number of questions from Realtors along the lines of the "How do I learn more about these BPOs and start to 'get into' them?" variety.

As many readers here already know, but for the benefit of those who do not, a quick explanation about what BPOs are is in order.

BPOs (Broker Price Opinions) are estimates of the likely current market value of one particular property. The depth of the analysis on a BPO is located someplace in-between a fully automated, computer-generated version and a full-blown independent fee-based appraisal.

Although there are other reasons, the most common purpose for which BPOs are ordered (and paid for) are from & by lender's representatives on properties they are charged with that are at (or near) some stage of foreclosure.

Since real estate agents already fairly routinely prepare CMAs or MVRs as part of their services, adding BPOs to their range of offerings often seems to make much sense.

Realty agents may perform these BPO's for other reasons, but mostly it's for 2 key ones:

1. The upfront and ongoing income paid--for agents who do several to many BPOs per month, it might make the difference in having enough income to stay afloat financially in challenging times. They only get paid in small "bits 'o dollars", typically in the range of $30-$95 for each residential BPO prepared, and

2. For the actual current (or for the potential of future listing business) the agent has (or might get) from those same sources with referrals from them of short sales, or more likely, lender-owned REOs (Real Estate Owned--a lender term for a home that has been foreclosed on; again most readers here know what REO means...but just in case) and the much greater (Thou$ands of Dollar$ per each typically) commissions that come with the sale.

While I am no expert on BPOs (I don't currently teach on the subject), I do refer agents wanting more information about the "Hows & Wheres" of BPO's to what I have been told are reputable 3rd parties by other agents who have (or are) using them.

So, while I cannot vouch first-hand for one or all of these three different entities I am about to suggest you look into, I can however, second-hand, state that I have had agents who have given me positive feedback about their experiences with each of the following, as far as them being pleased with the value of what they got from all in proportion to what they paid:

www.NABPOP.org This is the trade group that many agents who do BPO's belong to--there's lot's of good background found here--full membership is $220; the most expensive of these 3, but also the most comprehensive, with more training--delivered in several ways--than any of the others. There is also access to a myriad of critical "insider" tools here, too. Lots of benefits!

www.BPOWealthSystems.com (This is the only time I have ever heard "Wealth" and BPO's associated ;-. ) -- Really a quite complete package, attractively priced at $69.

http://ForeclosureU.com/product.php?productid=16143&cat=0&page=1 This is a very basic self-guided tutorial in the form of an e-book; it's about $50.

Let me know which one of these (if any) you take action on & what you discover!

Of course, if you have a favorite source that has really helped you with BPOs, or your experince has not been very positive with one I've listed, please tell me and us about that (them), too.

Educating Buyers About Listing Agents

2008-12-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

Some prospective home buyers are under the incorrect impression that they should be contacting listing agents directly who represent homes for sale that the buyer sees on the internet, or of those agents who have signs in front of property or who are holding open house, etc. so that the buyer can get more information, more quickly & that perhaps this will save them money, when really nothing could be farther from the truth.

It should be part of your job as a buyer's agent as to why contacting the lister themselves directly is unproductive. Here are several reasons to communicate to the buyer:

1. Have you ever tried to reach a realty agent who has a home listed for sale? More often than not, many of these agents are not available to answer their phone when the buyer calls, some infrequently check their email, and, be it by phone or email, a large number are very slow to respond (if they respond at all - some won’t) to inquiries from persons they do not already know, even if you identify yourself as a prospective buyer for one of their listings in a message you leave.

2. If the buyer is able to actually connect with a real estate agent, a substantial number of them will not give you as a possible buyer of the home the same degree and detail of information about a property and related facts to you as a consumer as they will communicate to your buyer's agent--someone who is a fellow peer Realtor in the business.

3. When (and if) a buyer is able to interact with an agent who represents a property for sale, there are many of them who use evasive tactics in providing answers to the buyer's questions &/or who will employ quite sneaky & high-pressure tactics with the buyer; i.e. "Oh yeah....that one--there has been a lot of interest about that home...there may be another buyer putting in an offer soon...so if you want to see it, you'll want to move quickly" --when perhaps some or none of that is true.

4. The real estate licensee who is the listing agent has a legal obligation to get the highest price and best terms for the seller, not the buyer. Rather they must do there very best to position the process and the transaction to favor the best interests of the seller, not the buyer. In other words, it is their job to get the buyer to pay the highest net price possible and have related sale terms that are most favorable to their seller client.

5. That the buyer will not save any commission in the vast majority of cases, even though some listing agents may (although rarely) try to imply otherwise. If a person were to buy through the listing agent, all that poor buyer would be really doing is paying that seller’s representative around twice the commission that they would normally be paid if they were solely the seller's agent. Is that wise? NO!

Tell them "With me as your own buyer agent, you will probably be better protected in the transaction having an agent solely on your side, not the sellers. And since the seller pays the commission (as shown on the final settlement statement), my services are usually at no direct cost to you."

So …the seller will likely have at least fairly sophisticated representation. Will the buyer? Well, in a word, NO(!) - not if your buyers deal directly with the agent who has the listing.

To "protect" your buyers, be sure you communicate to them that you as their buyer's agent is the one who needs to be "introducing" (in the context of first showing and wne the offer is being prepared) them to any property, be in new or resale.

Let the buyer know that if they learn of a property that is something that interests them, that they should contact you as their agent directly and that you'll do all the “leg-work”, getting the details from the seller’s agent, information on the property & having all of their questions answered, all while potentially saving you (and your buyer) lots of time, money & frustration in the process by having you as the guide by their side!

I am interested in things that you as an agent say to a home buyer about these matters; perhaps examples you give to help demonstrate the points raised here...

How to Find Our Way Back and Forward

2008-11-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

Their seems to be a lot of blaming and finger-pointing going on right now about the financial crisis and housing problems that we are now living through.

We all know there is plenty of blame to go around. I see some not so thinly-disguised anti-Democratic and borderline racist talk about how the Community Reinvestment Act were the big contributors to the downfalls.

I wish we could all just agree on this...that there is no need to get partisan here. I say that this mess is about equally Jimmy Carter's, Bill Clinton's, Ronald Reagan's & George HW & George W's (along with everyone in Congess over those 30+ years) "fault".

I, for one, am tired of the drivel about "people who bought homes who never should have been allowed to" style of verbal nonsense.

The truth is that homeownership rates among low income households and most minorities remained relatively stagnant during the housing price boom and when their rates did increase, they did so no more than the general population.

Since the homeownership rates among minorities (especially for Blacks and Hispanics) were already low to begin with and still are scandalously pathetic when compared to the population as a whole, in the end where we now are, for all of the talk of this, there was very little outcome to support it.

For example, the homeownership rate of African-Americans dropped 3.4 % (about the same as the population as a whole) over the last three years to 46.3% in the second quarter of this year, vs. 66.9% for the population as a whole (source: U.S. Census Bureau).

The problem was not in trying to increase access by lowering barriers to homeownership for ALL (including ethnic and racial minorities), but HOW it was done.

Instead of looking to increase the number of homeowners by excessively relaxing lending standards with reduced (or eliminated) down payments, accepting lower credit scores and sometimes in conjunction with low or no documentation loans, it should have been instead been done through (and now can be) saner approaches, such as the increased availability, promotion and use of sweat equity arrangements, as well as Government Sponsored Entities matching dollar programs administered through local banks and credit unions (who would make and be required to not sell loans for participants in these offerings for at least a few years after origination) and/or through employers (who would receive tax credits or other benefits for doing so) to their employees with (and other equitable comparable offerings for the self-employed too) that would consist of dollars allocated for down payments and closing costs.

ALL of this comes with "strings" such as mandated financial literacy education and homeownership training before and after obtaining homeownership, PLUS a partial recapture fee upon an eventual profitable sale or at the very least on those who do not comply with the requirements.

These things will accomplish the objectives of increased home ownership where previous attempts have mostly failed.

What ideas do you have that you think can make the difference in speeding recovery?

Six Key Things to Understand About Agency

2008-11-19T10:57:00.000-08:00

Since I was on the topic of Agency with the last post, I thought I'd continue with that subject on this one...

There are really ten (or better) concepts expressed here, but bunched together in six sections...

1. You owe the full range of fiduciary duties to the party who will become your principal (client) in the transaction. The four critical ones are: Loyalty, obedience, accounting, and diligence.

2. You represent clients; persons you don’t represent are usually referred to as “customers” or “non-clients” in the non-agency context.

3. In limited representation (a.k.a. dual agency), you cannot advise a client to use a negotiating strategy that could be used to the detriment of the other party, be it about price (beyond providing comparable sale data) and you must not share confidential information among the parties.

4. Limited representation requires additional disclosures in the form of consent early on to a client if limited representation may be a possibility later on and then informed consent of all parties is recommended at the time that a limited representation is about to occur (which is typically at the time of purchase offer & is done before it is prepared or presented).

5. Single representation is the only position that allows you to fully help buyers and sellers negotiate and strategize; be it in matters of price or other considerations. If you were to get involved in an advocacy role with customers (non-clients), you are committing an unlawful implied agency and/or an undisclosed limited representation. Both are illegal and violation of ethics. At the same time, there are many things you can still do for a buyer or seller who is not your client. As licensees, we can provide all kinds of assistance, such as answering many questions, refer to other vendors, sources & parties in the transaction. In single agency we can certainly be customer service-orientated towards the non-client without establishing an agency relationship with them.

6. Your agency position should be explained and disclosed in writing (with consent signatures) at time of first substantial discussion. This often is at the time of the first face-to-face meeting and is ideally before you begin offering real estate services. In the residential real estate business, we collectively appear to usually do this pretty easily with sellers; however, with buyers, many real estate licensees seem to wait too long to discuss agency—an example of “too long” would be waiting until the time that a purchase contract is being prepared.

So anything you'd say different about one of these...or if you were going to add a seventh one, what it would be?

Fun with Agency Disclosure

2008-11-11T19:45:00.000-08:00

Several years ago via an individual member of REEA (I wish I knew who it was, so I could attribute it to them...), I got a copy of something similar to what soon follows.

Since then, I have added & subtracted to the original, now resulting in a nice hybrid of what it started as...regardless-- it's an attempt at humor in the guise of a pretend form that can be used as a joke or pun to lighten the mood as part of the "real" Agency related paperwork that an agent presents to the consumer which they need to sign off on.

FIRST RIGHT OF CONFUSION AGENCY ADDENDUM

The undersigned brokers, agents, buyers, sellers, lawyers, lenders, in-laws, outlaws, parties of the first part, parties of the second part, and all other party to this transaction, hereby attest that they are completely confused as to who represents who, including the:

(1) Buyers’ agent,
(2) Sellers’ agent,
(3) Dual agent,
(4) Subagent,
(5) Double agent,
(6) Secret agent,
(7) Federal agent,
(8) Cleaning agent,
(9) Change agent, or
(10) Whatever agent.

Furthermore, it is now hereby agreed by all parties involved that no one really cares!

Subject Property:__________________________________
Buyer (s)_________________________________________
Seller(s) _________________________________________
Signed________________________________________ Date____________________ Signed________________________________________ Date____________________

NOTE TO AGENTS AND CONSUMERS: If you can explain and understand agency issues, you may be unique and different enough to succeed in real estate sales. It’s no wonder good real estate agents CAN earn a lot of money, although in all fairness, most of them are not getting rich—they are hardworking individuals who usually only get paid for obtaining results at the close of escrow. Realtors who have the guts to take this job and succeed---THEY DESERVE THE INCOME---the legal ramifications of agency alone is as good of starting point as any as to WHY quality Realtors may be underpaid!

What Do Successful Agents Do to Be Successful?

2008-11-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

Looking at over a 20 year period of working with residential realty salespersons, I am about to summarize here for you (from my first-hand observations, as well as a composite of informal questioning) what the more successful newer agents do to more quickly expand their business.

These agents numbered about 50 in total and had at least $2 million in sales volume, with a minimum of $60k in Gross Commission Income (the total before any deductions or expenses) and/or 15 closed sales within their full calendar year in real estate.

The results, while not scientific, are nevertheless at least somewhat interesting and could end up helping you if you apply what they learned.

This is not an original concept of mine, but is actually based on an idea I learned of from a Prudential Real Estate broker and his version has even been featured in a best-selling book.

The following is some of the information gathered from this group of top performing rookies, along with their responses in a Questions "Q." and Answers "A." format.

Q. What was the approximate number of days you worked per week you actively doing real estate activity?
A. On average, 6.25 days per week

Q. What was the approximate number of hours you spent in your office per day?
A. 4.25 hours in the office (home-based or otherwise) per day (equating to 26.5 hours per week, on average) that they were in their office[s] working on real estate tasks

Q. What was the approximate number of hours you worked in total per week and how much of that was in the field?
A. 55.3 hours per week, with a little more than 1/2 (28.8 hours) out of the office

Q. What was your main source of buyer clients?
A. 1. Circle of Influence "C.O.I."
2. Open houses
3. Ad calls (from any source)
4. Sign calls
5. Internet initiatives
6. Apartment dwellers
7. Geographic Farm
8. Seminars

Q. What was your main source of seller clients?
A. 1. C.O.I.
2. Expireds
3. FSBO’s
4. Geographic Farm
5. Open Houses
6. Ad calls
7. Canvassing door-to-door around listings
8. Sign calls

Q. What was your ratio of buyers to sellers?
A. On average, approx. 60% of their closed transactions were buyers, 40% sellers

Q. How many open houses did you hold?
A. An average of 5 open houses per month

Q. What was the least productive thing (from absolute worst to so-so) you tried your first year?
A. 1. Door hangers/flyers at apartments with no in-person or media follow-up
2. Random canvassing door-to-door
3. One-time mailings or flyers with no in-person or media follow-up
4. Networking/Referral groups
5. Working with Investors
6. Third-party internet leads programs

Q. What did you do to learn neighborhoods? (from highest rated to lowest rated):
A. 1. Preview new to the market listings found via the MLS
2. Just drive around areas
3. Tour (broker opens)
4. Other computer-only "previewing"
5. Stopping by open houses
6. Listening to other agents

Q. What was your average amount of time spent touring/previewing homes?
A. Approx. 3 hours per week

Q. Did you send promotional calendars to your contacts as a business developmental tool?
A. Majority said "yes" (of those that said yes, 250 was the average number ordered)

Q. Did you wear a nametag and/or logo real estate “career apparel” most every workday?
A. Majority said “yes”

Q. Did you agree to handle other agent's business when they were out of town?
A. Overwhelming majority said “yes”

Q. Do you think agents should work to earn a designation such as GRI, ABR, CRS, etc. during their 1st year and/or get a “guru” at an expense or $250 per month or more?
A. Split down the middle. Most who did, felt it was good. A few who did said they should have waited. Many who didn’t thought it was better that they focused on basic training and business development their first year

Q. How many accepted offers did you open escrow on that failed to close in your first full year?
A. Three deals on average; majority of them due to the buyer’s inability to obtain financing and/or inspection/condition/repair problems

Q. How long did it take for you to build basic competency and feel comfortable, truly confident, of your knowledge base and abilities in the business?
A. On average, approximately eight months.

I hope you have had some real "Ah-ha's!" in looking this all over. Tell us about the traits that you have found the higher producing agents have and act on!

Who Is Going to Get Paid?

2008-11-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

Most anytime I am addressing real estate agents and the subject of payment of commissions comes up, invariably at least one situation will be presented from a Realtor and then next a relating question will arise on a variation of this "Which real estate agent actually procured the buyer for this specific property and who is entitled to the selling (buyer's) agent real estate commission?"

You see, when two or more cooperating brokers both claim the right to a commission on the same sale, the standard gone to is a so-called procuring cause claim. The NAR Code of Ethics requires an arbitration of any procuring cause dispute. Now, guidelines for addressing these issues are available through both our www.Realtor.org and www.AARonline.com websites, but what follows are some of the key factors that may be considered during an arbitration proceeding dealing with making a determination about procuring cause cases that our Realtor Associations reference:

• What was the involvement of the buyer and seller broker in the transaction? For example:

◊ Who introduced the buyer to the property?
◊ Did closing broker ever show the property?

and

• Did the buyer "leave" (quit) the “introducing” broker and were they justified in doing so? For example:

◊ The introducing broker did not keep in touch with the buyer.
◊ Buyer elects to have buyer representation rather than dual representation.

and

• Was there any inappropriate conduct on the part of the closing broker that resulted in the break of the chain of events for the introducing broker? For example:

◊ Was there a written buyer agency agreement in place with the introducing broker?

In closing, to avoid you being on the wrong (losing) side of one of these procuring cause arbitrations, make sure you are complying with the REALTOR Code of Ethics requirement that you ask each consumer (buyers and sellers) before you provide substantial real estate services, asking 1. Are they subject to any written agreement with another agent and, 2. Have they been introduced to (seen or otherwise) the property before through another agent; and be sure to do this with each property & every time!

Well, what have you learned about procuring cause (perhaps the hard way) that you feel is worth sharing that I have not covered here or that bears repeating?

Part 5--"The Notables"- The 50 Most Influential People in Phoenix Area Real Estate

2008-10-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a journey going through the creation of this list, but like this elected office cycle culminating on November 4th, it's coming to an end. I know you all have already (or will on time)...but just in case...a last friendly reminder; VOTE!

Alright, here is the last installment of the remaining 10 of "The Notables"- The 50 Most Influential People in Phoenix Area Real Estate:

> Barbara Freestone - As the person tasked with spearheading pretty much all of the Arizona Association of Realtor's “AAR” educational offerings, Barb, as a long-time employee at the AAR (now as Senior Vice President of Professional & Business Development), has been instrumental in the continuation of a legacy of excellence. While the programs sponsored through the AAR have historically been well designed and executed, they have risen from the ordinary to really quite extraordinary. For example, the GRI (Graduate, REALTOR Institute) designation courses was always very good, but now the content that has been developed and the people Barb hires to deliver them are just the best. It would be VERY difficult to find someone who, through her incredibly hard work, has as positively impacted the profession here in Arizona as Barb!

> Jim Sexton - Besides those affiliated with the brokerage I currently work with (HomeSmart), only Jim's company (John Hall & Associates), has had as many people who have made this list. And I could add more from his firm (i.e. Marge Lindsay, Jim's son Phil Sexton, etc.) if this was a top 100 instead of a top 50 list. Jim is both the Designated Broker and owner of John Hall, having purchased the brokerage from the man John Hall, who was a pioneer of the next tier of more affordable 100% agent pay plans back in the 1970's & was still licensed with the firm until earlier this year. Jim, while having a great dry sense of humor, is a very "serious student" of real estate and hands-on owner/broker who, on a rotating basis, still goes into a different one of his firm's offices each business day and rolls up his sleeves, interacting with his appreciative agents and quality staff.

> Ed Ricketts - I first learned of Ed during his days as the Deputy Commissioner of the Arizona Dept. of R.E. "ADRE" (which he was during most of the 1990’s). At the time, I knew a designated broker who was working his way through a consumer complaint that had been filed with the ADRE; one which Ed was interacting with at some level. I don't remember the exact words this broker used to describe how felt about Ed, but suffice to say they weren't terms of endearment. This in hindsight, now knowing Ed, does and does not surprise me. Ed is a precision-orientated person, but I believe, as Ed does, that when you are right, one must not shrink from standing up for the truth. I find that Ed, ever attentive to detail (& sometimes referring to himself as a "reformed regulator”), is really an outstanding human being, a wonderful consultant, educator, expert witness, and designated broker for his own unique company.

> Christopher Combs - As the lead attorney for the firm that bears his name (Combs Law Group) for many years, Chris has been the "lead voice" of the AAR Legal Hotline for over 20 years now. In case you have not heard of this incredibly valuable service, this Hotline set-up allows designated brokers (& their duly-appointed managers) throughout the state who are REALTOR members to call for legal guidance on most any realty issues; be they contractual, mortgage, foreclosure, landlord/renter, escrow/title, etc. Since the inception of the AAR Hotline program, it’s been estimated that there have been more than 40,000 phone calls from Realtor members throughout the state. Chris also takes real estate questions from consumers that are shown in most every Saturday's The Arizona Republic and he is one of those elite few that we look to when we want a “final answer” style of authenticity as he is such a noted authority.

> Duane Washkowiak - Duane has had most every position in the real estate business from successful agent, to branch manager, designated broker, partner, etc. and has done them all well. Duane is always on the go and looking for input from others, as a real listener and consensus builder. In all fairness, he may be as well-known and respected almost as much as a volunteer for the many various board & commissions he’s a part of-- for everything from industry groups such as the AAR & ARMLS, to many that are not, including the YMCA & the Sun Devil Club. As part of the large group of transplants that make up the pun that "the Phoenix area is a suburb of the Chicago area", Duane spent a decade and a half plus in the Fortune 500 corporate life before one of those moves resulted in a job transfer here in the mid-1980's...and a then he came to the residential real estate business not all that long after. We're glad he made all of those moves!

> Diane Scherer - I think it's fitting that Ms. Scherer is included in the last batch of 10 is the "head honcho" (o.k. --technically she is the CEO) of the Phoenix Association of REALTORS®, "PAR". I say that because PAR is one of the top 10 REALTOR associations in the entire US of A! Since way back when it was still known as a "Board" of Realtors, Diane has been the CEO for PAR, and in recent years the AAR and NAR Board of Directors as well. Diane is also very active in civic matters, including being a huge supporter of light rail and serves on several boards and committees, including for the 100 Club of Arizona (a group that provides much-needed preventative & follow up assistance, but mostly immediate financial assistance to the families of public safety employees in Arizona who are killed or seriously injured in the line of duty). Diane does not shrink from the hard tasks or uncomfortable situations, but lives well by the “we can disagree without being disagreeable” philosophy.

> Paul Pastore - You always remember those people you admired from the time you first entered the business (or at least you should) & Paul was one of those for me. I had been in the business less than a couple of months when I took one of my first realty sales classes with Mr. Pastore as the teacher. And he was just that...a true teacher. They say the first level of addressing groups is speaker, then instructor, next educator, and lastly, teacher (think about it--it's true!) and Paul was already at the teacher level. He uses excellent examples to illustrate his points, is always on the lookout to expose hypocrisy & for the ironic--all with a smile! And as a large # of sales producing agent to this day, he’s truly in-touch with the local market! Paul is now sharing his wit and wisdom as a writer of short-and sweet articles for his own blog & through BrokerAgentNews; when you see Paul featured in person or print--check it out--he's great!

> Mike Maloney - Like Paul Pastore, Mike Maloney is someone I've had contact with (in a teacher to student context-with me as the learner) since I was only a wee lad in the realty biz. Mike has worked in several arenas within the real estate business, with his strongest expertise in the commercial real estate marketplace here and throughout the southwest. One of the things I'll always remember about Mike is the radio show he hosted for a long time on a local Phoenix area station. I've probably heard 20, maybe 25, different real estate radio shows broadcast from around here over the years and I have yet to listen to one that was as well done as his! For example, when questions from callers came in, Mike always had the best, most complete answers I have ever heard to some of the most eclectic and complex situations described!

> Don and Elaine Miner - It's been an interesting journey (to say the least I'd surmise) for this husband and wife power couple, who came from two very different career paths and roles (Don from the law as an attorney and director with the heavy-hitters over at Fennemore Craig; Elaine from education...including school board president), to end up finding a way to blend their to divergent interests into one side-by-side business venture. Not an easy task, but one they really seem to be excelling in it (despite what must be near exhaustion on a regular basis) as the now the co-owners of the Arizona School of Real Estate and Business. Both Elaine & Don (as well as their two sons) are as pleasant and down-to-earth as one might hope, with no task too small in the continued efforts needed for real estate education excellence.

Whew! As they say at the end of the old Warner Brother's cartoons, "That's all folks!".

My goal in producing this list has been to give at least a little recognition to those who have made a real difference in the lives of many of us in and around the real estate business here in the greater metro Phoenix area. It was not to make anyone feel bad (if they were not included on the list) who hoped and thought that they s/would be on the list...but I can take it--tell me, who have I left off this list who you feel should have been included?

Part 4--"The Notables"- The 50 Most Influential People in Phoenix Area Real Estate

2008-09-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

In our household, my (Added: December 2009...soon to be ex-) wife Christine & I have several traditional male/female role reversals; a perfect example we are of how opposites can attract. For all of our challenges, I still love her very much and hope that she allows my love to continue to grow so I may show her more & more how much she means to me.

One example of our differences is that she loves sports (to play them and watch them) while I could take them or leave them...& mostly I leave them. Now, on the other hand, Christine is passionate & competitive and is very good at both; on the field (or court) as an athlete & in the stands as a fan.

I am a bit of a fan at play-offs, will watch the Super Bowl and go to an occasional game of any sort that she want to go to...I'll watch sporting events if she wants me to because I know she enjoys it and I get a kick out of watching her get into it all and be happy. Her smile and that twinkle in her eye makes it all worth it to me! And I might play a bit of a casual sports--with my children--but it's about being with my kids; that's really about family time than it is sports time for me.

So when this year's summer Olympics were being broadcast last month, they were always on the television at our house...and it sure wasn't me looking at them more than I had to. I did enjoy the opening & closing ceremonies...what was all of that boring stuff in between them? ;-)

Well, these last two weeks, it's my turn. Presidential Politics. Two Conventions. Immersion. An Olympics of sorts for a couple of elected positions. Politics; it's show business for people who are unattractive and not athletic. :-) I LOVE it!

Oh, and since the last post, we had a fantastic Labor Day weekend, celebrated my Dad's 70th Birthday, sent and got my oldest child back from Girl Scout Camp and found a couple of great puppies who were lost & have now been hopefully reunited with their owner or put up for adoption...but we loved it for the short time they were with us! Someday, I & we will get/have a dog!

Alright, I have been negligent in my posting, and we're barely 1/2 way through this top 50 list, so here are the next ten!

> Elliott Pollack - As long-time real estate investor, Elliot is best known as an economist. He has one of the most successful consulting practices around and is often looked to as a barometer of all three stages; 1. Where we've been, 2. Where we are, &, of course, what most everyone is mostly interested in--Where are we going? We hear it all the time; "When is the market going to get back to 'normal'?". Elliot is one of those rare economists who is usually much more right than wrong. As an example I believe he was the first person of substance here who called this residential real estate market would go down and be down much longer than most (myself included) predicted it would be; right now at about 3 years more to go. And he always posts his slide shows that he delivers to groups for anyone to see at his website--the man does a mean PowerPoint presentation!

> Jonathan Dalton - Jon is unlike many real estate agents who act one way with a few people; pleasant like a game show host to some, but are dishonest, lazy & insincere jerks to others. Jon's the exact opposite--the real article--he is genuine and pleasant to all--even when he'd like to smack at least a few of 'em. Jon works hard and simply expects fairness of the others he interacts with; agents and consumers alike. Jon's outstanding website and blog; "All Phoenix Real Estate" places him among the top curmudgeons in our area. Jon has now been trying to elevate the profession by teaching other agents what the standards are and how the business does work and how it should work. Jon is an agent who is like a watermelon--sometimes a little hard on the outside, but sweet and soft on the inside.

> Bob Bass - Robert N. Bass, Esq.; hmmmm...where to begin? The man, the legend. Let's start with this; if you are in trouble (or at the least you have a bad feeling that you might be) in your role as a real estate licensee--well, let's just say you had better hope and then get & have Bob on your side. Bob is simply great; a salt of the earth person you'd be glad to count as a friend. In his business, Bob is my favorite kind of attorney--one who only represents the wrongly accused "defendants" (or who might soon be if Bob isn't working to protect you)--not the ones looking to hit the settlement or lawsuit lottery with you as the payor. Bob knows the Commissioners Rules, real estate related statutes and applicable case law like the back of his hand...you are fortunate if he's representing you!

> R.L. Brown – R.L.'s Phoenix Housing Newsletter, (along with several of his other offerings) are must haves and reads for those who want to get (and then keep) their finger on the pulse of great metro Phoenix area real estate. Best known for his incredibly detailed analysis of the new home marketplace in every stage...from land acquisition to breakouts of most any type imaginable, he warned builders not to overextend themselves and be cautious in their feelings of "land fever" in the go-go days of 2003-05. Those who listened to Mr. Brown are much better off than those who did not... to say the least. From every single person I've spoken with who know him well, they all say that his outstanding reputation is one where the belief about the person is refreshingly true.

> Duane Fouts - It’s been said that "Some people make an impression when they walk into a room and others when they walk out"; well, Duane embodies the kind of man who people say the same about whether he is there or not--he conducts himself by the philosophy of "to think only the best, to expect only the best, and to be only the best". For about 20 years with Dan Schwartz Realty, starting as an agent, next as a manager, then owner, Duane proved that you can have both an ultra-affordable agent pay plan AND have real standards that those same agents are held to. Today, if there is an industry group that needs a humble servant (& in the realty biz, we are always looking for volunteer helpers) that is where you'll often find Duane, lending his gentle and wise ways to their efforts.

> Bill Gray - Who says nice guys finish last? Bill is a genuinely nice guy who has a knack for real estate instruction and, who, by applying the old adage of "Want to work part-time? Prefer to only work a half-day? Go ahead; choose any twelve hours!" type of philosophy, Mr. Gray bravely took what was a rundown real estate school--essentially a shell of what it once was, one as battered as the market at the time in the late 1980's, and out of receivership in the last down market (a time when few wanted a real estate school..."Why chase a larger share of a shrinking market?" thought most), Bill slowly and smoothly built what is probably the most prestigious, best-appointed and most diversified realty school around with him as the chief operating officer of it to this day!

> Connie Wilhelm - It can be hard to be the president of a large trade group in ordinary times, but it's a real challenge when markets swing wildly. Regardless, great or "bad" markets (and everything in between), Ms. Wilhelm has led in that role for the Homebuilder's Association of Arizona for almost two decades now as both president and executive director of this ultra important trade group, which is a strong voice for around 1,000 members. In her spare time (I am going to guess that there is not very much of that) she also has the same position (president and executive director) for Move.com's (parent of Realtor.com & many other realty entities) HomeBuilder.com, the official site of the National Association of Home Builders, which is the top new home site on the web.

> Floyd Scott - Floyd has been a reassuring presence for the often times turbulent Century 21 franchisee's in our areas. For many years the C-21 network here (& nationally) was dominated by owner-operators who were almost always good selling agents and brokers, but weren't always the best business people. Mr. Scott followed his own good sense & the C-21 systems, first started with one office, paying attention to recruiting, lead generation and the other key basics. Then he expanded organically with an uncanny savvy & timing, built a competent and profitable agent workforce & put away enough $$$ to be able to "rescue" some of the many smaller C-21's when they were ready to sell; rolling them into his now 10 location C-21 Arizona Foothills.

> Stu and Andy Israel - In preparing this top 50 list, I worked it up to almost 65 people and then had to pare it back down, & I was inclined to count Stu and Andy as one person; but hey--they are separate individuals-so, two they are! By the way, some have actually seen them apart. ;-) Andy's the one with the beard. Stu...not so much with the hair. Some say that the westside of town doesn't get the respect it's due...with some saying if you want respect, you have to give it and still others saying that if you want respect, you have to earn it. Well, Stu & Andy, as owners of the Westford College of Real Estate both earn it and give it! The school they lead has been around longer than I've been alive; they hire some of the best instructors around and are a trusted source for quality realty education through their two West Valley locations.

Here are the links to the previous 30 of the 50 Most Influential People in Phoenix, Arizona-Area Real Estate:

http://jimrejournal.blogspot.com/2008/08/part-3-noteables-50-most-influential.html
http://jimrejournal.blogspot.com/2008/08/part-2-noteables-50-most-influential.html
http://jimrejournal.blogspot.com/2008/07/noteables-50-most-influential-people-in.html

Who will be in the final 10 of the 50? Keep watching; they will showing up here fairly soon!

Part 3--"The Notables"- The 50 Most Influential People in Phoenix Area Real Estate

2008-08-18T22:47:00.000-07:00

As the list continues to reveal itself, here is the next installment (with this group now totaling 30--20 to go!) of the 50 Most Influential People in Phoenix, Arizona Area Real Estate...

> Vic Getsigner - As proof that there can always be another act & that a little snow on the roof doesn't mean that the fire is out, years after selling his Prudential Arizona Realty in 1997 and laying low for a decade, Vic resurfaced in 2007 as a knight in shining armor of sorts to again captain the helm of the largest Prudential realty affiliate in the area, this time Prudential Arizona Properties. Very much the shrewd businessman, yet someone who relates well to the typical agent, Vic knows how to build a company and build loyalty with his Realtors. It looks like he is doing both again through shedding unnecessary expenses, putting together a new management team and the recent coming together as a roll-in with boutique brokerage Sterling Fine Homes & Land.

> Jim Eckley - The epitome of the smooth talking attorney, but one who really does usually have much of substance to say, Jim brings a sharp-as-whip style coupled with a keen understanding of the law to aggressively protect those who hire him to do so. Jim is a true relaxed gentleman in his interactions with his friends and clients alike and is quick with a joke or pun to try to help relieve the tension when needed. An aggressive pursuer of home builders who shirk their responsibilities, be it in their warranties against construction defects or otherwise, he often wins the day and won't settle for second best and Jim is ever ready to use his fiery oratory skills when called on to wage battle in the many David v. Goliath battles he has triumphed in and on.

> Jay Thompson - As an agent with Sheldon Schweidt's Century 21 Aware for years, Jay did well (and still does) by himself (along with his co-agent wife Francy), through providing on-top-of-it-above-and-beyond-service for his & their clients. But Jay began quickly to really distinguish himself as a power real estate blogger long before most agents had ever heard of blogging and helped show that a blog is not just "a credibility statement" or "simply something to do", but a true way to serve and meet consumers to transact business with. Jay has inspired a wave of wannabes into the real estate blogging fray, me included. Earlier this year, Jay opened his own brokerage, Thompson's Realty, and is attracting other great Realtors who are fantastic people, agents & bloggers, too.

> Cynthia Worley - A top performing agent who has catapulted herself into practically being a walking real estate brokerage; she does so much business that she has hired a full group of agents collectively covering most every area from Casa Grande to North Scottsdale and all parts in between. She not only brought her husband Mark into the business, but she has now surpassed both service delivery standards & production levels of many of the mega-producing Keller Williams agents who mentored her. I don't always initially recognize talent, but I definitely did the first time I met Cynthia as a brand new agent out interviewing different brokerages to start her career with in Y2K; so much so I offered her extra perks, but it wasn't enough--she went to KW--it looks like she made an excellent choice for herself...I think she's "made it"!

> Don Martin - A trifecta of someone to look up to in the business; a great leader, broker and educator. Don has been with numerous brokerages over the years and every time he is with one they grow intelligently with better quality agents, more business and fewer disputes; be it with consumers, agents with other brokerages and as witnessed by the reduced numbers of mediations, arbitrations and lawsuits--the last three all but non-existent when Don is in charge. A veritable master of the Arizona Department of Real Estate's Professional Code of Conduct and the Realtor's Code of Ethics, Don applies them with a deft sense of fairness and shows agents how, by better knowing and applying them, they too can enjoy some of the same success.

> Matt Widdows - A heck of a guy & good-looking too; alright--I swear I would say that even if he wasn't my current boss. Opening HomeSmart in year 2000, less than 9 years later Matt has come from just being another guy opening a little start-up realty brokerage in a market crowded with competitors to having the brokerage; he has grown it to have more agents in the Phoenix area, the whole state of Arizona and in the entire Southwestern United States...more than any other brokerage--numbering today at about 3,300 Realtors. With a love for & a strong command of both real estate and technology, Matt married the two well with numerous innovations and a when-would-now-be-a-good-time attitude that helps him keep an eye on investing money where it goes the farthest & lasts the longest--in serving the agents licensed with his firm and consumers together they service.

> Curtis Hall - WOW! What can I say I about Curtis? How about "I am Not Worthy!" to begin. O.K.; more specifics... A great planner and doer. A masterful agent. A fantastic marketer. A quality human being. I was very fortunate to have Curtis as an informal mentor of sorts when I was a newer selling agent. By the time I got into the business, Curtis had been licensed for about 3 or 4 years, yet he seemed to me as though he had been doing it his whole life! I was so flattered when Curtis took me under his wing & taught me a lot in an era when "buyer brokerage" was still fightin' words in some circles here locally. What do they say about pioneers? That they have arrows in their back? Curtis took them all with grace and an inner peace in knowing that he was and is right! Deservedly in the Re/Max Hall of Fame, the honorary first Accredited Buyer's Agent (ABR) designee and now veteran trainer of the ABR program, Curtis is still active in all of the above & deservedly so, enjoying life.

> Sam Wercinski - After having only known pretty much one Arizona Real Estate Commissioner for most of my career (the exceptional Jerry Holt), I saw his succeeding commissioner (Elaine Richardson) come into the office with many having and holding high hopes of what she could and would do differently, and while there was change; progress under her tenure was no doubt made, but much still remained to be done when she resigned the office. While Sam (as he usually prefers to be addressed as--often at his insistence--in a way; his way...of friendliness and informality) has had his detractors (what Commissioner hasn't?--give me a break on most of the gripes I hear!), I think in the vast majority of situations Sam has spoke with candor & has truly taken the mandate of his office to heart...indeed delivering quantity & quality of results, not just words.

> John Stih - Following long-time Executive Officers Mike Peck and then Frank Torian (who collectively had been in the position for most of the 1990's), John came into what used to be the Mesa-Tempe-Chandler Board of Realtors at a critical time of transition for what had only been referred to as the Southeast Valley Regional Association of Realtors "SEVRAR" for a few years as the new millennium dawned. As some of the members still lamented the demise of the MLS books & of adding days on market into the local MLS that SEVRAR has 25% of, John took a group that had some real issues (including items that needed to be restructured and legacy challenges), listened carefully to what the best and most active members wanted and then got 100% behind those desires, creating a enviable role with a well-run association that is the envy of others.

> Michael Pollack - As I stated when I started this list in the first post from this series, there are not many folks from the commercial side of real estate listed in the top 50. But how can I resist adding Mr. Pollack, a man who, like Warren Buffet, watches the fundamentals and only invests in what he knows. And he must know a lot, because today he owns and controls some of the nicest mid-level quality strip shopping centers, predominately in the Southeast Valley. With a Donald Trump like flair for personal promotion (and some pretty full, wild hair to match :-> ), Michael takes what are often times C- or D+ grade centers, buys 'em right & then invests in them with major makeovers to the facilities and the better quality tenants that follow. He is a real giver, making what could have become urban blight, effectively taking pieces of coal & turns them into diamonds!

Part 2--"The Notables"- The 50 Most Influential People in Phoenix Area Real Estate

2008-08-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

From my list of the 50 Most Influential People in Phoenix, Arizona Area Real Estate, here are the next batch of ten...

> Russell Shaw - A painfully shy and unassuming man who invests very little in high-profile advertising--KIDDING! How can you NOT know Russell Shaw with John Hall & Associates? If you are reading this and you don't know who he is, you must be, 1. kidding, 2. living under a rock, 3. not residing in the greater Phoenix area, or 4. not using a t.v. or radio. Russell is a very tall man who, if he came to my house as a consumer, why I might just list with him because of his physically imposing stature. Well, that and he's an awesome agent; a mega-producer who, with his audio seminars, live events & blog--all where he provides tips for agents and consumers alike--truly shows himself to be very much a man who believes that ideas die if they aren't shared.

> Rowdy Dawson - I have heard him referred to as a "West Valley Real Estate Legend", and he really is just that on several levels. At both the brokerage and the propriety school level, Rowdy has touched the lives of thousands of agents and consumers. Even though we got licensed the same year, worked solely as sales associates for about the same amount of time, helping others transact similar levels of business, I have teased Rowdy that "when I grow up I want to be like you". While Rowdy and I could not be much more different in our personalities, styles, outside of real estate interests and the fact that Rowdy & I have frequently have substantially disparate views on many realty topics, I totally respect his opinions, as they are usually well thought-out ones!

> Patrick Sheahan - A tour de force as an active commercial real estate broker who has led many acquisitions and dispositions of commercial buildings, in addition to a phenomenal specialization in doing tenant representation for several well-known national users of retail space, Pat, after being with RE/MAX Commercial for a very long time, now truly runs his own show at Berry and Doyle, LLC. As well as he does on the brokerage side alone, Pat, as a real estate educator, may have very well (almost single-handedly) taken the majority of outstanding quality local-based commercial real estate education to where it is today in our area, first through the Commercial Real Estate Institute & today at many venues, including through his own school, Commercial Real Estate Seminars.

> Michelle Lind - As the long-time General Legal Counsel to the Arizona Association of Realtors and local best-selling author of the indispensable book "Arizona Real Estate Law", Michelle has a tremendous command of real estate issues, as well as an outstanding amount institutional level and depth of knowledge about the Association that often times comes in quite handy. I find that Michelle has a strong desire to acknowledge the history of the Association she advises (and the members it represents), but feel she is not tied down to outdated ways of doing things. Michelle has a well-developed sense of humor (one that serves her well in tense moments) and that, coupled with her phenomenal real estate legal expertise, helps her rank among the top echelons of our very best realty minds in Arizona.

> Randy Cooney - It would be difficult to find a more versatile individual for real estate in three key disciplines 1. Recruiting 2. Training and 3. Managing. With Prudential Real Estate for many years, then Coldwell Banker, Randy is now with, and has spearheaded some stupendous growth for, the local Keller Williams company he helps oversee today from a senior ownership & management position. Randy developed the popular "Flight to Success" program, which he uses in conjunction with the some of the best in one-to-one guidance and coaching. Not only in just the items mentioned, but also through the popular "Career Counseling" program he leads at the Arizona School of R. E., Randy has possibly positively impacted more persons in (& about) careers in real estate than most any other individual in the Phoenix area.

> Bob Bemis - Coming in at a critical juncture following a long-term predecessor, Bob is making the best of a tough situation as the wheels were already in motion for a key change-over from the about score-long contract with the previous data management and display vendor. As the CEO of the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, Bob possesses the credentials from his past experience in other market leading multi-list systems in other parts of the country. I see in Bob the fortitude to lead us through these challenging times. His sane, rational approach and finesse in public speaking as well as the fact that he is being easily & quickly available to the MLS subscribers through phone, email and blogs should make for all the difference in smoothing most of the many ruffled Realtor feathers in the system makeover.

> Tom Simplot - As if being the head of the Arizona Multihousing Association on it's own would not be enough, Tom also extends his influence on real estate matters (as well as many other quality of life factors) as a current Phoenix City Councilman, effectively representing 100's of thousands of residents in the city's 4th district. Previously, Tom owned a business selling real estate, was also the deputy director of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona and a consultant with several Fortune 500 companies on federal legislative issues. Even prior to that, he certainly impacted realty issues as the director of the Governor's Office of Workforce Development under former real estate licensee and Arizona Governor Fife Symington.

> John Foltz -Sometimes referred to as an "Uber-Broker", John is looked at (and listened to), here by the real estate folks at all levels of experience & sophistication in a way, perhaps best briefly explained (borrowing from the old E.F Hutton stock brokerage commercials), "When John Foltz, people listen". And the stock brokerage reference is not without additional impact, as John came to residential sales from that industry, working his way up the real estate ranks from there. John sets the pace for president of the Rector family's flagship Phoenix operations of Realty Executives in Phoenix, as well-as giving input on items related to the Realty Executive International parent franchisor's operations--now operating in most every state & in numerous other countries.

> Margie O'Campo de Castillo - As a top-performing agent who currently actively lists and sells real estate, Margie is very much in touch with the realities of assisting consumers in answering their questions and concerns, assuring not only their future satisfaction but also in helping handle some of the real hurt that is occurring in the local realty marketplace. As a result of all Margie's giving, she is frequently looked to by local media, especially The Arizona Republic, for insightful commentary on the many challenges in the process of residential sales. In Margie's role as the president of the local chapter of the Hispanic Real Estate Professionals Association, she helps sets the tone and example for the members in what needs to be their fair & honest dealings with the emerging clients they serve.

> Jay Butler - For someone who himself has become a virtual "institution" himself, as he is a meticulous researcher and a stupendous representative for Arizona State University's Polytechnic campus (which is now located in the far south East Valley), Jay has (I think very unfairly so) numerous detractors. Doctor Butler is almost an ambassador of sorts and is an outstanding "natural resource" for all things real estate research-wise. Jay's guarded, rational approach to the real estate related subjects he is immersed in helps make all the difference in fleshing out what is truly factual and gives us some exceptionally credible information to compare to data analysis and results from other resources we get from those with obvious agendas and potential conflicts of interest.

So who are the other 40 most influential people in Phoenix Area real estate? Well, to view the first 10 I listed, see the previous post at http://jimrejournal.blogspot.com/2008/07/noteables-50-most-influential-people-in.html

And the remaining 30? They are "Coming Soon"!

I am Not the Only One

2008-08-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

Update #3: The divorce is legally final. I could re-title this post to be "Once Again, I am the Only One" as Christine has gone back to her maiden name Nagle, so I'm the sole Zirbes in AZ with a r.e. license. The divorce has been an incredibly painful process and one that continues to evolve. But outside of stray entanglements of assets remaining & parenting, Chris is becoming more of my past & less of the present and future. Like real estate agents who say of their realty experiences "I should write a book about all I've been through", at this point I could say the same for divorce at large and mine specifically. I never, ever imagined that I would be divorced and again single person. Now I'm doing more than imagining it. But I'll be alright - moving on & forward. "No rain, no rainbows" as is sometimes said. I've made it through much of the rain & am more o.k. with it, but I'm looking forward to the rainbows & sunnier days! (Feb. '10)

Update #2: Even though my wife, Christine Zirbes (Nagle), and I have now separated & are moving towards a divorce, nothing in this post is any different as a result. She is still my wife until she is not, she will always be the mother of my three awesome children, and she was my best friend and most beloved for the vast majority of my adult life. Despite our differences & mistakes made, I would still do most anything she needs & go anyplace for her; to do what I could for her...if she called - I'd do my best to be there! (Sept. '09)

Update: Happy One Year Anniversary to Christine at her job! I am certain she does a great job, that she'll continue to do well for them and that she will go far. The team that Christine is on is also becoming so recognized that they were just featured in the latest edition of Commercial Executive Magazine - see page 14 of: http://www.cem-az.com/img/media/issue5-2009.pdf (Aug. '09)

============================================

When I looked at the Arizona Department of Real Estate's website www.AZRE.gov yesterday, I noticed that I am no longer the only person in the state with the last name "Zirbes" to hold a realty license.

See http://159.87.254.2/publicdatabase/DetailIndividual.aspx?Id=243188

It's my wife Christine.

She has had the toughest job and the most important job of all. No, not in being my wife--although I am certain there have been many times when I made it seem as though it might be the most-frustrating, least appreciated position of all. As someone once remarked to me, "You definitely married up". Indeed I did.

Rather, the toughest, most important job is that of raising our kids. I believe that they, we and she are all better for her having sacrificed at some level, as she did indeed spend sooooooo much time and provided so much love to our 3 not-so-youngsters in their formative years. Granted, we are barely at the mid-point in raising them, but if she does half as good of job in the second portion as in the first, we will be doing incredibly well!

After 11 years as a "stay-at-home mom" (a misnomer if there ever was one; she is always going some place for me &/or with our children), Christine has obtained her real estate license and with it in hand, is re-entering the workforce as of tomorrow. She is returning to her previous employer of many years, Colliers International; a large, well-known & respected commercial real estate brokerage. Actually, they thought so much of her that she is coming in as a Marketing Coordinator with an award-winning, top performing salesperson there, Paul Sieczkowski.

By the way, she studied for both the school exam and the state test so diligently; she passed each on the first try. Smart and good-looking; she is!

I know she will do great in her new role at Colliers! I simply want her (and others who read this) to know that she'll do great there and that I am very proud of her and love her very, very much!

"The Notables"- The 50 Most Influential People in Phoenix Area Real Estate

2008-07-31T23:23:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the longest I have been away from posting (10 days) since I started this blog, as I took some time off from both work and email (O.K., I admit it- I did peak a look a couple of times at email...) for many days. I and we enjoyed many family-fun types of things together; including celebrating my wonderful wife Christine's birthday over that time frame-it was all simply great!

This also marks my 50th post. I have long been planning to make this one even more "special" than normal and quite unique among the writings I've shared so far in this now going on half-year journey.

It is a list of the "50 Most Influential People in Phoenix, Arizona-Area Real Estate".

By now you probably realize, as it is with most all of these kinds of lists and, quite frankly, pretty much true with most of my writings in general, quite subjective. This list is derived from my operating in a multitude of capacities within my "world" as both a non-competing/non-selling, managing associate broker & trainer of real estate agents.

Thus this list is full of those who are truly influential, as I see it, for most of them make a dramatic impact on the business by both the shear quality and quantity of their "thought-leadership"; witnessed by their many "talks" to & with other realty notables as well as with the real estate "masses"; be it in their holding high volumes of individual consultations, the hosting of numerous discussion groups, be at sales meetings and as panelists at real estate forums, as instructors at training sessions or through real estate continuing education classes, and/or in their own writings, be it by their e-newsletters, blogs or otherwise.

And while I will have a smattering of top-producing listing and selling agents on the list, it is almost exclusively devoid of any people not within the residential resale disipline and it will be noticeably absent of any folks from our most important interdependent entities; the residential lending, title, escrow, appraisal and home inspection segments.

I say "will be" as I am not including the entire 50 people in just this one posting. Rather, I will be posting them 10 at a time over this and the next four posts. You do know how to keep someone in suspense, don't you? You don't? How about I tell you later? :-)

It is also important to note that these persons are listed in absolutely no particular order. To avoid any possible confusion that they are, I have left off any number before their names...you can count them all up later if you want to double-check that there are indeed 50. :-)

Here is the first ten...

> Greg Swann - One of the best-known, if not the best known, real estate blogger in the greater metro Phoenix area (& one of the tops in the whole USA), a fellow who saw a massive void in the local real estate business when he entered it not all that many years ago. Greg is the epitome of a "calling them as he sees them" kind of person, one who holds a refreshing "no sacred cows allowed" mindset. Greg manages to do a very nice volume of business, as he is still currently actually assisting consumers transact business, while at the same time is someone who has assembled a great cadre of writers in his embracing the best of the realty blogosphere with his "BloodHoundblog". Oh--Greg is also a vigilant advocate of "proper" agency relationships--I love that about him too!

> Tom Fannin - As 'old school' as the last person mentioned here is the 'new school'. There can be no school like the old school; being a person like Tom--one of your word, demonstrated in his treating all others with the "platinum rule" being ever present; a living example of a "getting by giving mindset" (to the real estate industry and our community in general), this Phoenix real estate legend still makes the circuit in many capacities. Even though Tom did long ago sell his very successful, market-leading real estate brokerage that bore his name, his legacy is still felt in the many, many real estate agents he has touched by his well-produced education, salesperson's behavior standards and what was essentially "ahead of the times professionalism" in the biz.

> Catherine Reagor - For all the "grief" she suffers (most of which I chock up to jealousy-be it from would-be competitor’s or cranky readers in general) in her high-profile role as a lead real estate columnist through The Arizona Republic and also as shown on AzCentral.com, the impact Catherine has is probably among the farthest reaching and most balanced--and one devoid of the realty hype-type of stuff. Catherine is a "real" journalist covering our market in what is indeed a hype-ridden business...I can only try to imagine the masses of press-release madness she has swim & sort through to get to what really needs to be shared with her readers. When she makes a mistake (rarely), she quickly "admits it", allows for the other side to be heard and when needed, makes clarification statements. Priceless!

> Dominic Scappaticci - Anyone who has met Dominic is touched by his esprit d`corps, take-no-prisoners style to running a successful real estate career. After making his mark on the new home sales industry and winning most every award offered in that line of work, Dominic duplicated that same success in the resale side, as an agent, mentor and leader of some of the top real estate companies in the Valley. The ultimate "A-personality-type", Dominic is powerful leader in his current role as the CEO & designated broker for the newly-minted blend of Russ Lyon and Equitable Sotheby’s. Dominic is a phenomenal example of that if you want just talk-talk to someone else; if you want results; if you want the job done & done right, get with him.

> Trudy Moore - "Trudy is the best broker I ever had" is just one of the many positive comments I have heard recently from agents-and that one was said by an agent currently affiliated with a well-know mega brokerage competitor. Trudy is the designated broker at HomeSmart, where she has been in that role for about 3 years. I have consistently been pleased with both her technical knowledge & her people skills. As she likes to say "I don't know all of the answers, although I do know a lot, but I always know where to go to get the answers for you!" Trudy is active in the industry, but she makes it a point not to be too busy with others things, so she is frequently available for agent questions. Trudy was even recently named #1 in Arizona Woman's Magazine's "Who's Who" section.

> Tom Farley - Tom was instrumental in his role as the lobbyist for & then Vice President of Government Affairs with the Arizona Association of Realtors for many years. When it came time to find a new CEO after Ty Strout was set to retire from the position after decades in the that job, there was a thorough national search for replacement candidates to fill those very big shoes, but it was found that one of the most capable individuals was already right here--in the form of Tom. In his new role at the head of AAR, Tom brings his capable negotiating style & a strong understanding of the mission of the Realtor trade group, what to do to add to the perceived value offered to it's members, plus many innovative ideas about what to do about some of the challenges ahead.

> Bill Glenn - He is probably among the least known persons on this list, especially when compared to some of the more high-profile folks mentioned in this top 50, yet he may have personally and positively impacted more of the "young turks" in the business than any others mentioned. Bill is likely the best pre-licensing instructor in the state. As a frequent teacher at the Arizona School of Real Estate and Business for the classes required to be taken in working towards obtaining an Arizona real estate license, Bill is approachable to his students, teaches with memorable & humorous technique, and is incredibly well-rounded & researched in the material he uses during his classes designed to raise the confidence (& test scores) of those he helps.

> David Compton - The consummate professional trainer, David is probably one of the most-admired and best-known real estate teachers in the entire state and is quite quickly becoming (deservedly so) better known regionally and even nationally. An incredibly versatile instructor who can teach most any real estate related topic with ease, David has a mastery often missing in others--David has an almost flawless command of both the content and the delivery. Passionate in (and about) life and real estate, David was the Director of Education for the local mega-sized Coldwell Banker affiliate here for many years, before becoming a partner in the Practical Resources company. To this day, David is still one of the best-liked and highest-rated G.R.I. instructors in Arizona.

> Roger Nelson - After taking the helm as the Executive Officer of what was the Glendale Board of Realtors a few years ago, Roger has taken what was a very fine, but frankly, a stogy, old-line local Realtor group and has now nudged them into the 21st century. In a well-planned move that has proven to be one with great foresight, this "Board" that Roger leads joined together with what has historically been perceived as the very isolationist Sun City Board and has now come to be known as WEMAR-the West Maricopa County Association of Realtors. Roger's affable style makes everyone feel important and they sense that their input is welcomed and valued when communicating with him-all resulting in what has become a very collaborative and forward-looking group, making it much more contemporary in this age of "Board of Choice".

> Diane Flannigan - A veritable legend in local (and even in some national) real estate education circles, Diane is looked to for her great skills and genuine empathy in teaching her classes to real estate agents at all levels of knowledge and success...or what is a temporary lack of those two qualities in some Realtors...temporary if the agent/student just will apply what she teaches. Diane has been a "giant" in the education "game" for longer than I have been licensed and as far as I was am concerned she is to be thanked over and over for what she has done for what must by now be a virtually unlimited number of real estate professionals and is now continuing to do just that in her current role as the Director of Career Development at local brokerage John Hall & Associates.

So who are the other 40 most influential people in Phoenix Area real estate? Stay tuned!

Getting (& Staying) Up-to-Date on Real Estate

2008-07-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

I have been asked more than once for advice on how one can best "stay on top of" real estate trends, including working towards having the ability to spout out many current event-type pieces of information, including some of the myriad of facts and statistics about real estate, local & national, that are available.

In answering that kind of question, I'll usually reference that it's been said that "readers are not always leaders, but leaders are almost always readers"; the point here being that if you want to be on the leading edge and get "in the know" about all things real estate, you'll really have to make a good faith effort to stay up-to-date by constantly seeking out quality information!

Besides the obvious, that being "reading" (and, at least for me--often re-reading; it's amazing to me how much I often miss if I only read something once), it can simply come down to "What to read?".

Begin by reading some of the many quality print realty trade publications about the residential real estate business; ones that are from all levels--local, state and national...the titles of which I'll save for another post--there are at least 10 critical ones for me (and YOU) to read so you can stay in tune to the many "going ons" in today’s marketplace.

In addition, carefully review some of the general consumer publications, such as the at least a few of the various local and national newspapers and business periodicals, which are also a real plus for you to seek out and should being reading with great regularity.

There are also several of the best real estate websites and blogs out there that you should also be reading--most of them local. There are so many that I have found to be invaluable--the titles of which are again another post--again, part of an almost endless amount of material out there for this blog!

What follows are 4 great ways to begin to answer the "what to read?" question towards staying on top of greater Phoenix area real estate trends WITHOUT you having to "pull"--to have to go look for on a regular basis--but rather you can have them "pushed"; automatically sent to you (via email)--and all for FREE!

Here are the key ones I (and now you--if you so choose) can rely on (in no particular order of importance or preference):

1. "NAT News", which is produced and sent by Chris Fox, the Business Development Manager for North American Title. This one comes most every business day with a summary of one or two of the top real estate related stories from articles published on the internet, with a title of and link to those, as well as another 8-12 more articles that are likely relevant to your business! You may request to be added to the list of recipients of this one by contacting Chris at 480-926-1057 or through cfox@nat.com

2. The "Arizona Regional MLS Stats-The Freedom Report", which is produced and sent by David Blank, a CPA and a listing and selling Realtor with National Realty Brokers. Don't let the name of the brokerage confuse you--David is a local licensee and his #'s are all local too. This report typically comes out once per week (with an additional monthly summary). It features a brief written overview from David of local market trends, with several wonderful pages of graphs that chart the last couple of years of active listings and what goes under contract for not only MLS properties that are residential for sale, but also residential rentals, land, commercial/industrial (be it for lease &/or for sale), as well as multi-family dwellings. You may request to be added to the list of recipients of this one by contacting David at 480-232-7110 or through mlsstats@cox.net

3. The "Weekly Inventory (MLS) Level Comparison (Report)", that is produced and sent by Karl Stauffer, who is an active listing and selling associate broker here in the Scottsdale area who now leads up his own brokerage. Most every week, Karl provides some brief commentary about local real estate market conditions and then sorts through the ARMLS listing inventory by areas of the greater metro Phoenix area, giving you a good sense of absorption rates and the current # of month's supply of residential single family detached homes that are available for purchase. You may request to be added to the list of recipients for this one by contacting Karl at 602-316-2355 or through karl@karlstauffer.com

4. The "Monthly Survey of Real Estate Agents" is produced and sent by Daniel Oppenheim & Michael Dahl, who recently joined Credit Suisse after many years of being with Bank of America. These are professional "money guys" focusing on publicly-traded home building stocks. This is a national report in the form of their compiled aggregate results, but is also a very much a local break-out because it features their analysis of the latest trends found in their research of about 40 individual major metro areas for home builders. This is all related by Dan & Mike and paired with their great at-a-glance "thumbs up or down" on collective builder traffic levels, prices and incentives in each of the largest new home real estate markets in the USA. Their methodology is a savvy one, culled from survey responses received from outside (non-homebuilder staff) residential sales agents; ones who list resale houses AND also sell not only resale, but also new homes as well. In each report Dan & Mike also share their thoughts on where they see the new home market headed, and correspondingly, where the intrinsically linked resale markets may be going as well- in both the near & longer terms. They also comment on their favorite (& least favorite) homebuilding stocks (again in part, based on the builder's who outside agents in the survey say that they and their buying clients like and dislike), as well as stock ideas from and for that sector. You may request to be added to the list of the recipients for this report by contacting Daniel at 212-325-5726 or through dan.oppenheim@credit-suisse.com

So any excellent sources you have "pushed" to you that we should add to this list? It's now your turn to share! :-)

A Simple Guide To Success In Residential Real Estate Sales

2008-07-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

Perhaps like yourself, I have not had a tremendous number of original thoughts in my life; rather I am mostly a “product” of God, as well as my parents and the many other people who have touched my life.

In other words, most of what I am today and what know I have learned through others.

But the following thoughts came to me one day and I believe it is more original than not, and I thought I'd share it with you here.

If at any point you are having a problem along the 5 key steps in a real estate transaction from the beginning of the process to the very end, from "Prospecting" to the "Closing", the most likely solution for your problem follows:

Step 1. "Making Contacts"--a.k.a. 'Prospecting'.
If 'Yes', go to the next step.
If 'No'; You Need To Assign the Time & Just Do It!

Step 2. "Appointments"--a.k.a. 'Holding meetings w/Prospective Clients'.
If 'Yes', go to the next step.
If 'No'; You need to work on the techniques of your appointment-setting skills.

Step 3. "Listings"--a.k.a. 'A Prospect becomes a Client; signs an Employment Agreement'.
If 'Yes' , go to next step.
If 'No'; You need to work on your consultation and closing techniques.

Step 4. "Sales"--a.k.a. 'An Offer Presented is Accepted'".
If 'Yes' , go to the next step.
If 'No'; the Seller/property is overpriced &/or the Buyer under motivated.

Step 5. "Closings"--a.k.a. 'The Transfer of the Ownership of the Property from Seller to Buyer'.
If 'Yes' , go to the next step (Yeah! Payday!).
If 'No', the Buyers or Sellers aren’t sufficiently qualified.

In summary, there is no guarantee that the solution listed is absolutely, positively the cure for what ails you, but I can assure you that there is a very high probability that it is indeed, in most cases, identifying what needs to be done differently to get a different, positive result.

No one said this business is Easy (or if someone has--they are WRONG!), but it is Simple!

Sneaking in the Movies - Pt. 2

2008-07-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

Here are several other movies that have real estate agent references that I think you might enjoy:

I'll start with "The Cat in the Hat" (with Mike Meyers as the Cat and Kelly Preston as the children's mom--but she is now a real estate agent in this version of the story)--and because of that, there are many funny bits about the biz. Alec Baldwin is in this movie too and, as always, is a hoot. Go and take a look at www.imdb.com/title/tt0312528/ to learn more about this movie, which is one you can watch with the kids or grandkids.

One not to watch with the younger kids (lots of swear words used in this film--catch it on basic cable television, such as TBS, if you want to watch a heavily-swearing-edited-out version), but one you really gotta see if you can take the salty language, is this movie based on the David Mamet play, "Glengarry Glen Ross"; the sales meeting scene with Alec Baldwin is a classic--great example of a turbo-charged salesperson coming in contact with ones who are not. This flick portrays an unethical land fraud sales boiler-room type of real estate; but much of it translates to easily to residential real estate sales, sales in general & life lessons. See www.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/

Another example of mostly what NOT to do in the residential real estate business would be the character played by Harrison Ford in "Hollywood Homicide"--which I don't think is a very good movie, but if you are in real estate, you should watch it for the problems of real estate agency duty issues covered if nothing else. Look at www.imdb.com/title/tt0329717/ for more details on this one.

Of course, Academy Award Best Picture Winner "American Beauty", has Annette Bening playing the role of a troubled real estate agent--another movie full of what not to do in real life--but with you having a sense of humor and knowing that it's just a work of fiction (it is...right?), you'll probably see at least elements of someone you know in our business. Go to www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/ to catch up on this one.

My latest and now perhaps my favorite of all-time 'real estate movie' is one I just watched for the first time last month, which is titled "Closing Escrow"--perhaps the biggest laugh-fest, gut-buster real estate movie of all time. If you ever watch the television show "Reno 911", you'll recognize a couple of the actors from that in this movie, which was all done with in a mock-umentary style (think of the movies "Best in Show" or "This is Spinal Tap"), this feature-length flick features some of the most telling and biting humor about real estate agents and the whole process of buying and selling at large that you are likely to ever come across. Visit www.imdb.com/title/tt0779673/ to see some of the details.

Oh yes, lastly for now, from a most classic piece of Americana and a true top pop-culture icon to say the least, "The Simpsons", which in one episode featured Marge as real estate agent. Great stuff--this is neat because it deals with a lot of real estate disclosure issues. Granted it is not in the Simpsons Movie, rather one of the half hour (o.k.; 22 minutes) shows, but it's still a gas. Take a look at www.imdb.com/title/tt0779673/ to learn more.

So what movies or t.v. shows with real estate agents as characters have I not featured here that you really enjoy?

Sneaking in the Movies - Pt. 1

2008-07-12T07:40:00.001-07:00

So far in the months-long life of this blog, I have mentioned one real estate book and did a review of sorts on it, a book which is quite humorous (intentionally funny--in all fairness, I've read a few realty books over the years that were so poorly done they are laughable, but there's another possible post topic) and one I'll read again. See http://jimrejournal.blogspot.com/2008/03/gift-of-laughter.html to see what book I am speaking of...

"I would read it again". That is often times my criteria as to was a book or movie really good or not; that being, in the case of a movie (or television show) "Would I watch it again?" If I answer "Yes", it must have been more than just decent.

Since I have said a little something before about one real estate book, I'll now say something for the first time here about a movie; and in a movie-like Preview of Coming Attractions--I'll tell you now that I'll "sneak in" some thoughts about several other movies of recent years--relatively recent; no black & white talkies here--all with real estate agent characters and elements in them in my next post.

Last night I watched a cute film with my wife titled "P.S. I Love You". I thought it was a very well-done romantic comedy, one that was not too formulaic or overly predictable and just a nice slice-of-life (and about dealing with death) type of flick. For us, it was unusual because my wife did not seem to like the movie as much as I did-and it was essentially a "chick flick". Go figure.

Part of why I liked "P.S. I Love You" was that the lead character was a female real estate agent and because of that, there are several realty references in the movie. Perhaps in a sign of the times, one where many Realtors are experiencing some "career dissatisfaction", she (the agent--"Holly" is her name--played by actor Hillary Swank) was not happy in her chosen current line of work and was frequently changing companies. There is one hilarious scene in the movie where she is showing a place to a married couple, and it almost comes to fisticuffs when the real estate agent sees that the husband does not want the home and says as much--the wife does not appreciate it-too say the least! See www.imdb.com/title/tt0431308/ for more info on this charming movie.

Again, next week I'll post on several other movies featuring characters that are real estate agents that you might consider watching (or watching again)...

77 Barriers to a Successful Closing; Potential Escrow Problems That Can Come Up

2008-07-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

It tends to be that the most successful real estate agents have a system for every process. These systems allow them to anticipate issues so they can avoid negative situations outright by working to solve them in advance of their becoming true problems; to stay away from the points when the only option becomes “putting out the fires”, instead of having just “doused the sparks” early on! This systems-orientated philosophy makes especially good sense when it relates to the escrow & closing specific part of the real estate sales process!

If you are now (or will become committed to), and then will stay on top of developing systems that enable you to anticipate barriers to a smoother closing, so that you may eliminate (or at least minimize) issues and overcome problems that arise, the results will be plainly evident in your more satisfied participants and overall more pleasant closings.

The first step is to educate you as to what the potential problems are so that you can anticipate them along with our team, and be fully educated as to what goes on behind the scenes in your loan transaction. The second step involves what to do about them when they come up--and that could become the longest blog post ever--one that would likely be better covered bit by bit or in a stand alone course of several hours in length!

This list is from personal experience, both first-hand as a listing and selling agent for years and second-hand through observation with the many agents I have worked with, either as their managing broker, coach or mentor, and from stories related to me in the classroom.

The basis of my starting point for this list was from a roster I obtained year's ago at Joe Stumpf's By Referral Only Main Event program; I believe it was a lender who first put something similar together at one of those sessions and then was shared from there. By the way, be sure to check out http://www.joesjournal.com/ which is authored by Joe with additional postings by some of his staff and agents he works with--it is one of the best blog's out there on the residential real estate business!

I have listed these "issues" in the order where I find there most likely to be the source of the problem; realizing that this is incredibly subjective and that there is often plenty of blame to go around, with Lenders, Buyers, and Agents being the top 3 sources (in that order, in my opinion), of challenges, issues and outright problems-always understanding that in the end, we all should focus on fixing the problem(s), not the blame!

Here are 77 things that can go wrong during a closing, sorted by entity categories, although in all fairness, some could easily be put in another category or section and/or are really 3 or 4 reasons onto themselves:

Lender:

1. The Lender did not properly pre-qualify &/or pre-approve the borrower (Buyer)
2. Lender has a discrepancy with the borrower (i.e. borrower mislead the lender)
3. Lender decides (perhaps late in the process) that they won’t fund on that property
4. The Lender requires the home to be repaired to such a high degree prior to close of escrow (COE) that the seller is unable to peform
5. The Lender raises the costs to an unaffordable level; be it rates, points, or other costs
6. Borrower cannot qualify because of information required after application
7. Lender requires, perhaps at the “last minute”, a re-appraisal & it is lower
8. The borrower doesn’t like the “fine print” in the loan documents & refuses to go along with the proposed refuses terms
9. Lender misplaces the borrower’s file for an extended period of time
10. The Lender does not simultaneously ask for information from the buyer, they ask for it in bits and pieces, to the point all are confused and timeliness is lost
11. The Lender pulls a “bait & switch” on the buyer/borrower (at least that's what the buyer says).
12. Lender assured buyer that a particular program is applicable to their situation, but it later turns out it is not, resulting in borrower’s inability to qualify
13. Lender kept saying that “everything is fine”; when that simply wasn't the case
14. Is a great Loan Officer, but has a cruddy Loan Processor and/or Underwriter
15. Lender did a great job in finding an appropriate loan program for the borrower, but the investor offering the loan discontinues it before we can get to COE.

Buyer:

1. Did not give complete information on their original loan application
2. Didn't provide honest information to their agent, the seller and/or lender
3. Submits incorrect tax returns to lender, resulting in delay or refusal to fund
4. Is not fully committed to the transaction, i.e., goes on vacation without notice
5. Source of down payment changes and/or it is a “gift” not allowed
6. Friends or family members don’t like the proposed purchase and tries persuading the to quit the transaction
7. Is too demanding regarding condition of property, resulting in seller’s refusal
8. Finds another property that they think is a much better deal and therefore wants out of the 1st one that they are currently under contract for
9. Does not act in "good faith"; just wants more & more to the extreme
10. The buyer(s) hires an attorney who “picks the deal to death”
11. They buyers do not execute the required paperwork in a timely manner
12. Their earnest money check bounces, and refuses (or can’t) make it good
13. The Buyer changes jobs, gets fired, develops a serious illness, files for a divorce, or has some other personal and/or financial reversal
14. Comes up short on money needed to close escrow
15. Does not (or cannot) obtain fire insurance on the home in a timely manner (or at all)
16. The buyer gets the “disease”; “Buyer’s Remorse”, and then hems & haws, refusing to close, or delays it so long that the seller “cures & cancels”.

Real Estate Agent(s):

1. Create a poorly constructed purchase contract to begin with
2. Won’t “pull their own weight” in the escrow process
3. Interjects their irrational & selfish personal feelings into the deal
4. Was never trained properly in the first place
5. Refuses to be properly trained and/or keep up-to-date
6. Is just a real jerk and should never have been in the business to begin with
7. Just wants to know when their commission checks will be ready-and nothing else.

Seller:

1. Loses their motivation (i.e., the job transfer did not go through as expected, new home payment too high, turns out they can’t get loan on the new property, decides now is just not the time to sell, etc.)
2. Develops an Illness, files for Divorce, is too late into a foreclosure, etc.
3. Has hidden defects that seller knew of, but failed to disclose are subsequently discovered
4. Unknown defects are discovered; ones to a degree that could be unacceptable to buyer
5. A home inspection reveals an “average” amount of relatively small defects that seller is unwilling or unable to repair
6. Removes property from the premises that the buyer believed was included.
7. Is unable to clear up problems or liens
8. Last minute solvable liens are discovered
9. Seller did not own 100% of property as previously disclosed
10. Seller thought partners signatures were “no problem,” but it turns out they are
11. Seller leaves town without giving anyone a special power of attorney
12. Seller delays the projected move-out date
13. Seller closes, but then refuses to move
14. Seller(s) gets the “disease”; “Seller’s Remorse”, resulting in them hemming and hawing to a degree that the buyer wants to “cure & cancel”
15. Seller does not sign documents needed in a timely fashion.

Appraisal:

1. Appraisal delays (an appraiser who is just too busy, arrives way too late, etc.)
2. The appraiser cannot find any “good” comparable sales available in the area
3. The comparable’s that are found are simply too low to support the offer price
4. An appraiser doesn’t really know this particular neighborhood very well
5. An “incorrect” appraisal (could be an appraiser who does mostly refi’s)
6. The final appraised value is simply too low relating to offer price.

Home Inspector(s):

1. Is properly licensed, but is poorly trained
2. Makes even cosmetic issues seem like major problems
3. Can’t get to you in time, or does not show up on time, causing delays
4. Produces a difficult to read report resulting in much confusion
5. Misses key (perhaps even quite obvious) items that show up late in process
6. Does not seem to “stand behind” their work; has an excuse for everything.

Escrow Agency &/or Title Company:

1. Fails to notify agents of unsigned or unreturned documents so that the agents can cure the problems relating to same.
2. Fails to obtain all needed information from the beneficiaries, lien holders, and title insurer, homeowner’s fire insurance companies &/or lenders in a timely manner.
3. Lets principals leave town without getting all necessary signatures.
4. An incorrect interpretation (or assumptions) about aspects of the transaction and then passing these items on to related parties such as lenders, attorneys, buyers, and sellers as facts
5. Misplaces (or outright loses) paperwork
6. Incorrectly prepares paperwork
7. Does not pass on valuable information fast enough
8. Does not coordinate well so that many items can be done simultaneously
9. Does not find liens or problems until last minute
10. Poor service; i.e. is too busy to give the file proper time and attention
11. A rookie escrow officer with poor training “drops the ball”
12. Has a lack of knowledge about the more unique kind of transaction involved.

I know there are others—what ones have I not listed here that you’d like to add?

Is a Faxed Offer Properly Representing Your Buyer Client?

2008-07-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

So... is an offer to purchase a residential property sent out alone really properly representing your buyer client…or is it simply sloth?

It is the opinion of your's truly & of strong buyer’s agency representation advocates, that what is not "proper", in most cases, is just faxing (or emailing) over an offer and waiting to hear back from the listing agent.

Why?

Because if the buyer’s agent meets with the seller and the seller’s agent, the buyer’s agent can better show the strength of a buyer’s financial picture, answer questions about the buyer’s motivations (if authorized by the buyer), and respond to the seller’s questions.

None of this can happen unless the buyer’s agent is available and present.

I have seen it time and time again that all of this, with the seller and the buyer's agent getting together in person with the seller(s), is more likely to lead to an acceptance of the offer--much more often than it being any sort of hindrance.

By the same token, the buyer’s agent should be incredibly polite throughout and then be willing to graciously exit towards the conclusion of such a meeting--time when the seller’s agent and seller may mostly likley wish to discuss the offer privately.

And, of course, should it be requested, the buyer’s agent should be willing to extend the same courtesy to a seller’s agent; one wanting to be presenting a counter offer directly to the buyer (with the buyer's agent present) if a counter is made.

You may have personally witnessed (or at least heard of) some sellers’ agents who “don’t want to have their time wasted” with the buyer's agent being at the offer presentation.

This is not "a waste of time"; it is an important time for more involvement!

What a shame for those listing agents (& their sellers) who embrace that mindset!

The vast majority of the time, the offer is bona fide and stands a much greater chance of acceptance with a personal presentation than a “non-presentation-by fax-or-email-it-pretty-much-explains-itself” way.

Realizing that some listing agents welcome (or are at least open to) the practice of a buyer's agent being present at the initial presentation of a purchase contract, a frequent question from local Realtor's to me is, "I want to present my buyer's offer to the seller in person with the listing agent there as well and the listing agent won't let me. What can I do?”

Few things can create more lost opportunities than agents who write offers only to just fax/email them off and hope for the best, but even more frustrating is when a listing agent either outright refuses to let a buyer's agent present an offer to the seller in person (with the listing agent in attendance, of course) or in any way, shape or form, tries to intimidate the buyer's agent from doing so.

Our local MLS, “ARMLS”, Rules and Policies are quite clear on this matter of listing agents who refuse to allow the buyer’s agent to present the offer (or not)...they are, verbatim, clearly stated as follows;

“Section 10; Selling Procedures--10.5: Right of Cooperating Broker in Presentation of Offer. The cooperating broker (subagent or buyer agent) or his representative has the right to participate in the presentation to the seller or lessor of any offer he secures to purchase or lease. He does not have the right to be present at any discussion or evaluation of that offer by the seller or lessor and the listing broker. However, if the seller or lessor gives written instructions to the listing broker that the cooperating broker not be present when an offer the cooperating broker secured is presented, thecooperating broker has the right to a copy of the seller's or lessor's written instructions. None of the foregoing diminishes the listing broker's right to control the establishment of appointments for such presentations.

It continues in "10.6: Right of Listing Broker in Presentation of Counter-Offers. The listing broker or his representative has the right to participate in the presentation of any counter-offer made by the seller or lessor. He does not have the right to be present at any discussion or evaluation of a counter-offer by the purchaser or lessee (except where the cooperating broker is a subagent). However, if the purchaser or lessee gives written instructions to the cooperating broker that the listing broker not be present when a counter-offer is presented, the listing broker has the right to a copy of the purchaser's or lessee's written instructions.”

So, I say, don’t just “fax it in” – be a “real” buyer's agent!

What do you think?

Do you support my position on this subject...or not?

And if "No, I don't agree" is your response, or it's "Yes", but with qualifiers, please--tell me/us about those reasons!

One For the Newer Agents

2008-06-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

Even though attendance at real estate pre-licensing courses is down over what is considered "normal", there are still a good number of new agents getting their license and coming into the business.

One of the more intimidating things for fresh-out-of-real-estate-school agents is the process of what to do when they have been introduced to the Realtor's Multiple Listing Service "MLS", what the next steps are...here goes:

Once you have searched the MLS computer database and have located properties that you want to look at, you might want to print an individual, fully translated version of each and perhaps a summary page that has a one line report of each property, and then scan the printed list. Look for any that are listed for sale with the same real estate companies. This way, if there is more than one listed with the same brokerage office, you may then sometimes be able to get all the information you need with one telephone call on a couple of listings at once, as to how to proceed with viewings.

Next, you may want to go through each one with a highlighter pen for marking listing office and agent names, telephone numbers and “Showing Instructions” found in the "Features" section for ease of reference. Before you would call the owner (when applicable), you typically need to first dial the listing office or the listing agent directly on each property and say, “I’m a Realtor calling on availability for the listing at (property address).”

Some will ask for your name, company name and telephone number. If it's the office of the listing brokerage, some will connect you directly to the listing agent. Regardless, you will then be told if the property is still available for sale and usually a confirmation of the showing instructions, i.e. call owner first, then use the keybox or vacant on keybox or call listing agent, then occupant, etc. It is advised that you do speak to the listing agent, now or at least before you prepare an offer on a property to confirm that the property is in fact still available and to gather any other pertinent information.

Usually, you will then place a telephone call to the occupant. If they answer, let them know you are a REALTOR and when you would like to see their property. A typical call to an occupant would be, “Hi, my name is _________________ and I am with (Name of Realty Brokerage). I’d like to preview (or show) your property for (or with) buyer clients of mine today between ______ and _______ o’clock. Would that be okay?”

If you reach voice-messaging system, simply add, “If the times I’ve mentioned won’t work for you, please call me at (agent’s--your--mobile telephone #). If I don’t hear back from you, I’ll go ahead and use the keybox. Thank you!”

A few extra tips:

* When setting the appointment to look at an occupied property, try to give the occupant a range of time that’s not too short or too long (a 1-3 hour range is considered acceptable).

* If you can’t see the property for some reason later on, please call and notify the occupant. A major pet peeve of sellers is agents who call to view properties and then never show up. You should always call when you are running late, need to cancel or reschedule!

* Depending on the time you have available and/or on your agreement with the buyer, you may want to preview all properties before you show them or you might just want them to drive by first on their own and then have them tell you which ones they want to see the inside of. If you have a buyer broker employment agreement and/or you have at least done a proper buyer counseling session, you will usually have no fear of doing the latter.

* Vacant properties may be easy to show, but they usually don’t show as well as occupied homes and they may have no utilities on, i.e., no air conditioning in the summer.

* Tenant occupied properties can be a challenge to show for a variety of reason. Be prepared!

* Don’t be intimidated by the keybox (sometimes called a lockbox or keysafe) and the keys or codes for them--there are several different types. After a few tries, you’ll be an old pro.

* Please try to honor any special occupant requests regarding pets, security systems, babies, day sleepers, doorbell use, lights, a/c, etc. And when leaving, be sure to lock everything up and put the key(s) back securely in that keybox.

* Lastly, be sure to consider all properties that might reasonably fit the buyer’s criteria. While the MLS is the major source of available residential properties, please don’t forget FSBOs, HUD and VA repossessed houses, other repos, non-MLS brokerage listings, “exclusive” listings, not-on-market and of course, new homes. Each one of these showings requires different showing protocol. Contact me directly if you have specific questions on the process of showing any of these types.

If you're a more experienced agent reading this, what tips do you have for the the rookies as it relates to good property showing ideas & techniques?

Avoid One of the Worst Mistakes You Can Make

2008-06-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

Some days it seems as though I can almost hear the moans and groans that just about grow louder each time another listing is added to the MLS. Even though the amount of inventory of homes for sale has declined somewhat, many agents are still looking to avoid taking listings, because there are already too many of them in the eyes of most.

For instance, I was recently teaching at one of the top real estate schools in town and on one of the breaks I overheard one agent saying to another, "…so they want to put their house up for sale. Another listing?! That is the LAST thing I need in this market!"

That sentiment isn't unique. Many REALTORS hold this mindset and feel that pretty much ignoring listings and only targeting buyers is the best strategy to stay afloat right now. But it’s a mistaken mindset that costs those agents who buy into business—usually LOT$ of it.

The sad truth is that merely focusing on only getting more buyers as your primary lead generation strategy in today's marketplace could be your WORST mistake if you depend on the commission income that comes from making closings happen-you know, so you can have food with your meals. :-)

And here's why.

Let's say you have a buyer; a live one, right?

As you know, it's easy for someone to simply say they are a buyer...and what's the old adage? Help me out here…"Buyers are ______". (Hey, you said it-I didn't.)

But let's assume, best case scenario, this is a "good" buyer, meaning their D.N.A. is great; they have a strong Desire, Need and Ability...meaning they have the “wants to”, at some level the “has to”, and are both realistic and financially qualified.

Next, you compile plenty of homes to show. And then you look. And look. And look some more. They hem and haw and tell you they will know the right home for them when they see it.

You start wondering, "How many homes can one person look at?"

This buyer's tolerance level is amazing; practically a home-looking triathlete.

Their gallant efforts have cost you more time away from your friends and family and more 4+bucks-a-gallon of gas than you care to count.

But--finally--they find the "perfect home" for them and make an offer.

Unfortunately, the seller can't (or won't) accept it; the offer is too small; the seller wants/needs to net more money. As you spend more valuable time renegotiating, a relative of the buyer, who is really an amateur attorney, looks at the contract and nixes the deal. Ugh! It's a bit too soon for Halloween; but you've seen this scary movie before—and you know it does not end well.

After looking at this all too common scenario, are you absolutely sure you want more buyers? Of course, you do--just not the ones who don't buy!

But here is why you're most likely having a tough time in this market; it's not that you have too few buyers, it's because you don't have enough sellers! You are only in trouble because you think your lack of buyers is the issue. And that's simply dead wrong.

Let me prove my point. You are right when you say there are fewer buyers right now than historical norms. What many real estate agents don't realize is your best buyers are almost always sellers first! They are simply buyers in disguise. Often times the majority of buyers are those who will first list with you will sell and then buy locally through you. It's a simple way to nearly double your business in today's market! You work with someone who will complete not just 1, but 2 sales!

In the going on 18 years I've worked in real estate locally, one of the time-tested facts I've discovered is you will earn more income by getting more sellers and, yes, buyers too —the buyers that come from you having an increased number of property listings!

To achieve more listings, imagine where you can quickly ramp up your number of seller clients.

A couple sources come to my mind; I've found the best place is usually #1. your personal network of contacts, and #2. the expired and canceled listings, which can come to you in a variety of ways.

And, yes, you don't want just any listings...you want saleable listings!

Refuse to take L.L.'s...you know what L.L.'s are, don't you? Loser Listings.

Be prepared to turn them down, or if you have one or more L.L.'s right now, make them into C.M.'s--Can't Miss—listings, or be ready to cut 'em loose. Ask them to release you from the listing if they aren’t serious sellers!

I say that there are at least 4 “Gotta’s” to get C.M.’s instead of L.L.’s…they Gotta:
1. Be Priced Right,
2. Allow a Sign at the Property,
3. Have a KeyBox in Use, and
4. Buy a Home Warranty &/or a Pre-Sale Inspection.

In summary, seek out ways to capture more quality listings and you will make more money because you’ll get more sellers and buyers that way—and usually at a lower cost per transaction than getting one of each from separate sources!

I'd love to hear your best places & ways to obtain quality listings from sellers and/or how you do more multiple-side transactions!

Powerful Beyond Measure

2008-06-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

I have yet--until now--listed some of the many favorite motivational and inspirational sayings, so I will start with this one; one of the best quotes out there to be inspired to do bigger and better things...

Powerful Beyond Measure: "Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God; your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone, and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

This statement is often attributed to Nelson Mandela, with many saying, apparently incorrectly, that he used it in his 1994 inaugural speech when he became the first democratically elected President of South Africa.

The quote enjoyed a reassurance in popularity after it appeared in the 2006 movie (and it's trailer/preview) “Akeelah and the Bee”.

It is actually originally authored by Marianne Williamson as part of her 1992 book "A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles". Visit her website at www.Marianne.com for many of the offerings she has, including some of her favorite "Quotes & Poems".

Please tell us some of your favorite upbeat sayings, be they your or others!

How Many Real Estate Schools, Courses and Instructors Are There in Arizona?

2008-06-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Arizona Department of Real Estate Commissioner Sam Wercinski for his speaking with AZREEA members in attendance at our luncheon meeting last Friday.

I thought he did a tremendous job, speaking with candor and good-natured humor. I also liked that he tailored his presentation for we as realty educators, sharing such things as this item below that I thought may be of interest to at least those who were present...and now perhaps for readers here.

In Arizona, as of May 2008, there are this many real estate:
Schools: 264
Courses: 2,827
Instructors: 1,353

Compared to January 2007:
Schools: 193
Courses: 2,759
Instructors: 1,354

The Commissioner asked why it might be that there are more schools today, but not that many more instructors than last year. I told him I thought it was probably because more instructors are looking to teach more to supplement their often times now lower commission sales income, as many realty teachers also list and sell real estate.

I also think that there are no more instructors (o.k. there is one more) now than about 18 months ago because I see more and more real estate school owners teaching more of their own classes (instead of hiring other instructors) at the school to save money and earn more themselves in the declining student enrollment environment that we are now in.

I especially enjoyed that the Commissioner made it a point to share the new SPS bout the rule for submitting each 2 years proof of the CE as it relates to the 4 year license (See http://www.azre.gov/LAW_BOOK/Documents/SPS_Documents/SPS_2008.05_CE_Edu_Requirements_for_Renewal_of_4-Year_Lic.pdf ) with us AZREEA folks first; before it was released to everyone else later in the day. It made me feel special that he cared enough to do that for us who are instructors--a very nice touch indeed!