1. Make the listing price compelling, not just competitive
Because Steve was asked to speak at the Ignite 2010 Real
Estate Conference in Austin in January, he had the opportunity to attend
several other sessions given by industry leaders. One of the presentations
Steve found most enlightening was an agent panel which tackled the issue of
pricing in today's market. The biggest takeaway? A top producing agent from William Raveis
Real Estate (CT), Patty McCarthy, exclaimed that to get a property sold today
the price must be more than just competitive; in order to make the buyer act it
must be compelling. We should all
listen to Patty's advice!
2. Know what the experts are predicting for interest rates in 2010
If we look past just the price of a home, we know that
the buyer will be concerned with its overall cost. We then realize how
important the financing component is to the purchase. Where are interest rates
headed in 2010? Here is what people in the know are predicting:
HSH & Associates: rates
will nudge closer to 6% than 5%
Moody's Economy.com: 6
percent that sounds about right
Washington Post: 6 percent by the end of
2010
Barry Habib of Mortgage Market Guide: It
could be as high as 6.5%
Morgan Stanley:7.5 percent to 8 percent
3. Hold a seminar on the Home Buyer Tax Credit and Expansion
The clock is ticking toward the end of one of
the greatest times to buy property in American real estate history. Interest
rates are predicted to rise after the Fed ends its purchase of mortgage backed
securities on March 31st (see above). And, the Home Buyers' Tax
Credit calls for the home to be in contract no later than April 30th. Don't delay! Get
yourself in front of as many prospective buyers as you possibly can.
4. Tweet and facebook one news article a day
Below, you will find an article titled Social Etiquette for Social Networking.
In the article, it is made clear that people don't want you to continuously
barrage them with useless information. We agree. However, an article with
relevance to the housing market posted once a day will set you apart as a
portal for good real estate information. Make it a habit.
Where should you look for these
articles? The KCM crew, realizing this need, posts great real estate articles
EVERY DAY! Follow us on twitter and become a fan of our facebook fan/business
page for access to this information. And, if you want to spice up the post with
a little insight on a subject, go to the KCM blog.
5. Work expireds religiously
If we are honest, we must admit that there is a huge
disparity of talent amongst real estate practitioners. Some are true
professionals and some, I am sorry to say, are not. Yet, sometimes the public
cannot easily distinguish the difference. They end up listing their home at a
price that didn't compel a buyer to buy it. The less professional agent might
have blamed it on the market by saying: "There are no buyers out there for your
house." Those sellers might have given up after hearing it was 'impossible' to
sell their house in this market. Let's sit with these sellers and give them
their true options. At the right price, their house will sell. And with great
prices available, low interest rates and the tax credit, this may be the
perfect time to make the move they always dreamed of. Maybe yes. Maybe no.
Let's at least help them make a truly informed decision.
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In January, Steve was honored to share his message at the
two large real estate conferences held in the country: The Inman News Conference in New York City and Quantum Digital's Conference in Austin, Texas. As usual, he stayed
for the entire conferences and attended as many of the sessions as he could. Here
are his thoughts and observations:
One of the great things
about being asked to speak at the big real estate conferences is the chance I
get to see some of the best sessions given in our industry by the other
presenters. This January was no different. There were three major themes
dominating both conferences I attended.
1. The consumer will demand a deeper understanding of the market.
Today, both buyers and sellers will insist that their agent have a better understanding of what is happening in the market and why it is happening. Gone are the days of talking about how nice the flowers smell or how beautiful the master bath is. Today's professional must have a good grasp of market dynamics and the factors that affect them.
At the Inman News Conference, a panel of experts from several large financial institutions debated what the market will look like in 2010. In that discussion, Pat Stone, Chairman of the Stone Group announced that, yes, the average sales price would increase this year. The reason: "banks would be foreclosing on more luxury properties"!
2. The REALTOR must be the one to effectively communicate the data
to the consumer.
Over the last few years, more and more companies have
gotten into the business of aggregating housing data. The real estate industry
looked on with a concerned eye as to what might be the intent of many of these
large firms (ex. Altos Research, First American Core Logic, Zillow). Well, at a
session highlighting each of the aforementioned firms, one issue was made
clear.
The large aggregators do not have the ability to simply
and effectively communicate the hoards of information available to the
consumer. As Stan Humphries, Chief Economist, Zillow.com said: "We can take the
information only so far. It is up to the
real estate professional to carry it the last mile." It is our
responsibility to be the interpreter of the data and help the consumer make
well informed decisions.
3. Top agents want to be educated about the market dynamics.
At every
conference I have attended in the last 6 months, I have seen a hunger amongst
top agents for good, factual data and information on the intricacies of the
market. Top agents are dedicated to delivering great and accurate facts and
statistics in order to help their clients make logical decisions. In order to
do that, the agents want educational sessions geared to helping them understand
basic economic indicators that impact the real estate market.
There is a new
norm evolving which will result in an army of well educated, better informed
agents that will dominate real estate throughout the next decade.
To help in this endeavor, the KCM crew is
making real estate information available through many portals:
- Insights on key issues in real estate are available at the KCM blog.
- Daily real estate news
articles are available at the KCM Crew Fan Page on Facebook or on Twitter.
- If you want someone to do the research for
you and put the information into pages for your presentation books, visit www.KeepingCurrentMatters.com
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Steve was honored to share the stage with Joe Rand (Managing Partner,
Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty) for a presentation
and panel discussion during the Inman News Conference in Manhattan last month.
Joe was gracious enough to allow us to share some of his notes with the KCM
community.
Stop Annoying People, Start Helping Them.
Stop annoying people on social media like
Facebook and Twitter. In the last year, real estate agents (and other
salespeople) got into social media in a big way, on the theory that this new
frontier of networked communications would help them break through the barriers
that clients have put on phones, email, or direct mail marketing. But all that
agents have managed to do is provoke their contacts to create those same
barriers in social networks, the same barriers that people put up to emails of
listings they're not interested in, or phone calls. They are deleting (or
even worse blocking) your emails, and they're using call screening to avoid
your calls, because they don't see the value in what you're offering --
random listings that they don't care about. No one cares about your new
listing that you posted on Facebook, any more than they cared about it when you
emailed it around. All you're doing is annoying people, who are now blocking
you or using new tools to screen you out. If you want to be effective in
social media, listen to people and respond to them, and provide them with
information they actually need. Don't barrage them with marketing
nonsense they could care less about.
So what should you do instead?
- Get
the real estate agents out of your Facebook account. If you need to, set up two
Facebook accounts, or master the new techniques they've created to provide
different "faces" to the world.
- Read
what your clients are saying, and respond to it.
People like it when you post
comments on their postings.
- Post
minimally, and only when you have something people would want to read.
Stop ignoring your online reputation and
profile.
The next frontier in real estate sales is
clients choosing their real estate agent based on their online reputation,
using Yelp or the myriad other services that are going to pop up to evaluate
sales professionals. If you're good at your job, then you should embrace
that. And if you're scared, then you have to change the way you do your
business to ensure that your clients are happy. Most importantly, you
need to be findable online, which means you need to get a professional profile
established on every possible outlet. I am shocked by the number of agents who
don't have professionally-written profiles online, who don't own their name or
some version of their name as a domain, and who don't have good high-resolution
photos of themselves.
Tips:
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Recently,
my wife and I were in Arizona when we received a call from our younger son,
Steven. He called to let us know that he had just signed on to join a relief
mission heading for Haiti. He was very clear that he was not asking for our
permission but, instead, our blessing. As any parent would be, I was concerned.
During
desperate times, people are sometimes forced into doing desperate things. He
was voluntarily going to one of the most desperate places in the world right
now.
I
was worried about his physical well being as well as his medical health. I
voiced my concerns and gave my blessing. I knew he was living what my father,
his grandfather, preached. In a time of difficulty, he was 'getting to
work'.
My
pop would have been very proud of his grandson. I'm glad my son was born with
his genes.
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"All our dreams can come
true - if we have the courage
to pursue them."
~ Walt Disney
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