Here's One... But Not About Real Estate

A friend of mine in the mortgage business ( I won't say who but who's initials are Dina Trahan with 1stPriority Mortgage 518-348-6900 dtrahan@1stprioritymortgage.com) sent me this thought... I wanted to share it with you:

Thanks DT!

TOMORROW

The most famous "thought about" and "talked about" day is tomorrow. For some it is filled with hope and cannot come fast enough.  For others, it is the day of reckoning when they must be held accountable for the transgressions of the past and all the things that were never completed.  I believe for the most successful among us, tomorrow has little meaning other than the things we plan to accomplish, the key word being "plan."  The most unproductive among us, use tomorrow as one more excuse in a long list of excuses.  "I will do it tomorrow" has to be one of the most repeated sentences of mankind.  It also represents the single greatest difference in the ability to achieve our hopes and dreams.  If there is one skill the most successful and happy people possess it is the ability to utilize "today" to the fullest.

Time is the great equalizer.  The rich man receives no more of it than the poor man.  At the end of the day the same minutes have ticked from the clock for every human being.  So how do some people accomplish so much more in the same time period?  The answers are numerous, but one thing is true.  How you use today is the key to all your future success.  You can talk about time management and organizational skills and they are certainly important, but the key is "leverage."

Time leverage is the ability to squeeze the most activity out of the smallest amount of time.  Some people are masters at time leverage!  Let's look at how you can become one of these "time masters."
First, plan your day.  If you do not, your day will control you with crisis and unforeseen diversions.  Do this the night before or that morning.  As you plan your day keep the following in mind:

*    Plan to do the most important tasks first and try to do it before the work day starts if possible.
*    Make sure you have outlined the exact action steps that will allow you to complete your most important tasks.
*    Review your major goals when you plan.  Make sure you have at least one of your major tasks related to the main goals.
*    Define the activities that will yield you the biggest results and just do them!

Second, honor your time.  Stop letting other people and things waste the most important minutes and hours.  Here are a few hints:

*    Stop checking e-mail every ten minutes.  Decide when is the best time to check e-mail and develop an e-mail system of folders so you can easily find things.
*    Group your phone calls together if possible and make as many calls as possible at one time.  Also return your calls quickly but all at once if possible.
*    Do not let others sit around and waste your time with idle talk.  Be polite but stern when you tell them you have a lot on your plate.
*    Take one hour each day behind closed doors or away where you can concentrate on the goals and objections you must finish.
*    Have a top notch organizational system so you are not looking for things that you have misplaced.  This often takes at least an hour a day just looking for "stuff."

Third, when tasks come up that are unexpected, evaluate them and decide what you can do within a few minutes and just do them, and decide what is going to take longer and assign a time to complete the tasks.

Last, check your list of most important tasks midday and decide what corrections you need to make.  Stop right then and accomplish at least one of your most important tasks.  Do not let the day finish without knowing you have accomplished what is most important.  At the end of the day review what you have done, do one more task before you end your day and prepare to start again tomorrow.

There is nothing new about these things, but just by having this simple plan you will leverage time effectively and double what you get done in a day!  Success comes from doing the things that others never get to!  Start leveraging your time today!   

Hope you liked this... Zap me a note if  you want some real esatte help... or even if you just want to say "Hey!"

Buyers!....Take Your Time

As real estate agents we spend a lot of time and effort with our sellers.  Especially in the beginning.  We closely inspect the home with intense scrutiny.  We make suggestions.  We research the market. We discuss all the possible events that may and probably will take place. We literally spend hours before the property even goes on the market.

We are finally realizing that we need to this with our buyer clients as well.  I think we took it for granted that our buyers understood how it was all going to go down.  So what did we do?  We just whisked them up and took them out to look at properties.  And when they saw one they liked... We rushed to the office to fill out enough paperwork to choke a horse!

Frankly, that scenario can be very confusing... for the buyer AND the agent.  there's a sense of urgency and we all know we shouldn't make important decisions under any kind of duress.

So here's my suggestion.  Set up a "consultation" with your agent.

Your agent should take the time to get to know you.  I'm big on this adage: "They don't care what you know... until they know you care"  So take time to get a feel for the kind of person your agent is.  Guess what?  They should be doing the same sort of thing.  The agent will get a feel for your  likes... your dislikes... and what your motivations might be.

Your agent should take the time to explain agency. Actually, the law requires it.  As an informed consumer, I'm pretty certain that you will want to be represented in the purchase, so you will ask your agent to conduct your real estate affairs as a "Buyer's Agent".  The topic of signing an exclusive buyer's agency agreement will most likely come up here.  Your agent can help you to understand how this relationship can benefit you.

The contract to purchase is also a pretty complicated document, and this is not a bad time to go over it... paragraph by paragraph.  this way when time comes to actually sign one... it will be a little familiar to you!

It is also important for a buyer to realize that only 1 in 21 contracts ever get accepted as they are written.  your Realtor will explain how the offer is presented and what might happen, as in counter offers... multiple offers... short sales.... cash offers... etc.  Once you write that purchase offer up it can get kind of emotional.  If you and your agent took the time beforehand to discuss how it all can go, you might feel a "little" better about what's happening (or not happening).

Financing is also very very important before you go out.  Sure, you may have already had some discussions with a lender.  And maybe you even got pre-qualified.  But your agent works every day with these professionals.  A quick discussion may evolve into you getting a better situation, or it may result in you feeling confident that you have the best terms currently available!

Most certainly your initial consultation will include you discussing the particulars of your next home.  What you absolutely have to include... and maybe what you'd like to have...  You know... that wants and needs talk...

So this whole consultation can take a little bit of time.  But you know what?  It's going to be worth it!  You'll feel better and your agent will have a much clearer idea of where it is you want to go.

OK... One more time....

We've talked about it before.  I keep seeing so many houses that look like one big unmade bed.... YA HAVE TO MAKE IT SHINE!

There are too many houses out there to choose from for you, as a seller, to think you don't need to get your home up to showing state!

Clear the shelves and counters.  Really? a half liter of Mountain Dew?

Empty the trash. Don't leave a full waste basket!

Pick up the living room.

Make the beds.

Shoes? strewn all over? Nice. NOT!

And the bathrooms! Clean the mirrors. Toilet seats down. Towels at a minimum... not hanging over the shower rod.  Pick up around the sink and make it look like you have lots of room there to shave and brush your teeth! I think you know about an open tube of toothpaste too, right?

Get rid of out of season clothes. ( take 'em to your mom's house if you need to!)

Mow the lawn.

Clean windows.

Smudges around door knobs and cabinet handles?  Scrub them!

Porch full of shoes 'n stuff?  Nope... clean entryway.

Same goes for stairwells.  That is NOT where you put everything!

Pets?  Take em for a walk.  And I love pets... but a lot of buyers don't. Especially the way they might smell!

Kids? Don't tell them to sit in front of the TV in the family room and be quiet!  Take them out for ice cream!

Don't leave your mail out!  Even if it's neatly stacked!

Extension cords should be nowhere to be seen!

Don't stuff everything in the closets either!  Did you think they wouldn't look????

Loose door handles are a sure sign you don't take care of other stuff as well.

Look up. At the vent in the bathroom.  Fuzzy looking?  Clean it!

Pictures and magnets all over the fridge?  Not good.  Get rid of em!

Here's an idea... set the dining room table like you're getting ready to entertain the Queen of England... a fresh vase of flowers might help too.

Come on folks... I hear that some agenst feel like you should invest 1% of your asking price into making the house look better.

Sorry don't mean to nag, but I've got buyers that are questioning whether or not you're serious about selling.  And when they go into one of those houses that has been set up properly, they say, "Wow, Steve... nice place here!"...

Just because it's sold doesn't mean you can let your guard down...

You know, we go through a lot of effort making our homes ready to show don't we?  The reason is obvious.  We're gonna have company.  Total strangers coming through our house! In fact, strangers that need to be impressed, because they just might be the buyers.

So, as any good agent would do, we tell our clients to "unclutter", "paint", "throw out", "simplify", "stage"... all that stuff.  Terry Watson, renown advice giver said at a recent seminar I was at, "If I can smell it, I can't sell it!"

So depending on your circumstances, you had to endure a period of time where you felt like you were living in Buckingham Palace.  Can't put your feet up... no underwear on the floor... make the bed!... toilet seat down... get that stuff off the counter.

But, now your house is sold. Finally!  We can relax!

WAIT!

We've got two more hurdles.  There is probably going to be home inspection (sometimes called a structural inspection)... then there's probably going to be an appraisal.  Both of these events are very very VERY critical.  So do yourself a huge favor.  Set up your home as if it was a first time showing to a potential buyer!  Yup! that's right.  Because the person who comes in to do the home inspection and the person doing the appraisal is just as impressionable as any buyer.

So make it shine.  Everytime someone related to the outcome comes in... then, you can relax!  For more reasons than one!

There you have it!  Hope this helps you.  Like me on Facebook if you get a chance and if you want to make a comment on this or any of my blogs... have at it!  Rock on friends!

Sure you can sell it yourself....

It's not often, but every once in a while I get drawn into a "philosophical" discussion with someone who feels they can sell their home their self.  And they are certain that "everyone" should.  "Why should I pay a real estate agent to do it when I know I can do it myself?"

This person may be right.  Sure, anyone can sell a house.  If all the conditions are right... a buyer comes along and the seller doesn't get in his own way... a sale happens!

Sometimes I wonder if I was never in the real estate business if I would feel the same way.  Point is, some people are capable and some people aren't.  There's room for all of us in this arena.  Believe me, I have brokered some real estate transactions over the past 30 years where the seller was VERY capable of doing it themselves.  Why didn't they?  Because they were smart enough to see the value of having an agent when they needed to pay attention to what they were good and well-versed in.  They did not want to have to be available every time someone just wanted to take a look at their home.  They did not want to place themselves or their family in a position to be in the house when total strangers came to visit.  They also recognized that they may be a little too close to the property... a little too emotional.

They also realized that we are trained to understand buying signals.... or even the "red flags" that will help us to eliminate the lookers from the buyers.  They also know that we are connected to all the other professionals that are utilized in this process.  They also know that we are familiar with the contracts and the documents that are required.  They also know that we will help them to understand what appeals to buyers and the approaches that most often entice a purchaser to make an offer.  They also know that once they engage the services of a real estate professional they won't be solicited by other agents looking to market their home for them.  I've heard some Do-It-Yourselfers proclaim that they can better answer questions about their house.  The very same people don't know a French drain from a dry well; or understand the difference between a boiler and a furnace, much less that their chimney may need to have two flues... or maybe not.

And buyers are skittish about coming to the house.  They aren't certain about how much of what they hear that they can believe from the seller. They know that a real estate agent is  bound to rules regulations and ethics and further are under the scrutiny of their state.

And buyers are more inclined to tell us Realtors what they really think.  When the Do-It-Yourselfer asks the buyer what they think, the buyer almost always says, "Oh you have a real nice home here.  We were really impressed. We need to think about it."  then they get in their car and say to each other, "Oh my gosh! Did you see that wallpaper? And the smell in the basement! Is that guy kidding?!!! And how about that price? Easily the highest priced house we've seen so far!"  Stuff the seller will never hear.  And while we're on that scenario: Most sellers are reluctant to follow up, much less even get a number or email to do so.  And ask them if they understand the concept of verify and overcome objections.  See, after someone looks at our listings we work very hard to find out what the objections may have been...and that can be used to advise our seller clients.

I'm all for saving money.  And that is the main reason most feel compelled to sell without the services of a broker. However, there is a boatload of stats out there that show that the majority of for sale by owners sell for less than real estate brokered deals.

You can cut your own hair and you can take out our own decayed tooth if you want to.  The results AND the process may be something less than you planned for.

Don't let the pics fool ya!

In this day of technology we are finding that more and more people are looking at houses. And never leaving their house(apartment)!

Today's buyers want a link... a website... a URL... They want to "sneak" into your home without you knowing it. They want to take a look without inconveniencing you. So your Realtor hired a really good photographer/videographer to post your home to that wonderful resource, the internet.

Don't get me wrong here, because I absolutely LOVE the internet. But I have seen on more than one occasion a young couple walk into a house that they had seen pics on line and turn to me and say, "Wow! It looked a lot better than this on line!" But I have also heard this: "Wow. I wasn't sure I wanted to see this house based on the pictures, but you know what? I'm glad we came..."

You see my point right?

I think the best way for you to make a decision on a house is to GO LOOK AT IT. And don't eliminate it solely on the pics or video you saw on line. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Think about this. It's a big buy. You're not buying a stereo system or even a car. It's going to be your home! Your castle! You are going to be there every day for quite a while.

Take the time to go look. You don't have to stay a long time, but you might!

"How IS the market?"

Having been in the real estate business for nearly three decades I am very often questioned about the status of the real estate market. And it comes from all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons. Some are merely friends who are just asking me how I'm doing.... somethimes it's someone with an agenda (they are thinking about getting involved in a purchase or a sale)... sometimes it's a person thinking about a career change...

It's a tough question to answer sometimes because the answer truly is relative. Right now, buyers are seeing the most favorable terms , maybe ever! Sellers sometimes are seeing this an opportunity to get their real estate sold because there is less inventory and less competition. Many investors will tell you there are deals to be had out there and real estate is a great place to be while the money and stock markets settle down a bit.

So it's all relative to what you (the questioner) want to do.

Locally... in the Albany NY area our pending units are down 5.1% from last year... our inventory is down 3.1% and the sellers are seeing 91.1% of their asking price... down 1.3% from last year....

So those are a couple "stats". But my office in Loudonville has seen a 26.1% increase in volume and 13% increase in units sold.

Why? My agents are full time professionals that re ready when their clients need them to be ready. They are not sugar-coating any of their analysis when working with clients... They are giving honest straightforward counsel and their clients are listening.

So right now the best advice I can give any seller or buyer is to trust their Realtor and follow their lead. Don't try to apply recent years' appreciations or even deprecations to today's market.

Good luck!