A VERY Richmond Tradition

Sure, there are folks everywhere that put up 10's or 100's of thousand of Christmas bulbs on their house, but Richmond has a tradition of tacky lights, ornaments and TOURS that goes back years (25+). Here are some pictures from a stop on the tour. You get a feel for the crowd, the effort and the 1.5+ million lights.

Crowds at The Phifers

Not your typical outside Christmas tree!

Honoring the nativity. They had several.

A room for Santas, elves, and other Christmas figures.

I couldn't resist this full moon shot the other night.

The tours run through December, and many of the houses are lit past new years. We had 14 people in a James Limousine tour and had a blast. Merry Christmas.

Better questions get better results

REALTORS® all over the country know how tight things are. Statistics show that most are, well let’s just say, underemployed. This tends to make us sympathetic to the needs of clients that want to keep their costs down. However, sometimes the costs that are involved in buying a home should not be the focus.

The other day, I was asked what I consider to be the WRONG QUESTION by another REALTOR®. “Do you have a lower cost home inspector, that charges less than $250.00?” This REALTOR® had a client that was trying to save on the inspection. I get that. But the typical inspection in our area is $300.00 and up depending on scope of work, size of home and age of the home. The inspector I usually use would charge $350.00.

For $350.00 or more he starts at the roof and works his way down into the crawl space. He identifies current and likely future problems, gives an idea of the costs involved in fixing and or avoiding them and how to maintain the house. His analysis and documentation is such that if there is a problem, that my client decides needs to be addressed, the seller understands why we are asking.

Without the thorough analysis and documentation, one of three things will likely happen; problems will not be identified and will create bigger costs later, the seller will not understand the reasons for the requested repairs or credits and the contract will fall apart, or the purchaser will be alarmed and the contract will blow up. More simply put, a bad inspector can keep a purchaser from getting the house that was right for them without hidden costs.

I tend to think a BETTER QUESTION to a REALTOR® is, “Do you have an inspector that you would use to inspect a house that you are buying?”

November inventory summary

This is a summary of homes in the Central Virginia MLS for the RVA and Tri-cities area

There are 8273 homes available in Henrico, Amelia, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Hopewell, New Kent, Petersburg, Powhatan, Colonial Heights, Prince George, Richmond


                Beds   Baths   SqFt          LP                LP/SqFt


High           11       10    16,248  $10,950,000      $899.25
Low             0         0        0               $1
Ave              3         2     2,151     $263,722         $116.92

Analyzing the risks may shock you!

It’s hard to be optimistic when everybody is and has been saying how bad everything is. Now, many people are saying that the worst of the real estate crisis is behind us. I see some everyday saying that prices are picking up. I hope they are right. The most pessimistic projections that I have seen recently indicate that we may be in for another 10% decrease in home values.

That sounds pretty bad. However to better understand the risk, I ran 3 scenarios based on equivalent $200,000 homes with 20% down, each for a 5 year period.

Scenario 1 - the market is flat for the first 2 years and then starts to appreciate at about 3% a year.

Scenario 2 – the market declines 10% in the first 2 years and starts to appreciate in year 3 at 3% a year.

Scenario 3 – the market declines 10% for the first 2 years and starts to appreciate in year 3 at 3% a year, but the purchase is not made until the end of year 2 at the market bottom.

Before I give the results, let’s take a look at interest rates. We know that they are at a low point for our home buying lifetimes right now. The presumption is that they will go up. If the economy starts to grow and jobs pick up, we should see rate increases to keep bonds and mortgage backed securities attractive as investments. In addition the fed will have to increase rates to keep inflation in check.

These scenarios use a current interest rate of 5% since most don’t qualify for the near 4% rate that is being reported as I write this. The future rate for the purchase 2 years from now is still a low 6% or a 1% increase over current rates. (If that hasn’t happened, then the economy is likely not growing, jobs are still a problem and we have a lot more problems than if we bought or sold a house or held onto our money.)

So using these scenarios for comparison purposes, what we find is not surprising for scenario number one; we have a positive result with a net advantage based on appreciation and cost savings of about $22,000. Because of the initial loss of 10% in scenario number 2 we actually are only ahead about $1,000 after tax savings. The most surprise is actually generated by scenario number 3. When you calculate the lack of tax savings, and costs of renting for the first 2 years, versus buying at the reduced price with a 1% increase in interest rates. the result is a net loss of approximately $8,000.

Like most investments, for many of us, buying a home now is a better strategy than waiting. MARKETS CAN’T BE TIMED.

September sales

This is a preliminary look at new contracts written during September and compared to contracts written in September 2009.

	Sales	Beds	Baths	Sq Feet	Price	Price/SF
Sep-10	823	3	2	2084	$228,877.00	$104.18
Sep-09	950	3	1	1923	$231,794.00	$118.17
Difference	-127	0	1	161	$2,917.00	$13.99

The sales decrease would be expected since September of 2009 was influenced by the original tax credit and September of 2010 had no tax credit. So, while many believe the market is continuing to crash, I believe this is a pretty good indicator of stabilizing sales. A few more months will tell the story much better.

There are a lot of people saying that prices have been going up, but keep in mind they are talking about median prices. Since the tax credit drew more first time buyers into the market, it would skew the numbers to a lower median.

I think the better indicator is the average cost per square foot, which is down approximately 12%.  This number could be heavily influenced by the condition of distressed properties, which seem to be making up more and more of the market.

October inventory summary

This is a summary of single family homes in the Central Virginia MLS for the RVA and Tri-cities area

There are 8448 homes available in  Henrico, Amelia, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Hopewell, New Kent, Petersburg, Powhatan, Colonial Heights, Prince George, Richmond        

	Beds	Baths	SQFt	Price	Price/SF
High	25	9	18248	$10,950,000	$899.25
Low	0	0	0	$1	$0.002
Ave	3	2	2161	$268040	$118.08

RICHMOND METRO

Paring the area down to Richmond Metro of Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, Powhatan, Richmond

	Beds	Baths	SQFt	Price	Price/SF
High	10	9	16248	$4,495,000	$899.25
Low	0	0	0	$9,900	$6.21
Ave	3	2	2,209	$277,084	$120.16

TRI-CITIES

Includes Colonial Heights, Dinwiddie, Hopewell, Petersburg and Prince George

	Beds	Baths	SQFt	Price	Price/SF
High	25	10	14,00	$10,950,000	$782.14
Low	0	0	510	$1	$0.002
Ave	3	1	1,795	$194987	$100.91

Are we selling furniture now?

We have all seen/heard the commercials, because every town seems to have a furniture store that wants us to know, “THERE WILL NEVER BE A BETTER TIME TO BUY FURNITURE.” “THIS WEEKEND ONLY, WE ARE CUTTING PRICES TO THE LOWEST THEY HAVE EVER BEEN.”

While driving to an appointment today, I heard a similar statement on mortgages and realized that mortgages and homes are being marketed the same way. I mean, hasn’t the mantra for both businesses been “prices are down”,” rates are down” and we know “this won’t last.” Isn’t it obvious by now that we don’t know how long it will last? (These economist study it all the time.)

We do know that rates are down and home prices are down, making it less expensive to buy a home.

We do know that inventory is up, and that means options.

We do know that the mortgage interest deduction currently saves money on taxes.

We do know that most people find a sort of satisfaction, from owning rather than renting.

We do know that there is a floor plan and style for every taste and if it’s not available someone will be willing to build it.

We do know that for most, multiple families in homes not really designed for that lifestyle, is a short term solution.

We do know that our population is growing. (I wonder, is the population growing faster since people have less money to spend on out of the house entertainment?)

There are lots of reasons to buy a home, but not because this is your last opportunity. Talk to a real estate professional that understands the reasons people buy homes and the drawbacks, and can make them clear to you. Make good real estate decisions.

For you real estate and mortgage professionals out there, just remember, we shouted that prices and rates were down last summer and it surely wouldn’t last. Well, we were right, they are lower now. Yet there were good reasons for many folks to have bought homes in the last year. By the way, don't forget, when we sell homes we do help funiture sales.

Be great and remember your comments are very much apprteciated.

Speaking of HUD

HUD had a National “Real Estate Broker Webinar” this past week. In this webinar, they announced some significant changes to the way they will be doing business going forward and the plans for implementation.

Changes included:
• Longer period for owner occupants to bid on homes before investors may bid. 10 days to 30 days.
• Ability to list on any day of the week.
• A single national site for searching for HUD homes, that allows all consumers to see what all agents will see.
• Additional listing brokers creating additional marketing for many properties.
• Earnest money to be submitted with the contracts and made out to HUD.
• Changes to agent compensation.

These are overall thought to be good changes and many are long overdue. Unfortunately the announced time frame is already not being met, at least not in our area. This may cause some short term confusion, so make sure your agent (ALL HUD BIDS, MUST BE MADE BY A HUD REGISTERED AGENT WORKING FOR A HUD REGISTERED BROKER) is on top of the changes and their implentation.

I WANT THIS HOUSE FOR LESS!

I was recently told that I needed to convince a seller, through their agent that a home was over-priced. When that is the case, I feel that I do a pretty good job of selling the right arguments. However, whether it is truly over-priced or not, chances are it will remain that way on the market.

Some observations from 14 years in real estate:
1. Sellers don't change their mind about the value of their home. They may acquiesce to the market, but if they do, they feel cheated.
2. Buyers don't change their mind about the value of the home they are buying. If they negotiate up, they almost always feel like they should have gotten it for less.
3. Most people buy for emotional reasons, logic takes a back seat.
4. Sellers have agents that usually study the market, and have an idea of the value of the home. Those agents are often proud and don't like to hear that they made a mistake.
5. Buyers that are represented, have agents that usually study the market and have an idea of the value of the home. Those agents are often proud and don't like to hear that they made a mistake.
6. Agents need to present information to their clients and let them make the decision.
7. Buyers that chase value, often find it.
8. Buyers that chase deals, in a market where there is competent representation on the other side, seldom find them.
9. Buyers that chase deals, often get no value.
10.REALTORS® subscribe to a code of ethics that includes “honesty” and “truth.” Most REALTORS® take it very seriously.

There are others, but the most important thing to remember when making an offer is that everyone has information and has come to their own conclusions based on their thought processes. Those thought processes are usually a mix of logic and emotion, and are often dominated by the emotional side of the equation.

I always welcome your comments.

Qualifying purchasers; Are they able?

The credit challenged buyer. Though there are still some loan programs and remedies for less than perfect credit, not every buyer that may want to buy your home is going to be able to do so within the time period you want. Furthermore, since the rules are changing almost daily, there is a distinct possibility that a person with credit dings approved today, might not be approved tomorrow.

It is very important to have an understanding of the purchaser's ability to get financing for your home, before even accepting the terms of the contract. Then it is equally important to make sure that the buyer proceeds to get financing as soon as possible after the contract is written, to insure that you do not tie the home up with someone that ultimately can't purchase.

There are two sides to most issues, and this is no exception. Qualifying is best done by an objective professional third party. One who is experienced, stays on top of the changes and is reliable. Otherwise you risk alienating the buyer and losing the contract on a qualified prospect.

Qualifying Purchasers; Weeding out the dreamers

You have enhanced and packaged the home for sale, price it with the best market price and exposed the house to all of the potential buyers. Now the buyers are starting to show up and it is time to qualify them or in other words to insure that you are dealing with the right people to sell your home.

This crucial step will insure that you don't tie yourself to the wrong person taking your home off the market prematurely and/or wasting your time and money.

The less than serious buyer

This person likes to feel important and is sometimes a dreamer. They appear interested in buying your home, but are really interested in a great deal, they will buy if it is under market, or includes some fantastically unique feature. Even with these conditions this is the type of buyer that will use anything possible to get out of the contract, when they get cold feet at a later date.

It is important that you qualify the potential buyer as being serious about buying a house. The buyer needs to have a genuine desire for buying a home or better yet a need, such as relocating from out of town. The buyer needs to also have a definite time frame for buying the home. Best of all the buyer needs to be serious about buying your home.

Expose your homes to the widest pool of buyers possible

Market the home where buyers are. Internet (personal and company sites, listing sites, social media sites, advertising sites) agents, neighborhood, print

According to the National Association of REALTORS® 87-percent of home buyers use the Internet to search for homes. A Brokerage with a strong company internet presence is helpful, but any seller will need to utilize:
Listing sites such as Realtor.com, Zillow, and in Richmond, Richmond.com.
Social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo and others.
Advertising sites such as Craigslist.
Finally personal blogs and websites, such as this also add a chance to communicate with buyers.

To get the most benefit from each of these sights, requires taking advantage of what they have to offer. If 10 pictures can be uploaded, then 10 pictures should be uploaded except in special circumstances. If a virtual tour can be made available, then it should be linked appropriately. Descriptions that paint a clear view of the benefits of the home and contact information that is readily accessible are absolutely necessary to maximize these sites.

There are still other buyers out there and signs, for those in or canvassing neighborhoods, print, and direct communication with buyers and the agents that have pools of buyers will expose your home to the widest available buyer pool.

However you market your home, be prepared with a plan to tap into the largest buyer pool possible with the maximum market exposure.

Packaging your home for profit

Before you put your home on the market it is important to take time to enhance and package the home for sale.

Once you have made the decision to put your home is on the market, it is important that you look at it as a product for sale. Like any other product the better it is packaged and positioned for the sale the more money and buyers it will attract.

It is critical to enhance the home, even though it may be great, because buyers buy with their emotions and their eyes, and we don't get a second chance to make a good first impression.

Unfortunately, most buyers don't take the time to do this properly. It is unfortunate, because not doing it properly, costs them extra aggravation and sometimes thousands of dollars. They don't do it properly because they feel comfortable there and think that others will also. However, many of these same people would take their car to the carwash to have it detailed before trying to sell it, because they know that properly preparing the car may bring a couple of hundred dollars extra.

To properly package the house, will absolutely require a fresh set of eyes. An objective third party (don't put your friends in the middle of this) will be able to give advise on what changes if any will appeal to a buyer. Someone with experience and knowledge of the market can transfer that knowledge to you so that you can minimize your costs and maximize your profit.

By utilizing reports, checklists, and experience, and when the stakes are really high, possibly multiple sources of outside expertise, you can enhance your home, investing a dollar and returning 3 dollars and sometimes much more.

Yes, this critical step may take some time and some money but in the long run may save much more of both.

So, what is the best price for your home?

The answer to this question may be the key to the sale of your home. Price it right and you maximize the return on your investment and have a quicker, smoother sale. Price it incorrectly and you will most likely leave some of your money on the table or risk losing potential buyers.

There are three essential steps that are involved in determining what price to market your home for. First you must determine what the market is, second your place in the market, and third the market's direction within the current trends. Leaving out any of these steps, will likely lead to frustration and lost profits.

Step one - determine what the market is, by looking at what is available for sale and what is selling, what size, layout, number of rooms, neighborhoods, price ranges, how long on the market, what amenities, and then what is not selling. This will give you a broad view of the market and your competition, and likely clues as to where you will have to position your price to sell.

In step 2 you will need to zero in on your position within the market. You do this by taking the pool of homes that have recently sold that are similar to yours and making adjustments to their price based on comparisons of what they offer versus what your home offers. When your home offers something that the comparable home does not you add the value of that feature to the price that the other home sold for. In essence what you are saying is that if the other home had this item, it would have been able to sell for X number of dollars more. Conversely if the other home had a feature your home does not, you would subtract that from the sales price of the other home.

To properly make the price adjustment you will need a large pool of homes and then you can compare the value of an item by isolating the prices of homes with a difference in that feature. You can do this for any individual feature or group of features and will want to consider such things as differences in square feet, layout, number of rooms, number of beds and baths, quality of construction, maintenance of the home, the lot, location, school system, accessibility and the neighborhood and any other factor that can effect the salability of the home.

The final part of this step is to take the information about the similar homes apply the adjustments and determine what the market is willing to pay for your home, versus the competitive homes that are on the market now. You should now know whether you need to be priced lower or could sell for more because you have additional features, or will just have to wait until the competitive home is sold before yours will sell.

Step three is to make adjustments for the current trends in the market. The market is not static and may make significant corrections within a very short period of time. To determine the current trends, you will need comprehensive information on the current sales, available homes, and of historic sales versus available homes. The goal is to establish relationships between the number of homes, the number of sales, the sales prices, time on the market and then adjust those trends based on what is happening in the economy that will affect the curve.

Unfortunately, since most people don't gather actual data to determine where the current trend is, they are usually months and sometimes years off. This results in you having a home on the market that looks to be priced right, but doesn't sell.

Tips for selling your home. Part 1

Tips for selling your home. Part 1

I had some recent discussions about marketing homes and what makes the difference between languishing on the market and selling, between getting top dollar or getting less than may be possible.

Ultimately, we have to remember that purchasers have expectations based on tons of information. It may have been possible in the past, to hope that they looked at your house and fell in love and bought it, but today they do that with a comprehensive look at the value and expectations based on not just friends, but TV shows, tax records, computer valuation models, Twitter, Facebook, countless blogs and more.

1) Price is always, always, always #1 in selling your home. Price it too high and nothing else matters.

I’m going to devote the blog to home marketing tips for a while with a lot more tips and a complete explanation of each, but perhaps the best thing to do is let this one sink in for a while.

I know, you heard about how important location is and then there is condition and curb appeal and all these other things that affect the value of your home, but since price will overcome any of these issues, we’ll look at how to price it tomorrow.

Clarifying the Tax Credit

It’s no secret that I’m a big college basketball fan, and for me March Madness is the best sporting event, period.

The NCAA college basketball tournament draws many viewers and listeners making it ripe for advertising. This year the National Association of REALTORS® is running an advertising campaign pushing the merits of the Home buyer tax credit. Unfortunately there seems to be some confusion about the credit and the ads.

1) “Extended” does not mean another extension, it refers to the extension to April 30th for contracts that are closed by June 30th.
2) “Expanded” is referring to the expansion to people that have owned their home and lived in it for at least 5 consecutive years, who are now eligible for a tax credit of $6,500.
3) “Expansion” also is referring to the fact that there are more homebuyers eligible since the income limits were raised to incomes up to $125,000 for single tax payer and for married couples with incomes up to $225,000.
4) The $8,000 tax credit is for first-time home buyers only. For the tax credit program, the IRS defines a first-time home buyer as someone who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.
5) The tax credit does not have to be repaid unless the home is sold or ceases to be used as the buyer’s principal residence within three years after the initial purchase.

These have come up as questions in the last couple of days, and I do advise that you consult a tax professional if you have questions or if they are on how to get the money from the IRS go to their site.

Comments, questions, experiences are always encouraged.

Borrowing gets a little tougher

I’m not claiming the world is about to end. Nevertheless, news from lenders in the past week may be indications of some important trends in mortgage lending.

First, came word that the money allocated for rural housing, from USDA, was running out and new loans may not get funded. This is not unusual lately as it is one of the few 100% loans available. It is a red flag, to some because it comes earlier in the year than expected.

Next FHA announced that the FHA upfront mortgage insurance will be changing to 2.25% from 1.75% for all FHA loans where an FHA case number has not been assigned by April 2, 2010. This had been announced earlier without a definite time for implementation. The long and short of this requirement is that costs go up slightly, so if you can find a home between now and April, save a few bucks.

Bigger concern comes as the Fed winds down the purchase of mortgage backed securities, which may cause mortgage interest rates to go up. On the other hand, some good news; rates have come back down according to Bankrate.com and Freddie Mac.

Final analysis, the trends point to higher rates, more rules, less money available, so if you were thinking you may want to buy a home, now may be a better time than later.

The right house is the “deal”

Everyone wants a “deal.” There are ads out there that make it seem easy to get a “deal.” Unfortunately, “deals” are hard work. You have to sift through a lot of homes and look for one that fits you, qualifies for a mortgage that you can obtain, and be ready to make quick decisions.

Consider the following:

Everyone would like to see a person that is handy and going to live in the home for a while, be able to purchase one and do just that. However, the banks risk is obviously greater, and they won’t make loans on homes that need more than minor work. There is, of course, the renovation loan (203K as an example) that is designed to help in this situation, but because of the extra risk involved to the bank, the credit score usually needs to be higher and the reserves greater in order to get this loan.

In addition to the credit issues, the bank also wants to make sure that the work is done meeting relatively high standards so that the “handy” home buyer can’t do the work themselves, but has to hire a contractor that will be paid on a draw. Often the very person that has the ability to renovate the home as a home owner, and theoretically get a “deal” is the last person that will.

Of course there are other ways to get “deals,” such as HUD homes, bank foreclosures, “short sales” and others. I’ll examine some of the issues with these later. In the meantime, know that the right real estate agent can guide you through the maze and that the “deal” is in finding a home that satisfies your needs at a price that is acceptable to you.

Comments and questions are always welcome,

John

$8,000 tax credits & Home Purchases

Some facts about timing your home purchase.

1) The $8,000/$6,500 tax credit requires qualifying contracts to be ratified by April 30, 2010.
2) Not only must the buyer qualify for financing, the house must qualify for the mortgage as well.
3) Many homes currently in inventory in the Richmond area do not qualify for financing.
4) Currently in the Richmond area many homes are being offered as short sales.
5) Short sales are taking 45 days or more to get bank approval. 45 days from now will leave about a week to make an offer if the short sale is not approved.
6) Some of the best homes in our area are already getting multiple offers, costing time for those making insufficient offers.

The facts would seem to indicate that the sooner you start seriously looking for your new home, the more likely you are to be able to receive the tax credit. It’s available, you may as well get your share.

Do you know what you think you know?

I overheard a comment at lunch today about prices. The specific comment was related to the price of soup and then how it was such a high profit item. Further it was stated that the soup was even more profitable than drinks at this price.

I used to show people how to make a profit from selling food and beverages, so I understand where this thought came from. It used to be that soup was largely made up of “leftovers.” The “leftovers” were factored into the costs of foods previously sold, and therefore they were “free” when going in soup. Roast beef leftover from a previous day added to vegetables create a vegetable beef soup, leftover broccoli added to milk, stock, and cheese turns into broccoli cheese soup etc.

However, not all places approached it this way, either using premium fresh ingredients or a canned or frozen version. The cost of this frozen version is often the highest food cost of all using fresh premium ingredients and having to pay for cold storage as well as shipping the extra weight of the water. In this case the soup itself cost anywhere from 40% to 55% of the price.

What does this have to do with real estate? It is an example of how things change and what we may think we know isn’t the way it is.

Take finance as an example. A couple of years ago, a mortgage company was looking at a policy change (a directive from FHA, VA Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac) about every other week. I’m hearing claims of 380 changes in 2009. That is more than one a day. As a matter of fact, that is on average, just under 2 per work day. This means the rules that were understood when an offer is made, may be different by the time the offer is negotiated and becomes a contract.

Along with finance the banks have also changed the way they market, handle and dispose of distressed properties such as short sales and foreclosures. Contracts and disclosures have changed, and more addendum templates are in place to handle some of the known issues.

Individual home owners and buyers are also looking at things differently. Sellers many times are bringing money to the table so that they can get even better deals on their move up purchases. Buyers are in the driver’s seat one week and the next the sellers have the upper hand due to the amount of suitable product available to meet deadlines like the tax credit. Builders are contracting to build homes and can’t get the financing from the bank to build them.

Marketing homes means new challenges as newspaper classifieds are being replaced by Craig’s List and more serious research is being done online before contacting an agent. More and more successful marketing campaigns are starting in “Social Media” such as Twitter and Facebook and then continued on the huge portals and company web sites.

It doesn’t matter whether you are buying your first home or your tenth home, the rules are constantly changing. We see buyers, sellers and even some agents, acting as if they know the rules because of what they have done in the past. Yet, today the issues are different for every transaction and what you think you know, may not be reality. The theme song of the time may be “Hand in the Pocket” by Alanis Morissette where she sings, “What it all boils down to is that no one’s got it figured out just yet.”

The changes to the market, changes to the rules, changes to attitudes and the confusion they cause, mean now more than ever it is essential to have professional representation. Sitting in a restaurant and eating soup that you think may have yielded a high profit to the operator, when they wonder why they have a low profit item like soup on the menu, doesn’t really hurt anyone. On the other hand, the current real estate market has potentially great rewards, but when mishandled and misunderstood can lead to shattered dreams and financial ruin.

In other words, the times demand an agent that is growing, learning, adapting, and as a result creating and leading to positive solutions in the most dynamic real estate environment, possibly ever.

I always apprecate comments,

John

Raising the Bar in Real Estate

There has been a lot of discussion this month among REALTORS® about raising the bar for real estate agents. It started as a result of discussion about how real estate agents are viewed in the business world. It has continued with conversations held on Twitter, Facebook, Google Wave, blogs, conferences, phone calls and face to face discussions about how and what bar to raise.

There has been concern that agents will look bad, for the public nature of the discussion, something I obviously disagree with given where I have placed this particular post. It’s not that I’m not sensitive to the idea that we shouldn’t air our dirty laundry in front of everybody, It’s more a belief that it is out there and everyone needs to see that we are interested in cleaning it up. It is the public that has said their perception of us is low; it can’t hurt to have the public know that they have been heard and we are working to improve.

However, the question does persist, as to what we need to improve. Personally, I believe that a well trained, seasoned real estate agent can add value with negotiation skills, finance, construction & market knowledge, as well as marketing skills, area expertise and be a counselor, consultant and sounding board so that the consumer can make good real estate decisions.

On the other hand, I believe that as real estate agents, we operate in the middle of a semi-adversarial process where opposing parties have very different goals. This often leads to situations where one or both agents in a transaction may be perceived as a villain for not obtaining all the goals. In other words, if a party to the transaction believes they gave up more than they thought they were going to, they may like their agent and despise all others.

I believe that we must always strive to be better or raise the bar, and I will continue to take courses, read, attend meetings, study the market, talk to economists, talk to builders and developers, and study mortgage markets, real estate law and pass it on when I can. I would also really like to hear, from REALTORS® and CONSUMERS as to what services, what knowledge, what expertise, what educational standards, in other words, what bar should be raised.

Be great,

John