I hate open houses! There I said it. It's out in the open and I'm not taking it back. I don't do them and I'm not starting. My Sellers know this. I tell them this at time of listing. "I will sell your house but I will not do an open house, ever."

Well, I had two of my Sellers call me today wanting to do open houses. So being the good little Realtor that I am, I said no. Now don't get me wrong, I like pleasing my Sellers and I like being agreeable when they ask me to do things. But I'm not doing it! I'm going fishing. It's Saturday and the fish are biting. So what do you do?

Being as how both of these Sellers are long time customers, we compromised. They are having open houses. Yup, you heard me right. They are having open houses. One is having a yard sale and the other is home all weekend and wants to do it. So, I stopped by today and dropped off Open House signs, buyer sign in sheets and wished them good luck. I told them if they should happen to find a Buyer for their house, who is not working with another Realtor, I will give them a discount on the commission. They were thrilled! They can use the money and thought this was an excellent idea. They are really getting into it now. I told them I would be available by cell phone if they need me and I have arranged for my Mortgage Broker to be available for pre-qualifications if necessary. I hope they find a Buyer. I hope I can give them a commission rebate. I hope they don't ever ask me again. I hope I catch the big one!

Anyway, I have been thinking about this all day and decided I may offer this to my Sellers. After all, we are a team and who knows the house better than the Seller. Obviously, you do want to make sure you have a strong relationship with your Seller and they have to promise, no negotiating. I like it. I like it a lot. They can work. I can fish. And maybe we will both get paid.

So next time a Seller ask for an open house, just tell them…….. "I hate open houses and I'm sticking to it!

I just love final walkthroughs! Why is it that Buyers and their Realtors sometimes try to spoil the elated feeling I get, knowing that we finally made it to day of closing?

I get the call this morning, telling me they did the walkthrough and everything is OK, except for the hole in the living room wall. What? A hole? How can that be? I was just in the house last week and it was fine. No holes! I don’t want to hear about holes two hours before closing. I mean the house is vacant. No one has been in the house but the appraiser. Then they spring the big one on me. “What’s the Seller going to do about it?”

Personally, I think that’s a pretty good question. “What’s the Seller going to do about it?” Well, my answer is “I don’t know”. I am still trying to digest the fact that there is hole in the living room wall. Well I got lucky, the other Realtor had a call beeping in on him and decided to take it and call me back.

So, I get myself out of bed (not sleeping mind you, but diligently “working” on reading all the ActiveRain posts from last night), anyway, I get myself out of bed, hop in my SUV and burn $10.00 worth of gas to go check out the hole in the living room wall. Now I’m a pretty observant guy and would probably notice a hole in the living room wall, but I don’t. No hole. Well, maybe they meant the family room. So I go look and again, no hole. Wait a minute, what’s that? Let me see, if I get down on my knees and squint just right I can see a tiny indentation in the wall about the size of my pinky fingernail. This my friends must be the culprit. The all elusive hole!

I call the Realtor back and tell him I have been at the house to look at the “hole” and asked him if he had actually seen it, or did he just allow the Buyers to go over by themselves to do the walkthrough? Do I need to even tell you his response? Of course he hadn’t seen it! It was too far for him drive to so he just gave the buyers the code so they could do their own walkthrough! The Buyers told him there was a hole in the wall, and asked, “What was the Seller going to do about it”. Anyway, I remained calm and politely told him to show the Buyers the definition of “hole” in the dictionary and that we would give them compensation of 50 cents. After all that, the Realtor told me to not worry about it, that he would take care of the Buyers.

I tell you, you got to love this business. The things people try to get away with. And the Realtor……….well that’s good material for another post.

The Moral is: Never, ever, take the other party’s, to a transaction, word on anything. Check, double check and check again. Look out for your own customer’s or client’s interest or that “hole” may be in your wallet.

By the way………..Does that 50 cents have to be on the HUD?

Had a listing appointment today. Yes, I know it's Sunday and I don't normally work on Sundays, but hey, I'm the Broker, I make the rules and I can break the rules. It was either today after Church or during the week at night. Well figured I would already be dressed in my "Sunday go to meetin cloths", so what the heck, I'd drive on over there. I'd still be home in time to cook lunch for "The Lovely Wife".

Anyway, I had sent these folks a preliminary CMA via E-mail last week and was really looking forward to meeting with them. I knew it was going to be a tuff one, but I felt up to the challenge. The challenge was, they had been listed for 6 months with another Realtor at $360,000, when the house, maximum, is worth only $299,000. They had already told me on the phone they were ready to reduce to $340,000. So I really had my job cut out for me. I won't take an overpriced listing so my goal was to get them to reduce $65,000. Also, since they were with a discount Realtor before, I needed to raise the commission a couple of points as well. So, if you do the math, we are looking at more than a 20% reduction in their anticipated Net.

Big challenge, but I woke up this morning ready to face it. I had prepared an analysis, to take with me, that was over 70 pages long. Now I don't know how you do your CMA's but 70 pages is a little over the top to say the least. It included:

• Details on similar homes with pools.
• Details on similar homes without pools.
• Details on every pool home that had sold near theirs this year.
• A list of every home on the market in their area.
• A list of all of my sales YTD.
• My grocery list from last week.

Anyway, you get the point. I was loaded for battle and well prepared to defend my position. Well I showed up for my appointment and as I had anticipated, the house, pool and yard were beautiful. So I was pleased about that. They had put a lot of time and money into it and it showed. The wife gave me the tour as I listened to her and I asked a few qualifying questions while we walked through the house. This is a very important step, as I am trying to find something that will help me in my presentation. I got lucky, one comment she made was, that when they were shopping for homes to buy, the first one they liked didn't appraise and they weren't able to buy it. Bingo! An excellent piece of info to help me with pricing.

So, hubby came in and we all sat at the table and I pulled out my arsenal of data. And of course the first thing I started explaining is how appraisals work and how they can affect the ability of a buyer being able to close on the house if it is not priced right. That was the right approach. It's true and it touched a cord with them since they had experienced exactly that. It opened the door for my discussion on pricing. Backed up with 70 pages of data, I made a strong case and after 90 minutes of hard fought discussion, we have agreed to Range Price the home from $289,000- $309,000 trying to sell as close to $299,000 as possible. Commission came up briefly but was not a factor.

We haven't done the paperwork yet, but I'm confident I have the listing. The Sellers are great people. It's an excellent property. It's priced right. I will be able to sell it. The Sellers will be able to move on with their lives. And "The Lovely Wife" had my "world famous" chicken and yellow rice with black beans for lunch. All in all, a very good day.

This listing, again, shows why it's so important to listen to your potential customers. They may just give you the information you need to succeed in your presentation. Pricing is everything in my market. Helping potential Sellers to understand this is what I enjoy doing. It gives me a great feeling of satisfaction. I just hope I'm not……….. counting the chickens before they hatch!

My mom, I love her to death, sells timeshare resales. She has been in the timeshare business for almost 30 years and can sell ice to an Eskimo. She has won many National sales awards and is excellent at what she does.

But she has a hard time understanding what I do. Whenever I call her, and mention I sold a house today, she always says the same thing "Did you sell it? Or did another Realtor sell it". "Mom" I say "No, I didn‘t sell it, it was my listing but another Realtor sold it."

But you know, that is so far from the truth. I sold the house. I sold it when I spent 90 minutes convincing a Seller to price it right. I sold it when I talked the Seller into having a professional cleaning crew go through the house, or suggested they rip up the dirty carpet and lay down tile. I sold it when I positioned the house in the MLS, to get the most exposure. I sold it when the Realtor called me on a different listing and I talked him into showing this house as well. I sold it when I educated my Seller on paying closing costs for the Buyer. There are many things we do as listing agents that contribute to the house being sold.

As a matter of fact, if these things aren't done properly, there will be no sale. The house would be another property that sits on the market for 6 months only to expire or be withdrawn.

I heard a statement somewhere, "that a bad appraisal begins at time of listing." That is so true. It is also true "that a house is sold at time of listing".

A good listing agent will make the Buyer's agent job very easy. Priced right, clean, easy access and knowledgeable Sellers makes for an easy sale. So next time I talk to Mom, I think I will explain this to her. In the meantime, bring your Buyers on by…………….My listing has already been sold!

I've read several post recently talking about taking 6 month listings and nothing less. Well, personally, I take 45 day listings and nothing more. Not only that, but I do not charge cancellation fees. My ads state this, 45 day listing agreements no cancellation fees, ever! For me this works like a charm. When I meet with potential Sellers, mostly referrals, expired or withdrawn listings, this is usually mentioned after I have gone over my analysis.

I say something like this…. "The average days on market right now are about 78 in Poinciana. I am willing to take your listing for 45 days and if you are not happy with my services, pick up the phone and fire me. No questions asked and no charge to you. I get paid when you get paid, at closing. I may not be able to sell your house in 45 days but I certainly don't need 6 months. After a couple of weeks working with me you will want me for your Realtor for life anyway, so, if need be, we can extend the listing at the end of the 45 days. 45 days will give me enough time to earn your trust and your business. So what have you got to lose. So, are you ready to go on the market today?"

Well, in most cases the answer is……. yes.

Now I am sure there are Realtors out there who would say taking a 45 day listing agreement is weak. But you know, you are dead wrong. First, in most cases I will sell their house in 45 days. My average days on market right now are about 20-25. Secondly, I know that I will be able to create a lasting bond with my Seller in way under 45 days. Why? Because I call them constantly and I'm excellent at what I do. Now don't get me wrong, there aren't too many things in life that I'm excellent at, but when it comes to pricing and market positioning, on a listing, I am an expert. It's what I do. And I take it very seriously.

Now, a couple of fine points in my above presentation that you may have missed:

Notice how many times I mention 45 days? This is not random. I do it on purpose. I want 45 days to be imbedded in my Seller's mind. It shows them my urgency in getting their home sold. This is a very good thing. Especially if they have been on the market already for 6 months with another Realtor.

"…not happy with my services, pick up the phone and fire me." What's to think about? They can change their mind if they want to. It's a risk I'm willing to take.

"…I get paid when you get paid, at closing". This is a word picture. Closing and getting paid. I am getting them to focus on the end result. All good.

"…Realtor for life", planting the seed for future referrals.

"…we can extend the listing at the end of the 45 days." I haven't even taken the listing yet and I've already mentioned an extension.

"…time to earn your trust and your business". What more could a Seller ask for from his Realtor?

"…What have you got to lose?" "Are you ready to go on the market today?" Asking for the business. The close. This is where some Realtors fail. You must ask for the business. I don't care how good your presentation is, your last question must be the close.

So next time you have a listing appointment, try the 45 days listing agreement. Weak?……I don't think so!

Man, I’m tired today. It’s been a long week. I’ve been very busy and I haven’t been sleeping very well. I have one of those bad backs and rarely sleep for more than an hour at a time. This has been going on for years. I even had a Seller tell me I didn’t sound like my normal chipper self today. It was true, but I didn’t like hearing it. Real Estate is all about having an upbeat and positive attitude. On the rare occasions when I’m not 100%, I feel my Sellers suffer for it. So what do you do? I’m a one man office, so it’s not like I can just take a day off. I must answer the phone. If I don’t my Sellers may miss a showing on their property and I can’t let that happen. They are depending on me and I won’t let them down.

Keeping my business small was a decision I made years ago. “The Lovely Wife” and I enjoy our time together and we did not want to get locked into a position of having to run an office and having to get up and go to work everyday. Also, I have a little bit of a control issue and have a problem with delegating. The most important reason for staying small is, I’m a salesperson. It’s what I like to do. It’s what I’m good at. I don’t enjoy managing people and running a business, even though I am a business. Does that make any sense?

I think the point is, that in order to be a success you must find the one thing you enjoy doing and try to do it better than anyone else. Some Realtors like going solo, some like being a part of a team, some want to manage, some want to open up large offices. I don’t think there is a right way or a wrong way, but I do think it is extremely important to find the way that works for you and makes you happy. Never try to work a certain way because you think that’s what is expected of you. Be true to yourself. Find your strong points and concentrate on them. Set your own goals and compete with yourself.

Also, have a plan. You must know where you are going in order to get there. Reflect on it. Get you priorities in order. And whatever you do, don’t do it for the money. If you do a good job and stay focused the money will come all by itself.

I hope you didn’t find this post too boring. But hey, it’s my Blog and it’s what I felt like writing today. Tomorrow is a new day and I m going to wake up refreshed and ready to do my best. Man, I’m tired. Man, my back hurts. Man, I am so blessed. Real Estate. I love it!

No problem. We’re here to give you everything you need to become a Short Sale Superstar.

Foreclosures are rampant across the U.S. More and more banks and homeowners are turning to short sales as a mutually beneficial solution. The problem? Short sales seem to be what everyone needs – but you never had to do many short sales before.

That’s where we come in. We’ve been working in short sales for years, even before the economy tanked, and we know the strategies that work best to make the banks, the lenders, and most of all your clients come out on top.

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Get started right now, and say goodbye to that feeling of uncertainty when someone mentions a short sale.

Say hello to the confident feeling of a great close and a happy client.

Wendy Rulnick and Bryant Tutas
www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com

Copyright © 2010 REGrow, LLC | All Rights Reserved

Time. Mine is valuable. Is yours? One thing that agents struggle with is being in control of their time. How often have you popped out to show property at the last minute? Or had to cancel a personal event because one of your customer/clients needed to see you? What about the Buyer who can only look at properties every other Saturday from 4-7 pm? Do you work with them?  I don’t.

Here’s a fact. There are NO real estate emergencies.

Here’s another fact. You will NEVER be caught up. There will always be another call to make. Another website to update.

If  you want to have lasting success in this business and avoid burn out you MUST get control of your time. Work by appointment only.

Don’t let others dictate your schedule. Don’t do same day appointments. Just let them go. It will save you a lot of aggravation in the long run. If people don’t respect your time they will never respect the relationship. That’s a fact.

Let folks know at first contact how you work and when you work. People will appreciate knowing these things up front. If your schedule doesn’t fit with theirs then just let them go. We can’t work with everybody.

Once you set boundaries with your time a funny thing will happen…..you’ll start attracting people that will work within your time frames. And because of this you will be less stressed and you will become better at what you do.

Do you believe that? Well even if you don’t it’s still true. You just need to trust me on this one. Can you do that?

Do you need a new Broker?

Want to find out more? www.TTRealtyNet.com

Copyright © 2010 http://www.brokerbryant.com/ | All Rights Reserved

Hi folks. As most of us in this business I seem to have a lot more frustrating days than I used to. Real Estate is hard. My personal business is about 80% short sales and REOs (foreclosures). Frustrating.

I work in a very low end market and have to do lot’s of transactions every month in order to make a good living and pay the business bills. But that’s ok. So many folks have it much worse than I.

Yet, they have more strength than I could ever imagine. A perfect example is…..

.……Artist Leon Botha, one of the world’s longest surviving Progeria sufferers, and photographer Gordon Clark embark on a collaborative and artistic adventure, exploring the questions of destiny and immortality to bring us this powerful photo series Who Am I? Transgressions.

“By words one transmits thoughts to another, by means of art, one transmits feelings.” Leo Tolstoy

Hi folks. Here’s a short compilation of some of the conversations going on this week at www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com

Short Sale Lenders asking for cash contributions off the HUD.

Sellers of Short Sales wanting to rent the property back.

2nd lien holders being unreasonable.

Is a hardship really needed to qualify for a Short Sale?

Getting Short Sales approved through REOTrans/Equator

Investors refusing to postpone the foreclosure auction.

Bank of America and Titaninum Solutions

Short Sale Lenders seizing bank accounts

Dealing with Multiple offers and Short Sales

Tools to assist you with your Short Sales

Available Short Sale Agent Training:

LEARN, KNOW AND GROW

• The Negotiator Interview $27.00
  
• www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com FREE 878+ Members Strong!!
  
• Short Sale Agent Training Webinars 8 Hours of training for $97.00
• Short Sale Listing/Submission Package $27.00 Click for details

Wendy Rulnick and Bryant Tutas
www.ShortSaleSuperStars.com

Copyright © 2010 REGrow, LLC | All Rights Reserved