Delivering Bad News

There is almost nothing more rewarding in the business of real estate then making the call to first time home buyers to tell them their offer has been accepted. In today’s market, calling sellers and telling them their house is sold can also provide an “I’m so glad I’m a Realtor feeling”.

Unfortunately, delivering bad news is also part of the job and I’ve been delivering it in large doses of late.

Despite the local facts and statistics, national print media headlines and on air reporting by the talking heads, many sellers believe their home is worth more than it is. It is my job, as the friendly local Realtor, to be welcomed into a seller’s home, burst their bubble, and otherwise ruin their perfect day.

Delivering bad news doesn’t come easy and is a learned skill. Having been through 3 market corrections over 3 decades, I have had a fair amount of practice in delivering bad news. I once had a seller burst into tears and although I appear tough, it was an effort to remain professional and not start bawling right along with her.

Hey, I don’t like this market either. Sniffle.

This week I’ve had the opportunity to take the wind out of the sails of two future sellers. As I delivered my CMA at possible listing #1, Mrs. Seller just stared and never said one word. Mr. Seller escorted me out read more

Posted by Linda Davis on Jul 05, 2008 under Realtor

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Melbourne and Brevard County Florida Real Estate Market Update

Mitch Ribak of Tropical Realty of Suntree, Florida provides mid-year update

Mid-year Brevard County Real Estate Internet Marketing Numbers are in!

Well it’s been a crazy year so far here in Melbourne, Florida and my real estate agents have been as busy as ever. Even though the real estate market is terrible here in Brevard County, Florida, Tropical Realty of Suntree is holding its own and is neck and neck with two other companies for first place in total closed transactions.

As most you out there, I’m sure you are showing a ton of customers just to get one home buyer. They are certainly taking their time making their home buying decisions. Where are those old glory days?!

Since I’m always talking about Internet Marketing, Lead Capture and Lead Conversion, I figured I would share with you our stats for the first half of the year. There are two reasons I want to share this info.

Firstly, I am proud as a father of my Agents and my staff (my kids). They have worked their tails off this year to keep their careers in line. They don’t want to hear about a bad market, they are making the best out of it. In fact, we wrote 35 homes for sale contracts this month which is a new record since our opening in 2005!

Secondly, I want you all to see the possibilities of what happens when you really dedicate your business to Internet Marketing. And yes, HomeGain’s Buyerlink program is a big piece of our success. Gone are the days where I spend two hours each day managing my keywords. So thanks to my awesome Agents and thanks to HomeGain for having the BuyerLink program!

Ok so here is what we got: read more

Posted by Mitch Ribak on Jul 03, 2008 under Regional

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Use Hyper-Local Real Estate Statistics to Inform Your Clients

One of the most difficult aspects in today’s market is getting consumers to understand the difference between national, local and hyper-local real estate trends which could vary dramatically depending on your location.

More importantly, a client’s perspective in the market will in large part determine their expectations for a transaction. Many home buyers today feel that the water has run completely red with blood and many buyers believe that they can steal a home with this new found leverage. Many are excited about the possibilities and have heard the news reports about buying homes for 60 cents on the dollar.

If you don’t convey to your clients up front that this is not likely to be the case, you will have problems getting buyers and sellers to agree on a price at which the home could be purchased.

Understanding your hyper-local market, even within your city and being able to convey how that translates into accurate expectations for a client has never been more important than it is today.

Being an expert in your market is paramount to building trust and in turn clients and it’s your responsibility to understand and be able to convey the difference to help educate them.

Knowing what is happening on a hyper-local level, will help you be the local expert, build their confidence in you and help you close sales. read more

Posted by Ryan Ward on Jun 26, 2008 under Market Trends

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7 Strategies for Handling Foreclosures

This month’s Agent Success Newsletter features Alisha Wade, Associate Broker at RE/MAX Achievers in Arizona. In our exclusive interview with Alisha, hosted by Peter McCullough, she discusses how foreclosures are affecting her business and gives advice to other agents who may be facing challenges in a market full of foreclosures.

Listen to Alisha’s feature story:

Here are some highlights:

“Arizona is in top 5 cities for foreclosures in the country – 20% or higher of all inventory are foreclosures. It may be awhile before the market turns around, which makes it really important for an agent to know how to do foreclosures and short sales, and not be afraid to learn how to do them.”

“Short sales are priced $10-15k below cost (and more for foreclosures ) but the danger is when the house won’t appraise, even for a home that was in great condition. It’s great for the home buyer if that happens, but not the seller.”

7 Tips from Alisha Wade:

1. Learn bank processes. Foreclosures are actually very easy to do as long as you know the banks processes. Sometimes the addendum can be 14 pages long – and you really have to read them thoroughly!
2. If you are writing a contract…

Posted by Jessica Gopalakrishnan on Jun 24, 2008 under HomeGain Radio

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