If you don’t follow up on your leads, don’t complain you are not converting leads.

Those who know me know that my only goal in life these days (ok, I have some non work related) is to have the highest conversion rate amongst Real Estate brokerages in the country.   The better we become with our lead conversion (leads to sales) the more excited I get and the more detailed I get in teaching my Agents how to get the most out of their leads.  It’s always a challenge.

Right now my biggest challenge is getting the right Agents who have the work ethic to become successful.

I’ll give you an example.  I have a new Agent, I think this is her 8th week with me so far.  She has her second closing tomorrow and she wrote 3 contracts this past month.  That gives her basically 5 transactions by the time she finishes her first three months with me (she has 120 leads in her system).  Pretty amazing.

I have another Agent, who started with me 5 months ago.  He has closed 3 sales, has 4 contracts on the short sale board and wrote 4 more contracts in October.  Both these Agents have just started their Real Estate career.  They are brand new Agents!

Now let’s look at my 5 bottom Agents.  Continue reading this post

All of us are fully aware of the recent changes in the appraisal industry.  Another victim of yesterday’s market, there is now a “hands off” message that lenders take very seriously.

What I have observed is that the bigger the lender, the more distance that exists between loan officers and appraisers.

For instance, it’s my understanding that Bank of America uses a third party company to set up appraisers…whereas some of the more local lenders are able to “select” a pool of local appraisers thru whom they can rotate business.

As a listing agent, I have found that my input in this new climate is crucial.  My job is not to influence, but to educate.

In a couple of instances, I have opened the door for appraisers who were clearly outside of their geographical comfort zone and the information and comps I have provided were important in verifying a clear market value.

A recent experience clearly confirmed the need for listing agents to meet with appraisers.  The names, location, and exact pricing have been changed to protect the innocent…but, otherwise, this is a 100% true story.

In September, I received an offer on a condo that was listed for $1.45 million in Georgetown (three cheers for Georgetown, right? But that’s another story of market holding strong).  After a round of negotiation, the seller accepted an offer for $1.375 million.  The lender for the buyer was a large, national company.

Although I asked the buyer’s agent to let me know when the appraisal was scheduled, the lender did not  keep either of us in the loop (perhaps he couldn’t…because he, too, was not in the loop) and, because the building had a concierge, the appraiser did his on site inspection without giving me notice. Continue reading this post

Congratulations to Realtor® Andrew Duncan of Keller Williams Realty in Tampa, Florida for being the next $50 winner of the HomeGain Agent Appreciation contest!

A HomeGain member since 2006, Andrew is an AgentEvaluator® Gold Club member, an AgentView member as well as a HomeGain Blogger. “That’s fantastic!” commented Andrew on hearing the news.

The correct answer to “How Many Max Gorillas Are There?” is: 10!

As the Agent Appreciation celebration comes to a close, we are also pleased to announce the Grand Prize winner of $100 — Laurie Hill of Desert Gem Real Estate in Surprise, Arizona.

Laurie has been a HomeGain member since 1999. She is an AgentEvaluator Platinum Club member and a BuyerLink™ real estate agent. “Yeah, that’s great,” said Laurie. “I’ll gladly accept the honor and the $100!”

Thank you to all weekly surprise participants for making it a great Agent Appreciation month. See you next year!

Congratulations to Amanda MacLaughlin of RE/MAX Equity Group in Portland, Oregon for being the next $50 winner of the HomeGain Agent Appreciation contest!

A HomeGain member since 2007, Amanda has recently been inducted into the AgentEvaluator Silver Club for her real estate success with home buyers and sellers.

The 5 correct answers from the Spot the Difference HomeGain contest were:

1. The man on the right side is looking a different direction
2. The little girl on the right side of the photo has a pink coat versus blue coat
3. The blond lady is holding the gorilla in one photo but not the other
4. The emblem on the man’s hat in the front is different colors
5. There is a gorilla added into the middle of bottom photo

See the Week 2 Word Search Contest and Realtor Winner

See the Week 1 Trivia Contest and Realtor Winner

On Monday we will announce the final game!

We’ll announce the Grand Prize winner on Monday, November 2nd. Make sure you play each week to increase your chances of winning the Grand Prize!

Green is the New Black

The housing industry hasn’t developed a reliable way of breaking down green versus conventional homes sales figures. But its clearly a hot button issue and will even become more important, perhaps mandatory, as we begin to seriously deal with global warming.

What Others are Saying….

Developers
“Those builders are seeing that they’ll get more buyers coming to their developments when they have solar. They sell like hot cakes,” Bernadette del Chiaro, an energy specialist at the advocacy group Environment California, told the Los Angeles Times. The Times also quoted Julie Blumden, a vice president at San Jose-based solar tile maker SunPower Corp., as pointing out that the increase in sales velocity is actually paying for the solar systems.

MLS
At least one MLS listing service is updating its database to allow for property searches based on a range of green features.

National Association of Realtors®
According to a recent NAR survey, 90 percent of recent home buyers thought energy efficiency was a very important consideration when searching for a home, and the demand for green buildings and environmentally sensitive home features is growing.

HomeGain
Arbor National Mortgage & American Forests notes that 83% of Realtors believe that mature trees have a ’strong or moderate impact’ on the saleability of homes listed for under $150,000; on homes over $250,000, this perception increases to 98%. This survey is supported by observations from the USDA Forest Service: mature trees add an average of 10 percent to a property’s value. Continue reading this post

Congratulations to  Danielle Boling CRS, CNHS, AHS, ABR, HHS of Network Real Estate Partners in Texas for being the next $50 winner of the HomeGain Agent Appreciation contest!

Danielle is an AgentEvaluator Platinum Club Member and has been with HomeGain since 2007.

The 6 correct answers from the Word Search Contest were:

• AgentView
• Homegain
• Success
• Leads
• Thanks
• Realtor

Next week’s new contest starts on Monday! Are you good at comparing photos? Might be worth the $50!

Login to your HomeGain account on Monday and Tuesday (and make sure you have your pop up blocker off) to get the link to the Agent Appreciation page.

Or email us.