Chickenhawk Scratchings

There are a lot of properties out there that cater to highly specific clients, and I specialize in one of them.  Oh, sure, I could have been a Lakefront Specialist, or a Golf Course Specialist, or even a Dude Ranch Specialist, but Nooooo, I had to go and become an Airpark Specialist. 

Airpark?  What the heck is that?

An airpark property is a home or group of homes that has a runway for aircraft.  These range anywhere from multi-million dollar properties to $139,000 homes just off the runway.  The homes are as unique or plain as any other homes, but the fact that people land airplanes and taxi them right up to their front porches changes the dynamic a bit.

You see, there aren't a lot of pilots in the U.S. (compared to the whole population), and of those pilots, there are only a few who actually own, or want to own, an airpark property.  This starts whittling away at your potential buyers.  Finally, when there are pilots who want to own airpark property, they usually can afford to be picky - picky enough that the area they may search in can cover multiple states.   Yet, to this day, and for the last six years, I've been an airpark specialist.

Why do I even bother?  Well, here's the funny thing.  When you specialize in something, it tends to make you stand out.  Even people who aren't looking in your area of specialty may seek you out to do business with.  If you are perceived as an expert in Airpark Real Estate, for example, you may be perceived as an expert in Real Estate in general.

If you try to be all things to all people, you dilute your effectiveness. If, however, you specialize in a couple areas, you will increase the business you get from real estate as a whole.  Pick something that you enjoy, and specialize in it. You could be a first time buyer specialist, a golf course home specialist, or even a Pool Home Specialist (a home with a swimming pool - a friend of mine did that QUITE successfully after running a pool company for years, retiring, and entering real estate).

Just a thought.  However, back to my own specialty... I have to admit that when I get to show a house by first flying over it, then landing right in front of it in a light airplane, it really makes the showing a heck of a lot of fun.

Focus!  A new week is beginning soon!

Real estate is a dinosaur.  Don't be one!

This has nothing to do with your age.  It has EVERYTHING to do with your paradigm.  Paradigm is defined by Webster.com as a philosophical or theoretical framework of any kind.  Your paradigm is the way you process information - it's the way that you operate, the way you do things.

Here's the issue.  Many agents have a paradigm that is based in the twentieth century.  Which PART of the twentieth century varies, but the ideas usually flow from certain general idioms.  This often is frighteningly clear with marketing.  For example, typical agents all over the country run ads with big pictures of themselves smiling, with statements like "Work with me, I'm Number One!"  I hate to break it to you, but consumers don't respond to that. 

Why?  They've seen a thousand number ones.  They're so skeptical, that the only reason they're going to call you is if they happen to read about a house that they're interested in, and they really don't want to talk to an agent anyway!

What is a twenty first century paradigm?  I would propose that the twenty first century agent is up to date on what really works in marketing, and they need to know how prospects think.  Those agents who are reading this blog right now have embraced at least one component of it (I'll wait a moment so you can pat yourself on the back).

The twenty first century agent KNOWS that clients are more savy than they've been in the past.  They also UNDERSTAND that prospects are going to be gathering a lot more information for themselves before they ever contact an agent to help them.  Finally, they are COMFORTABLE with the fact that they are NO LONGER the gateway to real estate information!

I once had a fellow agent tell me that they were intimidated by clients who did a lot of research on the net.  They felt that the clients might know more about the houses they were looking for than the agent.  This is quite possible.  Even though you can be an expert in your area, and you may do a thorough needs analysis, your prospect is still MUCH MORE of an expert on what THEY want.  I told this agent to stop fearing it, and start embracing it.  When I get a well-informed prospect, I jump for joy!  That's MUCH LESS work for me!

How do you look at that situation?  You have to concede that our job is no longer to be the gateway to real estate information.  Our job is to be PROFESSIONALS whose knowledge and skills are beneficial to the individual wishing to conduct a real estate transaction.

I love the internet.  I embrace the internet.  I am comfortable enough in my REALTOR(R)-hood to give up tight reins on the information.  If clients have already researched, my job is half over.  Now it's time to bring in the professional to narrow down the last choices, find the right fit, and negotiate the best terms.

Another paradigm shift - when it comes to your marketing, give up the traditional print ads.  If your ad doesn't have some sort of call to action, or an opportunity for a prospect to get information from you in a non-threatening way, then don't waste your money running the ad.  Utilize tools such as direct response marketing.  I'll tell you right now that I HIGHLY ENDORSE Craig Proctor's training for this.  His systems and methods are light years ahead of other things out there, but I especially like his direct response marketing systems. 

Terms such as call capture, IVR, and stealth web sites should be second nature to you.  The twenty first century agent understands that the majority of prospects work with the FIRST real estate agent they speak to, and the best agents use methods to identify those prospects earlier in the game.

Change your paradigm.  Change it now.  The real estate dinosaurs are going extinct - don't join them!

Ok, this is off-topic as far as real estate is concerned... but since we're in the customer service industry, perhaps there are some lessons we can learn.

My elderly parents flew in to Greenville, SC today to visit my family.  They tried to fly in yesterday.  I say tried, because they left Denver, CO with the intention of completing their flight in one day.  Upon reaching Chicago, however, things went down hill.

First, their original flight was cancelled.  Then, they were re-routed on another flight.  That flight was then re-routed to several gates, and it was finally cancelled.  Why?  The "weather". 

Now, granted, the weather SE of Chicago was nasty, but not so nasty that aircraft couldn't get airborne.  In fact, to add insult to injury, another major airline had a flight that left to go to the same destination airport AFTER the other flight was cancelled for this "weather". 

The airline gate personnel were rude, and my parents were ill-informed as to what was happening.  This was the worst offense.

I am a pilot.  I understand weather.  I have NO desire for ANY pilot to fly in weather that could pose danger.  I don't even have a problem with a flight being cancelled if there is a good reason.  What I DO have a problem with is rude customer service. I understand that in crazy times, such as cancelled flights, customer service personnel get stressed.  They can get anxious.  BUT THEY are supposed to provide "customer service" whatever problems come up in their job.

I think that there has been an overall drop in the quality of customer service.  Remember a fast food restaurant that used to market the fact that you could go there for a smile?  Good luck getting that now. 

How can we affect this trend?  Speak up!  I am a big proponent of letter writing.  If I get poor service, I let someone know.  If I get great service, I REALLY let someone know!  If you don't do something similar, try it. It's amazing the results you can get. 

I'll be penning a letter to the airline soon. 

At some point in an agent's life, they will deal with a couple who is getting divorced and must sell a home.  These are not the easiest situations to deal with, and should be handled with some care.  Emotions can run high, and many times husband and wife have different agendas.

For example, June lives in the house, and Joe has moved elsewhere.  Joe is the primary wage earner, and the house payments are still in his name.  Who's motivated to sell?  Joe wants the house sold, because he doesn't want to make those payments.  June may not be so motivated to sell, because when (IF) the house sells, she will be forced to move.  If there are kids involved, the motivations may be even further apart.  I've seen the roles reversed. 

If one party doesn't want to sell the home, and they live in it, they may not keep it in showing condition.  Perhaps they cancel appointments without good reason.  It can be a headache.

What's the best way to deal with divorce situations?   Here are a couple ideas, and I'd love to see yours as well.

1)  Meet with each party individually.  This allows them to tell you their own needs and values without putting up defenses caused by their ex-spouses. 

2) Get the names and numbers of each party's attorney. There may come a time when it's better to go through their attorneys for signatures, especially when it's time to work out purchase contracts.

3) Care.  Make sure that you use some tact and compassion.  There are often hurt feelings and high emotions.

4) Remember that the negative emotions you may observe are probably not directed at you.  The client may vent, but probably not AT you.  It may be at the situation, but probably not AT you.

Give me your ideas!  Or, share your horror stories so we may learn!

  Do you ever feel that your administrative tasks are overwhelming you?  Do you feel that your life is going down the proverbial tubes because your entire day consists of "work stuff?"  Are you busy, busy, busy and never stopping?

Are your clients suffering because they aren't being serviced correctly?

Answer yes to any of these, and it may be time to hire some administrative help!

Many agents make the mistake of either hiring too quickly, or going too long without hiring.  A lot of agents don't hire because they're plain SCARED of hiring the WRONG person.  Others are worried about money.  Here are a couple guidelines that I have picked up in the world of hiring help, and I would REALLY appreciate comments from any of you who would like to chime in.

First, if your clients are suffering because your service has dwindled down to nothing, it is either time to hire, or time to re-evaluate your time management (probably both!).  If clients start feeling that you aren't there for them, they will fire you, and your business will come to a screeching halt.

Second, if your lead generation is suffering because all you have time for is to manage what you have, then you should analyze your business to see just what an admin person might do to help.  Even if you hire someone for three or four hours a day, that can mean a HUGE difference. 

Third, if your LIFE is suffering because you are constantly working working working working, then you may want to hire someone to hand off all the administrative tasks to.  This is easy to spot.  If your kids start failing to recognize you, then it may be time.  If your spouse looks up when you get in bed and shouts, "Hurry and get out, my wife/husband will be home soon!"... that might be a good sign that you're not around enough.

This blog is obviously not designed to be a class on hiring admin, but it IS designed to get you thinking.  Any of you have any thoughts on administrative people - when to hire them, etc?

Keep on real estatin'.

I'm in love.  It's like that moment when the two people see each other from across a field, and they run smiling into each others' arms, wildly swinging around in a circle in a joyful embrace.

Ok, maybe not that intense, but it's close.  It's just hard to embrace a laptop.

I just got set up on Top Producer 8i after being a faithful user of 7i. 

IT IS AMAZING.

I'm sure that there are bugs that will be worked out, and I'm also sure that there will be features that I don't like, but overall I'm very happy with the product.  One of my biggest pet peeves with 7i was that you couldn't open up multiple windows, so if I got an email asking if I could list a house on Monday, I had to close my email, open my schedule, check the date, close the schedule, open the email, and reply. 

Now, you simply open up multiple windows.  Not only will this help me day to day, but my clients will get even faster service, and that is ALWAYS a plus.

I love it!

I'll report back more later when I've been using it long enough to get a true picture of the product, but for now, I'm going to wipe the kiss off my laptop's screen and go dancing down the hall!

Ok, ok, settle down.  They're not COMPLETELY gone, but for all intensive purposes, 100% financing is a thing of the past for many people. 

I'll wait for you to revive.

Now that you're back with us, I'll continue... Most, if not all, agents have heard by now that 100% loans are out. PMI companies have said that they're no longer choosing to insure the lenders for default.  What will we do?

First of all, stop panicking. Sit back, relax, and have a soda (pop, coke, whatever part of the country you're in). In my opinion, this changes  very little. 

We know that there are some buyers that should have NEVER been approved for loans.  Case in point, check out the slight (t-i-c) increase in mortgage foreclosure across the country. If the loan officers, lenders and AGENTS were doing their jobs, these people shouldn't have bought a home.  \

What?? AGENTS?  Think about this - your fiduciary duty is to look out for your client's best interests, and if their best financial interest is NOT to go into foreclosure, then perhaps they should have been counselled out of buying a home at that time or in their current financial situation.

But let me continue.  Now that loans are harder to get, perhaps it's time to start doing some of that counselling.  Perhaps it's time to make sure that we don't push homebuying on people who are on shaky ground.

But what about the buyer who is stable and just WANTS 100%? 

There are some great programs that exist, and in fact have been around a long time, such as Ameridream.  With these, sellers can pay the 3% down on a loan in order to make it 97% for the purchaser. I'm not a mortgage broker, so I won't go into specifics.  What I want to stress is that there are OPTIONS.

One of my associates got an email from a mortgage broker speaking to the end of the 100% loan, and they were genuinely scared.  "Where will I get my buyers, Bill?" was the question.  My response - from the same places you've always gotten them.

Regulations come and go, interest rates go up and down, but we still sell houses.  Keep in mind that you may have to do more than just be an order taker.  You may have to be creative in putting together deals, but if you take the time to educate yourself and know your options, you'll do quite well.

Get a mortgage broker you trust and go to lunch with them.  Let them tell you in-depth what the changes are, and what programs exist.  It'll be worth your while!  Mortgage brokers, feel free to comment - you have much more knowledge on this topic than I do.  I just want to keep agents from worrying.  There's enough to worry about in our profession. :-)

Here we go again.  A year recently began (about three months ago by my calculations) and we are watching a brand new group of rookie agents tossing their hats in the collective real estate ring, all with hopes of prosperity and success.  I wish them all great wealth and happiness, but the statistics are cold and unfriendly.  80% of these people will not succeed in real estate. 

In case percentages aren't your thing, try eight out of ten.  Look around you at the next sales meeting and start pointing at each agent, saying softly, "gone, gone, gone, gone, stay, gone, gone, gone, gone, stay".  You might earn some funny looks from others, but you may be accurate nonetheless.

Why do first year agents fail out?  There are MANY reasons, and since it's just passing midnight, I'm not going to try to touch them all - but one HUGE reason that I see is that they feel overwhelmed.

There is a LOT to do in order to have a career in real estate.  You've got to learn rules and regulations, get business cards, set up a website, create marketing materials, design a business plan, create (and hopefully FILL) a database, knock on doors, shake hands and kiss babies.

My point is this - there's a bunch of STUFF to do.  Many new agents get bogged down in the stuff!  They come into the office and sit all day, worrying over whether or not their website is perfect, or if they have the BEST possible picture on their business cards... my favorite is the agent who was fussing for THREE HOURS on the typeface for their business cards.

STOP!  PUT DOWN THE STUFF!  LISTEN UP FOR A MOMENT!

In order to succeed, you not only have to plan and prepare (which are both very important), but you must DO.  Without DOING things, you will never make any money.  We call this working IN your business, while planning and preparing are usually working ON your business. 

From day one, I am constantly telling agents to get out and meet people.  It has been rumored that in one lead generation class I told my students, "I don't care if you stand out on the street corner naked with a big sign that says "BUY A HOUSE FROM ME", at least you're DOING something to attract attention and meet people."  While the laws in your local jurisdiction may prohibit naked marketing techniques, the point is that agents need to get out and start generating business.

Here's my bottom line - Spend a LITTLE time each day preparing, and spend a LITTLE time each week planning.  Spend the most time DOING something.  Write notes to people you've met.  Go to the mall and talk to all of the store managers, and get permission to keep in touch with them.  Go to a subdivision and knock on doors to introduce yourself.  Get to the daycare a half hour early and just mingle with other parents.  Call five people EVERY DAY and ask for business.   The most inexpensive way to market is called sole marketing - you market until your shoesoles have to be replaced from walking and meeting so many people.

Do not plan yourself into a real estate grave.  Get out there and beat the bushes.  It's amazing how much business is out there waiting for SOMEONE to find it.  As you have time to prepare, your systems and methods will mature and become much more effective. 

Real estate careers are processes.  Don't expect everything to come together immediately.  Instead of trying to microwave your success, put the crock pot on LOW and move forward sure and steady.  Don't get bogged down in trying to make everything perfect before you walk out the door and contact your first prospect.

Now, I have to go and send emails... it's time for me to DO something!

This may seem like a minor POINT, but often the POINTS that people vye for on Active Rain seem to be more of a concern than the quality of content.  Allow me to make my POINT...

When you surf through blog entries on AR, you will often find POINTS to help your career, tips on dealing with difficult issues, and techno blogs that POINT you in the right direction to geek-ify your business.  Many other times, though, you'll find blog entries that are so blatantly POINTed towards simply racking up POINTS that you have to sit back and sigh.

What do these entries look like?  The worst is plagaristic copy and pasting of articles or other peoples' writing.  Second behind that, in my opinion, is a "market update" with a copy and paste of MLS stats for a particular area.  Now, I will get several people who disagree on this POINT, but I personally believe that a blog is meant as a medium of communication or reflection.  If you want to post a market update, then at least write a short narrative explaining your opinion on where the market is at and where it is going.  People will appreciate your POINT.

All in all, this blog entry is definitely tongue in cheek and may be POINTless, but I guess I am just the type that likes to enjoy reading the blog posts on here, and it seems to waste my time when all I run into is material designed as a quick blog-post to rack up more POINTS. 

Get my POINT?

Thanks for reading, and have a GREAT night!

(By the way, there's another 200 POINTS!)

This may sting.  I hope it brings to mind memories of people you have worked with, and not thoughts of how you personally fit this... however, if you DO fit what I am about to say, the best thing is to acknowledge it and improve!  We all have shortfalls, and we are blessed with the ability to learn in order to get past them.  Part of my job at our Keller Williams office is, afterall, training and mentoring agents to success.

I have been working on a transaction with an agent who is tactless and rude.  She is obviously uneducated on several fronts, including negotiations and interpersonal communication.  She is one of the real estate agents that many of us dread working with, because she makes our job twice as hard.

My buyer made her seller an offer that was only $800 away from the seller's previous offer.  Now, in the market that we are experiencing (and ours is much better than most in the country), any seller should be thrilled to get that close of a counter offer. 

This agent actually said she was offended because my buyer simply didn't take her seller's last offer - what NERVE she had to submit yet ANOTHER counter offer.  The agent had to remind me, quite staunchly, that SHE was the seller's agent, and yet she also (just as staunchly) said that this was silly, and that WE needed to represent our clients' best interests and work this out.  Apparently, "working this out" meant that my client was supposed to give in.

It only got better - she then called me and told me that she had it all worked out.  Her client was graciously giving in on some terms we requested, and gave us a "new and improved" offer.... The only problem?  Apparently this agent knew little about "NET", because in the end, my buyer was now netting over a THOUSAND DOLLARS LESS than the seller's previous offer!

During the course of our conversation, she repeatedly interrupted me, and called me "young man", as in, "young man, listen to me".  That is just plain rude.  Did she want me to respond, "Yes, old woman?"  I don't think that would have gone over well!  Unfortunately, I can't think of any classes to recommend to un-learn THOSE behaviors, other than ettiquette school.

Now I don't know about you, and how you negotiate, but I personally find it very difficult when I am negotiating with someone when they are all over the map and have little knowledge of numbers.  I would MUCH rather go toe-to-toe with an excellent negotiator, because even though I know the fight will be tough, at least it will be measurably reasonable, and simple(r) to follow.

This is a frustrating situation, but as I've gone through my years of transactions and training, I've heard many similar stories. I wish mine was an isolated incident, but it's not.

Here's the moral:  PLEASE make sure that you get training on negotiating, and ESPECIALLY on numbers (net-sheets and such).  It will not only help your clients, but it will make your transactions with other agents go much smoother.  In addition, think about what you're saying, but more importantly, HOW you're saying it.   Never say anything that might offend the other side, such as "young woman".  New agents and expeienced agents alike - it can only help!

I have just submitted a final offer to this agent.  I even included a net sheet showing how her client benefits over a previous offer they made us.  If I can get this deal together, I think I need a vacation!!