From Santa Cruz to Vegas
May 22, 2008
I’m goin’ to Vegas. And no, I didn’t just win the Superbowl, but at times it feels like I did. Other times, it feels like I’ve just been pushed under a bus. Such is the real estate bidness.
I’m going to come right out and admit it: I love Las Vegas. Las Vegas is one of those really polarizing town - you either hate it, or you love it. I have yet to meet anyone who told me, “I feel kind of lukewarm about Las Vegas.” That town seems to bring out some really visceral reactions in people.
As it happens, I’m not going there to have a good time, although I may, in spite of what’s on the agenda. I’m going there to attend a couple of seminars - two in the same week! One seminar is so I can get started on getting my CRS Designation. I’m a great believer in Realtor designations - those are the strings of letters you often see after Realtor’s names: Joe Blow, Realtor, GRI, ABR, SRES. Sound familiar? I have two Realtor designations - GRI (Graduate of the Realtor Institute) and e-Pro (”e-Professional”).
Why do I believe in getting designations, especially since hardly anyone outside the business knows what they mean? For several reasons. One reason is that there is very little training and education that is required for Realtors, really. The barrier of entry is just so low into this profession, all kinds of hacks and wannabes fill our ranks. Getting designations is just one little way to differentiate yourself - at a glance - from the rest of the crowd. Another reason is that I actually care about being knowledgeable and professional, and a little education and training never hurts. And, while I said that hardly anyone outside the real estate profession knows what those designations mean, many of my colleagues in the industry (especially experienced, long-serving Realtors) do know what those mean, and when you see an offer coming in from someone with, say, a CRS designation, you kind of know that this person is likely to have something of a clue as to how the business actually works.
I actually have another designation, too, but it’s not a Realtor® designation. I’m an RDCPro - a Residential Default Certified Professional; in other words, I’m a certified “expert” in REO (”real estate owned” - bank-owned foreclosure property). And that brings me to the other seminar happening in Vegas the week I’m going.
There’s a super-secret, invitation-only, one-day conference going on. Actually, I didn’t get invited, sniff. But I heard about it, and I wrote in and asked to be invited, and they sent me an invitation. I also invited one of my colleagues, who is bound and determined to break into the REO business. This super-secret REO conference is to last just a single day, right smack in the middle of the CRS seminars. So I’ll do one two-day CRS seminar, take a day off to play in Vegas, then do this REO seminar, and then two more days of CRS seminars…and then on Sunday, I’ll fly home.
It’s going to be pretty punishing. Not the seminars, not Las Vegas - no no. It’s going to be punishing staying away from my business right now, for a whole week, during the busiest time of year - how many deals will I lose? Also, when I come home, how much work will have piled up on my plate? I shudder to think. But, onward and upward - I am committed to being the highest caliber Realtor I can be, and if I have to go through Vegas on that journey, well that’s just as well. I’ll be out of town from June 8 to June 15 - I’ll bring a laptop with me, of course, and my cell phone - I’ll be out of town, but not out of touch.
Posted by SantaCruzBroker at 8:04am
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That Keller Williams Kool-Aid
May 13, 2008
I recently completed a transaction as the buyer’s agent with an agent for Keller Williams. It was a short sale, and yes, it dragged on for months - we got into contract in January, and closed in late April. After all was said and done, the seller’s agent and I agreed to meet for coffee and to exchange some final documents and so I could get the key to pass on to my buyers.
You may not be aware of this, but Keller Williams agents are kind of messianic about their company. They love it over there. A few months back during the Watsonville REO tour that we had, I had met another KW agent, and she spoke in glowing terms of her company, and in particular about this training that they had, which was open to agents from any brokerage, not just Keller Williams.
So when I was sitting down for coffee with the seller’s agent, I started talking to her about Keller Williams and the training that they provide. Not surprisingly, she was very enthusiastic and encouraged me to come on down for the next training session they were putting on. I agreed to do so, and so yesterday I sat through 2.5 hours of training on getting listings, put on by a very able and passionate trainer.
As promised, the training was excellent. Honestly, probably better than any real estate training I have been to. There’s one thing in particular I took away from that training, which I want to share with you. If you are a seller, please sit down, pour yourself a nice tall glass of kool-aid, and listen to this.
Keller Williams has a pretty good pricing strategy. It’s simple, and it goes like this: price your home below “market price.” A good bit below. Like, 10% below. Then, market the heck out of it and wait 21 days before taking offers. The buyers will beat a path to your door so quick it will make the neighbors upset because obviously, you’re having one heck of a party and they didn’t get invited.
A home which is priced clearly below market value will attract multiple offers. There is good example of this every day, with these REO properties. The banks price these things low. They price them to sell. And they do, quickly, and usually with multiple offers. It is very common for these properties to sell for over asking price, often by 10%.
This pricing strategy is an excellent one, especially in a market like today’s. In an appreciating seller’s market, it’s not such a bad thing to over-price your property by 10% - sooner or later, the market will catch up to you, and you’ll probably end up getting that extra 10% if you wait long enough. However, when you are in a declining market, if you do not sell your home quickly, the market will probably pass you right on by.
In a declining market, people don’t want to buy for fair market price, because the market price is dropping, and next month, it’s going to be worth less than it was the month before. You need to list your property under fair market price, attract multiple offers, and sell it for the most the market is willing to pay for at the moment.
That’s a winning strategy, and it’s working spectacularly for the banks selling their foreclosure properties, and it is also working for sellers who price their homes to sell.
I’m going back to Keller Williams on Wednesday for another training. Not sure what it’s about. And yes, I know, it’s all a trap. They want to seduce you into signing up with them by providing world-class training gratis and showing you that there’s a better way to sell Real Estate. I have no intention of leaving Thunderbird Real Estate at the moment - I’ve long thought that my next step after Thunderbird would be to open my own brokerage (I’m a licensed real estate broker, after all). But if one day you see me sportin’ a mustache and talking feverishly about how great KW is, you’ll know how it all began.
Posted by SantaCruzBroker at 8:28am
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Santa Cruz Real Estate - What’s In, What’s Out
April 22, 2008
This morning I was frantically running off a few flyers for one of my listings in Watsonville (a great mobile home in an awesome park - check it out). I needed to do a few errands down in Watsonville before my weekly office meeting, and loading up the flyer box at this listing was one important thing on my list. As I was standing by the printer waiting for the job to complete, the managing broker of Thunderbird comes up to me and asks if I’d like to participate on a panel.
“Panel?” I said, “Sure! What panel?” You know me, I never look a gift horse in the mouth - if the boss is going to give me an opportunity to be in front of a bunch of potential real estate buyers, I’m there! She explained: “We’re putting on a discussion about what’s in, what’s out in today’s Santa Cruz real estate market. We’re getting a few lenders together and some of the agents in the office to do a public event. I’d like to invite you to come along and talk about foreclosures in Santa Cruz, because that’s what everybody is probably going to want to know about.”
Hey, sounds good. I know about all kinds of real estate aside from foreclosures, but I imagine they’ll let me chime in if I have something I feel needs to be said on another topic. Here are the topics slated for discussion:
- What is the current state of the mortgage industry?
- What loan programs work best in the current market?
- What strategies can buyers use to best position themselves to buy?
- What is the prognosis for interest rates in 2008?
- What do home prices look like now?
- What is a short sale and how do I buy a home through a short sale?
- Why is now a good time to buy?
- What are some ideas to help me sell my house now?
- How can I use the Internet to help me buy or sell a home?
You, dear reader, may have noticed that there’s no topic about buying foreclosure real real estate. Presumably that topic will be added to the next version of the flyer they are handing out.
The panel discussion will be held on Thursday, May 8th at 6:00 PM at Santa Cruz Title Company in Capitola - 1955 41st Avenue, just three doors down from Starbucks (behind the Burger King, Citibank, and various other corporate logos).
If you are interested in going, please call my office to sign up: (831) 475-8400. Or, just contact me and I’ll put you on the list. They say “Space is Limited, Call now to Reserve a Seat” - but I don’t imagine the fire marshall will be on-hand to shut us down if we should exceed the rated capacity from the room. But if you do register ahead of time, we’ll probably make sure there are enough cookies for everyone (no promises).
Posted by SantaCruzBroker at 8:50pm
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Signs of the Apocalypse in Santa Cruz
April 07, 2008
For many years, I’ve had the idea that one day I would write a book. My dad is a professional author - check out his latest book about psychic Annette Martin, Gift of the White Light. I plan to write a book that’s a cross between Catcher in the Rye and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The project is some ways away from getting off the ground (decades, maybe) but I already have the first sentence picked out. It’s catchy. Ready? Here goes.
It was looking grim.
Did it grab you? I know, you’re hooked. Speaking of looking grim, here are some signs of the apocalypse.
[From Record numbers won’t pay property tax bill - Santa Cruz Sentinel]
A near record number of homeowners likely won’t pay property taxes by the April 10 deadline, another sign of just how tight things have become.
Yep yep. The chickens are making themselves right at home, roosting all over the darn place. It’s no sweat not to pay your property tax. Santa Cruz county won’t auction off your home for like five years, so what’s the rush? The interest rate is only 10%, and what are you paying to CapitalOne? Only thing is, I hear that you if you want to work out a deed in lieu of foreclosure with your lender, they won’t work with you if you have unpaid property tax. So there you go, keep them property taxes paid, people!
So that’s one sign. There are others. It seems that one of the greatest occupations ever is under attack here in the Golden State. Yes, of course, I’m talking about real estate agents. There has been a precipitous drop of new blood coming into a industry that is clearly hemorrhaging:
[From Number of real estate agents starts to shrink]
Just 1,324 people took the real estate salesperson exam in January, down from 8,765 a year earlier and 14,397 two years ago, according to the Department of Real Estate.
There are other signs, too. But now I see we are fast approaching 9 AM here on the Left Coast and really I need to get cracking. It’s Monday morning, and despite the fact that the writing is clearly on the wall and the apocalypse is nigh, life goes on.
Posted by SantaCruzBroker at 8:42am
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Santa Cruz Real Estate Industry Consolidation
March 04, 2008
Holy Smokes, batman! Good morning!
American Dream Realty acquired a competitor, Network Alliance, on Monday, creating the largest locally owned real estate company in the county. Two smaller real estate firms closed some of their offices.
All I can say is, gulp! That’s a bitter pill to swallow, but actually it goes down OK with my likewise bitter morning black coffee.
It’s not a real shocker that Network Alliance got bought up. There’s excess capacity. And it’s no surprise, either, that Flat Rate Realty closed an office - these discount brokerages do good when times are fat, but when times get lean, it’s hard to discount your services like that on a regular basis. What’s kind of a surprise is that Cenutry 21 Showcase closed its office right there at Highway 9 and Graham Hill Road - that’s Ronnie Trubek’s office, for heaven’s sake! It’ll take her days to move all her awards to her new office.
Another interesting tidbit in that article is that there are 1,209 Realtors at the Santa Cruz Association of Realtors - that’s down from a year ago figure of 1,300. The article says that “most Realtors renew in the spring” hinting that there may be more drops to come. Ya think? I didn’t renew in the spring - you renew on your anniversary date, or just before it, and I got in in the winter. But, we can’t forget the Watsonville Association of Realtors - not quite sure how many Realtors they have, but I thought it was like 600. Maybe now they’re down to 500.
Anyway, just thought I’d pass that along. Back to my coffee. Gulp.
Posted by SantaCruzBroker at 8:40am
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