Are Sellers Being Serious Or Are They Testing?

Lately there is a little trend happening.  First as you probably know interest rates have been creeping up.  Yes, they came back down a little, but I still can't find a 30 year fixed with a 3.25% APR and APY.  I have seen some fixed loans at 3.625% APR with up to 7.25% APY!

The other thing that is slowing the market that is clear, at least along the beach, is that the seller/buyer mix has changed radically.  The high end remodeled homes are now listing at very high prices.  Agents are taking the listings and letting the sign sit, if nothing else for advertising.  Not something I do or suggest in my office but it happens.

The Question Of The Day - So are the sellers of the nicer homes serious or are they testing?

More than one seller that I talked to have given me the "Well the market is hot so I thought I would give it a try"speech.  A couple others said they need to sell, but don't need the money.  Don't ask me how that works, because it makes no sense at all.  Either you need to sell at any price or want to sell for a specific price.  All of these people are clearly testing.

There is still a little middle ground left though.  I have seen a few homes that were close to bull dozer ready sell for slightly higher prices, and the buyers did a minor or middle remodel and moved in.  When I talk to them they said things like "I wanted in the area, but couldn't afford to do it any other way."  This I understand since it is how I bought several homes in areas that were above my income.  This is part of the slow and quiet way to make real money in real estate.

Buying a home is a little like poker, if the seller thinks that you can make money without bull dozing it, they might change their mind and try it themselves.  Twice I have opened my mouth just a little too much and the sellers have tried to back out at the last minute.

Wit a little practice and thought,  seconds after you walk into a home, you will know pretty quickly if the seller is serious or not.  In some cases the agent might be invested and be trying to hold the price up.  In other cases an investor might have "clouded" the title thinking they could get a better price. Either way, with a little practice you'll know the difference between a seller and a tester the minute you walk in the front door.

Oh yeah, I am working on an ap for that.....

 

Real Estate Marketing Online

Real Estate has been in my blood since I was a little kid.  I never could understand why my dad always rented his buildings instead of buying them.  When I was many years younger, I entered the market during a major upturn and bought several properties which ended up creating a pretty significant cash flow problem for me.

Like all addicts, I couldn't let go of my real estate holdings no matter how much money I was paying for other people to live in them every month.  Then it happened. Positive cash flow.  The reason I have a real estate license stems from that first positive cash flow check.  That check got my wife hooked too.

Today I am still running my online marketing business full time and investing in real estate for my own use.  As an agent at Keller Williams Newport Estates, I am always looking for the "deal".  If I find something that I can't fund or isn't exactly what I am looking for, I have a few friends who are also investors, so I share the deals with them.

When I do find a deal, my friends can't figure out how I found it.  Once in a while one slips in that isn't a deal because the other agent "accidentally" listed the monthly land lease for the home as the annual lease.  That $35,000 per year "accident" made the property a smoking deal on paper, and a horrible deal at the table for an investor.  Showing the property I was admittedly embarrassed that I didn't catch the mistake before wasting my friends time.

My list of clients is only about 15 people at any given time.  I don't want any more because I can't possibly dig for that many deals, and if they are all after the same type of deal, who am I really working for?  I know agents that have a staff of people collecting names and information to send out emails and listings on a daily or weekly basis.  You need a lot of volume to pay for that, and these agents rarely find their clients a great deal.  They are usually closer to market pricing or emotional sales.

For me the emotion should be taken out by clearly defining what the buyer is looking for first.  When they say "I'll know it when I see it" they are saying one of two things.  Usually they mean "I don't have a clue what I want, or what is happening in the market so I want you to show me." or they mean "I don't trust you to find a place for me, I need to look at them all."

Before I was a licensed agent, I was in the second group.   I had so much trouble with agents I created an ap to help them "score" homes before they showed them to me.  The ap isn't yet for sale because I figured out some flaws while I was getting my real estate license.

The real secret to finding a deal is understanding how the internet works and understanding that most agents don't have a clue.  They put their best foot forward on the MLS and maybe on their website and then transition to what my friend and mentor Jeff Walker calls "Hope Marketing".  They hope that somebody stumbles across the home among the thousands of other homes in the area and makes an offer.

With all of the tools and resources out there that teach online marketing I am amazed at how little real estate agents really understand.  When I wrote The Easy Guide To Real Estate Marketing it was intended for brick and mortar businesses, but any agent with an office address can use the same tools.

The biggest mistake I see agents make is using generic auto email programs.  The "new listings" are sent out and eventually end up in the spam box.  The mass mailer approach might land one or two sales a year but just about every agent I talk to complains about the lack of buyer "loyalty".

Buyers don't want spam, they want an agent who listens and gets them the moon for the price of air fare to San Francisco.  The best buyers agents have to educate the buyer and put a lot of work into finding them a home.  In the Orange County coastal market today, there is a lack of inventory or homes for sale and a lack of buyers with the cash and desire to move.  Loans in this market are tough because the home values are still quite high when compared to the national average.

I realize for a solo agent working for a broker, hiring an SEO or online marketing company like the Bourquin Group can be prohibitively expensive.  On the other hand getting a copy of the book containing a big percentage of our secret sauce can be an investment in your business.  Don't get left behind and don't spam your buyers.  Get online and get marketing the right way today.

If you are selling a home, and don't feel like your agent is getting the job done, grab a copy of the book and help them out be doing a little marketing on your own.