Terrylynn's Blog

Wouldn't it be nice for you to know the difference and choose a listing agent who is focused on your property even when they are not in front of you?  After all, you are exhausted from the process, choosing an agent, getting ready to go on the market and just the physical demands of keeping it up so it can be shown every day. A focused agent on your team will allow you to focus on your life, while they focus on the proper way to market and sell your home.  They can be trusted to utilize the tried and true ways they know and the new marketing ideas and marketing techniques as the market and buyers change.  They are a CLIENT BASED REALTOR.  A client based Realtor would go on the broker's caravan, as that is how Realtors are brought through your property.  It may take more time for the Realtor, but the client based Realtor knows that it brings results.

Does the listing agent feel like a good partner on your selling team?  Do they compliment you in terms of philosophy and goals and represent your home as you would want it to be presented to the public (flyers, internet and public media)?  Does the viewer, when they see your home, believe the Realtor LIKES and represents it well, accurately and professionally?  That may not mean that you rewrite the flyer or ad copy unless that is your business.  Do they have a friendly demeanor and speak well so that their speech and professional image represent your property consistent with that image?  It is often good to visit a Realtor's open houses to see how they meet, greet and interact with potential buyers.  It tells you how successful they will be in interacting with potential buyers for your home.  You want them to be approachable to others.

Can you work with them?  I often tell sellers that they we don't have to be best friends but they do have to believe I am trustworthy, competent and will be aggressive on their behalf in selling this property.  It is a given that there will be challenges in a real estate transaction!  YES, read that again.  It is a given that there will be challenges in a real estate transaction.  Some Realtors are good at being proactive and many of those challenges aren't even on your radar.  That's a good thing.  The challenges that must be dealt with then require good negotiation and people skills.  Is your Realtor a respected and quality person, trusted by their peers so that when those instances come up, they can negotiate for you in a win-win fashion?   The biggest billboard does not equate to respect.    When negotiating, the COMMISSION BASED REALTOR can do more harm than good as they often have a reputation among their peers for being aggressive regardless of the damage or effect of the "win".    The CLIENT BASED REALTOR would be a win-win negotiator who will have all parties satisfied that they have been heard in the end.  Isn't that a better feeling you want the buyer to have when turning over the keys?  It is a plus if the buyer is feeling ok about how it went even if it all didn't go their way?  REMEMBER there will be challenges and some of those come up after you turn over the keys.  Then the new challenge will be dealt with based on the feelings they had for the way things were handled during the transaction.  If you worked it out in the transaction, chances are you can work it out later too.  Of course that win-win Realtor will be with you AFTER the sale to handle any challenges.  This is the CLIENT BASED REALTOR. The dog eat dog Realtor will tell you, you are on your own once they are paid; COMMISSION BASED REALTOR.  http://activerain.com/blogsview/356191/Definitions-Commission-Based-Realtor

TERRYLYNN FISHER, Diablo Realty, Realtor, Staging Specialist - CSP/Realtor (Certified Staging Professional), CRS (Certified Residential Specialist), SRES (Senior Real Estate Specialist). Terrylynn is in her 30^th+ year in real estate, works in ALL kinds of markets and has a referral directory of Realtors who use similar marketing in your hometown too. She can be reached at 925 876-0966 for referrals or questions.

Articles are often written about questions to ask a Realtor prior to deciding who should list your home.  I think you should take it a step further and ask YOURSELF some questions. After all, you are going to be working with this person for quite a period of time and your results could depend on it.

You want to sell your home and want to find just the right Realtor.  You decide to interview 2 or 3 Realtors.  That's a good thing, especially if you don't have a Realtor that you have a relationship with.  Most professional Realtors are not afraid of competition, it helps them hone their presentation skills.  This is the time to get to know each other and decide if you think you can be a viable team.  (That's another blog, my philosophy is that your Realtor is part of your team.  You are certainly smart enough to make your own decisions but need a Realtor's expertise to take you in the direction that will get you sold.)

Having said that can you interview too many Realtors?  Personally when you tell us you are interviewing more than two or three Realtors, we (the Realtors) are not sure what you are looking for.   Is it that you lack confidence about your choices or think there is a "secret" and you just haven't found it?  If you have chosen to interview a Realtor referred to you by a friend, neighbor or are a past client of the Realtor and perhaps a local expert, you probably have three very competent realtors to choose from.  More than that and you begin to become overwhelmed with the talking and advice and focus on the wrong details when trying to make a decision.  For example, one puts an ad in SF Chronicle and another puts an ad in the Oakland Tribune.  You can't find a differentiator other than to determine that one is better than another based on a newspaper ad and choose a listing agent based on that.

By interviewing too many Realtors, the Realtors  begin to look for less critical things to put in the presentation that they think will HOOK you in.  You often make the decision based on the hook and not the plan as a whole.  The HOOK is one aspect.  Ask any Realtor not in a presentation situation and they'll tell you that the real work has less to do with the hook, but it's trying to find what the seller wants to hear in order to get the listing.  This is not always the best way for you to choose a Realtor, especially if you are in a tough market and will be working together for awhile.  If that hook, once tried, doesn't work or isn't enough, what then?  You are stuck with them.  It is important to know there is more there than just the HOOK. 

Does the listing agent customize your marketing plan? The marketing plan should be a fluid plan that changes based on a property, location, market conditions, amenities and other considerations.  A Realtor who is flexible and creative and will be (believe it or not) thinking about your property even on their off hours can come up with creative marketing ideas on an ongoing basis.  Of course there are some baseline expectations that should be included in every marketing plan.  One would be a broker tour.  DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?    

The purpose of a broker tour is to expose your property to the Realtors in your area so that now or later when a Realtor has a buyer that is looking for something like your property, they will remember your home and show it.  They will not have to spend the extra time previewing it as they will have seen it already.  This saves valuable time and allows the Realtor to show properties on a moment's notice. 

In our area, we have a broker open which is an open house where brokers can visit without making an appointment and the broker caravan tour where we meet and carpool to listings to view them.  In some of our cities the Realtors primarily tour by broker caravan tour.  When that is a case, the broker caravan tour can increase your showings and this week, with a property we had refreshed and put on broker caravan tour, we got a client showing and an offer.  In one recent year I counted 10 transactions sold from Realtors out of our broker caravan tour.  IT WORKS. 

It takes more work on the Realtor's part as it means showing up at the Realtor marketing session and going on the caravan tour two weeks in a row in order to get a home on the tour.  This is a commitment of time, and in many people's opinion would be part of their job.  Some Realtors will actually have a brokers open in their listing presentation.  It sounds the same to the seller who doesn't know the difference.  A broker open is supposed to serve the same purpose and in areas where there is only one tour, they are well attended.  Newspapers usually use the terms interchangeably.   However, in some areas, they are poorly attended as most of the busy full-time Realtors are on the caravan broker tour.  Many times these are utilized by out of the area Realtors and we have a company in our area that holds their listings open every Tuesday for broker open house NOT the broker caravan tour.  Of course, they are poorly attended, and the seller's impression is that few brokers are showing homes.  It helps that broker to double end many listings.  Good for him, but with the added exposure to Realtors in his market, would there have been more offers, higher offers?  

To the seller, it appears that this broker works hard on getting the Realtors in by having the broker tour every week (the listing brokers are usually not in attendance and the touring Realtors just use the lok box for entry if they are not on the caravan tour).  But one has to wonder is that broker doing the best they know to do for the sellers?  That is what I call a Commission based Realtor, not a client based Realtor. 

This brings up a good point, DO YOU HAVE A COMMISSION BASED OR CLIENT BASED REALTOR?  http://activerain.com/blogs/terrylynn  The Commission based Realtor takes the easy way out and aren't lying to you, technically, as they do the broker open, but...given the circumstances noted in the example above, there is a BIG difference for the seller, in terms of potential result. Why?  Because NAR statistics rarely waiver from year to year that almost 75% of the time a Realtor other than the one you list your home with will bring the buyer.  Therefore a major part of the marketing plan and focus for the Realtor you choose to sell your home should be on attracting other Realtors to your home.  After all, if there are 100 properties to see, the Realtor picks which ones the buyers view.  Buyers on the internet give input, but the National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers for 2007 says that 79% of ALL buyers use a Realtor to buy, and presumably take their advice.  So would you say that the commission based Realtor is complying with their promise to do a broker open for your property?  YES, but are they giving you all they know to do by doing a broker tour rather than the broker caravan tour that is more common in your area and brings many more Realtors?  Given this scenario the difference is they are thinking of themselves first, and are a COMMISSION BASED REALTOR. 

THE POINT IS THAT THE SELLER DOESN'T KNOW THEY ARE NOT GETTING THE SERVICE THEY COULD BE GETTING.  If it's the seller's  choice, no problem, but in a presentation the seller may not be aware there is a significant difference in what they are being told. 

The point of this article is to give sellers a bit of the inside track so the questions they ask a Realtor looking to be their Realtor for their home sale can be productive and meet their goals for their property.  For most sellers that is the most exposure designed to bring buyers. Do your homework, get referrals and plan your interview questions with purpose.  You'll be happier with the result than comparing ads and automobiles and billboards.  The "all about me Realtor" is not in it for you.  You can tell by talking who they are.  AND check references.  Now good luck on that home sale.

TERRYLYNN FISHER, Diablo Realty, Realtor, Staging Specialist - CSP/Realtor (Certified Staging Professional), CRS (Certified Residential Specialist), SRES (Senior Real Estate Specialist). Terrylynn is in her 30^th+ year in real estate, works in ALL kinds of markets and has a referral directory of Realtors who use similar marketing in your hometown too. She can be reached at 925 876-0966 for referrals or questions.

 http://activerain.com/blogsview/356220/Sellers-Do-you-have  (a commission based Realtor or a Client based Realtor - part 1)

Commission Based Realtor -
Mega-Listing Realtor-  Often the "formula" Realtor has the same prescription for each listing regardless of differences in area, amenities, etc.

Team Rhonda Realtor - TOO many on the team and the Realtor takes credit for the Team performance to make their numbers look bigger.

Negotiation - aggressive and uncompromising, alientating people

Listing - particularly foreclosures the attitude that you need them, they don't need you or your buyer.  These are the ones that want you to fax in their offer and often don't let you know they have it, or don't get back to you for days.

Open houses - Watching the game or reading and too busy to get up and greet buyers.

Client Based Realtor -
Competence - Experience and resume tell you about competence.  It's not just a brag book, but Realtors who are voted by peers and serve on peer driven organizations are usually well thought of by their peers.  They have a certain number of transactions and references...Ask, what is an example of a tough situation and how did she handle it?

Accommodating and flexible to the needs of sellers, buyers and realtors.  I know there are some that don't feel they should ever work on weekends.  I feel that there are times when your clients, buyers or other Realtors need your availability on a weekend.  Are you flexible.

Reputation - References are key or go to open houses and tell Realtors who your Realtor is, they will often answer "She's a great Realtor" or something similar. 

Friendly and approachable for buyers and other agents - You need to work together to get your home sold, alienating people can make transactions fall apart.

Results - What are your Realtor's results?  The techniques and ideas that are in the marketing plan should have measureable results or examples of results.  Ask the references if they feel they got their desired result compared to competing listings.

TERRYLYNN FISHER, Diablo Realty, Realtor, Staging Specialist - CSP/Realtor (Certified Staging Professional), CRS (Certified Residential Specialist), SRES (Senior Real Estate Specialist). Terrylynn is in her 30^th+ year in real estate, works in ALL kinds of markets and has a referral directory of Realtors who use similar marketing in your hometown too. She can be reached at 925 876-0966 for referrals or questions.

GETTING YOUR HOME SOLD IN A SLOW MARKET!
Be too good to pass up...

You know, any licensed Realtor can list a property for sale. That is obvious, there are multiple signs on many street corners these days. Why do some sell and others sit unsold. What are Realtors and Sellers doing that are getting their homes SOLD? There are "tools of the trade" for agents to discuss with their sellers to decide if they fit in the marketing plan for their home when it goes on the market.

This is a list of some of them:

PRICE TO SELL - Price your home at or under the competition. In a declining market you want to price your home to be attractive today. Don't play the game of seeing what happens... If the market is dropping 1% per month for example and you play that game, you'll have to drop next month 2% or you'll be behind the market. You'll be doing what we call "chasing the market down" instead of "pacing the market"... I have seen multiple offers on aggressively priced properties that then sell over their list price and that is because in the eyes of the buyer, it was too good to pass up, even in this market. Price right and be too good to pass up. The longer a home sits on the market the lower the offer price proportionate to list price. Buyers think you'll be more negotiable after 30 or 45 days than earlier on in the listing period.

STAGE TO SELL - If I were to tell you there are two things that if you do them will virtually guarantee your home will sell, would you do them? Well if you need to sell, you'd be wise to do both prior to putting your home on the market. One is price and the other is staging. Stage your home. Remember that to sell your car for top dollar you would shine the windows and tires, wash the car, clean the inside and have it smelling and looking good. Why not invest at least that in what may be your largest investment in a lifetime? Staging is not decorating!!! It is maximizing your home's potential to the largest audience of potential buyers. The more exposure and appeal to the widest audience, the more chance of a sale and at a higher price than an unstaged home. Staged homes are clean, look appropriate for their arrangement, (meaning a dining room is a dining room not an office) and are "showcased" much like a builder does for their models. Builders wouldn't invest in staging their models if there was no return. Stage with a professional stager and be too good to pass up.

CREDIT FOR BUYER 2/1 BUYDOWN

oops that's a different award.  : )  If you know the origin of that comment, you can guess my age. 

Truthfully it is my honor to have been nominated in the category of Staging Realtor of the YEAR 2007.   Thanks Chris for the thank you blog while awaiting my return from Denver this past week.  I didn't want anyone to think I was not surprised, honored and pleased that I won... Grateful for the validation from my peers, clients and friends. 

First I have to say the company I keep is quite awesome. 

Missy Caulk of Michigan, "I used to ask my clients to stage and now I make it mandatory"  really gets it.  I am honored to be in your category.

Pat Phelps of BC, Canada a Luxury Home Specialist and her toolbox of marketing strategies: having just returned from Denver from my Luxury Home Specialist Designation class, I can appreciate your dedication to your work..  Thanks for sharing the RESA stage.

Clara Rugnao, Triplets, the ultimate multi-tasker and epitome of a working mom.  Thank you for giving me added energy and inspiration to do better as I get more sleep.  It is a privilege to share the category with you.

Last, but not least, Susan Peters, Seattle,   Thank YOU for sharing the category on the RESA stage, for sharing your moniker Staging Specialist, and just plain sharing as you do on AR and in your life and work.  I am blessed to have been in this category with you and hope to meet in person some day to say how you inspire me to write my first blog and to  be a  better Realtor/Staging Specialist.

It is my honor and privilege to be among you all.  I won just being nominated and am most grateful for the award.  I will do my best to live up to it's meaning and hope to pass it on one of you next year.

Concord's Kirkwood Knolls Homes, Kirkwood Cluster Homes, Kirkwood Condos all make up a diverse community on the edge of Clayton in the Mt. Diablo Foothills  - The schools are well rated and Ayers is a distinguished school.  The schools assiged to our neighborhood are Ayers Elementary, Diablo View Middle and Clayton Valley High School. 

The neighborhood is diverse and full of life, from school age to retired and everything in between there are people walking, biking, skate boarding and playing in and around the development.  There is a lush greenbelt that runs partway through the development for walking and "short cuts" to other cul de sacs.  The Concord Pavilion is nearby and so is Clayton's Oakhurst Golf Course and Country Club and the Iron Horse Trail for long walks toward the Mt. Diablo Foothills. 

For more information, please visit http://www.kirkwoodneighbors.com/.

Current Condo listings (as of 1/16/08, per Paragon MLS) in Kirkwood:

5455 Kirkwood Drive, 891 sq. ft., 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, listed for $279,000
5450 Concord Blvd., 902 sq. ft., 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, listed for $279,000
5460 Concord Blvd., 902 sq. ft., 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, listed for $259,000

Current Single Family listings (as of 1/16/08, per Paragon MLS) in Kirkwood:

1926 Packard Court, 2,049 sq. ft., 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, listed for $525,000
Camino Estrada, 1,742 sq. ft., 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, listed for $549,000
Alicante Court, 2,041 sq. ft., 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, listed for $594,900
Gonzalez Court, 1,657 sq. ft., 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, listed for $444,900
Sepulveda Court, 2,041 sq. ft., 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, listed for $490,000
Sepulveda Court, 1,568 sq. ft., 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, listed for $495,000
Langford Court, 1,548 sq. ft., 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, listed for $559,900
Preston Court, 2,603 sq. ft., 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, listed for $749,000