Real estate
How low will it go?
It has finally happened. Inventory levels in Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Arlington, Fauquier, Alexandria and all the cities in between have now dropped below 5,000 homes for sale. We have just 4,692 properties on the market. We have not been this low in nearly a year. This number is not an all time low – the first week of March in 2005 we had 1,652 houses for sale – this was the all time low for this region. If you are curious, the all time high was the third week of November 2006 when we had 22,898 houses for sale. So as you can see, we are approaching an extreme situation in housing – nothing for home shoppers to buy. A more balanced market would be in the 8,500 to 9,000 range –
we are at about 50% of where we need to be.
So what does all of this mean? If you are a seller, now is the time to put your house on the market because there is very little competition. If you are a buyer, you will more than likely be in a multiple contract situation so be ready to put your best offer on the table initially. Also, buyers will turn to new construction as an alternative to their housing needs as they can’t find suitable solutions in the resale market. Lastly, prices should continue to increase – just need the appraisers to agree this is the situation.
What else is low and going lower? Interest rates. It is amazing that virtually every week the news is rates continue to hit new all time lows. This makes now a great time to buy or refinance.
So, what is your opinion? How soon will it be before we see an increase in inventory? When will we see rates increase? I’d love to hear your opinion so give me a call.
Business Planning for 2013: LEAP!
I’m excited that you have taken the big step in your career by investing your time, energy and effort to take your business to the next level.
The important thing to realize is showing up is not enough. You need to be engaged, focus and have a level of commitment to the plan your come up with this weekend.
In addition, you will need to change.
Change your approach to the business by adding accountability into your schedule.
Change the way you do business – perhaps developing a mobile strategy, online strategy, or including something else new.
Change how you view your business – become a visionary. Think about what is coming down the road and how you will need adjust your approach to the business.
Most importantly, you will have to take action – not just talk about it.
As time goes on, you will need to make adjustments. Just like a pilot, a plane is off 99% of the time while in the air because of turbulence, air stream, storms, etc. you will need to adjust throughout the year as well. How do you do this? get a mentor or a coach. We are hear to help.
You will need to take a leap of faith in your business and your plan. Try different things – client parties, popbys, coffees, write notes and most importantly, you will need to do it consistently. Join networking groups – get out there and be present while you are with them. The more things you try, the more likely you are to find something that works for you. Do it, fix it, try it again.
In addition, consider the law of momentum. Continually staying in motion will keep you moving towards your goals. Do something – everyday to move you closer to your goals. Embrace the self-discipline it will take to make it happen.
We have an agent Kay Woodard who has been getting up at 5:00AM and has been walking 5 miles. She has been getting up in all types of weather and temperatures to walk regardless of the conditions. She has done it whether she wants to or not. This means, you have to do it whether you want to or not to build your self discipline.
If you are taking on a new initiative, take the time to educate yourself on what it will take to be successful in that area. Meet with others who are successful in this area, read extensively about it, and then do it.
Also, analyze yourself – find out what is your “prime time” and get things done during this time – plan and prioritize around this time of day to get things done. Top performers pay now so they can play later – low performers do what is fun and easy versus what is hard and necessary. Commit to yourself today and everyday that you make the sacrifice and not play now and have to pay later. Get up a little earlier – become the Ninja inside of you to write your gratitudes down, do your affirmations and write those personal notes.
Think and speak positively – be an optimistic force in your own life so you can be a positive force in the lives of others. Optimism builds enthusiasm within you and gives you energy as well as gives you self esteem.
Lastly, be prepared – for your day, your appointments, your plan of action, and lastly your success so that you can build upon it, daily. Now, let’s begin!
The Market is Hot, Hot, Hot!
The spring market is in full swing. This past weekend I was with an agent and they had 3 contracts on 3 different listings that went on the market the previous Thursday. One of them had multiple offers. In addition, we put a house back on the market last week that was on the market previously for about five months with no activity and got a contract on it over the weekend. So there are a lot of buyers out their looking, inventory levels seemed to have increased, but only slightly, interest rates remain low, days on market and months’ supply continue to stay relatively low as well. So if you are looking to sell, now is a great time. The trees are in bloom and the market is hot just like the weather! Let us know what we can do for you this Spring!
Are you the 20%?
Have fun and make a difference! That was the premise of the speech I heard today from Doug Smith, compliments of Leslie Wish, McLean Mortgage Group. If you’re not having fun at your job, then why are you doing it? That was his lead into discussing the Paredo Principle and how we, as Realtors, fit into the rule.
The Paredo Principle is the rule of 80/20. Twenty percent of the Realtors are doing 80% of the work. The 20% are defined as professionally persistent and instinctively insistent. We’ve heard it all before, but asked us what was the difference between those that are in the 20%? What are the 20% of Realtors doing that the 80% Realtors aren’t doing? And once you figure out what those tasks are, how can you do more of them to make your days more productive?
Doug has put those differences into his 5 C’s for Success and differentiation from the rest of the pack. These are the things that the 80% lack and the 20% excel at…
1. Confidence: How do you answer the question “how’s the market?” What do you do when you walk into a room of people you don’t know? Confidence is an ability that many of us lack, simply because we are afraid of making mistakes and looking bad. Instead of saying that the market is great and that the numbers are this and that, say “It’s remarkable, I’ve never seen anything like it!”
2. Contacts: The opposite of contact is reluctance. Reluctance can be to pick up the phone and make that call. The more contacts you have in your sphere, the more contracts you will write. So who’s in your contact zone? Business partners, family, friends, transaction partners such as home inspectors, etc. Don’t be afraid to tell your friends and family that they have a friend in real estate. Many agents think they shouldn’t reach out to their friends in case the transaction goes bad and results in losing that friendship. That all goes back to a lack of confidence.
3. Control: Control of your business, your time, your career, your clients. Agents who have a plan, a written plan, have more control over their business. Those that take it a step further by having a plan each day, a to-do list; have even more control over their business. Agents who control or “drive” the conversation when speaking with clients, maintain more control of the transaction and get the job done! Doug spoke about Sales Speak. Here’s an example of Sales Speak presented by those in the 80% and those in the 20%…
80%: Did you think you might want to see a few houses this weekend?
20%: Let’s go see 3 or 4 houses this weekend. What day is better for you, Saturday or Sunday?
Or
80%: So, you like the house? Ok, great, do you think that maybe you might want to make an offer on it?
20%: What do you think? You like it, great. Let’s make an offer.
The difference in the two shows that the 20% agent is steering the client to move forward with the transaction because that’s what they hired the agent for. They didn’t hire the agent to make their own decisions. They hired him/her to help them make the best decision based upon the needs/requirements they expressed to the agent for their new home. Think about that next time you are on the phone with a client. You might just find out that all this time you’ve been using speech associated with the 80% and it might be time for a change.
4. Consistency: Extraordinary people are not truly extraordinary; they just do it with ridiculous consistency! Those who are consistent see more results than those that do things from time to time. Doug mentioned 3 things you can do daily to generate 13-15 sales per year and add 1,440 contacts to your database per year and those are (1) handing out 1 business card a day, (2) use some form of correspondence 2 times per day either through email or snail mail, and (3) make 3 calls per day to anyone…past clients, lender, agent, friend, etc. The more you do things consistently, the more it becomes a habit and you will find yourself doing them instinctively while receiving more business.
5. Courage: Courage hides behind the things we fear the most. Courage is acting in the presence of fear. In cases such as these, we need to change our focus, take responsibility for ourselves and expect more of ourselves. We can do it and should remind ourselves everyday either through affirmations or changing your focus and mindset. It takes courage to do a lot of things, but once you start to do those things the easier they will become.
Doug ended the session with a great quote by Mary Kay-Ash, “Most people truly have no idea what they are capable of. It’s so much more than we think.” This rings true with the 20%. They have the 5 C’s, they have more sales, they know more people, they make more phone calls, and they work more hours than those in the 80%. Implementing the 5 C’s in your life will help you move (if you’re there) in to the 20%. Based upon the number of agents in the United States (965,000) and the projected number of transactions that will take place this year (4,400,000), agents in the 20% will average 18-19 sales this year. Wouldn’t you like to be in that top 20% of all Realtors in the United States? Stick to the 5 C’s and best of luck! Now go sell something!
Scott's Motivation and Real Estate Market Updates 