re/max
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!
A great time to buy…now?
It is definitely an interesting time in real estate in Northern Virginia. We have extremely low inventory levels that remain below normal for this time of year. As an example in January of 2008, we averaged 15,500 active listings, in 2009 it was 10,200, in the year of Snowmagedon in 2010 it was 4,800 because people took their houses off the market and agents couldn’t get out and about to list them, in 2011 it was 5,800 and now we are at 4,700. What is interesting to note is the month’s supply of houses in the same time frame – 2008 it was 10.8, 2009 4.0 and since then it has been 2.3 in 2010, 2.8 in 2011 and this year 2.2. What this clearly indicates is there are buyers out in the marketplace looking for homes in the winter months – not just the spring months now. Interest rates remain very low – below 4% for 30 year fixed rates – jobs are being created here so people are moving into the area and rental rates are rising throughout Northern Virginia.
If your family circumstances, job status, or you just have the desire to sell your house and move up to a bigger home, now is a great time to do so. Houses that are priced right, in the right condition and staged properly are attracting offers. One of the biggest parts of this equation is the price – price sells today. Sellers cannot price a little high for negotiations as we have seen that they languish on the market in this situation. Price it competitively and it will sell.
Buyers have a great opportunity today. The housing affordability index is at an all-time high and in many cases house payments are less than rental payments even before considering the tax benefits of home ownership. For buyers looking for the long term benefits of home ownership, there historically has not been a better time. Prices are remaining stable, interest rates are low, and the housing industry is on the rebound meaning we have already hit the bottom and we are on the upswing if you were trying to time the market.
Whatever your situation is, we can help. Please feel free to contact us to discuss your personal needs in more detail and see if now is the right time for you to make a move.
My Top 10 Predictions for 2012
Credit unions in real estate – if the merger between Pen Fed and Prudential Caruthers is successful – and only time will tell – more credit unions will look to enter the market. If the merger muddles along as it is now, other credit unions will remain on the sidelines. This one will be interesting to watch as NAR and RPAC spent so much time and money keeping banks out of the business.
The Presidential election – Nearly 1/3 of voters say how the candidates view housing will impact how they vote. The foreclosure crisis and 11 million people with negative equity are what concern so many Americans. Next to unemployment, the stance they take on housing will drive the election. Therefore, agents will need to get busy listing and selling houses the first half of the year as I see people going back to the sidelines after July to see who wins and what policy they will put in place for housing.
Interest rates – if they go higher, they will crush the fragile housing market which the Federal Reserve will not allow. Unlike last year’s prediction where I predicted rates to get to 6% and was wrong, this year I believe they will stay in the 4 – 5% range but closer to 4% than 5%. This is what will keep some people in the home buying mode.
New home sales locally will continue to rise. The shortage of resale properties available, the fact that 20% of our market is distressed and buyers are tired of the short sale process will continue to drive buyers to new homes. Price will continue to also play a role in the new home market. Builders will have to stay within reason and not price themselves out of the market.
Land values in our area will continue to rise. Fueled by lack of inventory and new home sales, land values will continue to increase. We are seeing new signs popping up on vacant land already.
Existing home Sales forecast will stay flat. Unemployment, the election, strict lending guidelines and the fallout from foreclosures will keep people at bay from jumping into home purchases.
Lending guidelines will stay strict and may get even stricter. As such, it will make our job as Realtors even more challenging. Both buyers and sellers need to choose a professional and only work with local lenders – not internet lenders.
Foreclosures in NOVA versus rest of USA – we will continue to see low levels of foreclosures in NOVA for the first 6 months of the year, at least. Notice of trustee sales are down in the papers, short sales make up less than 14% of our market and as such, foreclosures won’t be as prevalent. The rest of the country needs to be leery as unemployment and dropping values continue to put pressure on home owners and foreclosures will follow as a result.
Investor market and rents – as the inventory of houses shrink throughout Northern Virginia, people remaining leery of the housing market, and lending guidelines continue to tighten – our rental market will continue to be strong and rents will increase. The good ole supply and demand theory of economics. This will in turn bring more investors into the market.
Now you have my Top Ten Predictions for the real estate market in Northern Virginia. Let’s meet up again this time next year and see how I did! Get it? Got it? Good!
Now, go sell something!
Got a plan?
As you start to think about business planning this year I put together a few thoughts for you to review before our session begins. Imagine starting a business – which you all have done by becoming independent contractors – with only a vague idea of what kind of product or service you would sell or provide to clients. You meet with potential investors and you say, we may sell IPad skins in Europe or set up a mobile dog washing service in the Mid-West, and let’s just see what happens. How would they respond? Not very favorably is my thought, how about you? You should never start a business without a clearly defined business plan, set of goals, a plan of action to accomplish the goals, and numbers for you to track to keep you on target to get you where you need to go. This is our objective today. Help you assemble the framework to get you down the right road to the success you desire.
As we work through today, think about the following questions:
- What are your goals as a Realtor? Is it money? Is it the number of satisfied clients you want to have by the end of the year? Is it starting a team to get you more balance in life? Whatever the goals are yours but they must be written out, reviewed and then acted upon.
- Do you have what it takes to reach the goals you have set for yourself? Do you have the knowledge, expertise, sphere of influence, time and/or desire? Think hard before you write them – just don’t write something down because it looks good or you think it could happen. Be realistic.
- How will your goals be achieved? What is your plan of action? How will your day be structured to achieve these goals? Are you in the right frame of mind to make it happen? Your attitude is extremely important in this endeavor. As Zig Ziglar says, stinkin’ thinkin’ doesn’t work.
- Are you willing to be held accountable to tracking your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators)? Will you participate in Jason’s monthly review classes? Will you meet with me one on one to review your progress?
- Are you willing to put together a Gap Analysis being honest about where you are today, where you want to be next year this same time and what it will take to get you there? As you do this, don’t compare yourself to others, compare yourself to you and who you are.
- Are you willing to make adjustments to make your goals a reality? As we all know, the market changes, financing changes, regulations change – will you adjust your original plan to adapt? Be open to constructive criticism about your plan? And, be open to change?
- As you go through today, think strategically. Stephen Covey says, you must begin with the end in mind. Write down you goals, then work backwards to make it happen. Think of the people, tasks, time, and the number of communications it will take to make your goal a reality. Then put it on paper to solidify it in your mind.
Are you ready to be all you can be and stop making excuses? Then let’s get started!
Now, if you aren’t ready, perhaps you should consider a different career or continue to do the same things you have always done and continue to get the same results. Get it? Got it? Good!
Now, go sell something!
Market, market, market!
How’s the market – this is a question so many people want to know the answer to on a regular basis. My answer is, it depends.
Are you a buyer? If so, the answer is definitely yes. Interest rates remain at historically low levels, prices are stable in most areas and increasing in others. If houses are on the market now, the sellers are serious and you can negotiate a good deal. The monthly expense of renting is equivalent to owning in many cases, if not higher. In addition, each payment made for the home owner goes towards the loan balance giving the owner equity over time adding to the owner’s personal wealth. Renting only goes to making landlords wealthy. Other reasons to buy include pride in ownership, sense of community, stability and the ability to improve the property without permission from a landlord – just to name a few.
If you are a seller, what is the price range of your property and where is it located? Every market is different and each property should be looked at individually. There are pockets throughout Northern Virginia where prices are escalating but further out, it isn’t the case. In Centreville as an example, the average sales price of detached homes has dropped every month since July. In South Riding, houses priced between $550,000-650,000 have not had a sale in nearly 70 days. This is not the case closer in towards Vienna, Falls Church and Arlington. Houses are selling quickly and for top dollar. However, in these areas higher priced condos – especially one bedroom units are staying on the market much longer.
In all of these markets, houses and town houses that have compelling prices, not necessarily the ones that are priced right or priced at market values, are the ones that are attracting multiple offers. For houses to sell quickly in today’s market, price is the leading indicator followed by staging, condition and location. Luckily, our distressed property inventory remains low relative to the rest of the country. We are not seeing the influx of foreclosed properties which definitely affects values.
Our unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the country in Northern Virginia – 4.9%, our wages are amongst the highest in the country and consumer confidence is higher here than elsewhere so we are anticipating a strong 2012 in the housing market.
As you can see, it is not a simple question to answer. Each person’s situation is different and therefore you should ask a Gateway professional for detailed information specifically about you. If someone answers, “unbelievable” or “great” be wary. Get it? Got it? Good!
Oh what a night…
We had another great real estate exchange last night. There was a lot of banter back and forth about our free trip to Vegas for the RE/MAX Convention in March and who was going to win the trip and how. Great team building and networking as usual before the event.
Topics that were discussed:
- Virginia home sales report published quarterly by VAR and the great information available through this report
- Information on rental rates
- The lobbying effort upcoming in the House on raising the high loan limits back up to pre-October 1st deadlines
- Refinance activity
- Home ownership rates
- Appreciation rates nationally and locally – we are way ahead of the curve year over year but are down month over month, a trend we need to watch
- The Bank of America penalties to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and why
- Fannie Mae’s quarterly losses and the combination of losses between Freddie and Fannie and why were bonuses paid
- Foreclosures on the rise nationally but so far, we don’t see it here and the indicators of why we don’t see them yet
- Bechtel is relocating 625 jobs to Reston and they are leasing nearly 200,000 square feet
- 4 ways to reduce your taxes and a reminder we have accountants coming to Chantilly to discuss tax planning for 2012 on November 18th at 10AM
- And lastly, the National Enquirer portion of the show – celebrity purchases and sales plus incomes of the top CEO’s in the Washington Metro Area
- Pat Cunningham updated us on HARP, the Italian debt crisis and what that means to mortgage interest rates and the value of HUD homes.
Enjoy the video but better yet – attend the next one in Ashburn at Clyde’s on the 16th from 1-3PM. Get it? Got it? Good!
Now, go sell something!
Our donation dollars at work!
There are times in your life when you feel fortunate and humbled at the same time. Our visit to The National Children’s Hospital in Washington, DC was one of those occasions. We are fortunate that our children are healthy and not undergoing treatments that many of the children at the hospital have to endure. We are fortunate to have experienced the hospital as visitors and not as parents or friends of a patient staying at the hospital. As a result of our contributions to the Children’s Miracle Network we were able to have a VIP tour of the hospital. It is an amazing facility that provides unbelievable care to children for any reason regardless if they have insurance or not.
What immediately struck me was the kindness of the staff from the valet parker to our tour guide Milton to our liaison, Kimberly Lane. They all truly appear to love their job. Next was the color scheme and design features of the floors we visited. The design feature input was made by the families and children who had to have a stay at the hospital. Bright colors, balloons, and vibrantly colored floors and walls highlighted each floor and gave the appearance of no other hospital.
The art room is another aspect that helped bring a new appreciation of what the children who stay at the hospital have to endure make this facility a special one. The children can do art projects to help them escape their current situation and help aid them in their healing process. In addition to the art room are the playrooms they make available to the children so they can seek solace and “get away” from the hospital staff in a fun environment.
The hospital rooms offer as much privacy as possible and are designed with three separate sections – medical, patient and family areas. They are designed to make the stay more comfortable for all involved. There are also separate “family” areas as well as laundry facilities available so parents can remain close to their children while allowing them to get some time out of the hospital room.
The wall of encouragement is what had the biggest impact on me. The wall features photos of former patients that told their story, what impacted them most about their stay at the hospital, what the current patients can do stay positive and lastly, who is their inspiration and why. It was a very moving experience to read how these children coped with their conditions and made their stay a success to help the others become success stories as well.
All in all, it was a great experience and one that I am proud to be a part of by contributing a portion of each sale to CMN and encouraging our agents to do the same. We highly encourage doing all that you can by helping support us in this cause – one visit to the hospital will get you hooked. As discussed at our Quarterly Meeting in December, all of our Chili Cook-off donations will go to support CMN as well. As we expand offices, we will be doing soup cook-offs, barbeque cook-offs and other cooking competitions to support this cause so please let us know your thoughts on how we can make these events even better and well attended. Get it? Got it? Good!
Now, go sell something – so you can make a contribution!
You’ve got to do more to get more!
Sales is a tough job, no doubt about it, especially today in real estate. You hear, read and talk about with others that in the real estate business, it is a numbers game. If you want more results, you have to do more activities, talk with more people, hold more open houses, make more calls, and basically, just do more to get more business. While this is true, it is only partially true.
You need to have quality contacts to truly have an impact on your bottom line. You need to provide value to those you speak with and earn the business or else your bottom line won’t change. You must engage others buy asking about them, their families, their business, etc. and take an interest in them before you talk about you – basic relationship building.
In addition, it is not just enough to say you are in real estate and business is unbelievable, you need to have an “elevator speech” about the services you provide, the information you share, and how you are different than others in the business. If you don’t, why would your business increase? Holding more open houses, knocking on doors, calling more FSBO’s or expired listings won’t get it done – you need to build relationships. You need to add value to those you speak with to earn their trust and in turn, you will get the opportunity to grow your business through referrals.
You need to know what is impacting our business and how that is impacting both buyers and sellers today. Yes, today because the real estate market changes virtually daily. How are property values and why is now a good time to buy and conversely, why it is a good time to sell. How do the low rates effect payments at loan amounts of $250,000, $300,000 or $500,000 and what is the difference if rates go up 1%? What are house values in your neighborhood, your town, and county for all categories of houses – condos, townhouses, and single family homes? How many properties are for sale? What are the month’s supply of houses and what does this mean? Is it a buyer’s or seller’s market? What price ranges are hot, who is buying in those price ranges and why? How is the rental market locally? How are their prices? What is their month’s supply? If you had the answers to these questions, do you believe you would be perceived as an expert by those you encountered and hence, obtain more business?
You have to know the real estate business, the numbers and the trends. Where is the market headed and why? Give your opinion and be able to back it up with facts. Watch videos, read blogs, read newsletters, network with others in our industry and absorb what they are saying and develop your conversation strategy based upon what you have learned to earn more business.
As previously mentioned, you need to increase your activities but you also need to improve the quality of your conversations. You need to become an expert in the business. If you only increase your activities or only gain knowledge and don’t share it with others, you won’t have the same business building results if you do them in concert with each other. Get it? Got it? Good!
Now, go sell something!
Scott's Motivation and Real Estate Market Updates 
