lake zurich...and beyond

With the Holiday Season upon us, I find myself reflecting upon this past year and on those who have helped to shape my business in the most significant way. So many people to thank, so little time!

Please know that I appreciate each and every one of you and value our relationship, and I look forward to working with you in the years to come.

Glitterfy.com - Glitter Graphics

I wish you a very happy Holiday Season and a New Year filled with peace and happiness!

When I worked for other people (before becoming a real estate agent), I worked very hard during the hours I spent at the office but then went home and forgot about it until the next day. Tomorrow, after all, was another day.

Since I became a real estate agent, I'm always working to come up with new and better ways to showcase my listings and represent my buyers and sellers to the best of my ability. It doesn't matter if it is 7:30 a.m. or 10:00 p.m., chances are you'll find me working: I'm out with clients, answering emails, responding to leads, uploading snowy winter photos for my listings, making phone calls, researching, reading real estate books, blogging, etc.. I'm not complaining, I'm doing what I love to do. But it's hard to turn it off; to close that virtual office door and forget about it until tomorrow.

Is it just me? Is this specific to the real estate profession? Maybe I have a malfunctioning "off" button?

Any ideas?

I just got the latest issue of NSBAR.org REALTOR® News. NSBAR stands for North Shore Barrington Association of Realtors, which is the local association that I belong to. It's always full of useful information, but these statistics caught my eye and I wanted to share them with you. Apparently, this information was obtained from the IAR (Illinois Association of Realtors) Outreach Program in early October.

Who is selling in MLSNI? (MLSNI is the Multiple Listing Service for Northern Illinois)

In the last three months:

• 48,855 total agents
• 58,662 sales which is 1.2 transactions per agent
• 29,500 had ZERO closings
• 7,973 had ONE closing
• Which is around 37,000 agents who had ONE or LESS sales in the last 3 months
• 10,850 had sold 2-10 units
• 4,400 had sold 2
• 2,400 had sold 3
• 1,400 had sold 4
• 2,500 had sold 5 or more
• 450 had sold 25 units
• 57 had sold 25-50 units
• 21 had sold 51-99 units
• 5 agents had 100 or more solds in 3 months
• The National Average per year is 10 solds per year per agent

I wonder how many agents will still be agents at this time next year? These statistics really highlight what a tough year it has been for many in this business. There are a lot of great agents out there...and I'm hoping 2008 brings health, happiness and prosperity to all...agents, buyers and sellers. Let's make it a great year!

I received an email from a potential seller in Lake Zurich today. He found me through a Google search which led him to my blog. I called him back and we arranged to meet early next week to discuss listing his home for sale. Yay!

This isn't the first time this has happened...and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last! I'd like to say "I told you so" to all the naysayers out there, but I really shouldn't...

Oh, to heck with it...

"I TOLD YOU SO!"

The bottom line is that if he found me through my blog, others will too. My blog gets me noticed, which is good for me - but more importantly, it is a benefit to my potential clients as well. Oh, I can think of other ways to get noticed, but putting my face on a shopping cart or billboard is simply not for me. I have nothing against those forms of advertising, but they are expensive, they are passive, and my teenage sons would probably disown me as well. But blogging, well, that I like to do. It is inexpensive, educational, interactive and it gets me noticed (and my teenagers don't mind a bit).  

It's not very polite to say "I TOLD YOU SO!" but I just couldn't resist. Sorry about that.

On the other hand, maybe I should keep this a secret?

Recently I showed several homes in the Lake Zurich area, yours among them. Here is what I found:

• A driveway with about 7 inches of snow on it, making it necessary to park across the street and trudge through the snow to your house
• An icy and un-shoveled front walk, making it very dangerous to get to your front door
• Empty liquor bottles, food containers and dead roaches on the kitchen counter
• A cloud of cigarette smoke so thick you could cut it with a knife, and overflowing ashtrays everywhere
• A basement with mold climbing the walls and obvious major flooding and seepage problems
• Filthy bedrooms, bathrooms, carpets and walls...filthy everything, really

Mr. and Mrs. Seller, I know you want your home to sell; after all, you do have it listed with a real estate company. You may not want to do any major repairs on your home. Perhaps you don't have the funds to do so. I understand that. But everyone can clean; all it takes is a little elbow grease and some soap and water. At the very least, your home should look and smell clean to prospective buyers.

Mr. and Mrs. Seller, do you think that having your agent include the words "as-is" in the MLS remarks removes your responsibility to disclose major defects in your home? It does not. My buyers will have a professional home inspection performed on any home they decide to write an offer on...and can use the results of that home inspection to cancel their contract. Disclose, disclose, disclose. It's the law.

Mr. and Mrs. Seller, if my buyers slip and fall on their way up to your front door, you better hope your homeowner's insurance is up-to-date. You need to get out there and shovel or ask a friend or neighbor to do it for you. It is your responsibility to provide a safe environment for others who come onto your property.

Mr. and Mrs. Seller, I'm assuming (and I hope) that your real estate agent advised you about what you needed to do to prepare your home for sale. Rest assured that your agent will be told about the condition of your home at the time of showing. When he or she calls you today, you need to listen and take action. Do you honestly think that my buyers want to buy your filthy un-cared for home? They don't.

That was on the subject line of an email I received yesterday from Ray Cohen, of Revere Mortgage. Ray is one smart guy, someone I respect very much. He is actually the first mortgage broker that I worked with as a real estate agent...way back in 2003.

After I read Ray's email I really wanted to share it with others. I contacted Ray and asked him if I could post his email message to me here at Active Rain. I've also asked him to join the forum and hopefully he will! Here are Ray's words:

I AM FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND I AM HERE TO HELP YOU

"It is all about language. I am firm, but you are stubborn. I am organized, but you are anal. I need asistance with my mortgage, but I am not going to give you a bailout.

Today's pronouncement by the President and Treasury Secretary of the Mortgage Rescue Plan will allegedly help 1.2 million, but the readers of this almost certainly are not among them. The lawyer in me does not believe that the government can impair private contracts, which are the mortgages held not by the people who made them, but the investors. But the courts will adjudicate that. Assuming that it is held Constitutional, rates will be frozen for a very very very very select group of folks. To qualify to have your rate frozen for 5 years you would have to meet ALL of the following criteria:

Live in the property as your primary residence; and Have a start rate of "sub prime level", probably 7-8%; and Begin adjusting in 2008 or 2009; and Be no more than 60 days late on any mortgage pmt; and Have a credit score lower than when your loan started; and Not be able to qualify for a loan at the rate to which you would adjust.

Thus "A" borrowers need not apply. Nor fixed rate borrowers. Nor chronic delinquents. Nor people who have improved their credit. Nor people who could qualify and "afford" the adjustments.

Nice and simple isn't it."

I've seen many posts about this subject over the past week. I personally like the way that Ray breaks it down into a format that everyone can readily understand.

Thanks, Ray, for your insights and for allowing me to share this with my readers!

Ray Cohen can be reached at Revere Mortgage, 5 Revere Drive, Northbrook, Illinois 60062; (847)564-5201; raycohen@reveremortgage.com.

I received a call yesterday from a woman in Georgia who is contemplating a move to Lake Zurich in January. She will be working for Walmart in Lake Zurich. After spending a few minutes chatting with her about Lake Zurich, her housing needs, reasons and time frame for moving, I asked her how she got my name. She told me she got it from Walmart, but was unable to tell me exactly who referred me.

Oh no, how am I going to thank him or her for the referral?

So...on the off chance that this wonderful Walmart employee found me through my blog here at Active Rain, I just want to say a big:

I appreciate any and all referrals that come my way. I wish I knew who you were...but I'm grateful to you all the same.

The Walmart in Lake Zurich is located at 820 S. Rand Road. Now everytime I go to Walmart, I'll be looking around and wondering...was it you who referred me?

Lately, I've had several agents suggest to me that I should approach real estate as a numbers game...that is, that I should concentrate on listing as many homes as possible because in today's market, many listings are expiring or being cancelled and re-listed with another agent before they are finally sold. In other words, in order to have the same volume of sales in the coming year, I would need to list up to twice as many homes as last year.

I understand that it is harder to sell homes than in recent years. Market times are up, and it is more difficult to keep sellers happy. I understand the theory behind this practice of listing everything that has four walls and a roof. However, failure is unacceptable to me, always has been. When I list a home I expect to sell it!

What about all of those unhappy sellers whose homes I do not sell? Am I just supposed to walk away from them without a care in the world? What happens to my reputation if I do that? I simply cannot fathom wasting any of my budget, time, energy or life failing my clients. What is the sense in that?

This doesn't mean that I won't be prospecting and actively seeking as many listings as I can reasonably handle while still providing top-notch service. What this means is that if I don't believe I will be successful selling a particular home, I will not take the listing. Why take a listing just to take a listing?

Taking listings and selling homes is not a "game" to me. It is serious business. This is real life, with real people, real homes and real money. I'm not going to "play" with a listing on the off chance that it will sell. My reputation is everything to me, and I am building it based on the fact that I can get the job done.

No, this strategy won't work for me. Failure is not an option.