Gary Woltal's Blog

Are real estate agents now giving used car salemen a run for their money? To the public SOME real estate agents have been using gimmicks in recent years to get their business. No wonder for some there is a negative stigma not only towards salesmen (and women) in general industry but also towards those that work to assist them in buying and selling houses. It sheds a poor light on the professionalism of many others in the real estate field.

My father used to tell me if an offer looks too good to be true, it might just turn out that way. Three offers come to mind. A bonus $10,000 rider on a For Sale sign for the buying agent. Little do they know that you are then put in a pool of buyers agents to get that one. How about if you buy this house I'll sell yours for free. It's all based on the purchased house being much pricier than your current house and negotiating commissions. Then there is the worst one. I'll sell your house in 39 days (or whatever time period) or I'll buy your house. Classic bait and switch tactic here. The fine print will tell you that your house will be bought at a SUBSTANTIAL discount. You would never agree to those terms. Guaranteed Sale my foot!!

I won't mention the company that offers these systems as most REALTORs know their techniques already. Nothing illegal of course but HIGHLY GIMMICKY. That's why I referred to used car sales tactics. Are you getting a deal, or are we on the slippery slope of being borderline shady? The point of all these "ideas" is to get leads and to get the phone ringing or email contact. That part of it is good. But the disappointment on the part of the consumer when they understand what's really going on casts a bad light on the real estate community as a whole.

Can't we all just get along without resorting to "slick" marketing techniques? Or are we just used car salesmen now selling houses instead?

In attempting to be the best and most professional REALTOR for my clients, another top trait struck me and that is the characteristic of being a calm person. Depending on whether this comes natural to us or not, I think clients would like a calm person to represent them with their agency. I think this may be why I've always steered clear of loud mouthed, over-the-top agents. They say some of the best salespeople are the ones that talk the least.

It has been said that there might be 192 steps in getting a house ready for sale and taking it all the way to closing. Along the way there are many bumps, detours, setbacks, heartaches, disappointments, surprises, etc. Knowing this I think I am going to change the title on my business card from REALTOR to 'Rollercoaster Master.'

In any event, when I have been on the consumer side in the past working with REALTORS I always appreciated that when I fretted away about some situation there was a calm voice on the other end of the phone reassuring me with confidence and calmness. They were patient with my many questions which seemed to zig and zag all over the place. You can tell a knowledgeable REALTOR and a good one when you talk with them. Not only do they most of the time have the answer you need but they take the time to make sure you are satisfied and understand the answer.

I also think real estate selling is almost just like life. You plan it the best you can but it's funny it never seems to go that way. Even today as I drove down the road on a windy day the little open house signs down by the grass had been blown over and the balloons and ribbons tied to them were long gone. So much for that idea!

One agent told me awhile back that she was the aspirin to a client's headache. Hopefully all our clients are not a pain to us but I understand what she meant.

Finding a "calm in the storm" REALTOR is something worth their weight in gold. They are a true resource to any client that values someone who is one of the best in a helping profession.

One of the traits I've always admired about Abraham Lincoln was he was one who could spin a good story. Likewise, I think REALTORS have some of the best stories around. From being in the trenches with many in their industry as well as the buyers, sellers, and investors, I think sometimes they could go on for days. The stories to me at least are always highly entertaining and speak volumes about the human condition. The thankfulness of a house warming gift, the other agent that they had to go to arbitration with to get their rightful share of a commission, the FSBO who finally came around to listing their house with them after the ninth contact, the support of the troops coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan at the airport, the list goes on and on.

Storytelling to me is like that picture worth a thousand words yet it is the words. It brings out the emotion in life. Painting a picture with words is a great sales technique. It helps buyers imagine how that tree in the backyard might have a swing made with a tire attached to it for the kids or how great barbequing will be in the summer months. Sellers can envision moving on to their next stage of life with some encouraging words.

There are so many forms of communicating with people today, so many of them high tech. But the old technique of storytelling and sharing our experiences, our memories, or painting a view of what could be with words, should not be underestimated.  A good way of getting the ball rolling in this area is the short phrase, "What if?"

What if we lowered the price just a bit and you are out of this house by the end of this month? What if we give the seller a little more cash to close the deal so you can be in this place before the school year starts? What if I help you find a handyman to paint that trim for you to spruce things up a bit? I'll tell you how it worked for a couple across town to speed the sale up.

Relating real life experiences you've had to solve homeowners problems by storytelling makes you a trusted advisor and a REALTOR the public simply cannot do without.

If someone tells you that you have the gift of gab or are a "horizontal" person, be thankful. It shows you are a caring person. Use that gift to help people get to where they are trying to be.

A quote attributed perhaps to Mark Twain or Benjamin Disraeli goes, "There are three types of lies - lies, damn lies, and statistics." I contend that this curse regarding the ability to manipulate statistics to come up with any number to prove anything also applies to the field of real estate.

Most prominent is the NATIONAL number typically coming from the economist wing of the National Association of Realtors or the National Homebuilders Association. They have this uncanny ability to lump the ENTIRE United States into ONE number. The headlines might read,

HOME SALES DOWN 30%

HOME STARTS OFF 49%

HOME PRICE DECLINE GREATEST IN 20 YEARS

FORECLOSURES UP 52%

No wonder there is so much fear and hysteria generated in the public. This could be the reason for today's cautious buyer.

Are we thinking simplistically here or what? Everyone should be reminded that real estate is local. Indianapolis is not Naples, FL. Las Vegas is not Austin. Seattle is not Detroit. Realtors know this little story even better than the general public. Real estate values are even local WITHIN local. The high priced neighborhood that appreciated so much in 2006 is flat or declining in 2007 while the struggling mid priced home community from 2006 might be doing very well in 2007. A consumer needs to CHECK WITH A REALTOR to get the straight scoop. THE SKY IS NOT FALLING Chicken Little!

I've seen this distortion (lying) with statistics in three other areas. All concern realtors. One, is in creating CMAs (Comparative Market Analyses). The public doesn't probably know that you just don't hit a button and a CMA pops out. The realtor selects the properties to compare so it is dependent on that. Different selected properties, different answers. Two, the Just Sold post cards that infiltrate your neighborhood mailboxes after a sale. Some realtors boast of selling at 98% of list price. BUT, they ignore that the original price was reduced $20,000 to get to the NEW original price. If you factored that in, maybe they sold at 82% of list. Not such a shining star agent afterall. Very devious but clever marketing! And three, some realtors claim they sell 200 houses a year, but it is their TEAM that does it and the Rainmaker requres all contracts to have them as the seller or buyer agent listed. True, but then again not so true. We all should be so lucky to have a team of 15 people.

So be a critical thinker and beware of all statistics or factoids you read. They indicate TRENDS and not necessarily the FACTS of what's occurring in your backyard.

Do you as a REALTOR or Mortgage professional have to defuse this national media hysteria over and over again and remind people that houses really are being bought and sold every day and mortgages are being made? 

I always get my best insight into what's going on from real people. Books, blogs, and training classes supplement my learning but nothing tells you what's really going on like asking people questions.

Case in point. I knock on doors around houses that are listed or even FSBOs and ask the neighbors why they think that house over there hasn't sold. I mean it's only been on the market six months! You'd think I'd get the normal answer that PERHAPS maybe it's priced a wee bit on the high side. Nope. I get the answer that it's missing trees in the front yard that everyone else on the block has. Or, it's got the ugliest brick exterior on the street. "Have you been inside it?", they say. "That upstairs bedroom is a dump." "How about the back of the house," they tell me. "It's got this garage in the back that even Mario Andretti couldn't maneuver a car into, let alone a WOMAN."

So you see it is true that continually lowering the price on a house will eventually sell ANY house. But most sellers even nowadays have a hard time with that strategy. It's like swallowing castor oil. But even a dump will sell at "some" price. You won't have to give it away unless it's next to Three Mile Island or in the Detroit area (sorry Michigan folks!).

Paying attention to the feedback from showings has got to provide clues too. If we're good buyers agents we'll be helpful and give the listing all the gory details.

But the point is, a good selling agent, along with all the other honed skills they possess, needs to be a good detective. WHY, is the house not selling?? Don't be a weenie and just say price. THINK. It could be that ugly rose bush by the door. It could be that "pleasant" hum from those power lines that tower over the kids backyard swingset. It could be just the pink tile in the foyer. Nowadays it doesn't take much to move out of that "perfect" condition category.

My advice: When in doubt, check with Fred and Ethel who live next door. Everyone loves a gossip. It might also reduce your Days on Market.

Anyone agree, that many times it is more than just price that is keeping a listing languishing on the market? When you figured it out did you get the sellers to change what they could change?

It struck me the other day while sitting out on the back porch on a quiet day with no wind and the sun shining, how important listening is. I could hear a plane fly by, the birds in the distance, a squirrel scampering up a tree. With all the traits we think the ideal realtor should have - local market knowledge, how to fill out contracts, relationships with other partners, marketing, negotiation, etc. why do we forget listening?

I recall as a first time home buyer a number of years ago where my main requirement in a house was to have a large backyard for our dogs. What houses did we preview? Those with small backyards. I didn't get it. Other agents now tell me the realtor was probably promoting properties they wanted to show.

When someone REALLY listens to you, I don't know about you, but I feel highly respected. Maybe because active listening is becoming more of a lost art in a world filled with noise. They say with two ears and a mouth we should listen twice as much as we speak. You know what I have found beyond that? You really learn the most when you shut up and listen. Being a GREAT listener is not natural for the majority of us. I have tried to stop interrupting people before they finish speaking but you have to continually work at it.

Being a good listener will make you powerful not only in being able to ask the next right question. But if you listen with your eyes for the body language you can read between the lines and figure out emotional states or truly where someone is coming from. Have you ever met a listener who was tuned into you? They always maintain a steady, warm eye contact with you. Kind of like a soul mate. You feel comfortable with them. Isn't that what we want in an agent-client relationship, someone who feels comfortable with you? Pausing at the end of someone speaking before you speak really sets a peaceful tone. Even slowing down the pace of your response and not talking too fast sets a client at ease. Rephrasing what they just said sets the stage for you to ask the next great question in a conversation. I've also found from my own experience that a conversation with a terrific listener makes time fly by. How do they do that?

Do you think you are a good listener, or do you still have a long way to go? Have you ever come across a great listener in your life? What did that feel like to you?

I've noticed as the years creep forward and information overload seems to be everywhere, handling your daily and weekly routines gets pretty stressful at times. I think we all agree whether we are in real estate or other industries that we have plenty on our plate. A colleague of mine showed me his Outlook calendar the other day and wanted to compare it with mine. For a certain time window I was double booked but he had me beat. He was quadruple booked.

I think at this stage in the 21st century we have to step back and take a deep breath and pause for a moment. If you are quadruple booked you must realize you can only do one thing. Yes, you can multi-task, but face it you can't be in two places at the same time. I asked my colleague what he was going to do with the quadruple booking? He said pick the one that was the most important. I would remind him to always remember that URGENT and MOST IMPORTANT are not always the same thing. Time with family could be most important but not urgent.

It's all about TIME. We all have the same 168 hours per week. I think for realtors, many work their 24 x 7 thinking that the resultant product is greater than 168. Trust me. Do the math. It ISN'T. So that begs the question, "How do we manage our time?"

I always thought the concept of time management, and Franklin daily planners, and Daytimers was a little too organized for my life at least. Now we have Outlook, ACT!, Top Producer calendars, etc. We don't really manage time but we live it. You still have to sleep (except REALTORs!). You still have to buy groceries, maintain your house and car, hopefully take a vacation once in awhile. Life happens to us while we are planning our life. Guess what? You may get sick. Your children may need you. Your dog needs to have that painful hip looked at by the veterinarian. There's bachelor parties, weddings, college football games on TV, birthday celebrations, and happy hours to attend. What about time devoted to volunteering? There's church. Your best friend is broken up from a nasty marriage and she needs a consoling ear at a lunch appointment. You need to attend a funeral.

My point is you can't do it all. Remember, it is your life. Not your clients. Not your mother's. Not a boss. I think along the way we need adequate sleep. People today really underestimate the importance of enough sleep. Above all we need BALANCE. To achieve balance in our life makes us effective in all dimensions of it. Easier said than done. A strong dose of using the word "No" I have found to be the most effective form of time management. Layer that on top of knowing what you value and what is meaningful to you and you will become incredibly powerful with your life.

Does anyone have other ideas or techniques of how they have taken their life back from clients, bosses, or informational / communication gadgets that can create such stress in our lives?

Today's post is not so much something I have learned in the field of real estate, but rather an open question to established realtors, newly minted realtors, and the reader community. The question is, "What makes a really good realtor web site?" I ask that because I have been a viewer of realtor web sites for many years prior to getting into real estate and have my own opinions on this subject. I come from a technology background and I know technology is a tool to be applied to achieve a result and not to be applied just for technology's sake.

Some links on realtor web sites take you off the realtor's page. Other sites I would describe as information overload. These may require you to register to receive one of a hundred "special reports." These may be termed lead generator sites. Many sites I encounter have numerous broken links. Humorously, some sites seem to have over 50% of their content about non-real estate related topics like weather, local news, etc. Some sites mention a team or "Contact Us", yet you can't find one name, a photo, or even who else is on the team. Maybe the all-powerful Rainmaker Team Leader wants it that way! There is the non-branded stealth web site where it looks like it is a site to get house values for free, but beneath the covers it is connected to a realtor. Unbelievably, some sites do not even display a contact phone number.

They say content is king, but many realtor web sites don't have much content or refresh the content often. Sites that are all about ME, ME, ME and I am #1 are a turnoff. Should a site be more simple rather than designed with information overload? Have you ever encountered very poor color matching like yellow letters on a red background? I would think over time each realtor or realtor team would develop a unique design that made a statement to clients and prospective clients about who they are and how they can take their local expertise and offer it to them.

I think web site design is a work in progress and needs to be very visual.

What design of a realtor web site do you think makes it excellent? If you have example URLs (even your own) let me know.

In real estate circles they say the bulk of buyers today are in that 25 to 49 age segment. If you listen to all the demographic lingo there are the Baby Boomers, the Gen Xers, and now the Gen Y generation. From what I have read, hold on to your hat, because we haven't seen anything yet like this Gen Y generation that is coming along, as far as embracing technology.

You read many posts about some blue haired lady realtor who barely can get someone else to set up a web site for her (because she has to). That begrudging attitude is not going to fly at all with these Gen Y'ers that are coming along.

Rivaling in size to the large baby boomers, Gen Y'ers grew up with iPods, Instant Messaging, high speed internet, DVRs, satellite TV, and now iPhones.  They are supposed to number around 78 million. What does this mean to realtors who don't ADAPT to a new category of buyer and seller? Maybe do something else for a career. Think about it. What if you are asked why you don't have GPS installed in your car or a portable unit. For those acronym-phobic, that's Global Positioning System. It assists with driving directions and location.

Gen Y's are buying houses at a younger stage in life than their parents. That may lead to more work on the loan qualification side. Also called echo boomers they may come to your realtor office with printouts of house values from Zillow, and have already plotted houses they want to see in a neighborhood or 5 mile radius.

The Gen Y generation wants fast response times to email and to see that you are comfortable with technology. If you're not, you won't be able to hide it.

The new 21st century realtor will need to help buyers and sellers process this information overload. They already think they are junior realtors. What a realtor needs to be is the LOCAL EXPERT. That's the value add a realtor has as a professional. Remember, you're the expert not them.

Don't let a Gen Y seller throw you when they insist that you also post their listing on CraigsList. Fake it to you make it, saying oh sure, that will be taken care of. Then find out what CraigsList is. Younger people can have similar age realtors that understand their needs, or older realtors that have learned to adapt to the times. I'm not saying we all have to break down and create a MySpace or Facebook page today. But be a constant learner and stay up with the times. First time homebuyers of any generation will need some hand holding. All of us in the human family want someone we can trust. That's where a great realtor is PRICELESS.

Has anyone had any technology / generational issues working with the Gen Y generation (people in their 20's)?

So often as I talk with prospective For Sale By Owners (FSBOs) they always remind me that they don't need the services of a real estate agent. I ask lots of questions but usually one of my last ones I stole from Dr. Phil. That is, "How's it working for you?" Usually the homeowner naturally wants to save the commission. But when their house is on the market 90, 120, 180 days, maybe selling their house on their own is not as big a priority as they originally thought. There's obviously a disconnect to many in the public of what it takes to sell a house and the value a real estate agent brings to bear. I swear they would rather have their Uncle Fred or their neighbor Suzy sell their house than you.

Since there are an estimated 1.4 million members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) each REALTOR is going to have their own track record and satisfaction level with their clients. I've heard in general that REALTORs are an unsophisticated bunch and that's where the stigma of not getting the value for the commission paid comes from. So the question is, "What makes a highly valued real estate agent?"

The answer lies in enhanced services. Doing more than is expected. Representing the client with integrity. Remaining calm in the middle of heated negotiations. REALTORs can be looked at as a commodity item when you think of generating Comparative Market Analyses (CMAs), showing houses, entering listings into the MLS, etc. What I think we all want is an advisor that we just can't live without. They have the inside scoop. They know the right people. If they don't have an answer, they go get it, and don't take forever to get back with you. They return your phone calls and emails. They even continue to stay in touch with you after the sale (what a novel idea!). Heck, they might even invite you to a client appreciation party.

Some have suggested for years that the real estate agent like many travel agents will go the way of the Wooly Mammoth and be replaced by the glitz of point and click and the Internet. The flaw in that thinking is forgetting that real estate is LOCAL. Only someone who continues to remain in a local area knows truly what's going on.

Consumers are far more savvy about house values from the web than in years past. They know about many available properties from home searches on the Internet. But what they really need is guidance to bring it all together. Some realty teams promote they are #1 and want to be your REALTOR for life. I think most clients don't want a friend for life. They want RESULTS!!

The unique value proposition of the "invaluable" agent is that they bring all their education and experience together to assist clients in making the best decisions when it comes to real estate. Anything less, and they are among the group of commodity agents that the public sees limited value in.

Does anyone else have thoughts on what makes a highly valuable agent?