Gary Woltal's Blog

In previewing and showing homes with buyers I must admit the REALTOR community as a whole is doing a good job with their sellers in preparing the home's curb appeal. To me, curb appeal is two things, how the home looks from the street and what is the impression when you come up to the door. From the street would be obvious things like the exterior looks well maintained, the landscape is balanced and trimmed, yard mowed etc. Up at the door you want it to be clean, swept, and my pet peeves are any exterior windows or areas around the door should be cleaned and sparkling. For the most part, recent homes I've approached in the pre-owned area are prepped quite well.

It's a real toss of the dice however when I prospect over at Mr. For Sale By Owner's house. Newer homes usually haven't deteriorated too far in their curb appeal. Homes more than ten years old in this category however have sometimes neglected maintenance. Often, without the guidance of a REALTOR to assist in putting the best face on a house the For Sale sign is positioned wrong, weeds are growing, the area around the door is not swept, the windows are not clean. The first impression is not a good one. The house itself might be great, but as a buyer my feeling is I am off on the wrong foot. For Sale By Owners can get this right. A REALTOR's experience and knowledge of the market makes this easy for them, which is why all homeowners should enlist their professional services.

They say in relationships and job hunting, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Since your house is in competition with others surrounding it, attention to detail is what counts in getting your house noticed (and S-O-L-D).

I was chatting with several buds at the local watering hole. Lately I have become the group expert in the real estate field. They asked if paying money to have a home inspection was really necessary? My mouth dropped. I commented, "Are you kidding?"

Several it turns out had bought homes just fine thank you without doing inspections and all I can say is they are lucky dudes. Not only on appliances and wiring and roofing and plumbing and who knows what else needed to be checked, but they put themselves at risk in having to live with the state of disrepair and pay for the fix out of their own pocket. Most of these deals were sold by owners or new homes.

I didn't want to put myself over as the all knowing grand poohbah REALTOR in the group and shared my own naivete when building a new construction job. I thought it's a new house. They have code inspectors. Why do I have to pay for an inspector? Luckily I had a smarter than me REALTOR advise to inspect along the way and I uncovered plenty that had to be fixed. In hindsight I never looked so smart but then again it was that GREAT REALTOR advice.

REALTORs and consumers alike should ALWAYS ensure inspections are done. It's common sense and preventive medicine in the long run.

Prior to getting into the real estate field I collected and read the many business cards that were handed to me. They were from from REALTORs, lenders, title officers, etc. Similar to financial planners and insurance folk I noted that some REALTORs had all these funny little letters following their name. I knew there wasn't something like a Ph.D in real estate science so what was this stuff? I later learned they were designations. The most common I found were decoded as the following:

ABR - Accredited Buyer Representative

GRI - Graduate REALTOR Institute

CRS - Certified Residential Specialist (less than 5% have this one)

ASP - Accredited Staging Professional

CRB - Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager

ASR - Accredited Seller Representative

SRES - Senior Real Estate Speciailist

e-PRO - Online REALTOR Specialist

The list goes far beyond these as well. Just know that if you see the funny little letters on the card, you've found someone who took time to care about their profession and YOU. My hat is off to all who have earned one or any number of designations in real estate (or other fields). They are symbols of excellence in today's world. I would always want to associate and work with someone who had the experience, training, and commitment to be the best in their profession.

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?