Top Ten Must Ask Questions Before Listing With an Agent

The one thing that most Attorneys , Medical Dr.’s and Real Estate Brokers have in common is expertise in their fields with very little Star Power.  I am talking about the type of Star Power that gives you instant recognition and authority. Certainly yourTitle presumes you have the knowledge and ability to carry out the work. How many of us though have been terribly disappointed in the performance of someone we had hired and presumed that they would perform the way we anticipated?

Of the many questions you could ask while interviewing a Real Estate Agent to List and Sell your home, these TOP TEN are a must have for your list.

1. How long have you been in the business? This speaks to experience. Although everyone needs to get their start and experience some where. Do you really want someone practicing on you?
2. Do you work with Buyer’s and Seller’s or both, what percentage? Showing property to Buyer’s is very time consuming. I want to know my Agent will have the time to market my home.
3.  How many Listings do you have. Having other listings can be a good thing as it allows the agent to rotate advertisements from listing to listing so as to not give your home that over advertised feel. Buyer’s can recognize ads that they have called on before. An Agent having to  many listings can cause the Agent to become lazy and concentrate marketing only the easiest of the listings. ( Tip : be sure to call the Agent about a listing they are currently marketing. The length of time and how they respond will tell you allot about how they will market your home ).
4. Will you reduce your commission. Beware of a yes response. An Agent that is willing to reduce commission may be saying to you that they do not believe in the value of their service. How well do you think this Agent will fight for you when negotiating any offers made on your home, especially low-ball offers or those with special conditions attached.
5. What methods will you use to market my home? What is the track record of success for each of those methods? Putting 1 ad in a paper that gets 50 calls and 10 showings is far better than 100 ads in a publication that gets no results. It is definitely not the Cost of advertising but the Results of advertising that matters.
6. Do you have a Web Site and or a Blog Site ? A personal Blog or Web Site is not the same as a generic Web Site owned by the company where the agent works. With 75 to 85 % of all Buyer’s begining their home search on the Web today it is imperative the Agent has a strong web site with the ability to capture Buyer prospects. ( Tip : Log on to the Agent’s site and try it out. How many clicks until you can see a property for sale. Are there lead capture forms on the site asking you to leave your information. Or is the site just a brag sheet and personal promo for the Agent? )
7. What is the Agent’s Sale to Fail ratio, also known as expired listings. Just because the Agent is capable of filling out a form to list the property, does not mean they have done their job. One of the most important factors governing the potential marketing of your home is to get the Listing/offered sales price right.
8. What is the Agent’s Sale to List price ratio? Did they ask you to reduce the sales price during the term of the listing? A good Agent will stick with their convictions and not take over priced listings ( called buying the listing ). That technique ( Tell the Seller anything to get the Listing ) is still taught throughout the industry. It does not stay true to the agents obligations to you their future potential client that of telling you the truth.  Remember this, Buyer’s are not stupid, they are willing to pay a fair price and they have the tools to verify it.
9. How far do you Live from my Home. It is important to get a sense of the Agent’s ability to show your property on a moments notice should the occasion arise. An Agent having to drive over 45 minutes to your home may be less inclined than an Agent living within 20 minutes or so. ( Tip : It is not however, important at all where the Agent’s office is located. Buyer’s are concerned about the location of the house not the Agent’s office. Most of the Top Producers today will not be spending significant amounts of time in their Principal Broker’s office.  Many Agent’s today work from a home office. )
10. Herb, what time can you come out today to list my home? If you are going to choose to work with the best you should check my schedule first for I am always out marketing my listings for Sold.

www.househuntportland.com  Let your next home find you!

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Who Loves Short Shorts

It had been over a year since I had talked with Joe and Rita. I had met them at an Open House on RODNEY  in the PIEDMONT_NEIGHBORHOOD in Portland Oregon. I remembered that Rita was a type A personality backed by a Let’s get Going attitude. I also remember from last year that they had an abundant amount of enthusiasm but not much money. A year ago I had sent them to my lender  TAMMY_WITTREN of Northwest Mortgage. Tammy is very good at sitting people down, analyzing there problems and structuring a game plan for them to follow. A sort of road map to Real Estate Financial success.

As Rita began to speak I sensed that something was up. With a little prodding Rita began to unravel like a ball of yarn. Both Rita and Joe had been so impressed with the work done by one of my rehabbers a year ago that they became convinced that they could do the same. 

( Step 1) was to call Tammy . True to form Tammy quickly determined that they were not in a position to purchase. She gave them a game plan to follow and of course in their minds that was not acceptable as it would just take too long. So they went out on their own and found a FSBO to purchase.

They had been working on the FSBO for about 6 months when they out of the blue gave me a call. It sounded over the phone as if they were stuck on a solution to a plumbing question and wanted some advice and asked if I would come over and take a look. I agreed. 

When I arrived I was greeted with a Horrible sight. I tried to be positive but everything I seen indicated that they had bought a major Money Pit. Not the worst thing in the world, that of getting a little in over your head. However the Seller was now threatening  to foreclose on their contract of sale and he wasn’t interested in thier problems or solutions. He just wanted paid off and he wanted it now!

To further complicate matters for Joe and Rita they had put up their Cars and household possessions as collateral. I advised them to see an attorney as there was nothing that I could do for them. They were totally buried in this house and it still needed at least 60 days worth of work to get it in to a financible state.

A month went by and Joe called. After beating around the bush for a while he said that they had lost the house and their cars. The Seller had felt sorry for them and let them keep their personal possessions. Rita was too embarrassed to call but they wondered if I could come out to their home for a talk. It turns out that they had purchased a second FSBO just after they had bought the first Fixer. The Home was of course leveraged beyond belief and they were not even sure of the payoff amount.

They had borrowed from several family members enough money to buy the home from the bank using a no-income no-doc loan. Their theory was that they would pay off all of the family members after they refinanced. Big problem was the home needed a lot of work and they had not been making the full house payments. Just making enough to keep the bank at bay while they continued to poor more and more money into the other Money pit neglecting this home.

After arriving they took me though the home and we discussed potential market values. I left and returned the following evening armed with a full market analysis. A review indicated this house to be worth between $240,000 to $248,000 with 20 very relevant comps in the same subdivision and roughly the same condition.

After spending some more time on the comps I once again asked if they had those payoff figures from their lender that I had asked about. They did and it turns out that they owed a total amount of $270,000. Further more the payoff letter was accompanied by a foreclosure notice. I looked at them and asked if they new what a Short Sale was. They did not. It means Rita and Joe that you have no equity in this home at all. You will need to get permission from the lender to market the home at a sales price of less than you owe.

They finally got the message a few weeks later. I had presented the market analysis to the Lender along with a marketing plan. I listed the home and we were able to sell the home for $245,000. The bank forgave Rita and Joe the difference and let them walk. I wonder when I will here from them again and under what circumstance.

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So THIS is The Internet Hummph!

Have you had Enough? Fed Up , sick and tired, is your back against the wall? If this Internet thing is so great then why can’t I find anything. I mean come on…. Sure Google tells me for the search term real estate there are over 260,000,000 pages to choose from. Page one has only 10 results.

Well that’s not to bad. So if the page I am looking for is # 257,000,000 it will only take me 16,062,500 minutes to find it. So what if I do not have the time to look for the next 31.7 years to look for this page? You probably might need a few more search terms.

But even if you were to have the perfect search terms it is still a needle in the haystack search. I don’t know about you, but those are just to long of odds.

What if……?

Come check this out.  Out of_State_Homes . Here you will be presented with a variety of homes in various Cities and States and Price Ranges. No obligation required just Homes, Homes and more Homes.

If your looking for a Portland Oregon Home be sure to check out all the MLS Listings right here at The_Pickle where you can search for homes on a neighborhood map and see the results as quick as the push of a button.

If you want to be more proactive about your Real Estate Home buying search effort then by all means you should sign up for the free email service to Find_Your_Home in_Portland  Oregon just follow the link to House Hunt Portland. This is like a dream come true for todays home buyer. The service will deliver results to you 24/7 within 20 minutes of the property hitting the market if you choose so. No agent can even come close to providing you srvice as fast as this automated service can.

Home buyer after home buyer who have recently signed up for this service are beating all of the competition to the best listings. What Does IT Cost? Nothing, Zero, Nada. I only ask that if you use the service that you intend to use my broker services as well to help you purchase.

                                                                      So are you ready ?                 I am!      

No high pressure sales techniques. You call we discuss. If we can’t do business we will part friends.

    Herb Hamilton is a Real Estate Broker with RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors working in Portland Oregon

                              ” A Real Estate Transaction with Herb is one YOU will Profit from “

Herb Hamilton is a Real Estate Broker with RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors working in Portland Oregon

Doom Gloom or Boom

What Kind of Real Estate Market are we in ? Say it loud this is a NORMAL MARKET!

If you can’t here the screams for help, perhaps it’s because of all the complaining you’ve been doing. The Real Estate Market that we are experiencing is a natural part of Business.

• It is NOT NATURAL for Real Estate prices to escalate yearly in double digits.
• It is also NOT NATURAL for Seller’s and Agent’s to price properties at $25,000 TO $50,000 or more above market value.

If this was the kind of market you had been experiencing or even worse if this was the only kind of market you knew, I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!

For you do not have a clue what the Real Estate Market is Like. So what is the Job of a Real Estate Agent then? And for that matter the Job of a Buyer or a Seller in a Normal Market?

It is a Business that requires the Agent to have and use :

• Education
• Negotiation skills
• Psychological skills
• Social skills
• Marketing skills
• Tenacity
• Perseverance
• Dedication
• And the list goes on and on

Buyer’s and Seller’s Must also possess skills :

• Social Skills
• Perseverance
• Tollerance
• Understanding
• Patience
• Trust
• Enthusiasm

So then just what is Real Estate? It is almost easier to define what Real Estate IS NOT!

Contrary to the last few years popular belief.

It is not a Real Estate Agent or Broker’s Job to :

• Tell Seller’s what they must sell there home for
• Tell Buyer’s what they must pay for a home

It is our Job to bring Motivated Buyer’s and Seller’s together where market conditions will determine the value of the asset.

***********

If you are not the busiest Agent you have ever been right now, it is because you do not know what it takes to be a Great Agent! For a Great Agent is Busy marketing, Prospecting, Showing and writing Contracts!

Being busy is not all about showing properties to the 40 or so people who drove by your new listing. That kind of thinking was developed in the recent hay days of the market. It is also the kind of thinking and mind set that will have you out of business before you even know it. I would venture to guess that there are allot of you this very moment who are out of the business, YOU JUST DON”T KNOW IT!

Some years ago a Real Estate Agent friend of mine was working in a small community that had lost most of it’s Jobs. People were terrified and I thought it must be a terrible market to be in.

                                    NO JOBS = NO MONEY= NO SALES

Without a job and money how would any one buy a Home I wondered. My friend pointed out : ” That my Friend is Defeatist Thinking! “ This is a time for opportunity he said. The Market will not stay like this forever. Those Agent’s that are sitting on their posterior proclaiming DOOM and GLOOM are my biggest asset. While Buyer’s who dont recognize what a great time it is to buy and Seller’s who feel they can over price thier homes are my biggest liabilty.

If you want to be successful and turn Buyer’s and Seller’s dreams into reality then it is time to get back to the basics . It is not about dressing up in the fanciest clothes or driving the Biggest Car. It is the fundamentals of Real Estate Sales.

Do you WANT TO BE NUMBER ONE ?   Do you WANT TO BE A SUCCESS ?

Then go to work. If you do not have the Skills then develop them. Or better yet just sit back and let the rest of us fly on by.

Are you looking to purchase some of the greatest real estate in the WORLD? Do you want to be notified of new properties coming on the Market in and instant. Stay ahead of the Competition. Get the Best Buys First.

Investor’s_Web_Site_for_Portland_Ore._Real_Estate  Investor’s are not the only one who can benefit from technology. Let_Your_Next_Home_Find_You  search here for you downtown Portland Oregon Home. This Fabulous web site will search for your next home 24/7 and alert you within minutes! www.househuntportland.com

For more Portland Oregon and Downtown information please come to www.portlandrealproperty.com

Of course you can always Search right here on The_Pickle using this fabulous IDX Search tool for Portland Oregon.

All Presented to you by your RE/MAX Broker Herb Hamilton of RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors serving the greater Portland Metro area.

Buyer’s Agency and Seller’s Agency practiced here.

” A Real Estate Expierience with Herb is One YOU Will Profit From “

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