I want to be a better listener.

It’s not just technology — it’s a cultural shift in how Realtors work. Technology is easy; how this and the next generation of Realtors accept and implement it is often the deal-killer.

The past few weeks have brought more technologically-savvy clients my way. Not unsurprisingly, both have used Google tools to help themselves (and me) Here’s what I want -

First - why Google? Because it’s free and accessible. Did my clients both seek out Realtors to help them relocate to my area? Yes.

The first buyers interviewed a couple of Buyers Agents and ended up selecting me. As part of the process, they emailed me a published Google Doc with their already-trimmed-down list of specifications - preferred location, what they want to be close to, what their needs and wants are and their “would like to haves.”

The second buyers, through the process of our working together and narrowing down their search area/criteria, emailed me a link one day to a Google My Map with the things that are important to them. Schools, gym, grocery store, specialty grocery store, kids’ activities - and oh, yeah - houses pulled from Google Base - were all on the map.

I want the consumer’s search to be as powerful as mine, while keeping all the protected information necessarily behind “Realtor” lines (lockbox codes for generic lockboxes, alarm codes, “seller is out of town,” etc.)

I want background checks on Realtors to validate their ability to keep safe said private information.

I want the search to allow overlays of important data - crime, Walk Score, GIS information, neighborhood boundaries, and more, and I want to be able to share that search with my clients, readers, customers - and allow them to better narrow their searches, thereby allowing me to help them best - by listening and interpreting and advising.

Good Realtors do more than just search for homes - interpretation, guidance, advice, negotiation - client representation - is far more specialized than search.

First things first: Yes, it’s more than a little ironic that the Virginia Association of REALTORS® is holding its annual convention in Baltimore instead of, say, New Baltimore, Virginia. Go ahead: shake your head and chuckle. But there’s a ton to love about VAR’s Convention & Expo 2008:

1. If you love to shop at Target stores, our opening keynoter is largely responsible for your affection. If you call the store “Tar-zhay,” thank Robyn Waters. Under her leadership as Target’s VP of Trend, Design and Product Development, Waters helped transform the retailer from an unremarkable, low-cost, low-service, low-profit retailer to an upscale discount shopping mecca. There was no such thing as an upscale discount store at the time Target started its turnaround. Discover how embracing paradoxes can help you make more money by developing a niche nobody else has thought of.
2. Calling all real estate bloggers! Virginia Real Estate BloggerCon continues its streak as the longest-running series of peer-to-peer learning experiences specifically for REALTOR® bloggers. You know that once you get to a certain point, the so-called “blogging experts” can’t help you anymore. To truly grow, you need to learn from those who are blogging alongside you day in and day out. This four hour session is your opportunity to learn from those very people.
3. Wall-to-wall Lem Marshall. Need we say more? Not really, but we will anyway… Nobody knows real estate ethics and law like VAR’s Special Counsel, and we have four sessions with Lem. You can get nearly eight hours’ worth of Virginia real estate ethics and legal updates from the undisputed expert at VAR’s Convention & Expo 2008.
4. So much networking that even the most outgoing extrovert will need to take a little “me time.” Our host hotel is big enough to accommodate all attendees, so you’re sure to bump into fellow attendees in the halls, the bar, the gym, the indoor pool. And of course, VAR is known for its remarkable hospitality, and this year’s convention is no exception. You’ll make new contacts and reconnect with long-time friends at the Opening Reception and Inaugural Party. Even if you’re a little shy, we have a speed networking session to kick-start your schmoozing.
5. You get the full conference experience for one low price. If you resent paying several hundred dollars for a conference only to find that the receptions and meals aren’t included, we feel for you. That’s why all breakfasts, lunches and receptions are included in the price of admission to VAR’s Convention & Expo.

And that’s far from everything. Baltimore is a scenic, historic and exciting city, and our host hotel is right on the Inner Harbor, right in the epicenter of the action. You’ll be informed by the substantive education. You’ll grow your contact list through the networking. You’ll be inspired by the experience.

This is a perfect opportunity to prepare yourself for the inevitable market rebound. Don’t miss it! Registration is open now.

I have writer’s block. The deadline for my column in VAR’s Commonwealth Magazine passed earlier this week, and I’ve yet to type a word of anything coherent (no wry comments, please).

So here’s the deal: YOU can help me write the column. Don’t worry, it’s not difficult. All it requires is a sense of humor and the recollection of a song or two.

ANNOUNCING: Scott’s “Songs for an Economic Slump” Contest….

Here’s the premise: In the great soundtrack of life, even an economic slump needs its own theme song.

Below are several categories. Your job is to suggest a song title or snippet of lyrics – from actual, reasonably mainstream music – that in your opinion summarizes the particular category. Just leave your suggestion in the comments on this post. I’ll take the best suggestions…determined solely by me and my own subjective and somewhat warped sense of humor…and publish them in my June Commonwealth column. (And no, this contest is NOT just limited to Virginia REALTORS®.)

So be creative. Be clever. Just be helpful. I really do need to finish this @#!% column. Deadline for submissions is Monday at 5 p.m. EDT, and you can make recommendations in any or all categories.

1. SONGS YEARNING FOR THE HOUSING MARKETS OF 2004-2006

2. SONGS FOR SUBPRIME LENDERS

3. SONGS FOR ECONOMISTS WHO DIDN’T SEE THIS COMING

4. SAD SONGS FOR SHORT-SELLERS WHO THOUGHT THEIR NO-MONEY-DOWN A.R.M. WAS A SWEET DEAL

5. SONGS FOR UNREALISTIC SELLERS AND THE REALTORS® WHO OVERPRICE THEM

6. SONGS OF THOSE ADVOCATING A FEDERAL BAILOUT

7. SONGS DESCRIBING THE WHOLE, CURSED ECONOMIC MESS

Now go to it. I look forward to hearing your entries!

I’m getting an increasing number of calls to the VAR Legal Hotline about the legal and ethical issues REALTORS® face in increasingly-common short sales. In this brand new 29 minute webcast, I address some of the most frequently asked questions such as:

1. Is it legal or ethical to require the seller to state that the home is a short sale listing in the MLS?
2. What happens when a ratified contract with a third party approval clause fails because the third party rejects the offer?
3. What are my obligations when the bank asks me to reduce my commission on a short sale?
4. Why aren’t lenders be required to pre-approve the selling price before short sale listings are entered into the MLS?
5. Are “conditional commissions” permitted in the MLS?

Guest post from Bill Burruss, Virginia’s 2007 Accredited Land Consultant of the Year.

When your head hits the ceiling in the basement, or the kitchen, you might not sell the house. If you are wider than the door, or bigger than the closet that was converted to a bathroom, you might not sell the house. Being 6′ 5″ tall and weighing over 320 lbs in those days, awkward was the way I felt in a house. I found that I never could make the right move showing the beautiful kitchen cabinets. My female broker could do that with such grace. Once, while closing a basement window during a showing, my tie fell into an open gallon of fuel oil and slapped against my shirt. I did not sell the house and because of the smell, I thought the client (a minister) was going to walk home to Alabama. He instead bought a FSBO and stayed. When you are big, you are just BIG.

I grew up in a land family. My family was in the lumber business and had large land holdings. I had always loved the land and as a child would look at tracts with my father. The awkwardness that I showed in residential real estate during this time was never apparent in my land listings. No ceilings to crash into. No doors to get stuck in. I knew how to walk the land and how to talk about it.

Sensing that helping people buy and sell undeveloped land was my calling, I was determined to improve my land skills and make my living this way. The Lynchburg AE told me about the Virginia Chapter of the REALTORS® Land Institute (VARLI). When I made my presentation on why I wanted to join, the Regional Vice-President for my area was being moved up to Treasurer. My presentation turned out to be my installation as the new Regional Vice-President.

Being involved with VARLI has opened more doors than I could have imagined. Below is a brief list:

• Did pro-bono work for a non-profit group that lead to listing and selling the two
  most expensive commercial land tracts in this area at that time.
• Sold the land holdings for a company that competed with my father’s company.
• Worked with my ex-broker on how to sell a youth camp for her church.
• Assisted in the sale of over 50,000 acres.
• Asked to represent fellow REALTORS® as the President of the Virginia RLI Chapter twice.
• Asked to be a member of the first Virginia REALTORS® Leadership Academy.
• Served on NAR committees as the RLI representative.

Exploring farms and undeveloped land, my clothes still occasionally pick up the aroma of petroleum products, like the one my tie once fell into. But in the outdoors, my preferred working environment, being 6′ 5″ and 260 lbs has its advantages: Hunters can see my blaze orange a lot better. So instead of threatening to walk back to Alabama, my clients now hug me — especially during hunting season.

I spent the latter part of last week near Staunton facilitating a two-day planning retreat with Harrisonburg/Rockingham County REALTOR® leaders. The committee did great work charting a course for their 380-member association for the next three years or so. While what follows here is only a draft at this point, but thought you might be interested in their strategic goals (I’ve eliminated the actual objective below for brevity’s sake).

MISSION (Why we exist):
HRAR fosters its members’ career success by providing services, training, and information that enhance their professionalism and credibility in our community.

ENVISIONED FUTURE (What the future will look like with the implementation of this plan):
• HRAR is truly seen as the voice for real estate in the Central Shenandoah Valley.
• The public views HRAR members as professional and competent community leaders.
• Members view HRAR as an irreplaceable business resource, are proud of their association, and are actively engaged in its programs and activities.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES (Our plan of work):
I. COMMUNITY ADVOCACY AND INVOLVEMENT / HRAR advocates for members’ and consumers’ interests through interaction with the public, policy makers, civic organizations and the media.
II. MEMBER PROFESSIONALISM AND CREDIBILITY / HRAR members conduct themselves in the highest professional manner and are respected by their peers and the public.
III. MEMBER COMPETENCE / HRAR members have the training and skills necessary to meet the evolving needs of today’s consumer and achieve business success.
IV. TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM / HRAR members are served by innovative technology tools that maximize their productivity and business success.
V. ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS / HRAR operates in an efficient, effective, proactive manner with a focus on delivering value to members and ensuring the association’s viability.

Find the complete draft here: hrar-draft-plan.doc

In coming weeks, they’ll be sharing the plan with their members and seeking input before they actually finalize and adopt it. Thanks and congrats to HRAR President Steve Hill for his leadership on this project.

Scott Rogers, with Coldwell Banker Funkhouser in Harrisonburg, VA, I mean.

Amid all the hyperbole and sweeping generalization in the media about the state of real estate markets nationwide, Rogers had added a dose of reality to that most-essential of REALTOR® marketing branding tools: He’s added his market’s monthly home sales data to the back of his business card. Clever, huh? Good conversation starter, certainly. Business tool? Absolutely. And remarkably low-tech (though of course he does direct folks to his blog for “more analysis”).

And yes, he prints new cards every month.

Since they raised their lending limits, many buyers are turning to FHA loans to finance their home purchases. It’s expected that FHA financing will account for approximately a third of all residential mortgages in the near future. If you’re like many REALTORS®, you’ve seen a dramatic rise in FHA interest from your clients and you’re not completely comfortable with your knowledge of FHA loans. We can help! NAR and VAR recently teamed up to produce a webcast on new FHA loan rules and requirements.

Katie Wethman, an Arlington REALTOR® has already posted a summary review of the webcast to her blog. Anthony Carr, a broker with Weichert’s Burke/Fairfax Station office, wrote us an e-mail saying, “THIS IS FABULOUS! I’ll be setting up a class in my office to review this video and have a Q&A with some lenders. Thanks for doing this. What a creative and EFFECTIVE use of technology!”

With the limits in some areas of the Commonwealth above $700,000, FHA loans are sure to be tapped more frequently than any time in recent history. Make sure you understand the special rules surrounding FHA loans by watching this free one hour webcast.

I really love my job! I deal with people every day, and when my efforts are successful my clients are happy. I deal with agents every day too (yes, they are people too), and there aren’t so many who are happy these days. Some people who are trying to sell their homes in today’s market aren’t happy either. Everyone wants top dollar for their home and, in their perception, they aren’t getting it. Frustration ensues, and a feeding frenzy of negativity between agents and sellers surrounds them like a huge, dark cloud. It just doesn’t have to be that way.There are several things that sellers can control when placing their home on the market.

• Timing - Most of the time sellers can control the time of year their property is to be introduced to the market. Some times are better than others.
• Price - Completely controlled by sellers. Realtors may recommend a range in which to price but the listing price is solely controlled by the owner of the property.
• Condition - I always recommend areas of improvement when preparing a property to list. Sometimes a home needs paint, sometimes cleaning, sometimes a whole lot more than that, but sellers control the maintenance and condition of the home. If you have a property for sale and it is messy or cluttered, only you can correct that.
• Terms - When an offer comes in, your tolerance level dictates whether it is acceptable. Most of the time a counter-offer reflects what you really want, but sometimes sellers aren’t ready for what they see. An offer can start a chain of events that takes time, but the events are sometimes consolidated into 24 or 48 hours. Not good! Read on.

There are also a couple of things that are controlled by the market. They are simply beyond a seller’s and agent’s span of control:

• Competition - Houses are placed on the market every day, and pricing these days is sometimes not reflective of actual market conditions. Nevertheless, it’s out of our control. We don’t decide the prices of other homes. We instead want to use them to your advantage.
• The Economy - We cannot control interest rates, the media, or general buyer sentiment that results from economic issues.

What do agents control?

• Promotion - We control how to market your property for sale, where and how to advertise, and use our networks to help get your house sold. My marketing plan is similar in some respects to that of other Realtors, but I am a lot more personal about it. List with me to find out just how aggressive I really am…but I digress…this isn’t about me! I want to write about seller’s loss!

So, out of all of these elements and so many variables between them all, who controls how quickly a house sells? Is it the agent? Sometimes, but he controls only one element of the sale. Is it the seller? Sometimes, but she controls only four of the elements of the sale. Is it the market? Sometimes, but interest rates and the economy wiggle every day. Is that crystal clear to you?

Let’s look at the primary element of any given home sale; the price. If your home is priced right, given all of the other variables in the home sales equation, it will sell. I promise!

Let’s say seller x lists his property at $700,000 when everything comparable to him in his neighborhood is selling for $600,000. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for a way to set apart your property marketing?  Try adding floor plans!

A few months ago I discovered MetroPix, where you can design floor plans using their FREE online service.  You can pay a bit more for floor plans with color, or in three-dimensions, or with photos, etc., etc.  Thus far, I have only utilized their free service — and then added some color afterwards.

Do you know of other free floor plan drawing tools?  Let me know!