VARbuzz » Jeremy Hart

We Have The Data, and the Data Is Good

Jeremy Hart — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:35:56 +0000

I wrote this post on NRVLiving.com earlier this week, and it was suggested that perhaps it would make interesting discussion on VARBuzz, as well. I was sitting in a coffee shop, answering an email to a client who’d asked whether a particular piece of land had had any offers on it.

Obviously I have no idea, and had to say as much. But I don’t like saying “I have no idea”, so I got to wondering whether the Multiple Listing Service could do more than just act as a depository of listings. It’s purely speculative, but what if the MLS was a portal of sorts, a way for agents – and their clients – to dig into the property further? What if an agent could see the offer history on a property, so that they could better inform their clients of what was happening?

Imagine:

if you could tell your clients that that property they loved is under contract, and having inspections done, but the portal gave you a deadline for the inspection period. What if you called the listing agent on the day of the deadline and were able to learn that the deal was going to fall through, and you could write a new offer for your clients that was accepted? I bet your clients would think you were a rockstar.
if you could tell that buyer who’s just not taking your analysis of the market to heart that the property he wants to buy has had two offers on it, and neither worked out. Would that make some buyers think about how to structure their offer in order to gain acceptance? In some cases, yes.
if you could look at the guts of properties within a subdivision, and quickly see that the ones that dropped their price by X% after the first 30 days on the market had accepted offers in the next 30 days. You might be able to do something similar with your MLS now, but I bet it could be much simpler by using the MLS as a tool like this. And armed with that information, your next listing presentation will be that much stronger.

I’m not suggesting this is the wave of the future, and I know there are likely plenty that hate the idea. But I also bet there are some that might like it. I know for a fact that when a buyer has as much information as they can gather, they’re empowered to make a decision. Data, when formatted in such a way as to be easily sorted and understood, is good. The MLS folks I’ve talked to, both on and off the blog, all say it’s easy enough to do and something they could get behind, if the users would participate.

I think I would … would you?

Photo credit.

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Questions to ask of your home inspector

Jeremy Hart — Mon, 02 May 2011 01:07:11 +0000

You’ve been working with your agent for months and you’ve finally found the house of your dreams. The offer was accepted, and the loan application has been made. Congratulations! What’s next? Closing? Not yet.

One of the most important steps to take when buying a home is the home inspection, and while nearly all of my clients do them (that might have something to do with the fact that I tell them “you will do a home inspection”), sometimes buyers forego them. I’d encourage you not to, however, as it’s really an excellent opportunity a few hours looking “under the surface” at the real condition of the house you’re buying.

Of course, as a new home buyer you might not have a home inspector on speed dial. It’s okay – I do (true story). In fact, I have several that I use on a regular basis because they do such a good job for a clients. When you go under contract, we’re going to send you a list of inspectors that we like to use, and who we think would be a good fit for your new home; all are licensed by either the National Association of Home Inspectors (NAHI) or the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), and in some cases they’re licensed by both. While I can’t say “use this inspector”, I can tell you the ones I’d suggest using, and from there would encourage you to contact them and ask them three very important pre-home inspection questions:

What will the inspection cover, and when would I receive your report? – in a home inspection, we’re looking to see that systems in the house are in safe and working order, that the roof is free of leaks, and that the house is structurally sound. It is not an indictment of the fuchsia wallpaper or the shag carpeting (could it be argued that those are unsafe from an aesthetic perspective?) … once the inspection is completed, you’ll likely receive the full report within 24 hours, and quite often right there on-site.
Can I see a copy of a report you would prepare after an inspection? – because of the sheer thoroughness of a good home inspection, a quality home inspection report will be at minimum 15 pages, and frequently is twice that size. It should clearly detail the systems inspected, and their condition at the time of the inspection. Pictures are important, as well.
How do you stay current on industry standards? – the building industry is changing all the time, with new practices and standards being included on a regular basis. While a home inspection isn’t designed to bring a house up to code, a good inspector should know how to merge the value of their inspection with the accepted building practices in place when the house being inspected was built. They should also be able to provide a consistent, documented history of continuing education in the inspection field.

Notice I didn’t include “how much does it cost?”. While counting dollars and cents is important in the real estate transaction, the home inspection is not an area to cut corners. Typically an inspection will range from $275-500, but factor this cost into your budget – it’s worth every penny.

The questions aren’t done there, though. Attend your inspection. Ask questions – lots of them. I wouldn’t recommend an inspector who didn’t want to be asked questions, and I guarantee you’ll learn a ton. And if you don’t know what to ask, here’s a list of things to get you started:

Where is the main water shut off valve to the house?
What’s the typical life span of a roof like what’s on this particular home? Is there any special maintenance that needs to be done to it?
If there’s access to the attic, what does the attic look like? Is this usable space, i.e. a place to store unused boxes and things?
Is the electrical panel full, or is there room to expand?
How is the drainage around the house?

Attend the inspection. Ask questions, and most importantly, listen. A home inspector who says “I don’t know” isn’t a bad inspector – in fact, they’re doing you a favor by not jumping to conclusions and making inaccurate statements. Take part in the process, and you’ll be that much closer to buying the right home for your future.

My Grass Is No Greener Than Your Grass

Jeremy Hart — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:05:31 +0000

Watched a video the other day, presented by Jeff Turner of Real Estate Shows, on the idea that what works for me in the social media world might not work for you in the same way. It was interesting visual, at least for me, and I wanted to share it here. Thanks to Jeff for being so free with his material!

REBarcamp Denver Kickoff: Cutting Your Own Grass from Jeff Turner on Vimeo.

I like my grass. But I don’t take care of it, my homeowner’s association does it for me. That works for me – I get the benefit of having a lawn (granted about 1000 square feet of lawn, but lawn nonetheless) without the work. A friend of mine, though, has a couple of acres of lawn. Almost every day after work, he can be found outside doing something in the yard – aerating, fertilizing, or cutting, for hours on end. Both lawns look nice, but we took different approaches to get there.

Social media’s the same way. You can put a little time into it, or a lot of time into it. Whatever you do, make it work for you, and not for anyone else. It’s your grass.

The Trouble With FHA Loans

Jeremy Hart — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:40:48 +0000

A friend sent me the following email, and I had to post it. According to Snopes.com it’s a recycled bit of fun, but nevertheless I thought it appropriate given the subject … and because I can see it happening. Ah, bureaucracy … and lawyers.

Part of rebuilding New Orleans caused residents often to be challenged with the task of tracing home titles back potentially hundreds of years.

With a community rich with history stretching back over two centuries, houses have been passed along through generations of family, sometimes making it quite difficult to establish ownership.

Here’s a great letter an attorney wrote to the FHA on behalf of a client:

You have to love this lawyer …….

A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was sure the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down. After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply.

(Actual reply):

“Upon review of your letter adjoining your client’s loan application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin.”

Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows:

(Actual response):

“Your letter regarding title in Case No..189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased by the United States from France, in 1803 the year of origin identified in our application.

For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Queen Isabella. The good Queen Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus’s expedition. Now the Pope, as I’m sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world called Louisiana .. God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back, to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it and the FHA. I hope you find God’s original claim to be satisfactory.

Now, may we have our damn loan?”

The loan was approved.

Do Jobs & Broadband Play in Rural VA?

Jeremy Hart — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:12:43 +0000

Seen the “Rural Riddle: Do Jobs Follow Broadband Access?” in the WP?

If you don’t live in a rural area, you probably aren’t paying much attention to broadband access in the small towns. For myself, in Blacksburg, it’s not really on my radar either – Blacksburg was (isn’t any more) one of the most wired (and wireless) small towns in the country and so wireless access isn’t something I think about much … it’s just there, and I seem to get a little ticked when I’m somewhere that I can’t get wireless. But for many Americans, particularly those in small towns sprinkled around VA, broadband access isn’t on their radar because they’ve never had it.

That’s why this article about broadband access in Lebanon and Rose Hill – small towns in VA – was so interesting to me. The undertaking was a first of it’s kind, and while broadband access is crucial to providing high-tech jobs and, in another sense improving at least one component of quality of life, the author goes off track in suggesting that broadband in and of itself cannot run an economy.

I spoke with a friend who used to be a planner in Pulaski County, here in Southwest VA, the other day about this project. He replied:

Rural areas are rural areas … period. For many people, especially those who likely got their high-tech training in an urban area or large university, the rural area may lack the amenities to provide the quality of life they desire or expect. I.E., movie theaters, places to eat and shop, local arts and festivals, libraries, museums and even basic things such as grocery stores … Obviously for some people that’s enough … but for an outsider coming in it might be a bit of culture shock.

Amenities are a part of a communities’ infrastructure. No longer are water and sewer lines, roads, etc., the only required components of that infrastructure. Parks and other leisure activities are becoming more and more a requirement of successful communities, but broadband alone cannot be a driving economic force. It can certainly be a component of economic development, and as well an asset, but that alone will not attract and retain a highly-educated workforce. I’d like to see some realistic non-biased statistic on how many people that this company has attracted, only to have those same individuals leave not only the company but the area because of a lack of other important amenities. That is one of the biggest reasons that places like Rose Hill and Lebanon have remained, for the most part, rural – the lack of supporting infrastructure.”

From a planning perspective, I can see that. From a utopian perspective, I struggle with it. Why can’t a broadband industry be the lifeblood of a small, rural town in VA? Can it be done? Or are my glasses just a little too rosy?

Photo by Mahalie

First-Time Homebuyers Jumping In? Survey Says …

Jeremy Hart — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:18:51 +0000

I came across a survey that was recently completed in the first quarter of 2009, by the Richmond Association of REALTORs, surveying their members regarding whether or not the First-Time Homebuyers Credit was actually taking effect in the market. Questions ranged from are your clients applying for the $8000 credit? to should the credit be even higher than $8000?, and even ranged into whether respondents supported President Obama’s proposed change to the Mortgage Interest Deduction. The results?

A mixed bag, really. But it’s interesting to see how respondents, well, responded.

26% of respondents said that their buyers had applied for the $8000 First-Time Homebuyers Credit, but the majority of those said that the credit wasn’t a part of their client’s decision. Not surprisingly, most respondents also said that more buyers would enter into the market if more money was made available – well, duh. Most agents, at least the ones responding to this poll, seemed to feel as if the First-Time Homebuyers Credit was making a small impact, but nothing of real significance.

My area, the New River Valley, hasn’t conducted such a poll, but from my perspective the credit has gotten more buyers off the fence. Most of the buyers I’m currently working with are first-time buyers, in all price ranges, and every one of them has said that the $8000 First-Time Buyer Homebuyers Credit had an impact on them deciding to buy right now.

So what are you seeing?

The Changing Revolution

Jeremy Hart — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:00:20 +0000

Jay Thompson posted this on Agent Genius last month. I finally had a chance to watch this in its entirety – what an impressive look at the change in how we store, process and refine information. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Setting yourself apart from other agents is closer than you think, “Go Beyond” with zipLogix. The creator of [...]

Can You Hear Me Now?

Jeremy Hart — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:23:07 +0000

Twitter Me This

Mariana Wagner posted a video to Twitter the other day that caught my eye. In it, a man receives a call on his cell phone, and suddenly, he’s surrounded by hundreds of people all ready, willing and able to meet his need at that exact moment.

Watch …

Brilliant Ad? Or Cheesy Catchphrase?

Is this a brilliant use of a marketing campaign, or simply a catchphrase that’s past it’s time? On the one hand, the idea seems tired … note the number of people in the background saying over and over, ad nauseum “can you hear me now?”. YES PEOPLE, I HEAR YOU! SHUT UP! Verizon’s been running this Network idea for years, asking “Can you hear me now?” more times than I care to count. The catchphrase has run it’s course, and Verizon’s just shoving it down our throats again.

But wait.

Now that I think about it, note the number of people in the background asking “can you hear me now?”! Within seconds of seeing the Network moving toward them, people knew exactly what it was, and what the phrase was. They got it, they said it, they repeated it … is this exactly the kind of reaction Verizon wanted people to have? A viral reinforcement that the Network REALLY EXISTS?

So What?

The idea of a brand is nothing new, particularly when it comes to real estate. Your brand might be a symbol, or a catchphrase, but it’s a visual and memory cue that sets you apart from everyone else. The McDonald‘s Arches. Chick fil A‘s “Eat More Chikin”. State Farm‘s “Like A Good Neighbor” program. Simple stuff, of course, but we’ve all seen The Cows and thought of Chick-fil-A, or the arches and wanted a milkshake (I promise this post isn’t about fast food). A brand is a description of you.

It’s also a promise. It’s a promise that, like your good neighbor down the street, State Farm will be there for you. That’s where I think Verizon gets the ad right – they’re making a promise that they’re going to throw the weight of their expertise behind each and every call, because the next call you make may be the most important one of all. Think the people who saw this in person aren’t going to think of Verizon the next time they get a cell phone, or upgrade their contract? Think some of them didn’t go home and tell a family member, or friend, about what they saw and experienced?

It just got me thinking about what people would say about my brand, and about our industry. What do we need to do to get people talking, in a good way, about the value we’re adding to their real estate transactions? How can we set ourselves apart, one client at a time, and create Raving Fans? Here are three suggestions to do just that:

1. Highlight your strengths. It’s impossible to be everything to everyone, to serve every real estate need. When I show land, it’s obvious I don’t know what I’m doing. I want clients to be confident in my abilities, and know that I’m a pro. Do what you can be great at, and refer the rest. If you’re awful at details, consider hiring an assistant, or using some kind of transaction management tool to make sure nothing is missed.

2. Make sure your skills match the client’s needs. I can be the best agent in the world at selling Blacksburg homes, but if my client wants to live in Christiansburg I’d better be confident I can adjust and serve well there, or know how to get them in touch with someone who can. Think – square peg, round hole.

3. Overdeliver. Each and every time, overdeliver. An agent in Miami mentioned – on Twitter (seriously, why are you not on there?) – this afternoon that she had a client tell her today “you have changed my perception of REALTORS®”. He had swore he’d never work with another real estate agent, and yet she showed him value he just couldn’t find elsewhere. WHAT a compliment! Think she overdelivered to get that kind of praise? I’m sure she did! Make them remember you.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Verizon’s ad works, in my opinion, because (a) it’s humorous, and (b) it reinforces our trust in the product. We trust the phone’s going to work when we need it to, and Verizon wants us to believe they’re there for each and every call. The Network is the representation of that product. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the ads get people talking about Verizon – which is EXACTLY what they want.

What are people saying about you and me?

A Troubling – And Costly – Trend

Jeremy Hart — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:58:01 +0000

Has anyone else noticed a nasty little trend emerging in their markets recently? I have not had much experience in different types of markets – only licensed since 2004 – but one thing has been bugging me. In the New River Valley, in 2004 – 2006, we had a really hot market and properties were moving … in 2007 it stabilized a bit, and 2008 has seen the same except in some areas. But one thing has continued to move, and in the wrong direction.

Commissions paid.

What gives? I’ve been feeling it in my gut for a while, and my year-end totals bear it out – year over year, the total brokerage fee I’ve received has gone down. Last year was my best year ever in real estate, and the brokerage fee received was the lowest. 2.2%. GULP. I did a random sampling of twenty homes currently listed in our MLS this morning and found that of those twenty, 14 were offering 2.5% to the buyer’s agent and 6 were offering 3%. Compare that to 2004, when, of twenty homes sampled, 12 were offering 3% to the buyer’s agent, 7 were offering 2.5%, and one was offering 2%. I bet if we sampled every brokerage in the NRVMLS we’d find a similar trend as what I’m reporting here, and I’m wondering what people are seeing in their own markets.

The logic here seems skewed. In a hot market, it seems sellers would be negotiating lower rates because – in part – properties would sell faster on average, and in slower markets the fees paid might be higher.
Anytime a commission is cut in order to win a listing, I as a buyer’s agent have my income reduced when I had nothing to do with the cut. Yes – I can have a buyer sign an Exclusive Right to Represent – but I don’t offer that and so any commission that’s cut affects my bottom line.

Any thoughts on what we’re seeing? It’s a disappointing trend, because there are many markets in Virginia where property values are falling … if others are seeing this as well, in falling markets, then some of these agents have to be gasping for air. Are we just not defending our value to clients? Are more and more vendors and referral companies holding their hands out (yes and yes, IMO). Your thoughts? What are you seeing in your market?

[Blogmaster's note: While we encourage a free exchange of views, just a reminder to readers that commissions are set by brokers and fully negotiable.]

Trust Me – I’m A Doctor

Jeremy Hart — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:06:21 +0000

Think back to the last time you visited a doctor. If you got there on time for your appointment, did you have to wait to see your physician?

I took my wife to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for an afternoon appointment. We arrived on time for our appointment to find a crowded waiting room. Nothing really surprising, it typically moves quickly. But when we were called back to the exam room, we ended up waiting almost TWO HOURS before the doctor came in to see us. That was atypical. And it got me thinking …

Why is the public willing to wait for physicians, attorneys, etc., yet not willing to wait for other services, like travel (for all those folks headed to Inman Connect this week)? Who hasn’t complained about that window of time the cable company gives you so you can wait at home, and then they don’t show? Why is it okay for certain industries to seemingly ignore scheduling, and Joe Public seems okay with that?

Just wondering …