Well, I never heard of that. NAR is not mentioning anything of the sort -Janessa… what does that mean?
An Agent’s Market simply means its time for Professional, Business-Savvy, Market-Savvy, Serious sales people, associates and real estate people to stand up. Its time to bring out the Realtors; the real Realtors. Real Realtors may not have been in this business for over a decade, but they know how to be flexible and adapt to change. Real Realtors may not be tech gadgets but they can service their customers and clients by providing real time information through the use of technology. Real Realtors wear their pin with pride and not out of whim; they embody professionalism when out in public because they know, like I know, real estate is still and always be a hot topic – so you never know when you are going to get a client – so dress like you are always in business.
A Real Realtor supplies current information, facts and figures. Real Realtors don’t rely on their affiliation or broker to make them look good – they make their affiliation look good. It doesn’t matter if you started in 2006 or 1996 or 1776, you deliver as promised because as Warren Buffett says “It will take a lifetime to build a reputation but only one moment to lose it.” Realtors run their business as a business and not a hobby.
So for every halftime agent {notice I said half-time, not part-time}, there’s one of us, to clean up the mess left behind by giving false, inaccurate, outdated information. For every agent who decided to list a home grossly over-priced, disserviced the client, lied about their promise, there is a real agent who will tell you the truth and your options with every decision.
SELLERS – please note that placing your home on the market makes it a commodity; a proverbial stock viable to be sold by an agent of your choice. Your agent or your stock exchange trader can proactively sell your home by networking and cooperating with other agents from the same or different brokers or they can simply take 1-5 pictures, place it on the net, cross their fingers and hope. They can make you feel there is activity by hosting week by week open houses – with little to minimum activity. OR you can hire an aggressive trader/Realtor who uses “Spokes in a Wheel” marketing (see more of my blogs to understand), offer incentives to qualified buyers, secures your sale with pre-emptive strikes (ask for more details) and remain on top of the market in regards to pricing, staging and what’s really moving. Not a bunch of market stats that is difficult to read and even if you could read it, what does it all mean? What is the bottom line? Because that’s what we are hired for, to read the logistics and get to the bottom line!
BUYERS – We are knee deep in the information age and with venues like DSL and CABLEVISON and other Optic internet providers, you have information literally at your fingertips, in mere seconds. Its amazing how irritated some can be when the page takes too long to reload or refresh. We are in a “want and want it yesterday” society -fast decisions, fast information falls in line with our fast foods and fast cars. So why request information from an agent that on average {according to NAR} take 64 hours to respond back to your initial request. NAR states that over 50% of inquiries made by customers looking to be clients are never responded. That’s bad business and bad for business. Why settle for someone who can’t bridge the gap? You don’t. Professional Realtors, like myself, are always connected. The internet, for me, is never more than 10 minutes away. These online tools keep me accessible to help keep you informed.
The bottom line is Realtors – we have all the tools we need to be a professional. If we are not using them, then what is the use? Does the market change frequently, YES! But its our jobs to, at least, stay on top of it if you can’t stay in front of it. Showing market reports to clients tells that you work very well with Excel and are probably software sufficient – but they need more than that. They need a local expert and if you are doing this everyday, day in and day out, than who better to call an expert. If you’re not, but are looking to become one, pair up with someone who is, learn the ropes and branch out. Become Accountable. Because if you do, it doesn’t matter what they call it – the Market would still be yours.
April 3rd, 2008
The 411 on Rockland County Real Estate 