Ronda Allen's Blog

Are you actively pursuing feedback on showings of your home listings?  Do you even care if other agents give feedback on your listings?  Or, are you just using that listing to get buyer leads and not actively engaged in selling that home? 

There are so many reasons why an agent would take a listing.  What they do with it is entirely up to them.  But, there are certainly lost opportunities every day.  Something as simple as following up for feedback on the showing traffic can be a big contributing factor to why a home won't sell.

I know.  All real estate agents are self-employed.  No agent can force another to give feedback on a showing.  There are just some agents, and some brokers, who believe that no feedback is, of itself, feedback.  If the buyer wanted the house, an offer would have been submitted.  Right?  Not so much.  I suggest a different tactic in regard to soliciting showing feedback that has worked for me and has worked on me, as well:

BE COURTEOUS

It's surprising how little effort it takes to get an agent to give feedback.  Courtesy for that agent goes a long way.  Keeping in mind that a good agent is a busy agent, courtesy for their schedule has to come into play.  Email them if they didn't respond within 48 hours to the automated showing feedback request.  They may still be touring with the buyer, so they aren't in front of their computer.  If they are carrying a Blackberry or IPhone, they may be able to respond sooner than you expect.  Consider that they may be out in the field.  If you do call them, call what they are giving as their office number.  When you call their cell phone, unless they are on a mobile-to-mobile plan and you have the same provider, you are costing them minutes and money.  And, don't interrupt their personal family time in the evenings for showing feedback.  Any agent, or member of an agent's team, needs to be understanding of just how precious that family time is at the end of the day. 

BE PROFESSIONAL

"Hey, you know that showing you did on Saturday?  My seller wants to know if you're gonna write an offer?"  Really?  That's how you want to begin?  With a straight-out, direct, yes-or-no response required question?  Danger, Will Robinson!  Be careful what you ask for, cause you just might get it.  "NO".  Conversation over.  Door closed.  Opportunity lost.

How about trying a different tactic that brings about an open line of communication, and might just cause the buying agent to take information back to their client that could lead to a second showing and a possible sale?  Now, don't copy me word for word.  Find the opening comments that work best for you, that sound the best coming from you.  Something along the lines of "Thanks for showing 1111 Elm Street.  I know you probably saw a lot of homes that day.  This was the one you saw around 10am that had the walnut stained double-door entry and the amazing outdoor kitchen.  Can you tell me what your client liked most about this home?"  Courteous, understanding, helpful, and open-ended questions, designed to start a dialogue.  Agents see a lot of homes when touring with buyers.  Help them remember your listing.  It was likely included in a tour of very similar homes in price and amenities. 

Don't ask what they liked the least about the home.  That just invites criticism.  You are looking for the other agent to share objections that would keep the home from getting a second showing.  Your first goal should be to help the home make that coveted short-list of homes to contemplate purchasing.  Then, once they come through for a second showing, your job is to keep the lines of communication open and engaged, to bring about an offer.  In the Dallas/Fort Worth suburbs, it's hard to come across a home that can be defined as old and beyond repair.  So, age and condition are usually minor factors in the negotiation.  Overcoming objections to price, location, or amenities of the home are where we spend the majority of our time. 

BE UNEMOTIONAL

As the real estate agent, you are not a party to the contract, and therefore, you need to maintain a certain amount of emotional detachment.  As you heard in your classes, you should not be married to the deal.  You are liaison to the process.  You represent the interests of your client.  As a listing agent, you should not take offense if a buyer's agent says they cannot comp out your list price on that home.  Help them by providing the comps you used to establish that price.  As a buyer's agent, you need to take information from the listing agent back to your clients for discussion, and resist the impulse to speak on their behalf.  The deal will either result in a gain:gain, or it isn't going to happen.  Maintain your composure.  There have been deals lost because a buyer's agent oversold what could be accomplished with negotiations on a home, or because a listing agent misjudged how to navigate an offer to an executed contract.  Discuss options with your clients, provide your professional opinion, and then let them make the decisions that ultimately lead to sale or the realization that a sale is not going to happen because the two sides cannot find the gain:gain.   

DON'T SETTLE FOR LESS

In regard to showing feedback, don't settle for less information than you should from the buyer's agent.  If the buyer's agent finishes a day of touring homes and only states 'the floorplan wasn't right', or 'buyer didn't like the house', you need to get to work.  As the selling agent, now is the time to open the dialogue.  Unless a buyer is building a 100% custom home from the ground up, it doesn't take long to realize that you are never going to find the house that meets all of the buyer's criteria.  Most buyer's settle for 85-95% of their wish list.  Location, price, amenities, commute to work, neighborhood, city, condition, layout, lot size, and many other factors come into play.  Some of those factors are negotiable, while others are absolutely set in stone.  Our job as the listing agent is to find out how far off the home is from the buyer's criteria, and how much of that criteria may be open to negotiation.  After all, the true definition of a negotiation is not a tug-of-war.  The true definition of negotiation is 'navigating the way'. 

Have a blessed day! 

Ronda

Seller's:  So, the prospective buyer offered low on your home?  What now?  Same song, second verse - right?  Buyers are still trying to tell us that the North Texas Region is a buyer's market, even when we can prove to them in sale comps that we're a BALANCED housing market and our sales comps have been rising steadily all year.  I know the low-ball offers can be exhausting.  We selling agents don't care for them, either.  It's a lot of work for potentially no result.  Or, is it? 

When you've received what you consider to be low-ball offers on the house, what do you do?  First and foremost, don't tell anyone.  Let everyone assume you just haven't accepted a reasonable offer yet.  You and your agent are the only two parties that need to know the details of showings, feedback, and offers on your home.  There are a few truisms that I have found in my experience in the real estate market in Dallas/Fort Worth in general, and in the North Dallas suburbs, specifically, that you may find of interest:

1.  A home in demand stays in demand.

If you have received offers for your home, that is confirmation (regardless of the offer submitted) that your overall market strategy is working.  The goal is to generate enough showing traffic to bring in offers, and hopefully, be in a position to turn just one of those offers into a contract that closes successfully.  Don't think you have to give away the farm.  Just begin the negotiations with the buyer(s) who offer, and be willing to wait for the next buyer if the negotiations don't work out.  The party without time on their side is usually the party who ends up giving away the most. 

2.  If the agents are showing the home, and providing positive feedback, don't fix what isn't broken.

Agents aren't shy.  If we don't buy the asking price of the home or there is a condition issue that stands out as an obvious concern, we're going to tell you in our showing feedback.  The Dallas/Fort Worth housing market can be defined as somewhat seller-lazy prior to listing.  Not a lot of work goes into making the house sale-ready before the sign goes in the yard.  Our buyer's agents do a great service - we want your home to sell and will tell you exactly what you need to do in order to overcome objections.  North Dallas agents have it a little easier.  Our homes tend to be newer, which should mean they show well with minimal make-ready. 

3.  No showing feedback does NOT equate to no interest in the home.

Yes, it's true that not every agent is good about giving feedback.  But, cut the agents a little bit of slack.  Some are being advised by their broker's to ONLY invest their time in activities that generate income.  A lot of good agents are out of business, and brokers are pushing the remaining agents to close more deals.  Sitting down for an hour to give feedback from a showing tour that lost them a full day out of the office is the professional thing to do, but it isn't an income-generating activity.   Any good listing agent has experience with home listings that had 30-50% of the showings fail to give feedback, but one of those agents ended up bringing the buyer who ultimately purchased the home.   NEVER give up on those showings as prospective buyers.  There was an agent in Dallas who used to say you stay with a buyer until they 'buy or die'.  That's a bit harsh, but a good listing agent definitely keeps following up until they know that buyer purchased some other property.  Electronic feedback requests aren't enough.  A great agent will pick up the phone and track down feedback on your behalf.

4.  Until we reach a gain:gain, there is no chance of a successful real estate transaction.

There has been no worse year in real estate than Summer 2008 to Summer 2009 in the DFW Metroplex, in my opinion and in the record books.  But, moreso than having slower sales figures, the behavior of buyers has been the most appalling on record.  Buyers ran around going for the jugular on listed homes all over DFW neighborhoods.  Buyers jumped from one home to the next, looking for the most desperate sellers.  What used to be a cooperative industry became a competitive industry.  I am personally so glad to see balanced market conditions return to North Dallas, and sellers standing their ground based on factual sales figures.  People are holding on to the equity they earned, and are no longer just giving it away to make the sale.  It's a sign of strength and recovery that took almost a full year to regain.  Until a buyer can offer a normal seller what we used to refer to as a "win:win", and now call a "gain:gain" the seller still maintains the right to sell the house or wait for the next buyer.  In a balanced market, both parties must work together to negotiate a fair market value.  That doesn't just mean to split the difference between the offer and asking price.  That brings the skills of the truly great real estate agents back into the forefront - both of whom have the task of getting the best price and terms for the house for their client.  Negotiations are an art.  And, that's where the real difference between real estate agents is experienced. 

5.  A low-ball offer is still an offer.  Counter-offer if you don't like it.

The state of Texas has no requirement on a seller that forces an answer to an offer within any timeframe or at all.  Sellers have the right to simply ignore an offer.  But, quite frankly, that's just stupid.  Yes, I called the seller who ignores an offer stupid.  Every offer is worth a counter-offer!  I've seen over and over again just how close to list price a buyer will get whe they have found the house they want.  It doesn't take any time at all to counter to an offer.  About 20 minutes to knock out the paperwork.  There are lots of buyers out there who have to be educated on the value of the homes.  Their own real estate agent may not have even run any comps to support their offer.  Our buyers aren't necessarily from here in North Texas.  They may have to throw out everything they ever thought they knew about real estate (sorry, Californians - I had to learn the Texas market when I moved from California in the 1970's and the same is true today).  Without a counter-offer, you don't allow the buyer to learn how to buy real estate here in  Texas.  Take a cool off period after a low offer.  Pitch a fit.  Get offended.  Rant and rave about how horrible the offer is.  Then, sit down and draft a fair counter-offer based on the actual 90-day sale comparatives in this region, and educate the buyer on your expectations.  Don't swat them away like a fly being a nuisance.  Help them understand your personal perspective on this home sale, and they may just come up to meet you more than you think they will.  The worst they will do is walk away.  And, you have no idea how many of those buyer's who threaten to walk away, and then do make good on their threat, turn back around within the next 14 days and buy the house.  Ask any North Texas Realtor.  We've all seen it happen. 

Have a blessed day!

Ronda

Ronda Allen - Realtor, Certified Purchasing Manager

RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs - Keith Dobbs Team

#1 Office and #3 Team for RE/MAX in North Texas at mid-year 2009!

CEO - comingsoonhomes   Follow us on twitter:  www.twitter.com/comingsoonhomes

Client referrals always welcome!

I know, the big banks are telling you that it's 30-60-90 days to close on a home right now.  But, let me assure you that this is not the case for everyone.  Good mortgage brokers and smaller banks have been the way to go, and will be the way to go in 2010, too.  The big banks have their heads in a very dark place right now.

LOAN TYPE MATTERS:
On an FHA or VA loan, you are down to just a few days left in 2009 for us to get out and find you a home.  I'm going to need to be able to turn in a contract to a lender and title company by Monday morning to get you closed this year.  If you are going Conventional on your loan, it means putting a little bit more money down on the home, but if I have your contract before the 23rd of December, you're going to close this year.  And, of course, you cash buyers, we love your last-minute purchases and can get you closed in between Christmas and New Years without delay. 

TRUST IS REQUIRED:
This is not the time for you to be bringing in some strange person into the mix.  You need to work with the seasoned veteran teams who know how to make this happen.  Good agents have a team of specialists who can turn on a dime when a deadline like the end of the year is looming.  You are the one who needs to put yourself in our capable hands and let us ensure you find the right house, get the right loan, get title work completed, and get closed and funded.  If you do that, you will be filing for your Homestead tax exemption on January 1, 2010.  If you don't, you'll be waiting to file in 2011.

Have a blessed day!
Ronda


Ronda Allen, Realtor and Certified Purchasing Manager

RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs

www.rondaallen.remax-texas.com

Heading into the Winter months, many sellers fall into the habit of developing low expectations.  There is some (misguided) belief that the warmer months are the ONLY months in which a home sells.  Here in Texas, the only weather-issues that we encounter with home sales are:

1. August can be a difficult month to get buyers out to view homes.  100-105 degree days are uncomfortable.  And, the last couple of years, Dallas has felt as humid as Houston in August.  The heat and humidity are stiffling.  You'll find August is a month when veteran agents will pack up and head to a wonderful mountain vacation.  I cannot count the number of times I've run into fellow agents when visiting the Vail Valley in Colorado. 

2. January can be a difficult month to get agents out to view homes.  An agent who isn't working over the holidays has a hard time generating business that will close in January (number one rookie mistake - taking too much time off in November and December).  But, we usually get a post-New Year's ice storm or two in January, too.  Agents don't risk their office (a.k.a. their car) for ice days.  If the agent does leave their home office (not likely), most go to the office, drink coffee and gripe about the weather. 

3. Rainy days can keep your home from showing.  It's true - most people must think they're made of sugar.  That 'rain or shine' attitude only exists with mail delivery folks and die-hard real estate agents.  (See #2 - office, coffee, gripe...).  Even if the agent is willing to show the home, getting the buyer convinced that a rainy day is a good day for a showing can be a battle, because it's uncomfortable.  But, there is truly no better day to check for roofing issues, standing water in the yards, or checking the capacity of the sewer drains on the street.   You can't hide water issues on a rainy day.

So, what can you do to give your home a greater chance of successful selling in Winter?  These tips have made a difference in the past.  Give them a shot:

1.  Put in a higher wattage light bulb and light up the house.  Be sure to check the limits on your light fixtures as a safety precaution, but a higher wattage bulb can also take off the chill in a room during the cooler months.   

2.  Put out that fresh mulch and some Fall color.  Our warm Fall days are great for picking up a cup of coffee at the nearest Starbucks and driving around to look at neighborhoods.  Be the home that shows so pretty from the street that it forces them to put on the brakes.

3.  Be unique.  If you didn't go with an upgraded lighting package, buy brand new coach lights at a lighting store for your home.  Lighting is something that is pretty easy to swap out and doesn't have to be expensive to be eye-catching.

4.  Talk to your neighbors about your home, but keep in mind that you are the short-timer.  The neighbor is more concerned with their own situation.  You are leaving.  They may like some say in who moves in next door.  They may known someone who would be the perfect buyer for you and a welcome neighbor for them (a co-worker, relative, or friend).  We actually have more home sales in DFW that occur because a neighbor recommends a buyer than we have luck bringing buyers through open houses.   Why do you think we send postcards to them when we list a home for sale? 

5.  Don't turn away showings.  We have more serious showings this time of year.  Because DFW has such a large corporate base, many moves are dictated in timing by the company paying for the relocation. Nothing will make an agent more frustrated than doing all the due diligence to market a home and drive showing traffic, only to have the seller decide to cancel it.  You may have just cancelled on your buyer.  In the words of Charlie Brown, "AAAGGGHHH!!!"

6.  C L E A N.  Smell clean, look clean - be clean.  Don't just pick up and straighten up.  Pretend your Mother-In-Law is coming.  Clean like it matters, because your list-price-to-sale-price ratio depends on it. 

As always, have a blessed day! 

Ronda

If you are selling your Collin County home and want to ensure you get the right level of showing traffic for a sale in 2009 (yes - there is still time!), you need to be re-evaluating your marketing strategy this week.  There isn't a moment to spare.   

Some things you need to know about the Collin County real estate market that may help you attain that coveted SOLD rider for your sign:

1. 4th Quarter in Collin County is STELLAR!  Our large corporate base helps us rock 4th quarter real estate sales.  Corporate moves have been the backbone of North Dallas suburban moves since the 1980's when EDS and JCPenney moved in next door to Frito-Lay and established the Legacy Business Corridor.

2.  Sales prices have shifted - UP and DOWN.  Are you sure the price you are at is the optimum price for your home?  Sales comps fluctuate.  If you need to evaluate your pricing, ask your agent for updated sales comps and make sure you are positioned properly. 

3.  Have you lowered your asking price right out of your target market buyer pool?  Many of the homes in ACTIVE status in the MLS have been reduced more than once to attract buyers.  But, pay attention to how the pricing attracts buyers.  You may lose them.  Many online searches are in $50,000 increments.  If you were previously priced at $359,900 and you are now at $339,900, you may not be optimally priced and your showings may actually have gone down (or disappeared) with your last reduction.  If you were priced at $350,000, you would get the buyer's looking between $300,000 to $350,000 and those looking between $350,000 and $400,000. 

4.  Are you getting showings, but no offers?  You probably aren't priced right against your competition.  Go online and check the homes just below and above you in your search.  Do you stand out?  Are you unique?  Does your positioning make sense based on the size, age, and amenities of the home compared to the others?  If not, tweak your price 1.5%-2.5% and see if you can go from one of the homes in the showing tour to one of the homes selected for 2nd showings and the possibility of an offer.

5.  Don't forget the terms of sale.  Sometimes, it isn't the pricing that is the problem.  There may be an objection you can overcome within your home, to help it get to that #1 spot for an offer.  For example, a media room without media equipment.  Finish out the room, and it will have purpose and something to offer that the next house might not have.  That decorator paint that matched your furniture so perfectly?  Neutralize that wall (yes, I know it hurts your heart to do it), and let the next owner decide how to finish out the house in their own decorator flair.  Really large yard?  Offer a year of lawn service.  Most sellers know the objections to their homes, based on showing feedback.  Work to overcome them, and you can still be SOLD in 2009.

6.  Don't let your buyer purchase their home through the big banks.  The big banks are an absolute mess this year.  Let a mortgage broker shop the market and find you the loan that can close with reasonable terms in 2009.  I have solid lenders working all over DFW and closing homes in 10-15 days.  It does not take 45-60 days in DFW to close a house.  Hearing a lender quote 45 days makes my blood boil.  We can expedite a closing in Collin County in as little as 7 business days right now.  And, we can do it all the way up until Christmas week. 

I hope you found my tips helpful and I wish you a blessed day!

Ronda

Be sure to check back at http://www.comingsoonhomes.com often in December.  The redesign that has taken all year is just about complete and we're in the final phases before rolling it out.  Our goal is to have the site ready by our 4th anniversary at the end of December.  We're county-based now, rather than city-based.  This will allow for even greater cross-marketing for sellers, and make it easier for buyers to find homes all over Collin, Denton, Dallas, Tarrant, and Grayson County. 

It's been a long year of brainstorming and programming behind the scenes.  And, in the middle of the revamp, our internet host was discontinued, requiring that we start over in July.  Thanks to the half-dozen members of the comingsoonhomes team who plugged along and kept us on track.  All year, even with the redesign, we've been able to maintain a level of internet traffic to be proud of, and we're coming back easier on the eye and very user-friendly.

Have a blessed day!
Ronda



Ronda Allen, Realtor and Certified Purchasing Manager
CEO of comingsoonhomes.com
RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs - Keith Dobbs Team
#1 Office and #3 Team for RE/MAX in the North Texas Region at mid-year 2009!
972-816-4369 7am-7pm Monday through Saturday and 12-5pm on Fridays
http://www.rondaallen.remax-texas.com
http://www.comingsoonhomes.com
http://www.keithdobbsteam.com
Follow me on twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/comingsoonhomes.com

I've been tracking online traffic on trulia.com for just over a year now.  Seeing the view traffic by city has been a remarkable thing.  It has shown me that there can be a big difference between the build-up done by our DFW cities on the popularity of their town versus the actual views by prospective buyers coming to our communities. 

Just today, I decided to take a look at the trulia.com reporting by zip code over the course of the last year.  Some of these results were predictable, but some were surprising.  Let's see if you agree:

75093 Plano - #1 with 13,313 views.  That's 36 buyers a day on average.  That's better than some cities perform online.  No wonder realtor.com refers to 75093 Plano as the Hollywood of Texas.  At one point, 75093 was getting the same number of hits as 90210 in California.

75070 McKinney - 9,991 views.  McKinney is home to Stonebridge Ranch, one of the largest master-planned communities in Texas.  At over 50,000 acres, it has done a phenomenal job of marketing to buyers and still has lots of room in which to offer new and resale homes and more amenities than you can imagine.

75034 Frisco and 75035 Frisco - 6,726 and 3,188 respectively, but combined, they are giving McKinney a run for it's money.  Frisco is home to Stonebriar Mall, the largest indoor shopping mall in Texas.  It's also known for shopping, restaurants, sports, and schools.  I was a Frisco resident for nine years before moving to Prosper, and I still do the majority of my shopping in Frisco.

75024 Plano - yes, more Plano.  Plano is HUGE.  75024 had 2,685 views.  My office is in Plano.  And, 75024 is home to the offices of EDS, Frito-Lay, JCPenney, Bank of America, Ericsson, Dr. Pepper, Crossmark, and other large businesses housed in the Legacy Business Corridor.

75078 Prosper - 1,758.  If Frisco is the new Plano, then Prosper truly is the new Frisco.  We are all anxiously awaiting The Gates of Prosper outdoor retail center.  And, we'd like a grocery store sometime in the near future (hello, Central Market - it's Prosper calling...)  But, we already have a phenomenal school district and some of the prettiest homes around and nice large lots.  We also have an average sale price in the mid-$300k's.  What we don't have is a ton of homes available.  As of today, there are only 148 homes for sale in the MLS in Prosper.  We're a healthy market and prices are on the rise. 

75023 Plano - 673.  I would have expected this number to be higher, as I love to list homes in this part of Plano.  The problem is that I sell them too quickly to get a lot of marketing off those homes.  That's a good problem to have.  People just find 75023 more by searching by the City of Plano than they do by zip code.

75056 The Colony - 164.  If you live in North Dallas, you have probably heard of The Colony.  But, if you blink along Hwy 121, you might miss it.  There isn't a lot of frontage and you may presume you're still in Frisco.  But, D Magazine named The Colony as the #6 city in DFW a few years back for it's location (easy access to the Legacy Business Corridor), great access to Lewisville Lake, and affordability of housing.  Joel and I started our married life in The Colony in 1992.  It still holds a soft spot in my heart when I sell out there, and I always drive past our old house on Reed. 

75074 Plano - 145.  I would have expected this number to be higher, because this is another part of Plano that is just so popular with buyers.  But, they are more likely finding the homes by price point under searches by the City of Plano than by zip code.  It's Plano with larger yards or Richardson, but newer.  Great access to the Dart Rail for commuters to downtown Dallas, too.

75137 Duncanville - 101.  Wow!  Duncanville searches by city name have been in the top 5 on trulia.com just about every time I check.  But, searches by zip code, not so much.  It can take almost 4 days of marketing to reach a single buyer searching by zip code.  Stick to marketing by city name here for a while longer.  Duncanville is home to a renowned sports and band program in the school district.  It's also a member of Tree City USA and a great place to view the Fall season, and leaves changing color.  People assume we don't have four seasons here.  But, you have to know where to look. 

75013 Allen - 17.  Yep.  This confirms what we local agents know to be true.  Allen is a GREAT place to live, but it isn't well known to folks from other parts of the country.  Allen is hugely popular with the real estate community, though.  Great schools, lots of parks, affordable homes, and a good mix of new and resale housing options allows us to make buyers very happy by introducing them to this city.  Great name, too.  I considered moving to Allen at one point.  But, being Ronda Allen from Allen, Texas may have implied that I only sell homes in Allen.  So, we moved to Prosper and 17 percent of my business is still Allen, TX just about every year.

75068 Little Elm, Lakewood Village and Oak Point - 67  These areas are very much like Allen...not really well-known by folks outside of DFW.  Even some in DFW may live nearby and never have heard of them.  But, the real estate community knows.  The new bridge that opened from Corinth across Lewisville Lake to Little Elm has been introducing a bunch of people to this area, and turning what used to be a country setting into a major hub of activity in the North Dallas suburbs.

75002 Allen - 35.  Same as Allen above, zip code 75002 is hugely popular with agents, and yet not really well known on the internet yet. 

Surprised by some of these totals?  Me, too.  Sometimes, it isn't just the exposure on the internet that you can bring a home.  It's knowing how to best market that home to the biggest buyer pool that helps bring success.

Have a blessed day!
Ronda

Ronda Allen, Realtor and Certified Purchasing Manager
CEO of http://www.comingsoonhomes.com
RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs-Keith Dobbs Team
http://www.rondaallen.remax-texas.com
Follow me on twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/comingsoonhomes
972-816-4369 7am-7pm Monday through Saturday and 12-5pm on Sundays
#1 Office and #3 Team for RE/MAX in the North Texas Region at mid-year 2009!