Selling a home in this market!

No matter how bad the market "seems" to be, I must make sure I provide the same services to my clients as I did when the market was booming. I must advertise, and not just by putting a sign out front with my name on it. I have advertising avenues that sellers need to have to make sure the buying public is aware of their home. For instance, I recently invested in our local channel 6 cable channel in an effort to give more exposure to my client's home, as well as myself.
Not stopping there, I have a great website www.DaveSpence.net that has more info on the homes and the community then a buyer would need. I have contracted out to a website optimizer to make sure my website will soon show up at the top of all search engines. The web is the number one priority because most buyers look at the web long before they contact a realtor, so my job is to push my client's home to as many websites as possible in hopes of procurring that buyer.
The local publications and newspaper are great, but what really sales a home is the price above all else. I make sure I am fully educated on the market values of my area real estate market. The seller has to be willing to listen because the news is not good and sometimes drastically lower than the seller's expectations. My sellers must be motivated or there is no sense in me investing my dollars advertising for them.
This is how you sell in a down market!

Realtors have a great job!

I was asked (told) today the real estate market is awful, right? Wrong sir. The market is fantastic for the few (agents) and uncertain for the weak. I make my living by promoting a service to sale real estate and to consult my clients on the pros and cons of the greatest investment in a person's lifetime. Feel free to jab at the fact that many Realtors seem to have it easy because of preconceived notions that we are lazy and our commission checks are excessive. Actually...actually, the surviving agents of this current market are only spending longer hours in their cars and on the phone, and spending more of their commission on advertising than ever before. Yes, we are self employed and the market VALUES are in decline, but not the service or workload of my office or those who are striving to give great service at a time where houses are taking longer to sell, and convincing sellers their value of their home is 30% less than before is hard, but I am selling homes. So you who asked "told" the question,"the market is really rough", I say to you sir, my job is awesome because what I am making of it. But many will not agree and I say to those agents...you need to seek out another job because I am only going to spend more money to reach those sellers serious about selling their home and understanding I am going to spend more money to advertise the seller's home to more prospective buyers than ever before...Lets call it...a SPENCE REVOLUTION!

Bank Foreclosures for Agents and Buyers

I had to post about my last days searching the internet to find ways to become a REO agent. Talk about frustrating! The value of an REO agent is you receive foreclosures from banks to list and market the properties to the public. In the current market, buyers are looking for the best deal (as they always have) which leads to mass purchases of bank owned properties that I don't have listed :(.
So I have been submitting my resume as a top agent to many companies, many who I have no idea who they or what services they provide, to see if by some chance my name can pop on a list to be considered. The foreclosure market has to spurring on the economy in some way because buyers are getting great deals, agents are making great money, and banks are cutting losses. So if you know anyone who is an asset manager, please pass my name along. Or even better, give me their name so I can pass my name along.
For now, I will continue to research this process and I hope I can find success because the frustation may settle in and thus I will return to selling large volumes of resale homes in Winchester!
Cheers,

A Realtor's Mark in the Market!

Constructive criticism has made me aware of making a blog short and sweet, rather than long and over informative. Home buyers and sellers want agents in a downturn market to be street smart and professional. They want the go-getter mentality and the advertising budget to go with it (Sellers I am speaking of here). Many agents because of loss of income from sells volume immediately cut their marketing budget. WRONG ANSWER! Not only does this affect the agent's ability to gain vital market share in a down market, but also short changes the client whose greatest investment is in the agent's hand. A proactive agent will see this as a challenge to make sure sellers are getting what they are paying for, ADVERTISEMENT!

TV,newspaper,internet, etc., are the big avenues agents should take full advantage of to sell homes in any market, no matter what the economy. On the same token, for an advertisement to work, a seller must be motivated to sell. Without motivation, hearing the words "price point" will go in one ear and out the other. So be receptive to a real estate professional (make sure they are one because everybody and their mother assume they know the value of homes in their community) and look over the comparables. Numbers don't lie! If you need a better explanation and/or thinking of selling, shoot me an email and I would be happy to address any questions or concerns you may have.

Till next time...real estate does make sense...just ask Spence!

What tends to be the trend in Real Estate now?

I ask this question to flame the fire of thought this beautiful October evening. Let me start by saying the stock market does have some say in the area of real estate but maybe not as much as you would think, tentatively speaking. Since the stock market is on everyone's mind, I thought it only relative to introduce it as a variable for the time being.

What is the trend then for real estate? Allow me to answer a question with a question. Are people getting married...yes, are people sadly divorcing...yes, are new babies being born..yes (i have first hand knowledge because my wife is due in Feb 09'), are people passing away...yes, are people moving...yes. With all this going on, men and women will either need bigger homes, downsize to smaller homes, or need to sale homes to fulfill a last will and testament.

So the trend tends to be what it has been since the conception of a deed, Americans must buy and sale real estate. Yes, credit markets have been rocked by recent events, but does this make the previous statement above irrelavant. No, of course not. Banks are still lending, people have remained good stewards of their financials, and the American dream still remains. Such a driving force cannot be distinquished by some executive who sits at a desk in a high rise in some business district downtown.

So then the question is asked, if there is this so called driving force for real estate, why all the foreclosures and deflating market prices? I have to go back to my above statement about the trend and notice I said nothing about how much time or money it takes for these trends to occur. All I am saying is the sale and purchase of real estate exists because of these variables and since the variables remain, the show must go on no matter what wall street says.

Prices are dropping because of economics. Supply is high, demand is low, thus value is decreased. Foreclosures are only adding to the misery because banks are discounting homes which is not the true market value (blog topic for another day).

There you have it for now. My blog entry for next time will center around how a realtor is proactive in our current market.

For now, so long, good day, don't wince....real estate only gets better with Spence!

Introduction to the Blogosphere!

This evening Dave Spence begins his new real estate blog to the public. I decided to make time for such an article because of a web seminar at my local association office. Since my career is stapled to the residential housing market, I thought it best to give some thoughts on how I am selling real estate and what topics may need some serious contemplation.

First, my career began in 2002 at the ripe old of age 24 with a high volume realtor in the Winchester area. In 2006 I made the jump to an established downtown office and haven't looked back. My concentration has been in the residential sector, but as of late, I have dabbled in commercial properties at the request of clients.

Since this is an introduction, I will make it brief to make way for fresh blogs and relevant topics. I am unaware of what uncertainties await, but I feel I have a fresh approach to this whole blogging trend and many good entries are ahead.

So for now I say good day, dont wince...real estate is finally ready for Spence!