Susan's Blog

I have posted before, just recently, about going door to door in my farms and how much I enjoy it.  (See here).  I realize that door-knocking is not everyone's favorite, but there are few other ways to get to know people in the areas in which you work - or as least meet them face-to-face.  And it is true that people like to do business with people they know and like.

I don't like phone calling as much.  For one thing you have to make sure you aren't violating the Do Not Call rules, and people just simply aren't generally as friendly when they can just hang up.  When you meet people and smile at each other, you have a connection that is different, and I have never had anyone be really rude to me when I knocked on their door.

My main goal when I knock on the door is to introduce myself.  Once we are in relaxed conversation for a moment, I ask them about whether they have ever thought of moving, where they would move, if they have a time frame in mind, or if they have simply thought a little about it but probably won't do it anytime soon.  I will invite them to be on my Client Portal, so that they will be sent listings by email as soon as they come on the market or have a price change.  They can use it just to familiarize with the market so they can estimate what their house would sell for and what another house would cost.  I let them know that if they see something they want to see inside, all they have to do is call me and I can get them access to any or all of them.  With the market so much in the news these days, people love that idea, and sometimes it does inspire someone to start looking in earnest.  And who are they going to call?

Usually I show up with a gift of some kind.  It may be an invitation to an open house in their neighborhood, or one of my newsletters, or a market report for their neighborhood, or one of the personalized items I have:  a pen, or notepad, or calendar or something similar.  Several of my items are magnetized so they can put them on the refrigerator and see my smiling face every day.  Next time I come to their door, they will remember me.  And I do get calls from them and from people who have recommended me after meeting me a few times.

It can be fun if you treat it as making friends, as well as clients.  I love getting to know people. My neighborhood is very hilly and lots are large, so I walk a long way to cover it, but I don't have to go to the gym!

Bert Foley also posted about door-knocking, and he has a slightly different approach, but his is a helpful script or outline of what he says.  Just do whatever feels comfortable for you.

If you don't do door-to-door marketing, what is your favorite technique or strategy?

 

Now I don't mean to imply that a good web presence is unimportant.  Obviously, I spend a great deal of time here on AR, working on my website, and I have an increasing presence on Facebook and LinkedIn, etc.  Google-juice is great and I want that.  But some agents seem to think that is all that they need and that clients should be happy to work with them because they hae all this fancy web stuff and can spout all kinds of facts and figures on housing and investing in real estate (also important to know, but....)

No matter how much we know and how much knowledge we want to impart to our clients, what they really want is someone who listens to what they want and then finds it for them.  Right now I have some buyer clients who are very anxious to find a home, and I have been showing them things in the areas they first mentioned they liked and with the features they want, and not showing them with pools or second stories which they definitely don't want.  Another factor they want is a home that is an easy drive from the wife's work - preferably without freeway driving.

We haven't found the perfect place yet, but every one has been an "almost" and the wife confessed to me today that I am not the first agent they asked to help them.  The first one kept trying to talk her into wanting what that agent wanted to sell her, in areas where this couple did not want to live, over an hour on the freeway from her job! 

The simple fact that I listened and continue to ask them about what they like and don't like and factor that in, has made them say over and over how glad they are to have found me. 

They had also gotten pre-approved for an FHA loan (that much of what the agent did was good), but then I found out that the husband is a Viet Nam vet, and that they are first time homebuyers, and that they probably qualify for more than their letter says.  I explained to them that they might try for a VA loan which would almost certainly be easy and better for them.  They said they were told that going VA would be very complicated and difficult, so the other agent said to forget about that!  I told them I didn't think so, but that we needed them to talk to an expert who can explain all of the available programs and then they can make up their own mind.  I got them over to a knowledgeable lender, and he pre-approved them for a higher amount with a VA loan.  Once again the previous agent had tried to fit them into a transaction where he felt comfortable, instead of what was best for them.

The other agent probably doesn't understand why he was fired.  I don't think I have done much special for them, except that I listened and I care about what their needs are.

Coincidentally, I just read an excellent post by Teri Ellis on that very subject, and I think it deserves a read.  Pop on over there when you get a chance.

Okay, I've been writing some pretty serious posts and I thought it might be time for a bit of levity, with perhaps a bit of a message to go along with it.

Sometimes we get asked some pretty probative questions about our listings and it does no good to blluff our way through it when we don't know the answers.  I have asked some questions of other agents about their listings and I've been embarassedd for them when they start giving me nonsense answers.  I wish they would simply say that they don't know, but they will look it up and get back with me.

Please -- when you have a listing, know that property and be able to answer questions with some degree of confidence.  It makes you feel and seem competent, and often the calling agent is not your only audience.  His or her client may also be listening in.  If you seem more competent than the other agent, you might not get that client later, but you may get referrals from him. And think how comfortable you will be, smiling while you give all the correct answers with little effort. We have enough stress without asking for more.

Anyway, this guy doesn't seem to be embarassed by his situation - seems to feel quite confident, but he is the only one who feels that way. ....

 

Jeremy Blanton wrote an interesting post with an excellent analogy comparing today's marketing to the Miss America contest.  Read his post.  His point is that just like the Miss America contest has had to change with the times, so must we.  And I agree - of the 60+ agents in our office, there are only 3 of us who have blogged, and I am the only one who has more than one post!  The same group of us are on Facebook and LinkedIn, plus a couple more agents who haven't done much besides registering.  In today's world of technology, this is a mistake.  We all need to concentrate a large portion of our marketing time and effort in on-line activities.  We need Google juice to succeed!  And we know that folks start much of their home shopping on line. 

One thing though.  I do think that while we have to move away from the habits of 5 years or so ago when sitting by the phone was all that was needed to get business, and everyone who was househunting started with the Sunday newspaper, we also have to remember what we did 15 years ago and add some face-to-face stuff back into the mix.  Very few people these days walk their farm (if they even have a farm), and I've found that introducing myself to someone at their front door and giving them a calendar or a newsletter or something about open houses in their area or whatever, gets me into a conversation where they feel they know me - their friendly neighborhood Realtor.  We've gotten away from that.

So invest in the future - take the time to increase your web presence.  But don't forget to get out and meet people too!  Put on that smile and say hello!  It works!

And people are nice! 

I have read David Langford's blog several times over the last few days, and it is so full of great advice - advice that is particularly important in these stressful times - that I felt I had to reblog it and get it as much circulation as possible.

I have written a couple of posts lately about smiling, so I won't repeat them here.  As for the think time that he recommends, I couldn't survive without my "quiet time" each day, which I use to just stop and think about where I am, what needs to be done, or even just something fun to do. 

And checklists can accomplish more than just giving you a list of things to do.  They can give you a sense of satisfaction as you see each of the items crossed off.  It is so easy these days to feel overwhelmed with things to do - especially if you are not closing sales even though you are working harder than ever.  Checking things off your list makes you feel good and that you have things under control.  This is the same reason for writing down attainable goals as well as the long term goals - it's a mood-booster when you achieve them.

Anyway, here is David's post.

This is a reminder for those agents who want to represent buyers in REO purchases, or for investors who wish to purchase them for themselves.  One of the agents in our office who lists a lot of REOs gets frustrated because he specifies the requirements clearly in his listings, and many agents ignore some or all of those requirements.  Those are not negotiable and they are not suggestions.  They are requirements. 

Here is a post by Linda Davis in which she sets forth guidelines for getting your offer on an REO accepted.

I love animals and I think God did an exceptionally special thing when He gave us cats to love.  All of our cats are so funny and each one has his or her own idiosyncracies and personality.  All have one thing in common though:  curiosity.  This is common to all cats, big and small I think.  We just rescued a new little young kitty who was cold and starved - REALLY starved.  She could hardly walk and couldn't even meow - just made a tiny frog squawk.  I don't know how anyone could allow that to happen.  This little girl was obviously someone's cat at some time, but she just showed up in our bushes, terrified of everything and weighing less than 3 pounds.  After 4 days she weighs 7 pounds and is still skinny but now she runs and climbs and is into everything.

So far she hasn't tried to fix my printer (but then my printer is working fine), but she sure has ideas of how things should be rearranged on the end tables and has tried to type on the keyboard while I am working on the computer. 

Here's a kitty (not one of mine) who is even more helpful.

James Wexler wrote a post Stop Foreclosure Evictions - the innocent victim of the housing crisis, in which he discusses the fact that innocent renters are being evicted because even though they have paid their rent, their landlord didn't pay the mortgage payments.  Once the property is foreclosed on, the innocent renter is evicted, and the landlord gets to keep the rents that were paid to him.  James promotes simply stopping all evictions.  This is a noble thought, but because of my legal background, I tend to look at the due process issues involved.  In California they are usually given 30 days to move, but that is still short notice.

If all such foreclosure evictions are prohibited, would a renter simply be able to avoid eviction by claiming not to have known about the foreclosure?  Must there be a full trial in every case to let the renter prove whether he indeed paid his rent to someone who may claim he did not?  If there is no notice requirement, there will be some who take advantage and others who will be advising them on how to take advantage.

It is unfair to the lender to force it to keep the renter in place and become the landlord for some unknown period of time.  It is unfair to the renter not to know for sure how long the moratorium will last or where to make rent payments in the meantime, and unfair to the landlord if he is trying to cure the default while the renter suddenly stops making rent payments to him.  It is a very complicated issue.

When a lender is going to start foreclosure with a Notice of Default, he must give written notice by certified mail to the borrower and any second mortgage holder or lienholder.  If the borrower can't cure, there are instances (depending on your state law and the timing) where the second holder can and does cure, so he doesn't lose his security.  When those notices are mailed out, what would you think of another notice going to the renter? 

This could either come from the lender or from the borrower, but should be mandated by law, so the renter would at least know there is a risk in continuing to pay rent to a defaulting landlord.  And if the renter could keep making the rent payments after that fact, but make them to the lender directly or into a trust account, the landlord might still have an opportunity to bring the loan current before it went all the way through foreclosure, and the rents would have to be used for that purpose rather than other personal expenses of the landlord.  If foreclosure is completed, those funds could go to the lender to offset the amount owed, or could act as seed money for the renter to relocate or to use for down payment to buy a property.

Perhaps under some circumstances he might even be offered an opportunity to buy the house he has rented at foreclosure instead of suddenly being told after the fact that his landlord no longer owns the property and he must leave his home in a short period of time.  This would give the renter a lot of time to decide what to do (from Notice of Default to foreclosure takes several months) instead of a surprise eviction after the foreclosure has taken place. 

The early giving of notice to the renter would give the renter legal right to perhaps give notice that he intends to leave before the natural term of a lease, without penalty.  In other words, if he is under a 1 year lease that still has 6 months to go when he receives the notice, he should be able to give 30 days' notice of intention to vacate the premises rather than continuing to pay rent that might not be going where it should.  And he wouldn't have an eviction on his record that he would have to explain in order to be accepted by a new landlord.

Much of my idea is not completely formed, but if states adopted something similar, this might be a solution for everyone that would help the innocent renters while also helping the banks who are troubled sue to the large number of foreclosures.

Imagine the happiness of the renters who could be converted to first time homebuyers or at the very least be assured that they would not be hit with a surprise eviction.

And instead of so many REO Realtors having to be the ones who often have to see to moving unhappy renters out, some of those  Realtors could be helping these renters buy their homes.

What do you think?

I wrote a post about this early last year, but it bears repeating.  There are thousands of families who have lost their homes and have decided that they cannot take their pets with them.  Some will find homes for their animals, and others, sad to say, simply leave them behind and hope that someone else will take care of them.

If you know of anyone in that situation, please urge them to find a safe place to leave their pets where they will be cared for and never killed.  They will have medical treatments if necessary and if no new home can be found for them, they will remain in the care of the care center.

For anyone in Central or Southern California who is concerned with cats and dogs abandoned by foreclosures, this might be a good way to have them cared for in a no cage, no-kill situation until they can be permanently adopted.

Cat House on the Kings is in Parlier, California, about 4 hours north of Los Angeles.  This woman is amazing and I hope she finds a lot of support for what she is doing for animals.  We can all help either with donations or by making sure that more pets are saved. Watch this video and be inspired!