John Hall & Associates - Phoenix Real Estate Brokerage

According to Charlie Bross, President, RE Training Center, “The fact is, there is tremendous opportunity in every market, including today’s.  Sometimes you just have to change the way you think and work in order to see it…”   I’m sure you have all heard that agents are no longer order takers.  Agents are looking to acquire skills to build their business.  Does this describe you? 

According to a 2006 survey by NAR, 85% of all agents coming into the industry have no sales experience.   

Knowledge and skill are partners to success.  There are no shortcuts.  Today’s continuing education classes help increase your knowledge base, but, in my opinion,  today’s c/e classes lack skill training.  Most classes focus on delivering information, but are not delivered in such a way that creates relevance to your day to day practice.  To acquire skills education, I believe classes must be performance-based, incorporate simulated activities and/or provide some type of hands on experience in the forms of scenarios or other student based activities.  You must have an opportunity apply the knowledge, not just receive the knowledge.

The Swanepoel Trends Report 2008 report that a survey conducted with over 1000 real estate salespeople, the following skills were ranked as the most important for agent success:

•Expanded knowledge of the changing market and expertise

•A good listing presentation and CRM system

•Stronger web-based computer skills including blogging, SEO and networks

•Knowledge of financing, foreclosures, short sales and staging

•Good time management

•Enthusiasm and a continued positive attitude

•Good negotiation skills

To reinforce my comments, how many of these topics are covered in ADRE license renewal categories?  None. This is why I believe there should be two components of real estate education:  c/e classes which are required to renew your real estate license AND career development classes which are needed to acquire knowledge and hone your skills leading to success in this business.  I recently read on Jennifer Cummings blog:   ”I absolutely believe that the distance between where you are now and where you want to be is simply 6 inches - the 6 inches between your ears!”  Fill those inches with as much career development education as you possibly can.

Most, if not all, of the above skill topics are covered in Arizona’s GRI (Graduate, REALTORS® Institute) program.  Look around your office and see how many of the top producing agents have earned the GRI or one of the other prestigious designations.  Think back to some of the transactions you have had with agents who hold a designation and agents who do not.  Did the transaction go more smoothly when working with an agent to not only has knowledge, but also has skills?

What are you waiting for?  Make the commitment this year to earn the GRI designation.  Classes are offered locally and in one and two day increments.  Visit our site and find out more about the GRI designation program, the classes, and the class schedule.

Two sighting of him in the Arizona Republic on Saturday.  The first one was planned, the second one not so much. 

He is often asked to write an article for the Republic’s “Broker Corner”.  He is given a date the article will appear and puts together a timely piece where he gets to spread the word of the current market.  This weekend his article, “Missed Opportunity” was featured in this weekly real estate feature.

Then an unplanned quote in an article by the Republic’s real estate reporter Catherine Reagor.  Mr. Sexton and Ms. Reagor spoke on the phone about a month ago and Jim was initially quoted in an article that soon followed.  Then Ms. Reagor unbeknownst to us stored some of Jim’s good stuff and surprised us with it this weekend.  (I can’t find the article online yet, but will update this post when it happens.)  Jim was quoted talking about the high amount of vacant or foreclosed properties that are selling.  Even though the conversation took place a month ago, the quote is still accurate today.

Thanks to the Republic for the support!

The ”First Quarter Market Overview Presentation” took place this morning (4/24).  RL Brown presented his coveted data with his partner Greg Burger.

Greg began by presenting some statistics for the “Metropolitan Phoenix Market Place”. There were a lot of figures presented in a half (here are the numbers) and half (buy our product so you can have this data at your fingertips) format. Some of my scribbles include…

• 1,890 new home closings in March (4,200 resales)

• Largest segments of new home sales - Mesa/Gilbert and the “southwest”

• 55% of 1st quarter new home sales were under $249,000

Then RL took over and started speaking more about the challenges, opportunities, and differences with the resale market vs. new home market. When it comes to the resale market, he does not feel we are at or near the bottom.  He made the statement that agents bane is going to switch from over-priced listings to REO properties and that the 50+ thousand listings in ARMLS is going to continue to drive prices down.  Once the median price drops another $20k then consumers are likely to come out and play, but their motives are going to be changed from preparing for retirement to improving their quality of life.

In his section about new homes, he stated, ”We are at the bottom of the new housing sector (pause) or darn close”.  His reasoning for this statement included the stability that both permits and closings have shown; permits leveled out about 6 months ago and closings have been steady for the last 3 months. He continued with the fact that in the last 4 months 60% of new home prices have stayed the same, 9% have gone up and only 30% decreased. 

In his conclusion he assumes that everyone knew the hang over was coming, but at least here in Phoenix we’ve already drank our tomato juice and popped our aspirin (hence the title quote).  He reminds all participants to treat each local market or neighborhood as its own market and to generalize on a national base has a lack of reality.

The Swanepoel Trends Report 2008 “Top 10 Real Estate Trends” is out now.  This is the real estate industry’s premier report on those keys factors currently shaping our business models.  Of particular interest are the last two chapters: Special Summary for The Agents and Special Summary for the Consumer. 

There is great information in this report especially when it comes to making sense of the current market and how to prepare for the future market.  Just looking at the summary for consumers, agents can get a clue about the types of business strategies they should be developing.  The report advises consumers to:

1.   Look for a knowledgeable and trusted real estate agent that works hard to keep themselves and the consumer informed.  (Advice to agent - newsletters and updates on a regular basis that address the knowledge that a consumer needs.)

2.   Ask the agent to explain to you their career development program.  (Advice to agent  -  have a business plan and mission statement.)

3.   Ask for names and contact information for clients the agent has worked with for the last six months.  (Advice to agent  -  build your client portfolio and offer recommendations up front.)

4.  Ask them about their real estate qualifications.  (Advice to agent  -  of course you are licensed - duh - what consumers want to know is what designations and certifications you have scored.  What training have you had and how it benefits the consumer?)

5.  Any real estate agent should be knowledgeable enough to explain their business model and what importance it has to a real estate transaction.  (Advice to agents  -  YOU need a “UVP” (Unique Value Proposition) so that the service you offer gains a value to the consumer.)

The report underscores what I’ve been saying all along, get those designations, develop a business plan and acquire the advanced skill necessary to meet the “new consumer’s” expectations.  While service is still the icing on the cake, the new words resonating with consumers are  -  Value and Skill.  How will you explain your value and introduce your skill?

Are you in real estate?  Can you be in Scottsdale on Friday?  If the answer is yes to both questions, you should plan on attending SAAR’s Technology Symposium.

My favorite weekly email shows up on Friday afternoon…

Take a look before you go driving on the freeways!

UPDATE: This information is also available via the telephone by dialing 5-1-1

5/2 UPDATE: Current Road Closure Information

Un-official countdown has begun:  101 days

Did you see the 17 page FlexMLS Product Overview? 

It’s a very well done overview of the new MLS provider.

A friend of mine just forwarded me a great clip off youtube (which you can view below) about a real estate agent with a unique marketing plan.  Surveys indicate that many real estate agents don’t make it in this business because they can’t come to terms with being a “salesperson”.  Of course, if you have internal hang-ups about being a sales person and you make it big in sales, there goes all your self-esteem.  Well, here’s a real estate agent that actually stands on street corners with a sign saying “I will work hard for you” touting the opportunities in his particular market.  While some real estate agents sit around wondering what kinds of mail will create a response, this guy isn’t afraid to put himself on the line.  He appears to be actually proud to be in sales and actually proud of his product.  What a great idea, don’t sit and worry about your demeanor or materials being too “salezy”, get out there and explain to people what you can do for them and how it will benefit them.  Most real estate agents can’t even be motivated to knock on doors!  This guy makes door knocking look down right attractive.  This must be the sales equivalent of Extreme Sports!
 

 
 

Wow I wonder if the National news outlets will give this the air time that they gave it as a news story when the buyers were heading into the trial.  Sounds like the jury got it right.

Real estate agent vindicated in California price case
     (VISTA, Calif.) – A real estate agent who made national headlines when he was sued by his clients for letting them buy a supposedly overpriced home has been found innocent of wrongdoing by a jury that said the buyers were responsible for their fate.
     The lawsuit brought by Marty and Vernon Ummel against RE/MAX agent Mike Little made national headlines. The Ummels claimed Little let them buy a home for $1.2 million when other homes in the neighborhood were selling for less. They sought $150,000 from the agent.
     The jury, however, accepted Little’s argument that other homes around the Ummel house were inferior and therefore could not justify the higher price the Ummels were paying.

Jim sent me an email at the end of last week that he received from Bob Bemis (CEO of ARMLS) announcing a new ARMLS website that is dedicated to the conversion from Tempo to FlexMLS.

Straight from the site…

This web site is dedicated to bringing you the latest and most accurate information about the conversion.

If you would like to stay posted on the most updated information, you can add this new site to your favorites or make it easy on yourself and subscribe to the RSS feed.  (What’s an RSS feed?) 

Thanks Mr. Bemis.