Nick Blog's the World!

Doing what you've always done and expecting different results is never going to happen. As Real Estate Professionals, we have to realize that a new kind of marketing is needed to sell homes in this market. In addition, to new marketing concepts, we must know the trends in each neighborhood we work and become very famailiar with financing options.

A sign in front of a house; listing a property in the Multiple Listing Service, doing flyers, ordering a virtual tour, etc... all that is necessary, but that is only the basics upon which to build a truly different marketing plan. When an agent shows your house or a client comes into your home, you must be able to answer this questions:  Why is this the home I should by?

If you can't answer that question and document the answer, then you are no different than any one of the other thousands of agents trying to get lucky.

Innovative marketing not only requires an answer to that question, but also a way of getting the prospect to see your home so you can answer the question.

During my almost 40 years in the real estate industry, I managed to obtain by Certified Fianancial Planner ( CFP) designation in 1986. It has proven very useful, especially during these hard economic times. Both sellers and buyers have to make difficult decisions when buying or selling as their homes are a critical part of their net worth.

Many home sellers (and buyers) don't have a fianancial consultant. In most cases their plans are not in writing and very little time is spend on "future what ifs".

By asking the right questions, we can help our clients make the right decisions. Should we sell or buy? is a rental an option? Is it time to downsize? Is it time ot invest in real estate?

Our dwelling place, be it direct ownership or a rental, must be worked into our overall planning process. May I suggest several book I have written, the most important one if The Be Prepared Book and software  which can be seen and purchased at www.pinetopbook.com  Go to the book section and order. Also, to learn more about the service we offer, pleae go to www.solutionsbynick.com

Friends and relatives and great to work with in buying or selling, but only if they have the experience and the proven results needed to guide you.

I have done more leasing this year than in any other of my 35 years in the industry. The short sales and forclosures have produced a new kind of renter. Credit issues have to be only a part of the criteria to rent your home to someone. Often, a person can afford to lease, but can't afford to keep their home.

Looking at past records and eliminating a low credit score due to a one time event, is important. You have to look at the character of your prospective tenant, not just a credit score. A person with a 20 year record of paying bills on time and then have a terrible fianancial year, should be listened to.

I believe that you can tell a lot about someone's character and as a landlord, you should meet your prospective tenants before you sign a lease. Have your real estate agent set up a meeting.

Making an extra effort to meet your prospective tenant shows how much you care about people and the home you are renting.

Yes, we do advocate buying investment rental homes, buy in the right area at the right price and do the right thing in selecting your tenants and you will have a good investment. 

Yes, I would like to help you!

Hope to write two contracts this coming week. In this case I will be representing buyers but I will structure my offers so that the buyer gets a good price and the seller is not offended.

I feel that part of my job is to maintain neigborhood values. Bringing down prices may result in more foreclosures as people will owe more on their home then its current value.

As prices drop so does the quality of an area. To come out of this downward spiral we as agents and along with the media, need to stop the talk about how prices will continue to drop.

Each one of us has to start with a positive outlook. True change can only occur if it start at the bottom, with us, not at the top with the government.

One sees signs and advertisments by agents, each claiming that they are the local area expert. There are radio and TV spots by agents and real estate companies, each claiming to be the number one producer in their city.

Isn't it amazing that we have hundreds of top producers and each of them are selling hundreds of homes per week/month/year. Why are we in a dpressed market whith all these sales?

An area expert is defined by the number of homes that he/she has sold in your area. A person who is a firend, but has never sold a home cannot be an expert. Most sellers, when listing a home, don't ask the right questions. Among the first questions asked is what is you commission? That questions should does not matter if the other criteria is met; lots of sales in the area, a good community and industry image, and a lot of knowledge about trends in your area.

Listing with your uncle who lives 50 miles from you because you think that the Multiple Listing Service makes all agents equal, does not show good judgement on the seller's part.

Be selective.

The power of positive thinking is huge. It motivates home owners to take pride in their properties as they know, eventually, the prices will go up again. Neighborhoods are judged by their appearance. Drive through any well kept area in this country and you will find home values are higher and homes sell faster then in an unkept neighborhood.

Positive thinking home buyers will buy the home they want, not the least expensive one. They will maintain their new home and help build pride in their area. They are buying a "home" rather than a "house" and will plan to make that an important part of their family life.

Positive thinking sellers, will put their best foot forward when presenting their home for sale. The curb appeal of their home will be great and will help raise the values of the rest of the area homes.

My message is simple, as a Buyer, Seller, or home owner, take pride in you community and it will provide you with shelter, security and value.

In my opinion, Solar and Wind energy are the wave of the future. With utility prices set to go up again, energy cost become one of the the major cost of home ownership, or just plain living.

Does solar ower add value to a home? Of course it does, but there are several factors to consider; type of solar installation, who is installing the system, where is the system placed, cost of the system, etc etc. I have been developing a list of issues to consider when installing a solar system. Like with anything else that is finally catching the public's interest, one has to be very careful of possible scams.

Education is key; that means you, as a homeowner, should learn as much as possible about solar energy. There still is a lot of "fat" in some of the prices I have seen. I truly believe that prices could be lower if there were not so many "middle men" involved.

May open a solar product store in the future.... stay tuned....

There are definite advantages: a resale home provides an opportunity to deal directly with an owner. We can negotiate faster and usually get a home that is in much better condition.

An educated seller will price his home to be competitive with current market conditons, including short sales, etc. The seller will benefit, even though the home may sell for less that their original idea of value, maybe because of an improved life style change or an opportunityto move up to a bigger home or downsize and relieve some of the home maintenance.

We feel that now is the time to buy, if you are qualified and don't over extend yourself. Buy your dream home if you don't plan on moving for the next 7 to 10 years. ( or longer). Don't concern your self with what could have been a savings of several thousand dollars if prices decline. The well being of your family and ability to concentrate on other imortant things is well worth your action at this time.

Investors ( speculators) are rapidly buying up innexpensive homes, short sales and bank owned.  One of two things can happen. First, they believe that our economy has reach bottom and that they can "flip" these homes for a profit. Second, the economy does not turn around and they have to once again let their investments go back to the bank.

An important factor to consider is the rental market. As homes are sold at a short sale or by a bank, the owners ( those that were not pure investors) will have to find another place to live. In certain areas of the metro Phoenix area, the rental market is very strong.That means that if you know what you are doing, investing in a rental home may be a good idea. Make sure you have enough reserve to last an economic downturn or a vacancy for several months.

An investors is prepared and understands the amount a money needed to survive with a real estate linvestment. In most casesm, such a person comes out ahead. The speculator is gambling on a much better tommorrow with leveraged cash and can bail out ( and leave us tax payers holding the bag) without regard for future liabilities.

Often when an agent is asked what he does for living and he/she says I sell real estate, an immediate wall goes up. People are afraid that they will be sold something they don't want.

At an open house, prospects walk in by themselves; first they say I am working with an agent (meaning don't bother me) or they don't want to share information about themselves.

I agree, perhaps you should be afraid. Most real estate agents take classes in "how to sell", " how to close"  and " how to prospect" and then they are sent out into the world to become a success.

If we had only 4,000 sales in the metro Phoenix area last month and we have over 50,000 agents, someone did not make a sale.

As a Certified Financial Planner and an acitve Real Estate Broker, I can offer a lot of insite to a buyer or seller. I feel that we must train our agents in budgeting, basic financial planning, retirement issues and basic business issues. First, it is a benefit to the agent to help plan their own life, and second, to better understand the needs of their clients. Not to give advice, but to understand their point of view and better help them with their real estate transaction.

Unfortunately, most real estate company owners only care about their bottom line and don't want to bother providing the right education to their agents and second, many agents feel that selling is a one dimension career.

Education is the key and until we offer it to our agents we will have the same high turnover in our industry.

Follow several area in the valley for trends. (Yes I can send  you a report on your area with sales for the last 5 months and what is currently on the market) I look at recent closings and the price of homes currently on the market. I am pleased to report that several areas seem to be increasing, not in the closed homes. but the newer listing appear to be a little higher. Now we need to follow these homes and see if they can sell close to their listing price.

The battle still goes on for the unemployed. Received a call from a frustrated home owner who lost his job three months ago and hired a "loan modification" firm to help him.After three months of paying for services his only result is that the perons hired to modify the loan can't get the lending instititution to call him back. like with anyone else you hire, please check references and success stories from past clients.

Let's talk before you get in such a serious situation.

When a home is sold at a short sale for $300,000 with an existing loan of over $800,000 there has to be something wrong with this picture. Even before the rapid increase in home prices this home was well worth around $500,000.

Have the banks been made  well by the stimules package and now don't care? If the banks stop giving homes away perhaps our economy can pull out of its tail spin.

Yes, many real estate agents are also buying into the depressed price mood and are making offers well below what market value should be.

if we don't put a stop to this then I don't know when we can reach bottom. It might take another 2 to 4 years. Hold tight on your price if you don't have to sell.

Today Bashas, largest no chain grocery story in Arizona, announced the closing of another 15 stores. Don't know the acutal full and part time people that lost their jobs, but i would guess it must be close to 500.

The residual fall out will affect real estate. I am suggesting that if you are selling a home that is not a short sale, that you realistically consider the market place and be ready to price your home to sell.

All offers should be considered serious and decisions have to be made, not from an emotional status, but from a realisitc economic viewpoint.

Have noticed a slight encouraging trend. It seems that short sales and bank owned properties are being bought at a faster pace. Even though buyers are looking for bargins, most "normal" sellers are holding to their price whenever possible. As the other homes are absorbed, prices should go up.

This is not going to be an overnight issue. I believe that within six months there will be a slight uptick in resale home prices.  Could something go wrong with this idea? If unemployemnt continues to rise then we may face another round of short sales and bank owned properties.

I believe that small businesses are the backbone of our recovery. Support small business in your area and if you are unemployed, consider starting a small business. visit www.solutionsbynick.com

A good place to start is with your current lender. If you don't take any money out you should be able to work out a loan modification. I met with a homeowner this morning that told me his current lender would not reduce his interest rate down from 8.5%.

Selecting a lender ( if yours won't work with you) requires the same process as selecting an agent to be your real estate advisor. There are many different type of lenders and reputation, experience and integrity are key factors in the selection process.

Please call me and I will give you the name of my own lender ( the one I use for my personal loans). I feel that he will give you an honest answer, although, it may not be the answer you want to hear. Regulations are making new loans and refinancing a much more difficult process in spite of what we hear in the news.

The market is picking up, but what is selling are the short sales and bank owned properties. Buyers are smart enough to realize the bargains that are available. Some homes have multiple offers, just as we had at the peak of the market. The big difference is the price. Most buyers today are very upfront in telling their agent that they want a bargain.

The media is feeding the frenzy; banks and appraisers are doing their part to keep prices low. We are seeing homes being "flipped again". We must be careful that we don't step from the frying pan into the fire.

My crystal ball is still fuzzy, but my experience ( 40 years) as a real estate broker and Certified Fianancial Planner ( 23 years) tells me that, now, more than ever, any decision to buy or sell must be given serious consideration.

Questions to go over: Why are you selling? Where will you move to? Can you stay in your current home for the next 7 to 10 years? What are your costs in buying a another home? What are the advantages?

I counsel my home buyers to select a home that they can live in for at least 7 to 10 years. That requires a look at the future of a location; neighborhood trends and future family lifestyle.

Don't just buy a home because the "price is right". Sell a home at a discount if it leads to a better future, peice of mind and perhaps financial security.

Don't make a decision alone; the family and a trusted advisor should be involved to help quide you through the difficult questions.

Heard on the news this morning that 25% of all homeowners are "upside down" (owe more than current home value). Now they are predicting that up to 50% oa all homeowners will be in that situation my the end of next year.

That is not the way to give buyers confidence in our market; it may also scare sellers into lowering prices. It sounds like a self fullfilling prophecy.

If you have to sell it's time to do some serious paperwork and project future needs.

The media has a tendancy to generalize statistical information and apply it equally to all segments of our market. In reality, the recent activity has been driven by short sales and bank owned properties being bought by first time buyers and investors.

For those of us that don't wish to participate in short sales or to represent bank owned properties, we still have to struggle to provide accurate information to the majority of owners who have not walked away from their properties and wish to honor a committment.

The so called fast dollar earned by those specializing in short sales do nothing to maintain, what should be, the true values in a neighborhood.

We still may have a way to fall in the price area. Everyday people are forced to make choices such as should I mail my keys back to the bank even though I can still afford the payment?

Lots of issues still exist. Even buying a home takes a lot more knowledge that looking for the least expensive home with the most updates.

We do a floor plan for every listing. It take time but buyers appreciate it. They can see how to place their furniture as well as seeing expansion possibilites.

It also helps them remember the listing becuase they may be looking at 10 to 20 listings in two days and will not remember any of them

Jen also does the editing and staging of a home with before pictures and suggestions on what needs to be corrected for showing purposes.

Other tools we use are take home virtual tours, and home books. Our new project is to create a WOW for potential buyers.

We want to be the "new" face of Real Estate. Come. experience the difference.

On one side you have the home seller and the listng agent, trying to maximixe a return. On the other side you have the buyers agent trying to prove to his client, the buyer, that they can get him a real bargain. Also on their side is the media crying doom and gloom; the appraiser who is afraid to give an honest opinion of value, for fear that it may be to hgh;

throw in the lender who is afraid ( or to busy) to make a loan and we still have a terrible market. I feel that it will take aother coukpe of years before we have any kind of order in the industry.

If you have to sell, be prepared to take less than you hope for. on the positive sie, you can make it up on your purchase.

Like with all other investment types, there are both good and bad investments within a given category. Real Estate does provide us a few opportunties but buying real estate onlyfor the sake of owning "an investment property" is usually a marginal if not a bad invesment.

 Within a metropolitan area there are pockets that have upside potential and many more that will usually cost you money. Research is the key: what is the history of the area,is it stable? Is there future commercial growth planned for the area? what is transportation like in and out of this area. How are the homes maintained?

Like with other investments, carefully study the credentials of you real estate advisor. Having a real estate license does not automatically make someone an expert. Ask for proof of past accomplishments/

Our goal is "To put work clothes on your dreams to help them become a reality". We want you to succeed.