Insurance companies sometimes cancel policies of homeowners who have trampolines in their yards. If only they knew about human slingshots.
Talking Up Shackprices
[photopress:galen_ward.jpg,full,alignright]Nathan of nPost just did a great interview with Galen on Shackprices… Lots of gold including some indication of Galen’s vision for the future for Shackprices!
What is your long-term plan for ShackPrices?
I would really like ShackPrices to be a national real-estate search website. Our goal is to make it for anyone in America to search for a home. The plan is national coverage, more features, and a better site for people to search for a home with.
Don’t stop with this quote… Go read the whole thing! 🙂
Whose client is it, anyway
Scenario: buyer says that they will be buying in 3 months. You say, perfect, let’s get you pre-approved so you’ll be ready by then. You believe the buyer until they call you 5 days later with the great news that they just bought new construction from a site agent! Aren’t you happy for them?
But before you get really mad [photopress:mad_face.JPG,thumb,alignright]and start telling your clients they didn’t have representation, consider the following and you’ll see it’s not black and white.
Most buyer’s agents hate new construction sites, especially those with site registration policies since they could lose their clients to the site agent. A few builders (notably an ex-agent on the Eastside, name will be supplied upon request!) will only pay the buyer agent 1% if the buyer goes to the site the first time without the agent (whether or not the buyer says they are working with said agent). But normally the site agent, if they are getting paid by the builder will be agent friendly and not give you a bad time and if you write it up, you’ll get paid.
The question is, can a site agent adequately represent a buyer?
The answer: It Depends. Here are the different models that I know about
1. Builder can hire an in house team, where the agents work for the builder, sometimes on salary and are generally the listing agent and are privvy to all the deals that have been written.
This is the best scenario for the builder since the agent can not go elsewhere to earn money. The agent isn’t paid if the site doesn’t sell. This agent is not able to represent a buyer.
2. Builder can sub-contract to a marketing team, say “company A”, where the listing agent again can not pick up clients and take them off site under any circumstance. If there is a buyer for whom that product does not fit, then the listing agent is encouraged to refer that buyer to one of the team of agents who is associated with Company “A” but not a site agent. The site agent, the builder and “company A” each share in the referral portion of the commission if the referral agent sells the client. These agents are labeled buyers agents and are often on site to meet with buyers, but first the listing agent must be thoroughly convinced that their site is not a fit for this buyer. This can be a great source of buyer clients for the referral agent although there is a stiff referral fee Not as good for the builder, except for his 1/3 share of the referral fee since there’s not any incentive to sell the builder product especially if the client wants to come back to the site, the referral agent will not get the sale. Can this work for the buyer? I’d say, maybe but there’s the big problem with going back to the original site to buy in which case the referral agent won’t get paid and may try to talk the buyer out of this.
3. Builder can sub-contract to a marketing team, say company “B”. Here, the listing agent is not the agent that puts in time at the site. The listing agent represents the seller and hires a staff of agents out of company offices that are buyer’s agents. These agents may get a couple hundred per door, but they say they are buyer’s agents and in general are not privy to insider information. These agents will likely have a sign, “buyer agent” on their desk and should advocate for their buyer in any discussions with the seller. However, if this agent continues to work the seller for price considerations, etc, you can be pretty sure the builder will ask for the removal of that agent. So, I still see a conflict of interest here. If the agent consistently works on one builder’s site, then I’d wonder to whom loyalty is given.
4. Builder can sub-contract to a single listing agent. In this case, the listing agent is probably too small to have much of a program in place for a team of site agents. They might casually bring other agents in to the site just to pick up buyers and to work when the listing agent doesn’t. If the site is small, this is often the case. The listing agent in this case is often the agent that brought the builder the land. The buyer’s agent rarely know anything about inside information and are on site simply to help buyers. I call this Site fill in work: This is a great avenue for prospecting for a buyer but I’ve never understood why a builder would want to have his site full of agents who earn an SOC either off or on site. At the first negative hint that a buyer might not like the builder product, the agent whips out the computer and starts showing buyer other properties. If I were the builder, I would be looking for 2 person listing teams to cover all shifts. Does this work for the buyer? [photopress:j0400346.jpg,thumb,alignright]If the buyer meets the fill in buyers agent and connects, I believe this is a great situation for a buyer without an agent already, otherwise you’ll be working against the site agent for this client. The site agent can represent the buyer possibly better than a non site agent because they know the plat and product better and presumably know new construction better. That agent owes no allegiance to the builder and can very well advocate for that buyer. For instance,understanding how a builder addendum and limited warranty really affects a buyer isn’t something most agents are familiar with. Did you know that one very prominent builder requires the first buyer to hold the builder harmless if there is a sale before 4 years and the second buyer is part of a class action law suit? Would the average agent understand those 12 pages of builder addendum well enough to read this and have their buyer consider the repercussions? and to realize there is often an automatic removal of the financing contingency in 2 weeks?
So before buyers or other agents decide how bad it is for a buyer to choose to work with an agent they met on site, first you have to know the relationship of that agent to the seller and in some instances, I think the site agent makes a very strong buyer’s agent. So best move is to tell your buyers ahead of time what will happen when they go to a new construction site without you and study those builder contracts. I used to give out a blue “buyer passport” book that had a spot for my business cards and a place where the buyers could write down each site they visited. That way, you’ve gotten a step ahead of them and it makes a great opening for the “watch out for the site agent” speech.
Copper thefts on the rise – a new threat to vacant homes for sale or rent
The local NWMLS has posted a notice to its members that I’ve pasted in below:
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Snohomish County Copper Pipe Thefts
January 19, 2007. NWMLS has received reports that copper piping has been cut away and stolen from the crawl spaces under several vacant homes in the Everett vicinity. Many of these crawl spaces were not secure, allowing easy access. A police report has been filed with Everett city police (Case #DD071461). Please notify local law enforcement if you see any suspicious activity.
For those that don’t know the price of copper has skyrocketed and there are many people stealing copper (and other metals) from locations like vacant houses. Recyclers typically don’t verify the source of where these scrap metals come from so it’s up to homeowners to be careful and make sure their properties are kept safe.
This isn’t just a local issue to Everett, it’s a problem throughout Puget Sound and nationwide. My parents own rental properties in Kansas and they were the victim of just such a theft from one of their vacant rental units this past fall. It cost them a lot of money to replace all the copper piping in the house, and unforeseen expense that can wreak havoc on annual profits from rental ownership.
10 Great Interview Questions for Agents
The Dumb Little Man (who is anything but…) just listed 10 questions he asked real estate agents along with the answers he got and the answers he wanted to hear.
How are you going to advertise my home?
Why are you saying my home is worth $400K when I think its worth $325K?
Is your realty company placing pictures on your website and other listing services?
Will you be at the closing or will you send a lackey?
Show me your municipal reporting on the area?
What are your stats?
How accessible are you?
What is your commission?
How can I prepare to show my home?
Can I have the names and phone numbers of the last 3 people that listed with you?
Note that this blog post got picked up by lifehacker and there are some interesting conversations going on over there as well…
Update: Just noticed I was a little behind on this story as it was already covered by both Jonathan and Erik. 🙂
A bit of staging magic goes a long way
This past weekend I attended a three hour class on staging. I was motivated to take the class because, as a real estate photographer, it helps to understand something about staging a property as agents frequently defer to me over last minute details of the home staging when I am on site doing the shoot. It’s not part of my job description but many agents have come to expect it and I do enjoy surveying a room and making simple, and quick, recommendations. I am fascinated by the psychology of staging and the dramatic changes staging can have on our perception and impression of a property.
Prospective buyers largely lack the imagination to see what one can do with a space so the seller, listing agent and/or stager need to provide it for them and hopefully do it well. In some cases it may be adding, subtracting or both. Immediately after my class I had a shoot that the listing agent had requested a few new photos as they had redone the staging since the original shoot. I think this is a great example of how a few changes really add considerably to the appeal of this condo. I especially appreciate the accent wall which was easy and inexpensive but really makes this condo, or at least the photo, look so much more inviting.
And to just pass along a tip to realtors from the class I took, get rid of dead vegetation in the landscaping. Especially in the front of the house. I walked by a home for sale in my neighborhood and I saw some dead plantings and I could see how detracting it was from the impression, or curb appeal, of the property.
I’d also recommend checking out Barb Schwarz’s existing book on staging and/or pre-ordering her new one that will be available in May.
Learn as much as you can about staging, regardless of who does it.
Your seller, (and photographer) will love you for it.
Before:
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After:
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Rolling with Grow-a-Brain
I’ve been a little slow to recover from a wonderful weekend!
We had a little gathering for my son’s 1st birthday and I got the treat of meeting one of my favorite bloggers in the world.
Hanan (the magical man behind Grow-a-brain) showed up with his lovely girlfriend. I really had a blast catching up with Hanan and he helped make it a memorable party!
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Going way back… I can remember the first time he linked to RCG and it made me feel like I was on top of the world! He really is a great guy!
Affordable Condos or Cheap Apartments — Who's choice is it?
I’m not typically one to go on about property owner’s rights vs government(s) ability to control code enforcement and reasonable use of property without infringing on others. I think active involvement in zoning, environmental protection, etc are way too important for market forces only. But when the politicians start butting in without thinking about the unintended consequences it’s time to speak up.
For the last couple years we’ve all heard a lot of complaints about the shortage of affordable home ownership in and around Seattle. At the same time, it’s been a dismal market for landlords as the rental market has been very low. Given that situation, wouldn’t you do what a lot of apartment owners are doing — go condo. Better return for the owner and it increases the supply of available equity housing in the market.
From an article in the Seattle Times, Condo Wave leaves renters battered, apparently State Senator Ken Jacobson believes those evil property owners shouldn’t be allowed to put their real estate to it’s highest best use. Apparently we must stand up for low-rents, tenant rights over landlords and above all no more development. Let potential homeowners look farther away from the city to live — they can afford it. Ok, I’m exaggerating and ranting – but figure out the obvious. They’re not eliminating housing — just switching it to the ownership market.
If you live in Washington State, please be sure to check out the Seattle Times article and contact Senator Jacobson with your opinion on his proposed legislation. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in the Senate Consumer Protection and Housing committee, so don’t wait.
Photo Editing – Too Much Ceiling!
Every real estate agent needs to know a little about photo editing. But not so much that they start taking out wires and trees from the view shot 🙂
The ethics of photo editing for real estate purposes, should be a “clock hour class”. Jillayne? If it IS already, I’d love to sit in on one of those. I sometimes have the hardest time explaining to agents how much they can edit, and how much they cannot.
Craig Schiller, founder of Real Estaging wrote an excellent article this week called “Set Your Sites Low (talking about camera angle) – To Raise Your Standards”. Below are a dozen of the 50 or more shots he found on the mls in his area, with too much ceiling.
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Personally, I find it is more about editing the shot after you get home, than it is to “lower your sites” at the time you take the picture. I use HP Image Zone, which I find to be very user friendly, and does not have the features that can help you erase real features of the home, like telephone wires in the view.
All brokers should be recommending the correct software to their agents, to insure quality photos, without unethical modifications. Cropping is good. Brightness and light enhancements is good (assuming new owners could bring in more lamps and better lighting than current owners). Any software that has basic editing skills will enhance the agent’s value to the consumer. Point, shoot and upload is no longer “the order of the day”.
"Honey, how come you're taking so long to read the real estate section today?"
Today’s top story here in Seattle is about scantily clad baristas serving your latte with more than just whip cream on top. The ethics of using sex to sell are debatable but the results are not. The NYTimes reported on this trend in the real estate industry last July. Here’s the link but the site will ask you to register for free with an email address.
You can look at this story from many perspectives which are keeping our local talk radio show hosts busy. My perspective is as follows. First, to those who critique the business owners for using sex to sell, business owners have been doing this for decades. Why else do title and escrow companies continue to put hottie women in the field with no knowledge of title and escrow? Second, leave the lingerie dressed women there for at least a few more days, so I can drive through with my two daughters and show them the type of job they can look forward to if they decide to skip college. Third, I’m hoping another espresso business owner decides to go after the opposite market. Staff it with Ashton or Brad Pitt look-a-like, shirtless, hotties and I will bet that you’ll triple your profits….from both women AND men customers. If the final product is bad, coffee addicted folks here will not give these businesses more than a few weeks of fleeting fame.
In the spirit of satire, let’s see how this concept plays out in our industry. The following youtube videos are rated PG13. Enjoy.