Hawaii Randy's Real Estate Opinions

Last week I attended the CRS Sell-a-bration in San Francisco.  The Sell-a-bration is a gathering of some of the top agents in the country.  We spent 3 days of classes, conference session with top speakers and some fun social mixers.  During the conference I picked up several pearls.  One that I truly liked was the phrase: "A Pricing War and a Beauty Contest."

When describing the sale process to a potential home seller, this phrase sums it up in the best direct way I can think of.

In most parts of the country we are in a buyer's market.  There is a good selection of inventory and prices are either flat or slipping depending on the area and type of property.  With that said, what will make you home sell before the others in your neighborhood?

You have to win the beauty contest plain and simple.  When the buyers walk in did you grab them?  If they liked what they saw did the price scare them off and send them down the street?  This is one of the hardest concepts for many sellers.  They have lived in this home.  Raised their family and have had so many great memories here.  Their friends and neighbors have all told them their home is worth so much more than all the others in the neighborhood.  Let me clear things up for you.  It is not!  Friends and family will tell you that to be supportive.  Neighbors have a conflict of interest.  They are hoping you will raise their property value by selling at a higher price.

To keep it simple, when you are getting your home ready for sale remember you are entering a Pricing War and  Beauty Contest.

Rules of the game: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

To do this, go to the "notes" tab on your profile page, click on "write new note," paste these instructions into the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the upper right hand corner, then click "publish".
I don't know what else I can reveal that wasn't on Active Rain. Here is 25 pieces of crap rolling around in my brain that you are just *dying* to know:

1. My lovely wife Darnelle ahs the ability to put up with me, which makes her exceptional. She was born and raised in Central Oahu. We have two sons one in 12th grade and one in second grade.
2. For Christmas I bought the video game Rock Band® for my sons. I have since got hooked on playing with my family. I like the guitar best. My wife was not happy I bought it. Now she plays too.
3. Many years ago I played tournament 9-ball. I also sold custom pools cues and was part owner of a small pool cue factory for a short time. My personal cue was custom made for me and was nicknamed Doom, my break stick was called Boom. (Boom and Doom). I gave up the game several years ago.
4. I have a weird sense of humor. I can pull your leg and keep a straight face throughout.
5. Love to play Texas Holdem. Possibly my ability to keep a straight face gives me an edge in Poker. I win a lot more than I lose at our weekly game.
6. I lost 220 lbs a couple of years ago. It took me 12 months to do it. Since then I gained back 20lbs of it. Most people think I lost more weight. I am setting a goal of losing the 20 back off by summer.
7. For the last 13 years I have taught chess mostly to children at the local recreation center. I am president of the Hawaii Chess Federation, organize many of the chess tournaments on the island and head up the chess in the Schools program. Both of my sons have won state titles. My wife used to have the e-mail address of ChessWydow. She now has ChessMom.
8. Love rock music. My favorite groups were: Led Zepplin, Van Halen, Foreigner, Fog Hat, Rush and Gun N Roses.
9. Born in Wisconsin and grew up in Chicago. I moved to Hawaii in 1981 and call it home. Everywhere else is a place to visit.
10. A regular listener of talk radio. Some of my favorite shows are: Bruce Williams and Kim Komando.
11. I volunteer with several community groups and sit and a few boards and commissions. I am a state civil defense commissioner for Hawaii.
12. Being a fiscal and social conservative, I believe that government is almost always the problem and not the solution. I am generous and believe in helping those who need help, but not creating a dependant class of citizens. I feel the best place for your hard earned money is in your pocket and not the governments.
13. I was tagged by Chris Griffith who hates lima beans and beets. We have that in common. I would gag if beet juice got on my plate.
14. Originally licensed to sell real estate in 1982. I got into to the printing industry and spent most of the years in between selling machinery band supplies there. 6 years ago I got back into real estate and plan to do it until retirement.
15. Active Rain has been one of my favorite places on the internet. It has changed the way real estate professionals communicate with each other and the public. I have attended several gatherings of its members.
16. I am new to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. They are proving to be a great way to meet people, and for folks to find me.
17. Great movies need to have: humor, violence and sex. Two of the three are required for a good movie. I love movies that are entertaining and refuse to pay for someone to push a political agenda to me.
18. I sell real estate and love what I do. I am good at it and constantly take classes to get better. My greatest reward is seeing the faces on first time home buyers when I hand them the keys. I feel extremely honored to work with many of our military families. I am so proud of and grateful for what they do for all of us.
19. Some of my favorite movies are: Animal House, Caddy Shack, Rudy, Ferris Bueller's Day off.
20. Was the first of my friends to own a personal computer. I remember turning it on and watching the curser waiting for it to do something. It had two floppy drives and no hard drive.
21. Love pizza and chili. As I have gotten older I have to avoid the beans. You can figure that one out. Italian, Chinese and Mexican and my favorite types of food.
22. After many years of not going to the beach, I have gotten hooked on skin diving again.
23. After several years of not reading any books I got back into reading again. My most recent and favorite was, "Real Estate the Rome Way." It was written by fellow Active Rain blogger Margaret Rome.
24. My favorite weekend activity is attending my sons sporting events. When I was younger I played several sports and no can live vicariously through them.
25. Besides the many hats I wear I recently became a mediator and ombudsman for the Board of REALTORS®.

I regularly get approached by friends, family members and clients who are thinking about becoming a real estate agent.

After all, I make it look so easy and they see my face all over the place.  I must be making big bucks and not having to work very hard for it; right?  Isn't that the impression we give others when we are successful at we do?

Professionals have a habit of making the process look easy.  We shield our clients from most of the stress and strain we go through to make it all come together.  We shove papers in front of our sellers a few times and say sign. A few open houses and an inspection or two and they get their check.  How hard could that be?  They are sure they could do it. 

Buyers think we drive around, show a few houses and then in a month or two deliver them the keys.

If we are good at what we do, we make it look easy to the outside world.  The truth is being a REALTOR® is not an easy job.  It requires a lot of training, a lot of hard work and dedication, a lot of expenses and all with no guarantee of getting a pay check.

Ed Hatch is one of my favorite CRS instructors.  He claims to do what we do, you have to be a little crazy.  Think about it:

• We go to school to qualify for a license.
• We pay a few thousand dollars for the license and the various REALTOR® associations.
• Pay for E&O Insurance.
• Purchase business cards.
• Pay for the needed training to learn how to do the business.
• Get tax licenses, etc.
• Pay for marketing (which isn't cheap).
• Work floor duty.
• Sit open houses.

All of that before we even get our first client.  Once we get our first client we are still looking at a minimum of a month or two before the first pay check comes in.  Are you starting to agree with Ed?  You have to be a bit crazy to do what we do.

So let's say I haven't scared you and you've decided to be one of us.  You will be joining one of the most noble of all professions:  A professional REALTOR®.  Where should you start?

I just read probably the best book I have seen for someone thinking of entering the real estate profession or is new to the business.  Heck, I have been fairly successful in real estate and I still enjoyed the book and got a few great ideas from it.  The book is:  Real Estate the Rome Way by Margaret Rome.

So if I haven't scared you off from joining the world of real estate, you should seriously consider reading Margaret's book.  You will get guidance to help ensure a good start.

Good Luck and Good Reading!

I was thinking about an experience I had on Christmas a couple years ago. 

I got a call from an agent who wanted to show one of my listings on Christmas.  They not only wanted to show it that day they wanted to show it on short notice.  The same year that happened, I read a similar account from another agent on Active Rain.

What would you do?  I told them I could not make the appointment for them, but could schedule them for another day.  It is Christmas and my clients have guests over.  The seller's asked for no showings for the couple of days while they had guests, which I posted in the listing under showing instructions. 

Not accepting my response he pressed me further, all but demanding I call me clients and interrupt their holiday gathering.  I declined to make the phone call, which made him irritated.  I said it is Christmas and I will not disturb them.  After making some unpleasant remarks about professionalism and religion he hung up.  I never heard of the agent before that day and have never seen or heard of him since.   I am guessing may not still be in the business.

I wonder how many listing agents would have actually called their clients.

As we get to the end of another year a few things will change.  One of them is the Basic Housing Allowance for our active duty troops stationed in Honolulu County (Island of Oahu).  The rates had a slight decrease from the 2008 levels.  Those who are already stationed here will be grandfathered in at the previous rate. BAH in Honolulu County is much higher than most parts of the country.  Coupled with VA Mortgages, buying a home is a viable option for our troops in Hawaii.

2009 Military Housing Allowance Monthly BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) for Honolulu County.

The VA mortgage cap for 100% financing in Honolulu County is: $783,750.  (Larger amounts will require some down payment.)

• E=       enlisted
• W=       warrant officers
• O-1E= officers with enlisted experience
• O-1=   commissioned officers with no prior enlisted experience

If you are active duty or a former member of the military and interested in learning how to buy a home utilizing your VA benefits on Oahu; I would be pleased to help you get started.

If you are civilian and wondering what programs are available for you to buy your first home, please feel free to contact me.

My services are normally free to buyers.

This is an extremely insightful post from one of the respected mortgage industry folks from Las Vegas.  I think Esko hit it on the head.  Those who ran around causing a major part of the sub-prime mortgage problems are using similar tactics today with FHA financing.

One thing that stands out about a real estate professional is their ability to keep their cool under pressure.  The process of buying or selling real estate can be a very stressful process.  Buyers are sellers in many cases are dealing with the most expensive thing in their life.  Rarely does a real estate transaction happen with a curve ball or two.   When this happens we separate the professionals from the amateurs.

The professionals are those who see these are challenges or just part of the process.  The amateurs are stressed out, acting badly or just shutting down.  As the real estate markets cooled down the chances of a transaction having complications has increased tremendously.

The lenders have tightened their requirements.  Buyers are looking for bigger and better deals and everyone is scrutinizing every document more carefully than ever before.  In many areas new lending and consumer protection laws have been added to further complicate the process.  To throw added stress into the mix there are real estate agents and loan officers who have seen a drop in business, many have taken on other jobs and are doing this part time; many are pushing much too hard to try and get that next commission.

In the last year I have seen:

1. Real estate agents selling their own properties and breaking rule after rule.
2. Sellers hiding defects in their properties.
3. Buyer's agents pushing clients into bad situations, just to close the deal.
4. Buyers trying to renegotiate the contract after already in escrow.
5. Lenders changing the requirements in the middle of the transaction.
6. Tempers flying from all sides when a transaction hits a speed bump.
7. Loan officers giving bogus loan approval letters to get it in escrow, and then trying to move the buyer to another type of loan or try to get the seller to give additional concessions.

While others are freaking out, you will be able to spot the true professionals.  They will be keeping their cool, playing by the rules and getting the job done.

In a recent blog post I discussed the volume of spam I receive every day: An Internet Thanksgiving Gift

When responding to a comment it hit me.  Too many folks out there do not seem to know basic etiquette when it comes to sending e-mail.

Here are some basics that everyone should know if they plan to send out messages for their business or group.  If you want to win friends and influence people, you will not do it by irritating or harming folks.

• Keep the message quick and simple.  No one wants to read the encyclopedia.
• Avoid sending attachments unless you are transmitting a document they are expecting.  Even then there are services that you can post them on the net and send them a download link.  This avoids overloading their e-mail account.
• If you are sending to multiple parts, use the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) command.  If you show the names of everyone on your list you open them up to spam from others.
• Be sure your computer is virus free at all times.  If you want make a lot of folks angry, send them a virus.
• Do not send the same people too many messages.  Daily stuff is a great way to tick them off.  If you are selling homes, know it off with the unrelated stuff like pumpkin pie recipes.  You are already filling my box with the same junk 10 other people are sending me about the market, the last thing I need is 10 more message with the latest pumpkin pie recipe.
• Before you send any message, ask yourself a simple question.  What would your reaction be if this was sent to you?
• Provide an unsubscribe button and honor it!!! 

There are several real estate agents in my area who are bombing my e-mail box with every listing and open house in their office nearly daily.  I have hit the unsubscribe button and e-mailed them to stop.  The flood just keeps coming.  Guess how bad I want to work with them in the future?

It is a matter of common sense and common decency.  Follow the golden rule.

Here is another blog article on a similar topic:  A Changing Market is No Excuse for Bad Behavior

I am thankful for the same things as most everyone else, family friends, etc.

This morning I logged on to the computer to check e-mail and found something new to be thankful for.  Instead of the usual 100-200 spam messages in the In-Box and junk-folder there were less than 12.  Even the spammers take the holiday off.  Instead of wasting 15 minutes checking my junk folder for an accidental good messages and my In-Box for spams; it took less than 30 seconds.

So they left me with more time for my family and the football games.  For that I am truly thankful.  If I had one wish, that would be for the spammers to take a 4 day weekend like the rest of the world.

PS.  About 40 of those daily spams are agents sending me their listings.  Most of them outside the areas I service.

I was speaking to a real estate agent from another state and he was venting about his experience dealing with a short sale.  After 6 months in escrow and next to action from the lender he is told that the loss mitigation guy who was working the file had 3800 files to work.  Let me say that again 3800 files!

I am not a rocket scientist, but logic tells me that if you truly want to move these properties you would bring in some warm bodies to work these files.  There is no shortage of out of work loan officers and real estate agents who are more than qualified to process paperwork.  The time they are sitting on the market is losing value at a greatly higher rate than it would cost to hire a few more employees.

So what could be their motivation for so little action?

• Could it be that they are delaying showing the losses on their books?
  • Would their bonuses be directly impacted by that?
  • Are they trying to withhold the full truth from their stock holders?
• Are they trying to break the housing market even more to get more of the bailout money?
• Are they just that incompetent?

No matter how you explain what the big banks are doing, their lack of action is causing the problem to get worse.  The amount of time these homes sit and rot on the market is causing everyone else's homes to drop in value around them.  They are making the purchase of one of these short sale, pre foreclosure or REO homes so painful that most buyers and real estate agents try to avoid them.

They are causing so much harm to others and entire communities by their actions or lack of actions; it may only be a matter of time before some legal types see a way to make a buck and go after them.