Hawaii Randy's Real Estate Opinions: August 2008

The 2008 Hawaii State Open Chess Championships will be held this weekend at the Outrigger Ohana East Hotel.  Even if you are not playing you are welcome to come as a spectator.  they will also be practice games going on.  See you this weekend!

• Randy L. Prothero
• President, Hawaii Chess Federation
• www.HawaiiChess.org

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Single section tournament...everyone's competing for first place!*

*Hawai'i residents only eligible for title of "champion"

Hawai'i State Championship

USCF membership required; available at the door or, at a discount, https://secure.uschess.org/webstore/index.php (be sure to bring your USCF membership card or something that includes your ID number)

• 5 Round Swiss
• Time Control:         All rounds at G/120.
• EF:                       $30 if rec'd by 8/27, $40 thereafter. Jrs. $5 less.
• Registration:         (Sat. 8/30)       8:00am - 8:45 am
• Round Times:         (Sat. 8/30)       Round 1: 9:00 am (accelerated pairings)
•                                                   Round 2: 1:30 pm  (accelerated pairings)
•                             (Sun. 8/31)      Round 3: 9:00am
•                                                   Round 4: 1:30pm
•                             (Mon. 9/1)       Round 5: 9:00am

Up to two half-point byes permitted if requested prior to beginning of Round 3.)

 Bring boards, sets and clocks none will be provided / you must know how to set your clock / you must keep score /

you must bring your own writing instrument (or MonRoi device) to use in keeping score / embedded electronic receiving devices are expressly prohibited / cell phones must be turned to silent, off or vibrate / TD reserves the right to involuntarily and without notice, consistency or refund withdraw anyone from the tournament for cheating, arguing with the TD or talking too loudly...these rules notwithstanding, everyone should have fun!

Checks/Entries payable:

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        • Hawai'i Chess Federation
        • c/o Larry Reifurth
        • 1572 Kaminaka Drive, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96816
          (808) 225-0599
        • E-mail: larry@hawaii.rr.com

Here are a few of the ones that I could live without.

• The signs that say "We Buy Homes"
  • Liars
• 100% Commission
  • Get serious, you have to make money somehow.  How about a bunch of other fees?
• #1 or Best Agent
  • I know a 100 of you.  You can't all be #1
• FSBO
  • That is "For Sale by Owner."  Stop trying to dehumanize someone who tries to sell their own home.  Most will not be successful and will need an agent.  It will probably be one who did not talk down to them.
• Priced to Sell
  • Thank God, I hate the ones that are priced not to sell.
• Motivated Seller
  • The others don't want to sell their homes?
• Will consider all offers
  • How about $5.00?  The guy at the get rich quick seminar said I can buy them for that.  It only cost me $2995.00 to learn how.
• Cute Home
  • Admit it, it is tiny.
• A Charmer
  • Bring on the Cobras.
• A one of a Kind
  • Why did they stop making them like that?
• Must See!
  • What will happen if I close my eyes?
  • How does it smell?
• Don't Miss This One!
  • Hmm, I bet it is a must see.

Feel free to add a few of your own favorites.

The amazing youngsters from Hawaii are the 2008 Little League World Series Champions!

How could they top the amazing game on Saturday where they entered the last inning down 5-1 to lake Charles, Louisiana.  The Hawaii team then put on a hitting clinic with a six run rally to win 7-5.  I was jumping out of my chair cheering.  It was better than watching the Olympics.

Well they found a way top that by beating Mexico 12-3 in the final game.  Good pitching and great hitting made the difference for them in the series. 

There were many great moments in the series.  The one we will all remember was in the game against Mill Creek, Washington when Lolani Akau pinch hit a home run.  What made this amazing was he got hit by a pitch in the opening game and had a fracture in his elbow.  He will have stories to tell his grandchildren about that amazing home run.

We are all so proud of the team for not only winning but by showing wonderful sportsmanship throughout the tournament and representing Hawaii so proudly.

Congratulations to the team, the coaches and the parents for doing such a wonderful job of preparing these terrific young men.

**For those who didn't know our Hawaii team from Ewa Beach won the Little League World Series in 2005.

We are finally receiving our SentriLock, REALTOR® Electronic Lockboxes.  Next week I will be receiving delivery and training on the long awaited devices.

This will give us more control over who is accessing our listings, while keeping a log od its use.  When an agent makes a showing appointment and does not show up we will have a log.  If they come back later, yup it will be in the report.

This new system will give sellers more peace of mind.  it will also improve the process for showing listings.

In the last month I had three closes of listings where the agents gave my code to their clients to let them get in on the closing day, rather than going out and presenting them the key.  In one case the buyer took my box and I had to demand their agent get it back.  I had to change the codes on my other listings now that my code was shared so freely.

Now that will be a problem of the past.  Agents will need a smart card and a pin number to gain access.  If I agree to let their clients enter, I can issue them a one day code that will allow them in that day only and they will not be able to remove the box.

The agents who have not bought into the system will find they will be behind the rest of us and soon their clients will be demanding they get up to date.  The smart card will also serve as our Board of REALTORS® identification card in the future.

Once I get them on my listings I will post an update of how the conversion is going.

Tomorrow the Division Champion Mililani High School Trojans will face private school powerhouse St. Louis Crusaders in a pre-season game at Mililani Stadium.

The JV teams take the field at 4:00pm followed by the varsity game at 7:00pm.  Head Coach Darnell Arceneaux has been training the Trojans exceptionally hard and has them ready for this extremely tough opponent.  We are all looking forward to an exciting season.

The season roster and schedule is posted on the team's website.  http://www.MililaniFootball.com

GO TROJANS!

Scenarios:

• You the REALTOR®, you walk into a potential listing and the home has a few (hundred) too many items in the house.  What do you say to the seller?
• The seller wants $75,000 more than the home is worth.  Do you tell them the advice they got from their hairdresser neighbor or uncle from another town is a mile off?
• The house is dirty, messy and has a bad smell (Big Dog).  Do you say lovely home, I am sure it will sell fast or do you tell it to them straight?
• The orange bathroom walls and hot pink bedroom carpet is not going to be popular among buyers.  Do you say lovely choice of colors or do you talk about neutralizing?

These are among some of the basics we as REALTORS® deal with on a daily basis.  If you are a professional, you need to be honest and tell them the truth up front.  You also need to be diplomatic and not hurt feelings or insult anyone.  You are speaking about their home.  You are however an expert and they brought you in to help them, not stroke their ego.

Being professional includes preparing clients for the process ahead and keeping them informed.  I tell clients I would rather tell them the truth up front and not stand in front of them three months from now making lame excuses.  A true test of a professional is you ability to say no without insulting someone.  Most people understand no.  What really makes them angry is being mislead and later having to deal with the damages.

We are dealing with the most expensive item in their lives in most cases and we need to treat it as such.

To address clutter, I discuss making the space look as big as we can.  I also talk about what they loved about the home when they bought it and discuss how we can make the home better show that to potential buyers.  We also need to allow buyers to envision the home with their stuff in it.  If the walls are filled with family pictures and shelves have a ton of collectables they will not be able to place themselves in there.  In some cases bringing in a professional stager may be the solution.  If the seller does not except my advice, they may accept it from a staging professional.

The pet question is a big one.  Many pet owners are immune to the smell.  I delicately discuss that many buyers do not have pets and detect the smell easily.  I also mention that many buyers and/or their children have allergies to pet dander and fur.  Hopefully when I begin the discussion, they pick up on it and make it easier for me.

The loud colors I handle with my famous speech about staging.  I tell sellers there is two ways to stage a home.  We can stage it to live in it and we can stage it to sell.  Staging to sell requires that we neutralized and depersonalize.  I have had a few clients resist by telling my how much they love something.  In the most tactful way I can I remind them they are not going to be living here and we need to prepare it for the new owners.  In most cases the sellers have gone with my suggestions and we have had a successful sale.  In two cases they held their guns and the sell price was less than I felt we might have gotten, and it took longer to sell.  In both cases, I gave my professional advice and then accepted the seller's decision.  It is their home and their choice in the end. 

If sellers are completely unreasonable are not willing to price the home within reason or make any effort to make it sellable, I then do the most professional thing I can.  I do not take the listing.  This is hard for most agents to do, but there are times when you will not be able to help them.

In one case where I rejected a listing, the seller respected me for doing it and agreed to my recommendations.  To this day we are good friends and has not only been a repeat client, but has sent me referrals.

Good luck and good selling!

The consumers in general are looking for the best agents they can find.  They are dealing with the most expensive thing in their lives and do not want to put it in the hands of someone inexperienced.

I bet you are saying, is he disproving the title of this article?  I said can have an advantage, not does have an advantage.  So now that we agree that new agents have a distinct disadvantage, how do we make lemonade from those lemons?

Let's start with one advantage a new agent may have.  Having no or few other clients, they have more free time to dedicate to them and their listings.

What can a new agent do to get up and running quickly?

1. Consider teaming up with an experienced agent.  You now remove the objection of inexperience and the clients get the best of both worlds.  I seasoned experienced agent and a new energetic one who will dedicate a lot of time to them.
2. Take advantage of all cheap or free opportunities.
   1. Car door magnets and window lettering.
   2. Business cards and refrigerator magnets (you can buy peal off magnets at the office supply store and apply them to your business cards).
   3. Wear you name badge or have you tag embroidered on shirts.  Wear them every chance you get.
   4. BLOG!!!  Active Rain is free and a great way for clients to meet you.
   5. Door to door canvassing.  Create a newsletter or market report and deliver them door to door.  Shoe leather is cheaper than postage and more personal.
   6. Sit other agent's open houses and have handouts and marketing materials to hand out.
   7. Sit all the floor time you can get.
   8. Send out press releases to local newspapers.
   9. Build a professional website.  If you can not market yourself, how will you ever market their home?  Clients are on the internet and they are checking you out.
3. I know the conventional wisdom is to chase FSBOs (For Sale By Owners).  In some areas like mine, every fresh agent out of school is bugging the daylights out of them.  They have been told by a dozen green agents why they are idiots for trying it on their own.  If anything I would visit the FSBOs in person to preview their home and be friendly.  I always carry a copy of my market report for their neighborhood and share with them a copy.  I never push them for a listing, especially on a first visit.  There is a reason why they are not using an agent.  After being attacked by the green pea agents their resolve is probably stronger than before.
4. Expired listings are another source every real estate school teaches you to go after.  They are also getting bombed by the green peas.  There is a reason their home did not sell.  Many times it is because they were simply over priced.  If the last agent could not get them to price it right, what will you do differently?  Also they are probably extremely annoyed by the volume of contacts they are getting.
5. This is probably the most important item on the list.  HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN!  This is a business, if you do not have a written plan, what you do have is a plan to fail.

We all had to start from a stand still when we entered the business.  When I started I had to overcome the objections of potential clients.  It was not easy, it took hard work and dedication.

One last tip for new agents:

Make education a key component in your business plan.  Designations will help build you credibility in the market place. 

In my area I am seeing a shift in attitude from consumers.  They are hiring the best agents they can find.

When the market was hot, many sellers looked for price above service.  They felt any idiot could sell their home.  Real estate companies offering limited services began to pop up.  They attracted mostly inexperienced agents and prospered.  Some of them opened second and third offices here locally.

As the market shifted, many limited service companies and agents became less successful.  Many of their listings sat and rotted.  Those that sold took longer and their clients required more help and time.  Many of their agents have left and are leaving the business or moving to full service companies.  Some began to close offices and consolidate.  Recently a large local, limited service company changed their business model to full service and did away with flat fees.  They also changed their name and their name.

The market goes through cycles.  We are in a cycle were homes are not selling as easily as they did a couple of years ago.  In a changing market real estate agents and companies need to be at the top of their game to succeed:

• Homes are taking longer to sell.
• Marketing is more expensive.
• Sellers need better guidance, through the entire process.
• Home preparation and pricing is critical.  If the home is positioned wrong it simply will not sell.
• Sellers need increased and improved services:
  • Home staging
  • High end photography.
  • Better printed materials.
  • Virtual tours and websites
  • More open houses
  • Increased advertising of their homes.
• Consumers are checking you out.  They want the best they can find.
  • They demand full time professionals who are dedicated to selling their home; not someone who is doing this on the side.
  • They are looking for designations and accomplishments.  Consumers are reading about them on the internet and know what they are.
  • They are looking for neighborhood experts who are moving the homes in their area.
  • They are getting referrals from their friends and families instead of quotes.
  • Consumers are checking out your website and reading your blog posts.
  • Sellers are looking at how you are marketing your other listings.

Do I believe we will be seeing the death of the limited service business model in my market?  Absolutely not!  Several will survive this market, many will die.  The same is true of full service companies who may not have been at the top of their game.

When the cycle changes again and homes are flying off the MLS quicker than you can buy an ad in the newspaper, the various business models will be thriving again and popping up all over the place.  Every hair dresser and fast food worker will be racing out to get a real estate license.  Those of us who do this professionally will still be here. We will be thriving as we did in the tougher market, but will have even more war stories about what the agent on the other side of our transaction just did.  We will also have tons of material to write about in our blog posts.

There once was a president's mother who said if she had a $Million she would hire a hit man.  I am sure most of you are too young or maybe not even born yet.  The idea has a certain appeal in some cases.

If I had a $million I would love to hire an electronic hit man to target all of these spammers who keep filling my e-mail box.  Doesn't the thought of targeting telemarketers who refuse to take no for an answer sound like fun?

It would be so cool to be able to pay someone to cause the spammers more trouble than they are causing us.  The last several e-mail messages that had viruses attached were all spam.  Thank goodness for good computer security.  I currently receive about 200 spam e-mails a day and have a few days where it exceeded 1000 in the last year. Granted I have several e-mail accounts and get repeats of the same messages.

My cell phone is now the target for telemarketers.  Having it on the "Do Not Call" list does not seem to make any difference.  I am getting several a day.  The sickest part is that most of the calls from the same 6 or 8 companies.  No matter how many times I say no will just keep calling. Do they feel if they annoy me to death, I will get a change of heart and want to do business with them?  Do they think by calling me at 4:00am I will recognize them as people who know my business (maybe not my time zone) and be drawn to them?  For some reason they must believe that to be the case, because they keep calling me at that time. 

If you had an extra $Million laying wouldn't you love to hire folks to track down those pesky  telemarketers and call their homes and cell phones all hours of the night and day.  If they were to get annoyed, wouldn't that mean they needed more calls?  Maybe another 50 calls to them at 4:00am would help them realize who much they really respected our persistence and needed our service.

Of course we know these folks do not feel what they are doing is good or right.  Why else would they block their phone number in most cases?   Why else would the e-mails have non-returnable e-mail addresses and no phone number or address?

I almost forgot there is one more group I left off the list.

Let me start by saying, I as a professional Realtor® I have access to the MLS System and I know my inventory.  I do not need 25 to 50 e-mails a day telling me what listings are on the MLS.  It is faster to check the MLS than read your messages.  I especially do not appreciate the ones with 5-10MB attachments on them.  Why do you think choking out my e-mail box will make me want to sell your listing?  I am also not interested in all the new listings in other states as they come on the market.  Last month my computer security stopped two spam messages from other REALTORS® that had viruses attached to them.  I sent one an e-mail telling her to please stop sending me her listings from another state and let her know she had a virus on her computer.  I have received three more messages since.  Fortunately she cleaned the virus off.

To be fair there are a handful of top agents in my area who share information with me.  We let each other know when a new listing is coming up that we think the other agents may have a buyer for.  That is different than sending me all of your listings every few days.  Please, I saw that house in Ewa Gentry 6 months ago.  It was over priced then and it's still over priced.

OK enough venting for today.  If you have an extra $Million laying around and nothing planned for it, you might consider hiring an electronic or telemarketer hit man.

When I joined Active Rain, I never imagined where this would take me.  I thought blogging was for kids. 

When I logged on the first time, I did not think I would have much interest in it.  After spending a little time on the site, I began to see the potential power of this forum.  Man someone had a great idea here.  So I built my profile and checked out some blog articles.  There were not that many members back then.  There were a few really good one though.  Broker Bryant and TLW were among the first that, I latched on to learn about blogging.  Mary McKnight was the technical expert that I learned how to make use of this forum from.  In a matter of a couple of weeks the point system pulled me in.  I can't help it, I am competitive.  I probably have never admitted it in public before, but the point system pulled me in.  Whoever thought this up was a genius. Sales professionals are competitive by nature and this point system plays is a natural to pull us in.

So here I am having fun, trading knowledge and making friends.  The first few months that was what I got from it.  Then one day it happened; I got a phone call from someone who asked if I was the VA expert.  He read my posts about VA financing.  YES!!!  I got my first contact for business through Active Rain.  A week or two later I got an e-mail from a buyer who was relocating.  Than another buyer called who said he was reading my posts and would like to interview me.  About 6 weeks later we closed escrow on his home.  Since then I have gotten leads, referrals and new clients through Active Rain.  My friends and existing clients follow my posts and speak to me regularly about various posts.  Other REALTORS® and loan officers in the area tell me regularly they have read my posts.  While attending a real estate seminar, three different agents approached me about my blog.  Wow, that is powerful.

When I joined on 11/5/06, I never imagined writing 600 posts and collecting 400,000 points.  Now that I have hit this milestone, I have only one thing left to do; that is set the next goal and keep on going.  500,000 points here I come!

Mahalo (Thank you in Hawaiian):

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  • To everyone who was involved with creating Active Rain.
  • To everyone responsible for keeping it running and improving.
  • To all of the members on Active Rain who have made this the absolute best forum of it's kind.
  • To all the great friends I have made here.
  • Celeste "WooHoo Sally" Cheeseman who is a great blogger and my buddy in our office.  She has made blogging a lot more fun since she joined our ranks.
  • To everyone who has shared their wisdom and knowledge with me.

Good Luck and Good Blogging!!

I just read Libby Cousin's Post:  Well, I am no Randy L. Prothero...