Price - Terms = Price

The Factor in Selling a Home Today

If you have a choice between price and terms . . pick terms.

--famous real estate line

Once upon a time, when mortgage rates were in the stratosphere, "terms" -- specifically, financing terms, if the Seller was providing it -- were everything in real estate deals.

Fast forward to today's environment of free money (for banks) and very, very cheap money (for home Buyers with decent credit).

Once a listed home is well-staged, photographed, and otherwise well-marketed . . . the only factor that's left is price (that insight per City Lakes Office Manager Josh Kaplan).

Today's FIFO Housing Market (First in, First Out)

The Best vs. The Rest

Great graphic, courtesy of City Lakes Office manager Josh Kaplan (via Marge Kane), cutting through the myriad, often conflicting statistics describing today's housing market.

Bottom line: the good stuff shines, and finds Buyers (or vice versa).

Meanwhile, homes that aren't "best in class" get overlooked and sit . . . or sink.

"Getting One's House in Order Last"

Housing Market "Chicken & Egg" Problem

Aren't people supposed to "put their houses in order first?"

That's not what I've been seeing lately, at least in the housing market.

Instead, the agents showing my listings all seem to be reporting that their clients can't do anything until they sell first.

So, why don't they?

Maybe because they need to find something they're excited about buying first.

P.S.: thanks to City Lakes office manager Josh Kaplan for this insight.

Realtor "April Fool's'" Jokes

"Can I Please Speak to Myra Mains?"

Courtesy of City Lakes office manager Josh Kaplan, here is a classic April Fool's joke for -- make that on -- Realtors, especially "newbie" Realtors.

Here's the set-up:

The front desk leaves a voicemail for the intended Realtor-victim (plural, ideally), telling them that they have a lead for them. The prospect's name is "Myra Mains"; her number is 612-927-01x7.

Here's what happens next:

Realtor: 'This is Jane Doe at Edina Realty. Can I please speak to Myra Mains?"
Other line: . . . .'click' (sometimes preceded by a "Ha! Ha! Very funny!")

It's funniest when the Realtor persists and re-dials a couple times before catching on.

The phone number, of course, belongs to a local funeral home.

NYT Profile of "Curbed" Founder

Meet the "Realtor - Social Worker" *

The Sunday New York Times has a lengthy profile of Lockhart Steele (yes, that's his real name), the founder of real estate blog "Curbed."

If you didn't know -- and I was only vaguely aware -- Curbed (and other blogs like it) apparently are now integral to how New Yorkers (at least the ones not in the Bronx) buy and sell real estate. Oh, and the properties they're buying are exclusively over $500k -- frequently, a lot over.

Here's what Steele says blogs -- and technology in general -- are doing to the real estate business:

The broker’s job is no longer to tell people what a house is worth, or what nearby properties have sold for — everybody knows that now. Instead, a broker is more useful calming down a buyer agitated by a proliferation of Web gossip. The broker is less salesman, more therapist, or oracle. And by professional obligation, a daily reader of real estate blogs.

--Mark Oppenheimer, "The Optimist's Blogger"; The New York Times (3/15/2010)

So, is Steele right?

Partly.

He's definitely right that prospective Buyers engage with Realtors much "later" in the process.

It's not uncommon now for my clients, at a first meeting (!), to hand me a lengthy list of properties they want to check out (or have already seen!).

Thanks to the Internet, there is exponentially more information available about real estate.

However, in my experience, that doesn't necessarily make Buyers and Sellers more knowledgeable about how the process works.

As far as the "emotional" side of the business, there's no denying that technology makes an already close relationship even closer.

You don't invite your lawyer or dentist into your home, and share intimate details about your family, finances, and lifestyle; trusted Realtors are privy to all that (and more).

Where I think the article misfires, though, is extrapolating from Manhattan to other markets generally -- markets that don't have Manhattan's demographics, density, or money.

At least in the Midwest, not everybody is a Gen-Y'er who lives and breathes Twitter, Facebook, and blogs (at least not yet). Nor are they in the market for $1 million-plus Soho (or NoHo or NoLita or TriBeCa) lofts.

So, maybe the world Steele describes is coming . . . but it's not here yet.

*When Josh Kaplan, a former social worker and now long-time City Lakes office manager, is asked why he got out of social work, his standard reply is, "what make you think I got out of social work??"

Real Estate's Invisible Hand

Lots of Hats: The Office Manager's Role

What makes you think I got out of social work?

--Josh Kaplan, Edina Realty- City Lakes Office Manager (and former social worker)

If you've ever bought or sold a home through an agent who works for a big broker (Edina Realty, Coldwell Banker Burnet, etc.), your deal was very likely guided -- at least a little bit -- by someone completely unknown to you.

(If your deal was especially challenging, make that guided a lot.)

Who?

Your agent's office manager.

All those bathroom breaks your agent took during that complicated closing?

It's a fair bet that they were actually on the phone with their office manager, getting direction.

(In my own case, I vividly recall frantically speed-dialing Josh Kaplan, my office manager, in the middle of a closing involving a South Minneapolis duplex. The buyer -- yours truly! -- had neglected to require that the tenants' security deposits be assigned as part of the Purchase Agreement.)

Even if your agent is a veteran, it's still likely that their office manager influences how they conduct their real estate practice.

Here's a (partial) list of all the hats that the office manager wears:

Recruiter. The office manager decides who your colleagues will be.

The reason that the City Lakes office is one of the most diverse, interesting (and productive) in town is because Josh picked the Realtors in it (and vice versa).

Referee/Umpire. Real estate is a competitive business, full of big ego's, turf battles, and occasionally (too) sharp elbows -- and that's just the Realtors!

The office manager gets to sort them all out.

Business Coach. Even excellent agents go through slumps, have the occasional tough deal (or a string of them), can get burned out, etc. The first door they knock on is usually their office manager's (see next).

Psychologist/Social Worker. The reason real estate agents seem so unflappable is that they do all their venting behind closed doors (their office manager's).

Trainer. No one learns how to sell real estate in a classroom. You learn by doing it, and by being in an office where the culture is cooperative and dedicated to continuous skill-building.

Ethical Guidepost. The office manager sets the tone for what is and isn't acceptable. The Realtors in the City Lakes office are known for their professionalism and ethics, because Josh makes those priorities.

Businessperson. At the end of the day, the office manager's ultimate responsibility is to make sure that their office is profitable . . . so that it STAYS OPEN.

The City Lakes office is consistently one of Edina Realty's most profitable -- and has been a standout the last few years.

Thanks, Josh! (Do I get that vacant corner office now?)

P.S.: One last office manager "hat," at least in my own case: proof-reading and vetting (sensitive) blog posts.

Real Estate "Insider Trading"**

Best Time to Sell? When No One Else is

Where: 27xx Raleigh Ave. South, in Fern Hill's St. Louis Park neighborhood

What: Mint 1947 rambler with 3 BR/2BA and 1,800 square feet

How (much): $445,500 list price

When: on market Monday (12/7)

Who: listing agent - Josh Kaplan; broker - Edina Realty

If everyone's taking their home off the market for the slow holiday season, what should a savvy Realtor who wants to sell their own home do?

Put their home on the market.

That's exactly what's going on at 27xx Raleigh, in Fern Hill's St. Louis Park neighborhood. The home hit the market on Monday.

The owner-agent, who works in my office, requested that I mention that the home is in "fabulous" condition, and a great value.

There you go, Joseph!

**No, a Realtor selling their own home isn't really "insider trading."

Rather, I'm referring to the phenomenon of doing what the supposed "insiders" are doing.

In the stock market, that means buying when the pro's -- corporate insiders -- are buying, and selling when they're selling.

It's no different in real estate.

The strategy recalls one of my favorite Warren Buffett lines, i.e., you should be cautious when everyone's bold, and bold when everyone's cautious (my paraphrase).