A Word from MY Coach

I have a coach, a personal trainer who posts a blog weekly.  It's become a ritual of mine to see what he's going to put up.  He's got a direct approach that really causes you to think, to evaluate honestly and then move into action.  I just want to share some of his blog that really hit home for me.  Even as a Coach, I still need to be called out, pushed, encouraged. 

Commitment

"It's very seldom that you find people that commit themselves full time to enhancing their personal level of fitness.  Even as trainers it's all to often you see that people tend to take the casual approach:  workout hard once or twice a week, maybe even get real dedicated for a month and then your workouts fizzle out into a secondary category of importance.  This half hearted method may be enough to maintain a decent physique and maybe even keep your weight on a slow and gradual decline.  But if you want to be at the zenith of fitness nothing less than a full time uninterrupted commitment will do.  I discovered this in attempting the open portion of the crossfit games.  I was strong enough to be in the top ten percent in the world; but the difference between the top ten percent and the top half percent that make it to the final round of the games is the difference between that full time commitment and the casual approach."

You see, though Trevor is talking about exercise and your commitment to fitness, it all applies to your business as well.  Are you taking the casual approach?  Did you bust it hard for a month and then let it sort of fizzle out?  Remember this; HOW YOU DO ANYTHING IS HOW YOU DO EVERYTHING.

Are you willing to re-commit to your business?  To the little things that make up the BIG things?

You only have to decide ONCE.  Your character and integrity will help you stick to your decision.

So, what’s yours?

I encourage all of you to check out his weekly blogs at:

www.sincitybootcamp.blogspot.com

You can also get a FREE 3 Week Trial membership by "LIKE"ing the Facebook page: 

www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/sincitybc

or, visit the website:  www.sincitybootcamp.com

Las Vegas Market Stats-How to Use Them to Sell Another House!

So, here we are again.  It's Monday which means Market Stats for the Las Vegas area.

These numbers are all SFR an condos in Las Vegas, Henderson, N. Las Vegas and Boulder City.

As of today there are ONLY 6,833 homes available.  We haven't seen inventory this low in YEARS.  As a matter of fact, the last time it was this low we had a super frenzy... you remember it as 2003-2006.

Of those 6,833 available homes 39% are Short Sales.  I realize that as rel estate professionals we all know what a short sale is.  I have, however, found that there are Clients reading these market stats and so to be sure everyone is clear a Short Sale is when the Seller is asking the bank to take less money than is owed.  For example:  The Seller owes $250,000.  The home is in escrow for $125,000.  The Seller would then ask the bank to take a shortage of $125,000.  Make sense?  It's a bank controlled sale, just like REO's.

Only 15% are REO's, or banked owned homes.  This is pretty low for us right now.  Though we've heard that some of the banks are finding ways to get through the recent AB284 which virtually halted all foreclosures, it will be a slow process getting the REO market back up and running. 

46% are Others, or Equity Sellers.  REGULAR people, well normally.  In todays market an equity deal is more than likely an investor who bought it at the auction and has repaired it to sell for more and make a profit.  46% is HUGE for this number. 

Last week we had 1,672 go into escrow.  47% were Short Sales, 29% were REO and 24% were Other.

And finally, 789 closed escrow!  28% were Short Sales, 41% were REO and 31% were Other.

Let's just look at the REO numbers so we can better explain to our Buyers how if/when they fall in love with that REO home, how they need to act to make sure they get it!

REO's are only 15% of what is available.  They are 29% of what went into escrow and 41% of what CLOSED.  What does that tell us?  (I just used a script on you, the same one you should use on your Buyers!)

The bottom line is that REO's are priced WELL.  That's why they move, quickley.  That's why there are multiple offers, almost instantly.  That's why most sell for MORE THAN list price.  These numbers tell us that if a Buyer wants to move on an REO, they need to do it NOW and put their BEST FOOT forward-in other words, don't try to low-ball this deal. 

As agents, we should ALWAYS pull comparables so that a Buyer can make an educated offer based on the recent market.  Just this past week I was assisting an agent who was working with some Buyers to write an offer on an REO.  This list price was $214,000.  The same model across the street with 1 less garage had just closed 2 months earlier for $240,000.  Based on what we know about REO's, what should the Buyers decide to do?

See, here's the good news; because you're reading this and now have this information, you'll be able to assist your Buyers in making a solid offer based on the facts-rather than the "let's see what happens" approach.

Clients appreciate an agent who knows the market-IT'S OUR JOB!

Take this ammunition and go get 'em!

Las Vegas Market Stats

It's time for your weekly dose of MARKET STATS! 

As of today there are only 7,773 homes available!  YOWZERS, that's pretty low... no, that's VERY low.

Of those that are available, 41% are Short Sales, 16% are Bank Owned and 43% are Equity or Other.

Last week 1,671 homes went into escrow, accepted an offer. 

Of those, 47% were Short Sales, 29% were Bank Owned, 24% were Equity or Other.

And finally, last week 677 homes closed escrow! 

Of those, 27% were Short Sales, 39% were Bank Owned, 34% were Equity or Other.

Agents!!!  If you aren't using these numbers to encourage Buyers to get on the ball, you're not doing your job!  We all know what happens when inventory dips... prices go up.  I met with another top producer last week and we talked about the dip and what we thought it meant.  We both agreed that there is probably going to be a temporary inflation of home prices.  It will be short lived, we think, because it's been said that some of the larger banks are going to start doing foreclosures again.  If that happens then we will be flooded with REO's which could bring prices back to where they should be. 

How do you use these numbers?

So for your Buyers, if they want a house soon, they need to take advantage before the competition gets to rough.  Talk about multiple offer situations!!!

Sellers?  Well, it's a GREAT time to put a home on the market!  Especially when inventory is dipping.  When the inventory gets this low, you can almost always expect multiple offers on homes that are priced in the market.

I hope this helps at least one agent out there get one more deal this week!

Be Your Own Client

Here's a little challenge for everyone out there looking to improve themselves!

It's a something that I've asked all my coaching clients to do this week.

I want you to pretend that you are your client or customer.  You are dealing with YOU. 

Now, in your dealings with YOU what are 3 things that you need to improve on?

I'll give you some examples, these are some of the things my clients came up with;

• Know my presentation better so I can answer questions more effectively.
• Have a quicker response time to phone calls.
• Dig deeper into my clients "WHY" so I can truly guide them through the process.
• Help my clients feel more comfortable, not be so "black and white" about everything.

These are just a few.  This exercise is designed to keep you on your toes and more importantly, seeing your business from a different perspective. 

Once you've come up with three items to improve, create a system to implement the changes you want to see.  It can be as easy as adding a daily task to your calendar to call in your scripts. 

This is a healthy exercise.  I encourage you to do it after every transaction.  After every appointment.  After every phone call.  EVEN if you got the result you wanted from the appointment, phone call, etc.

Simply ask yourself:

"What did I do really well?"          

"What am I going to do differently next time?"

It's self accountability.  It's being aware that even at our best, there's always something we can improve on.  There's always room to grow!

Las Vegas Market Stats

Here are the market stats for last week in Las Vegas, NV!

8,177 available homes/condos/townhomes.  This doesn't include land or multiple dwelling units.

42% are Short Sale listings.

16% are REO, or bank owned listings.

42% are Other, equity listings.

Last week 1,723 went into escrow, has an accepted contract.

47% are Short Sales.

31% are REO's.

22% are Other's.

Last Week there were 1,041 properties that Closed escrow!

31% were Short Sales.

39% were REO's.

30% were Other's.

Currently there is a less than 5 weeks supply of homes on the market.  The inventory is trending downward which typically creates a rise in pricing.  With interest rates still at all time lows, it's an awesome time to buy a house!

In February 3,640 homes Closed escrow, 47% of those were asking LESS THAN $100,000. Of that, 52% were REO's.  Prices are low, inventory is lower and so are the interest rates.

The Market Stats posts are designed to help agents better understand the market.  As agents we simply provide market information to our clients in ways that make sense to them. 

How can you help your clients make an educated decision if you yourself are not educated? 

Check out my weekly Market Stat update!