HomeAdvice.net

Selling home like marketing a brand

Innovative Estate Marketing Campaigns

Lean more at my estate marketing site www.EstateDirector.net

Differentiating Factor #1: Listing a property vs. marketing a brand
Most real estate agents attempt to sell property using only traditional methods. Trial and error has taught me that to be successful marketing luxury estates something more is needed. Just like when a major corporation is hired on Madison Avenue to brand market a product (Apple’s resurgence “Think Different”, Everyready’s Energizer Bunny, etc.), it is about “branding”. Branding means connecting an emotion to a product. I attempt to do the same with your home. How? By creating a theme, a story, a hook and using imagery and other means.

Differentiating Factor #2: Marketing to Hollywood
Most agents place a home on the multiple listing service and pray. I have found that to be successful, you have to be very aggressive and pro-active. One of the markets I attack is the entertainment industry. I have complied a large database of producers, agents, actors, managers and others. When I take an estate listing, I market it directly to these people. While the vast majority may not be interested in buying a home Westlake Village, Lake Sherwood or Thousand Oaks, they may have a client, friend or associate that is. It is about networking your listing to the right people… and making something happen, getting some traction and finding that one special buyer.

Differentiating Factor #3: Pre-marketing on the Internet
After years of marketing research of buyer behavior on the Internet, I have learned that early in the buying cycle when buyers are at home or at work searching the Internet for areas and homes they are interested in, they skip over the “ego” sites of real estate agents. They want certain information without being bothered by agents. I market to those needs “under the radar” so to speak. It is not about me, it is about the buyer. I establish contact with them after they request information. The result is I am marketing your listing even before I have it. Below is an example:

WestlakeVillageCalifornia.com

Differentiating Factor #4: Internet Marketing
Once I take a luxury listing, we launch a campaign on the Internet using search engines and other means to market your home as a unique and individual opportunity for target buyers.

Differentiating Factor #5: Architectural Photography
I am also an experienced photographer of architecture. Much of the photography I do myself. This process involves High Dynamic Range imaging, blending multiple photographs into a single image using proprietary software and editing prior to the final fine tuning in Photoshop to make each image stunning, contribute to the story and enhance the emotional appeal of your home.

Differentiating Factor #6: Virtual Media.
I custom build flash based virtual media for my listings that I market across the net. Below is an recent example:

WhiteCloudEstate.com

Differentiating Factor #7: Development Experience
I have built strip centers and other real estate projects. This diversified background gives me added negotiating firepower and allows me to provide you with sound advice particularly if problems arise in the inspection or contract stage.

I am a broker, not an agent, with RE/MAX in Westlake Village California. I have a great team, a full time transaction coordinator and buyer agents. When we meet and I also review with you the more traditional element of my marketing campaigns, what works and what doesn’t, but the above hopefully provides with some insight as to how I am unique in my approach compared to other brokers and agents. Thank you for visiting.

Scott

Scott Uncategorized No Comments »

The Results Value Story

I started out my real estate career right out of college buying and selling small apartment buildings and rental houses as investments. I dealt with a lot of real estate brokers and agents through the years. I ended up selling most of my commercial properties myself and learned what works and what does not. For my residential properties, I had to use agents because they needed to be listed on the multiple listing service and only agents can do that. Through the years I had some good agents and lots of bad agents. I spent a large part of my career being a seller just like you.

Being a seller is often a frustrating experience. Being a real estate agent is one of the few professions in which you can obtain a license without any education and it shows. The vast majority of licensees are not professionals and do not make a living by selling real estate. So I saw an opportunity, and to supplement my investment income, I became an agent myself and then a licensed California real estate broker (agents work for brokers).

An Industry that Acts more like a Union
What I have discovered is that largest national real estate brokerage firms often act like a large union that lobbies Washington to serve their own interests. These interests are not always aligned with the consumer’s interests or in the spirit of true free enterprise. Pick any known brokerage firm: Coldwell Banker, Prudential, Sotheby’s, Century 21, even RE/MAX. Let’s compare how they operate to… let’s say Amazon.com for example, a great success story that also serves consumers. What has made Amazon successful? They offer great selection, great prices and fast delivery. Their entire business is built around serving those three fundamental needs of consumers. National real estate brokerage firms try to sell the public a different bill of goods. They do not offer great pricing, in fact, none of their national ads even mention pricing. Why? Because they want to charge you as much as you will stomach. It’s their dirty little secret.

What about quality? Quality varies tremendously because 9 out of 10 of their agents have no idea what they are doing and the results prove that out. This is why there is so much confusion and skepticism for many home sellers when hiring an agent.  There are discount services available like HelpUSell and others but they do almost nothing except place an ugly picture of your house on the listing service.  Low pricing but NO service so you will need to fire- sale your home to get it sold this way.

The Solution is Efficiency
Through years of trial and error marketing luxury real estate, I have learned what works and what does not to get top dollar for a property and get it closed as soon as possible. By knowing what does not work, I have become much more efficient and can get the job done with less cost, which I will now pass on to the client. You can have it all. The best campaign, a strong negotiator, a smooth transaction AND the best pricing.

Learn more at ResultsValue.com

Scott Selling Real Estate No Comments »

Stimulate what?

House Passes Stimulus Package
The U.S. House of Representatives approved an $819 billion stimulus package — the Economic Recovery Package — this week, which if approved by the Senate will extend all 2008 Metropolitan Statistical Areas’ (MSAs’) Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA loan limits through the end of this year.  The extension will prevent an MSA’s 2008 loan limit from being reduced in 2009 for Fannie Mae, Freddie Ma and the FHA.  The bill also specifies that if an MSA’s loan limit is set to change, it can increase, but is prohibited from decreasing.

Well this may be good or not. I am not sure that anyone really knows. What millions of home owners need is not a $800 (or some other similar amount) that will just be used to pay mounting credit card bills. What they need is a major loan modification. The most usefull structure of these “loan mods” are that back payments get rolled up in a new loan with a much lower interest payment, thus reducing their current payment, in some cases drastically, and allowing them to stay in their homes.

This is the first line of defense … and offensive in this recession/depression. Before dime one was flushed away to AIG, banks and other companies, the most productive move, would have been, and still is, a huge program to facilitate, this new loan program. This could be a new product backed by the Feds and should include major lenders.

Right now all the defunct and soon to be defunt lenders like CountryWide, WaMu and others, are doing loan mods on their own and most get turned down. I am not saying that a principal reduction should be part of the program. That sounds a bit like charity. I am saying that providing a clear path to long term home ownership can be accomplished by long amortorization and a favorable interest rate, then everybody wins

 

Scott The Market No Comments »

LA Home prices drop record 24.5%

Los Angeles home prices have taken a record dive. Basically, LA home owners just lost one fourth of their home’s value. If you have an 80% mortgage one year ago, you are upside down. Wow. It just keeps getting worse.

More from CNN….

May home prices dropped a record 15.8% from a year ago, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index of 20 cities. It was the 22nd consecutive month of decline recorded by the index. Prices fell 0.9% from April to May.

Each of the 20 metro areas covered by the index posted annual declines; nine posted record lows and 10 cities recorded double-digit drops.

The Case-Shiller 10-city Index posted a year over year decline of 16.9%, and a 1% month over month dip. Both the 10-City Composite Index and the 20-City Composite Index are reporting record annual declines.

“Since August 2006, there has not been one month where we have seen overall price increases, as measured by the two Composites,” said David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s.
Losing streak

Case-Shiller has been tracking the 20-city index for 19 years, while the 10-city index is 21 years old. The current streak of price declines has been unprecedented in both its length and depth. The last extended decline began in in April 1990, when the 10-city index sank for 10 consecutive months. But that total loss was just 6.5%.

Since the 10-city index peaked in July 2006, it has plunged 19.8%. The 20-city is down 18.4% from the peak.

The 20-city index’s Sun Belt cities, which recorded the biggest price gains during the boom, have led the charge down. Las Vegas prices have plummeted 28.4% during the past 12 months; Miami prices fell 28.3%; and Phoenix homes lost 26.5% of their value.

Midwest metro areas, which have endured tough economic times for years, are also feeling the pain. Detroit prices are off 17.4% for the 12 months, and Cleveland is down 8%.

Northeast cities like Boston, down 6.2% for the 12 months, and New York, off 7.9%, have been less volatile than the Sun Belt.

The smallest year-over-year declines were recorded by Charlotte, N.C. (down 0.2%), Dallas (down 3.1%), and Denver (down 4.8%).

The soaring numbers of foreclosures are helping to push down prices. Banks tend to slash prices when selling repossessed homes, since they lose money every month a house sits vacant. They must pay property taxes, maintenance expenses and utility costs while getting nothing back in return.

Those sales, in turn, tend to bring down prices in the rest of a given neighborhood, creating a vicious cycle.

Foreclosures accounted for a large – and growing – share of all existing homes sold in some markets. In California, for example, 40% of the existing homes sold during the three months ended June 30 were foreclosures, according to DataQuick, a real estate information provider. That’s up from just 5.4% during the same period in 2007.

Scott The Market No Comments »

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale is the sale of real estate for less than the total debt on the property. In other words, there is no equity in the property. This is also known as being “upside down”. Short sales typically occur when a property is highly leveraged and the market loses value quickly… like now, especially in California.

A bank or mortgage lender agrees to discount a loan balance due to an economic hardship on the part of the mortgagor, which is most people that own highly leverage property in SOCAL. The home owner/debtor sells the mortgaged property for less than the outstanding balance of the loan, and turns over the proceeds of the sale to the lender in full satisfaction of the debt.

In such instances, the lender would have the right to approve or disapprove of a proposed sale. Extenuating circumstances influence whether or not banks will discount a loan balance. These circumstances are usually related to the current real estate market climate and the individual borrower’s financial situation. A short sale typically is executed to prevent a home foreclosure. Often a bank will choose to allow a short sale if they believe that it will result in a smaller financial loss than foreclosing. A short sale is nothing more than negotiating with lien holders a payoff for less than what they are owed, or rather a sale of a debt, generally on a piece of real estate, short of the full debt amount. Lenders have a department (typically called a loss mitigation department) which processes potential short sale transactions.

Typically, Lenders do not accept short sale offers or requests for short sales until a Notice of Default has been issued or recorded with the locality where the property is located. But these are not typical times. Banks are now well aware that the longer they wait, the more they stand to lose so many short sales are happening without a notice of default being filed.

Learn more at ShortSaleGloblal.com

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Scott Short Sales Comments Off

A New Knowledge Network about Buying and Selling a Home

The Home Sales Network has launched at www.HomeSalesNetwork.com

HSN is a collaborative writing project to compile the world’s best free knowledge resource about buying and selling a home. I am the senior editor. Please take a look. You will find lots of valuable content, how-to’s and videos there. You can also upload articles, edit them, rate them or join in the conversation about your home buying and selling experiences.

Thank you,

Scott

Scott How-To Comments Off

Understanding Closing the Sale from the Buyer’s Perspective

The time has come. You have signed all the documents required by your escrow officer. The escrow has been funded by your lender. You have deposited your our down payment into escrow. Today is closing day! Today you will own the home or real estate. It’s also the day that you and the seller will pay closing costs which are all the charges to close this transaction.

As a Buyer, what closing costs do I pay?
The seller pays for the real estate commissions. You pay for appraisal fees for your loan, loan fees, usually one half of the escrow charges, advance payments for property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, title insurance premiums for your lender and a few other charges like document fees and postage.

How much will I be paying for all this?
The amount you pay for to close varies with the purchase price. If you are taking out a new loan, an estimate of your costs will be in the settlement estimate provided to you (required under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act). This disclosure provides you with a good faith estimate and an itemized list of charges to close your transaction and take title.

Must I pay for closing costs all at once?
They must be paid at closing in the escrow in full since the escrow agent has to pay those parties at that time.
Can I use a personal check for the down payment or closing costs?

Typically buyer’s either wire the funds or use a cashier’s check. Using a personal check may delay the closing because your escrow officer will have to wait for it to clear. .

Am I required to have title insurance to buy a home?
All lenders will require it. If you pay cash for a property, you usually can get the seller to pay for it. You are not required by law to have title insurance but it sure it a good idea.

How much is title insurance?
There is a lot of confusion about this. Typically the seller pays for his/her portion of the policy and you pay for your lender’s title insurance. The seller’s portion is usually larger. Your escrow officer will provide you with an estimate but you can ask for quotes from several title insurance companies. Often the seller will try to dictate which company is used since he/she is paying for most of it.

Why does the lender need title insurance?
Because the lender needs to know the title is clean. Most lenders sell the loan and the buyer of the loan will never see the property so the insurance helps them know they have a valid and enforceable lien. Without a current title policy the original lender will not have a marketable loan.

What does my title dollar pay for?
Title insurance companies attempt to eliminate the risk of future title claims or conflicts by research during an intensive period of risk identification.

These companies spend a significant percentage of their operating revenue collecting, storing, maintaining and analyzing and disseminating official public records that may affect title to real property. This work is very labor-intensive and methodical. Their “title plant” is a specialized library of records that can go back in time hundreds of years. Also keep in mind that every day this information changes with each new recording, lien, lawsuit etc. These recorded documents affect real property and must be organized for rapid and accurate retrieval so a title can be updated in a short period of time.

Title experts must be able to identify the rights others may have in your property. This includes but is not limited to: recorded liens, disputes, lis pendes, legal actions, rights of ways or easements, or many other potential encumbrances of title. It have recently been involved in a transaction were there were 48 “Schebule B” items, which means there were 48 problems standing in the way of getting clear title so the transaction woud close. What a nightmare that was… But we got it done!

Scott How-To No Comments »

Buyers gain negotiation leverage with these 5 key questions

If you are a seller, be prepared to answer these strategically.
If you are a buyer, these questions will put you in control of the process immediately.

1. Why are you selling?

2. How flexible is the price?

3. What did you pay for this house?

4. What have you done to this house in the last five years and do you have all the receipts? (including home owner insurance claims)

5. What problems have you had with this house?

Why are you selling?
It’s a buyer’s market. Buyers are more aggressive when it comes to maneuvering into position to gain an advantage in the negotiation process. Buyers always want to know why you are selling. If the buyer is coached by a good agent, these questions will be asked. Buyers are looking for the seller’s motivation. Is this a financially distressed situation? A divorce? Is the seller being transferred and is dealing with a timeline? Is there a problem with the house or neighborhood and the seller wants to get out? Is this a short sale?

If I am buying, or represent that buyer, I will probe to get answers to all the above. If I represent the seller, I coach them to handle these questions. I wrap the probe. If you are selling and I am representing the buyer and we are touring the home; this is how I may address these questions: “This seems like a really nice house, why did you decide to sell it?” Sellers will often reveal motivation when it is put to them this way.

How flexible is the price?
Again, the smart agent will wrap the question: “Great floor plan. Love the neighborhood, any flexibility in the price?” Listing agents often stumble when I ask them this as well. Regardless of what they say, I follow with: “Have you had any offers? Lots of inventory right now.” If you are my seller, I will coach you to have these questions slide right off and smile at the same time.

What did you pay for this house?
What a seller paid is public record, but this is still a very awkward question to field if you are a seller. It often puts a seller on their heels. When I show property to buyers, I am armed with this information as well as their mortgage data so I know it already.