Real Clues

[RealClues] #311: Get the Scoop on Today's Buyers and Sellers

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This week at www.LuxuryClues.com:
Ten Luxury Trends from Leading Luxury Real Estate Marketer, Jo Ellen Nash (These will appear as four different blog posts over the next week.)

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Table of Contents
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1. CoachingClues: Get the Scoop on Today's Buyers and Sellers
2. Welcome Notes: Clean Sweep(reg) Your Life and Increase Your Business
3. Reprise: Back to Basics: Strategies to Sell Properties that Don't Sell, Part 1
4. Create a Better Life: Are Self Defeating Habits Defeating Your Business
5. Positive News for Positive Realtors(reg): Rate Decrease, Decreases in Inventory, the Best Opportunity for Buyers Ever.
6. Featured Products: Coaching for only $149.00
7. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
8. Give Us Your Feedback on this Newsletter
9. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe

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1. CoachingClues: Get the Scoop on Today's Buyers and Sellers
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The NAR Profile of Home buyers and Sellers for 2007 reveals some important secrets REALTORS(reg) can't afford to ignore. Here's the inside scoop.

1. "Location, location, location" is still true
While people may debate what really matters most to homeowners, NAR's research shows that the number one concern for all buyers (65 percent of all respondents) is "quality of the neighborhood." "Convenience to work" was second (50 percent) while "overall affordability of homes," "convenience to friends and family," and "quality of the school district" rounded out the top five.
The quality of the neighborhood was most important to married couples (68 percent) whereas single males were not nearly as concerned (56 percent). When working with buyers, be sure to explore what constitutes a "quality" neighborhood. Also recognize that couples will be less willing to compromise on this issue as compared to single men.

2. Give a little, take a little
Buyers, especially those in urban areas, were the most likely to compromise on the size and the planned expenditures on the home. They were the least likely to compromise on schools and quality of the neighborhoods. Only two percent of the respondents compromised on the distance from schools, three percent on the quality of the schools, and five percent on the quality of the neighborhood. Before showing your buyers with children property, carefully explore their expectations about both the quality and proximity of schools.

3. Correct pricing: the primary determinant of which properties sell
The next time a seller wants to "try it for while at a higher price" or a buyer wants to "steal a property" here's some data to share. Nationally, 36 percent of the properties sold at list price or higher. In the West, that number was 42 percent. Only 12 percent of the homes in the U.S. sold for 90 percent or less of ask price. In other words, properties sell when they are priced correctly. When they are overpriced, they languish on the market until the price is reduced to market level. Buyers can search for a steal, but once a property is correctly priced, it normally sells quickly.

4. Buyers look on-line first
As their first step in buying a home, 48 percent of all buyers either go on line to view houses (32 percent) or to locate information about the home buying process (16 percent). To address this consumer search pattern, link your website to your local Multiple Listing Service as well as including a wide variety of items about the home buying process. Consider offering a series of downloadable educational reports. Examples include explanations about FHA, HUD, foreclosures, how adjustable and fixed rate loans differ, closing processes, or how to save money on closing costs.

5. The Internet--More important than signs and agents?
One of the most surprising statistics from the Profile was the steep decline in the number of buyers who located their property with a REALTOR(reg) vs. on the Internet. In 1997, only 2 percent of the buyers found their property on line, while 50 percent found their property through a real estate agent. In 2007, 29 percent of the buyers found their property on line vs. on 34 percent with a real estate agent. Buyers also found the web to be more useful that working with agents. Seventy-eight percent reported that the web was "very useful" vs. 70 percent who reported agents were very useful. In comparison, yard signs came in at 29 percent and open house at 24 percent.

6. Buying a home is still a real, not a virtual activity
In 1995, Bill Gates predicted that real estate agents would become obsolete by the year 2000 because people would purchase their homes on-line. His prediction was wrong. The 2007 Profile shows that only one percent of all buyers did not visit the home they purchased prior to closing it. In fact, 81 percent of all buyers viewed the homes they purchased between two to six times. Home buying is an emotional process for most people. Looking at on-line pictures can never duplicate the sense of what it's like to walk through the property. When it's time to purchase, 99 percent of us what to see what we are buying in person.

In 2008, many of the traditional face-to-face fundamentals are still in play but so are the new web realities. To prosper in 2008, you must address both.

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2. Welcome Notes
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Welcome to our new subscribers this week. Each week RealClues provides you with great strategies to improve both your business and your life. If you find this issue of RealClues helpful, take a moment to hit the "forward" button and send it to another friend in the business.

This month we're having a warehouse "Clean Sweep." We have 50 copies of Billion Dollar Agent--Lessons Learned that we would like to move out. This great book contains over 50 interviews with agents who have sold a billion dollars in real estate or are en route to do so. To learn more visit: http://www.realestatecoach.com/billion.html

In conjunction with our warehouse Clean Sweep program, we would like to offer you the opportunity to take the Clean Sweep(reg) assessment, the first step in hiring an individual coach. This powerful tool has been used by all graduates of the Coach U Training Programs as the starting tool for individual coaching. When coupled with personal coaching, senior executives at IBM, Coca Cola, Motorola, and a host of other Fortune 100 companies have found that Clean Sweep(reg) helped them regain control of their busy lives while simultaneously increasing their productivity. It works equally well for agents and brokers as well. Because this assessment is copyrighted and use is limited only to clients of Coach U coaches, you will have to register with our shopping cart. There is no charge and no obligation.

Once you have taken the assessment, we urge you to have a complimentary session with our coaching team. There is absolutely no charge and no obligation for this session. The reason Clean Sweep(reg) is so powerful is that it allows you to identify the areas that are holding you back. A typical client takes 12 to 24 months to accomplish the items on Clean Sweep(reg). Once you hit in the 90's on the assessment, the coach asks you to raise your standards and start again. It's a terrific tool that has given our clients amazing results. (BTW, check out Featured Products to learn how you can obtain a year of audio coaching for only $149.00)

Make it a great week!

Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC
www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.RossdalePress.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com, and www.TeleconferenceLine.com

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3. Reprise: Strategies to Sell Properties that Don't Sell, Part 1
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This article first ran in 2004, when some parts of the country were beginning to experience a market slow down. If you're stuck with a listing that won't sell, the next four weeks will contain some basic ideas on how to get these properties sold.

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20040830.html

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4. Create a Better Life: Are Self Defeating Habits Defeating Your Business
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This is one of six assessments that we provide at no charge at RealEstateCoach.com. If you want to identify some of the behaviors that may be sabotaging your business, this will help you to do so.

http://realestatecoach.com/assessments/agent/ast_6.html

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5. Positive News for Positive Realtors(reg)
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A major rate cut--hooray! Learn why 2008 is the best window of opportunity for your buyers perhaps ever! More good news on the sales data is starting to come in--spread the word!

http://listenandlearnrealestate.com/news.html

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6. Featured Products
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Agents: Coaching for only $149.00
Are you interested in hiring a coach but cannot afford the $1000 per month some of our competitors charge? If so, RealEstateCoach.com has a coaching program for all pocketbooks. If you are an agent and would like to experience what coaching is like with a Master Certified Coach, consider ordering our Get Balanced or Get Crazy audio CD coaching program. Here's what one agent shared about the program:

"I'm having so much fun with this program. I can't write down all the great ideas fast enough!"

Get Balanced or Get Crazy coaches you on the six core foundation pieces you would normally address during your first year of coaching. Master Certified Coach Byron Van Arsdale coaches me through the challenges I faced over the twenty years I was selling. By the way, in case you think I'm a great actress when you hear these--I'm not. We actually dug into real events. This program consists of 6 hours of audio CD and is composed of 12 coaching sessions. At the end of each CD, there is a series of 10 pieces of fieldwork to help you cope with challenges you may be facing. Best of all, it's priced at $149.00.

http://www.realestatecoach.com/training/getbalanced.html

**Managers--Save thousands on coaching services
Coach Your Real Estate Agents Like Crazy contains the entire Get Balanced or Get Crazy audio CD set that shows you how to integrate coaching into your management style. Also included is an additional five hours demonstrating how each of six core coaching principles can be applied from your point of view as both manager and coach. To learn more, click on the link below:

http://www.realestatecoach.com/training/coach.html

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7. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
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Looking for a well-trained coach who knows the real estate business? Our coaching team can help you increase your production and make your dreams come true! Send an e-mail to Shane@RealEstateCoach.com and we'll help find the right coach for you.

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8. Give Us Your Feedback On This Newsletter
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We want your feedback-to share your thoughts and suggestions, please e-mail us at Shane@RealEstateCoach.com.

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9. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
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Visit our Web site, http://www.RealEstateCoach.com to subscribe/unsubscribe to RealClues.

Copyright (c) 1996-2008, RealEstateCoach.com and Teleclass4U.com, LLC. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute RealClues as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the contributors to this newsletter is attached.

Contributors to this newsletter:
Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC, Owners, www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com; www.RossdalePress.com; and www.TeleconferenceLine.com
Shane Bowlin, REC General Manager

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