19 Questions every seller should ask their listing agent before signing a contract

What are your credentials? 

How long have you been in residential real estate sales? Is it your full-time job?

How many sales did you make last year?  Your company?

Where do you usually work? 

How many homes have you sold in my neighborhood in the past year or two?

What is your market share in our city? County?

Do you have a marketing / sales plan?

What is Your Average List-Price-to-Sales-Price Ratio?

What is your average marketing time for your listings?

What is the percentage chance your firm will sell my home?

Could you please give me the names and phone numbers of your three most recent clients?

What is your negotiation strategy?

What Are the Top Three Things That Separate You From Your Competition?

How many sellers are you representing now?

What aspects of the transaction will you personally handle and which will be delegated to others?

Do you work with stagers or will you stage my home?

Why should I hire you over your competition?

How often will you communicate with me?

What is your web presence?  How many hits does your website receive on a monthly or yearly basis?

Listers Last

Hey gang -- I mapped out our Lakeville area and here is a screen snapshot of Edina Realty's listings that sold in Lakeville for 2012.  Pretty impressive.  Be proud of our brand and let's win every listing opportunity.  As the saying goes, Listers Last!  Listings drive our business -- calls, internet traffic, referrals etc.  I want everyone to take a minute and ask themselves -- what percentage of my day is spent trying to get listings?  What percentage of my day is spent leveraging my listings to try and get more listings?  Just solds, e-cards, canvassing neighborhoods, door knocking, promoting on social feeds etc.

Stay Hungry.  Stay foolish.  Boom.

Photos -- Professional or not?

Photos -- Professional or not?

I've been in the real estate business for nearly 16 years now.  Advertising methods have changed a lot.  I remember writing individual ads for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, This Week Paper and Sun Current to name a few.  I also remember buying ads in the phone book -- wowsers, I am feeling old.  Anyhow, what does any of this have to do with taking good photos.?!  It reminds me how far we've come with marketing and how differently consumers search for real estate.  You only have a split second to impress the buyer and attract their attention.  Each and every day I run across new listings on the MLS that have less than stellar photos...  I am attaching a few for your amusement.  Bottom line, if you are selling your largest investment, insist that your agent is hiring a professional photographer.  Agents sell homes, most are not great photographers.  Just sayin'.

19 Questions every seller should ask an agent before listing their home

• What are your credentials? 
• How long have you been in residential real estate sales? Is it your full-time job?
• How many sales did you make last year?  Your company?
• Where do you usually work? 
• How many homes have you sold in my neighborhood in the past year or two?
• What is your market share in our city? County?
• Do you have a marketing / sales plan?
• What is Your Average List-Price-to-Sales-Price Ratio?
• What is your average marketing time for your listings?
• What is the percentage chance your firm will sell my home?
• Could you please give me the names and phone numbers of your three most recent clients?
• What is your negotiation strategy?
• What Are the Top Three Things That Separate You From Your Competition?
• How many sellers are you representing now?
• What aspects of the transaction will you personally handle and which will be delegated to others?
• Do you work with stagers or will you stage my home?
• Why should I hire you over your competition?
• How often will you communicate with me?
• What is your web presence?  How many hits does your website receive on a monthly or yearly basis?

Here we go again!

I've been off line for 2 years -- kind of forgot about my blog as I ventured into my new position as managing broker for Edina Realty Lakeville.  I am hoping that I can provide some insight into the wacky real estate market we are experiencing.

This week's tip: How to Win in a Multiple offer situation.  

1. Write your best offer the first time - no regrets.  What I always ask myself in this situation, if I lost this property over few thousand dollars, how would that make me feel.?!  Go with your gut.
2. Make sure you are working with a good lender who can provide a strong letter of approval letter.  Listing agents are more comfortable with strong lenders.  Give the sellers a date you'll be fully approved.
3. Offer as much earnest money as possible and consider making it non-refundable.
4. Offer a flexible closing date and terms.  Maybe allow the seller to rent back or delay giving you possession.
5. Write the sellers a letter -- explain why you want to buy their home and compliment them / their home.
6. Don't expect closing costs to be paid.  It's a possibility to add them to your mortgage, so consider that option.

Progress is being made

Great article released from the Minneapolis association of Realtors on the current housing market and where we are headed. http://mplsrealtor.com/downloads/inside/press-releases/news_2010-02.pdf

Prevent Foreclosure Now!

There is an epidemic going on in this country and it concerns me a great deal. The epidemic is

called “Foreclosure” and it is happening all around us. It is fairly silent problem. The people

who need help aren’t asking for it. They are too embarrassed to talk about it so they don’t get

the help they desperately need. We are seeing people literally leave their homes in the middle

of the night so the neighbors don’t see what is going on. I need your help.

At Edina Realty we are becoming highly skilled working with banks to keep homeowner’s in their

homes or working out “short sales” so the damage to their credit is significantly less than a

foreclosure.

I am asking you to become interested in the lives of those around you. I don’t want you to

become someone who prys into the personal lives of people who don’t want you involved.

However, it’s typically not hard to recognize when someone is having trouble financially. When

you see that, be interested enough in helping them to have the courage to ask if they are in

trouble. Let them know there is help out there. The biggest problem to this epidemic is people

think they are alone. Let them know that there are 4.68 million homes that are projected to sell

this year. At the same time, there are 5.5 million homes that have mortgages that are in default.

This isn’t a small problem. It is an epidemic.

Did you know that someone who has gone through a foreclosure won’t be able to get another

mortgage for 5-7 years? Did you know that many employers will not hire people who have a

foreclosure that shows up on their credit report? Did you know that a foreclosure can damage

your credit score by 250-300 points and that will make it more difficult and more expensive to

borrow money through any source?

There are options other than foreclosure. In 2009/10 the banks are realizing that it’s better for

them to work with homeowner’s rather than work against them. If things are handled properly,

it’s possible to get the banks to take a significant loss and have only minor damage to your

credit. The main thing is to make sure they work with people who know what they are doing.

Please care enough about your friends, relatives and neighbors to encourage them to ask for

help if they need it. I am here to help. Please have them call me. I promise I will treat them

with respect. I will let them know they are not alone and I will fight to help them. They just need

to know they are not alone and I will fight to help them. They just need to know how important it

is to contact me early in their troubled times. Many times I am talking to people who are too far

along. At some point, it is actually cheaper for the bank to just foreclose. No one wants that

(not even the banks).