Archive for March, 2008
How I Increased My Real Estate Sales by $9M
· CommentsThis is the second in a ongoing series named Insider Insight. I’ll be publishing posts from, or conversations with, brokers and agents who are willing to share their expertise and insight into topics that are discussed on this blog. The first post in this series was by Sam Chapman – I just hadn’t decided to create the category until today!
This is a discussion with Priscilla Allen who markets San Antonio TX real estate. Priscilla and the Allen Realty Group team increased sales $9,000,000.00. In 2006 hers was the 16th top team in San Antonio, and for 2007 she was awarded the 10th top team in San Antonio, with only three team members. She has now added two more buyers’ agents and a full time Home Stager and decorator.
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Q: How did you manage that increase in your sales?
Priscilla: It’s because of my website. First, you and I worked together to update the website, then I started working with your SEO partner, Blackwater Consulting. The results have been outstanding.
Q: You know, there are a lot of real estate professionals that aren’t getting that kind of results from their websites. Now that you have a professional site and some traffic (thanks for the plugs!), let’s talk about how you turn the traffic into leads.
Where do most of your leads come from – are they filling out forms on your site?
Priscilla: Most of the traffic comes from being found on search engines. Sometimes people are using the calculator or filling out a form, but 95% of the people who contact me are looking at homes or want to see a listing.
Even Google’s Doing It
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Don’t forget Earth Hour!
It’s tonight at 8PM your local time…
Lights out for one hour.
Naturally, there are many reasons why now is a good time to buy. But, I know lots of prospects are still stalling, mulling, pondering, and otherwise driving their agents crazy.
Until lately, it really was a buyer’s market. Home prices were low, sellers were willing to deal, and it was easy for almost anyone to get a mortgage. And, while I hear a lot about the first two reasons why folks should buy now, the third one doesn’t get much press. Especially since there are all those pesky foreclosures happening.
So, I thought it was interesting when I saw a mention on the Inman blog about an excellent post on a mortgage blog entitled, “Stop Asking Your Real Estate Agent If ‘Now Is A Good Time To Buy.’ ”
The predictions in that post of what could happen in the mortgage industry in the Fall should motivate all but the cash-transaction buyers to make a move this Spring or Summer!
Besides bottomed-out (update: in deference to the comments on this post, perhaps it would have been better to say “low” instead of bottomed-out!) prices and desperate sellers, the TRUTH about why it’s a good time to buy is that if you wait, you could be locked out!
Whimsical Wednesday: Ah, I Love a Parade
· CommentsAh, I love a parade. That’s a punchline to a joke my father told me some decades ago, and it wasn’t really about a parade. I can’t remember the joke, but the punchline has stuck in my mind as a reminder of what I think is one of the weirdest of human behaviors: people just love gawking at horrible stuff.
A tornado struck downtown Atlanta a while back – you might have heard about it. A tornado in the downtown of a large city is unusual and wondrous in its wrecking power. Immovable windows were sucked out of tall buildings, trees and debris smashed the modest homes around the downtown area, and one building of loft apartments collapsed onto itself.
We saw tape from a security camera showing one of the carriage horses deciding that it just couldn’t move fast enough with that pesky carriage attached to itself, so it broke all the heavy leather straps and ran free. Unfortunately, the news people never told us where the horse went. The driver was interviewed after the storm passed, and he and the horse were back together. I would have liked to have heard how he found the horse, but it wasn’t to be.
And, all of that, of course, is in addition to the roof of the Georgia Dome sortof coming off in pieces which really put a cramp in the NCAA’s plans.
All during the night the tornado first struck, and the following day, the mayor of Atlanta had been on the television asking people not to come downtown. Why? Because with all the glass still falling out of windows, the streets were unsafe, and additional people driving or strolling around would make the job of cleaning up much more difficult.
But, what did we see during subsequent newscasts? People driving and strolling around downtown. There were people taking photos with their cell phones and pointing out the more amazing pieces of damage to one another. Had they come to help remove debris or offer assistance to people who had no where to eat or sleep? No, just cruising from what I could tell.
I think the mayor of Atlanta should have taken a lesson from the mayor of Boston during the snowstorm in 1978 that closed the city for over a week. He called a newscast, looked directly into the camera and said something like, “I am not asking you to stay off the roads. I am telling you that your car will be impounded and you will be put in jail.”
Needless to say, I didn’t hear of anyone going against that “request” until the state of emergency was over.
Are You a Real Estate Professional?
Might seem like a silly question if you’re a real estate agent. However, if you’ve got real estate investments, you really need to pay attention to whether or not the IRS thinks you’re a real estate professional.
If you haven’t heard about the tax issues coming up in California related to real estate professionals and investments, now would be a good time to get up to speed.
Evidently, there have been some audits in California where the IRS took the position that in order to be a real estate professional, you must be involved in “brokering” real estate transactions. And, of course, only your broker does that according to the California IRS auditors.
Why is this important? Well, because if you are a real estate professional, you can deduct any losses you experience on real estate investments from your income. If you’re not, you can’t.
You May End Up Being Wrong!
While the fight in California is still ongoing, if the IRS definition used in those cases stands, it’s very likely that the IRS will increase its audits of real estate agents, especially if those agents own real estate investments.
Get more information and links to updates from this Realty Times article written by Diane Kennedy, a well-known tax strategist.
