Realty World Northern California & Nevada

A lot has been stated about the Apple iPhone 4. For all of you non-AT&T users or Apple haters there has been some very exciting news in the Verizon and Droid world. For those of you who haven’t heard on the news or who don’t watch tv commercials, the Motorola Droid is a smartphone which runs Google’s Android operating system. The brand name “Droid” is a trademark of Lucasfilm and is licensed to Verizon Wireless and originally was released back in November of 2009. Various other devices are running the Android operating system and labeled as “Droid” phones.

Enough about the history lesson and onto the Motorola Droid X. Jump to July 16, 2010. The successor to the original Motorola Droid went on sale and completely sold out, despite Verizon’s reassurance that there would be more than enough phones to go around. Verizon’s website shows a ship date by August 3rd.

Similar to the iPhone 4 launch, the Motorola Droid X is having its share of defects and complaints. The defects include some units have flickering or banding displays as well as a Wi-Fi bug where we connection signals are being reported. The numbers of issues for the screen defect and affected users are small and replacements are being issued currently.

The Motorola Droid X has an impressive feature list and understandably contributed to its success on launch day.

Features

• 8 Megapixel camera with dual LED flash
• 720p HD video camera
• 4.3-inch screen in 16:9 ratio
• Wi-Fi & Bluetooth
• 8GB internal storage with 16GB microSD preinstalled expandable to 32GB
• Push email support for Gmail & Exchange & Yahoo
• Unified Google Calendar and Exchange Calendar
• Unified inbox
• 480 minutes usage time
• 220 hours of standby time

I will add in one thing that I don’t think many people are aware of. Verizon’s network currently doesn’t support simultaneous voice and data. What that means is that if someone calls you and says “take a look at the email I just sent you.” Unfortunately, unlike AT&T you will need to get off the phone to do so. The same goes for pulling up a web browser and being on the phone. There are times when I may be on a phone call and I need to Google a phone number or an address and being on AT&T’s network definitely comes in handy.

Repossessions climbed 38 percent in the first six months of 2010 compared 2009 and were up 5 percent from the first quarter, foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac announced Thursday.

In all, lenders repossessed nearly 528,000 homes in the first six months of the year. If that rate continues through the end of the year, repossessions will likely top 1 million in 2010, up 100,000 from 2009.

Historically, about 100,000 homes per year in total are repossessed, according to Rick Sharga, senior vice president for RealtyTrac.

More than 7.3 million home loans are in the foreclosure process, with one in 78 U.S. homes receiving a foreclosure warning in June.

On average, it takes home owners 15 months to actually lose their property after they receive the initial warning, reports Lender Processing Services Inc.

Source: Associated Press, Alex Veiga (07/15/2010)

Purveyors of goods and services who are at the top of their marketing game rarely use their mouth to draw a prospects attention and then pitch in the prayer of a sale. Rather they use their ears to learn what a potential customer needs and then present a solution that is cost effective and worthwhile.

I mention this because recently I had the privilege of meeting two of our newest members to the Realty World Northern California Family, Robert (Bob) Fernandez and Francisco Gonzalez, co-owners of Realty World – Golden Hills in San Jose, California, formerly Century 21 – Golden Hills. Both are long time veterans of real estate in the South Bay and both knew immediately what their business needed in order to compete in times of rapid change. Bob and Francisco are keenly mindful of the activities it takes to run and profit from operating a real estate brokerage firm with over fifty sales associates and a long book of business.

Since joining Realty World, our meetings have focused on the consolidation of tasks that real estate agents need to do in order to compete and win in the eyes of consumers. Bob and Francisco knew these activities were important and a prerequisite for any successful associate continuing in or just launching their real estate career. Their validation of what we are doing at Realty World was a positive sign to me that we had invested right in terms of bringing the business to the agent.
However, there is more to it than that. If you have attended any of the presentations we have conducted at various industry functions this year; you’ll know that the game of finding real estate and a knowledgeable professional to help is changing. Change is the one constant denominator of all markets.

I expect Realty World – Golden Hills to be one of the companies that will be on top of that game too. It’s my pleasure to introduce them to you and I hope you’ll take a minute to welcome them aboard! Bob and Francisco can be reached by phone at 408-238-5111.

We want to wish you all a happy 4th of July! It was on this day in 1776 that the United States of America declared its independence from England. 234 years have passed since then and I hope that many more years of freedom continue.

We hope that all of our readers are having a great (and safe) 4th of July weekend. As you’re celebrating the day and enjoying that barbeque, don’t forget what it took the Founding Fathers to win this country from the British.

So, enjoy the rest of your July 4th weekend, and drive safe!

Starbucks is now offering free Wi-Fi for everyone for all customers in its company-owned stores in the United States and Canada as a part of an ongoing commitment to enhancing customer service. No Starbucks card required, no username or password needed, no time limits, and unlimited usage. Starbucks is working with AT&T in the U.S. and Bell in Canada as its Wi-Fi providers.

Starbucks was one of the first chains to offer Wi-Fi, using T-Mobile some years ago. Customers were allowed 2 hours of free Wi-Fi access provided with use with a Starbucks Card to login.

So much daily business is done currently within the walls of a Starbucks with a coffee in hand and to have free Wi-Fi seems fantastic. However, is it safe?

As with other public Wi-Fi networks, there are risks involved with connecting to public hotspots. To minimize your exposure you should be aware of several basic items. Following all of these items does not mean you are entirely protected against malicious attempts and personal exposure.

When you are on a public network you should turn off your file sharing and public folder sharing. In Windows it is located in the Control Panel and then Network and Sharing options. For Mac it is located under System Preferences and Sharing.

As for web surfing it isn’t a big deal (to me) to surf the web, in a general sense. However, be cautious to entering in usernames, passwords, credit card info, etc. to websites that are not encrypted. As a general “rule of thumb” you can tell by looking at the website address and if it starts with an “https” instead of “http.” However, there are sites where you enter login information on a website starting with “http” that submits securely to “https” and that is fine as well. As always, make sure you have your anti-virus and malware software up to date.

Image via wikia

Is that what your clients or the individuals needing your expertise are asking themselves right now?

There is a game out there that has to do with finding “Waldo.” Through the way that the maze is laid out in colors and shapes it is very hard to find good old Waldo. However we know that he is there so we keep concentrating to the point of devising every imaginable way to seek out and locate Waldo.

Are we a “Waldo” in the Real Estate business that we chose as a profession? Do our clients or future clients have to devise every conceivable way to find us? I would ask you to truly analyze your business model as it is at this very moment.

Many of the “colors” and “shapes” that we are hiding in are such things as cutting back on our marketing each day, improvising something new everyday and specializing in nothing, or spending all of our time in short sales and REOs and forgetting the true real estate market that is gaining traction everyday!

No matter what is going on in your life right now you need to wake up everyday knowing that there are people outside your front door that are looking for the professional that is knowledgeable and professional enough to get them through the present slowdown in the market. There are people that want a professional that will call it like it is. Quit promising falsehoods and work with an action plan that with make things happen! Now is the perfect time to increase your visibility so that you stand out from the masses. Today is an open opportunity to show your wares and prove your value as a professional. Consumers crave pure knowledge and the understanding when it comes to real estate right now, yet above all they want someone to just take the time to enlighten them!

The real estate profession qualifies you! Move away from the pathway of criticizing, being judgmental, and being pessimistic.

You know politicians do not own the concept of “Town Hall” meetings! Politicians use them to get close to the public and give the public the opportunity to ask the questions that are important and maybe personal to the individual, the community, or the families. Neighborhoods need the real estate professional talking to them, not “hiding” totally behind flyers. Families need the real estate professional talking to them in their homes not “hiding” totally behind a newsletter.

Where are you?!

Know that Trust, Integrity, Loyalty, and Responsibility cannot be built by hiding; it is built by being face to face with the public.

The truth of the matter is the fact that if you are not in the best of health both physically and mentally, your business is going to suffer, especially in today’s new business model.

For your own sake and for the sake of your business you need to put in place a very strong action plan to take control of those things that you can control.

Day in and day out I hear from individuals that are totally frustrated and overpowered by the stress they are under due to the pressures that the real estate profession that they chose as a vocation is placing on their lives. Many times it comes from those that are very organized, have direction in their personal lives and business. Many of those that I talk with are on the threshold of a panic attack, if not worse!

Take A Break!

In so many cases we are our own worst enemy. It is not the Lender, Title Company, Appraisers, nor work associates, it is us! We tend to find ourselves loading ourselves with too many ‘to do’s’ on our ‘To Do List’ and not allowing time to recharge our inner soul that drives us. Achievement in our lives needs to be on a scale that allows us to shut down from time to time.

Do not allow your ‘To Do List’ to be the all controlling factor in your life. Instead turn it around and list those things that Do Not Need to be completed each day. This also pertains to behaviors and individuals that consume the force that allows you to be the best that you can be.

By the way those ‘electronic devises’ that we rely upon so much today need to be controlled. They ensnare us into thinking that we are productive and it does not allow one to shut down because we fall into the thinking that we are ‘busy’ when it is only a perception of being busy.

Refine your schedule for ‘your’ time! Everyone needs to be free from the pressures of the daily grind. This is so important, that if necessary, schedule your shut down time in your day planner and respect and hold it more hallowed than the time we put aside for our clients and business!

Live in the present and complete each undertaking well before moving on to the next one. The word ‘multitask’ handicaps so many in today’s business world. You need the ability to clearly see each undertaking, complete it fully before moving on. You need to be able to be organized and have the ability to sort out and define each task so that it can be completely accomplished.

And then there is my biggest pet peeve that chips away at the foundation of our lives, families, and business. Learn to say ‘NO.’ Yes, it is very hard to learn how to say ‘no’ to someone, however this goes back to the point made earlier, concerning behaviors, individuals, and undertakings that consume us. Don’t lie when you say ‘no’ state the facts and reasons even to the point that you just need some free time to organize your thoughts.

Once again, for your mental and physical well being: Take A Break!

So, you’re probably wondering amidst all the good news about the economy spun from the dominate media culture, why the economy still feels bad? Simple answer, many in the media complex don’t run businesses and they are listening to people who don’t run businesses for their sources. What to do?

Well, if you’re like most real estate people I know; you’re working 5 times harder for less than half the income. You’re not alone either. You know where the vacant buildings, warehouses and retail stores are; you drive by them every day. Just last summer a little over two-thirds of the entire industrial capacity in the US was working and in some sort of production use. Today, that has dropped to just under 75% or about 5 points less than normal when the economy is doing well. Don’t hear that in the news to you?

What does all this mean to your income? It means you have to see and touch more people with your value proposition in person. Belly to belly. Face to face. A prospect can’t send you to the deleted file, mail filter or trash can. They have to talk with you at some point, hence your selling strategy and listening skills had better be ready and oiled for action.

What advantage will I have in this scenario? Well, most salespeople are going to be dead before they start. Meaning they are getting ready to get ready. They will never go anywhere. You know who I’m talking about too. Second, most salespeople will resist the street in favor of blast emails, wasted postage and off line gimmicks from personal promotion to refrigerator magnets. That will account for about 93% of the competition. 7% will know this and immediately shift to the street for instant prospecting and immediate results. Remember, even a call on a prospect that has to interest to purchase or sell is a worthwhile event. It tells you who’s not players; sharpens your tactical skill and presents an opportunity for seeking referrals.

Those same 7 percent will communicate not only in person, but will use that offline call time to redirect their prospect to an online resource (namely their BLOG) to keep the prospect attenuated to the needs analysis and selling points of your in person call. Similarly, to what you do in the online world.

There is no better time to wake up and smell the pavement.

The iPhone 4 pre-order was made available today. Were you able to get one?

If you were like me you went to the Apple website and tried… and tried… and tried, only to receive the “Your request couldn’t be processed.” The Apple’s online pre-order system used an eligibility check for existing AT&T customers, which appears to have been the cause of the issue. Additional problems arose for users who attempted to pre-order using the Apple retail store software from the App Store and found the software hung up at a “processing” screen while checking eligibility for their upgrade.

Even with all of the “processing” issues, the pre-orders for the iPhone 4 stopped from the AT&T website as of around 1:30pm Pacific from the AT&T website. So I guess in between all of the problems there were people that were able to get their hold on the prized iPhone 4.

As if the problems of today is not bad enough rumors have been circulated that a potential AT&T security breach worse than the one encountered days before with the iPad 3G email addresses being leaked. AT&T reports it has been unable to reproduce the issue but users are reporting that they are logging into their AT&T accounts only to find out they are looking at someone else’s account information. Talk about a case of “when it rains, it pours.”

How many times have you been in the car with your wife, and driven past a property with a for sale sign in the yard, and no flyer in the box? Frustrating to say the least. I jumped in the car the other day and took the flyer challenge! After first driving to a local real estate office for a current list of active properties, I set out to find at least one current flyer in the box, and stopped at any property with a sign in the yard along the way.

Initially, I was fairly optimistic considering I had spent so much time over the course of my career as a Senior Mortgage Loan Consultant creating marketing pieces for open houses, and other agent’s new listings as a courtesy. I was assuming that I was sure to find at least a few flyers, whether they were good or bad quality was arbitrary. Being that in this case, if you were simply making an effort to provide information about the property in the box, you were already more proactive that your competitors. Out of the 25 properties I had wasted my precious fuel driving to, can you guess how many flyers I was able to find? Anyone? Absolutely zero!! That’s right, zero for 25.

In effect, if I was actually an interested buyer looking for information on the property (i.e. room count, square footage, etc…), I was left with no other option than to call the number on the sign. Although wait a minute the number on the sign rings to the real estate office? Not the listing agent. Do I really want to talk to track the agent down right now to get the information, or would I rather prefer to just be able to show my wife the amenities of the property so we can discuss it on our way to the next home for sale? Perhaps if the agent had posted their website address on the sign, I can write down the information and check it out online when we get home…IF I remember to do it.

If you are trying to differentiate yourself as a professional in your community, the one sure fire way would be to have flyers available at all your listings. Sure the neighbors are going to take most of them, but a few buyers too. Who is to say that the neighbors might not be looking to sell soon as well?

After all of my efforts, I once again had to drive by another real estate office to request a flyer for a property, and what I was handed just blew me away. The black and white layout of the flyer left a lot to be desired, and had just one photo…of the front of the house! I had already seen this view of the property, when I was standing in front of it. The paper it was printed on was stock printer paper as well. You might as well print at the top of the page “here, you throw this away”.

Which brings me to my next point. What does the quality of your flyer say about you as an Agent? Does it represent you as a true industry professional? Does it bode well for your experience, and expertise? Take a look at the picure below, and tell me which flyer you would prefer to show a potential buyer or seller. If you are going to provide a first impression of your listing, which do you think is going to be more powerful? The flyer on the left took just 8 minutes to create, and is printed on quality high gloss paper. Feel free to give me a call and I’ll show you how easily it was done!