Here in Hershey, PA we just got done getting pummeled with almost two feet of snow overnight. It always amazes me how it takes just a few hours to accumulate, but SO LONG to move/remove! We're bracing for another hit around Wednesday of this week, which made me think how happy I was I decided to spend the extra money and put up post signs for my listings. Since we have a brief break, I wanted to give a few tips to all the sellers on how to bury your competition while trying to sell your home in the middle of winter.

I'll be the first to admit that nothing can really replace the beauty of a lush green lawn and sprouting pansies surrounded by fresh mulch in a thoughtfully and artistically planned landscape. Even if you do have this, nobody will notice it for at least another 8 weeks in the Northeast so your job has to be to get those buyers to envision it and fall in love with what they might be welcoming come March/April.

These tips are very easy to do, and require very little effort on the seller's part but have huge impact on the buyer when viewing your property. Take the time to stand out from the competition, and you'll be happy you did when you're at the settlement table and the others are watering the flowers they wish they didn't have to plant to begin with.

1. Break out the photo album and find those pictures of the summer BBQ or the new tree you planted. Not many of us take pics of the house for no reason, but think ahead this summer: this might be you next year! Give these to your realtor to upload into the virtual tour with a comment depicting a relaxing summer day, ease of maintainence or just beauty of the garden. Lay the photos on the coffee table in a nice scattering with a few notes of what's planted where and what colors to expect. Buyers like to know they're buying more outside than just weeds!!
2. Please CLEAR your driveway, sidewalks, overhangs and gutters of snow, ice and icicles! Make it safe for the people coming to your home. It tells them you care for your home, care about their safety and really, who wants all that slush and muck trampled into their home anyway? You shouldn't---so make the effort and clear it out. You never know when your next showing will be so don't put this off. They can't look at your home if they can't get to it. Pay someone to plow the driveway if you must. $50 is a small price to pay to get your home sold! (Don't forget about the mailbox if it's on the street!)
3. Put out a good rubber mat with the cloth top to trap all that slush from coming into your home. It makes your job easier and keeps things safe for everyone.
4. More than ever, now is the time to stage your home. Bring out the candles (why not invest in some flameless for safety?) to set the mood of a warm, cozy and inviting home. Right before the showing, bake some chocolate chip cookies--they smell wonderful for a few hours after and will help warm up both your home and the buyer. Bring out the blankets! But please, only the nice, decorative ones to casually drape over a chair or sofa with a good book. Leave the worn out ones in the closet or better yet toss 'em.
5. Turn up the thermostat a degree or two. A chilly home translates into a poorly operating heating system and lack of insulation or drafty windows/doors. Additionally, put away all the portable heaters, electric blankets and snuggies.
6. Light it up! If you don't have adequate light, beg, borrow or buy some new lamps or brighter lightbulbs. A dark home appears to be a dirty and small home so shed some light on all your hard work.
7. Buy some fresh flowers, divide them up into a few small vases and place them in the kitchen/dining area, bathrooms and living area. Even a few brightly colored, nicely arranged flowers warm the room and make everyone forget about wintertime blues.
8. Clear the snow away from basement windows. Especially if you have a finished basement, you need all the light you can get in that "Man Cave" and it lessens the risk that sudden melting would leak into the basement.
9. Mittens, hats, scarves, boots and all snow gear should have a home. Buy a big basket for a closet shelve, or a hanging closet organizer. It's OK to have, it just needs to have it's own home!

I hope these tips help you to get through these winter months with showings and remember that homes sell all year round so don't allow yourself to use the excuse of poor weather from getting an offer on your property. Go that extra step and set yourself apart from the competition. I guarantee you that we always remember the home that gives chocolate chip cookies first.

Good luck (now go start shoveling)!!

So today my 9year old daughter said "I always knew when I grew up I'd be a House Seller, but today I figured out how much work it is. I'd rather work at Zoo America and clean up POOP." WHAT?!?!?!

OK, I realize I put in a lot of hours, get stressed every now and again and Hello-some days I make WAY too little money.... Not to mention how many times I would seriously like to smack some other agent upside the head for just being--well--a pain in my rear. And the sleepless nights! Does she hear me typing at 1am? Yikes!

But, despite all this, I thought I was enjoying this being a real estate agent. How could she not see how much fun meeting new people is and how truly exuberant I am when one of my clients (who often become friends) finds the perfect home and actually gets to call it theirs. And the learning, I just can't get enough info into this brain of mine! There's the mandatory continuing ed requirements, but so much information that goes through the real estate network on a daily basis, I just can't keep up. But try I do!

Perhaps it's this lifelong learning that bothers her so much. She can't be done with school quick enough, which has it's problems since she still has 81/2 more years to go. I look at it as though I still have about 50 (or hopefully more!) years of learning ahead of me.

Once she realizes that life is all about continual learning, maybe she'll have a change of heart. Hmmm. Well, if that doesn't do it maybe taking a little trip to Disney in October will (courtesy of the real estate earnings, of course!). We will, however, have to bring the homework along--both hers and mine!

During a training seminar recently we were discussing the benefits of one of our company programs, and someone asked, "Doesn't everybody have this?"

All of us have programs or services or systems that might be similar to what's offered by other companies, but the difference is who articulates it better as a BENEFIT to the home owner; What's in it for THEM? Now I'm not talking about the exclusive offerings of your company that aren't duplicated in the market place, I'm only talking about your similar offerings. Let's take the MLS as an easy example. Don't all agents put their listings in the local MLS for the home owner? Sure, but how many of us really sell it as a great benefit to the homeowner? Let's try that for just a minute; we'll use a simple formula to set up our script.

Service Provided: Your Home will be listed in the MLS.

Now which benefit package does it belong in? The seller wants things that will sell the house for a 1) good price, 2) less time, and 3) least amount of hassle.

If you said all three you're right, but why? Home owners want you to do three things; Sell the house 1) for top dollar, 2) quickly, 3) without a lot of hassle. So the answer to the question "So what's this thing going to do for me?" will make you the most successful listing agent in your market. My favorite line to home owners for almost anything is "I can't sell your home 1) for top dollar, 2) under market time, 3) without a lot of hassle, if I can't talk to a lot of buyers. And the MLS will reach hundreds of agents who are working with dozens of buyers right now looking for homes like yours. So my input in the MLS will be critical to our success, it will bring you more buyers so we can pick the one who will 1) pay top dollar, 2) under market time, 3) and not give us much trouble."

And isn't this the answer to almost all our benefit statements to home owners. We need to create a huge parade of buyers so that we can create urgency and competition to generate a good offer to work with.

To a lot of you out there this simple exercise is already a habit, and I'll bet you are the ones burning up your markets with listings. This is the natural habit of a Top Agent, a Superstar Listing Agent or what ever you want to call them. Successful agents talk about benefits and how they meet the needs of the seller or buyer. It's a learned and practiced habit, and a very important one.

So why should I list my home with you? Because I and my company will bring you more buyers...

So go out there today and spread some benefits around to all the homeowners in your communities, and make it a great day!

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Some times it's symantics and other times it's nit-picking but this time I'm fired up about something...

I heard that...

I read an article this morning about how someone felt that 'goal setting' was out dated. I disagree; it seems to me they're either doing it wrong or they are using the wrong term.

Let's define what we're talking about. Setting goals in my opinion, and in my coaching system, is simply the starting point of the larger Business Planning process. Step 1 is to determine what you need to earn. Now you might remember I am a fan of Rich Levin's philosophy that you should set goals in three increments;

What do you need? - or else you'll get out of the business and get a j.o.b.

What would you like? - this amount of income will cover some extra stuff around the house and maybe even go to a convention this year.

What would you love? - this is the kind of income you've heard that the real estate business could generate, and possibly why you got into the business, an unlimited earning potential. And top performers in your market area are actually earning this much right now!

That to me is goal setting. So ignore my title and keep doing this, but if this is where you stop then your doomed to fail. You now need the next step. Demand of your coach or manager or trainer who ever will listen that you need a business plan now to reach these goals. Business planning (the way I do it and coach it) goes like this:

What are you going to do Monday to move toward that goal, what will you do Tuesday to move toward that goal, what will you do Wednesday to move toward that goal...are you seeing the trend?

Then my job as a coach, or manager, or trainer is to provide ideas and evaluate the activities and see if they will get you there. If they won't, I need to tell you and give you some solutions.

The next step in my system is to meet with you often, weekly, or every other week, and talk about how things are going, and give you some tips and ideas, and if neccessary we'll do some extra training on what skills you need to sharpen to help you close more business.

That's what business planning and coaching means to me. Now, there's actually a bit more to the process than I explained here, but you get the idea.

So keep setting goals, but do the next step too! If you're not getting the rest of the planning process, ask for it! No, demand it!!

Go out and make it a great year!

Jim