About Lauderdale County, AL

Monday, August 24, 2009

What Do You Want To Know About Real Estate?

(The following entry was directed toward members of our community via our Facebook page. The next blog will include one question and my response.)

I've been thinking about my blog and how to make it better. For the past several months I have chattered away about various topics that I find interesting personally, however I haven't really made this a good place for feedback, comments, suggestions, or interaction. So, I pose a question to you all out there.

What Do You Want To Know About Real Estate?

Feel free to hit me with the hard questions. It can be about real estate law, contracts, negotiation, sales numbers, local trends, hot spots for real estate in our area... pretty much anything you want to learn. I'm open to it all. I'll try to take your questions and then turn them into blog entries. If I don't know the answer to some of them, I'll either make one up that sounds believable, or I'll find someone who knows. I'm interested to see where this takes us.

You can either submit your suggestions in the comments below this post, or you may email them to me, or you can even post them up on our Facebook page.

Thanks everyone for your participation.

Joshua B. Pettus
Home Grown Real Estate
President/Associate Broker
jbpettus@gmail.com
http://www.homegrownrealestate.net/

Monday, August 10, 2009

Why Choose to Be Home Grown? Part 4

Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, I've seen what it takes to start and maintain a successful business. I remember my dad waking up early and coming home late most every day just to make sure everything in his company was as it should be. There were stressful times, but thankfully there were also many happy times as well. Becoming a real estate agent is exactly like starting up your own business. Even though you'll work under a broker, you are President and CEO of your own little business. You'll also be the accountant, the marketing guru, the salesperson, the graphics designer, the manager, the secretary, and the legal counsel. You'll have to somehow do it all. Of course, you'll have the help of a broker once you get started, but many times brokers are busy trying to solve other agents' problems, and may not always have the time to be one-on-one with you training you how to get your new career started.

At Home Grown Real Estate, we've come up with a unique idea... a Mentor program! As you'll read from the following paragraphs taken from our Recruiting Packet, you'll be able to see how this can be a lifesaver for the new agent, and a financial help to the agent who brought them on board to the company. Hope you enjoy!

New Agents

Being a new agent can be a frightening experience. The training received with the 60-Hour license course is excellent for passing the real estate license exam but does very little in preparing you to actually succeed with a career in real estate sales. For most of us, starting out was a lot like being hired in as a professional basketball player for the NBA, after reading the rule book, but never playing the game, never practicing, and never watching anyone play. An estimated 40-80% of all first year real estate agents drop out of the business. Only 10% of all agents who survive to their third year actually make it to their fourth. It's no wonder! Most real estate firms toss their agents into the game without giving them any sort of specialized training or education. They were basically set up to fail before they even got started.
At Home Grown Real Estate, we have a better idea. We believe that we are all better off if everyone is successful. First of all, our commission structure is set up to give incentive to our agents to go out and recruit others. If those agents are successful, then the recruiting agent makes some extra cash! So, automatically there is a desire among all of us that everyone succeeds in real estate. Also, as a new agent, the agent who recruits you to the company will become your mentor. They will work closely with you, help you learn how to fill out the paperwork, how to set up your advertising, how to best find clients, etc. You will start out having someone there who will help you get your business started the right way. If you're serious about your success as an agent, you owe it to yourself to have someone there at your side that can help you every step of the way.

The mentor program lasts for a year. You may stay with it longer if you and your mentor agree. While on the mentor program, you will receive 65% of your commission, the company will receive 30%, and the mentor will receive 5%. This gives the mentor an added bonus for helping you be successful along the way. If you'd like more info on our new agent program or want to come to work with us, please email us at homegrownrealestate@gmail.com .

Joshua B. Pettus

President/Broker

Home Grown Real Estate

256.541.0491

JBPettus@gmail.com

http://www.homegrownrealestate.net/

http://homegrownrealestate.blogspot.com

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Why Choose To Be Home Grown? Part 3

Continuing from my blog posts from the past couple of days, today I thought I'd talk about another value that we feel is important here at Home Grown Real Estate... Innovation. I remember my old band director in high school used to tell us, if you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards. He used to say that making music is like riding a bicycle up hill. While you are pedaling, you're moving forward, but if you ever stop, you immediately begin to go back downhill. I think real estate is the same way. We have seen in recent times how markets shift and how paradigms have changed in a very short amount of time. Ideas and tactics that were highly successful two years ago no longer work. When most people think of innovation, they think of innovation in technology. It seems to be the big thing these days to just buy a gadget or gizmo that does this or that, and does it faster and easier than before, and then they brag to the public that they are innovative. If you're going to say you're different, I believe you've got to actually be different. After reading the book Blue Ocean Strategy (you can find my thoughts and ideas on that book here: http://homegrownrealestate.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html ), I came to realize that very little has changed in the world of real estate companies. I began to think about ways to offer more services to my clients at better prices than my competitors. The logical thing to me seemed to play off of our strengths. We are good at fixing up houses, so we decided to offer that service alongside our real estate services. You have no idea how many opportunities this has given us just by offering remodeling or repair services. Its so easy to say, "I'd be glad to get you a price to have that repaired." So far I've never had anyone say no. This is just one of the ways I feel that we will offer valuable services to the public, and give our agents another way to earn money. I could ramble on and on, but I'll save you from all of that. Needless to say, I think we have something significant here. I'll go ahead and paste below the part of our Recruiting Packet that describes how we want to create a culture of innovation. · Value # 3 - We are Innovative.
At Home Grown Real Estate, we believe that to stay afloat in the real estate market of today, you have to be willing and able to adapt, improve, and constantly be looking for new ideas to serve our clients and customers. We are always looking for new ways to connect with our clients using traditional advertising, email, texting, blogs, or even social networking websites. We believe that technology should enhance our abilities, not replace them. Also, as an agent with our company, you will also work with our sister company, Harmony Building and Construction, as a Construction Sales Consultant. As you work with clients, you will have the ability to offer construction service-- from small repairs, to remodeling, to home building. You will receive commission for each of these sales you make and can use this as an additional source of income. We understand that the more services you can provide, the better off you'll be in the market place. This also allows you to be more negotiable with pricing and still be able to remain profitable.
You'll also be able to participate in our commission share program that will allow you to help recruit fellow agents to the company. Each time one of your recruits makes a sale, you'll receive a percentage of the company's portion of their commission checks. Also, if you recruit a brand new agent, you'll have the opportunity to serve as a designated mentor for that individual. As a mentor, you will be able to help them get started and keep them motivated so that they can become a successful agent, as well. Of course, you will receive extra compensation for helping out as a mentor.

Part #1 - http://homegrownrealestate.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-choose-to-be-home-grown.html

Part #2 - http://homegrownrealestate.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-choose-to-be-home-grown-part-2.html

Joshua B. Pettus
President/Associate Broker
Home Grown Real Estate
256.541.0491
JBPettus@gmail.com
http://www.homegrownrealestate.net/

http://homegrownrealestate.blogspot.com

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Why Choose to be Home Grown - Part 2

In connection with my post from yesterday, I'll continue to include portions from the Recruiting Packet I just recently put together for new agents coming on board. Yesterday I touched on the fact that we are local people running a local business. Today I wanted to talk about the most important aspect of being in business... being honorable. Those who know me personally already know that I am a religious person. I know and understand the value of honor. Much of the world, however doesn't. And isn't that sad? Many of you know that I spent 2 years in Argentina volunteering as a missionary. I saw some very humble people and learned many important things about life and the value of living it right. Unfortunately, much of the world doesn't believe that anymore. I think that too many of us have become selfish and greedy, and have forgotten that you can get farther with the truth than you can a lie. I volunteer as an Assistant Scoutmaster of one of our local Boy Scout troops. Before earning the rank of an Eagle Scout, I had to know and live the Scout Law that says you must be TRUSTWORTHY, LOYAL, HELPUL, FRIENDLY, COURTEOUS, KIND, OBEDIENT, CHEERFUL, THRIFTY, BRAVE, CLEAN, and REVERENT. What a different world this would be if everyone lived by that code! The following was directly copied and pasted from our company Recruiting Packet. Home Grown Real Estate Value #2 - We Are Honorable Here at Home Grown Real Estate, not only are we local folks, but we also appreciate the good, strong moral values that our Southern heritage has taught us. We take pride in a hard, honest job well done. We believe in the value of treating others with kindness and respect. We believe that a person's honor and dignity are constantly at stake, and we should never do anything that would embarrass our communities, our company, our family, or ourselves. Tomorrow... On to #3! We Are Innovative! Stay Tuned! Continued from yesterday's post found here:
http://homegrownrealestate.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-choose-to-be-home-grown.html

Joshua B. Pettus

President/Broker

Home Grown Real Estate

256.541.0491

JBPettus@gmail.com

http://www.homegrownrealestate.net/

http://homegrownrealestate.blogspot.com

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Why Choose to Be Home Grown?

The other day I began putting together a recruiting packet that we will give to those agents who are looking at joining us here at Home Grown Real Estate. Its been a good exercise for me. It has given me a chance to sit down and figure out what our values are in our company. Even though many in the area already know us and have been very pleased with the services we provide, I felt it necessary to put those things down on paper so that those considering working with us will know exactly where we stand on certain things. For the next few blog posts, I'll be posting some of those ideas that I wrote out. These will be directly copied and pasted from our Recruiting Packet document.

Home Grown Real Estate Value #1:
· We are Local.
One of the best things about real estate sales is that it is a local job. You know your hometown better than anyone else. You know the people, the back roads, the best places to eat, the best events, the culture, the history...everything! You love being home, and you can appreciate being able to live exactly where you want, how you want, and with those you want to live. One of the most exciting aspects of real estate sales is being able to present your hometown to someone from far away, and be able to instill in them an appreciation for the unique things that add value to where you live. Whether you are brand new to real estate, or have been selling property for as long as it's been here, you know that you are only as good as the knowledge you have and are able to convey. The words "home grown" are an old southern phrase that means we are born and raised right here. We know our area well because we live here in North Alabama and are excited to share all the great things about it with other people.

Tomorrow is #2-- We Are Honorable. Stay Tuned... Part #2 is found here: http://homegrownrealestate.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-choose-to-be-home-grown-part-2.html

Joshua B. Pettus
President/Associate Broker
Home Grown Real Estate
256.541.0491
JBPettus@gmail.com
http://www.homegrownrealestate.net/

http://homegrownrealestate.blogspot.com