About Sedgwick County, KS

2008 board and agent Production stats

For the South Kansas MLS

The Wichita Board of Realtors ended the year with approximately 1769 agents and the South Kansas MLS finished with 1880 agents. Two years ago there were approximately 2300 MLS agents.

1880 agents in the MLS at the end of 2008. The year started with about 200 more.

1596 agents had at least one sale in 2008

677 agents or 35% had 2 or less sales.

Only 798 agents (42%) had at least a sale ever other month.

There were 20086 units sold by the 1880 agents, or an average of 10.86 sales per agent based on the end of the year #'s. Units sold are sides of the transaction.

The top 5% of the agents did 4681 units sold, 23% of the total. The average units sold per agent was 24.9.

The top 10% of the agents did 7410 units sold, 37% of the total. The average units sold per agent was 19.7.

Agents losses of the top 8 companies for 2008:

Company 2007 2008

Prudential 357 289

Coldwell Banker 168 127

JPW 249 230

Plaza 119 108

RE/MAX Realty Pro. 49 48

R.E. of Wichita 44 42

Keller Williams-west 80 53

Keller Williams-east 80 73

Hey - it's me again... Eric Henderson, Broker of Advantage Partners LLC Realty in Wichita, Kansas.

I've been learning a lot on these boards, and on other sites... I've worked my butt off to get some good listings from Ocwen, First Preston, Bank of America, Fannie Mae and others - I do a ton of BPO orders...

If you are like me - you might be wanting to take your business to the next level - hire an assistant to help with the data input chores and contract followup.

I have long been a fan of delegating authority and responsibility with full oversight and final approval - if you catch my drift - but trying to find someone in your local market who understands what a BPO is, the vendors out there, what they require different from each other, how to get info from our MLS and county courts etc... well... they just don't exist in any large numbers... I learned the hard way...

I have tried hiring a local person - spending the time to train her - then realize she was related to another broker... sneaky... I found a younger college aged person to help organize things, be a customer care coordinator and follow up with all my leads online - but she moved... I found a ex-mortgage broker that wanted to get his license, so I paid for it - gave him listings, trained him on bpo order and how to research... but he got suckered into a low-paying hourly job working for another broker...

I've tried hiring from local employment center and companies that place individuals with disabilities... just trying to get some of these people to just show up for work is hard enough...

I just can't afford to spend so much time and money investing in an individual to find that it does not work out... Ever feel like this?

The point is, ladies and gents, it's dang hard to find someone to do what we do on a regular basis...

BUT THERE IS HOPE!!!

I remember reading many articles through the years - some even by "Mr. Internet" himself in the REALTOR magazines... all focused on "Virtual Assistants"... or real people that know the business but are now working from home or a small office to help professionals around the country - or world...

Basically - you decide what you need to have done on a regular or part time basis - even a one time job is acceptable to some agencies and individuals... someone with reasonable qualifications finds your help wanted post - and will basically be an assistant to you - remotely. No one ever needs to know... but does it work?

Now - this idea is not new - there are many resources online for finding help and hiring tele-commuting employees and contract work... but trying to find someone that is talented in sales, customer service, the Internet, and understands our processes as a listing and BPO agent - well - that gets difficult...

I am here to say - it WORKS. I recently hired a few assistants - one in Florida, on in Washington and the other is in California. One works on writing articles, updating my website and writing blog posts for me... another calls on all my leads, classifies them, gets them preapproved then sends each client back to me or to one of my agents as a prequalified hot buyer with a list of exactly what they are looking for... kinda cool right? The last one helps me with data entry chores - understands our mls service and how to pull comps. ALL of them are former or current real estate agents - most are full-time parents that just decided to stay home with the kids, and while they are in school they just want something to do... AND THEY ARE VERY AFFORDABLE TO MY SURPRISE!

I want to give you a tip - don't pay for listing your job... seek out qualified individuals, get referrals, and find out how much they know BEFORE you hire... Now, like some of the services out there that you will find - ones devoted to real estate agents seem to be the logical choice - I found that these were the most expensive and usualy set up by a broker or agent trying to supplement his or her income... not a bad idea - but more expensive to me...

Please help me add to this list - and write a review of your vendors and how you found them...

My favorite so far -

1) HireMyMom.com - believe it - the best place for top talent I have found. I was expecting a bunch of uneducated, unmotivated individuals and hoping for at least one or two good ones to choose from - what I get was a TON of VERY QUALIFIED professional women who are at home most of the time now - that really put my experiences to shame when it comes to expertise in the world of REO, mortgages, real estate in general and sales... I posted a simple Real Estate Virtual Assistant wanted ad - and instantly had resumes pouring in from all over the country! I have current and ex real estate agents, retired brokers, attorneys and corporate higher-ups who all have responded to the ad... All ages, and enough experience and knowledge between them all to seeming run this entire country! Seriously! I actually checked some of their claims out - like the one that had so much senior level underwriting experience or the one that ran a real estate law office in New York...

Simply the best... but for PENNIES! My ad was for $10-$15 per hour - THATS IT!!! Aprox $200/week for each position... and I am getting TONS of inquiries STILL TO DATE!

Guys - I found some help - these ladies are just awesome and will take care of your clients - AND YOU... If they help you with a big close - REWARD THEM! I am doing more business now than I ever thought possible - and I don't have the overhead of an in-house employee!

Go there - NOW - post a position if you are serious about getting some help - there are some amazing people there that are available NOW...

Got a favorite Real Estate Virtual Assistant? Tell us about it - pros. cons?

Did You know:

That you're not supposed to just throw old electronics in the trash! They apparently can contain products such as mercury, lead, flame retardants, and more, which can leak out, causing problems for many plants, animals, and of course - us human types! It may even be contributing to some cancers!

What the heck is electronic waste?

Items with electronic pieces, of course. This would be things such as cell phones, computers, video game consoles, TV's, pagers, etc. This does NOT include big items such as fridges and stoves, though a select few might have parts that are electronic.

So what are you supposed to do with this Electronic Waste?

Duh! Recycle it!

Let me expand that a bit - First, you should always try to reuse items. Is there another purpose you can put it to? Can you sell it to someone else who needs it? Can you donate it? Can you even just give it away (check your local freecycle!)?

Then you should consider recycling! There are many places that take various types of this waste for you. Here's a list of who will take what: HERE It's so much easier though to find one place and ditch it all! So pay attention, because here is how you do just that:

See if you can repurpose your electronics before then, but if not, clean out the clutter and head down to the Coliseum to ditch it safely, and free!


Until Next Time!

~Sheree~

La Galette French Bakery and Restaurant is located at 1017 W Douglas Ave, in the Delano District. It is a wonderful Cafe that is known for their homemade bread, quiche, and French pastries.

I had the pleasure of having lunch with my Niece Aimee today at La Galette French Bakery and Restaurant. She is visiting from the San Francisco area where she is attending school. She wanted to go somewhere she would miss when she goes back.

If you are in the area it would be well worth your while to stop in for lunch.

Foreclosures Foreclosures!

They're all over the news and they are all the latest rage for those out home-shopping. Realtors, newscasters, and others toss out those terms REO, HUD, and more like they're just another piece of the alphabet. But what do they really mean??

There's basically 3 types of foreclosures - REO, HUD, and VA. Then you have Short Sales - which is a pre-foreclosure type.

1. HUD - Housing and Urban Development owned - these homes were originally bought by someone with FHA financing, who then defaulted on the loan. They are basically government owned at this point. HUD homes generally come on the market with an initial bid period ending on a Sunday. Offers are put in by real estate brokers online and the winners notified so that paperwork can be completed. HUD's offer a couple of nice advantages in that they provide an up-front inspection that should identify some issues (of course, your own more thorough inspection is highly recommended) and they note whether a home is FHA insurable or an escrow amount for FHA insurability.
2. VA - Veteran's Administration owned - these homes were originally bought with a VA loan (military) and were then defaulted on. Generally you see fewer of these, at least in our area.
3. REO - Real Estate Owned by the bank - these homes were bought the usual way through any number of methods, banks, lenders, trusts, etc. The buyers of these homes defaulted on their loan and the lending bank took the home back and is now trying to sell it. REO's can have a myriad of different owners, procedures, requirements, or more, based on the wants/needs of the owner bank.

Those are the three types of foreclosures for sale. This takes a various timeframe depending on the lender who repossessed the bank, area it's in, etc. Sometimes these homes sit empty for months at a time while all the paperwork is filed and gets to the right place before it finally goes on the market.

And then there's the popular catch-phrase of today's real estate world - short sale!

• A Short Sale is not yet foreclosed. These are sales being made in which the market value of the home is now less than what is owed on the home, leaving the owner in a negative equity situation. The mortgage company for the owner has to approve a loss on the home, or a short of what is owed them. Most times it is also a case where the seller has stopped paying and is iminent danger of foreclosure, but not all cases are this way. Compared to bank-owned, they are generally in better shape and still lived in (at least here they are!). Many can just be moved right into with only a little work. The worst part of a short sale is that there's no guarantee the bank will allow the loss to happen and they generally take a long time to decide, sometimes as long as 6-8 months. Some are faster than others.

There you go! A brief rundown on what all the lovely foreclosed acronyms mean. I'd be happy to take you out looking - bring your flashlight!