Beth Sorenson - bsorenson@shorewest.com Shorewest Realtors 920-412-0281

• Are you LinkedIn?
• Where's your Blog?
• Do you Twitter?
• Have you Tweeted yet today?
• Are you a Rain Maker?

Once these questions may have seemed like strange language from the outer worlds. Agents and professionals I meet are still asking what I mean when I pose these questions. For me, I was educated all the way through high school without a central computer lab for students to use. We took few classes teaching computer skills, and still had typing class (which I think I ditched once or twice).

Once I entered college, I took with me my prized possession...a Brother word processor. While others had a tiny, one lined screen from which to view a document, mine included a whole monitor (black background, yellow type in DOS format). Fellow classmates paid me for time to use it. It was fantastic! Until I dumped beer on it. Hey, it was college.

Before I graduated I owned a PC. And soon, I surfed the Internet from my home. Thanks Al Gore.

Now, I surf the Internet, stay connected to my 4 social and professional networking sites, email, save documents, take photos, and create video files......FROM MY PHONE.

I am 35. I am not the hip Generation X. I am not the Baby Boomer. I am in the middle. I have seen the development of technology, but have been alwyas within moments passed of learning the full benefit. I have always had to teach myself.

But...I am LinkedIn, I Blog (not as often as I should), I do Twitter and I Tweeted this morning. And, with continued effort, I will make a whole lot of Rain.

Get out there. Get connected. As a professional in today's world, you can't afford not to. Plus, it's amazing what you will learn, and who you will meet.

Property Photos :

Picture Perfect or Buyer Barrier?

Yes, the suit of armor is mentioned in this blog!

While searching new listings, price changes, and back-on-market listings for a buyer of mine, I am amazed on a daily basis at the photos I see on the MLS system. I think to myself, are these realtors really serious about selling these homes? What would I think if I were a seller and saw this photo posted online?

After all, a picture says a thousand words. Granted, many realtors are able to look past a bad property photo and see the potential in a home (god bless them). However, most buyers start on their own before they ever call a realtor. Whether a buyer is trolling realtor.com or a company website, property photos shape the buyer’s first impression. Are your photos turning potential buyers away, or bringing them in? Do they focus a buyer’s attention, or distract it?

To clarify my point, let me describe the content of a few photos I have seen. Feel free to use your imagination:

Small city home with super updates: new carpet…hey wait, is that a baby crawling across the carpet of that vacant home? That’s odd.

Quaint home in desirable historic neighborhood…I guess the house is haunted since there is a large white ghost hanging in the living room doorway! Trick or Treat?

Formal dining room with a royal feel…especially since there is a life-sized medieval knight in a suit of armor standing in the corner. Creepy.

Newer gas furnace…with a billion wires hanging around it in a dank and spidery basement. Why would you take a picture of the furnace?

Spacious bathroom…with mold and hard water stains covering the tiles and the tub. Does KaBoom cleaner come with this bathroom?

Large kitchen with plenty of counter space…if you can see it under the dirty dishes and boxes of food. Is that a raisin or a…eeewww

Great view of back yard…through a cloudy, bug-spotted window. Windex anyone?

Freshly painted and ready to move in…as long as you love hot pink and lime green.

Fenced yard…so well fenced, that apparently the Rottweiler that is looking directly at the camera can’t get out.

To me, photos are a crucial voice for advertising a property. They may also be a good discussion tool for buyers. If a seller believes they have prepped their house for sale, go ahead and take the photos. Then, return to the seller and view them together. Talk about each photo and maybe even keep some example photos that you believe showcase a property well so the seller has something to compare it to (two living rooms for example: one with the suit of armor, one without). Help the seller go into “buyer mode” and educate them about effective advertising.

This is also a great opportunity to discuss staging. I spent an entire day at my first listing--after these discussions--boxing up books, photo albums, and knick-knacks; moving furniture, and cleaning laundry room shelves. We can’t “fix” everything in a home, but we can help the seller make a difference with how their home will be perceived.

So the next time you post property photos, look at them carefully. Will these photos make a buyer click…or cringe?

PS: I admittingly am an AR newbie. How can I copy / paste from Word through Mozilla Firefox without getting formatting language in my blog post?

As the Snow Falls and Economy Avalanches,

I May be Down but Not Out!

Here I go, forward into another quiet day as a new agent on office floor time. Ah, Green Bay in December. The only thing hoppin' is the mall; consumerism at it's best. But where are the housing consumers?

Suddenly, my heart palpitated with excitement when one call came in this morning. A buyer, at last! It turned out to be a woman who refused to give me much more information than a first name. She inquired about a property that I had to dig out of our files (recently expired with a new listing contract in the works). As I reviewed the property information with her on the phone, I heard a faint click. I paused. “Hello?” my voice echoed. No reply. Did she really just hang up on me?

Then, the adrenaline rushed again when I received a call from a local realtor wanting to schedule a showing for my listing. Finally! However, in brief email just a couple hours later, he informed me of his frustration: buyers had called him after tossing back more than a few holiday cocktails and later looked at lower list price properties that turned out to be far below their expectations. Rail mixers with top-shelf taste. They decided to rent instead of buy. So much for the showing.

According to my broker and mentor and office team members, I am doing everything right, just at an inopportune time. So, my question is: When is the opportune time? Is there ever such a time, or is it really all about how you do what you do? I have read in more than one article that more than half of all new agents abandon ship after just 6 months. I may be beat today, but I don’t give up that easily.

Unfortunately, people give up too easily. They throw in the towel and say "I've been beat" or "It's finally beat me down." Renowned author and influential poet Jack Kerouac gives new meaning to being “beat” in his article “About the Beat Generation” published in Esquire Magazine in March of 1958, defining it as “…beat, meaning down and out but full of intense conviction…” Beat is how you view life. It seems too easy to bow out in the midst of struggle. In fact, giving up is the easiest way out of anything, but not the best way. Instead, get out there and HOWL... Allen Ginsberg would be proud.

So here I am, blogging on Active Rain and trying to keep a Zen state of mind. I think of those opportunities ahead instead of failures already past. I may be down, but I am not out. This is the test phase, and if I can stay afloat through buyer hang ups, the focus I have on my convictions and my business will light my way to success.

**I am creating a newsletter and this will be my first feature article.

By: Beth Sorenson

Temperatures may be falling as another Wisconsin winter arrives, but winter shouldn't be the only thing moving in.

Home buyers and/or sellers wishing to "trade up" are missing a great opportunity by hunkering down for the winter . In fact, today's market should not induce buyer hibernation, but instead inspire buyer rejuvenation.

There are several favorable market conditions for buyers:

• Home prices have moderated and are holding steady. If buyers wait for "the market to turn" they may be faced with price increases. Now is the best time to invest.
• Interest rates remain low. This means less interest, more return.
• Inventory is abundant. There are more houses to choose from making it easier for a buyer to find a house that meets their search criteria.
• Home prices are affordable, sometimes below replacement cost value.
• Many sellers are motivated and willing to negotiate reasonable offers.
• $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers. *BUT HURRY! This credit is only available until July of 2009. It's like getting an interest free, 15-year loan!
• Mortgage lender regulation means buyers can feel assured approval amounts will be affordable and budget friendly.
• A 5% down payment on a home yields a return nearly 5 times greaterthan the same amount invested in the stock market .

There are more incentives for first time buyers to purchase a home, and for current owners to trade up. The possibilities are endless.

Remember, just like each snowflake that falls from the sky, the needs of each buyer and seller are unique. Don't let media reports freeze your unique dream of home ownership.

For more information about buying a home, or investing in a new home call Beth Sorenson at Shorewest Realty today. Don't just dream. Thaw those icy reservations and make you home a reality.

Since entering the real esate business one month ago, I certainly wish I had a listing for every person who looked at me crooked and said "Real Estate? Now?".

I must admit, jumping into the middle of this market is a bit of a risk, but the way I see it, if I can survive now, my future has unlimited possibility. The question is, what must a new agent do in order to survive?

I would like to use this blog to encourage new agents, and seasoned agents alike, to share ideas about:

• prospecting
• advertising
• networking
• finding buyers
• etc.

Share ideas, suggestions, successful strategies, questions and encouraging remarks. Contribute your best to help make this a truly ACTIVE bRAINstorm!