Chad Kumpe

Here's Some Good News!

When I attended the NAR annual meeting in Florida in November of last year (which was to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Realtor organization,) one of the first speakers was an Economist that spoke about the fall and rise of the market (not pretty.) The next speaker talked about the public perception of our profession and that was not pretty either. When Realtors were ranked among other professionals we were very close to the bottom. Most of that perception was blamed on the bad real estate market.
The Gallup Polling Organization has just released a study of 21 Top Professionals with regards to the public rating of Honesty and Ethics. The top four (in order) were Nurses, Pharmacists, High School Teachers, and Medical Doctors. All of these professionals were rated by two thirds of the public as having very high Honesty and Ethics and very little or no negativity. Nurses were rated Very High by 84% of the public (12% average) with Medical Doctors at 65% Very High (32% average and 3% low.)
We as Realtors were ranked in the middle (not the bottom!) We were ranked along with (in order) Journalists, Bankers, and Building Contractors. According to the Gallup Poll we were rated by the public at 17% very high, 52% average, and 25% low to very low. Our ratings were considered "average" in Integrity and a neutrally rated profession for Honesty and Ethics. Although this poll is not pretty, it is sure not at the bottom along with Lobbyists, Telemarketers, Car Salesmen, Congressmen, Stockbrokers, Advertising Practitioners, Business Executives and Lawyers (listed from #21 to #14.) The poll has a sample error of 3% plus or minus.*

If you, like me, are not pleased with the public perception of your profession, there are things you can do about it.
Keep in mind that over two-thirds of the home buyers today are born after 1965 (Gen"X"ers.) These buyers appreciate facts, honesty, and know a great deal about the real estate market by searching on the internet. This group expects the Realtor to help guide them through the process of buying or selling. They appreciate professionalism. The Realtors that excel have used education rather than the "School of Hard Knocks" to obtain a high level of professionalism.
There will be many opportunities to get the required CE as well as work toward a recognized NAR designation.

The ABR Designation can be obtained in this calendar year and one half of the GRI designation can also be earned by taking courses in Northwest Arkansas.
ABR required course March 19th at the AIRE Classroom on Hwy 264 W, 3.6 miles west of the Lowell Exit on I-540
GRI 201 "Environmental Issues" July 8th & 9th at the JBU
Classroom in Rogers, south of the new Target
GRI 302 "At Home with Diversity" August 3rd JBU
GRI 301 "Ethics and Professionalism" September 3rd JBU
GRI 202 "Unauthorized Practice of Law" Sept 29th JBU
All Realtors need these educational designations because they are a Badge of the Profession and distinguish one licensee from another.

*Data taken from an article written by Lydia Saad about the Gallup Poll of Nov. 7-9.2008

Paul Bynum has put out some charts that represent the market last year. "Fun to Ponder" they will be better next year.
If you would like that 2008 data or the advantages of an ABR Designation wright me at www.Chad@ChadKumpe.com

Some Thoughts about Things!

Our property inventory is still way too high. The market values have slipped another 5%. This is along with a 4% decline in the median price from '07 to '08; all total down from the high by a compound 9%. The total homes in inventory in the MLS are 5750 which is down by 20% from the 2007 high. We still have a 17.1 months supply of houses on the market. This data comes from Paul Bynum of Mount Data. You can check his analysis of the MLS at my web site www.ChadKumpe.com. Please do us all a service and recheck your listings to see if they are priced correctly for this market. We can collectively help this over-supply by removing listings that are over priced. Buyers are looking for bargains.

Donna Schoby of Ready, Set, Stage has pointed out another trend in our market place. Buyers are not looking for "Fixer Uppers" any more. A house has to be in "Move In" condition to be considered by a serious buyer. Look at your listings with a critical eye. If it needs a little paint, get it painted. If it needs carpet stretched, cleaned or replaced, get it done. This may mean the difference in a property shown or not even considered. If the seller cannot get the property into first class condition, consider giving up the listing.

Now that January is almost over, it is time to start planning for your education requirements for the year. The Rogers Board has four GRI Classes and one ABR Class scheduled:

ABR "E-Buyer," March 10^th,

ABR "Required two day Course" follows on March 19th at the AIRE classroom in Lowell/Cave Springs Hwy. 264 E

GRI 201 "Environmental Issues" July 8^th & 9^th,

GRI 302 "At Home with Diversity" August 3^rd,

GRI 301 "Ethics and Professionalism" Sept. 3^rd, and

GRI 202 "Unauthorized Practice of Law" Sept. 29th.

It will be possible to complete most of the classes for the GRI designation and all of the Classroom work for the ABR designation in this calendar year.

Happy New Year!!

I bet you got a whole lot of wishes for a much better 2009, I sure did too. Nothing tells the story of last year like the "Book of Lists" 8^th addition by the "Northwest Arkansas Business Journal." The top twenty firms saw their volume shrink by 21.19%. The top twenty-five agents saw increases in their business in only seven cases. It is beginning to appear that we won't be back to normal till 2010, but things should start looking better by the second quarter of 2009. Don't look for a "Bail Out" for NWA. We are a whole lot better off than a great deal of the total US market.

We have too much inventory!! We could be like Chrysler and stop producing inventory till the market balances out, but we have very little control of production. There is something we can do to help the situation. Take a look at your listings, when the general market conditions drop from 2.5% to 17% (Arkansas Democrat Gazette 12/31/08) like it has in NWA. Many of the existing listings have become overpriced. Take a look at your listings; do a new CMA; if the seller will not or cannot come down on the asking price; drop that listing from the MLS. If a seller feels they cannot come down on their price due to owing more than the property is worth, have them contact their lender about a short sale right away, and take the property out of MLS until the conditions of the short sale can be worked out. If the property is truly worth what it is listed for, take it out of the MLS and let it rest until spring. Keep in mind, "A property that no one will buy is worth nothing." (Dr. Jeff Colllins, Street Smart.) We can be part of the solution to a market in balance.

I just finished the book "The World is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman. It is well worth reading because the future is here. In it he suggests that in toady's marketplace you CQ (Curiosity Quotient) may be more valuable than your IQ. As we are all becoming more and more connected via technology, we must do things in new ways. Try new things, learn new things, and take new courses of learning in new ways. Get a new professional designation, proof of knowledge causes trust. The Real Estate Profession needs a whole lot of help in that area of trust.

If you have not tried it, get on "Face Book." Try the social network www.Plaxo.com, and start a blog on www.Activerain.com. It is a new way to farm, and it takes time, but it's a lot easier than "knocking on doors."

The Realtors interested in education here in NWA are planning a good schedule of courses for next year - take advantage. Superior education courses are the key to superior results in a Real Estate Career. Our job, in addition to being marketers, is to be Educators.

For current market conditions in NWA click on the web site www.ChadKumpe.com.

The current MLS stats are now on my web site, good video!

www.ChadKumpe.com

You know, when you buy a new car, all of a sudden you see a lot of them on the road. There has been just as many as before, but now because you have one, you began to notice others.

In early November I took the new National Association of Realtors "Green Course." It was two days from 8:30 AM till 5:00 PM both days with an 80 question test at the end of the second day. (Passing was 80%) The course started slow for me as I already recycled and used those funny florescent lights and turned down the HV/AC during the day when no one was home. But I soon discovered "Green" was a whole lot more than that. I had never heard of "Green Washing" I soon discovered it is a lot like "White Washing." It seems there is a lot of that going on in our industry.

Now when I look around I see some things that I really did not notice before. The Clinton Foundation has teamed with our state to retrofit state buildings and adopt energy-efficient practices. (The Morning News 12-14-08) The former President form Arkansas said "This is the countries greatest opportunity to rejuvenate the economy and create a safer, cleaner world." It starts here in Arkansas.

I read in the same paper (12-15-08) a group of statistics showing the increase in world temperature by 0.44 degrees from Ronald Reagan's term in office to George W. Bush's. Sea ice has dropped by one million square miles and CO2 emissions have increased by 3.63 billion tons in the same time. Yes, global warming is hard to ignore.

We are Realtors are stewards of the land. Just look to the Preamble to our Code of Ethics. I have always though of this challenge to be more local or no further than national in scope, but as our saying goes "there not making any more of it." What happens when it is all gone?

Soon you will have an opportunity to take a "Green Elective" course on Residential Housing. There will be other electives on Commercial and Property Management that may be taken on line just click on www.realtor.org .

It is our opportunity as Realtors to lead the way in this rescue of our planet, our Dirt. Here are a couple of web sites that may be of interest to you: To calculate your own Carbon Footprint www.earthlab.com and for those who missed it here is a great short video "The Story of Stuff" www.storyofstuff.com.

The Real estate profession has taken a terrible beating in the public eye; here is a way to start our redemption. THINK GREEN!

Our friends at DesignWorks have created a website that has the most complete and up-to-date events and happenings in Northwest Arkansas. This could be a good addition to your relocation packages as sending sites like this to your out of state prospective clients gives them more reason to move here. Go to www.NWAEventsOnline.com and browse the site. Be sure to sign up for their weekly events newsletter too!

I was in Hot Springs yesterday. The front page story on the "Sentinel Record" was about a large home under construction. There were no utilities connected to the house but it burned. I think this is another effect of the foreclosure problem. This may yet effect the builders or owners credit rating.

It is a beautiful day in the Ozarks. I will be out on Beaver Lake this afternoon.

Chad Kumpe, GRI,ABR,CRS,SRES

Broker Owner Chad Kumpe Real Estate