Dave Gill, Bank Owned, Short Sales in Las Vegas, Henderson Nevada

As usual, real estate is making the headways in Las Vegas and Henderson area. There are fewer and fewer homes for sale. I've been making multiple Offers for my Clients without any great success of acceptance. It really doesn't matter whether it is a short sale, foreclosure or traditional sale. The buyers are willing to pay above the list price. This is just incredible, the market is hot and yet there are not lot of homes for sale and our economy is in slump. I have never seen, a such perfect storm in my life. Normally, you would think the economy is hot, housing market is hot and the job market is hot. Two of the three, economy and the job situation is very weak and yet housing market is still red hot and the summer is not even hear yet. I don't know, it is very conflecting, confusinging and challenging, at the same time exciting times as well. As much as I see and hear doom and gloom in the news media. That is not exactly the way it is in this real world. Sometimes, I advise my Clients for hours to make them understand that the market is not what you see or hear in the media. I usually tell them to get ready to make multiple Offers on different houses and you may get lucky, 1 out of 5 Offers may get accepted if we catch the listing the moment it comes on the mls. In closing, as always I am extremely excited and optimistic about the real estate market and future of our profession.

Do you know that over 48% of our sales were cash transactions last year? I am not even talking about just investors in that category. I can tell you dozens of clients I've talked to over the last few months, you ask them how do they plan investing on their first home. I bet at least 50% told me that they are paying cash. Although, lot of us may think the unemployment rate is higher than it's been in decades, but, hey people still have the cash. When it comes to a great deal, people will always find the cash. Although most people may think it is doom and gloom but not necessarily. It all depends on us whether the glass is half empty or half full. You decide for you own future.

What I usually do is take out a clip board and mark down all the upgrades through out the house. I start with the Kitchen, such as Counter Tops, Cabinets, Flooring, built in appliances, walk in Pantry. Then you walk into to all the bathrooms and make notes of all the upgrades and features such as, walk in closets, showers, tubs, jet tub, toilets, counter tops. Number one feature buyers look at when they purchase home is the Kitchen especially if they have a family. Number two is the Bathrooms. Buyer also like to look for comfort things, such as heating system and cooling systems. whether is a forced air or central air condition, heating. Women like to pay more attention to kitchen features, while the men are into surround sound system, work bench space in the garage. Although, most of us know all the above, but it is a good idea to remind ourselves in once and while.

Do you mirror your customers/clients? Can you relate to them in more than one way? This just hit me this morning, how often we get caught up in our own imagery/appearance and we completely forget about prospective Customers/Clients. What I mean is that, I was always taught to mirror your prospective Customers/Clients. That is one of the most fundamental thing that we learn when we go through the sales training. Most of the top sales trainers will tell you that in their training regiment. "You should be able to relate to your clients needs and wants". "You should find a common ground to talk about as soon as you meet them". "Remember make the first impression last" You have to probe for those question to make them feel comfortable. You don't want to spend too much time on it. Maybe just warm them up for about 5 minutes the most. It doesn't stop there, mirroring also mean to be able to relate to them the way you dress, the way you walk, the talk, jokes, but don't get carried way with too many jokes when you first meet with them. Basically don't say anything to offend them, don't talk about politics and religion, be careful. It is ok to dress up nice and be well groomed when you meet your client, but don't come out in a tuxedo or $2000.00 suit and expensive shoes. Did you get the picture? You have to keep everything in balance. Imagine if you meet with a first time home buyer who is already intimated about meeting a sale person and then you drive up in a brand new Mercedes, all decked out with alligator skins shoes and expensive alligator skin briefcase, etc. Please don't get me wrong, I am not saying not to dress up expensive, but I guess sometime we have to balance ourselves. You kind of have to use your own common sense. Of course it goes both ways, other side of the spectrum would be you come to work in shorts, flip flops, unshaven, dirty car that hasn't been washed since 1990 and fast food wrappers, folders all over the place in your car and you choose to drive them in your car. That would not be a good first impression that will last very long with client who is looking to purchase a million dollar home and you don't have your acts together. The reason I brought this up this morning is that I got email from one of my buyer asking if I am too busy for them. This email got me right smack in the middle of my forehead. I emailed him back immediately and told him absolutely not. Lets meet up this Friday. Somehow, he had an impression or a reason to believe that I may not have time to sell him a small priced home. So we just all have to be careful how we handle ourselves and how we speak. As always treat all customers/clients with respect, honesty, integrity and being a professional.

Mortgage Guidelines are constantly changing day by day. Not to mention HVCC nightmare, there are so many other frustrating requests from the banks to the Borrower. I don't want to be complaining about the negatives in our business, but at time, it could be stressful situation for the buyers, sellers and the Realtors alike. Luckily, I am blessed with a great loan officer who helped me tremendously with my transaction for the past 10 years in Las Vegas area. But I do hear the frustration of the others agents in the Office. A true story: Such as the appraisal came $50k below the sale price and the agent in my office was freaking out. Meanwhile the closing date was approaching. So the last minute she switched over to the mortgage company and the property was reappraise at the sale price. By the way the first lender was a major national direct lender. I honestly can't say which is better to deal with, a direct endorsed lender or a mortgage company. Based on my personal experience, I only deal with mortgage company. You may Email or visit my Website.