Jeff & Paulia Kennedy and Debi Jones

Website hits are up! The Kennedy Team's website, www.BestofHotSprings.com expects more than a 33% increase in site hits by the end of January. Historically, this website averages 35,000 hits per month. As of today, with one week remaining in the month, 42,500 hits have been calculated with an average of 1,635 hit per day! That's 470 more hits per day than the usual 1,166! If this increase in web activity continues, and it is expected that it will, The Kennedy Team should have 52,300 hits by the end of January 2009. What a great way to begin the New Year!

The Broker at the main office at Trademark Real Estate, Inc. also reports a swell in activity with increased showings on all of the office listings.

I asked Paulia Kennedy, real estate marketing guru, if she was advertising her listings any differently. Paulia's reply was, "I recently changed our print ads and focused on a professionally designed general print ad in the homes magazines which is different from the other agents' ads showing just little pictures of houses."


Paulia continued to explain, "Another reason for good hits on the site has been the attention paid to our holiday gifts that we sent out in December. We received lots of thank you's along with good referrals." The gift that keeps on giving!

Paulia and the Kennedy Team have a number of new listings this month. I've been posting virtual tours nearly every week. As a result, there are many more Kennedy Team lawn signs out there as well. Paulia said, "We're also getting more people say they see our signs everywhere... (and we've got more signs out there now)."

Along with these results Paulia is confident that the market is changing for the better. She has seen an increase in buyer confidence, and the Kennedy Team is preparing for a booming real estate market in 2009!

Janine Gregor
Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy

After posting my initial Tough-Love Real Estate Marketing entry, a number of people asked me to clarify the details of a Paulia Kennedy's 'honesty talk' and what the criteria was for 'being choosey'.

Paulia explained that, "We first determine how motivated they are (if they really want and NEED to sell). If they say, 'We don't really have to sell' -- then we really do not want their listing. If the need is there, then we spend a lot of time during the interview process explaining the complete process. We want to make sure they are ready to work with us - which means we need their full involvement and participation in order for us to be successful. We consider the seller the No. 1 person on our marketing team."

Paulia continues, "In order to sell a home, there are 3 things that the seller has control of -- the home must be priced right; it must be in good condition; it must be easy to show. If the seller sticks their head in the mud and ignores our advice along with all of the ongoing information that we send them after we enter into a listing agreement, such as the showing feedback reports, the ongoing market reports and the competition home reports then we try to amicably exit our listing agreement. It then becomes only a waste of our time and their own. We also consider the other factors of the property (which are out of our control) -- location, the actual property, etc. -- and determine if we think it has a chance of selling."

Resulting in continued, steady sales, Paulia exclaims that many agents are sending their listings to The Kennedy Team knowing that this Tough-Love approach means that the property has a better chance of selling.

I asked Paulia why outside agents would give up their listings to The Kennedy Team. She explained, "Actually, I think the referring agents' biggest problem is that they do not have good follow-up systems with their sellers. The agents do not keep their sellers involved - which then causes the seller to be disgruntled. At that point, the agent has totally lost the relationship which we work so hard to develop and nurture between agent and seller. So by referring the property to us, I think it is the other agents' way to try to hold on to the deal somewhat and at least earn a referral fee. We also hear from those sellers we take on that they are seeing our homes all over the internet, with virtual tours, etc., and they wonder why their agent is not doing the same marketing for them. All of the internet work is standard marketing for us."

Paulia concludes that, "The Realtors have to work much harder now, and it takes a full team to handle all the work involved with a listing. And it seems to be a survival of the fittest mode now. The Kennedy Team saw this coming and we have been fully prepared."

Janine Gregor
Real Estate Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy

I received an interesting email from Paulia Kennedy last week. She explained me, "We're really getting hammered with new listing calls lately -- seems like we've been averaging about 3 new calls per week. It's getting to be so many, that we really have to be choosey about the properties we list. We have been deliberately honest, upfront and realistic with the sellers. Then after the honesty talk, some of them are deciding to hold off on selling."

Having worked with Paulia for sometime now, I am well-aware of the integrity that defines The Kennedy Real Estate Team, so I asked her to characterize, 'honesty talks'.

Paulia explained, "It's being totally candid on what we think their property will sell for (with no sugar-coating) and how long we think it may take to sell. We are upfront about the true negatives of the property that we will have to face. We come up with a plan on how to offset those negatives. We fully explain to the seller information they may not want to hear about their property based upon our market absorption rates, our knowledge and experience. We often suggest they hire an appraiser - especially when they are being unrealistic - or it if it's an unusual piece of property with very few comparables available."

When the market was really lucrative, Paulia and The Kennedy Team would give a similar 'honesty talk' but they were not as adamant with their advice. Paulia explained that they would often give in to the seller requests and allow them to start off with a higher price - as it was not as critical then. She added, "The sellers did not seem to be in such desperate financial conditions and the buyers did not seem to be as demanding before." In this volatile market, The Kennedy Team gives the seller the most realistic news, which more than likely is not what the seller wants to believe is the truth. This frankness means that Paulia and The Kennedy Team can concentrate on selling only those properties, priced appropriately for their market working only with realistic sellers who fully understood the truth of today's market.

It may also mean fewer listings but the reality is that the Tough-Love approach has meant stable sales.

Janine Gregor
Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy

When we put our northeast home up for sale a few years ago, I remember the day that the real estate agent caravan stopped our home on agent Open House day. There isn't much to say here about that day, as it was an uneventful experience. The agents came, and then they went. So last month when Paulia Kennedy asked me to flag her internet sites to indicate that one of her listing properties was to have an Open House the following week, I didn't think much of her request. I soon learned that this was not going to be a ho-hum event.

Paulia explained that everyone on The Kennedy Team pitches in for Open House activities to create a rather tasty smorgasbord for the invitees. Paulia wrote, "Our Realtor® Open Houses are Open to all, (the public and the real estate community) but we focus on having the event when it is convenient for the Realtors to come." Paulia found that after holding a number of Open Houses, her team noticed better attendance on Wednesdays or Thursdays at lunchtime. She added, "Then we cater the lunch and of course the free food gets them!"

I inquired about more details on the 'free food concept' and Paulia answered, "I've got the lunches mastered with a really good spiral-cut honey glazed ham from Wal-Mart that I bake for about 2 hours - cost is $23 and it feeds about 60 people." Paulia enlightens this conversation in her endearing southern vernacular by emphasizing, "...and everybody brags on it." The menu does not stop at a glazed ham. "Then we get rolls from the deli to make sandwiches and sometimes pick up potato salad. Debi (Jones) buys Kroger's great chicken salad that everyone loves and adds additional items and drinks. Jeff takes care of loading the drink coolers and putting out the signs. Even John Watson, our resident handyman helps out with toting and stocking the coolers and then stops in to socialize with us."

I had not heard of such attention paid to an Open House menu. But, then Paulia explained to me that, "All of the other Realtors rely on the Title Companies and Banks to cater their own Open Houses but we felt like that was misuse of those vendors. So we do our own catering by ourselves." Apparently, as Paulia clarified, "It seems that after we provided all the fixings for a few Open Houses, the local banks and title companies have now put their foot down on it with the other Realtors and as a result they [banks and title companies] appreciate that our Team is not constantly calling on them for food donations."

"We also invite the vendors to bring their own clients and occasionally I send out postcards to the neighbors to come; so we do try to welcome everybody. Normally, we don't get many of the regular folks to come (other than the curious neighbors wanting to compare to their own home). But we offer plenty of food to everyone. We rarely do regular public Open Houses, as we've found that they aren't very effective."

I squirreled this conversation in the back of my head until I came upon an article yesterday from Realtor Magazine entitled, "Feed Them Well and the Associates Will Sell". The article states, "Rather than provide a dish of candies or a pot of coffee, associates are finding that omelets, salads, and pastry bars, among other treats, are necessary to generate interest. Some realty professionals are going as far as offering homemade cookies in personalized tins to draw crowds, and a menu often is advertised alongside a listing's asking price and other features on materials circulated within real estate circles.

While some real estate pros would rather shell out cash on advertising, others are willing to serve lunch if that is what it takes to sell the home."

Yet again, The Kennedy Team is ahead of the real estate game...in a tasty way!

Janine Gregor
Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy

Paulia and I have been sharing ideas this week for a good blog entry. I have been asking her about behavior changes in buyers and sellers as many have had to rethink housing plans due to a shifting real estate market. I asked Paulia to check her 'send box' to see what types of email questions she has been responding to, as this is a great source of information for the here and now.

One such individual who wrote Paulia was interested in purchasing a condo on prime Lake Hamilton property in Hot Springs, AR and gave Paulia a laundry list of 'wants'; most entirely unrealistic for the $100k he wanted to spend. The list reads:

• A 2 or 3 bedroom condo.
• In a well run condo complex.
• But, a condo that has been neglected, once a rental that had been abused, etc.
• Fairly low monthly fees.
• On Lake Hamilton.
• Price, less than $100K if possible.

It is important to stop here and note that even at today's real estate prices a 3-bedroom condo with a good floor plan, in a well-run condo complex with fairly low monthly fees on prime lakefront lists for, on average, $300k.

So, I had to take a second look at the 'wants' of the buyer versus the 'reality' of the situation and ask myself, why IS this buyer being so very unrealistic? He wishes to pay 1/3 of what a condo in this location is priced. Not half the price... or $25k below the comparable or even $50k below, but 1/3 or approximately $200k less than the listing value. Why, that's 3 condos for the price of one! How much more did he really think the market was going to 'bottom-out'? So I reread his email a bit further to understand this thinking. The potential buyer admits, "I may be unrealistic. That's okay. If something like this does not materialize, that's okay to. I just know my retirement account has declined by 40% in the last month. That has made us alter our thinking quite a bit." He also added, "Don't really have a timeline. I've always been slow on purchases. I drive a truck with 199,000 miles on it. My wife's car is the new one and it has 113,000 miles."

I ask more questions...Why did he add all of this extraneous information about his 401k and his wife's car? I believe this man is suffering and he wanted Paulia to know this. Perhaps he was looking for a sympathetic shoulder. Since his correspondence was in the form of an email, there was little risk involved for a face-to-face potentially embarrassing conversation. I also conclude that this buyer is having grave difficulty adjusting to change. Evidently, he has the same list of 'wants' from the past such as living on a popular lakeside location; one luxury he simply cannot bear to give-up. Rather, he would much rather raise his family in a beat-up condo and succumb to the renovation expense process than to give-up the lake view. I really find this behavior to be fascinating! To me, it is like buying a beat-up 1972 Cadillac, without modern day safety improvements and gas efficiency just for the sake of owning a Cadillac.

I asked Paulia if she's noticed any other changes in buyer behavior. Paulia observes that, "It's becoming more & more difficult for the folks with a fixed income, and the middle-class folks to purchase a home. And we're also seeing more people, being unrealistic with their wants- they seem to want to buy cheap and sell high -- and that "ain't gonna" work."

On the other hand, in the luxury home buying market, Paulia indicated, "We've noticed more of a shark-like tone from the upper clientele - they're hovering around like vultures ready to pounce and snatch-up bargains from the desperate sellers that are in a financial bind."

Paulia's own responses to those who are inquiring about properties have also been revised. As The Kennedy Team of Trademark Real Estate, Inc. does not participate in property management and rentals, an unusual but practical deal has been worked out with one particular group of developers they work with, for example, who has agreed to offer the properties for lease. Paulia explains, "In the past, we would quickly refer the clients looking for lease options to the property management companies in the area. Now, we're trying to hold onto them because there are fewer potential buyers out there, so we're doing whatever it takes to hold on to the clients and help them out until they are in better positions to buy or sell."

For those sellers who have listed with the Kennedy Team, Paulia states, "We've had to change the mindset from telling them [sellers] that, It's not good to have a home sit on the market too long - to - It's okay to have it on the market a while, as we need to be sitting and ready for when the market shifts back and the buyers pounce." She adds, "We are keeping our sellers posted of all activity through our online seller reports (which is a great system that most Realtors do not offer) and we are keeping sellers posted on market stats, by reviewing the comparable home sales & active listings with them much more frequently. We are making sure that they are right on-price, as we do not want to miss out on any buyers, especially due to pricing. We have very thorough pre-listing packets with tons of initial information offering the seller lots of helpful tips and information on the selling process. We often spend two hours on our initial appointment, explaining the process."

The beauty of cut-backs, downsizing, price-reductions, slow-downs, etc., is that it does compel those who are optimistic to develop creative strategies that otherwise might not have been pursued. The difficulty is watching buyer behavior change so dramatically that sensibility becomes non-existent.

Janine Gregor
Virtual Assistat
www.YourVirtualWizard.com