Jose Lopez

Failure is a very strong word. But yes, I am making a commitment to fail and hope that you commit to failing also.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that we need to fail in everything we do, or for the year as a whole. I am referring to making a commitment to try something new, knowing that I will be knocked down a few times. But I am also making a commitment to continue trying to perfect things until I get it right. After 10 years in the business as a buyers agent and internet buyers agent, I am moving more into listings. It is the only way for me to get to where I want to go.

I have been reading the Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller (I am getting SHIFT for Christmas). It is surprising how I have already been exposed to just about every tool or technique that Gary offers, and he offers many. But the problem has been that I have not been READY to recognize and accept the value of those tools until recently. You see the last year I have been in a funk due to a personal short sale and believing everything that I heard about the terrible market. It felt like I was trying to run a marathon in knee deep mud and all this lead to nothing as far as production. Going through this has been a blessing since it has forced me to look at myself.

And I have made a commitment to make 2009 the turnaround year. Not just to get back to where I was before, but to set the stage for moving beyond my previous limits. Those limits that we impose on ourselves can be the most damaging, since they become internalized habits. Its like a person that wants to stop smoking, but can not get themselves to give up the smokes. You know you are doing yourself harm with your limits or bad habits, but you seem to be on auto pilot and just go with the flow.

So for 2009 I am making a commitment to fail. To move beyond my previous self imposed limitations. I will fail initially at just about everything to do with the listing side. I will fail at doing presentations and will laugh at myself. But at the end I will become one of the best listing agents in Sarasota. I will build a base of business that will carry me to new heigths. The true failure is the person that sits on the sidelines watching, not even trying, and I have done my share of that. If I do not reach beyond my limits, then I am not reaching far enough.

So, in what way will you commit to fail in 2009, until you get it right?

Jose Lopez
Sarasota foreclosures

60 minutes got some people talking about our local market. I did not see the piece on Sunday, but by Monday morning had heard from a couple of my clients. This will not do anything to get buyers off the fence. I thought this coming season would be great again, now if these type of news continue, we could be in for a long season.

How will this impact the local Sarasota Foreclosures market? It is yet to be seen, but everything points to more foreclosures hitting the market, further depressing the market, and continuing the downward spiral. Sellers need to understand, that if they are serious about selling their properties, they better get very aggressive with their pricing, or reduce it later and take an even bigger hit.

Jose Lopez
Broker Associate
Sarasota Real Estate

It is tough trying to sell Sarasota Real Estate these days. It is a buyers market and from all the news it will continue to decline. But if you have a home to sell, what is the best approach in this market? How do you get your home to stand out from the rest? What pricing structure should you use? Foreclosures and short sales are driving the market, down that is. Everywhere you look these properties are flooding the market. They impact your property because they are usually priced below the market by the bank to get it sold quickly. Follow my plan below and you will succeed in getting your property sold, quickly and at a resonable price.

1. Maintenance- Take care of any outstanding maintenance issues on the property. Give it a new paint job, steam clean or replace the carpets, replace or fix any damaged appliances, get rid of pet odors, and remove clutter. Above all, keep the landscaping of the home looking great, this gives the home the curb appeal that it needs to invite buyers inside. This is only a short list, but you get the idea.

2.Inspection- Hire an independent inspector and have them go through the home. They will give you a list of items that need attention. Take care of all these items and provide copies to anyone that looks at the property more than once. This will show that you are taking care of the place and that the buyer should not fear any surprises. This is an important point, since the last thing that you want is to work hard to get an offer, and then something comes up during the buyer's inspection of the property. Don't let your deal die this way!!

2. Sarasota Real Estate Agent- You have a choice of selling the property yourself or engaging the services of a Sarasota Realtor. In this type of market you need the extra exposure and marketing that a Realtor can give your property. Putting the property on the MLS is not enough, make sure that your agent is reputable and can provide you with a marketing plan for the property.

3. Pricing-As of January 09, we are still in a declining market. So if you were a buyer, would you buy a home at market price, knowing that it will lose value in the next few months? NO, you would not. So when you are selling a property the pricing has to be about 5% below the market to generate strong interest. But why not price it the same as the other properties on the market? With all things being equal, pricing is the driving force these days. Unless your home has superior charateristics, you should price it in the lower range of the comparables to get the desired buyer traffic. You have a choice, either price it aggressively now, or reduce the price a couple of months later when there are no offers.

This is only a short list of things to do. But if you keep these in mind you should have no problem in getting your property sold. If you need any help or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Jose Lopez
Broker Associate
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate
941-350-4433
jolo112@hotmail.com
www.SellSarasota.com
www.FL-Repos.com

Aggggghhhh!! Yes, almost 10 years I have been in real estate and I am now realizing that I have been doing it all wrong. What have I been doing wrong? Focusing on the Buyer and Internet side of the business. Both very time consuming and with much heartache.

Dont get me wrong, I have done pretty well in the past, about $14 Million in 2003. So the buyer and internet side has been good to me. But buyers are notorious for running you all over town and then dissappearing. Internet buyers are worse, you babysit them for 6 months and then you dont hear from them again. Some leads are great, and that is the secret, learning to see the good ones right away, but most goes straight in my round file. I even have other agents tell their clients to register on my website to look at properties, can you belive that??? Next time I am going to take the client away from the lazy agent.

I switched over to Coldwell Banker several months ago, and the broker stresses the need to have a listing inventory. Also, I have been reading the Millionaire Real Estate Agent, by Gary Keller. It finally dawned on me that to reach the level that I would like to reach, listings is the way to go. The top agents are listing agents first, and work with buyers that they get off their listings. The yard signs are the best tools for lead generation as the buyers are ready and willing.

This does not mean that I am giving up on the internet, on the contrary. I have just completed my Sarasota Real Estate website, which focuses on Sarasota Foreclosures. I am working to have this website ranked high on the search engines which should generate a significant number of leads. rest assured that I will be more picky as to which ones I will even call back. But I am setting aside time every single day to focus on listing generation. This is what will get me to the top of where I want to be.

So here is to more listings in 2009, and $10 Million in Sales total.

Jose Lopez
Coldwell Banker Residential

I love the internet and I think that it has changed real estate forever. It is the only place where an agent like me can compete with a large brokerage for business. Those that are focused on their internet business I think are better positioned to take advantage of any market, and growth for the future.

But is it enough? And should the internet be 100%, or the majority, of our focus? I think the answer is clearly NO. You can make a very good living JUST from the internet, but to really move forward the internet has to COMPLEMENT our business, not be the focus of it. Just look around and you will see many agents, that are very succesfull, without any web presence at all. Those of us focused on the internet must ask ourselves, how in the world can those agents function without a top notch website?

I think that us internet junkies have a lot to learn from those agents doing it the traditional way, and they have a lot to learn from us also. So I think the key is to try to find the right blend between the two approaches, ensuring that one is complementing the other.

So what do I intend to do in 2009, to better complement both sides???

1. Continue renewing and upgrading my personal Sarasota Real Estate website. To bring it to one of the top rankings for choice keywords in our market. Also, bring the website to a top standing for Sarasota Foreclosures.

2. Initiate and E-newsletter. Many of the leads that we receive are looking at least 6 months ahead. And I find that the best way to stay in contact is through a newsletter.

3. Target Listings- Being focused on the internet can pull you more and more into working with buyers. But the most succesful agents in this business are listing agents. Being #1 on Google is great, but having several sellable listings, that produce a lot of buyer calls, can be just as good if not better. Why? Because buyers calling from the yard signs are most ready to make a decision, and those are the kind we want the most.

4. Time Management- To be tops on the internet you have to be a blogger these days, and that can suck all the time management skills right out of you. How many times have you started blogging and then find yourself a couple of hours later still on the computer? I am limiting myself to certain times during the day to access email and blog, and that's it!

5. Hire Assistant- An assistant is very important if you really want to move to a higher bracket. I will start with a part-time person and then move them to full time by the middle of the summer. This more than anything will help my business grow. I used to have a full time assistant and know the value of a good person, and also know how devastating to your business to work without one, or hire the wrong one. I have lived both sides of the scenario.

6. Business Plan- If it is not in writting, it is not a goal! Stamp that on your forehead, because it is true. Write it down and tell everyone about it. This will commit yourself fully to your goals. My priorities will be family and self, and then my real estate business. However, by implementing the initiatives above, I will have more business, without an increase in hours.

My public goals is to do $10 Million in business for 2009, and I am on my way!!

Please let me know what you think, thanks

Jose Lopez
Broker Associate