Kathleen Turner

You've made the decision to begin a professional career in real estate. You've taken your pre-licensing classes and passed the real estate exam. With your new real estate license in hand, you are now faced with your toughest decision of all - where to go to work.

As a veteran real estate professional of over 10 years, I am here to tell you that your pre-licensing class taught you NOTHING about how to be a real estate agent. Sure you know how to calculate the number of square feet in an acre, but do you really know how to open and manage a business - do you know how to develop a business plan? Do you know exactly how and where you can get clients on a consistent basis? Do you know how to negotiate a sale, then negotiate repairs and what to do if the deal falls through? Have I scared you yet?

There are so many options out there for the rookie agent to choose from when considering where to start their real estate business. Everything from the large national, traditional firms, to the one-man shops run by part-timers as "a hobby". You must ask yourself which firm will give you the support and training that will give you the very best chance at success. Make no mistake, this is a tough business! Your success, or failure, in this business is directly related to your "product" knowledge, mastery of skills & natural abilities, including your work ethic. Choose the firm that consistently offers training to agents of ALL skill levels. Remember, training and growth should be on-going and, believe me, even the most experienced agents need & thrive on on-going training & support!

You also need to be comfortable with the financial viability of your firm. The down real estate market of the last 3 years have caused many small firms to close shop, or merge with other firms in order to stay in business. In Charlotte alone, some 3,000 real estate agents have given up and left the business. Don't be afraid to ask each firm you interview with about their financial status. This IS your business! Ask if the firm is an "open book" company, ask about their debt,or lack thereof. Why, you ask? Do you really want to work for a firm that is financially unstable and could close, leaving you and your clients out on the street? This happens people! Do you really want to pay a disproportiate amount of your hard-earned commissions to help retire debt that created long before you arrived? In what way are you benefiting exactly from that debt? Interesting thought, hmm?

Another question to ask a prospective firm is what their agent count has been in the last 3 years. Is the firm experiencing growth in this down market, or have they lost agents? Ask the manager what they attribute this lose or gain to. Also, if the firm has experienced a net loss, ask what type of agent left. Are these part-timers that needed to find a more steady source of income, or has the firm been losing top producing agents? If top agents are leaving, I can guarantee you there is a problem. If the firm is reluctant to share their numbers with you - move on - what else will they hide from you?

Finally, you need to get a strong feel for the culture of the firm. Is this a workplace that values the sharing of ideas and supporting your fellow agents, or is this a firm where agents don't want to give away their "secrets" to other agents? Is this a firm prefers you come to the office only to drop off contracts or is this a firm that encourages its agents to come in and "be a part of"? It has been my experience over and over that new agents whom come into the office and listen and begin to model the behaviors of the producing agents are the ones that make it past the first year and go on to become successful, producing agents themselves. You will be surprised just how much you can learn from eavesdropping on a top producer's phone calls!

Is the firm "agent-centric" or "management-centric". You will find out that most traditional, "management-centric" firms believe in spending big bucks on advertising the firm itself, when, truly, those same dollars could be better used to provide its agents with leading-edge technology and training to empower the individual agent to build a success and profitable real estate business worth having. Ask if the agents have any say in the day-to-day running of the form, or in its policy making. You will be surprised at the different philosophies out there. Decide whether you want to be part of an organization in which your opinion is valued or one in which, at the end of the day, they really couldn't care less what you think.

Choosing your first real estate firm can feel like an overwhelming task. However, when armed with the right questions, you will interview with confidence and walk away knowing whether or not that firm can truly provide you with the training, support & culture that you will need to make it in today's real estate market!

Need more help? Contact me and I can assist you in make the decision that is personally right for you!

As Mecklenburg County property owners anxiously await the results of the first mass real estate property revaluation since 2003, the County Assessor's office is still looking at homes sales data from the fourth quarter 2010. The County, however, remains confident it can meet its can meet its target date of February 7 for mailing notices of new property values to property owners - at least to some of us, that is.

Assessor Garrett Alexander, speaking to a group gathered at Clinton Chapel AME Zion Church, advised that the County's approximately 27,500 Condo owners will not know their new property values until sometime in March. When asked why the delay, Assessor Garrett advised that the County needs more time to analyze the condo market data.

For those interested in more information on the status of the revaluation, you can attend the County Commissioners meeting tonight at 6pm at the Government Center. The Assessor's Office is expected to provide the Commissioners with an update. The meeting will also be televised.

Don't forget that the County Assessor's Office has a very informative website that should answer many of your questions. You can watch videos, access media reports, view power point presentations of all the regional public information meetings, as well as access your own property information. Just click http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/AssessorsOffice/reval/Pages/default.aspx .

If you have questions regarding the value of your home, please contact me at KathleenTurnerRealty@gmail.com and I will be glad to help you.

More great new for Charlotte this week! International giant Capgemini, one of the world's leading providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, will create 550 new jobs in Charlotte over the next three years and plans to invest $4.2 million in its new Charlotte office. The move was announced yesterday by Governor Bev Perdue.

According to yesterday's NC Department of Commerce's news release, Capgemini, headquartered in Paris, has over 100,000 employees in 36 countries that service five industry sectors. The 17,000 Capgemini professionals who are dedicated to the financial services industry develop and deliver business and IT solutions and industry thought leadership, which create tangible value for more than 900 companies globally.

Most of the positions Capgemini will recruit for in Charlotte will require a degree and background in information technology. While individual wages will vary by job function, the overall average salary for new jobs is $62,396. This is well-above Mecklenburg County's average wage of $48,776.

Once again, an international powerhouse has recogonized that Charlotte has what it takes to grow into a true world-class city! I venture to say that Capgemini will be just one of a number of new companies that will be calling Charlotte home in the next few years.

If you are interested in more information about Capgemini, or are interested in what jobs Capgemini will be bringing to Charlotte, click the link below!

www.us.capgemini.com/NCcareers

As I am sure you have heard by now, Mecklenburg County is conducting its first Tax Revaluation since 2003. The County had originally planned to revaluate in 2009, but decided to put off the process due to area's economic downturn. You've probably been thinking to yourself, "what's so different about the economy this year?" and, "why now?". The answer is simple. Mecklenburg has simply run out of time. North Carolina law dictates that each county perform a tax revaluation every 8 years. The last revaluation for Mecklenburg was 2003. You do the math.

So who is in charge here? County Assessors office is mandated with performing the appraisals that will determine the new property values. The Revaluationteam consists of 7 professional appraisers and a manager, with140 years of combined experience in the appraisal field. Team members are charged with, not only appraising all residential properties in the County, but also all the commercial properties in the County as well! All members of the team are certified in real estate appraisal by the North Carolina Department of Revenue. You can feel good that these folks really know what they are doing!

Now, if you have ever bought real estate with a mortgage, you are probably aware that an appraisal was conducted to determine the value of your new home, or commercial property. You may also remember waiting a week or two to get the results back. Right? You're probably now thinking, "If it took one appraiser a week to appraise my one property, how in the heck can a team of only 7 appraisers possibly appraise thousands and thousands of residential AND commercial properties in a matter of a weeks?"

The answer, my friends, is technology. What took 24 or so appraisers to accomplish in 2003 can now be done by a mere 7, and in less time! The number of man hours saved is astounding. The Assessors office now has at its disposal some very cool tools, such as GIS computer assisted mass appraisal systems and oblique photography to enable this team of professionals to not only get the job done more quickly, but a lot more accurately too

No idea what I'm talking about?Hey, I had never even heard of oblique photography until I watched the Assesors Office's video about Mass Appraisals on the County's website. Very interesting stuff! Click below and you can watch & learn too!

Mass Appraisal Methods

IMPORTANT NOTE: The January 10th Revaluation Meeting for District 1, has been RESCHEDULED for January 18: 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Cornelius Town Hall community room, 21445 Catawba Ave., Cornelius.

I am getting a lot of calls from clients this month regarding Mecklenburg County's property tax revaluation. The most frequent question I am asked is "how is it possible that my property tax value could possibly increase in light of the drop in home prices?"

Not since 2003 has Mecklenburg County conducted a county-wide property revaluation. Many County residents will be shocked to see their property's tax values increase. Many property owners, especially those living in some of Mecklenburg County's more choice neighborhoods, might receive quite a shock to see their property tax values increase A LOT!

So, in light of the current state of Mecklenburg County's real estate market, how is it possible that a property owner will see an increase in thier property's tax value. The answer is pretty simple. We, as human beings, have short memories. A lot of us were not living here in 2003, or, if we were, certainly can't remember what the housing market was doing at that time. What we do know and remember is that our homes are not worth what they were at the height of the market. Thus, our skewed perception.

The fact is, the majority of our properties are still worth more than they were way back in 2003. Therefore, tax values will necessarily go up.

For most folks, the rrevaluation process is confusing at best. Mecklenburg County, however, is doing a great job getting the word out about the revaluation process. In the past month, the Mecklenburg County Assessor's Office has put on some very informative "town meetings" across the county, explaining the process and a allowing citizens to ask questions. There are two additional meetings scheduled. If you would like to learn more about the revaluation, plan to attend! I have listed the meeting times and locations below.

Mecklenburg County also has some great videos on their website. If you are interested in viewing a quick video with some basic revaluation information click here 2011 Revaluation.

UPCOMING INFORMATION MEETINGS
January 10 - District 1: 6:30-8:30 p.m. Monday, Cornelius Town Hall community room, 21445 Catawba Ave., Cornelius.
January 20 -District 2: 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Winget Park Elementary School, 12235 Winget Road.