Mark Lyon, PA, CRS, CRB

Keller Williams agents price homes right in Pembroke Pines I am a firm believer in pricing the listing right the first time I preach this to all the agents I coach at Keller Williams Pembroke Pines market center. T will get the seller a higher price and also get you closed faster so you can move on and get those JUST SOLD in 5-10 days card out in the mail, a win- win for all. I presume you are using Just Listed and Just Sold cards, they make you look like a star listing agent and get your phone ringing.

When ever I have a seller trying to over price which is more often than not, I frequently use The Charles Kimble story. I got this story from a friend of mine, Frank Arata Jr., Frank at that time was the President of Keyes Asset Management back in the 90's who had recently attended a seminar given by the highly regarded economic consultant, Charles Kimble and I have probably used it on 80% of all my listing appointments since then. I have tested the theory many times and it is totally true.

Twice in recent weeks I overheard an agent negotiating an offer over the phone on a listing of his, the offer came in 21% below list price, seller was at $275,000 buyer came in at $218,000 I told the agent it probably comped out in the low $250's which he confirmed but was unable to bring the seller to reality. The seller not being able to accept this reality from his agent decides to engage an appraiser, which when appraised came in at $251,000 right on the money using the Kimble technique. The second situation involved my daughter in law Kristy who was on the phone helping another agent when I happen to overhear the conversation regarding an offer. I got the numbers from Kristy picked up a calculator, list price $469,000 offer 402,000 15% apart I said to Kristy that the house was probably only worth $435, 000, (buyer to come up 7.5% and seller to come down equally) which the agent overheard, as they were on speakerphone she wanted to know how I knew that when I did not even know what property she was talking about, I replied, experience. She told me her comps were at that very number and that was her suggested list price to the seller. ( This is NOT splitting the difference)

Here it is. Buyers have a pretty good idea of property values, after all they have been looking at FSBO, every builder, and been going to open houses and are on their 5th Realtor . They know values even if they low ball their first offer. Charles Kimble says if you list your home 10% above true value your offers will come in 10% below true value, buyer thinks seller is joking so buyer plays with them seller lists 5% above buyer offers 5% below and so on . Most deals are made only when the seller is in 1% to 3% of real value, and if buyer comes in 2 % below because seller is 2% above one counter usually moves buyer to market value. The problem lies when the seller is unrealistic making the negotiating process tedious and frustrating for all, seller due to frustration almost always settles for a lot less than he could have gotten had he just been realistic in the first place.

When I illustrate this on paper by drawing a straight line across the page, and calling it ground zero, I then do list price 10% above buyer 10% below 5% above 5% below and illustrate how the offer and counter offer may play out with seller settling for a price below ground zero, practice and put in your toolbox and you will be sure to use it.

Top Keller Williams Agents Go on the Offensive in Pembroke Pines Ever wonder why some succeed and others struggle? It is simple one group prepares for success through vision and planning. Vision and plan work together, neither can work without the other. The vision is where you want to go and what you want to achieve and the plan is how you are going to get there.

I meet and talk with many of our agents in our Keller Williams office in Pembroke Pines, the common denominator for their success is simple, first it's their vision, or as it is known here at Keller Williams the Big Why, then having a plan and working it.

They plant the seeds and fertilize their past customers, spheres of influence and there neighborhoods. Robert Lewis Stevenson said "the success of my day is determined by the seeds I sow, not the harvest I reap." When times are tough this group continues the offensive, they are on the attack working their systems. Remember Super Bowl XLII? What if when the New York Giants were behind in the remaining seconds of the game they had gone into defensive posture so the New England Patriots could not score again, they would have lost the game, that is what many of us do, we do not take action, we cut back on what keeps our phones ringing. We tend to play so we don't lose when we should be playing to win.

As Realtors® we must always be on the offensive looking for the next prospect to score the touchdown with. As so many top producers know we are in the LEAD GENERATING BUSINESS and only through those activities do we get the opportunity to list and sell homes.

Whats your Plan?

Trusting Your Comps! Top Agent Tips Keller Williams Pembroke Pines. A few years back when the housing market was booming I had listed a home in Riviera Isles of Miramar for $445,000, a beautiful 2 story upgraded to the max home. Within 3 hours the offers began to pour in, all around full price. The offer the seller accepted was a full price offer with a large deposit.

A few days later, as I have done for many years I was having coffee with team member Dan Crispino, and discussing the unbelievable market we were in. I was telling Dan that I didn't think I understood this business any more. The very model that I had listed and sold in hours for full price, there were several others on the market they were listed from $80K to 120K above what I had just listed and sold this one for. Could I have under estimated the price in my comps and possibly hurt the seller? I said Dan my CMA is my instrument panel just like an airline pilot has, I have trusted mine throughout my career. Could I have misread it this time?

Many of you have probably seen the show "Seconds from Disaster" on the National Geographic Channel, where they reconstruct the final minutes before disaster and the causes.

The first episode that comes to mind is the air disaster above Germany when a Russian passenger plane and a German freighter collide at 30,000 feet with no survivors. Both planes had been in touch with air traffic control, when collision avoidance systems came on in both planes. Russian pilot was told to climb, German to descend to avoid a mid air collision. Both pilots believed there systems were faulty and began to try and find the fault within their respective cockpits. Well you know the rest of the story. What the pilots didn't know was that the traffic control center was under staffed on this particular evening, leaving just 1 overwhelmed controller, who's only telephone was out of order and being repaired. If only they had trusted their instruments.

The second series of incidents were with the new Boeing 727's when they first came out there were numerous hard landings which caused failure in the landing gear, this was happening repeatedly. The FAA investigated every incident and was having a difficult time finding the problem. Well it came to their attention that the pilots enjoyed flying this light and highly maneuverable aircraft, they kind of thought of it as a sports car type plane. What really got their attention was they discovered that the pilots upon approach were flying visually as you would fly a small single engine plane and not watching their instrument panel and were misjudging their altitude causing these hard landings.

The same is true for the CMA, it is your instrument panel. Well as I am talking with Dan about how I may have misread my instrument panel on this appointment the phone rings, and guess who? Yes, the appraiser, he tells me he is about 20K short, we discussed and compare comps. What we found was that we were both using some of the same but the one with the major difference was a comp on the lake which he had given around $18K, I had seen that house, told him it was not on a lake but rather a large mud hole, he went checked it out himself and agreed with me, completed his appraisal at the sale price.

The point being trust your instruments and CMA, they work. I know what you are thinking, not in this declining market, Yes they do. You just need to know, how much lower you need to adjust down, and it all begins with a good CMA.

The top listing agents all know how to read their panel. Do You?

What's Your Routine? Keller Williams Top Agent Tips Pembroke Pines I am always stressing to the agents in our Keller Williams Pembroke Pines market center during coaching sessions, and this goes back to the days when I had a team of 4-6 members, the importance of developing their routines. Some have even jokingly    made the remark that I am compulsive about doing the same thing at the same time on the same day of the week, week after week month after month and year after year. If that is being compulsive then I certainly am.

All successful people are highly structured, they develop habits and they become good, very good at performing those tasks and only because they have time blocked and they have done them so many times before.

In a 2008 issue of Broker Agent Magazine Denise Lones, of the Lones Group Inc. writes an article entitled "Routines-Powerful Tools for Your Real Estate Arsenal". She writes "Look at Tiger Woods. From an early age his father Earl instilled in him the basic routines of golf. They were programmed in his head. As he matured He perfected his routines. He follows a set list of things he does every week and every day to stay the world's number one golfer."

When I was out working with buyers and sellers, I had routines that went like this. Monday morning 10:00-2:00 Seller follows up and deliver my weekly report along with my recommendations which I would receive from the feedback of the showing agents. My hour of power would always begin at 9:00 and believe you me when I did not have appointments my hour of power turned into hours.

Wednesday was one of my favorites 9:00 AM follow up, anyone in my data base that had expressed an interest in buying or selling I was calling those who were scheduled for my periodic follow up relationship building call while they incubated, while setting appointments with those that were ready. These are just some of the daily routines that those who wish to be successful must get in the habit of doing.

Today as a Productivity Coach for the Keller Williams market Center in Pembroke Pines I have similar routines from my accountability meetings with the Team Leader and OP to teaching Camp 4-4-3 and 36-12-3 to the individual coaching sessions with our agents. I continually stress to all, develop your routine and watch your business grow to new highs

Speech writer Charles Parnell observed, "Too many people are having what might be called, "near-life experiences." They go through life bunting, so afraid of failure that they never try to win the big prizes, never knowing the thrill of hitting a home run or even taking a swing at one."

We all fail, it just so happens that successful peoples fail more than failures do. The difference is failures quit, and the successful try again and again and again until they succeed.

Sports writer Grantland Rice observed, "Failure isn't so bad if it doesn't attack the heart. Success is alright if it doesn't go to the head."

French writer, poet, and critic Guillaume Apollinaire wrote,

Come to the edge.
No we will fall.
Come to the edge.
No we will fall.
They came to the edge.
He pushed them and they flew.

Those who fly always first get to the edge, and those who swim get in water over their heads. If you want to seize an opportunity, you must take a risk. If you want to grow you must make mistakes. If you want to reach your potential, you will have to take chances. If you don't, you will be resigned to a life of mediocrity. The people who don't make mistakes end up working for those who do. And in the end, they often end up regretting the safe life they lived.

Blog taken from John C. Maxwell's book The Difference Maker: Making Your Attitude Your Greatest Asset