Marc Brodeur, Grayhawk Scottsdale Realtor

Shiny Ball Syndrome is essentially where an individual has a wonderful opportunity but is distracted by the next opportunity that comes along. That can happen to the best of us. In Real Estate, if you are good at generating leads, you may find yourself with dozens if not hundreds of opportunities in a short period of time and it may be difficult to focus on the one(s) with the highest long term win-win payoffs. And I don't mean the biggest commissions, I mean the ones that will not only provide the most in short term commissions, but also in a long term opportunity that will separate you from the pack and establish you as a necessity in a certain market niche.

I see "shiny ball syndrome" to be toughest on people who have never had a business before or whom are newer in real estate. It can be hard to tell if the opportunity you are chasing will head into a wall, be short term gain, or a long term gain. Especially if you have no reference point with business experience. I used to have a business associate that was always chasing the next opportunity, whether in or out of real estate, and seemed unable to focus and grind out to the end a present opportunity if something "shiny" came along and distracted them. Stay focussed, and stick to your business plan. Finish what you begin.

We also see "shiny ball syndrome" when people chase the big commission check. It isn't necessarily the best if the chance of referrals or repeat business is essentially very limited. Would you rather sell 200 homes at $500,000 over 5 years or 5 homes at $5,000,000? The difference is commission on $100,000,000 or $25,000,000. Many Realtors chase the higher end buyer/seller but there are limited buyers and sellers at this price point, and at this time with the economic downturn, this is quite a difficult period for the high end. It would be better to refer out that big commission and get 30% of it than to pass up on the home builder who is willing to sell his new subdivision through your team.

I encourage everyone out there who has opportunities, whether great or small in number, large or small in gross commission to keep their eye on the long term vs short term outcome. How can this opportunity grow into something larger? Is the one question I always ask myself. Businesses of all types are built on relationships more than anything else. Treat your source of referrals like gold. Treat your clients well. Don't be afraid to ASK for referrals. And think long term vs short term.

Remember, ask, and you shall receive.

Marc

I guess someone has to poo poo the green parade a bit. I love a lot of green things, especially photovoltaics. If Nanosolar is for real, our lives may change. I was fascinated by PV in the 80's. I am quite fascinated by many material science innovations but I do have a pet peeve about the "politically correct" green movement.

One thing I hate is hypocrisy. Low watt light bulbs stick in my craw especially as they contain the most toxic non radioactive element known to man. Mercury. Now why is mercury suddenly in vogue? We can't even buy mercury thermometers any more but suddenly all of our light bulbs can contain mercury? And we all know those suckers are being carefully recycled right? I mean come on. Its nice to suck back a bit less electricity but mercury is extremely dangerous. It affects hearing, vision and speech. It will only work its way into the food chain when disposed improperly. I can guarantee the bulbs are NOT being recycled in a safe manner. But you will never hear boo about it because it is politically correct to "decrease our carbon footprint" which somehow makes it ok to pollute with mercury! Might as well sniff on some hexavalent chromium while I have some spare time.

And then we use this "green movement" to schlepp whatever product it is that they may be selling to make themselves feel good about saving the environment. But it seems this movement is half bent on selling something vs saving something. I can buy recycled anything these days, but is the process that produces these products actually green? The sad truth is that many of these are extremely inefficient manufacturing processes that expend huge amounts of energy which increase our carbon footprint. So much for being green. But it sure sounds good when I sell counters made from recycled tires or what have you. But hey hypocrisy is ok if it is cool, right?

Ok I'm off my soap box.

If you are looking for an upscale Scottsdale lifestyle, I would encourage you to consider Grayhawk. It is a masterplanned community in North Scottsdale. It sits on some of the best real estate in Scottsdale. Grayhawk has condos, townhomes, villas, patio homes and houses to fit every lifestyle and budget. Since the crash of prices, you can get a 1 bedroom loft condo for as little as $100,000. The other end of the spectrum in Grayhawk is a custom home with spectacular golf and mountain views for $3 million. Grayhawk has miles of hiking and biking trails. It has easy access to loop 101 freeway. It is close to the shops and restaurants of Hayden Peak Crossing, Scottsdale One, Scottsdale 101, Market Street and more. Grayhawk Golf Club boasts 2 award winning golf courses - The Raptor and Talon Courses. It is the home of the Fry's Open professional golf tournament and is less than 1 mile to all the action of the Phoenix Open at the PGA Tournament Players Club. The Quill Creek Cafe at the Grayhawk Golf Club is one of my favorite restaurants in all of North Scottsdale with perfect golf, lake and mountain views on the patio. Grayhawk is a great community overall and the prices are currently exceptional for this North Scottsdale location!

About the Author:

Marc Brodeur is a North Scottsdale specialist. He is very familiar with all the North Scottsdale communities. See more information at www.GrayhawkCondosOnline.com or www.ScottsdaleLuxuryExperts.com.

Marc Brodeur, Realtor

1-800-300-0263

Marc@TheScottsdaleExperts.com

The Importance of Being Decisive When Shopping for Foreclosures

The foreclosure market in Phoenix is moving FAST right now. The word is out that our market is almost at the bottom and foreclosures are insanely cheap. It seems that everyone is suddenly here to buy a foreclosure property. Months ago, foreclosures would sit on the market for weeks or months before being bought. Since, there was less activity and interest, the bank would entertain offers 10% or more below list price. Since December, the best foreclosures are snapped up within days of being put on the market. There is usually MULTIPLE bidders. This creates a bidding war situation where each buyer is told by the bank to give their "highest and best offer". They look at all offers together rather than negotiating with the person who give the first offer (which used to be the norm). As a result, foreclosures have been selling for 99.7% of list price. Some go over list price, some go under.

When you see a foreclosed property that interests you, it is in your best interest to make an offer. If you wait, another more decisive buyer will get the deal.

We are foreclosure experts. See more information and view foreclosure properties on our Foreclosure Deals page at www.ThePhoenixExperts.com or call us at 1-800-300-0263 to start your search for a foreclosure.

Marc Brodeur, Realtor
www.ThePhoenixExperts.com
1-800-300-0263

I think we need to start a TV channel called PTV, for positive tv. It seems like the media can talk about nothing but gloom and doom. Too bad I can't put them all on a prozac IV and cure their depression.

What the media seems to be ignoring in this market where all the "experts" are calling for as many foreclosures in 2009 as in 2008, is that their vehicle to these foreclosures, the nasty adjustable rate mortgage, is actually adjusting DOWN and not UP. That little thing called the LIBOR has dropped so much that unless one has lost their job, why would they leave their home if their mortgage drops? Every lender I speak with said the banks are doing their best to get these people into longer term stable mortgages of 15 and 30 year fixed products and to get out of the ARMs even though their mortgages are dropping.

Why would you leave your home if your mortgage drops?

Well maybe if you work for CNN/NBC/CBS/ABC/CNBC, etc, etc, etc.

Of course these same experts could only call the market down turn once we were in a free fall. With expertise like that, I think getting ones' palm read is essentially more accurate than the soothsayers in the media.

I keep daily stats in my market here in Metro Phoenix. Pending homes under contract as of 5 minutes ago hit 8702. On Jan 1 it was 5600. Dec 1, 4100.

Every lender I have talked to in the last week is hiring help because of all the buyers and people refinancing. The bottle neck in home sales is the banks can't perform, and I suspect the title companies with their massive layoffs are also short.

December sales were up 30%. Jan was the third best Jan ever.

When Feb/09's numbers come in, the media may start to pay attention. But I doubt it. Doom is the name of the game right now.

I am telling anyone who has been thinking of buying in this market to buy now. Our foreclosure listings are below the 12,000 mark for the first time in over half a year. This inventory may dry up a lot quicker than most people realize.I have been telling my clients if we hit 10,000 pending, this game is over. The buying opportunity will close a lot quicker than people realize.

Jan 31 we had 7462 homes under contract pending to close. We could hit 10,000 by the end of February. Once the banks and title can catch up and the closings start to get closer to 10,000. The opportunity will be closing quickly. We are already seeing inventory drop. 2000 last month. 6 more months of that and we are down to normal inventory levels. I expect this month to drop more if the banks and title companies can get their mojo together.

This is the slow time of year too....May always averages 3000 closings per month more than January. This summer could be extremely busy with bubble equivalent numbers.