Michael Field

In the Albany (Capital Region) Real Estate marketwe have a real estate channel that showcases listings with 3 photos and a voice over. We've been a supported of this show for over 5 years. In five years, I can say that I have NEVER received a phone call from a client nor lead from someone who saw us on TV. Now, it does work as a branding tool but with all their is to watch on TV why would someone want to wait for the TWTV Keller Williams Realty Real Estate Showcase to get their Albany Real Estate fix on. Listing clients like the fact that their home will be on TV and it serves as a good listing tool, but let's be real, if someone is going to be looking for a home the statistics show the Internet is an overwhelmingly larger draw than TV.

In our impulsive society, buyers don't want to wait for listings to scroll through the TV for a half hour, they would probably rather search the Internet WHILE watching their favorite TV program. It looks like The Field Team will probably continue to air at 7am, 12 noon, 3:15pm, 4:30pm and 9:15pm each for 15 minute intervals but maybe it is something to analyze as far as our marketing dollars. As far as the branding aspect, it works but it also might be worth taking a break and investing that money into targeted mailings for different neighborhoods.

Click here to view the SOLD Home Report for properties in North Colonie for the month of September '09. Brought to you by Michael Field, The Field Team at Keller Williams Realty Capital District.

If you would like a report for a ifferent particalur area/neighborhood in the Capital Region please feel free to contact Michael Field at 518.724.5882 or email mike@thefieldteam.com.

After a weekend of showings with a great set of buyers from out of town (Dallas/Ft. Worth area) I couldn't remember what to attribute our connection...I found out that they found my web page while "Googling" (Albany NY Realtor). Now the thing is, keep in mind that all of my personal search engine results come from the organic side of things. I try to blog, set new listings and use social networking sites to drive traffic to our home page (www.thefieldteam.com) and its really rewarding to know that our family team's website showed up on the first line of Google when these buyers entered "Albany Realtor". Think of how many different agents and pay per click sites are out there and how expensive they can be! Its ridiculous!

The clients have turned into a really great family and I am excited to be helping them in their home search in Voorheesville, NY and Niskayuna, NY. We spent all weekend looking and I think they would agree that we saw some really good properties. Now we just have to get their house sold in Texas in order to move things along here in Upstate NY!

In working with this group of investors I help buy/sell property, I recently noticed a listing close that we had an offer on. The thing that grabbed my attention was that I thought my buyers were actually willing to pay more than it closed for....So then a couple of things entered my mind...

• Was this an in house sale? ....No
• Was it also a cash offer (as mine was)?....Yes
• Did they cancel the inspection contingency?....No
• Did they close in two weeks?....NO
• Was it for more than my buyers were willing to pay?.....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I had an offer in on the property for around $142K with an escalation to $146K...The property closed for $142,500. $3,500 LESS than what my buyers were willing to pay and we would have closed it FASTER!

I should have known something was up because when the agent called to notify me that we didn't get it I wanted to know why? Her response was "the sellers wanted to just move ahead and they didn't want to counter.".....I'm thinking OK- the other offer was higher and the sellers (and the agent) didn't want to give us an opportunity to improve our offer because the other offer was superior. However, this wasn't the case...The only thing I can guess is that the agent did a poor job explaining how the escalation addenda works...Basically, if the sellers were willing to accept an offer of $142,500 from this other set of buyers, my clients should have received the deal for $143,500 as per the escalation clause...

If for nothing else, this was an important learning experience...From now on, I will personally, sit down with the listing agent and make sure that the terms and offer are understood. Hopefully this helps add one more deal - or at least helps you from losing one more deal....

For a while now (and I mean awhile), I have had this great set of buyers who are anxiously awaiting the house of their dreams. They have done the right thing as far as selling their house putting them into position to make an offer not contingent on any other homes. The problem is, and i dont find this too often, is that we cannot find them a house that is suitable...Usually when this situation arises, its because the buyers are too picky and they just can't make a decision. These folks are not that type. Sure they have their requirements and they are going to settle, but they are also reasonable. They are looking in two specific areas of the Capital Region (North Colonie homes and Delmar homes) mostly because of the school districts (North Colonie Schools and Bethlehem Schools, respectively). Since they have already sold, there are few buyers out there who can compete with them when it comes to the "terms" portion of any competing contract. They are renting mo/mo and they have 20% to put down towards a down payment. So if you have a house in Delmar, NY or Latham/Loudonville/Newtonville that I don't know about please reach out becuase I got a great buyer in the 260-300 price range...