Greg Nino Houston Texas

I remember when I purchased my first home. It was like a horrible blind date where I spent way too much money, left disappointed, and felt as though I wasted my time. The agent we used sat in her chair like a wooden Indian while we signed a new home sales contract. Today, I know what I would have expected had I known then what I know now...

When you hire a Realtor to help sell your home you should expect a number of different things during the interview process:

1. Decide if you want a full-time or weekend warrior (part-time) Realtor. Most part-time agents will argue that they do just as good of a job as a full-time Realtor.

• As a full-time agent I involve myself with what I do 7 days a week. My focus is Real Estate, not another career. Nuff said.

2. Remember that the Realtor who's sitting across from you at your kitchen table is interviewing for a job. Their demeanor, attire, attitude, professionalism, knowledge, pay request, ability, confidence all are critical. Hear what they are saying, but notice the details. It's your money.

3. Any Realtor who works with a local massive real estate machine should be asked... "Are you going to be taking care of me throughout this process?" If the answer is NO. Then realize the person you just interviewed is a REPRESENTATIVE only.

• You will likely be passed off to DEPARTMENTS. If you decided to use a TEAM, be sure to ask if they are available 7 days a week. Any office that "CLOSES" on the weekends WILL NOT do you any favors! Buyers see homes on the weekends and want answers to their offers! --->Closing at 5 p.m. on FRIDAY until MONDAY is STUPID.<----

• If you are told a receptionist answers the phone, then understand this too is <worthless.> receptionist cannot negotiate for a seller, present offers or discuss details of the contract with a buyers agent or a seller. Once again, this leaves you in the cold. Buyers do not want to wait. ESPECIALLY IN A BUYERS MARKET.

4. Always interview at least 3 Realtors. You'll be amazed at the different things you are told. Be cautions of any Realtor claiming to get you TOP DOLLAR in your neighborhood. While this may be true from time to time, it is critical that you know that many Realtors will use this as a way TO GET THE LISTING over other agents who are attempting to present to you a REALISTIC picture.

5. When presented with comparable sales understand the list you are viewing can be CUSTOMIZED. OOPS, Realtors may not want you to know that! When I visit a seller, I bring my laptop & Internet connection with me. **YOU SEE WHAT I SEE. REAL HARD DATA. NO FUZZY MATH.**

6. Does your agent work weekends? In my house, family comes first, but so does the mortgage. I am available 7 days a week. Make sure your agent is ALWAYS AROUND. -->Communication<-- is very, very critical in a real estate transaction.

7. Be specific about marketing & advertising.Many Realtors will boast about extensive marketing, but cannot produce enough PRODUCTIVE examples. A glossy photo of themselves in the local newspaper is NOT advertising if you ask me. EGO advertising does not sell houses. Online Advertising is where it's at. Did you know that over 90% of Texas buyers begin their search ONLINE? What's your listing agent doing ONLINE? A website? Not good enough.

• Multiple websites driving traffic from buyers
• Social media exposure driving consumers to your listing (ask for links)
• Contact Management Systems with LARGE databases of buyer prospects. (achieved through cultivating online buyer traffic).
• Posting of your site on at least 80 websites!

8. Is your agent a FULL SERVICE BROKER? Around the country needs and services are DIFFERENT. In my market when you list your home you're competing with over 50,000 listed properties! You get what you pay for. No matter what spin you put on it.

9. Do you like your agent? A strong, not good rapport will yield better results in my opinion. Buyers and their agents are more receptive to NICE PEOPLE who have GOOD PEOPLE SKILLS.

10. Tech savvy! If your agent is operating from the stone age, then expect archaic type results.

• A telephone that displays emails! Don't laugh, but you'd be surprised how many agents don't have online access with their cell. REMEMBER ->COMMUNICATION<- YOU WANT ANSWERS NOW.
• An agent who GETS the internet & its ever changing paths will yield you more showings!
• You don't have to have Wi-Fi or a portable printer to be VERY successful, but it sure helps!
• An awesome digital camera, scanner, printer and so on!

11. If your agent doesn't use a SCHEDULING SERVICE, DON'T HIRE THEM! Agents who put their CELL NUMBER DOWN FOR SHOWING REQUESTS are usually NOT available! When a buyers agent schedules a showing he needs to schedule a showing, not hit a voice mail. Scheduling Companies provide instant showing instructions.

12. MOST IMPORTANTLY...DOES YOUR AGENT KNOW HOW TO TAKE DECENT PICTURES? If you have ever visited your local MLS then you've probably laughed, scoffed and even asked yourself.. "What in the world?" Many agents take pictures with cheap cameras & even CELL PHONES. ASK your Realtor for PREVIOUS listing examples ONLINE.

Yesterday I signed up with DocuSign. A real estate transaction involves lots of paperwork, signatures, initials & the delivering of these documents to and from all parties involved.

Often, clients do not have a scanner or immediate access to one. A fax machine is easy to use, but almost always diminishes the quality & legibility and sometimes rendering the paperwork not usable.

Scanning is also great, but not everyone has the correct settings or file description causing enormous files that take a very long time to download on my end. Many times I'll receive a document as a JPEG instead of a PDF file.

To make life easier for my clients I subscribed to DocuSign. Endorsed by the Texas Association of Realtors & perfectly legal in all 50 states it allows you to sign, initial & add text simply by clicking your mouse. No need to worry, as when you receive a document you will be prompted with just a few short instructions that will guide you through the effortless process of getting your documents taken care of.

No longer will you have to drive to a Kinkos, borrow a neighbors fax or worry if it will be legible on the "other end." Take comfort in knowing that all you need is an Internet connection!

In today's real estate market technology, communication and consistency are paramount. Cutting edge products help me help you achieve your goal!

Greg Nino is your RE/MAX West & Northwest Houston expert.

Communication is a huge part of selling a home, probably the largest part in my opinion.

When a buyer asks me to view homes I have to make appoitments, usually through a facilitating company known as CSS or Centralized Showing Service.

These are dedicated employees who do nothing but help Realtors schedule showings for buyer's agents. They call the seller and let them know that a "showing request" is being made within a 2 hour window.

This is especially helpful when Listing agents cannot always be available to perform the necessary task themselves. Most Realtors are wearing 30 different hats and NEED help with a lot of different responsibilities.

This service is NOT FREE. Monthly, it runs me $39.00. Most agents throughout out Houston GLADLY pay for this wonderful service.

Some Realtors choose to SAVE money by attempting to wear this additional hat & facilitate showings on their OWN Listings. BAD IDEA! WHY? Because over 50% of the time, THAT agent doesn't answer the phone, return the call or leave the showing instruction on their voice mail.

Buyer's agents do not have time to screw around when attempting to map out 10 different properties in a 2 hour window on behalf of our buyer's. Often I have to tell my buyer's .... "I CANNOT GET A HOLD OF THE AGENT TO SCHEDULE A SHOWING." Unfortunately for the SELLER, this showing is usually SKIPPED!

Most sellers are not aware of this. They just assume that their agent is doing A GOOD JOB. An agent who does not communicate with potential buyer's is making a SERIOUS mistake. You can always tell by looking on the MLS under SHOWING # if it says an agents HOME PHONE or CELL! Most Buyer's agents will see this.. and say.... "GREAT, THIS IS GONNA BE A WASTE OF TIME."

Is your agent hard to get a hold of? Does your agent pay for a showings service? If you can't get a hold of your Realtor - FIRE THEM! If you can't get a hold of your Realtor how do you expect a BUYER or BUYER'S AGENT TO BRING YOU A CONTRACT?!?!?

As Donald would say..." Listing Agent.... YOU'RE FIRED - GO! LEAVE!"

I have a home on the market priced $25,000 below market value. It's not a short sale or a foreclosure. I also have it up for lease a relatively low price by recent comparable standards.

Over the last 30 days I have had probably 20 showings. The phone is ringing off the hook!

Here's the problem.

85% of all inquiries have the same story. 50% of those stories are recommended by Realtors.

Here's what the unrepresented perspective tenants are telling me:

1. Greg, we have bad credit, no job but are good people. My husband just got hired at abc company.

2. We lost our home to foreclosure.. yes we have "always" had bad credit.

3. My husband is a sex offender and just got released from prison.

4. We have 3 dogs. Pit-bull, mixed chow & Rott.

5. We want to rent, but we currently are in an apartment contract for the next 9 months and can't break it. Can we sign now?

Here's what REPRESENTED perspective tenants are telling me. Actually, their agent is......

1. Hi Greg, my client just lost his home, but he makes X. PLEASE let your homeowner know he's a GREAT PERSON as he works at the CHURCH. (450 credit score)

2. Greg, I have no idea what my clients credit score is, but I showed the house & he loves it. He should be GOOD. Can they move in by the first? (NO!!!)

3. Greg, Attached are my clients paycheck stubs, credit reports, and "LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION FROM PREVIOUS LANDLORDS." (Tenant has MULTIPLE LIENS, JUDGMENTS & BAAAAAAD CREDIT!)

My job as a LISTING AGENT is to represent the HOMEOWNER. NOT TO FEEL SORRY FOR THE PERSPECTIVE TENANT. I don't KNOW the tenant, never met him & have ZERO feelings for your client. I do for mine, but NOT for yours. Imagine if I convinced my homeowner that Johnny B. Good was a "good-person" and then the tenant dealt drugs out of the home? Imagine if the tenant STOPPED paying? Who would be the fool? Me or my client?

THE ANSWER WOULD BE ME! Because I was lazy & ignorant for FALLING FOR A STORY!

It doesn't matter if you work at a church, prison or as a community outreach executive. If you have BAD credit, TAX liens or a CRIMINAL RECORD you are likely NOT GOING TO GET APPROVED. Homeowners DO NOT & SHOULD NOT TRUST anyone based on a "PITCH" by the agent or by the tenant. NOT ON MY LISTINGS.

Did you know that the majority of all law-suites in Real Estate (TX) are because of:

1. Deceptive Trade Practices

2. Leases

In the event a home buyer or tenant is victim of a NATURAL disaster or can prove that this is an ISOLATED incident, then perhaps that can be considered. If you have, or HAD 800 credit scores, then broke you back, lost your job, house AND GOT FORECLOSED on, but are able to provide a CLEAR picture of your past worthiness then YES; I would be happy to look further into your scenario. Especially if you are working AGAIN & paying your bills on time!

An agent who SHOWS a tenant or BUYER without asking qualifiying questions FIRST is NOT somebody I am excited to work with. Plain & Simple.

It's my job to PROTECT YOU from the public games of Real Estate. When you don't hear from me for 10 days, know that I'm hard at work looking out for you, my client.

Today is Saturday & I am trying to schedule appointments to view properties for my buyer tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.

I called the company that organizes the showings CSS - Centralized Showing Service. They called on one particular property for me that was listed by a LARGE REAL ESTATE TEAM.

Guess what?

The team is CLOSED, as it is after 5:00 p.m. & a weekend (CSS OPEN TILL 8 p.m.)

The TEAM had provided NO showing instructions prompting the call!

As a result, me and my buyers are forced to skip over this listing as we cannot obtain showing instructions.

The property has been on the market for over 200 days. Hmm... not surprised!

I wonder if the seller knows that their BIG REAL ESTATE team is OFF on the weekends when MOST buyer's agents are showing MOST buyers ON THE WEEKENDS! I wish I could let the sellers know that their LARGE TEAM does not offer a p.m. phone, doesn't communicate showing instructions and is allowing OPPORTUNITY to pass them by. Not all teams stink. This one sure does leave my shaking my head though.

If your agent is not available on the weekends FIRE HIM! THIS IS WHEN WE BUYER'S AGENTS SHOW PROPERTIES!! Our clients don't want excuses!