Pam Burzynski

We just moved, making now a perfect time to talk about moving. Last time we moved, 16 years ago, I said “Never Again”. Like childbirth, the pain and stress eventually wear off and the joy of something new—take your pick, a baby or a home–outweighs the pain.

You would think that since I’m a Realtor® and I deal with people who want or need to move every day and the challenges that come with a Real Estate transaction, I’d be immune. Not the case at all.

The first part of the whole moving process is the decision to make a move. If you are being transferred and need to relocate, that decision may be taken away from you, but you still have the stress of being kind of forced into something.

If your move is one that you initiated because you wanted to downsize (like we do) or upsize, or go for a new community, a different style or type of home, want to save money, or make money or any one of a million reasons you can dream up to move—that also comes with its own set of stresses. Am I making the right decision and then second guessing your decision multiple times being the biggest stressor we like to place on ourselves.

The next anxiety is getting your home ready to sell. Maybe you have collected lots of “stuff” over the years and view the move as an opportunity to de-clutter and purge yourself of items no longer useful or needed by you and your family. I love getting rid of things and wiping the slate clean, so this part is fun for me. But for others their “stuff” is cause for major deliberating. Some people just have trouble parting with their belongings and when faced with putting their precious household items and memories in a pecking order of what goes and what stays—confusion and yes, stress, take over.

This is all just the beginning. Next you have to pick a Realtor® to help you market your property and get it priced right. Do you already know and trust someone who is a Realtor®, or do you have to pick a stranger? Best advice, preferably choose someone you know & trust and who is a good communicator. Communication is key in a Real Estate transaction and you definitely want someone you can easily talk with and who can communicate your wishes on your behalf to all the parties involved. In my case, it was easy, I picked me. Obviously, I didn’t have to communicate anything to myself, but the interesting thing was my husband kept asking me to go over what’s next, and several times he said to me, could you explain how this works again.

This was a valuable lesson for me. If he had all these questions, was unsure and wanted to be reassured of the process multiple times, certainly my other clients would feel the same way.

This whole moving process has helped me to appreciate what my clients go through in their moves and reconfirmed the importance of communicating the details, and the value of checking-in—communicating regularly and frequently what’s happening and what’s next.

You might be curious to know what our 2 biggest challenges where in our move. For us it was coming up with a solution for our onsite septic-system that didn’t pass inspection and dealing with our 16 years of accumulation of “stuff”.

First we had to fix or replace the drain field on our septic system. We ended up solving that problem with a unique new technology called Soil Air. If you end up with a drain field that doesn’t pass on the home inspection, I highly recommend you look into adding a Soil Air System to rejuvenate your current drain field. We were lucky that we had a very competent septic expert to communicate the possible solutions and explain our options. Thom Noll was one of the best, if not the best contractor I have ever worked with on a project.

We were also lucky in that the buyers of our home liked it enough to hang in there and were not scared away by a less than perfect septic system. Again in all of this I think communication was the glue that held the transaction together until closing.

So we weaved our way through the drain field horror and a delayed closing date and made it to the big day. I cannot stress enough how important it is to organize, pack and purge your treasures until you have culled it all down to what you are certain you will need and use at your next home. This is where we were in “stuff shock”. Where was it all coming from? Had the walls somehow absorbed clothing, electronics, papers, kitchen wares and now they were seeping into the rooms no matter how many times we emptied them? It seemed that way, and we were under the impression that we were “under stuffed” compared to most people.

Now I’ll be better prepared to help my clients through their septic problems that may arise as well as brace themselves for stuff issues.

It’s a good feeling. I’ve purged and learned some valuable lessons that I’ll be able to pass on. I’ll also be better prepared for the next move in 7 or 8 months when we’ll move into a home we are building. Just wait for those stories!

Have you moved recently? How was your experience? What would have made it better? If you are thinking of making a move to the Bethlehem Area of PA, I'd love to help you! Leave your comments below, and if we’re not already connected on face book, hop on over there and say “Hi” as well. We appreciate you and your readership http://www.facebook.com/beappreciative

We all know that a Buyer's market doesn't mean that there are a lot of Buyers. One definition of a Buyer's Market is: A market for a good (stocks, housing, etc.) where prices are falling and there are more parties interested in selling than in buying.

It seems like everyone is asking, "Is Now Really a Good time to buy a Home?" Yes, if you like a lot to choose from and lower prices than in the past few years, and IF the timing is right for YOU and your situation. If you have been thinking about Buying a Home or an Investment property, it just may be time to do more than think about it....After all, it IS a Buyer's Market.

If you don't know who Joe Girard is, he is "The Greatest Salesman in the World". As a matter of fact for over 12 years in a row, Joe Girard was the #1 retail salesperson in the world and he still holds the world record today. Listed in the Guinness Book of World Record as "World's Greatest Salesman" You can read his books "How to Sell Anything to Anybody" and "How to Sell Yourself".

Joe used to average 6 car sales a day, and they were not fleet sales either. His record is unbroken.

How did Joe do it? And how can you follow in Joe's footsteps and do it too?

First Joes says,

• You have to Love what you do. Ask yourself right now, Do You Love what you are doing? You must!
• Work hard on improving yourself. To quote Jim Rohn, "Work harder on yourself than you do on your job." Are you doing everything you can to improve yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually? Are you doing everything you can to improve your skills? If not, make this a priority NOW!
• Hang around Successful, Positive people-Always! Talk to people that only have good things to say.
• Smile, Smile, Smile
• Listen, Listen, Listen
• Show gratitude by regularly thanking your customers with handwritten cards. Show them that you appreciate them by calling them and also acknowledge them 12 or 13 times a year with personal Greeting Cards. Joe used to send out 16,000 cards a month with simple notes of appreciation....as simple as I LIKE YOU. Each year he would have 13 cards designed (1 for each month) and he sent them to everyone he met whether they bought a car or not.

I would venture to say that every book ever written on Sales and Referrals by all the greats-Tom Hopkins, Zig Ziglar, Napoleon Hill, Brian Tracy, Paul McCord-well you've read them all-stresses the importance of the handwritten Thank You and notes of appreciation--isn't it just common courtesy anyway?

Are you doing this, regularly and systematically? There is a web-based system that will make this EASY and economical for you to send quality cards, in you own handwriting. So no more excuses about not having enough time-IF you strive to be the next Joe Girard in your industry-You CAN Do it! This system will Change the way you do business and make you the next Joe Girard and you can try it for free at www.sendcards4change.com

Do All of it! And be the Greatest!!

You can thank my Seller for the title of this blog, and the evidence proves that it was in fact an "INVESTIGATION" as opposed to an Inspection.

I can tell you truthfully this listing was every Realtor's Dream come true, until it turned into a "Nightmare". A Dream listing in everyway. An incredibly well maintained home, impeccably clean, furnished beautifully, curb appeal galore, a realistic seller willing to price his home perfectly to poise it for a quick sale. What more could a Realtor want?

You want the truth? What a Realtor would want is a contract without a Home "INVESTIGATION" contingency clause. Just about every item listed on this home inspection was a Minor or Major Concern. And while this Home "Investigation" used the same boiler plate report most Home Inspectors use, somehow in the end you would think this home was "falling to bits" and could end up as a pile of rubble in short order.

• We had to call in a licensed PE for $230 to write up a report saying that the "surface" cracks in the foundation were not only of no concern, but had been repaired perfectly.
• Then we had the 13 year old hotwater heater, that had indications of scorching at the aperature which was cause for MAJOR concern. The one plumber gave a quote for replacement, the other plumber said everything was fine and working properly at the age of 13.
• The home inspector's report also had a MAJOR concern that ALL of the Anderson windows had been installed improperly 22 years ago and should be replaced.
• The 40 year architectural shingles needed replacing after 22 years.
• There was evidendence of amateur workmanship at an uncovered (actually crooked) switch plate near the basement workbench.
• The vent connectors for the furnace and water heater "May" be too long. This "could" make it difficult for exhaust gasses to exit the building, increasing the chance of exhaust spillage and "other" concerns.

I could go on and list the other 14 items the Buyer wanted repaired, addressed, and replaced but the point here is the report was absurd, I'm sorry, but the "butt covering" was SCREAMING in this "INVESTIGATION" .

So how did it turn out you ask....After 2 weeks of additional inspections/investiagations and proposals/estimates, we whittled the Home INVESTIGATION items down to 5 that the Seller agreed he should and would repair/replace.

The Buyer's had fallen in LOVE with this house when they first stepped in it, and the stress of the whole thing almost caused them to walk. The septic INVESTIGATION had been postponed until we worked out the Home INVESTIGATION, and even though we had not signed off on everything the Septic INVESTIGATION was scheduled. All parties were present at that INVESTIGATION, because at this point we were all sick of the He said's, She said's that had occurred during the home inspeciton. It was here that the Buyer and Seller met, and as the Seller led the Buyer around showing him the work he had done, and explained that the Anderson Window rep lived across the street and verified that the windows had been installed correctly, etc., etc. they both realized that they were dealing with a resonable person who was NOT trying to "screw" them.

Initially he Seller was astounded that his home was such a "wreck" and the Buyers couldn't believe that they had fallen in LOVE with a house that was in "shambles"....Everyone's hair is a little grayer, the economy is being stimulated, and if there are ANY concerns with the Septic System you can look for my obituatary.

The object of this posting is to uncover the MOST unique ways to get buyer's into a home. How do you do it? Let's start by putting down the obvious, and see how long a list we can get. This should help everyone and I for one would like some additional arsenol in my bag of tricks. We are going to assume that the Seller's have prepared the home well, and that it's in tip top showing shape inside and out. We have taken excellent pictures to post on the MLS and all over the web. So what do you do to draw buyers to your listings in droves? I'm not talking about what you do to get them to buy it once they are in the house, but HOW do YOU get them in the house in the first place?

1. Post on MLS, with good pics, marketing remarks and priced appropriately
2. Newsprint Ads
3. On Line Ads
4. Sign in Yard
5. Public Open Houses
6. Brokers Open House
7. Fliers to Agents via e-mail
8. Single Property Website
9. etc., etc.,etc.

Maybe you have some special copy in your advertising that is like a magnet; are you willing to share?

If you can't add anything to this list, can you comment on the above marketing methods, i.e. Do you get buyers from your Single Property Website? If yes, how; If no, why not.

I am looking forward to all of your responses. Thank you in advance!