Daniel Berman

A young man with an old-school approach to sales phoned me this morning.

This may be of interest to you if you are planning to buy or sell a home in Silicon Valley (Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, etc.), anywhere in San Mateo or Santa Clara Counties.

I had emailed this person prior to the conversation articulating the key question on my mind. The question and the background to it were laid out clearly and concisely.

John (I won't mention his last name or company name) tried to conduct the entire conversation - and "close" the sale - without actually answering my question! He was not even very artful in his attempts to dodge the question, when I referred to it, which I would do whenever he tried to "close" the sale.

He just kept talking. And talking. And talking. Apparently, he thought that he could just "grind" me into submission. It didn't work.

John's approach was very "old school" in several respects:

1. He either did not want to listen or did not know how to listen. He just tried to talk my ear off. The idea, I suppose, was to try to wear me down. When he did ask me questions, they were along the lines of obviously MANIPULATIVE techniques, designed to "overcome objections."

2. John did not customize his presentation for me, the prospective client. He obviously had a set agenda, one-size-fits-all, and by golly he was going to pursue that agenda regardless of how appropriate or inappropriate it happened to be for me.

3. John did not do his homework, even in the most basic way. He didn't even look at my website. OK, this is not just old-school. This is just plain stupid. He was wasting his time, as well as mine.

4. John purported to be an expert marketer but did not know the meaning of "USP" (Unique Selling Proposition). "You mean ISP"? (Internet Service Provider), he attempted to correct me. Anyone who is not familiar with that term or initialism is not an expert marketer at all.

5. John repeatedly contradicted himself. He told me that his offer was "risk free" and I had "nothing to lose." In the next breath, he allowed that "sixteen hundred dollars ($1600) is almost nothing," in the context of more expensive marketing. "If you only make one sale, you will get all your money back," he assured me.

"I hope you are getting a good sense of our credibility," John said, about halfway into our conversation. I was, indeed, but not the way that John intended.

Let's see, now, first you tell me that what you are proposing is risk free. Then you tell me that all I am risking is $1600. That is not a risk-free proposition. As far as the "if you only make one sale" part is concerned, that is a big if, as I told John.

Why does this kind of approach suck? Simply stated, John was wasting his time, as well as mine. The conversation was not informative or entertaining. In fact, it was rather annoying.

When I speak with people who are interested in selling their homes - whether that be in Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose or elsewhere - the first thing I will do is LISTEN. It may sound corny but I'm a believer in that expression about the reason we have been given two ears and only one mouth (to listen twice as much as we speak).

The second thing I will be sure to do, if I am given the opportunity, is to have done my homework. I will have researched the property in question. I may not know all the details of the house you want to sell in Silicon Valley but I will at least be familiar with the basics.

Thirdly, I will answer all questions clearly and directly. Sometimes there are qualifications that need to be added, to make the answer complete, so the answer may not always be delivered in a single sentence. But I will always give a clear and direct answer to any question. If I do not know the answer (and the question is valid and reasonable), I will offer to find the answer and deliver it promptly.

Finally, I will not try to impose a one-size-fits-all agenda onto everyone. I will only offer to get involved with a property if I am convinced that I could help the seller more than others and achieve for that seller a better bottom line. If our programs don't represent a good fit for the seller or for whatever reason, I don't think the seller would be advised to sell at this time, I will say so, without taking up any more of the person's time than necessary, to arrive at a responsible conclusion.

You could call this a consultative approach to sales. You could call it simply following the Golden Rule (treating others as I myself would like to be treated).

Whatever you want to call it, this approach stands in stark contrast to the old-school sales approach that John tried out on me, unsuccessfully, this morning.

Consumers in search of Los Altos realtors, Menlo Park realtors, Mountain View realtors, a Palo Alto realtor or a San Jose realtor, in a realtor search, to buy or sell a home, may want to consider our listing commission discounts or commission rebate program, presented at www.pacific-century.com. In challenging economic times, improving your bottom line to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars makes even more sense than it did previously. If you can do email and are willing to invest a few minutes reading up on the opportunity, you may qualify.

Copyright (c) by 888 INC & www.pacific-century.com. All rights reserved.

Santa Clara County Tax Assessor Larry Stone dropped a bombshell of sorts last week when he announced that property values in cities including Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View and San Jose have experienced the largest drop since the Great Depression.

This was the first time since the 1930s that the county has experienced an actual drop in assessed property values, Stone said. The assessor characterized the 2.43 percent drop countywide from January 2009 to January 2010 as "distressing." No wonder he would say that, as the drop represents a revenue decrease of more than 7 billion dollars (that's billion with a b) for local government.

Some cities fared better than others. In Mountain View, for example, assessed values declined 2.9 percent overall, worse than average. Palo Alto was the only city in the county to experience an increase in assessed values during this one-year period. Although at 0.4 percent, the increase was modest, this fact nonetheless illustrates the existence of the many micro markets that characterize Santa Clara County and Bay Area real estate in general.

But the numbers and concerns don't end there. Mountain View experienced a 25.2 percent decrease in the valuation of business personal property in the city's redevelopment areas. This includes things such as furniture, computers and other equipment. This corresponds with an 8.2 percent decrease in the number of businesses countywide in 2009.

What does this mean if you are planning to buy a home or sell your home in Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose or some other city in Santa Clara or San Mateo County (whose situation is similar)?

If you are buying a home, this means that there are still many good opportunities for you as a buyer, especially because this drop in property values corresponds with historic, half-century lows in interest rates. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime confluence of events.

If you are selling a home, what all this means is that you must be realistic about market conditions if you hope to actually achieve a sale. Market value is not based on what a seller wants it to be. Market values are based on what qualified buyers are willing to pay. These buyers pay attention to the news and are acutely aware of market dynamics.

Consumers in search of Los Altos realtors, Menlo Park realtors, Mountain View realtors, a Palo Alto realtor or a San Jose realtor, in a realtor search, to buy or sell a home, may want to consider our listing commission discounts or commission rebate program, presented at www.pacific-century.com. In challenging economic times, improving your bottom line to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars makes even more sense than it did previously. If you can do email and are willing to invest a few minutes reading up on the opportunity, you may qualify.

Copyright (c) by 888 INC & www.pacific-century.com. All rights reserved.

How would you like to find out at a glance what the crime data are for a particular neighborhood?

Bay Area home buyers (looking in Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Jose, among other locations) often ask how safe a particular neighborhood is. Sellers who list their homes for sale of course have a better idea about what is going on their neighborhoods but they are also interested in what the crime statistics are for their area.

If you're selling your home and looking for a Los Altos Realtor, a Menlo Park Realtor, Mountain View Realtors, a Palo Alto Realtor or a San Jose Realtor, this information may be of interest to you, in your Realtor search, to buy a home or sell your home.

Not long ago, the only way to find "police blotter" information was to either read through that section of the local newspaper or to stop by a police station and ask. For most people, neither of these two options is appealing.

At this time, however, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, there are at least three websites you can go to for at least a preliminary answer to the question, "How safe is the neighborhood?" These three websites are:

* mylocalcrime.com
* crimereports.com
* myneighborhoodupdate.net

All of them, as of this writing, are completely free and do not even require any type of registration!

Now you can gather crime data for almost any location, from the comfort and convenience of your own home, instantly, at no charge.

Though the data are of interest to anyone selling a home, the greatest interest of course is on the part of home buyers, unfamiliar with new neighborhoods they are considering.

Websites such as these are one of the best examples of how the Internet can empower consumers with the information they need to help them make intelligent, informed choices.

If you discover any additional websites along these lines, please share them with me, so I can pass the information along to others.

Consumers in search of Los Altos Realtors, Menlo Park Realtors, Mountain View Realtors, a Palo Alto Realtor or a San Jose Realtor, in a Realtor search, to sell your home, may want to consider our listing commission discounts or commission rebate program, detailed at www.pacific-century.com. In challenging economic times, improving your bottom line to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars makes even more sense than it did previously. If you can do email and are willing to invest a few minutes reading up on the opportunity, you may qualify.

Copyright (c) by www.pacific-century.com. All rights reserved.

The scenario (in Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto or San Jose) is a familiar one: Buyer tells me she has found a loan agent who is going to give her a loan at an incredible rate, with no points and no fees. I caution buyer along the lines of the old truism that "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." I urge buyer to consult with a loan officer I know through direct personal experience to be honest and reliable. Buyer doesn't listen.

We find the house that buyer wants to buy. Her offer is accepted. We open escrow and the clock starts ticking.

If you're planning on buying a home and looking for a Los Altos realtor, a Menlo Park realtor, a Mountain View realtor, a Palo Alto realtor or a San Jose realtor, this account may be of interest to you, in your realtor search, to buy a home.

The first main problem we encounter with the loan agent selected by the buyer is that the loan agent does not want to give the buyer the green light to remove the financing contingency according to the agreed-upon schedule. The loan agent says he needs more time, to get his underwriters to approve the loan. We have a number of anxious days, during which we negotiate with the sellers for additional time.

Eventually, the buyer removes her contingencies but the loan agent is not able to deliver on time. Close of escrow is delayed. Not only that but after all is said and done, buyer discovers that she did not actually get the deal she thought she would be getting! By the time that became evident, it was too late to change lenders. Surprise, surprise. What sounded too good to be true was indeed too good to be true.

This is a highly simplified account of what in reality often turns out to be an excrutiatingly aggravating experience, stretching out over weeks and frequently resulting in a variety of penalties for the unfortunate buyer, who sometimes actually loses the opportunity to buy the home she wants and sometimes loses her deposit.

The moral of the story? If your real estate broker has been in the business for a quarter century, there is a good chance that he might know what he is talking about. Give his advice your full consideration, especially if he has dozens of signed testimonials to back it up. You might just thank him for it, when your escrow closes smoothly and on time, enabling you to side step a variety of perils and pitfalls involved with getting a mortgage.

Consumers in search of Los Altos realtors, Menlo Park realtors, Mountain View realtors, a Palo Alto realtor or a San Jose realtor, in a realtor search, to buy or sell a home, may want to consider our listing commission discounts or commission rebate program, detailed at www.pacific-century.com. In challenging economic times, improving your bottom line to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars makes even more sense than it did previously. If you can do email and are willing to invest a few minutes reading up on the opportunity, you may qualify.

Copyright (c) by 888 INC & www.pacific-century.com. All rights reserved.

Several Bay Area home sellers who listed with us recently (in Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Jose) asked me about the use of fragrances to help sell their homes faster and for more money. This prompted me to put together the following information, for their benefit and the benefit of others who follow.

If you're selling your home and looking for a Los Altos realtor, a Menlo Park realtor, Mountain View realtors, a Palo Alto realtor or a San Jose realtor, this news item may be of interest to you, in your realtor search, to sell your home.

Sensory research shows that the smell of a home can affect a person's mood. A light floral fragrance can put people in a more pleasant mood, while citrus scents, such as lemon and grapefruit, tend to have an energizing effect.

Chemical sprays and plug-ins are potentially problematic, for at least two reasons. First, they can prompt allergic reactions in some individuals. They can also generate a residue that accumulates on furniture and everything else, a sticky, hard-to-remove residue that can damage prized possessions such as collectibles and fine furniture.

Here are ten ideas for making your home smell fragrant, without these side effects:

1. Cinnamon and cloves. Simmer in water after boiling in a pot on the stove. Another technique involves putting drops of cinnamon on a cookie sheet in the oven and heating the oven as if actually baking something.

2. Lavender. Another natural item that can be simmered in a pot on the stove, then placed in different rooms.

3. Vanilla oil. By itself or combined with something else.

4. Lemon wedges. Run a few of these through the garbage disposal, for good effect.

5. Grated fruit peel. The peel can be placed into boiling water and simmered in a pot on the stove, as with cinnamon and cloves. Some people add the peel to the cinnamon and cloves mixture.

6. Potpourri. This can actually be simmered in a pot or simply placed in bowls distributed throughout the house.

7. Beer? It's said that putting a beer in the oven on low replicates the smell of baking fresh bread. I have never actually tried this myself but it might be fun experimenting with.

8. Candles in crocks. With an electric ceramic crock that holds small or large glass candles (like from the Yankee Candle Company), there is no risk of fire, because there is no flame, with the ceramic crock warming the candle to melt the wax.

9. Flowers. Flowers can add both visual and olfactory (sense of smell) appeal. Good choices include long-stemmed tulips and exotic orchids. Potted plants can have long life spans if cared for properly. If you use fresh-cut flowers, be sure to replace them as soon as they no longer appear fresh.

10. Fresh air. Don't forget the most basic natural air freshener. Fresh air should be circulated on a regular basis, to drive out stale odors and make room for whatever fragrances you decide to use.

These are relatively inexpensive and quick ways to make an interior smell good, while avoiding sprays, plug-ins and the like. Please share any discoveries or techniques of your own with me, so I can add them to the list.

Home owners in search of Los Altos realtors, Menlo Park realtors, Mountain View realtors, a Palo Alto realtor or a San Jose realtor, in a realtor search, to sell your home, may want to consider our listing commission discounts or commission rebate program, detailed at www.pacific-century.com. In challenging economic times, improving your bottom line to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars makes even more sense than it did previously. If you can do email and are willing to invest a few minutes reading up on the opportunity, you may qualify.

Copyright (c) by 888 INC & Pacific Century Realty, www.pacific-century.com. All rights reserved.