Roberta Baldwin

We're going for unique next weekend in Montclair, NJ and surrounding towns by holding the first ever Condo Crawl. In just a week, more than 30 agents signed on to represent their current condo listings next Sunday, Nov. 1, from 1-4.

We've gotten the popular local editorial blog, Baristanet.com, to sponsor us. They've put up a banner ad and a PDF listing addresses and descriptions of all the opens (check it out at baristanet.com/crawl) and local papers are also featuring the event. Our cute crawl signs will be staked in front of every open.

It's kind of like speed dating for condos -- efficient shopping and comparison with a blast of availability. Anyone who's been saying it's time to downsize or perhaps to make that first move into the market will be able to compare and contrast withough stretching out the activity. We know that Mr. and Ms. Condo Owner don't mind the attention.

Will the people come? That's the idea, but we've got to make it happen. Agents committed to participating I hope are blogging their brains out right now to each of their circles of influence. We're Twittering, schmoozing on Facebook, spreading the word. Who knows, maybe it will end up being a mondo condo crawl.

I'm often asked how it's possible that my real estate team's stayed together so long. My senior associate has been with me since the team's beginning, almost 7 years ago. Another joined almost 5 years ago, with the babies on the team soon celebrating the conclusion of Year 2. We've had one person come and go for personal reasons and an admin person move on, but the core selling team has remained strong and vital, even through this complicated selling year.

Meanwhile, other teams in my office -- mainly 2 people who decided to work together at some point --come and go after finding they aren't as well-matched as they thought.

One thing's for sure: I never take any of these people for granted. Some months ago, I was given the opportunity to spend a complimentary session with a $500-an-hour coach. He told me I was, basically, too kind to my team, that I should be making a lot more money and acting a lot less magnanimous. I thought about it afterward: Yes, I could have had a more profitable bottom line through the years, but I would not have experienced the loyalty, camaraderie, and support that have been the basis for our success.

And we have been successful, both as a team and individually -- most recently, as the #1 RE/MAX Team (dollar volume, 2008) in Essex County, NJ and #2 in the state. My senior associate, Tamima Friedman, was one of the most successful agents in our area last year, both in units and dollar volume.

One thing that is absolutely imperative is that my team members get their due. Early on, I was struck by a colleague's different approach: When her team won an award, she always made her way to the stage alone. Now what's that about? On our team, it's all for one and one for all. We have had such a blast running up to the stage pumping our arms in Rocky-esque fashion. I mean, let's have a little fun with this!

In this new enviroment, the team has, I think, been a blessing to all of us on it. We can get together and buck each other up, remind each other of our victories and also laugh at the many wacky moments we've shared through this and years past. The most basic thing about our Team-ness is that we all like each other. Without that, we most certainly wouldn't be who we are -- The Baldwin Dream Team. Our dreams are inextricably tied together and we like it that way. Yay, team!

Everywhere we turn these days, including the online ad that stares at me as I write this blog, agents are faced with their own worst selves: "Attention Struggling Realtors...click here now!!!" If only a little click could connect us up to our best selves, out there productively, morning til night, 24/7, the way it used to be. But if that's not meant to be, a little bit of info gleaned here, a little bit there -- not from the downbeat struggling-Realtor ads, which presuppose we're all on life support -- but from smart Realtors and realty-biz reporters -- really can make a difference.

One great thing my Blackberry affords me is the ability to keep up at the oddest of times with the huge, daily volume of information and self-help that's available to us now. Waiting for a plumber or a late client; filing for a C of O; sitting in stalled traffic -- I can always download an idea, a thought, a survey or statistic that gets me mentally moving toward doing what I do better.

So, here's to you, my colleague or competitor, geographically near or far, for taking the time to think out loud, for moving me -- us -- toward a better real estate day.

Dirty grout. Broken tiles. Ripply roof. Scuffy floors. Chipped cabinets. Scraggly radiators. Faded countertops. Outdated colors. Appalling old wallpaper. Peeling ceilings. Jumbly closets. Rumply bedding. Dingy curtains. Overgrown landscaping. Scary basements. MOLD! Etc.

In other people's houses, ugh! That's what typical buyers today think when they're viewing homes. If owners don't care enough to prepare for a sale, then buyers don't care enough to buy. Of course, sellers with financial issues may not be able to compete in the Pristine House Test, but those who can and don't...this market will leave you behind!

Clients of mine texted me this weekend with a no-go after I took them to a house I thought, in their price range, was promising. Great space but bathrooms that were very old, an "updated" kitchen had been faked, so to speak, with hugely expensive appliance upgrades and an upper tier of windowed cabs, but the rest just odd -- turquoise walls, blue and yellow linoleum tile -- you get the idea. Even at its new price, adding in 2.5 bath redos an a half a kitchen, not to mention floors that needed refinishing and a roof on the older side, this was just no bargain, I had to agree. Promising, yes, but, as my client added, "probably a money pit."

When I had previewed the property, the owner took me aside to say he know today's buyers wanted new, but he felt compelled to preserve the "integrity" of the 75-year old home. A quaint idea, but so outdated! Some things, like Fifties pink bathrooms, just don't stand the test of time, no matter how well-preserved the tiles are!

So, if you're planning to sell in this complicated market, where buyers are demanding more for less, think seriously about doing the tune-ups that will make a difference. If you don't know what those should be, get someone in who does. Money wasted on ill-advised, tasteless changes, is just... money wasted, deal missed.

On various socially-oriented portals such as this, Realtors vie for business by trying to be the first to answer questions posed by buyers and sellers. Others host Sunday open houses where they can chat in person with prospective customers and convey the knowledge and enthusiasm that may lead to business. Those are but two ways that agents and the public interact in a world full of choices.

As we all hunker down in this distressing economic climate and reach out for the familiar, the buyers and sellers among us are thinking more deeply about who they know and trust. We've all got the Bernie Madoff blues. Collectivelly, we're looking for people who won't deceive us, but will tell it like it is.

The lesson of the Madoff fiasco for those who lost their life savings is that what they were asking for -- money growing on trees -- was too good to be true. Many have even said so. But they did not think through the thought and were shocked when reality set in.

I read an interesting article recently in which Mark Lesswing, chief technology officer for The National Assn. of Realtors, predicts housing consumers will increasingly identify trust as a primary goal in their relationship with an agent -- reflecting what is happening in the world at large. "Households [already] keep lists of vendors they prefer to work with...compiled through direct experience or as referrals from friends," he says and also predicts that gettting on the consumer's "good list," will prove key to a meaningful relationship. Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) is a two-way street well worth walking.

As a Realtor, I'm entrusted with advising sellers about preparing and pricing a home. I -- and I'm also speaking for my team of great agents -- adhere to the belief that honesty and truth are the best tonic to what ails us right now, in real estate and elsewhere. For our Team, the primary goal of VRM is to have the right mix of information and empathy to fit every client need and to filter it through the here and now.

Whom to choose when you are selling? You, Mr. Seller, have a number in your head and you say you need to get it. But is it real? Should you list with the Realtor who promises what is just not promisable, given market changes and buyer caution -- and reward him because he "loves the house" or "understands the house" -- concepts mostly based on estimating the highest listing price? Or, do you open yourself up to market trends and substitute the "need to get" number in order to get the real one without resorting to the lamentable position of chasing the market?