Brenda Gonzalez

If you are looking to get out of the cold put Lake Havasu City, Arizona on your agenda this winter!

With over 300 days of sunshine a year, every day is a day to celebrate the outdoors.

Last weekend we had the annual Run to the Sun with over 850 classic cars on display. Our town blocked off main street beginning Thursday night for this show. Lots of people just walking around showing appreciation for this hobby that a lot of our residents have in collecting, building and re-building these classic cars from yesterday.

This classic car show theme now will continue every Thursday night downtown with "Crusin on Main" If you like classic cars this is the place to be!

We have events similar to this almost every week starting in October and running until memorial weekend.

Next month's events include The Speedway, Freedom Rally and market on main.

Come visit! To see more visit our website! http://www.YourLakeHavasuHome.com

ABC (Always be Changing)

Do you agree with this? As a Realtor in the business for 5 years now I have already seen changes. I see agents who have been in the business for a while struggle because they are still doing the same things after 20 years in the business.

Always Be Changing

When I started I got very lucky and I had a basic website but I did have one. I got my first buyer within a week of having my website up and running. My website can go on automatic mode when I go on vacation or have a family emergency but it seems important to me that a website should be current and fresh. My content changes frequently. Of course there is the same old stuff but every time I read a book about Real Estate or get an idea from Active Rain I go make a change.

Do you change your website often or does if you build it they will come work just as well?

Always Be Changing

Getting in Front of the Social Media Craze is harder for me to find time for. The studies show it to be not as effective yet as other forms of communication but it is helpful and it builds your credibility and network. I think the best reason of all to start this is that IT IS COMING. It is complicated and there are so many choices to reach out to the public with that if you start small and learn you will be set to be in front of what some other agents have set as a foundation.

I read success stories on Active Rain but I am still waiting for my first client from it but I know it and other social networking will work.

Always Be Changing

Watch your Competition but do not just copy what they do if they are more successful than you. Real Estate is a business and as a business there are expenditures you will have that do not always bring you back the marketing dollars. Be careful trying to be like someone else because it might not bring your return on investment. At the end of the day you might be equal when it comes to net income and this must be the focus. I track everything and if I can't quantify the return on investment I cancel the tactic.

I have made it my rule use my slow times in Real Estate and yes we all have those days when the phone does no ring to always read and learn new ideas. I never want to stay the same. My clients deserve that I be the best I can be and that means Always be Changing!

How about you, are you Always be Changing?

Here is a typical day on the water in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

The pictures were taken Sunday May 16th. Our summer for tourists mostly kicks off Memorial Day but as you can see the party has already started with plenty of visitors enjoying the sunshine!

The channel is the place to be. This man made channel is home to the London Bridge and the heart of Lake Havasu City water fun!

In steamboat which is another great hangout for boaters as it has a beach you can see the Longhorn Sheep. They come down to the water to drink and don't seem worried at all by the boats and the picture takers.

Even an airplane decides to cruise the water, drives over to the Nautical Inn (bathroom break maybe) and then takes off again. The plane is just hanging out acting like it is a boat!

No matter what kind of boat you have you can have fun in Lake Havasu City!

Hurry out here, summer is here!

I believe that we need to educate our potential foreclosure buyer so that they don't end up frustrated and blaming their agent.

In my town almost all Realtors have caught on that you almost always have to bid higher than the asking price to win a bid on a foreclosure home. While this is not always the case I have a general rule of thumb. If the property is new to the market the bank is looking for a full price offer. After about 2 weeks if the property is still available you might have some negotiating room.

Here are some other pointers for success in wining the bidding:

1. There is no negotiation in most cases, just highest and best gets the home. If the bank does counter your offer consider this counter carefully.

2. Ask as many questions as you can of the listing agent. Ask about other offers pending. Establish a relationship that is based on your successful performance so that they want to work with you.

3. Most of our foreclosures are well below market value so the bidding war can increase the price to fair market value. It is not always a deal. Do the comps for your client to make sure they are paying a fair price.

Prepare your buyers for potential pitfalls in advance. Help them make the right offers for each home and prepare them for multiple bids.

Working with the prospect that is trying to get a great deal on a foreclosure will take a lot of time and effort in most cases. I am not talking about your time; I am talking about what your buyer might go through in terms of time. In our town sometimes it takes 5 offers to actually get into one of these. That is a lot of frustration for your buyer and you are there to sooth the situation as much as possible.

Are all towns experiencing this same frustration with foreclosure properties?

Are we pricing them too low?

The G Force of Havasu

Brenda and Willie Gonzalez

IT IS ALL ABOUT THE SPIN!

Lake Havasu City, Arizona is a beautiful place to live and work. We are also a small town so politics and word choice plays an important role in the perceptions people have of us.

I was reminded of perceptions just this week. As Realtors it is up to us to let our clients know the state of our markets. With our words and actions we can either encourage or discourage the buyers. As a group we can influence our individual markets, especially if we are on the same page with market performance.

Our local Real Estate spokespersons went on record to say our market for February was "grim". When you hear that what are you thinking? I know as a Realtor I got got worried for a minute about my job. I questioned the data I had just reported to my buyers and then I went back and double checked. I felt busy. I had clients and so did my fellow Realtors.

Our market performance is not "grim" and I realized it is all about the spin and understanding the detail of the data we are responsible to our clients to report.You can't just report how February performed compared to January but you have to look at the BIG picture. In the big picture we are finding new homes and incredible deals for our buyers right now. Our market is recovering fast! When I was a corporate employee before my Real Estate career I learned that numbers can be interpreted several ways and it is important to use numbers not just to spew out data but to really interpret and understand the story behind them. We can help each other to improve the public perception of our Real Estate markets. We can all make sure we are reading the story behind the numbers and looking at the big picture.

Compared to the same period last year 2009 we have sold 19% more residential properties.Our average sales price is only down 9%. That data and spin says good things about the future of our town. Vacant land sales increased 170% over last year the same period so building is making a comeback. Multi-Family home sales were up over 1000% so investors obviously believe that we have a rental market also.

I hope that we can all use this reminder to be careful of our word choice.