Tim Moncrief, Co-Owner-Bartlett RE Group

Well I hate to toot my own horn. OK, that is a lie. Sometimes when the market is down it is good to hear some good news. At first I was not sure if we were the least worst or we actually did pretty good. As July was our best month in a few years, I guess we did pretty good. This is for SOUTH TEXAS REGION and not for the entire state. We will probably never win the most homes sold as our price point is double the state's average.

Now there is August......... OK...that is enough tooting of the horn for the day............

Here is an email I just received......

Here is a very short story of an agent that found she had the "IT" factor in real estate on day one.....(about 6 years ago)..... but a day I will never forget. Those that may not know, someone that has "IT" is an unexplainable attribute that makes them a huge success with such ease. They just have "it". You know them, but are you one of them. My theory is yes; but can you find your "it"?

I will call this agent "Claire". (not to be confused in any manner with recent AR member Claire Record with Southland Log Homes, who sells magnificent log homes in any state, though she is based in San Antonio. http://activerain.com/clairelinn ) . Sorry, had to make that plug disclosure. Anyhow, as the story goes, "Claire" worked in real estate, but mainly as listing coordinator. If you knew "Claire", you would know that a listing coordinator would not be even close to a fit, as she is, perhaps, the most outgoing person I have ever met and she says absolutely whatever is on your mind (that may be blog 2 about Claire). The agent she worked for once told me that "Claire" sometimes said "I'd would rather be sitting in a corner sucking her thumb than being a listing coordinator". Perhaps a clue, eh? So "Claire" approached me and said that she wanted to try on site sales for a bit. I was thinking to myself...."ohhh, this might be sight to see".

So on day one, hour one, I tell "Claire" that she can be my shaddow until she gains a feel for the business and a feel for the whole on site process of introduction, qualify, demo, site and close....blah blah blah. I have no idea what she said, but I am sure she was really thinking "whatever", as "Claire" is going to do things the "Claire" way.

So as fate has it......the door bell to the model rings in hour one and some guy (I will call him Joe) comes in frantically calling if anyone is there. So I tell her to follow along, but she replies, "let me do it". Mind you she has never done anything like this so making such a comment is not heard of from someone so green to the business. We see JOE at the front door and he is absolute in a state of panic. I am thinking to myself "boy did she start off with bad luck". JOE said "I went into one of your homes and when I got in, the alarm went off; the door was unlocked...I just wanted to see the home and I did not know what to do so I came here". The poor guy looked like he just ran over someone's cat. He was terrified and felt really...really bad. Ya just wanted to immediately tell JOE, "It's OK". I knew what I would say, and you probably know what you would have said, but we are not "Claire".

So her first words were not "I sorry" or "Don't worry about it" or any introductory words that any normal other agent would likely say. Her first comments to this poor guy were: "Do you know the Pottery Barn Rule". Now I am behind her and am thinking, ohhh good Lord, what in the world is she doing?" JOE appeared stunned and looks up to her and says, in sort of a shivering voice, "noo...ooo". So "Claire" says in a very serious tone, "The Pottery Barn Rule is IF YOU BREAK IT, YOU BUY IT." (I'm am thinking OMG). The poor guy just look up and says "huuuhhh". She says "the rule is the same here, you set off the alarm, now you have to buy it". I am totally speechless. There was this awkward pause for a few seconds, though for me it seemed like 20 minutes, then they looked at each other and started to laugh.

By the end of the day, we were writing up a contract on a home with this guy. That year, she was rookie of the year and off she went to be a selling machine. Now she sells homes all over the country. (Rats, I should not have said that as you may confuse this with the other "CLAIRE".) Yes, for years and years, "Claire" did not think she had "IT". "Claire" definitely has IT" and I found that out on her first day....a day I will never forget.

The story has a couple of points: 1) You may or may not be in the right position.....you may absolutely hate your job and would rather be in a corner sucking your thumb; but you have to step out of your box to find out what fits you....as we all know you can put a square peg into a round hole (though Claire may disagree). 2) Be who you are. Don't be what an industry says you have to be. If you do, it will hold back your potential. It may cause you to fail at what you are currently doing, but you may not be doing the right job.

I did ask the agent why did you put Claire in a listing manager. She said that she needed to fill that position and thought that sooner or later Claire would catch on. Life just does not work that way....unless you want to be miserable doing what you are doing.

So, starting tomorrow, be who you are; BE YOU!!!!

After reading just too many complaints about commission rates....about clients negotiating commission rates.....about how to deal with negotiating commission rates, about negative comments about clients or prospects negotiating rates, I had to say something about it.

It is absolutely OK for your clients to ask for commissions reductions. Moreover, you should expect your client to ask for commission reductions. And a double "moreover", you should expect only people that do not like to negotiate not to negotiate commissions (that was a mouthful of double negatives).

SIDE NOTE: We are in a totally different world than we were in year's past. Though that statement has nothing to do with my position it does have alot to do with society as a whole. 20 years ago communication was quite limited compared to what it is today. Today we can learn just about anything we want to learn in a minutes notice via the internet, TV, radio, etc..... These mediums are dramatically different than they were 20 years ago......heck, 5 years ago. Many of us remember when we had but a handful of TV stations, one or two talk shows on the radio, and pre-internet. Thus, what we are learning and taking in is substantially different than previous years. Thus, we are all becoming "experts" at more things than were previously though possible. Now back to commissions. NOW WHEN I REFER TO COMMISSIONS, FLAT RATE FEE PROGRAMS WILL APPLY AS WELL. SO IF YOU ARE A FLAT FEE AGENT, MERELY PUT IN FLAT FEE IN LIEU OF COMMISSIONS.

You cannot go anywhere without hearing about negotiating commission with a real estate agent. Go on line to a zillion real estate blogging sites. Turn on the TV. Turn on the radio. We have all heard or read a tremendous amount of topics on negotiating real estate commissions. Some of these comments are by some extremely well respected individuals who people follow their advice to the "T". So many of us hear or read these comment and we cringe and get angered. It is human nature to get angered by some individual making a comment about someone else's industry without that individual really knowing that industry. Well, we can cringe all we want, but that wont stop the comments from being made. We can always reply to a blog, or call in to a radio talk show, or comment on the internet about a real estate show.........but it will continue.

We real estate agents, for the most part, are all in business for ourselves and we know what our profit margins are based on our models. Some have models for "x" fee, some have models for "y" fee, some for "z" fee and so on. We know what we personally do and what percentage it takes in order to make a profit. The media tends to put all of us in a little box rather than boxes of assorted sizes. Thus, the perception is throw out that agents make a gazillion dollars on each transaction......as...hey, it's simple, just do the math. Even my step-dad told me last week after I closed a $700k home "wow, you made $42,000 in a day". Mind you, if I have been in business for 28 years and have tried to explain this to him for 28 years and failed, why would it be a mystery to me that others would not understand this as well.

OK, my step-dad may be to the extreme, but that is the perception of many....including the internet, TV and radio. So if you thought someone was making that kind of money for just throwing a house up on the MLS, would you not want to negotiate the commission down? I mean, that is an crazy amount of money for typing in a few words and putting a sign in the ground, right? That's is the perception that is being thrown out to the world and more so in today's market than ever because of the massive increase in communication.

So knowing that most people are being fed this information from multiple sources, why would you not expect someone to ask for you to cut your commission. I think it is not only understandable, I believe it is to be expected from prospects or clients. Moreover, I am usually a bit shocked when someone does try to negotiate. It is our job to professionally re-educate prospects and clients on the reality of our business. Why would I expect the public (or media) to know how expensive it is to run a real estate operation if they have not been in our shoes.....and are constantly being fed misinformation?

The point that I want to get across is to expect each and every prospect or client to try to negotiate commissions at some point in the real estate transaction process. Our society has told them to do this. Thus, they will. Therefore you have to have a script to handle this as you would with any other objection. It is a must as if you fumble with your words you will appear as if you actually are making as much as they think you are. If they don't ask, great.....but don't expect people not to ask.

Like I have said so many times before, it is such a simple mindset change, and you will enjoy your job so much more.

The market in the RN Area (River North) of Austin saw noticeable improvement in both sales and inventory of homes priced under $700k. Here are a few highlights and lowlights; and, the complete report is as a link below.

• Closings are up 24% from last year
• Inventory is down 15% from last year
• There is enough consistent improvement in the price ranges up to $700k to call this movement “a trend”
• The market from $900k to $2mm remains in rough shape with very low demand creating 3-6 years of inventory. Note that a 4-6 MONTH of inventory figure is considered by most economist as normal, so a 3-6 year figure is a very serious concern. The flip side of this is that those crazy inventory numbers can be reduced substantially with a couple of good months. But, with only 4 sales the entire year from $1-2mm, and an inventory of about 36 homes, there is an understandable concern for those selling, but an incredible OPPORTUNITY for those buying…..maybe one of the best opportunities buyers may ever see.
• If the market continues in a recovery mode, it will come back in the opposite direction in which it came, with the higher price ranges coming back last.
• Optimism is building; but I do not foresee a massive move in the market until we start seeing unemployment numbers shift for 2-3 months in row. That is a lagging indicator, but a safe one.

As I always note, our area market follows the stock market very closely. Thus, the increase in our area market recently. So, your call on the stock market will likely be a similar call on our area market.

RN Market Report for July CLICK HERE