Bob Mitchell - Realtor St. Louis

This past Saturday night my girlfriend and I went to see the Kid Rock concert here in St. Louis. At the start of the concert I found myself in an interesting ethical dilemma. What happened was this;

Prior to the concert beginning the MC started talking about Kid Rock's visits to Iraq and his support of the troops. He then asked everybody to give a hand to "the United States Marine Corp St. Louis recruiting station".

Now, I'm all for supporting our troops. Having spent 8 years in the Navy, I understand that it is possible to support the troops without supporting the war. Our soldiers and sailors are doing their jobs and even if you don't agree, which I don't, with the war, they deserve our respect and support.

So, here I was at a concert. In my girlfriend's employer's luxury box with several other employees of her company when the MC requests that we stand up and show our support for these soldiers. I started to stand and applaud until he said it again....."From The St. Louis Marine Corp Recruiting Station"

I had to sit back down. I was torn. I do support our troops, but I DON'T support this war and I DON'T support the mission of the recruiters who have to go out and convince our young people to join their service in order to fight a war that, in my belief, is being primarily fought to enrich the oil companies, as well as the rest of the military industrial complex.

I looked around and I was the only person that I saw sitting. I felt bad. My girlfriend was obviously torn too. Here she was at the concert as a guest of her employer and while she didn't know any of the other people there, her sitting back down next to me could reflect upon her.

It was a close decision to make. In the end I couldn't add my voice to what I thought was a propaganda ploy on the part of Kid Rock and the United States Marine Corp. As I sat there I thought about it. What if there was some impressionable 17 or 18 year old in that audience who was in the process of getting carried away to become cannon fodder? My and Kathy's silence couldn't be heard, but maybe...just maybe our silence caused the noise to not reach the level where that kid would be carried away enough to make that call the next day to the recruiter.

I can only hope!

R.B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is the president of ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc., St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. To find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program please feel free to visit our web page, valuelistre.com

One of the cool things about taking a loan application is that it makes you think ahead. The reason that it does this is because on the Truth In Lending Form you have to put in the first payment date, which is generally about 2 months after the closing date.

So, if it may be 15 degrees out with snow on the ground now, but when you put that May 1st, first payment date down on the form, it makes me thing Spring!

And that's not a bad thing to think about right now as I sit in my home office with the space heater going, wrapped in a blanket with the sniffles. While I don't mind winter, I am looking forward to getting outside more and soaking up some rays. This spring I plan on buying a new bicycle and riding some of the trails that they've put here in St. Louis.

Here in St. Louis there is an organization called, Trailnet that in conjunction with the States of Illinois and Missouri along with the various municipal governments throughout the area is working on developing a network of bicycle and hiking trails that will pretty much blanket the area. Most of these trails are pretty moderate and suitable for the entire family to ride on. Many of them will also make bicycling a viable method of commuting.

Trailnet also sponsors a series of rides ranging from 5 mile rides to the zoo and art museum to a century ride that covers a good chunk of the local trail network.

In addition to Trailnet there are also many other cycling groups throughout the area that sponsor rides throughout the midwest and even a few beyond. Most of these rides are family friendly, but a few of them have more of an adult feel to them, such as the group wides that go from winery to winery. I guess that kids could come, hell you'll probably need SOMEONE to drive you home, right? ;-)

Below are some links to some of the bicycling sites. Maybe we'll bump into one another out on the road!

Stlbiking.com Goodcyclist.org St. Louis Bicycling Federation Katytrail Moonlight ramble

Cold calling is one of those things that NOBODY likes. The folks who do it don't like it and the people who are getting the call don't like it, so why do it? Because it works....at least if it's done correctly.

Actually, if it's done correctly it isn't nearly as bad for either the caller or the person being called.

So, how do you cold call correctly?

First, by not trying to sell the person anything. Pushing for the sale on the first call is the single biggest mistake that sales people make when calling potential customers. That's not to say that if the potential customer invites you over that you shouldn't go, but in all my years of sales and sales training, I've only seen this happen a handful of times. It's cool when it happens, but don't expect it!

The first call should only be for introduction purposes.

"Hi, my name is Bob Mitchell and I'm calling from ValueList Real Estate Services in order to introduce myself and my company. So, how are you doing today?"

Depending upon the person and that person's mood, the response that you get can run from being hung up on to the person being eager to talk to you. Anywhere along that spectrum is an ok place to start. You've got your name in front of the person and while they probably won't be able to differentiate between you and the dozen other agents who have or will call them that day, you've got your foot in the proverbial door.

This is where I'll let you in on a little sales secret. The fact of the matter is that MOST of the other agents who are calling that FSBO aren't going to call that person back. I forgot the exact figures, but it's something like 70% of agents who call a FSBO never make a second call.

Another sales secret is that for a person to remember your name they have to see or hear it 6 - 8 times. That initial call was time 1. The second time that they hear or see your name is when you follow up with a post card. Again, especially with FSBO's you're going to have a hard time standing out from the crowd, but at this point, it really doesn't matter.

Why doesn't it matter? Because at this point the average FSBO still thinks that they have everything under control. All these agents calling them are simply a pain in the ass to them and while they are attempting to shut you out, the fact of the matter is that now they've heard your name once and seen your name once. If that FSBO were surveyed at this point to see if they remember your name, unless you're one of the big name agents in your area, chances are they won't be able to.

Most agents would think that this was a bad thing, but it's not. The fact that FSBO's don't remember the name of the agents who called them is a good thing because, as I've pointed out above, most of your competition won't call them back that second time. If you want to be successful, you will.

On this second call your goal isn't to sell them this time either. Your goal should be to help establish your name recognition.

"Hi Mr. Smith, this is Bob Mitchell with ValueList Real Estate Services. I'm just calling to make sure that you got my post card. Do you know if you've gotten it or not? It's kind of a big ugly green thing?"

Chances are they won't remember. If they do, then that's great. You can point out to them your web site address (which should be prominently displayed on the post card) and tell them about all of the wonderful tools and such that are on your site, but that's about it.

If they say that they didn't get it or didn't notice it. That too is cool.

"Oh, okay...well, tell you what, I'll drop another one in the mail to you today. It's got my web site address on it and if you like, please feel free to check out some of the tools and resources that are on it that might be able to help you get your house sold. Thanks for your time...oh, by the way....if you have any questions or I can be of service in any way, please don't hesitate to give me a call. The number is on the post card...alright? Great! Have a good day!"

Whichever way they answered, send them another post card. (name exposure 3 and 4).

From this point they might be getting new calls from different agents and stuff in the mail from other agents, but chances are that there are only a few other agents who have bothered to call them back that second time and chances are that those agents are the pushier, more aggressive agents who at this point are going to have put a bad taste in that FSBO's mouth.

The following week you call them again...again, with a very low key approach.

"Hi Jim...this is Bob Mitchell from ValueList...just doing my weekly calls....so, how's the FSBO going?"

Why not go in for the kill right now? Because it's too early. The average life of a FSBO is six weeks. During that time one of three things happen; (1) they sell, (2) they list, or (3) they withdraw it from the market.

At this point most people are starting to get frustrated, but as is most often the case, they will dig their heals in. They might even get rude with you. Don't worry about it. This is to be expected. Your call and your laid back, helpful demeanor, while probably not noticed directly will make an impression. Plus, guess what.....now that you've called them and they've gotten your post cards in the mail, you're now a name brand! They've seen or hear your name 6 or more times! YEAH! You're making progress! Don't forget to mail another post card!

(on the answering machine)"Hi Jim.....Bob Mitchell over at ValueList again....weekly calls and all...so, how's it going? Any questions for me? Hey, just wanted to make sure that you knew that if you do have any questions...even if it means helping you sell the home For Sale By Owner...I'm here for you....Did you check out the web site? Call me if you need me!" (Post card in the mail)

So forth and so on....each week you make a short, sweet telephone call. What you'll find is that after the first couple of weeks that the natural sales resistance starts to wain. The people might even become friendly towards you. I've had FSBO's actually refer me to other people looking to sell their home.

At some point, one of those three things listed above will happen. If they sell it, oh well....maybe you can help them find their new home or refer them to an agent where they are moving to. If not, that's ok. You can't win them all.

If they withdraw it from the market, again...you're efforts aren't in vain. Chances are that if they were thinking about selling their home now, they will again in the future. Stay in touch!

If they list the home, hopefully it was with you! If not, keep an eye on that listing. If it expires, chances are that you will be their next choice.

My point here is that calling FSBO's isn't as bad as people think...if it's done correctly. I try to be a regular boy scout...friendly, courteous, kind, obedient...so forth and so on. If you make your calls with this attitude it's still not fun, but it can be very profitable and you never know, you might even end up making a new friend!

R.B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is the president of ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc., St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. To find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program please feel free to visit our web page, valuelistre.com

I just read a blog on MGIC raising it's credit requirements. In this post, the letter that MGIC wrote explaining this move was included. It said that this move was in response to market conditions and loan performance. Well, this got me thinking.....

Is it really that bad for the PMI companies? At least in terms of the high LTV, bread and butter Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loans?

From what I understand and according to Realtytrac that slightly more than 1% of homes nationwide are in some stage of foreclosure. That means that slightly less than 99% of homes nationwide AREN'T in some stage of foreclosure. When you take out the loans that were considered "sub-prime" (which didn't directly have PMI coverage), how did the rest of these mortgages perform?

I guess my question is, is this really about the PMI companies losing money on regular bread and butter types of loans or is it more about the bond reinsurers losing money on other investments and simply blaming it on foreclosures?

My next question would be, "Should today's buyers be penalized for bad investment decisions made by the PMI companies and the bond reinsurers that stand behind them?"

I can't say that I'm an expert on this subject, but I would love to hear from somebody who does know more about it that I do. If you are one of these people, drop me a line.

R. B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is the president of ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc., St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. To find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program please feel free to visit our web page, valuelistre.com

I just read a blog called, "Remember When Your Buyer's Just Loved The Home That They Were Offering On?" where the author lamented on the fact that buyers don't seem as committed to the home buying process as they used to. That buyers now seemed more concerned with getting a "good deal" than in buying the house.

While I can feel his pain, I have to disagree with him to a certain extent. As a matter of fact, I always tell my buyers "NOT to fall in love with a house until AFTER they close!". That said, I don't want my buyer's losing out on a good home over a couple of thousand dollars, but I do understand their desire to get a good deal. Especially in this market.

To me, it falls under my obligations as a buyer's agent to treat that buyer as I would myself. Last summer my girlfriend Kathy and I bought a home and I'll be honest, we drove a hard bargain. The final purchase price was right around 25% - 30% less than what the guy was originally asking. Our original offer was slightly below that.

When the seller countered our offer, we came up a little bit, but then held firm through 3 additional counters. The seller eventually accepted our offer, which included a quick, as-is, closing.

Did We Rip The Seller Off?

I don't think so. We negotiated hard, but the fact of the matter was that we were fully prepared to walk away from the house. He on the other hand had already moved out of town, the market was slow and getting slower and in essence, we were a bird in the hand. Did he get as much as he could have if he had held firm? Not from us, but probably from someone, at some point in the future.

He did his own math and determined that, all things considered, that our offer was worth accepting.

If It's Good Enough For Me, Shouldn't It Be Good Enough For My Clients?

Which is the point of my post. Does it suck to have a buyer make a low ball offer? Yeah, but it would be pretty hypocritical of me to not allow them to do that or to hold it against them if they do, wouldn't it? I'd go as far as saying that it was my responsibility to treat their interests in the negotiations as if they were my own.

That includes telling them the good, the bad and the ugly regarding making a low ball offer. That would include the fact that they are running the risk of pissing the seller off or possibly losing the property to a higher offer, but once I've pointed this out to them, it's up to them to make their offer. It's my job to do my best to see that they get as good a deal as they can get. Anything less would be a dereliction of my duties.

R.B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is the president of ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc., St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company. To find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program please feel free to visit our web page, valuelistre.com