Wallace Ashby

I love farmers markets. They always have the best fruit and veggies that come from local producers. The only issue is they only occur during the late spring-fall and go away in the winter. Now Portland is coming out with its first ever Winter Farmer Market.

Starting January 7th, the farmers market will be open at the Shemanski Park and will run until February 25th. For more information, you can visit their website here.

I have clients who ask me: How do you find your buyer / seller leads? I'm quite honest with my answer on how I find them. I find them through a combination of online / offline marketing. My website, company website, Craigslist, expired listings, FSBO listings, etc.

The interesting thing is I don't find many agents who share my enthusiasm in the open book policy. We aren't magicians, pulling the curtain to reveal the final piece and not let them in to see the work that goes into it. From my observation, some feel that their leads / clients might be disappointed with what it really takes. Or worse, feel that the agent isn't doing enough.

I want to show my clients my hard work, but also include them in the process so they can be more informed. That's what most of my clients like. The fact that their is work going into it and the mystery behind it goes away.

If you ever want to know what / how I do things, feel free to ask! And to my real estate colleagues, do you do the same?

This idea for this posting started when I had a conversation with an fellow colleague this morning. He didn't get a listing and it was because of the name of our brokerage, Fred Real Estate. No, the name isn't like RE Max, Keller Williams, or the other big names out there, but we hold our own and have a great deal of success in our local market.

What intrigued me is the fact that this person chose based solely on the name. She liked my colleague, the marketing, and everything else but she didn't see our name as prominent as others in the market since we were small.

Does this make a difference? Some might argue yes. But if you talk to good real estate agents, they will all say that real estate is a relationship business. You are working with them, not necessarily the company.

So does it matter what sign is in the yard? Again, some might argue yes. Let me ask this one question; if you were a buyer, would you care what sign is in the yard or would you care about the quality of home behind it?

The key point to this is make sure you are hiring the RIGHT agent, not company. You will be working with that agent and be relying on that agent, his/her expertise and contacts, to get your home sold. With the Internets popularity in home searching and home listings getting syndicated through all major websites, your home has the same coverage as all the others. It's what the agent with do above and beyond that to find the buyer, help you negotiate the best offer, and getting it closed without a lot of hassle that should be the deciding factor.

It's like kicking a dead horse.

Home sales have dipped quite a bit in the last couple of months since the end of the tax credit. Everyone knew it was going to happen since we were encouraging everyone to buy sooner in order the get the credit. I still read an occasional article that talks about how the another stimulus for the housing market is still being kicked around in Congress. A recent article from REALTOR magazine says that housing experts feel that even suggesting this can have a negative effect on the market.

I wish our political representatives would stop trying to stimulate the economy. I can't pay any more taxes.

You can read the article here: Housing Experts Say Tax Credit Had to End.

As a buyer, you can still get a great home at a bargain price with low interest rates. We don't need to stimulate the housing market when the job market is in worse condition.

I run into this all the time:

"I'm just looking"

"I'm just thinking about it"

"I won't know until I find the right property"

The list of exuses reasons go on. The fact of the matter is you owe it to yourself to make the decision either you are serious about buying or you aren't. If you aren't, that's fine. But if you are serious about buying, then you need to get SERIOUS! Rates are low, inventory is high, and many sellers are willing to negotiate. But what's holding you up?

Real estate can be a huge undertaking, espcially since the majority of people don't do it on a regular basis. Here's a few steps to get you started BEFORE you start looking.

1) Get pre-approved. I can't stress this enough. I've had to listen to many buyers rant about the fact that they didn't get the home they really wanted because they were too late. I was even blamed for it some of the time. If you get pre-approved, it gets you prepared for when you do find the right home. It also leads to the second step.

2) Know your limits. Also know the limits of the market. Be realistic about what you can afford and also be realistic about what the market has. You wont find a mansion on a cottage budget, but you can find good homes.

3) Interview agents. This is a step people take late in the game instead of early on. It's counter productive on two parts. First, an NAR study has shown that people who work with an agent spend 1 1/2 weeks looking for a home compared to people who spend 6 weeks on the internet. Agents know the market, know what's available, and the good ones even know about properties that have yet to come on the market. The second part is the fact that you want to find someone with whom you trust and can work with. Doing this early takes stress off.

There are other things that should be done, but if you start with these three you will be on the right track. Having an agent to help you will also make it easier and more enjoyable.