Antonio & Alexia Cardenas "The Realtors In Motion" Remax In Motion

Long time ago I read something that said, "it is not what happens to you, but how you react to what happens to you that determines the result..." Often times I am asked that infamous question; How is the real estate business? As we all know, when it is real dark in one part of the world, there must be a very high noon kind of sunshine in the other side of the world. Don't believe me? Call Australia tonight.

Therefore, when some people believe this is the worst real estate market in eons... there is a great market for a bunch of people who never thought that one day they could afford to buy their very first house or better yet, their very first investment property, or for a seasoned investor to improve their portfolio of properties by acquiring more.

There is in one side of this market, a tsunami of bad news: prices going down, equities are being lost, hard time to get refinancing or a new loan. Mortgage payments that are being made to a loan that will never be paid off. For example, our client Frank bought a house 4 years ago for $900,000. Frank didn't put a downpayment, and make payments of interest only. Obviously he does not have equity in his home and now that prices have dropped, his home is worth about $700.00. Frank is fine as long as he makes the montly payments. He has a great tax write off. However, if he stopped making payments he would be in trouble, he is sort of making hight rental payments but with a tax benefit.

But there is that other retreating part of the tsunami of bad news that have uncovered a gold mine for first time buyers and investors: There is a great number of properties to choose from, motivated sellers willing to accommodate first time buyers, clean their houses, make repairs and almost anything else the buyer might ask for in order to sell the property. Interest rates at this time (December 2008) have dropped below 5.5% fix...! For investors, the rental income predictions are good, simply because of the number of qualified tenants, (previous homeowners) that will have to rent for many years because they cannot fix their credit in order to buy a house. This will represent steady and good income numbers down the road.

I have been selling real estate since 1985, I have seen the bad, the good, the bad again, the good again... and here we are in what I believe is the end of the real, I mean real bad market... or is it? Most of us learned to first save for a downpayment and closing costs and then go look for a house. That wasn't just the old way... that should always be the way... to buy a house.

I would like to encourage all my fellow colleagues to be ready and prepared to answer this question in 60 seconds or less... describing this market in a way that shows the great benefits available right now... How is the real estate market? ready? go!

Antonio & Alexia Cardenas, "The Realtors In Motion". Selling the San Francisco bay area counties of Alameda and Contra Costa. Home based in San Leandro & Castro Valley, CA.

Accepting referrals 24/7. Callus, we'll come and TANGO with you!

www.ListedbyAntonio.com

Imagine a couple of dancers taking to the dance floor, ready to dance their choreographed routines at a ballroom dance competition. They know that in order to win they must be perfect on... everything! They must have good posture, execute their steps with clarity, use correct alignments on the floor, have a positive attitude and be creative in the use of space on the floor. They are athletes and performers and everybody is looking at their every move.

During the dance competition they must be aware of other people on the floor at all times; the judges who watch everybody from the sidelines while taking careful notes, other competitors who will be dancing their own routines. And the biggest and most important part of this scenario: The audience, which is the paying public, those who come to watch the show and be entertained.

Everything must work properly and timing is of the essence, (sounds familiar?) Dancing off beat is the greatest sin of all! If you don't dance to the music you are just walking. As the dancing couple follow their choreographed routine, they will run into problems, other dancers will step in front of them and prevent them from executing their steps properly, knowing what to do right away is crucial. The ability of the couple to keep dancing their best regardless of the interruptions is called good "floorcraft."

The best dancers are those who had clear plans, who regularly practice good technique and who know how to get out of tight spots in an elegant, smooth way. These people also recognize that there are things beyond their control; the music played, the condition of the floor and the judges' marks to name a few. They don't allow those shortcomings to become an issue in their pursue of perfection. Their experience, constant learning and practicing with dedication and attention to details are the key to the highest part of the winner's podium.

Realtors should know that a real estate transaction is very similar to a ballroom dance competition. All elements are present. The listing agent and the buyer's agent, a couple of experienced, dedicated, professional Realtors are the dancers. The other dance participants can be counted as the appraiser, lender, escrow officer, home inspector, underwriter, coordinator etc. The length of the song is the escrow period, it has a very specific beginning and ending.

Following our analogy, the judges are the Real Estate brokers or managers from each office. It is to their best interest to make sure every step is executed properly and on time. And finally, the paying public: Our Home Seller and our Home-buyer because without them, nobody dances, nobody gets paid either. We all come together because these two reached and agreement. They are our audience.

Realtors don't always have to dance like stars, but they better know the steps properly and execute them to perfection, and are able to dance like stars... to the beat of the music, with the right attitude and perfect timing. Yes, they must act like performers, because they are. Taking dance classes could be a challenge for some, but there are great benefits in taking dancing as exercise. Dancing is a sensible way to minimize the negative effects of the stressful days we endure. The same regular dance routines that will help you stay fit, prevent disease and build muscle can also help you better manage stress and be a better Realtor. Ready! Slow... quick quick... slow

Antonio & Alexia Cardenas, GRI, CRS. E-Pro- Remax In Motion - Accepting Referrals to the areas of San Francisco bay area's Alameda County. San Leandro's best dance competitors - www.ListedByAntonio.com

About a year ago we built a Pirate Ship for Halloween in front of our house, we had lots of free time in the summer of 2007 since the real estate market was not going anywhere. We track the traffic in our website regularly, in June '07 we had 5,000 hits, 4,000 in July, August & September between 4,000 and 3,000. dismal numbers to say the least and going down daily. Most of these are simply local market statistics, but very important for us.

We had this idea of building a Pirate Ship in front of the house for Halloween, the project took a life of its own, and almost got out of hand. We built it by pieces inside the ballroom in our house. On October 1st. we took the pieces out to the front yard. As we started building the ship, we had people stopping by and asking about where we found the drawings or plans to built it. As we discussed the ship, we managed to ask about their real estate ideas, plans and the like, specially since we work our neighborhood and all of our listings are within blocks of our house. We had been taking photos of every step of the building of the prop, so we hung up a sign that said: "How did we build this ship? See a virtual tour at: www.ListedByAntonio.com The numbers on the website went through the roof! we had 18,750 hits in October. We started giving out postcards of our website right in front of the house.

On Halloween Night we had over 2,000 visitors to our house! We tracked the numbers by the number of postcard we gave out to the adults while the children had their candy. We did put our house and home office on the neighborhood map and noticed that the children brought their parents almost nightly to our house. We just happened to be there fixing a few things around the ship. An inexpensive self promotion.

The local newspaper received a picture of the Pirate Ship and printed it. We still don't know who sent it ;-) As one good turn deserves another, we had to come with something similar for this year. We are finding out that people are coming around expecting to see something new, others wanted to see if we had the same ship again. This is what we did this year: A Horse Drawn Hearse

So far we are having the same results this year. People appreciate the work we are doing for the neighborhood and the children love the experience. As our real estate market is still on the slow side, we keep asking people to help us by putting a good word for us if and when they know of anyone thinking about buying or selling a piece of real property. Shameless self Promotions? You bet! Desperate times? you bet! Cost effective advertising? you bet! Our clients whose houses we have for sale benefit by having more people go on line and take a virtual tour of their house.

We also combine our ballroom dancing with our real estate business. At the end of each visual tour we have a picture of us in ballroom competition costumes. Most ladies like seen my wife's ballroom gowns, so they see every tour shown on the web site. Win-Win for everybody. sounds familiar? The virtual tour of the Horse Drawn Hearse simply teaches anyone how to do a Halloween Prop like this one. Want to give it a try? If you do, send us pictures please!

Antonio & Alexia Cardenas, "The Realtors In Motion" San Leandro, Ca. Serving the San Francisco bay area counties of Alameda and Contra Costa. We love Referrals. We are ready to TANGO with you!

We work mostly out of our home office. While typing my last sentences for a relocation report , I ignored the small little rubber ball that was being dropped at my feet over and over again. My 2-year old Pomeranian dog Prince wasn't going to stop inviting me to go out and play. The phone rings and the moment I pick it up I can hear one of my clients almost yelling at me complaining about a Realtor that just left her house. He showed up 30 minutes early for a showing of her house and she was in the shower and the house was not quite ready. She was very upset and wanted me to file a complain to his broker because of his early showing.

It took me a few minutes to calm her down, as I hung up, I directed the dog to get out of the office! Out! I called pointing towards the door, I did not want any distractions, the dog looked at me, picked up the ball and ignored me, the phone rings again, I ushered the dog out, push the door closed and answer the phone. Now is the Realtor who showed the house, he is upset because the seller let him know her disapproval in front of his clients and he wants an apology! I asked him about the time he had set the appointment and the time he showed up, he wouldn't take any of that, we had a lively disagreement about how to show houses within the time frame set for the appointment.

My office has two doors, one is a double glass door right in front of my desk, as I talk on the phone I can see the small dog jumping up and down trying to get back inside the office. The other Realtor is not going to settle down just yet, an incoming call gives me an opportunity to put this guy on hold, I am alone in the office. As I take the second call, I am surprised to find my upset seller who wants to know now what is the brokerage company this Realtor works for, she demands to know the name of the manager because she wants to file the complain herself. I promise I will find out and call her back, I hung up and tell the other Realtor what the conversation was, he is not happy and ask me to "rein in" my client! I tell him I had to go and we hang up.

The phone rings again, at this time the dog has pushed open the door and sticks his head and with the ball in his mouth, he gives me this tilted head sort of question... are we going to play? If you have a Pomeranian you know what I mean. I look at the phone, and at the dog's invitation, I take the second one, I come out of the office and pick the ball off his mouth and throw it far into the yard, he runs and happily fetches it, we play like that for about 15 minutes, finally he brings the ball back but he does not come straight to me, he goes to his water dish, an indication the game is over, he is tired, he comes to me and I pet him and thank him for being there at a time like this.

I have been rattled with the situation between my client and the other Realtor. Because of the dog I am now more relaxed and my blood pressure is probably down. I pick up the phone and call the seller, explain to her the job of the Realtor and the fact that sometimes this happens, I apologize on behalf of the other Realtor and invite her to let it all go. I call the other Realtor and apologize on behalf of the seller and invite him to let it go. Neither of them really apologized to each other but they both believe they did.

The mere presence of the dog and the break I took with him, made me a better negotiator, a more subdued, mellow and calm individual who diffused a potential explosive situation and prevented me from going into the argument more forceful. Can my dog help me be a better person? Yes, he can. Now if I could only put his name on my taxes... sort of "consultant" "special aide""trouble-shooter..." He deserves all those titles. I would love to know if any of you have had this secret tool in your offices or homes and how it works for you. Kibbles anyone?

The debate has never been settled; Sellers and Realtors disagree as to the possibility of finding a buyer for the house while holding it open for the general public. Some think it is a waste of time, others believe there is a valid reason to set up shop for 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon in somebody's house.

After 23 years selling real estate I am a true believer of the power of open houses. Not all people that come thru the house are simply lookers or neighbors, there are true homebuyers choosing a house to purchase. I look at my own habits, when was the last time I went looking at cars? When I needed to buy one, when did I look at furniture? Appliances? I only went when I needed to buy any of those items. From the buyers point of view it does make sense to go out and look at open houses on a Sunday afternoon in the area they like, it saves them time, rather than making appointments on house after house.

All week long a big part of my job is to look for homebuyers, I call everybody I know, I ask my friends and family if they know of anyone who wants to buy a house, I send postcards to tenants, offer seminars to first time homebuyers and then... Then on a Sunday afternoon when typically homebuyers are out looking at Open Houses... I take the day off! I don't think so! I want to be there, right in the middle of their tours, I want to meet those buyers in person, nothing beats a face to face encounter. Waiting for the phone to ring back at the office is not a good strategy. I learned that when holding Open Houses in the same area regularly, you get to know who is looking in that neighborhood, buyers in turn get to know you.

As a listing agent I owe it to my clients, the sellers to take every opportunity to find them a buyer. Sometimes I manage to drag my favorite loan officer to be with me during the open house on a Sunday afternoon, I then can offer every person that comes into the house a "free pre-qualification" right then and there. At the end of the open house I fax a copy of the register so the loan officer can also follow up with those buyers who signed. If we both follow up with the same person, odds are we will sell them a house, any house.

When my wife and I work the same open house together, one of us is ready to go show other houses in the neighborhood to a homebuyer that comes and find this house is not what they are looking for, if we know the inventory in the area we can just put them in the car and go. Having several of our own listings in the area increase the chances of selling one of them. It is sort of... fishing! The more hooks we have in the water the better the chances. Fishing for orphan buyers (buyers without a Realtor) is a very profitable activity on a Sunday afternoon. All you need is ONE qualified buyer per Sunday!

An important issue for all parties involved is SECURITY. Sellers should put away items of value, sensitive documents like tax returns, bank statements, passports etc. documents that have personal information on them should always be secured. Also please put away prescription drugs. And don't forget that children's rooms also have expensive items that can easily be pocketed, like game cartridges and CDs. Pets should not be left at the house while it is open to the public, and the house should be immaculate from top to bottom. And for us Realtors, we should have at least 2 clear exits from the house and someone in the office or a family member in contact by phone every hour.