Increasing your homes value by having a green thumb

Today it's gonna hit close to 70 degrees here in Denver and tonight it's gonna snow!!!!!!! I absolutely love living in a place where the weather changes day to day or even hour to hour. I grew up in southern California where there are no seasons and the same rang true in Hawaii. The tricky part about this weather is when to put winter stuff away (ie shovels, jackets, snow tires) and when to bring out the gardening supplies kiddie pools and fishing poles (although I did ice fish this year but that'll be in another blog). Gardening is one of my favorite spring time activities because there is nothing like planting fruits, vegetables, and herbs to eat throughout spring. Not everyone realizes this but that bountiful garden, flowers, and bushes you maintain year to year bring what we call "curb appeal" to your home So now you ask yourself what is "curb appeal"? Well "curb appeal" is what's gonna make a buyer choose your house to that one down the street that needs a new lawn and has no landscaping. One of the first things a buyer will see is the outside appearance of a home and a well-maintained landscape and manicured lawn is a great first impression. It is much easier said then done maintaining your yard takes a lot of hard work and time but it is very rewarding if done right. Make sure to talk to your local nursery about planting times and plants which are native for your region. Do research on when vegetables need to be planted and harvested for a bountiful harvest. I promise if you put in the time and research it takes to give your home "curb appeal" it'll payoff in the end

To be or not to be social media...

As with many fads they always seem to come and go, social media is one of those fads that has been targeted by critics. If you listen to "non-believers" of social media sites, you are definitely missing out on a lot of benefits that social media can help your ever growing real estate career.  From having more engaged customers to getting new ones, to effectively promoting your products, to being able to listen to your customers conversations and to being able to provide the best customer service possible. These are just some of the benefits you get from using social media to jump start your career.  Once Google and other search engines figure out how to make searches more social and more real-time then the benefits from social media are endless. Be aware social media marketing does takes time, effort and in some cases, money to create, develop and maintain, your "image" Social media critics hold that numbers and statistics are useless in determining social media’s staying power.  Twitter and Facebook might have billions of hits and visits between the two of them daily, but that does not mean that these two social media giants would be around come 2013, does anyone remember myspace???
But does that translate that social media is just a fad? If for anything, the demise of MySpace and similar social sites only proves that social media is here to stay. As long as a social media site stays new and fresh and relevant to people’s lives, then it shall always be around to help us in promoting our image as nice, dependable, trust worthy real estate agents with cool profile pics

The Myth of Being Scared

What's really holding you back in your real estate career? Are you scared of floor calls, how about door knocking, or calling FSBO's (for sale by owners)?  Well if you want a lasting career as an agent then GET OVER IT!!!!!!  We deal with people everyday whether it's the gas station attendant or the check-out clerk at Safeway.  These are the same people that are buying houses these days, people we see and deal with in our everyday life, usually our peers. I consider myself to be a people person I really have no issues talking with strangers.  When it came to my first client however i was shaking like a leaf, because i was doing something for the first time, and it scared me a bit.  I tell you what, that after that initial first 10 minutes of worrying it all became VERY easy after that.  Even though my first deal ended up crashing because of financing it's OK cause i got that experience under my belt and it gave me confidence to move on to the next.  I hear stories everyday about new agents that are great at setting up their social media and great at scripts, but when it comes to dealing with real life clients they freeze up. My advice to all agents that are dealing with this issue is bite the bullet just this once and i guarantee when it comes to that next client you'll be much more confident.  Even if you screw up so bad and scare away your first clients away it's OK at least you overcame your fear of talking to them. You should also realize that this won't be your last client so now you have the confidence to move on to the next, remember you can't make everyone happy .  You must give a little to get something back in return which means you have to make a fool of yourself now while you are learning in order to show people down the road that you're a confident agent. Then they can put all of their confidence in you in order to find them their dream home

Patience

As a new agent what is the first thing I want to do?  Close a deal or these days even getting someone pre-qualified is on the top of my list.  People these days even though they might have good jobs and drive nice cars will have other problems that they need to clear up before buying a house.  One must realize that even though the market is coming back you will run into issues such as these. People (clients) are still trying to dig their way out of debt from stuff like divorce or even being unemployed for some period of time.  As a new agent not hip to some of the inter-workings around the office you quickly realize that to get a deal started is almost as hard as closing a deal.  The most important thing is to stay focused because it's up to you to make sure that they are on the right path to clearing up their financial problems. You never know 6 months down the road after helping them with their issues they might run into someone else that is ready to buy and recommend you for being such a good agent/friend.  I have now prided myself to make sure i'm on top of all my would-be clients financial issues checking in with them and helping anywhere I can. I'm confident my clients will see that I truly want to help them and in the whole scheme of things if they can't clear financials at least i can get a recommendation from them down the road!