A few tips for homeowners selling a family home

• Be honest about the reason you are selling. If it is financially related, don't be afraid to admit the need to downsize. If it's for more space or a shorter work commute, be clear on why that is important to you and how it will benefit the family unit as a whole. The better you communicate the need to move, the more your family will understand and have the ability to adjust to the news.

• Invite questions and feedback from family members. Allowing children and other dependents to participate in the conversation about selling a family home is a crucial component to gaining their support. By encouraging them early on to express their emotions, selling a family home can be a much smoother process. If they seem upset by the move, find out why and address the issue sooner rather than later. Also, keep in mind that the average time to sell a home is nearly 10 months, so in many cases you will have time to ease them into the idea of moving.

• Emphasize the importance of family versus material possessions. If the reason for selling a family home is to downsize or save money, be sure to emphasize that you have their best interests at heart and that the family unit is more important than any material possession or physical location.

• Find out what is important to your family in a new home. Be sure to invite ideas from family members on what would make them happy in a new home. If family members feel like they are contributing to the decision-making process and have more control, they will be more likely to adjust to selling a family home and may even have something to look forward to.

Selling a family home can raise difficult emotions and be a tedious or even torturous process, depending on how well you communicate the change with your family members. With these few tips in mind and the right amount of support, your home sale can put the past in the past and leave you excited for what the future has in store.

Marketing & Negotiating the Yin & Yang of Home Sales

Both marketing and negotiating will be uber-important to have in the broker or agent you choose to list your home and get it sold.

Marketing

Some might see marketing as the most important because, to put it plainly, if your home is not exposed widely and aggressively to prospective buyers, you'll never have the buyer viewings and offer(s) that must come in for you to even be faced with the high-class problem of negotiating the price and terms of a sale.
However, I don't see marketing skills as the requirement so much as your listing agent having a clear, comprehensive marketing plan that he/she is able to present to you with case studies of marketing that they've done for recent properties somewhat similar to yours. It's critical that an agent's marketing plan for your home include details such as:

• how they would help you prepare or stage your property for sale;
• what their plans are for listing the property on the local multiple listing service(s) and publicizing it to other brokers;
• what on-site marketing they would recommend (i.e., yard signage and/or open houses); and
• how and where they would place your home's listing online, down to which sites they'd list it on and how many pictures they would include.

Negotiationg

But negotiating is essential too -- especially if you're very concerned about being bullied or taken advantage of.  Ultimately, though, when it comes to negotiations, you're going to be faced with making the ultimate decisions about what your bottom-line price and other terms are, including whether you're able to offer incentives like closing-cost credits or whether you can afford to contribute to any repairs the buyer's inspectors require. What I suspect you want is to feel like you're protected, which will come from having an agent you trust who's "got your back," but also has the experience and knowledge of local standard negotiating practices and buyer psychology that comes only with experience -- and I mean recent experience getting homes sold in today's market climate. I cannot emphasize enough that one efficient method of finding such a listing agent is to get referrals! Look to any family members, friends, work colleagues and neighbors whose homes are on the market now and ask them if they would strongly recommend their agent, and why.
If it's tough to get referrals, go into the various online real estate websites and their local discussion boards, and see which local agents are giving sensible, knowledgeable answers to consumers' questions in those forums. During your interview process, ask for references -- and call them! Speak to their recent past seller clients, to see how happy they were with the agents' service.

From previewing homes to the closing table and all the fun in between

Taking clients out and looking at houses can be quite fun but what happens after they find something they like? It's time to get down to serious business. This is the time where you have to buckle down and write up a contract which is a daunting task but must get done...and quickly.  Why quickly you ask well there could have been ten other showings that day and you want your offer to be the first on the table.  You have an obligation to your clients to move quick because after looking at 10,20 maybe even 30+ houses when they find the one they love it's up to you to make sure they get it.  This is important for two reason, one reason is the contract is a legal document and if you screw up you can get sued or even worse lose your license.  If you are lost make sure you have someone to ask because just winging it will get you nowhere but trouble.  The second reason is your clients are depending on you so prove to them why you are a good agent by being competent and quick to submit their offer....probably on their dream home.  After the offer is submitted and you come to terms with the other party now it's time to get ORGANIZED!!  You are gonna have so many dates and deadlines coming at you if you're not organized  you won't know which way is up.  What I did was to put all the deadlines into my phones calender with alerts, so when something did come up I was on top of it. First thing in the morning I hear an alert and I already know what I need to get done for that particular day.  Take it from someone who has always been unorganized; with all the paperwork you are gonna need and send if you don't figure out a system to become organized you will drown in all the paper work. If your clients catch wind that you are failing at their deal you can forget any referrals that they will give to there friends and family about you.  If you know anything about real estate we live and breath off of referrals so keep organized its just not that hard.

DEAL OR NO DEAL

Where do I even start about my first Real Estate deal it has had more ups and downs than an elevator.  I am so happy that I have a great mentor because without Elizabeth San Miguel my 1st deal would have been dead a long time ago.  Know matter how crazy  your first or any deal is just realize there is always someone that has been through all this before so don't be afraid to ask.  It's is important to surround yourself with these people that have experience under their belt because most likely they have seen and done it all.  When finding a mentor/colleague's make sure that you have similar personalities.  What I mean by that is if you are an aggressive person you want your mentor to be aggressive so you both can approach a deal with the same mind set.  Or if you are more passive person surround yourself with mentors/colleagues that go about business in that same way.  This will help you be comfortable with the advice you are getting that makes a deal go that much smoother.  I won't get into details about my first deal but after looking at 30+ houses and having two houses fall through the only one to keep me grounded was my mentor.  She gave me the right advice and kept my mind focused on the bigger picture instead of getting frustrated with bad agents. One should never lose focus on what the bigger picture is which are your clients and that's the only people that should matter.

Thank you for your support

I want to start this blog by THANKING ALL OF YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR READING MY BLOG. I started this whole new venture into real estate not knowing much, and my only outlet was to express my thoughts in a blog. Well six months later I am blown away by the response I have gotten. I have you guys reading my blog from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Japan, Singapore, France, Ukraine, Philippines, Australia, and Columbia to thank! I am humbled by the fact you guys are generally interested by what I have to say. I started this to help new Real estate agents like me understand the trials and tribulations of what it's like starting in this industry. But it's blossomed into my general thoughts on social media, my rants and raves of thing happening to me past present and future. Now that I have an audience I turn to you guys and want to know what you want to hear and read about. I love doing research not only is it a great learning process I want to hear what interests you guys. You are what makes this blog live and breath and I want to continue having you guys as an audience. Again, THANK YOU, DANKE, ありがとう, 謝謝, MERCI, Спасибі, SALAMAT, GRACIAS!!! guys/gals you are the best!!!!!!!!!

Cloudy with a chance of home sales

Why cloud technology? What is it? How can it help my business? Why should I learn this new technology? These were the questions that popped in my head but after research i realized this is just another tool to help sell homes. Cloud storage technology was first introduced by both Google (think GoogleApps and GoggleDocs) and Amazon back in 2009. Apple recently introduced its iCloud storage and is pushing to capitalize on the growing needs many companies have for expanding storage capabilities.  Realtors who use cloud storage can access real estate listings anywhere. (Courtesy of Net DNA)  As a Realtor or Mortgage Professional, cloud storage offers the freedom to be in the field and instantly access information regarding a transaction. Cloud storage is surprisingly affordable for both large companies as well as the individual. Most cloud storage providers offer either a monthly fee or hour usage fee (or sometimes both) and many offer “free trial periods” as well. Here are just some of the top providers:

• AMAZON
• DROPBOX
• EGNYTE

As a real estate agent you should welcome this new cloud technology with open arms.  While many cloud storage service features may vary slightly, most offer one or more of the following:
•Securely access your files from any PC, MAC or Smart Phone
•Keep a local copy and auto-sync with online storage
•Map online folders on to your desktop
•Automatically back up your computers
•Control access to your files for your employees and clients
•Quick setup and management for multiple users
•Enterprise class security and privacy controls
•FTP service without complexity or additional hardware
Being a busy Real Estate professional, cloud storage technology can offer a quick, accessible and cheap solution for data management and storage while on-the-go. Like all services, be sure to shop around for the best prices and features you really need. Start small…you can always expand over time and with your usage needs.

Warmer weather and a nice breeze are perfect conditions for garage saling....Arghhhhh matey go get some booty

As the weather warms up here in Highlands Ranch or your home town don't you notice there is a garage sale on every corner? Do you think that garage sales just have useless junk? Or is your time just to precious to waste your time at garage sales? Your not alone this is the way i used to think until I realized the great deals on barely used items you can get at garage sales. Here are two lists that of tips that'll hopefully persuade you on why garage sales are great ways to save money

First Here Are Five Myths of Garage Sales

1. Stuff at garage sales has all been used. It’s true that much of the stuff for sale at garage sales has been used, but it’s generally in good condition. There’s also a lot of stuff that is brand-new. When we had our garage sale last year, I put out a number of things that were still new-in-box.
2. Stuff is dirty. This is silly. Stuff at garage sales isn’t dirty. Sellers want you to buy their stuff; they’re not going to put out things caked with grime.
3. I can get what I want online (via eBay). This isn’t always true. And on-line items involve longer waits, shipping charges, and the potential for bidding wars.
4. It’s too time-consuming. In a matter of an hour or two on a summer afternoon, you can hit ten or twelve garage sales. You probably won’t find anything you want at most of these, but every so often you’ll stumble across the perfect bargain. Garage-saling takes as much or as little time as you want to spend on it.
5. I’m no good at negotiating. Neither is the seller, probably. It cannot hurt to try.

Garage Sale Shortcuts & Hints

1. There are two types of garage sales: the ones where people want to make money and the ones where people want to get rid of stuff (The latter are best for finding deals).
2. For maximum efficiency, map out your route (This is only for the truly hardcore).
3. If at all possible, leave the kids at home. If you must bring children with you, make sure to bring plenty of snacks. Allow the older children an allowance to find bargains of their own.
4. Be prepared. Wear cool, comfortable clothes. Bring lots of change and dollar bills. Keep your money in your pockets, not your purse. Bring a tote bag.
5. When you find something you’re not sure you want, pick it up and carry it with you while you continue to look. This prevents somebody else from finding it while you’re trying to decide.
6. Always ask politely if the seller will reduce the price. Beware: sometimes the prices are so low that it seems impolite to ask for less.
7. If there is something you really want, but the seller is asking more than you want to pay, offer a lower price. If they say no, leave your name and number in case they change their mind.
8. Check items for hard-to-see tears, stains, and breakage (Better safe than sorry).
9. It is best to go early, but don’t panic if you can’t. The best stuff is available at the start of a sale, but the best deals can be had later in the day when the seller is tired and doesn't want to carry everything back into the house.
10. If you don’t have success in one part of town, try somewhere else the next time. Sometimes the best garage sale neighborhoods are the ones you don’t expect.

All of the above tips are great. One other important tip is to search craigslist for garage sale information. Craigslist offers a list of garage sales in your city, often with a preview of the most desirable items. It’s easy to plan a morning of garage-saling with craigslist.  I hope all this has helped change your mind about garage-saling and i hope to see you out there soon!