Author: Brian Kelly

  • 7 Things for Home Buyers to Consider

    Buying home at Village Green
    Buying home at Village Green

    7 Things for Home Buyers to Consider

    are as follows:

    1. Construction matters: Types of homes have much different costs to build and the value is not reflected equally by sales prices. One example I always give my first time buyers is a one level home that has 2,000 square feet costs much more than a two story 2,000 square foot home. The 2 story 2,000 square foot house has only a 1,000 square foot foundation and 1,000 square foot roof. The one level that is 2,000 square feet has 2,000 square feet of roof and foundation costs. Regardless of the style of home, I want my buyers obtaining a good value. After all, I want to help them sell when they are ready, so having equity is a strong plus.

    2. Architecture matters: When you are young the multi-level with master upstairs and basement on a hill is a great way to maximize room for money. When you go to sell the property just realize you are limiting your buying audience to the same type of buyer and not the boomer post knee surgery buyer with loads of cash. The split-foyer design is very efficient for a buyer, but not the most desirable or valuable for the seller.

    3. Location matters: Think about and drive your commute from where you are considering your purchase. How much of your precious time do you really want to spend in your car? Generally I am selling homes to 4th and 5th home buyers that are ready to spend more to shave cumulative hours from the road to be closer to their family and friends.

    4. Nature matters: In a word “water”. I am not talking running water versus out house. I am talking water from the roof, drainage fields, underground springs, basement water proofing, landscaping issues, etc. In east Tennessee, we get a decent rainfall annually and the hilly terrain and varied soil types take a toll on unsuspecting home owners. Buyers with me today went into a beautiful home that just did not pass the “marble test”. The marble test in my mind is if we put a marble on a hard wood floor without a push, does it roll. If it does then the water may be compressing the soil in certain places and the foundation may be sinking in certain areas. We do not have sink holes like Florida or the pan clay like Texas, but we certainly see crawl space foundations moving where water has compressed the ground over years.

    5. Inspection matters: Tennessee law requires ALL residential sellers to disclose known defects. Problems with a property that are not disclosed or known by the seller, can be discovered by your inspectors. A good written agreement should allow for all types of inspections prior to purchase. Recently I helped a young couple place a contract on a home. The house had a fairly strong cat odor. We explored possible solutions prior to inspection. Once the carpet was peeled back, we found that the urine was not just in one or two spots in the middle of the floor, it was in multiple corners of rooms. The urine had soaked into the supporting wall timbers and joists and to truly mitigate the issue by replacing the wood instead of encapsulation was estimated at $6,000. The seller not wanting to make up the difference we decided to back out of the deal at no expense to the buyer.

    6. Ownership matters: True “ownership” is not having a mortgage. Your money is your business, but in the last 6 years I have seen the reality of people thinking their deed gives them rights beyond the lender’s. If you have mortgaged your property, remember you are being a steward of the bank’s property. If you are not “feeling” that, try missing 4 payments. Keep some cash reserves for maintenance and payment emergencies. ALL properties, even new homes require money for maintenance and repair. New homes may require window coverings, sometimes shower and towel rods, additional landscaping, etc. Slightly used homes may require repairs not covered by home warranties.

    7. Evaluation of value matters: Do not get caught in the $ per square footage trap. They are good for “rules of thumb” but, A. Not all homes were created equal, B. Deferred maintenance is very expensive, C. Location, location, location

    If you are considering a move to Chattanooga, TN, then read this article more specific to the area.

    There are so many more than these 7 things for home buyers to consider. Take your time, be patient, realize that emotions do play a big part in choosing home. That is great! You should be “emotional” when considering a huge investment that will be your “Home” and where you choose to live life. Enjoy buying your new home!

  • Sell your home with video

    Video Helps Sell Homes
    Video Helps Sell Homes
    Sell your home with video.  Video tells a story.  The story can take you on a journey.  The trip should engage your senses and curiosity to cause you to explore the question “Can I see myself living here?”

    The purpose of the video below is to help the viewer understand the neighborhood and then tell the story about the home itself.   My thought in this first effort was to focus on creating a desire to visit.

    The video is professionally shot and produced. This makes a huge difference!

    As I am writing this August 17, 2013 there are over 7,100 views in two months of the video. I am paying for Google adwords to get the video seen by people in the area or relevant viewers like regional golfers.

    The home as of the writing is still for sale but we did have three interested parties come take a look today at an Open House.

    There are several points to highlight regarding video:

    1. 7,200 views on limited budget (less than $300 in 2.5 months) to mostly local traffic is worthwhile viewership. Exposing local Realtors to video is also good because they have 80% chance of bringing our buyer.

    2. Seller is well served because we are getting more targeted exposure to property. (In this case, males make up 55% of viewers and ages 35-54 makes up over 50% of viewers)

    3. The cost of views for Facebook advertising is more expensive but far higher engagement! On my business page http://www.facebook.com/brianrhodeskelly I experienced a great number of comments and feedback on the video.

    4. Mobile devices like iPads, and smartphones are driving video consumption. Over 138 million in the US alone. I hope they are not watching the video while driving to work.

    5. Realtors get to project their personality to others and establish some rapport. This is a professional agent’s selfish perception, but if that agent has credibility to buyers and other agents then the seller is well served as well.

    6. Some agents are asking their sellers to get involved and tell the story of “why” they purchased the home and hidden aspects and features some folks never realize until they live there a while.

    Video to sell your home will be with us until hologram marketing comes out. Time to engage and do it!

  • Why pay a real estate agent versus flat fee listing?

    Flat Fee ServiceA “For Sale By Owner” recently asked me “Why should I pay you a percentage of the sales price to put the house in the MLS when I can pay a few hundred dollars for a flat fee listing?”  Isn’t the Multiple Listing System or MLS the way you sell your property?  The MLS does provide a valuable platform in which to market, but it is just the start of a journey to the closing table.  Here are seven reasons you may want “full” listing service.

    1.  Security:  I recently previewed a For Sale By Owner or (FSBO, pronounced Fisbo) as Realtors call them.  The owner left work on lunch break and she was meeting me.  Her husband was going to meet with me as well, but he could not leave a work meeting.  So she left him connected on a cell phone call while I looked at the house.  It is a very limiting factor to be present at each showing.  You may even put a lockbox on your door.  But which potential buyers do you give the code to?

    2. Showing:  A buyer needs to see the “house” as their “home”.  They need to be able to say “I can see myself living here.”  When the owner is present there is a shift of mind that goes into hospitality and an underlying respect of “oh, you really like that Barney purple wallpaper and chose it for your living room, ….how lovely…”  If an owner is present it adds an additional emotional layer to the walk through.

    3. Time:  There is work involved getting people to visit spaces to make the buying decision.  Gas is burned, meetings are missed, Open Houses need hosting, etc. Your time is valuable.  How many ballgames are you willing to miss to save some money?

    4. Marketing:  The MLS is a great start and is a gateway to many sites like Realtor.com, but it is just the start.  Relationships and trust are the value that your listing agent brings to your table.  Reaching out to other real estate agents is vital to your sale.  Your credibility is unknown to the the other agents.  The agents bringing a buyer assume that they will have to do ALL your work that a “typical” listing agent would do to handle all paperwork, closing arrangements, and scheduled inspections, moving, etc.

    5. Staging:  How many houses have you been in lately?  Your winning the next buyer means that your pad trumped all the others.  This is competitive.  The buyer has choices.  A good listing agent has seen lots of houses and knows how to make yours stand out.

    6. Pricing:  Are you leaving money on the table? or are you pricing so high that few people bother to schedule a showing?  Constant monitoring of the market and seeing many places is knowledge.  Knowledge is power when pricing to sell.

    7. Success:  4,120 homes sold in Hamilton County that were listed in 2012.  37 of them were marked as MLS Entry Only listings.

    I met recently a retired couple at their home in East Brainerd.  They had recently experienced success with a MLS Entry service.  He told me that on average they spent $78 monthly in newspaper advertising for the better part of three years and really had not added up the cost of time for Open Houses and showings, etc. The couple said they were surprised at how people “lied” to them about following up, etc.  He looked a little surprised when I asked him if he had considered getting his license and using his new skills to help others.  Selling your own home is not rocket science (thank goodness, I would not have a job), but it does take work, patience dealing with the public, and some experience is a good thing as well.

  • One North Shore Condos in Chattanooga, TN is "Newer" Home Sales Leader

    Corner at 200 Manufacturer's Road
    Corner at 200 Manufacturer’s Road

    One North Shore condos in Chattanooga, TN 37405 at 200 Manufacturer’s Road is the number one selling neighborhood for homes built after 1999 in Hamilton County to date in 2013.  Twenty three condos have sold as of this post with the top price of $374,000 for a 2 bedroom 1,161 sqft seventh floor unit.  The homes sell for more than $220 per square foot.  Some of units overlook the Tennessee River, Chattanooga, river front parks and the downtown bridges.

    The amenities make the complex very popular.  One North Shore has a penthouse Club Room, resort style pool with Cabana, fitness facility and concierges services.  Lauren greeted me at the Concierges office as I waited for inspectors and contractors for a condo I recently sold.  She was coordinating helpers sending packages to owners and food and beverage preparation for a party at the pool Cabana.

    (Confession of an old real estate agent) The lack of imagination in the exterior design was a detraction for me.  What did impress me the most by helping buyers making a decision for downtown living at One North Shore is the owner’s care of building a community with common areas and good services.  The location adjacent to grocery, parks, commercial, and convenient to downtown is a great draw as well.

    Downtown Chattanooga is becoming a draw for home owners.  The second place sales winner goes to Black Creek Mountain in Lookout Valley.  They scored 14 sales so far in 2013.   Black Creek Mountain (former Cummings Cove) is less than 10 minutes from downtown.  Chattanooga is becoming a place to be after work and weekends.  Being close to the city as well as providing “newer”  homes gives the neighborhoods an edge over the competition.

    Kudos to Fletcher Bright and their management and sales team for trumping all Hamilton County neighborhoods for “young” home sales.  One North Shore is realizing it’s potential place in Chattanooga, TN real estate history.

  • Foosball, Zillow and Trulia are not of the devil

    Foosball, Trulia and  Zillow are not of the devil.  The post title is a play on the quote from Mama in the 1998 movie “The Waterboy”.  (Don’t worry if you did not catch the quote, it is one of Adam Sandler’s intellectual type flicks)  {Telling on my movie taste here:  if Adam Sandler or Jackie Chan are not in the film, it could be suspect}  Some real estate professionals may think organizations such as Trulia and Zillow are “bad for business.”  The real estate business as we know it is live and well and God bless Zillow and Trulia for joining the fray.   Here are five observations from this grizzled real estate broker.Zillow App

    1.  Home buyers and sellers love Zillow and Trulia:   Regardless of your opinion of data integrity, value accuracy, etc., there is no disputing that millions of buyers and sellers are using the apps.  They must have some type of value, otherwise people would not download them.  Judging from my experience it is not entertainment value.

    2.  Robots are robots:  Regardless of the power of third parties to influence our customers, they do not have the relationship with local people.  Licensed real estate agents do.  Hint to agents: focus on relationships.

    3.  Zillow and Trulia provide value:  Recent friend of mine used “Make Me Move” application with Zillow.  The buyer that responded had agent representation, so he called wanting me to represent him.  Zillow is not representing anyone regarding their “guess” to square footage, or their “Zestimate” of value.  My license is still on the line with my measuring tape in hand and on the “ground”.

    4.  Agents provide value:  We are paid well for our knowledge,  skill, and trust in relationship in context of fair dealing.  My most recent listing is 12 years old.  The owners purchased a new 2,400 square foot home for $300,000 in 2000.  Over the last decade the owners finished the entire second floor, which added space to a new total of 3,800 square feet.  There is no data that Zillow can pick up that “justifies” a price of $465,000 for the original 2,400 sqft home.  That is local product knowledge delivered by a licensed pro.

    5. Whip’em fair and square:  Groaning agents over competition bore me!  Trulia is a huge wordpress blog that strategically uses agents across the country to add value to it.  Stop!  Build your own blog and put a hurtin on Trulia and Zillow.  Reclaim your territory and bring the fight to your neighborhood.  One million Realtors or two million licensed real estate agents far out number the assets of Trulia and Zillow.

    Zillow and Trulia are not of the devil.  They are products of what current consumers are demanding in knowledge about real estate.  Start a blog, get a Twitter account and let’s serve our customers well!

     

     

     

  • Seven Easy Steps To Sell Your House

    Sell Your Home
    Sell Your Home

    Selling your house can be done in seven easy steps.  The hard part is there are 12,931 difficult and annoying things you have to do between the 7 easy ones.  Ok, so I made up the 12,931, there may be more.  Seriously though you can help yourself with these 7 following things:

    1.  Emotionally move.  The difficult part is emotion heart strings.  This is your home.  Your crib, your baby.  Your colors, your nest.  Stand in the front yard and look at your “baby” and emotionally move to your next home.  Imagine seeing your property as another house.  After all you will be the one that carries the memories of this place with you.  Your home is in your heart not in those walls.

    2.  Consider competition.  Size up your opponent.  It’s game time.  Who are you up against and what are their weaknesses and your strengths.  Try to objectively look at your competition as a buyer just moving to your area.  Yes, you have better neighbors and you planted tulips in the front bed, but your house is used and built in the late 80’s.

    3.  Clean.  Give your place a bath is the best thing.  Scrub walls, baseboards, pressure wash the walk and drive, windex the light fixtures, let’s get this place looking sharp!

    4.  De-Clutter.  You are moving anyway.  Rent a storage space, pay for a dumpster, time to donate clothes, furniture and items to charity.  Open up the floor plan!

    5.  Consider time.  While on a trip last week , I watched the Pawn Stars on cable TV.  People brought in items that they could have sold on their own with effort, but many sold for much less because it was easy and fast cash.  Many times the pawn store operators would not purchase a valuable item because they thought it would take too much time and floor space to sell.  Moving is ranked as one of the stressful events in someone’s life.  What is your expected time frame to get this done?

    6.  Advertise your property.  Trulia, Zillow, Craigslist, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Newspaper, Open House, Flyers, Homes.com, YahooHomes.com, …. you get the idea.  Ted Turner said it best “early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise”.

    7.  Put it in writing.  Got the buyer?  Great, put it in writing and call your nearest title attorney.  If you have a spare moment I encourage you to visit a court room near you that is working real estate transactions.  The judge asks for and only considers the “meeting of the minds” in agreement before him/her in “writing”.  All the ‘he said”, “she said” matters not in a court of law.   Protect your time and money and get the deal in black and white on paper.

    Selling your house is easy, if you can follow some of the suggestions above.  My observation is we under value our time and we are very emotional creatures.  If you can put yourself in the buyers shoes then you will be well on your way to letting go and selling your house with ease.

  • Why is @GaryVee (Gary Vaynerchuck) ?

    Gary Vaynerchuk
    Gary Vaynerchuk

    Gary Vaynerchuk is an entrepreneur.  He built a $70 million dollar wine mail order business from his family’s $3 million dollar liquor store.  He did this using a daily internet show, and Twitter.  The story of this exploit is told in a New York Times’ Bestseller Crush It.

    Crush It  is a great read, as well as Gary Vaynerchuk’s latest book, The Thank You Economy.  Gary quickly helped me understand that our grandparents are better suited for social media and business applications than we are.  The man is correct.  Most business owners and salespeople cannot fully appreciate the old “word of mouth” integrity of generations past.  Social Media is all about personal, honest and real transactions.

    Gary Vaynerchuk is a proud family man.  He enjoys promoting that side of his character.  He is married and has two young children (Misha and Xander), and currently resides in New York city.  He explains in our recent conversation and interview his sense of “responsibility” for future generations and how social media impacts that role.

    You could say that Gary Vaynerchuk views his current work as carving his own statue out of social media substance.  He is rapidly carving it with his words.  My recommendation is to listen to his prophetic voice and watch him chisel.  He is quickly building a legacy of value.

    Listen to our conversation here: Brian Interviews Gary Vaynerchuk

    Below is a transcript of our conversation:

    Brian: Gary Vaynerchuk is 37 years old and he is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best selling author who has written “Crush It” and “The Thank You Economy” which are incredible reads and essentially tell the story of taking his family’s business to his own mail order wine business, the $70,000,000 business. Basically from Twitter, a New York Jets spittoon and a lot of moxy, this book is really kind of telling of Gary’s self made or born entrepreneurship. You talk a lot about legacy, and I’m kind of curious, is it from the past from where you’re from and your parents and you certainly honor your parents in all of your talks and I respect that and appreciate it, or how much is it about what you’re doing now and how much you’ve also talked about how your behavior is being shaped today because everything’s being recorded and being projected into the future to Xander’s great grandkids.

    Gary: Yeah for sure.

    Brian: And the legacy thing.

    Gary: I would tell you that selfishly and at some level from the vanity aspects that I have in my DNA I would say that it’s a little bit more of the latter. Right? I think that it’s important to me to tell the story of the prior, but when I do talk about it, I do talk about it selfishly. I do realize that given the fact that the way technology is being structured and content, I’m aware that I will become the patriarch of my family. Not my parents. You know? Because the majority of content that’s going to be out there of the Vaynerchuck family in 100, 200, 300 years there’s going to be a lot more me than anybody before me which then sets me up for that situation so one, respecting the heritage that I come from and making sure I story tell enough for future generations, but more importantly those are stories my actions and the things I do and the things that are being documented and this interview in itself. You know I’m very aware that my great-great-great-great grandchildren are gonna actually listen to this interview. And to me that is outrageously powerful, and something that I take an enormous amount of pride and an enormous sense of responsibility to execute in the best way that I possibly can.

    Brian: That’s awesome. I was blown away by your Facebook post the other day and you were looking back and you were talking about your family and just, how do you keep in check? Keep that balance?

    Gary: I have to assume that self-awareness is a personality trait that I am very in tune with. Right? And so, I would tell you that it is my north star to my success. It has kept me out of trying things that I’m not as good at. It’s allowed me to understand how I’m being consumed by the general public. And it’s something that I rely on heavily. It’s not something that I have a process for. I just think it’s innately ingrained into my everyday.

    Brian: Okay I’ve gotta ask this. As the poppa of two of the future leaders of the free world in Misha and Xander, do you have in your heart expectations that you want to communicate some things? I’ll never forget my grandfather took me out in the garden and I was six years old and he started talking to me about how to choose my future wife. It was a bizarre, kind of a crazy conversation, but you know he was laying the framework

    Gary: That’s funny. I’m very much a chip off your grandfather’s block. I will do those kind of things. Absolutely. Now, at the same token, there’s going to be very simple lessons. I have no ambition for what they achieve financially or career-wise. I have enormous ambition for what they achieve as human beings.

    Brian: You’re also a husband to one wife and this is coming up Mother’s Day. You got any plans for Mother’s Day?

    Gary: Yeah. The whole family including my sister, her brother, her parents, my parents, my brother and sister, and then even Sandy who is my brother-in-law’s wife, her sister, and her parents, they’re all coming to our apartment in New York City to celebrate Mother’s Day. So I’m just very excited for a lot of family time this week. It’s an enormously good time.

    Brian: Simple little question. Why do you think Gary Vaynerchuk is on the planet?

    Gary: You know? I don’t take myself that seriously i guess. My first reaction to that question is you know I think I’m on for the same reason that everybody else is on. You know? We’re here right? We’re individuals. I don’t think I have this enormous calling. I think I have enormous talent that I feel very required to execute against. I know that I can impact people. I’ve known that from a very young age. I’ve always had leadership skills. You know, but I’m, I feel like I get pulled in equal directions in what’s like my overall legacy to the world. Remember how there was that term that you’ll get your 15 minutes of fame? Now I think everybody’s gonna be famous to 15 people. Right? Meaning that everybody in this new world where there is this media and information has a fan base or potential of a fan base, so maybe mine will be a little bit bigger, it will be smaller than a lot of people’s. I don’t feel a huge over-arching belief system of what I’m here to do. I feel as though I’m here to do the right thing by my family. I feel clearly that I’ve been gifted with communication skills that allow me to impact others, and so I play in that space. I think I’m here to like you know scratch my own itches, and allow myself to be happy with my period of time on the planet. So, that’s kind of how I think about it. A mix of those things.

    Brian: Okay, real estate. I want to bring it back to real estate in the last few minutes here. I’m 49 years old. Most average Realtors are pasty white and about 65. And the average buyers and sellers are in their 30’s you know 20’s to 40’s. We’ve got an age gap difference and when I think about you providing solutions for the big boxes and some of the brands I’m kind of curious as to the teams and how they communicate and if there’s problems that come up that you’re having to do solutions for? Here’s another observation I see sales people tend to recruit people their same age. And they’re very comfortable selling to people that smell and age look so I’m kind of curious to what solutions you’ve got there.

    Gary: You know I don’t think of it as an age thing to be honest with you I’ve met plenty of you know gray haired 60 year old’s that think like 25 year old gals right? So, I think it’s a mentality thing dramatically more than an age thing. So I think by percentage you’re 100% right. To me it’s about the mentality and the rationale. If i can get any of those people whether it’s a 60 year old real estate agent or a 45 year old executive at a big box retailer or a 40 year old brand manager at a a conservative brand or a 25 year old brand manager at a progressive brand. It all comes down to the same old thing. Which is if you don’t know how to story tell to the consumer that you’re looking to attract, you have no chance of being successful. So, for me, I would tell you that I feel like I know how to sell to 14 year old girls. Right? But I don’t necessarily look like one. I don’t worry about what you are, I’m worried about can you figure out how to story tell to that sector? The end. You know when I was a 20 year old kid I was able to sell, very effectively, to 50 year old men. Right? Who were interested in collecting wine. So, I think it’s about being a chameleon and capturing the voice that can actually dictate success to whatever business you’re in.

    Brian: The big box brands that in the 80’s and 90’s were mean something to real estate Century 21, Better Homes & Gardens, Prudential, do they diminish in the next 20 years because as smaller mom and pop brands take hold of social media? Or perhaps the brands I guess I’ve heard you answer this to some degree. The brands learn what you’re doing for the big boxes and

    Gary: It’s the same old thing. You’ve got it. It’s capitalism right? The answer is both. Ironically I’m sitting in a car right now driving to a client, a new very senior hire of ours and yesterday he asked a question. What happens when the big agencies figure out what we do? And my answer was, it’s gonna net in the middle. There’s big agencies that are not going to figure it out, aren’t nimble enough, have too much overhead and just don’t have the DNA to figure out how to market and story tell and provide value to their clients. And then there’s small guys like us that will grow to our ability and then there will be a new leadership. There will be a new establishment. And it will be a combination of the two. I think the same answer goes to what you just asked me. You know, some of the big ones will figure it out, and be there. And some of the one’s that have been iconic 100 year real estate brands will disappear. And there will be a small handful of real estate brands that are quite small right now that will net up and become bigger. So that’s what happens when there are savvy innovation in every market. You know there are some sneaker brands and apparel brands that are falling by the wayside right now where there’s a company called Under Armor that was very small five years ago that’s now growing and is going to be a real competitor to Nike. So you know, that’s the same old thing in every market.

    Brian: Even real estate. Okay do you ever see where sales people? So i guess i see what you are saying that even sales people who get it who translate this care to the customer via social media you don’t see any sales people being robots?

    Gary: Never. Never. Never. It will never happen. It will never happen. Because there’s too much human element involved. I mean maybe, maybe super long term, but there’s nothing that I see in this short term. Let’s call it 5-10 years. That can have that kind of I just don’t see us going we’re so heavily predicated on human aspects right now. And so, it’s gonna take a whole lot i think for us to get there from a computer stand point.

    Brian: Got it. Alright, well Gary thank you sir. I appreciate the call. And appreciate the time this morning. Have an awesome day.

    Gary: Thanks for everything. I wish you well. Bye Bye.

     

  • 7 Home Selling Secrets Your Real Estate Agent May Not Tell You

    4 Hour Open House
    4 Hour Open House

    Seven home selling secrets that your real estate agent may not share with you are as follows:

    1. Open Houses Work.  The half truth is that your house will probably not sell to a person that comes to your open house.  What is true is that your house will most likely get an offer soon after or before an open house because of “fear of loss”.  I wrote an offer  two weeks ago with a buyer.  She knew that the house was scheduled to be open during the upcoming weekend.  She said “I hope that the Open House does not generate another buyer that I will be competing with.”  She wrote a good offer and we are scheduled to close soon.  She never attended the open house event.   Activity, Promotion, Work – Always Good!

    2. Color magazines and newspaper ads are for future listing agreements.  Much of traditional marketing for agents who sell houses is for them personally.  They know that people who are thinking about selling will pick up the latest color magazine at the grocery store to see who is promoting houses like their own.  Buyers are generally attached to agents by referral.  Buyers do not buy homes from a single small street picture.  They start looking on a smart phone app or online.  So, you may be proud to see that your agent is spending money to put a picture in the latest color newspaper ad or color magazine.  The truth is that the money would have been better spent encouraging other agents to take a look at the special features of your house, agent open house, or sending ads (more than one street shot) to specific potential buyers.

    3. Most homes do NOT sell!!   What??  Yes, check your local stats, roughly only 50% of “listings” actually sell.  You may see yard signs come and go in your area, but moving trucks show up far less often.  Why?  Most people do not “have to” sell, or sadly in the current market (they owe the bank more money than the home is worth).  They are testing the market. If they can get more than their house is actually worth, then they will sell and move. Selling a house is hard work.  So evaluate your reason and be honest with yourself.

    4.  Social and Mobile Media Work.  The average age of successful real estate agents is a generation or two “out front” of the average buyer.  Changes in advertising have come fast and furious in the last three years.  I am writing this in 2013.  I have been in real estate industry 23 years.  A few years ago I was not concerned how my listing was being presented in a Zillow app or Facebook.  Social media requires time and education.  The real estate “industry” as current day real estate agents know it is changing FAST!  The truth is that social media scares real estate agents because they are making decent money without doing it, and is the work and education worth the effort?  Successful agents are plenty busy already, and they never had to worry about Twitter to make a living in the past.

    5. Another agent will most likely bring the buyer.  The odds are against the listing agent selling their own listing.  So, a good listing agent works hard to get fellow agents good information so that they will present your house to their qualified buyers for an income event for all involved.

    6. Staging for emotional pull is important.   Buying a home is emotional.  We are a wealthy country and we have numerous “home lifestyle” options.  How someone feels about your house as they step out of the car in the driveway to the walk to the front door is important.  Are there projects to be done?  Cleaning, weeding, chipping paint, light bulb out?  Very few buyers are getting excited about paying a high price for future projects.  Involve the buyers senses and imagination as they take time to consider your house.  Retail stores spend millions to figure out what causes people to buy.  Have you been in a store selling clothes to teens at the mall lately?

    7. Getting a contract to purchase is the start of another adventure.  Congratulations, you have offers and chosen one to become a contract.  You SOLD your house!  Not so fast.  What about the buyer’s inspection, pest and mold inspection, low appraisal because of the foreclosure down the road, survey showing your driveway on the neighbors property, FEMA flood map moved your house into a flood zone, and not to be out done the sweet loan underwriter looking for the buyer’s changing credit report a week before closing.

    Now you know the seven home selling secrets that your real estate agent may be keeping from you.  Let’s just keep it between us.  Go informed, sell and live big!

  • Chattanooga real estate is up in 2013 But this is not 2006

    The number of Chattanooga home sales increased almost 12% in the last 45 days compared to the same 45 days in 2012. Optimism always abounds in the mind of a real estate agent. I am chief among optimists. It is true that the number of home sales are increasing in Hamilton County, TN. While the number of home sales are increasing the values of real estate are not enjoying the same rate of rebound. Foreclosures and short sales are a large part of the equation. While less than 7% of all active listings are foreclosures, foreclosures in 2012 made up 20% of all sales. Buyers are still looking for deals, and the deals are still out there.

  • How I Met Your Mother – Brian Kelly's story of Red Bank Sadie Hawkins Dance 1981

    Mary Dee Ballentine asked me to the Sadie Hawkins Dance in 1981 at Red Bank High School in Chattanooga, TN. The rest of the story is still being written.