JUST ONE MORE…

By John Mangas, real estate broker with RE/MAX Preferred Toledo, Ohio

Last week I had the pleasure to be at the Ohio Association of Realtor’s 2012 inaugural in Columbus. The very talented Bob Miller was inducted as the 2012 president of OAR.

In Bob’s remarks, he spoke about “one more”. He challenged us an our industry to do one more thing each day to build our businesses.

That simple statement, ONE MORE really resonated with me. We can all create the time to do one more positive thing each day. In doing so, think what we can accomplish with…

ONE MORE:

• Post closing follow up call
• Contact with a past client
• FSBO or Expired contact
• Market update to an overpriced seller
• Follow up with a Human Resources Manager
• Call to your open house attendees
• HAND WRITTEN thank you note

The list is nearly endless, as is the potential. Honest, sincere calls and follow up is part of our job. It’s not glamorous. Sometimes it’s not much fun at all, but its what successful Realtors do.

As self starters we also must be good time managers. Creating time in your schedule for regular prospecting, plus ONE MORE can only make you more successful and set you apart as a respected professional. Take the time to make the time for ONE MORE…you won’t regret it!

           

Top 10 Tips for Holding Successful Open Houses

By: Kathy Kuyoth Broker / Owner 

1/19/2012

 

With the new year just beginning we have seen a lot of buyer activity in our market. So now would be a great time to schedule an open house.

We have several Realtors who made a good income from holding successful open houses. If you would like to shadow or chat with someone who has had success at   open houses talk to Joan Rauh, Sharon Kowalski or Johnny O. They can share their techniques and strategies.

Here are our top 10 tips to holding successful open houses that we have compiled with input from our RE/MAX Preferred Realtors!

1) Check your open house attitude! Make sure it’s positive and realize you can have a successful open house if you get one buyer or seller to work with.

2) Buy a plant or gas card to use for a drawing at your open house. Use drawing entry cards instead of sign in sheet with a place for name, address, cell phone number and email address. With this information you can notify winner and deliver prize to their home or office and add them to data base to provide them with more home buying information.

3) Do research: check our appointment log on RPAAgents.com and see what price ranges are getting the most showings to determine the best price range for your open houses

4) New listings that are priced right or homes with recent price reductions are usually the best open houses.

Speaking of Bang for the Buck…..

By John Mangas, Real Estate Broker with RE/MAX Preferred Toledo, Ohio

Can we agree that property values in metro Toledo have fallen over the past 6 years?

Would 30% be a fair number?

Have you heard that you can obtain a 30 year fixed rate loan for around 4%?

Did you realize that the same rate would have been around 5.5 – 6% just a few years ago?

So let’s assume that a buyer bought a $150,000 home 5 years ago and did FHA financing (3% down) and that they were able to obtain a 30 year fixed interest rate of 5.75%. The monthly principal and interest payment would be about $849. per month.

In today’s market, that same $150,000 home would sell for around $110,000, Additionally, the interest rate that today’s buyer is paying is around 4%. Staying with the same FHA 30 year fixed rate (3% down) scenario, the monthly P & I payment would be around $502 per month! That represents 40% more buying power!

TALK ABOUT BANG FOR THE BUCK!

We lose site of this because the market shift happened over an extended period of time and the change was gradual. The media has talked a great deal about lower property values but has failed to point out this very important part of the equation.  Today’s buyer has an opportunity to buy more home for less…PERIOD! As real estate professionals, we need to be educating the market and talking about this tremendous opportunity.

Housing affordability has not been better during the years that I have been a Realtor.  We can’t depend on anyone to speak this message louder than we do! If we become ambassadors for the housing market, we become a meaningful voice and help to drive the recovery! NOW is a GREAT TIME TO BUY!

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