This past Memorial Day I wrote a post entitled Memorial Day 2011: Giving Back To a Veteran in Need. In it, I announced that my company would sell a home for a US service veteran facing hardship for zero commission. My father was a veteran of World War II and Korea, and I asked for the community to let me now if anyone knew of a veteran who could benefit from this. I have not yet, so, being loud mouth I am, I have decided to raise my voice. 

As I stated this past May:

There is one thing I am going to do in my little corner of the world to make a difference to a veteran in the next 12 months. I will list and sell one veteran’s house in the next year pro bono. They have to have a special need of some sort (it can be financial) because it is a waste to do it for a vet who is flush with cash or in a short sale, but so long as there is a DD-214 and the possibility of an equity advantage I’ll get it done for this veteran gratis as my way of giving back. I can do this for one veteran (or their survivors), and it can be in any of the following counties: Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Fairfield (CT), Bronx, Queens, or Orange. There is minimal small print to the offer, because I can’t guarantee that a buyer brokerage will be cool with forgoing their end, but there will be no listing commission. 

If you know of a veteran who needs to sell and a pro bono arrangement would make a difference between hardship or not, please let me know via phone or email. 

If you are a fellow broker-owner, you feel like following suit and such an arrangement would not be an undue burden to the sustainability to your business, I encourage you to join me.

I have started a Facebook group for like-minded brokerages who feel that this would be a worthy endeavor. If you’d like to join me, please log onto Real Estate Brokers For Veterans group and add your name to the list of brokers- this way, we can have a list of colleagues in the different markets to whom we can refer veterans when the opportunity arises. The late Joe Ferrara often said that real estate licensees should have pro bono obligations just as attorneys. We don’t, so this is strictly voluntary. 

If you are a broker and feel this is a worthy cause, please join me. Given the opportunity cost of working a file for no fee when you could be on a paying file, please only do so if you can absorb the work- it is not a suicide pact. Only give if you can. But if you can, please do log on and join. 

And if you know of a US service veteran who may benefit from this in the Metropilitan New York City area, please email me. 

Update: The Fisher House is an excellent alternative for your contributions, large or small. If this works for you, join us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/groups/realestatebrokersforveterans/

Another year has come and gone, and the real estate industry continues to plug along under the malaise of the housing downturn that has yet to hear the word “recovery” since the 2007 Sub Prime domino was the first to fall. Our firm was only 2 at that time, and we are still standing. Actually, we’re doing a bit better than standing. Here’s how we did in 2011: 

Out of 872 MLS member firms, our company was ranked 53rd in closed sales. This puts us in the top 6% of brokerages in our Multiple Listing System, which is run by the second largest association in the State of New York. 

Of the $17 million in sales volume we closed, over a full 3rd was from our growing team, a huge increase in percentages over previous years. This was among my most important goals from last year at this time- to grow our family of producers. I expect that the trend will continue. I predict that I will be less than half of the dollar volume in 2012, and that my own personal production will still be higher. 

Regarding my own personal production: I was ranked 29th out of over 6500 agents for closed sales in 2011. This actually constitutes a “down” year for me personally, as I was previously in the top 10 from 2007-2010. However, this was by design. I sent far more business to my team, the production was distributed among our associates, and we’ll parlay that experience into a stronger 2012. Dozens of inquiries a week are given to our team to follow up with, and given the caution of the public, our conversion rate is encouraging. 

Regarding the team: there are 25 licensees associated with the company with several more waiting in the wings. In a climate that has seen some firms close or merge with others, I am proud that the brand we are building is growing. As happy as I am with the talent and hard work of our agents, prouder still am I of their integrity and scruples. If you work with a member of this firm, you can expect that they’ll be fierce, ethical advocates for your best interests. When my caller ID is the number of one of my agents, the typical conversation is not how to just make the sale alone; it is almost always how to take the best care of the client. We don’t hire just anyone here. You can’t teach honor. I am humbled to have these guys with me. 

I was recently re-elected to my 3rd term as MLS Vice President, and I was on the committee which oversaw the merger of three local associations into the new Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, which now covers 4 counties of New York City’s northern suburbs. The name is pending, but the merger is in full effect in January. I was humbled to be included in this endeavor. 

That which is not growing is dead. The plans for 2012 include a cutting edge revamping of the company website, an overall increase in our web marketing, and to put every listing the company carries to be on page 1 of Google for the most common consumer local search terms. We will add more quality agents and brokers. They will also have better tools with which to serve their clients and build their practices.  

Behind the numbers are some awesome clients, all of whom have a story. We helped some short sale clients leave their situations with dignity. We helped some first time home buyers build that first nest. We wiped our share of tears, we gave our share of happy hugs, and the firm got some new friends who will refer future buisness because we took care of them. I am greatful to everyone who chose us as their broker in 2011. 

Men can’t give birth. Next to my family, this brokerage is my baby. It is my name, my reputation, and my passion. Anyone who knows me knows this- I love building my brand, and the goals for 2012 are aligned with that purpose. 

I seldom reblog, but Doug’s post speaks to the nationwide crisis of confidence that the american consumer is experiencing. Doug is in Alexandria, Louisiana, about as different fom Westchester County as you’ll find. I lived in Louisiana in 1993-94 and it was a different world from New York, and indeed, much of the south as well. But that’s the point- all real estate is local, and what is occuring in Miami and Las Vegas does not translate to White Plains or Yorktown Heights. 

My comment was as follows, and it is worth repeating here: 

I think the operative word for buyers hese days is “caution.” More time to decide, seeing more homes, bringing more relatives on 2nd and 3rd visits, bringing their contractor friend through, checking title, and then more speculatively lower offers. It is a sign of the low ebb in consumer confidence. 

It is also a sign that the media does a poor job of reporting local data. Some people in Louisiana or New York read about the issues in the sunbelt or southwest and assume the issues are local- they aren’t. 

Christmas was not long in our rear view mirror when the calls started up again today. We love inquiries on our listings; that’s what we work for. However, there are calls, and then there are calls. I can tell with some calls that these folks are first time buyers and just starting out. You have to start somewhere, but two calls in particular made me reflect on them more like they were incoming freshman who would need to get their feet wet than capable buyers. I just said to my wife that I wish I could fast forward to July with those two people after they learned the ropes. 

The details aren’t important (although you might smile). What is important is that every year, a fresh batch of would-be buyers enters the market, and many jump in haphazardly without an advocate, representation, and without advice from a professional. Many get disappointed, hurt, or both. And most of the stories I’ll hear in six to nine months will start out with the one of the following:

• We didn’t use an agent. 
• We used a terrible agent. 

Even in the current down market, real estate mistakes in Westchester County are really expensive. The median home price is well over half a million dollars, and annual property taxes of $10,000 or more are commonplace. There is a lot to think about, and the agent listing a home you call on yourself was hired to eat your lunch. A casual throwaway remark can cost you $25,000. How do I know this? Because I have advised my clients to make moves based on those casual remarks when the buyer uttered them. But if you have your own agent, I can’t hear a word you say because we’d never speak. 

Those of us who have short sales as part of our brokerage business can relate to Mike’s frustration. Short sales allow distressed sellers to leave their home with dignity, get a fresh start, and avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy. But that’s not the reason for banks to streamline the process. 

When a bank approves a hsort sale on a non-performing loan, theyliquidate a toxic asset years ahead of time, save on the legal fees related to foreclosure,  avoid selling a repossessed property for a far lower price, and avoid the complications related to the robo signing scandal. Simply put, they get more money for their non performing loan,  faster. More money faster. 

YET- getting a bank like Chase or any other entity to approve a short sale in a reasonable period of time is like wishing for world peace. And they often have to be dragged to the closing table kicking and screaming. 

Look, the banks did a fine job of wrecking home values and decimating the economy. They shouldn’t complain that they can’t get more to pay off these loans. They should devoate triple the resources to getting short sales approved and closed so we can rebuild the housing market. 

It is always interesting to shift gears from figuring out a way to get my listings on page 1 of Google for certain hyper local keywords frequented by consumers in 2012 to a question straight from 1995. Specifically, I was contacted by someone whose house recently expired unsold and we discussed their options. As they picked my brain about how I sell my listings, the question was posed “do you have an office?”

Now, this is not a dumb question. It is actually an understandable question. Having worked from home for some time and then opening up our brick and mortar office, I did see a difference in perception from colleagues and consumers alike. Office space can make a difference. That said, if your home is unique and appeals to a more uncommon, specific niche buyer, the real question for me is “what are you going to do that my last broker couldn’t?” or “how will you market the home differently to make it stand out?” Those are the crucial questions, because when you’ve been with a fancy big name office with national advertising and gourmet coffee in the lobby and still failed to sell, you start to realize that walk ins (i.e., folks window shopping who literally “walk in” to the office intending to speak with an agent) aren’t your bread and butter.

I’ll repeat it here: When Ann and I started the firm in 2005, we had a desk in my parents’ old bedroom. This was the same room where my crib was in 1967. It had a desk, a fax machine, a desktop computer, and a broker who planned world domination through an Internet presence that made the public percieve us to be larger and more more established than we were. That was the plan, and it worked well enough for us to open up on North State Road in 2007. We now have a small branch office in Upper Manhattan on Amsterdam Avenue as well. 

So yes, we have an office. It is at 522 North State Road in Brarcliff Manor in a brick professional building with a mansard-style roof and lots of parking. Italian food is walking distance in both directions (I wouldn’t have it any other way).  And from this office we manage 25 licensed agents and sell homes all over Westchester, the Hudson Valley, and even the boroughs of New York City. From this office I sell condos in White Plains, homes with acreage in Dutchess County, REOs in Staten Island, co ops in the Bronx and Queens, stately colonials in Pelham and Armonk, ranches in Nyack, and tons of other property. 

And none of that closes because of our office or because we were “in the neighborhood.” We get the job done because of how we ply our trade. We live in the question of how to market our listings better, how to help our buyers get better deals, and how to increase our stature online. And while we do get the occasional walk in, we don’t depend on them to pay the bills. The plan to leverage consumer friendly technology from day 1 has been followed religiously, streamlined, and improved month after month, year after year. This is why we have grown, and this is why 2012 will be a breakthrough year for our client family. 

Perhaps my colleagues can relate to the following scenario:

A buyer is interested in your listing. Their agent emails you a slew of questions, and you get all the answers. There might be one of those 2nd or 3rd showings where where half a dozen extended family members come by and stay for 90 minutes to kick the tires while your seller client improvises family dinner at Arby’s. We recently had three generations of a family look at a house in Yonkers for 2 hours and when my seller returned to his house the washing machine was broken! What in the world were those people doing? 

We have had prospective buyers come back for 3rd visits and stay for hours. They’ve walked through with friends of the family. In laws. And that is fine in this cautious environment. But at some point, lines and protocols should be clarified, even in a buyer’s market. Taking your contractor buddy, your HVAC guy, or your architect is not appropriate unless and until you have an offer in on that house. 

Unless you have really peculiar circumstances, structural inspections and most types of due diligence are done once you have a deal. In most areas this is known as the review period of contracts, and in Westchester County it is done before contracts but certainly after an acceptable offer is made. That’s how it is done. 

BUT PHIL, I can hear some agents say, My people don’t know if they want to make an offer until they make sure that their roofer/plumber/electrician/rabbi/sheetrock whisperer say it all checks out! To those agents I would say learn how to sell real estate. If I had a client ask me to do something backwards I would, um, tell them that is backwards. I would educate my client.  

BUT Phil, I hear another agent say, I don’t want to WASTE MY TIME if they aren’t going to go forward. We have to make sure everything checks out before I type up an offer … To those agents I say, do your job and stop trying to cut corners. It is ironic that you are so willing to waste the seller’s time. The occasions where there should be something verified before going forward exist, but they are rare. 90% of them probably involve you going to the town clerk or building department, not in the garage and attic. 

Deal first, due diligence next. Here’s why. If I as the listing agent encourage my sellers to allow curious, albeit uncommitted buyers and their posse to track insulation dust throughout the house enough only to have them not go forward, at some point my clients blow an O-ring. The broker’s job is to smooth out the process, not introduce a period of intrusive hell into their lives. Selling a home is disruptive enough. 

And when I represent buyers, it is the same thing. Here’s why: If a buyer has a deal on  a house, he has leverage on the seller. The seller does not want to lose the deal. And if the discovery period yields an issue, the seller is more likely to address the issue for a committed buyer than with someone they perceive as a nuisance. Buyers get far more consideration than lookers. Doesn’t that just make sense?

That’s the takeaway for consumers. You have to give to get. It isn’t about making things convenient for the seller (although that doesn’t hurt- alienating the seller is not the way to start an offer), it is about leveraging a stronger position to get what you want. And if your agent says that something is a bad idea, don’t get upset that they won’t be obedient; be glad you have a strong agent with backbone. They’ll be a better negotiator for you. 

If you are a buyer and the house feels like home but you have a reservation about the physical condition, that is what inspections are for. Lock the deal in first, then you do your due diligence. Any risk that you’ll find vampire bones in the basement is abated by the seller being more likely to fix the issue for a good faith buyer than a looky loo. Deal first, due diligence next. That is the rule of engagement, and that is why the protocol works. 

Update: Read Debbie Gartner’s comment: 

 I’ll also add perspective from the contractor’s end…it is very frustrating and a waste of your time to have us do an estimate, if you are not even sure that you are going to buy the house.  I’ve wasted too much time doing this.  It’s one thing if I lose an estimate to someone else, but totally different if the customer doesn’t buy the house.  my time is valuable too.  I try to avoid these like the plague.  I’m happy to go if it’s in contract.