Imagine you are in real estate. If you are reading these words, not a stretch. Now imagine you’ve busted your buns long enough to start your own firm, like I did after 17 years. You decide you’ll name your firm after something very personal about you- let say your dog. Not a stretch, right? I had a dog named Bella, which means beautiful in Italian. So You decide you’ll call your firm Bella Homes (if the name is taken-which would be ironic-, please work with me) and you work hard and build your enterprise honestly and ethically.  

Now, after 5 years of business, you look around and not only is your firm successful after the miserable economy we’ve expereinced, but you are also the author of a well-known real estate blog and you enjoy the respect of your peers. 

Then, you get served with court papers. You are getting sued. Why? Because someone on the other side of the continent who doesn’t broker real estate but markets to agents also named something that they do “the Bella Report.” And these characters are claiming you have damaged them by knowingly and mailiciously stealing your brand. Frivolous? Yes. Expensive and time consuming? Absolutely. Harmful to you? No doubt about it. 

This is pretty much what has happened to the Real Estate Zebra, Daniel Rothamel, by some outfit on the west coast whom I won’t even name because they don’t deserve the search engine tickle. They have a report named after the aforementioned 4 legged beast ( which wasn’t even Daniel’s source-he was a referee for $%^& sake) which you have to register to get in your email. 

This is a good man who is being attacked ad hominem by my understanding, with no rationale basis for a complaint other than billable hours by some hack attorney – that’s my take, and if they don’t like it they can piss in the wind. 

Jay Thompson has written a far more cogent summary of the matter on the Phoenix Real Estate Guy, and a legal defense fund-ZebraDefenseFund.com – has been set up. I wanted to bring this to the attention of the Active Rain comunity. 

As Jay said, if you can contribute, do so. If you are short on Scratch, blog about it. 

Stand up for what’s right, and defend a good colleague. The Real Estate Zebra is one of my favorite blogs, has been in my reader for years, and I’m not going to be silent about it. 

I posted a photo of a pie I got at Grandma’s earlier this week and got over a dozen comments that gave me a collective sense of cyber salivation. With good reason: Grandma’s makes the best pies around. They have been in business for decades and have quite a following. 

I first learned of Grandma’s last year when Luke’s cub scout pack went on a trip there. We saw the kitchen, bakery, “back of the house” kind of stuff, and how they made their delicious, homemade pies, then we all had dinner and…what else? Pie. 

It is a family restaurant with a menu that is thouroughlyy American fair; think of a bistro if June Cleaver were the chef. They have a private parking lot, close proximity to the Taconic Parkway (Grandma’s is closely identified with Yorktown; however, the address is actually Cortlandt Manor), and the place is clean and friendly. The first thing you see when you walk in is that glass counter with all those pies, and that is great marketing. Hungry people buy more at a restaurant, right? 

I was by recently for a “quickie” a cup of coffee, a hunk of fresh, warm apple pie, and then I left with a pumpkin pie to go. The total damage was $19.00 and it was worth every penny. 

Grandma’s is located at 3235 Crompond Road in Cortlandt Manor and they can be reached at 914-739-7770. 

It won’t go to print until this Sunday’s paper, but the article that I blogged about expecting is now live online. Entitled “A For Sale Sign with Brains,” the piece discusses how real estate brokers are embracing technology to sell property. The story behind the article is actually not one of the reporter finding my blog, but rather, another broker at another company who is.

Barry Kramer, broker owner at Westchester Choice Realty and my friend, was contacted by the reporter and he suggested that she contact me because he considered me a tech savvy agent. She did. We had a good interview where I told her how I saw our technology toolbox evolve since my entry into the business in 1996, and the photos were taken two days later. 

For the shoot, a filmed a walking tour of the home at 374 Quaker Road in Chappaqua, put it on Youtube, and then, on my mobile printer, created a brochure with a QR code that would connect a smart phone to that Youtube tour. This would enable the consumer to see the house and get questions answered without having to make a phone inquiry. I am in the process of doing more of these walking tours on other listings. They work, as the listing where we did this tour has already been given an offer. 

The piece has three photos of me in the online version, plus a great one of the house, and we’ll see what makes the paper Sunday. I am of course very humbled that Barry would suggest me to the reporter, and while I still encourage Barry himself to blog because I think he’d be great, I am happy he reads my work. 

I got a call today from an agent who claimed to have an interested buyer in one of my short sale listings. I informed him that all offers, per the instructions of my seller, would only be considered if they were in writing and accompanied by a pre approval letter or proof of funds. He used this as an opportunity to throw a number at me that the bank would never approve- so low that to tie the house under contract at that number would be irresponsible. 

He proposed the idea of having buyer and seller sign a contract, but to keep the house in “active status” on the Multiple Listing Service. “What would stop us from doing that?” he asked. My answer? “Well, aside from the Code of Ethics and the Department of State, not much.” 

He then dropped the name of an MLS official whom he thought would endorse the idea, but as Vice President of the MLS, I knew that he was barking up the wrong tree; the name he dropped was the guy who manages data, not the gentleman who oversees standards and practices. 

I called the Standards and Practices person myself as soon as we hung up and he confirmed that to sign a contract but to not disclose the “contract” status on the MLS-even if the principals agreed- would be a breach of article 12 of the Code of Ethics where we are bound to present a true picture of the facts.

Imagine being a buyer and seeing a house you liked, making an offer, proceeding with inspections and then finding out the owner signed a contract months before and was playing both ends against the middle waiting for a short sale approval. How would you feel?  Furious? Used? Deceived? All of the above?  

Shady business never makes for a sunny life. And if you are dumb enough to propose unethical conduct to someone without knowing who they are, you aren’t long for the business. 

Google is a funny thing. 

If I am logged in certain websites, that content will show up in my google search results. If I am on a different computer, it shows different results. If I google “Westchester Realtor” on my own computer, I am something like the 4th or 5th organic hit. If I go the public libarary and google the same term, I am on page 5. The reason is for another post- the point is that Google will show you the results it thinks you want to see. That’s why Google has managed to become a verb in a few short years in addition to a proper noun. 

Every so often, I see new Active Rain members churn out copious content. 50 posts a month. 300 posts a month. Targeted, hyper local, and specialized. 

Oh, and useless.

Know why? Because it is “members only.” The bloggers haven’t got Rainmaker accounts. The only people who can see their content are other Active Rain Members who are logged in. But that doesn’t stop them from churning out those blog posts, complete with “contact me!” links all over the place. I once emailed a guy and asked him why he made 300 members only posts, because they are invisible to the public. “They aren’t invisible!” he responded. “I am way high on Google!” I wasn’t in the mood to argue- he was in the results because he was logged in.

The last time I checked, a Rainmaker upgrade is under $400 a year if you pay up front. How many of us have blown 5 times that much on a stupid marketing campaign- newpsper-radio-banner ads-lead system- and not gotten any return on the investment? The return on my investment is sick. 

Read this email:

I sold that guy a nice house last year. We remain in touch. He was a serious buyer and he was looking online for help.  

Last Spring I got a call from Craig Rutman. There was a bank owned foreclosure in my town that the asset manager needed a local agent to sell. I listed it and sold it, Craig got a referral fee, and it was all due to this platform. There were other referrals too, but how many of you would like to get an REO? I had one fall in my lap. 

I hired 6 agents last year thanks to my blog. All are with the company and active.

My blog has gotten me on ABC World News, the New York Times, the New York Post, Time Online, AOL, and about half a dozen other prominent outlets. I’ll be in the New York Times again very soon-photos are already taken for the story.

When I attend board meeting for my MLS, I am often approached by staff and colleagues about something I wrote that interested them. The president of the MLS was very complimentary about my post on flat fee MLS.

My blog is my newsletter to past clients. It is a recruiting tool. It is a powerful prospecting and marketing system. It has raised my stature in my community. It has been instrumental in probably 30 or more transactions.  

And all because 95% of my posts are public. I have a Rainmaker account since early 2009. I pay monthly like anybody else and I am putting myself out there, publicly. And I am getting noticed. Yes, I work hard at it, but I get found-agents, referrals, media, new clients, you name it. 

If you are going to work hard at blogging, don’t keep it a secret. You are going to get far more bang for your buck if you broadcast those posts on the public stage. You might get a referral or a good idea here or there if you don’t upgrade, but you are missing the best stage. As far as I’m concerned, if your posts are “members only” you are just singing in the shower. It doesn’t matter how good you are, you get no applause. 

I’ll see you are Raincamp in Atlantic City this April. 

One of the joys of being a broker-owner is helping my newer agents develop their client base. New agents that get a listing or a buyer in their first few weeks typically have a good outlook for success in my experience, even if that listing doesn’t sell or that buyer never closes. One of my agents has a buyer who was referred to him and he’s been asking me how to tackle some of the challenges they pose. A few details:

• They have been looking for a home for over a year. 
• They want to spend close to $1 million.
• Their home email account is “not set up yet.”
• They want my agent to make an offer of almost $200,000 less than asking price on a home
• They do not want to provide an updated pre approval letter
• They do not want to articulate how much of a down payment they’ll make. 

According to the Journal News, the number of foreclosure filings in Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam County is down quite a bit. Westchester is down 50% from October 2010 through January 2011 compared to the same period from 2009 to 2010. The numbers are equally impressive in Rockland (39%) and Putnam (51%). 

Does this mean we are out of the woods? Hardly. The reason for the decline is the Robo-signing Scandal, which has caused a judge to order banks to show proof of attorney review of all foreclosure documents. That is a daunting task in light of the still-enormously -high mortgages that are behind, underwater, or both. Banks are just taking longer to file lis pendens against people who are not paying. In January of 2008, 243 lis pendens were filed. That number this past January was only 133. The banks are just being more careful. 

The number of actual foreclosures in Westchester is down to a trickle. This past January, only 6 full judgments were filed -in other words, only 6 people had their homes taken back. In 2008, that number was 83. Again, not because everyone is paying their bill like magic; the lenders are just having to be far more deliberate. 

If anything, this means that we’ll continue to see short sales as an everyday thing, the shadow inventory will still be waiting in the wings, and loan modifications will continue to clog the housing courts. 

It is a fact that every male broker/owner has a little Lee Iacocca or Ross Perot in him. He wants to be the despot, the alpha male, and the quarterback who gets no back talk in the huddle. And, by and large, team members comply with that little illusion. My agents hang on my every word, my one w-2 employee is a model worker and instruction follower, and clients know that I am a hand-wringing control freak, which is to their benefit. 

Then, of course, we get to the brains behind the bravado, my partner in the LLC, the chief financial  officer, and administrative godess- the mother of my children. A guy visting from Norway would pick my wife out in about 5 minutes, not because of the long glances, hand holding, or the affection. He’d know my wife because of her complete lack of fear and her amusement at my delusions of grandeur. Vice President of the MLS? HA! You couldn’t be head janitor of your own home. You beat out Joe Bigshot for a listing? That’s nice- help Luke with his homework. Your photo was on the front page of the Business Journal? Good thing they never saw your desk. 

It isn’t all about keeping me grounded as much as it is carte blanche to express an opinion. For example, as I will do a few times a week, I called Ann from my car today with an urgent edict that I couldn’t handle myself and needed her to do. It was a simple enough task, but being that chick in the office who has biblical knowledge of the boss, she didn’t just say “YASSIR!” and do it, she questioned if there weren’t a better way to go about it. 

Which of course, kills me just a little, as I gaze upward and mouth “why” to no one in particuar. There are times that I engage her in a discussion, but there are also times that I just utter some variation of can you PLEASE JUST DO IT and we’ll discuss the permutations when I am not occupied slaying dragons? I don’t advise that one too often. 

Working with one’s spouse is a challenge, and while I can vouch for the male view I am sure the fairer sex has a mountain to climb with our testosterone-driven foibles as well. Too much time apart is no match for being locked in the pressue cooker together 24/7. Shifting gears and just being us after hours (if there is a such a thing), is hard sometimes. But the real problem is most likely my inner tyrant, who resists the challenge of an intellectual equal offering a counter point when she sees the need. There are probably 1000 other husbands in married teams who see their own big challenge, but that one is mine. However, I wouldn’t be where I am without the big talker backer, and while I might get annoyed at all the checks and balances, she keeps us balanced and that keeps the checks coming in. 

“Please just listen to me and do what I say” is one of the more ironic terms the past couple of years, because as much as I think or say it, I should take my own advice. 

This is the walking tour I filmed today while the New York Times photographer took pictures.  This is not glitzy, but it does give answers and a good feel for the home. After the tour was uploaded, I printed fact sheets that included a QR code linking to the walking tour for people that drive by. 

I believe that video will be taking a more prominent role in the sale of real estate going forward, and that walking tours like this are more desirable than virtual tours. There is nothing “virtual” about this. You are seeing the home from my eyes. Overall, it takes less than 15 minutes to take the video, upload it, and print brochures up with the QR code to the video that people can access as soon as they pull their car over and scan the code. This is more than a talking house, this is a walk through the house and puts people inside the door without ever leaving their car or calling an agent. 

I have another far longer video showing the “behind the scenes.” I’ll upload that another time when I post about my experience with the reporter, the interview, and the photo session. I hope that the NY Times exposure will help sell the listing! 

I was contacted by a reporter from the New York Times this past week who is working on a story on how technology is being utlized by real estate professionals. I guess I did OK in the interview, because she called back and asked if they could take some photos of me in action with my “mobile office” creating marketing at the client’s kitchen table. This is just the inspiration I needed to break in a new tool, a mobile printer, and the brief video below outlines my plan.

The intention is to do better than a pedestrian “for sale” sign. Instead of just writing a phone number down, I want people to able to take a walking tour of the home on their mobile device right there at the curbside without getting out of their car.

As a dry run, I created a QR code for the video and embedded it below. It should take your device right to the YouTube video.  should be able to accomplish everything tomorrow in about 15 minutes. No pressure- after all, it is only the NY Times! 

I held a listing open this past Sunday and it went quite well. One interesting scenario I never dealt with before was the issue of putting open house signs on the street corners nearby the property, because we were still so buried under snow that the edge of the road was pushed out several feel. You couldn’t find soft ground, and this kind of sign doesn’t work on asphalt. 

So I stuck it in the snow. 

And it stuck! For 2 hours, it was as if it were in the earth. 

Hurry up spring, enough of this dirty snow cone I’ve been living in the past 2 months. 

We have just listed two very nice starter homes in beautiful Chappaqua, NY. 

173 Birchwood Close, Chappaqua 10514. Old Farm Lake complex. 2 bedroom, 2 bath townhome style condo, fireplace, formal dining room, updated kitchen, deck, and great complex aminities-pool, clubhouse, tennis. $399,900. Short sale. 

374 Quaker Rd, Chappaqua 10514. Terrific 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch on over a 3rd of an acre in a private cul de sac with den, fireplace, patio, garage, gleaming hardwoods and lovely landscaping. Updated granite and stainless steel kitchen and updated baths. $449,900. 

Chappaqua is located on the Metro-North Harlem line and is only about 50 minutes by train to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. Downtown is utterly charming with bistros, shopping and crafts. Call or email me for more information on these great starter homes! 

If you’d like to check out the available home for sale in Chappaqua, get yourself a free Listingbook account. 

Surfing on Active Rain this morning has yielded a neat discovery: There is a baseball junkies group here. I happen to be a huge baseball guy. When I was in Brooklyn, I took photos of the apartment complex that sits where Ebbets Field once was. I have been to an apartment in  Harlem that is on the former infield of the Polo Grounds. I am too busy for Yankee season tickets, but I have been to tons of Yankee games and visited Met, Cub, Phillie, Oriole, Tiger, and a slew of minor club home games. Not hardcore enough? 

Fine. Beat this:

Part of our honeymoon was in Cooperstown, NY. Yeah, you can’t beat that. 

Michael Perry has this baseball Junkies group, and it appears to be 2 days old. Pitchers and catchers have reported. Grass has peeked out from under my snow for the first time. Parkas will be put away in favor of windbreakers soon. I am going to be there, and if you love the pastoral pasttime, jump in yourself. I just offered “Bang the Drum Slowly” in the baseball movie thread. I should have also added “Damn Yankees.” Maybe I will. 

It amazes me the stuff I find here that is so up my alley.  Play ball. 

Buyers buy the sizzle

Rob Hahn has written an extremely thought provoking piece on the role that broker commissions play in the pricing of real estate. It isn’t what I originally thought when I read the title- I was expecting a “commission is just a markup” but it wasn’t about that at all. It did get me to wonder aloud, however, if there is a seller out there that would, in exchange for no commission, retain a broker and then just pay billable hours until the house sold. 

I am in the field. Rob’s article is eye opening. If I were to charge $X per hour for my services, would the seller have the house sit out there speculating on a high price? Or would we skip months of messy rooms, denied showing requests, subjective speculation pricing and get serious? I think if they paid billable hours, the answer would be the latter.

Essentially, the commission I charge is categorized under the risk being proportional to the reward. Low risk, low reward. High risk, high reward. Which is why the broker fee line item in a transaction I broker is among the larger numbers. In forgoing the commission for billable hours, the seller essentially shares the risk. If the house sells fast, there is a huge savings. If it does not sell quickly, the seller could pay as much or more. Facing that reality, they would be far more likely to be proactive participants, keep the house clean, price realistically and accept all showings.

Less than motivated sellers often figure that they lose nothing if the broker fails to sell the home because commission is only paid at a closing (they actually do pay a hefty price in the form of a stale listing, but that is for another post). That explains overpriced listings, denied appointments and a host of other things that drive Realtors batty. 

If the seller shared the risk and traded commission for billable hours, overhead would plunge- less time on market, fewer hours devoted to pushing overpriced listings, far smaller marketing budgets, and a more streamlined process. The only caveat here is that you couldn’t go half and half with some listings on commission and others not, because you’d have the worst of both worlds- the commissioned listings would not sell and the hourly deals would have their profit eaten by the overhead of the stale stuff. 

Will sellers share the risk? Or, more likely, as much as they bristle at the line item of the commission, do they know it really is the price of they pay to have brokers roll the dice the way we do now? I believe in the power of market forces. An organically better idea would spread like wildfire if it truly had merit. Billable hours, while a great theory, will never work so long as the vast majority of sellers would see trading the commission for higher personal accountability as out of their comfort level. 

The company has grown over the years and in the first quarter of 2011 we’ll pass 20 salespersons and associate brokers. I am not an overt recruiter; our growth has been organic, but in looking at the good folks we’ve attracted I do see some patterns. Chiefly, we have drawn 2 types of people: new agents seeking strong leadership and mentoring, and experienced agents seeking an environment of independence and support. I am proud that my team is a group with good, honorable hearts. 

If you are considering a career in real estate, feel free to contact me. Better yet, contact one of our agents. They’ll tell you how it is here firsthand, and you can form your opinion from their experience. I admit to being biased. 

Real estate is not for everyone. It is commissioned sales. Just liking houses isn’t enough. You have to want to make something happen. But you also need the right environment. 

Here’s what we offer. 

• Training and mentoring. I have time for any agent who wants to learn, especially if they are the kind that acts on their knowledge. 
• Support with marketing. The best agent in the world will starve without clients, and we help develop clientele, through our joint efforts and also through spehere of influence. 
• A helping hand. I will partner with any agent on any possible deal or client relationship to reach the goal. Just ask my agents- when the going gets tough, I help them make the transaction happen. 
• Work directly with the broker-owner. You’ll get my cell number. OK, so everyone knows my cell number. You know what I mean. 
• Ann Faranda. The administrative goddess, and organizational backbone who handles details that my copious cloud of hot air does not. And she knows what al dente means.