Recently in Paradigm shift Category

With the death of Steve Jobs, much has been written about the incredible contributions he made to the computer industry. Much less noted was the fact that he also revolutionized five other industries: animated movies, music, phones, table computing, and digital publishing.

There are so many lessons to be learned from the genius of Mr. Jobs but for now, let’s focus on just ONE of the industries he transformed by climbing into the old time machine to remember the music industry prior to iTunes.

Bruce Springsteen's' Rosalita  was just playing on the radio, the line, "Some Day We'll Look Back on This and It Will All Seem Funny" resonated to me as a question for real estate professionals. What about real estate today would you think will seem funny 5, 10 or maybe 20 years from now?

I'm so excited to share with our readers the cover article in this month's Virginia Association of Realtors® magazine "What Does It Take? - The Skills Brokers Want, The Training Realtors Need" featuring ACRE® Industry Partner Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn and me!

It's an insightful article and a must-read for forward looking professionals. Let us know your thoughts!

VARArticleWhatDoesItTake10-2011.pdf

Is it any wonder that market-leading organizations fear the "A-Typical"?  The defining idea of the twentieth century, more than any other was mass.

Mass gave us efficiency and productivity, making us (some people) rich.  Mass gave us huge nations, giving us (some people) power.  Mass allowed powerful people to influence millions, giving us (some people) control.

And now Mass is dying!

THEY may seem like they chasing the best deal for home buyers and sellers but many real estate agents play property like Monopoly and love to cheat.

From preying on your grief to using cunning scare tactics to close a deal, real estate agents can be as cunning as the meanest in any commission-based business.   

While most agents act professionally, there are many ways agents charge an "idiots tax" on those who don't know what they are doing.

Potential buyers are usually canny enough to recognize that "cozy" is shorthand for "tiny", that "close to public transport" actually means beside the train line and that "bathroom with views" may mean the toilet is outside the back door.

When a home buyer pays their realtor directly, as an agreed upon suite of services are completed, they have eliminated all the risk in real estate. The buyers agent is guaranteed an income regardless of the outcome. The buyers agent is paid "Outside of closing". It's the classic risk/reward business model. Please take less than 3 minutes and watch my video.

Please let me know what you think... Thanks in advance.

It's Time to Update Your Marketing Curriculum

Today I want to draw a line in the sand—I want one side of the line to be Old School Real Estate Marketing and the other side to be New School Real Estate Marketing.

Many Realtors are struggling to keep up with the rapid changes that are happening in the marketplace and reflecting these changes in their company's marketing programs. Technology and communication are advancing so quickly that marketing is becoming real time making Old School Marketing tactics only a fraction as effective as they used to be. Think about direct mail, for example. By the time you create a piece, mail it and have it in the hands of the prospective buyer, weeks have passed. Marketing today, however, is so much faster. With just a few strokes and the use of Google, you and your prospective clients can find anything they want.

I wanted to thank Kathy McGuriman for reaching out to me regarding the seminar series we are doing with CitiBank.  This friday, one of the branches that has adopted the Nucazza/Acre mindset is having an all mortgage day where their clients can ask mortgage, real estate and title questions.  We are their to effectaute change.  We are there as the mouth pieces. As the banking customers will be coming for mortgage advice, it will be a great opportunity to play on the buyers side of the transaction with an Acre that understands the Evolution Of Real Estate,

We need you!  Nucazza is completly free for consumers and Realtors. Your comments are appreciated.

We have buyers that are going through our seminars and webinars and learning about Alternative Compensation Models.  The only real estate business model that guarantees payment for work done by realtors. The model, as co-presented by one of our marketing partners, CitiBank, gives the home buyer a credit card with the necessary monies needed to pay for the services of their Realtor up front thereby alleviating the issue of the buyers not having the cash on hand to pre-pay for their buyers agent services.

Horsham, PA (PRWEB) September 16, 2011 

Home Buying Evolution, a company that works as an intermediary to match in-market home buyers with licensed Realtors, has announced its introductory phase for creating a database of area Realtors® interested in taking part in a new referral program.

Home Buying Evolution, and sister company Nucazza, LP, are working together to create opportunities for Realtors® willing to offer home buying clients alternative compensation real estate agreements as an alternative to more traditional commission-based real estate agreements.

It was a little over 3 years ago when I took Family Abstract, a title insurance company located in Horsham Pa, that, along with my partner, is entering its tenth year, and did something we never did before.  As an initiator, I decided to embark on a new business model, I thought, "I have an idea, I'm going to start working on it tomorrow, I think it's going to work!  With those 2 thoughts, we were able to remain a successful title insurance company, and we continue to grow. Family Abstract has a combined 100 years experience, I have an amazing partner and we have the all time best employees. We expanded our organization and the clients we serve. You are probably wondering what my idea was, you might even be curious to know if we are successful at it. 

Suppose you had an upcoming seminar next month and needed to buy a couple of nice suits. You have two choices: you can either shop at a leading clothing store or you can hire yourself a personal shopper.

If you go to the clothing store, the salesperson will probably do their best to sell you a suit. Hopefully, they'll be very helpful to you by showing you the inventory they have at their particular store. Of course, since they're working for the store, their focus is to move the merchandise. If they can please you at the same time, that's a bonus.

The salesperson is working solely on commission - therefore, they only get paid if you buy a suit THERE and NOW. If you have unique fitting needs and none of the suits at that store fit you well, the salesperson is not particularly inclined to tell you to go somewhere else. They also may not tell you that a suit you do love is going on sale next week. After all, if you come back in a week, they might not be the salesperson on the floor. This is not to say that the salesperson isn't ethical. It's just that they're paid to make a sale for their store, not to find the best suits for you.

How many times did people refinance their homes every time the value increased by the outstanding balance of their credit cards? How many folks refinanced every 6 months, using their home like a Slot Machine, Pull the Chimney, the money comes out the front door? Please take a minute and watch my video, above, leave me a comment, let me know what you think,

As anybody who reads my blog on a regular basis can tell you, I'm a huge fan of finding new ways that real estate agents can bring greater value to their home buying clients. One way that I feel we can creating significant and lasting change is if we can develop better models to serve our clients as consultants instead of salespeople.

While at first it may seem like a semantic distinction, the reality is that offering consulting services to home buyers changes an awful lot of the dynamics between you and your clients as well as create some phenomenal new opportunities.

We love to talk about the Realtor® of tomorrow but we ought to be talking about the Realtor® of today as we've lost a lot of ground in two crucial areas:

1. Not recognizing how the role of the real estate agent has changed over the last 30 years and
2. Not adapting to the tremendous growth of technology

First, the change in our role: I'm going to state a premise that is controversial but I believe to be true: real estate can and should no longer be defined as a sales profession. The sales model made total sense when our sole responsibility was to move the inventory. But starting in the 90's with the advent of agency, our role fundamentally changed. With the advent of agency, our state and national boards and associations began to tell practitioners that primary role was that of a fiduciary without re-examining how we were compensated, putting practitioners in a bind.

Ivanna LookAlot, the Ultimate Home Shopper!  

I couldn't resist making a little cartoon using the Xtranormal program available from State.  Ivanna LookAlot, the ultimate Home Shopper can make a Buyers agent crazy, she has been through several already... Will you be next?

Like many of you, I find myself worrying about how the real estate market will shake out over the next few years. Will the recovery be very slow and long coming or will we find that a few years of stagnant selling will result in another mini buying ‘boomlet’ that will help to lift the economy?

There is plenty of gloom and doom out there and while I have no intention of totally ignoring some of the valuable lessons we have all learned during the past few years, I also find that I need to keep things in perspective. The bottom line is, unless something in the universe has somehow changed, this too shall pass.

Alternative Compensation Models: Quick Math

by Glenn Freezman

A large part of what I think about every day is how our industry can create new models that are fair to both home buyers and the agents who serve them. For me, alternative compensation models are creating a doorway that allow agents to do a better and more fair job of representing their home buying clients while still getting paid in a manner that is respectful of their professional status and the hard work that they do.

Alternative compensation models are basically real estate agreements that allow money to be shifted in a different way. For example, if an agent were to take the money that was earmarked for their commission payment at the closing of a deal and put it on the table as a refund or rebate for the home buyer do you think that would get the buyer's attention? Of course it would. However, the average Realtor isn't in the business of working for free (at least not on purpose!) so this agreement also means that in exchange for that possible rebate, the home buyers need to pay their agent directly for his or her time and assistance on an hourly or task based agreement and that if they make it all the way to the closing table then the refunded commission goes back in the buyer's pocket to cover closing costs or anything else.

It occurred to me the other day that I haven't purchased a newspaper in a long time. This isn't because I'm down on journalism, hate to read, or don't find the news worthwhile (although there are times...) but more because of the antiquated model of news gathering and presentation that today's newspapers represent.

Most days, even from my smart phone, I can get news as it happens. Not only can I stay very up to date on breaking news, but also filter my new streams so that I can tap into stories and topics that are most important and relevant to me personally. In short, I no longer require an editor could guess what it is that I want to be reading. Instead, I have the tools at my disposal to better choose what I want to learn about, stay updated on and bring into my head.

Dean M. started his career in real estate about eight years ago after the tech bubble burst and he found himself sitting at home without a lot of prospects facing him. While the overall economy was in a slump, the real estate market was still going strong and looked like a good place for Dean to get back on his feet.

Since then Dean has built up his practice, honed his skills and made a fair living working as a buyer’s and seller’s agent. Currently he has five clients he is working with; three on the selling side and two buyers. This past weekend Dean spent the day with both of his buying clients looking for homes, and he set up and ran an open house for one of his home sellers. For all intents and purposes, Dean is as busy "as a one armed paper hanger".

If you've been in business for any period of time you been a situation where a deal needs to be negotiated. Sometimes it's a gentle push and pull that allows both a buyer and seller to get a lot closer to what they need out of the agreement. There are other times, for various reasons, when the deal is just not going to happen because one side or the other is not willing to make concessions.

By Glenn Freezman

One of the things I absolutely love about our industry is all the opportunities we have to be innovative and creative in how we do business. Not only does innovation drive any market forward but it also allows us to uncover new ways of doing business that can benefit both homebuyers and those tasked with selling real estate.

During the past few years we've seen the rise of discount brokerages who offer a professional level of services for a discounted price tag as compared to more "traditional" real estate agreements.

During the past few years we've seen the rise of discount brokerages who offer a professional level of services for a discounted price tag as compared to more "traditional" real estate agreements.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you can’t help but notice that there are a lot of new real estate tricks that are being employed to grab the attention of today’s home buyers. We’re seeing a lot of discounting, rebates, prepackaged agreements, etc.  all being used by Realtors and brokerages hoping to stand out from the crowd.

I’m a huge fan of innovation and even huger fan of being able to offer home buyers new types of incentives and agreements that work to meet their needs as well as the needs of the agent. However, I am concerned that some of the offers being made by brokerages and realtors today and that discounting the innate value that Realtors bring to the table.

If you were to talk to a financial adviser, one of the foundational tenets that they would share with you when discussing your investments is the need to diversify your portfolio. Simply put, don't put all your eggs in one basket.  And yet, most people who earn a living rely on a single source of income for their livelihood.

Like with investing, the primary challenge of having a single stream of income is that if there is a market shift or you run into simple old-fashioned bad luck, then it's game over. But for people who have figured out how to bring money into different channels at the same time such hardships have a lot less impact.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you run out and find a second job or a second career to occupy those few hours you aren't currently working or sleeping. However, as a Realtor you are perfectly positioned to be able to create new financial opportunities for yourself (and your brokerage) by thinking innovatively about how you can provide additional services to your home buying clients.

“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” – Henry Ford

Can you imagine walking into a restaurant that only has a single dish on the menu? How about a car dealership that only offers a single make and model of car?

The idea seems nonsensical because we understand as consumers that we have unique needs that can’t be addressed by a ‘one size fits all’ solution. This isn’t to say that there won’t be people who find the very limited restaurant menu or the exclusive automobile inventory to be just what they want but it certainly going to be a very small number.