Jan 3
Sunshine on my window
icon1 Ron Garcia | icon2 Real Estate | icon4 Jan 3rd, 2009| icon3No Comments »

Here in Portland, after 2 weeks of debilitating arctic snow and a week of record rainfall, we are experiencing the old saying “if you don’t like the weather, just wait.”

Sunshine is pouring through my window this morning - no snow on the ground… no rain. Wow it feels great!

Now - how about this real estate market?! Record low interest rates. Great inventory. Lowest prices in 2 years.

The holidays are over. A new government offering exciting changes days away from taking control.

It is a new year and a time to get revitalized. Sure, another storm is undoubtably brewing out there. But that’s just more reason to use this time right now to get a new roof over our heads, right?

Dec 21

No, this is not a real estate message. This is a poem I found many years ago that I want to share again today by Patricia Curtisy.

10 Reasons Why I Believe in Christmas

Because when human beings do something cruel to other human beings, there’s always somebody who protests.

Because babies are born.

Because when a sea creature, dumb and almost insentient, forms a shell around itself, it makes mathematically perfect whirls and exquisite colors and the most gloriously complex patterns.

Because when things are rough, there’s always someone who can make you laugh anyway.

Because most of us feel guilty when we lie or cheat or steal.

Because you can plant a sunflower seed in the ground and be sure that if anything comes up, and it probably will, it most certainly will be a sunflower and won’t double-cross you and come up a petunia instead.

Because of the way snow enshrouds the harshest city with marvelous soft white contours and mutes the city noise softly.

Because if you open yourself to it, you can commune with animals and even plants and other forms of life we share this planet with.

Because pain eventually goes away.

Because even if some people believe it’s a legend and not a precisely true event, I think the story of that baby in the manger, the angels, the shepherds and what it all meant to the world is still the most beautiful story I ever heard.

Dec 9
Merry Christmas!
icon1 Ron Garcia | icon2 Real Estate | icon4 Dec 9th, 2008| icon31 Comment »

It’s time again to enjoy the holidays. For many reasons, it seems they have come just in the nick of time this year for us to refresh and regroup. We all seem eager to (literally) put the negative news of the day on ice and take in the scents, sights and sounds that fill the air during this festive time of year.

Then again, maybe that is the magic of the season every year…

As far as our little Real Estate Corner of the world goes – we have taken the approach that new economies call for new tactics. In order to stay ahead of the market, we have been busy re-positioning our company. We closed our small branch offices in Oregon City, Lake Oswego and McMinnville, and at the same time, we remodeled our main Portland office at 1505 NW 23rd Ave. So if you’re in the area, drop in and have a cup of freshly brewed coffee!

Meantime, our parent company, GMAC Real Estate, sold to a Canadian firm called Brookfield Properties, LLC. We no longer have any connection to General Motors (a good thing these days), and we’ve doubled in size to over 3,400 offices in North America and more than 25,000 agents. Our relocation opportunities have grown exponentially. Now we can help anyone you know in North America buy or sell a home through our network of companies.

Our rental company - Executive Property Management - continues to grow. We now handle about 90 properties throughout greater Portland. We manage houses of all sizes, plex’s (2-20 units) and some commercial property too. Please keep us in mind if you know anyone who owns rental properties.

Finally, with so much changing in the lending industry, we decided to side-line our small mortgage company for now. That way, when we refer a lender to our clients, we know it will remain the highest grade referral you can get.

Thanks for keeping me in mind. If you or anyone you know can use my services, or simply need information, please don’t hesitate to call my office at 503-636-9860.

Nov 15

“Rob and I have been visiting your website regularly and are quite impressed. He has begun the preliminary work on getting our finances in order. My job is to work with the REALTOR. In order to be smart consumers, are there basic questions that we should be asking? Seriously, we are going to fiercely pursue this until it becomes unreasonable. We don’t want to make any hasty decisions.” - Cathy O.

  • Above all, you should enjoy your REALTOR’S personality. It makes everything else a little easier.
  • Negotiations can get stressful. You need to be convinced that your REALTOR is on your side.
  • Some “top agents” can actually get too busy to provide the level of hand holding you need.
  • Some “top agents” get there because they do offer exceptional service and have great systems.
  • Your REALTOR’S level of production is subordinate to their ability to communicate.
  • Your REALTOR should be highly responsive to your questions and calls, no matter what.
  • You don’t know what you don’t know. Your REALTOR should.
  • The way I work with Buyers is:
    • First I schedule an appointment in my office.
    • I have a questionnaire that I work from.
    • We have what I call the “Real Estate 101″ talk.
    • We talk about your priorities in the home you’d like to own.
    • We explore your affordability range – (your financial comfort zone).
    • We discuss what compromises you may be able or willing to make.
    • We explore different neighborhoods on the map and how they stack up.
    • We talk about how an offer is structured, and preview the contract you’ll sign.
    • We discuss the types of inspections you should be prepared for.
    • I introduce you to a loan officer that I am confident in –
    • (Lenders can make or break your transaction. You enter 2 contracts in your home purchase; 1 with the Seller and 1 with the lender. They’re inter-dependent, but not inter-related. It is your choice on what company you use, but having someone who is responsive to your REALTOR is valuable and can make a critical difference, particularly with the structured time frames you’ve negotiated).
    • When we find a home you like, I do a “CMA” (Comparative Market Analysis).
    • We discuss the negotiation strategy, and determine your offering price.
  • Some houses need to be bought at full listed price.
  • Others not.
  • A lot of how “pricing” is determined is a function of the local market.
  • Some of it has to do with how much you want the home, or how realistic the Seller is.
  • Your REALTOR should have a solid handle on the current market trends and your motivation.
  • I used to try and tell Buyer’s not to worry. Buying a home can be fun.
  • Then, I learned that, once an offer is accepted, ALL Buyers worry.
  • Now I just say that worry is normal, so for the next 4 to 8 weeks you might as well get used to it!
  • Escrow is a series of unrelated issues and processes moving simultaneously towards the closing.
  • While it is routine in structure, each player involved has a separate agenda and differing priorities.
  • There are plenty of nightmare stories out there, but I don’t believe you need to know them all.
  • The fact is that every real estate sale is a little different.
  • They all have some issue or problem. And some are bigger than others.
  • Your REALTOR should be able to offer you a clear perspective during those critical moments.
  • Your REALTOR should work with diligence, yet not be overly tied to “keeping the deal together”.
  • Ultimately, your REALTOR should have the experience to either solve what does occur - OR -
  • The insight to locate those resources you need in order to resolve the pressing issues at hand.
  • The most crucial task of your REALTOR’S job is to give you your options at the critical moments.
  • You should feel like your REALTOR has empowered you to be in control of your purchase.
Oct 30
Bottom’s up!
icon1 Ron Garcia | icon2 Real Estate | icon4 Oct 30th, 2008| icon3No Comments »

Here’s to the negative campaign ads/Wall Street bailout/mortgage crisis/credit crunch/housing slump/sluggish auto sales/war on terrorism/invasive plants/rusting bridges and toxic mold…

Cheers!

Bottom’s up! 

Let the good times role!

It seems easy enough for many of us to slip into the dread zone and worry that the world is slowly unraveling around us. (Okay true. Some of us think it’s happening quickly.)

What if, though, this were it? Rock Bottom. The End. I mean, what if - all of a sudden -  we found out that the next stop was the end of the line and there was no where else to go? What if we hit the wall and were forced to turn around and go back the other way. 

Where would we end up?  It’s a bit of a philisophical leap - but, well, just maybe, we’d have to be — happy?!? —

And then, at least from a real estate sales perspective, the bottom fishers could come out and play - and we could look at them with happy eyes and say “Welcome Back to the Market!” And offers could get accepted. And Sellers could finally move on. And…. Well, any number of good things might happen, right?

So - Here’s to reaching the bottom fast!

Bottom’s up!

Oct 16
There Go My People
icon1 Ron Garcia | icon2 Real Estate | icon4 Oct 16th, 2008| icon31 Comment »

“There go my people. I must follow, for I am their leader.” - annonymous

As Principal Broker for our organization, I believe it is my core function to support my agents in any way possible - so long as it is ethical, legal and puts the clients’ interests first.

We have all heard in the news that “the economy is different than the stock market”.  Most forcasters warn of a further slow down ahead. More than ever, it means, that REALTORS - who are in a positon of leadership in the transcations they negotiate - need to stay calm and positive and look for solutions to the inevitable problems as they arise.

Emotions are running high today. Many sellers are irritated and feel taken advantage of by Buyers. Many Buyers don’t trust thier own intuition and  deals can fall apart over semingly insignificant issues. Many Lenders are fighting with the Underwriters who over scrutinize and question many files. 

Where is the safe haven to find reassurance, support, solutions, commradarie, and a free cup of coffee?  I believe that is my job.

The old adage that “misery loves company” is not entirely true. Misery demands company. In our office, let’s decide to take a “NO TOLERANCE” to negativity. Let’s become  a Misery Free Zone. 

The next step is to think about what we can offer the public beyond what we get paid to do. How about not only under-promise and over-delivering, let’s band together as an organization and help out those that need us.

Let me know what organization or group or cause you think we could work together on to assist. After all,  as we look around us, there go our people!

Sep 17

As productive individuals, we all deserve to earn a fair living. Doing so, we expect to expend a reasonable amount of effort. For lasting productivity, we should maintain a relativly low stress level.

Lately, I have been speaking with a lot of agents about the market.

Some are having a tough time right now. Others are having the best years of their careers.

The agents that are continuing to do well seem to be those who are focused on a niche market of some type and are reaching out for more contacts. FHA buyers. Inner city neighborhoods. Short sales. REO’s. Unique home styles. Expired listings. One of our agents tries to go to coffee with 5 people every week.

It’s pretty obvious that those in real estate who display ambition, drive and focus will continue to succeed regardless of the market conditions. Equally apparant is that agents who have only made a living in the past by riding the wave of the real estate boom may be finding it more difficult to hang on now.

Yet for many agents, the question is: What about the rest of us? Our real estate community has a lot of great brokers who have terrific skills and knowledge, yet find themsleves in a lull and they are looking for ways to get re-ignited and re-engaged now that the tides have turned.

I have been working on several fronts to address those agents within our company, and we have come up with a number of solutions that I am really excited about.

For starters, we have lowered our commission rates this year, and created compensation plans that allow agents an opportunity to put their limited resources to work for themselves in order to increase their own business. The inequity of having producing agents subsidize the non-producers in a company is no longer a tolerable business model.

Also, we have instituted 3 fantastic marketing programs that we are giving away free in our company:

1. Individual Agent Blog sites that are up and running with little or no effort - so agents can tap into the ever increasing potential of social networking.

2. Market Advantage is a free contact management / media program from GMAC that provides easy methods to integrate contacts with e-campaigns, mailings and other marketing processes.

3. Unnlimited Visual Tours that agents can use both for listings and buyers, as well as with campaigns designed and personalized for their sphere of influence.

Most importantly, I have recently hired a business consultant in order to offer every single agent at our company a personal one-on-one coaching program that I administer. With my 23 years of experience, the agents who are taking advantage of this program have found it really effective in helping them focus on areas of strengths that actually translates into sales.

Here is the premise I am focused on with agents in our company right now during this market:

Professional REALTORS should always be able to earn a Fair Living, with Reasonable Effort and Low Amount of Stress. The trick is to discover the methods and untap the necessary activities.

So, if you know anyone thinking of entering the real estate business, or changing firms, please let me know!

Aug 27
Labor Day at Last!
icon1 admin | icon2 Real Estate | icon4 Aug 27th, 2008| icon3No Comments »

If you have kids in school, you know the feelings for the first week of September - “The days of the Endless Summer are finally coming to an end! Now we can get some rest!” Instead of sending them outside to play tag, we can send them to school so they can wear out thier teachers.

Nothing says Whew! this year though, like the real estate market. But with an opposite desire. “Whew! The Dog Days of August are about history. Let’s shake off the road dust and get those Autumn Sales started!”

To be/get/stay productive right now, we REALTORS need to make it happen instead of just waiting for it to happen. And on that note, there are 2 main points to consider.

1. We need to focus on getting transactions.

2. We need to focus on closing transactions.

In getting transactions, as a group, we REALTORS have become accustomed (and darn good at) “networking our relationships”. Our Spheres have been very good at providing leads to us for people who have been thinking about buying or selling. But today, right now, those leads are fewer and farther apart. There, frankly, aren’t enough of them hanging around for most of us to maintain a good living. So…. we need to supplement them.

We need to come up with methods that help us get in front of people we don’t know yet - who need our valuable expertise in their quest to buy or sell properties. We need to move from networking to prospecting. We need to find people who are saying to us that they need to move now, not six months from now. We need to begin to qualify our clients because we can no longer afford to work with people who are unrealistic about this market.

We can’t let the lethargy of the market - the lazy days of summer - lull us into a slow pace of real estate. This is the time to get fired up!

And we need to close the deals we negotiate.

I call it milking the rattlesnake. In the past, if we had a client / co-op / prospect that was dragging an anchor through the deal or potential deal, we got used to letting it take its own course - que sera, sera….

Now, we need to work it. The buyers might be squeezing the deal. The sellers might be refusing to budge. The lender might be having a hard time with the underwriter. The co-op might be intolerable to work with. The rattlesnakes are rampant! Last year we could shoot ‘em. Now, we need to embrace them with a smile and milk them until the venom turns to honey.

It doesn’t mean selling our soul. It means working the deal. Finesse. Cajole. Reconsider. Try it again. Then do it some more. It is what we do for a living. It’s why we celebrate Labor Day. We have to really go to work!

I am motivated by the recent Olympics. I am on fire over the current elections. I am excited about today’s real estate market.

Tag. You’re it. Pass it on….

Aug 4
"I Me Mine"
icon1 admin | icon2 Real Estate | icon4 Aug 4th, 2008| icon3No Comments »

George Harrison wrote some great songs. As I listen to many agents chat about the market, I hear comments like, “I need to get my listing sold so these clients of mine can move …”

I. Me. Mine. I. Me. Mine. I Me. Mine. (It helps if you know the tune.)

Many agents seem to be feeling the pinch of this market. They are wondering how they can keep their business moving forward. In the process, they may be digging themselves further in a rut. And, as George Harrison would sing, we need to “Beware of Darkness”.

The notion that I can run and control My business is healthy. But let’s keep in mind that this market isn’t Mine to control. What’s more, I need to keep in mind that my business isn’t about what’s mine or not. It’s about what They (The Buyers and Sellers) have and want and what They (The Buyers and Sellers) need to do and the decisions that They (The Buyers and Sellers) are willing or able to make, with the current conditions in mind.

My role as a REALTOR is to see that They have the knowledge and numbers and options, so I can assist Them as best as possible so that Their decisions are truly informed ones. They. Them. Theirs. They. Them. Theirs. - You get the point…

Many brokers right now have been considering making a change in the market. Many are discouraged; some are exiting real estate all together. Yet many brokers are seeing that today is a great time to be in the business! These agents get satisfaction from helping people through the difficult process of buying and selling a home.

The fact is this: Nothing has changed for “Them” (The Buyers and Sellers). They are moving up, trading down, getting transferred, married, divorced, promoted, having children, partnering, soloing, investing, and always wanting and needing a bigger/smaller/different place to call home.

As brokers, we are the conduit for their success. We need to be up for the task!

Our job literally depends on (keeping George Harrison in mind) giving them “Something in the way we feel”.

If we aren’t getting what we want as REALTORs today, we’d due well to remember that “All Things Must Pass” and with a bit of perseverance, we can start whistling “Here Comes the Sun”. (It, uh, helps if you know the tune.)

:)

Jul 28
REALTOR Calling!
icon1 admin | icon2 Real Estate | icon4 Jul 28th, 2008| icon3No Comments »

Many of us have had the exprerience of having an “old friend” contact us with an invitation to meet about something that’s a new and exciting ______! (fill in the blank) - health supplement, phone service, business opporunity, dinnerware, etc.

It’s when this happens that we tend to feel that our relationship with this individual has been violated.

And yet, as REALTORS, while we broadcast to our “Sphere of Influence” that our business is built upon referrals, many of us don’t realize that we may be committing the same foul on our friends and relatives - if we don’t pay attention to a few important social rules.

We all know that calling our personal network is one of the best sources of business we can find - especially in today’s market. So, as long as we are going to do it, here are a few tips I’ve learned over time:

Talk real estate first. Let’s not call an old pal with the premise of catching up and then convert it to a prospecting call. We need to let them know we’ve got our “real estate hat” on and wondered if they or anyone they know is in the market. Then, (by the way)… how’s the family?

Keep it casual. If there is some interest, say - “let’s get together and we can run by a few ideas”. Avoid the two words that are social killers: “lets make an appointment so I can show you my presentation“.

Use the point of referance. It’s not just “do you know anyone who may be in the market to buy or sell a house”… it’s “do you know anyone from our _______ (fill in the blank) gym, school, car club etc. who has mentioned they might be in the market”.

Don’t make our friends our assistant salse representatives. Let them know that what we’re asking for is the referral’s name and number. We don’t need our accquaintence to be the one who qualifies the lead or motivates the lead to call us.

Lastly, have a good answer to the ultimate question: “How is the market?” Be positive. “You know, I’m glad you asked… Contrary to what we’re hearing in the media, there are a lot of people who are actually getting what they want when selling or buying a home today! In fact, that’s why I’m calling… I just want to know if you or anyone you know from _______ (our old stomping grounds) is thinking of making a move right now?”

As we reach out to people we know, it’s always great when we discover the next individual whom we know we can help through our efforts.