San Antonio's Rockstar Turned Realtor®

Great advice on offer making from another local San Antonio real estate agent.

It's not everyday I re-blog something from the competition*, but Robin Rogers of Silverbridge Realty nailed this one.  Making an offer on a home is a big step and although the goal is to get the home for the least amount of money, the goal is also to get the offer accepted.

This is my favorite section of the entire post, something I often speak to clients about:

Consider this: each $1,000 adds about $5.37 a month to your mortgage payment at today's interest rate of 5%. That's $64.44 a year. Is it worth it to lowball the home and risk losing it for the price of a few burgers?

Sometimes looking at it from the seller's point of view can help a buyer understand why their offer isn't as great as it looks on paper.

* While Robin may technically be my competition, I don't view her in a me vs. her way.  San Antonio is a large city and there is more than enough business to go around.

Did I just see what I thought I saw?

Last night I was watching the ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, catching up on the usual tidbits - the oil spill, the hurricane, and the Russian spy case.  As a kid who grew up in the 70s/80s and someone who has been to Russia several times, I'm interested in this sort of stuff.  I actually had a former KGB agent as a bodyguard while traveling through Russia and saw the changes in Russia between my visits there, so you can imagine how fascinated I am with the Cold War tensions between our two countries.

As I watched Brian Ross' report about the alleged spies, a familiar site flashed across the screen as Brian spoke about one of the accused spies ties to real estate.  Yes, although the photo is terrible, that is what you think it is - an ActiveRain account.  Seems one of the alleged spies set up an account, but didn't do much with it (she had 980 points).  I checked this morning and the account (a non-Rainmaker account) is still there and has only one blog post.

While it may not be of any importance to anyone, I find it fascinating that there was a (once again, alleged) Russian secret agent right here on ActiveRain!  I wonder if she ever read my blog?  Perhaps she has sent posts of mine direct to Vladimir Putin?  Maybe I'm being spied on right now because I'm typing this?  I love it - intrigue, mystery, and a dash of Cold War counter-intelligence.

This post originally appeared on www.RErockstar.com on May 26, 2010.

Do you have to tell the buyer?

Death is a topic that most people don’t want to talk about in general and in real estate, it’s no different. I’ve been asked a few times about the details regarding death and disclosure in the state of Texas (more specifically, in San Antonio) when buying and selling a home. Questions such as; “This home seems cheap for this neighborhood, did someone die here?,” “It says ‘estate sale‘, does that mean that grandma died in the house?,” or “Do you know how they died?” are common, especially if there’s some indication of death, such as an estate sale.

The Texas Property Code covers this in Section 5.008(c):

Section 5.008(c) A seller or seller’s agent shall have no duty to make a disclosure or release information related to whether a death by natural causes, suicide, or accident unrelated to the condition of the property occurred on the property or whether a previous occupant had, may have had, has, or may have AIDS, HIV related illnesses, or HIV infection.

When a seller (or someone else) dies on or in a property, there is no requirement to disclose – as long as the death is related to natural causes, suicide, or unrelated to the property’s condition (if it is related to the condition of the property, you should be disclosing the defect, regardless of the death). However, the Texas Property Code does not mention homicide (murder), and this becomes a gray area that is often discussed in real estate law circles.

Disclose, disclose, disclose.

It is my opinion that disclosure is the best course of action when it comes to death. I am not an attorney and therefore can only tell sellers and buyers in San Antonio what the Texas Property Code states (and refer them to a real estate attorney who specializes in these issues), but when in doubt – disclose. I’ve never heard of a case where a seller runs into trouble because they’ve disclosed too much.

My view is that you’re better off disclosing the death now, before your neighbors do. Neighbors like to talk and tell potential buyers info they know about a home. No one wants to be surprised by the news of a death on the property, so if you disclose it up front, you eliminate that potential awkward situation when the buyer comes back to you and says “I hear someone died on the property.”

If you’ve experienced a death in your home or on your property and you wish to not disclose the fact to your agent or any potential buyers, I suggest you speak with a qualified real estate attorney beforehand to be sure you don’t run afoul of any laws.

photo courtesy of astimewise

Sometimes you have to look back.

I was searching for a post that I wanted to send someone today and while looking through the lists of posts, I saw one that I couldn't quite remember.  I knew I wrote it, but I just didn't remember what it said.

Taking a few moments to read through it, I thought it was a interesting look at where my mind was (in this case, on September 16, 2009) and where I was in real estate and more specifically, blogging.

I was just about to hit my one year anniversary at AgentGenius and I was reflecting back on a few things I had learned about blogging in the 359 days previous to that post.  Reading through them, they all still hold true to my efforts today.

The five things I had learned?  1. You don't have to be an English major.  2. Your looks are important.  3. Commenting is crucial.  4. It's not just about real estate.  5. When in doubt, read.

Stop by the post, "5 Things About Blogging I Didn’t Know 359 Days Ago" and see if these still hold true for you today.  Are there other valuable lessons you learned along the way?  Any you'd like to share?

photo courtesy of gbaku

Excruciating Pain.

I have yet to meet a real estate agent that is willing to state, "I love lead generation."  It's the one thing we all seem to hate.  Whether we dislike the rejection, the awkward silence on the other end of the phone, or just feel uncomfortable intruding; we all go through periods where getting us to call and convert leads (for the record, I hate that word) is akin to having root canal surgery with a rusty spoon and no Novocaine.

In Chapter 8, "Social Media and Lead Conversion", of Ben Kinney's ebook Soci@l (which you can download for free at the RainCamp page on ActiveRain), Ben discusses his aptly titled 10 days of pain.  When I first read the book, I chuckled over the title of this and thought of how many times I sat in front of the phone about to call a new lead.  Picking up that phone is like lifting a few thousand pounds on that first call.  It's painful.  Every time though, as the conversation begins, I find myself thinking, "why was this so hard to do?"  Conversing with people is something I can do.  It seems picking up the phone is the hard part.  The actual act of lifting the receiver is where the pain is.

The 10 days of pain campaign that Ben Kinney has developed gave me three things to think about - 1) how am I at converting leads, 2) a funny way to describe it (a little humor makes everything slightly less painful), and 3) actionable steps that I can implement (often I find there's a lot of talk about how to convert, but not enough substance in the form of a simple how-to).  While I won't attempt to summarize the 10 days of pain here (you can read about it for yourself), I do think this is something I can personally implement.  One of my goals this year is to really buckle down and get the conversion part of the business a bit more refined.

How much are you willing to give?

Ten days sounds like a lot at first.  That's more than a week!  Immediately after reading the chapter, I thought about it for a few minutes.  Am I willing to through 10 days of pain to get one day of closing?  The answer is obvious?  Of course!  Ten days of pain beats thirty days of pain because I have not closed a transaction.  In my recent time away from real estate, I had the ability to truly look at my real estate business and analyze what I liked, what I didn't like, as well as what was working and what wasn't working.  I was able to step back and look at my business from a new angle - one which didn't require me to deal with the daily work of being an agent (it's easy to get distracted from the tough questions when you're working hard).

Once I compared the ten days of pain to one day of closing, I began to think of it in a different light.  Ten days suddenly seems a little easier to swallow.  We all want more closings, yet we all struggle to do the things necessary to get the leads turned to clients that will get us to those closings.  Tom Ferry and I have been building a plan for the year for myself (thanks to the free coaching calls I received via ActiveRain) and I can already see how implementing Ben Kinney's 10 days of pain will help me implement some of the work that Tom and I are discussing (more on that later).

Looks like I'll be experiencing a painful year and somehow, that's exactly what I want.

photo courtesy of Racchio

This blog post is a review of Soci@l: Attract Friends, Followers and Connections to Your Business. Soci@l is a free download written by Ben Kinney in conjunction with ActiveRain and Jay Papasan. In exchange for downloading the free copy of Soci@l and writing this review, I have a chance to win a free iPad and I'm getting 2000 ActiveRain points.

Download a free copy of Social here and find out how you can have a chance to win an iPad and be guaranteed 2000 ActiveRain points.

Enjoying my winnings.

I sat down on Thursday to start my month of coaching with Tom Ferry (that I won right here at ActiveRain) via Skype.  I wasn't 100% sure what to expect.  I was looking forward to it, but that was about all I knew.

Tom was downright forthcoming in his assessments and making sure I understood what we were going to be looking at.  He didn't even mention real estate at first, we spoke more about personal life for the first few minutes.  As we spoke, I realized just why he was asking the questions he did.  I'd say Tom Ferry is one part therapist, one part someone you can trust and open up to, one part real estate guide, and one part funny guy.

Coaching isn't something I've ever done before, so I wasn't prepared for the look at other sides of my life (instead of just real estate), but I had promised Tom, myself, and my readers that I would go at this full force and see what I got out of it.  I owe it to all three (especially myself) to observe and report and there is no better way to do so than to dive in and get involved.

Tattooed RE.

I wrote about our first call over at Tattooed Real Estate in the post "First Coaching Call With Tom Ferry."  It's a bit of a light post as I think Tom and I were just getting started.  I have been busy on my assignments (five separate assignments in the first call!), which I will detail a bit more as time progresses.  Overall, I think Tom Ferry will wind up helping me quite a bit, but that remains to be seen.  I'll speak to you in about a week and let you know how round two goes.

photo courtesy of roadrunnerdrummer

Help find Kelsey Ray.

Reward for information on the whereabouts of Kelsey Ray from Western Montana; 16 years of age, 5’6” tall, and approximately 115 pounds. Last seen in the Seattle area. REWARD FOR INFORMATION.

Kelsey Ray was last seen with Kegan Salter, a felony fugitive; 18 years of age and 5’5” tall.

Please contact the Mineral County Police Department (Montana) at (406) 822-3555 or (406) 544-3098 with any information.

Please send this to anyone you think might be able to help. Many of us in the real estate industry know Monica Ray through social media networks and I'd love to know that someone out there has some information that could help her. I can only imagine what she's going through right now. Her daughter is missing and she is reaching out to everyone she knows for any help they can provide.

Always good to read a post like this!

So it appears I've won a month of coaching thanks to my post "I hate Tom Ferry. - My Life! By Design."  The post was actually fun to write and to learn that Tom had the humor to not take offense to my declaration of hatred towards him made it even better.

If you didn't enter, I would still suggest you read through the contest post and do the exercise, I found it to be rather helpful.  I look forward to experiencing coaching (never had a coach other than my dad at Little League) and as I'm sure you've guessed by now, will blog about my experiences - good or bad.  I'm sure Tom will make sure I have a good experience though, because he knows I'm always upfront with my thoughts, especially when I'm giving a review of a product or service.

Congratulations to the other winners and participants!

PS Tom, you nailed "Stigliano" and believe me, I've heard it butchered more often than not!

UPDATE: I just received my signed copy of "Life! By Design: 6 Steps to an Extraordinary You" (Amazon affiliate link)in the mail, so expect some blog posts to start appearing as I make my way through the chapters. My coaching with Tom begins in a few days as well, so I'll be updating everyone on that. You can also check www.tattooedRE.com for posts and updates.

Tattoos and Real Estate.

Two things that don't sound like they have much in common, but based on several late night conversations via Twitter with some of the agents I know, not as mismatched as one might think.  Tattooing is an ancient art that has really come into its own over the past decade.  I come from a family that has tattooing in its blood - both my father and brother being Marines who have several well worn tattoos between them.  Real estate is a passion for me, but so is the art of tattooing.

But this post really isn't about tattoos.  It's really just about me and a new project I've started to toy with called Tattooed Real Estate (or TattooedRE for short).  You can read all about how it started as a bit of a joke amongst some of the inked up industry people I know, but it wound up turning into a sort of side project for me.

So far, it is in it's very early stages, but essentially, I want to make it a place for my personal thoughts and experiences with real estate, especially technology.  The tools I use, the tips I've learned, the things I like to pontificate about.

Sort of a catch all for all the blog posts that float through my head and I can't find a home for.  A place as assorted as the art of tattoos and the opinions of real estate agents.  Eventually, I may take on some other writers so the opinions are a little wider than just my own, but for now, I'll be writing all the material when I have some spare time.

I'm also going to be experimenting with some affiliate marketing and reviews of products with a real estate focus - something I don't think is well served on my RErockstar blog.  I'll probably use it to rant and rave about things outside of the industry as well (such as the blog I'm writing about the Philadelphia Flyers that I hope to post tomorrow), perhaps I'll even do a post on some of the tattoos out there in the industry.

So, if you don't have enough blogs to read, stop on over to tattooedRE.com and say hello.

photo courtesy of *fotu