The moral of the story is Expectations are real

What kind of experience is your client expecting you to deliver? Are they expecting you to find them a home in a matter of day, weeks or months? Is your client expecting you to sell their home for over market value in a matter of a week? These are all things that the client is likely expecting whether or not you bother to find out. So do yourself a favor and find out the clients expectations from the start so you can manage them effectively. Ask yourself, what kind of experience is the client looking for me to deliver? Failing to know the answer to that question could cost you in a big way. I will share my personal experience of how I personally failed to manage my own expectations and paid the price.

• My wife and I are in the process of buying a home. We knew going into it that it was an active market but we thought our situation would be different since I was our realtor. As you can imagine we did not manage our expectations going into the house hunt. I had failed to manage the expectations of my client (my wife) and it led to unnecessary anxiety and stress. 

• Managing expectations is important with buyers but it is equally if not more important to do when working with sellers as well. I have clients in this market that regularly feel they can price their house high because there is shortage of houses out there. This is not the case, houses that are overpriced tend to sit for a while and only after dropping the price do they get serious interest. 

• At the end of the day all you can do is advise your clients what the best route to go is. What route they choose to take is up to them, but it is important to manage expectations from the get go regardless. Failing to do so could result in it negatively impacting you and your clients relationship. A seller that overprices their house with the expectation that it will sell quickly is not going to take kindly to the reality that it hasn’t sold after a month or more on the market. If you don’t clearly define the expectation the seller is likely to blame you for less than desirable result. 

The moral of the story is that you can’t control what people will or will not do. You can to some degree control how they will or will not react to a given situation. Managing expectations ensure that you and the client are on the same page. A good rule of thumb is under promise and over deliver. No one is going to get mad at you because you delivered exactly what they expected. People will quickly get upset if you under deliver though. This goes back to managing expectations, what kind if experience is your client expecting you to deliver? Answer that clearly from the outset and you will be much better of for it.  

Real estate teams vs. Individual Agents and what consumers need to know.

Real Estate Teams vs. Individual Agents

I had my first experience with a real estate team when I sold my first home about a year before I got into real estate myself. I had no idea what a team was and I the agent that was selling our house didn't explain it at all. I left feeling like I did not get what I signed up for.

There are two obvious differences between a team and an individual agent. As the name implies a team is composed of multiple agents and/or support staff. An agent is singular and therefore solo mostly without a team of support staff. The less obvious difference is that with a team you will rarely deal with the same person for any two portions of the process.

Team structure-

Teams are structured in various ways but the typical team has at least three components: a listing agent, a buyers agent and an assistant. The listing agent and buyers agent are pretty self explanatory however the assistant is the one varies. Most of the time the assistant handles all the paperwork, contracts, phone calls and all the behind the scenes stuff. This allows the listing agent and the buyers agent to focus on getting new buyer and sellers.

Single agent structure-

With a single agent there is only one agent therefore the agent has to handle everything on their own. This means that the agent will be the one showing the buyers houses as well as the one going on listing appointments. They will also be the one doing the paperwork and giving clients the update as the process goes along.

The difference to you the consumer- 

The difference between working with a team and working with an individual agent as a consumer can be pretty dramatic. When you are working with a team you will likely have very little contact with the lead agent that you initially spoke to/met with. They are the “face” of the operation and are most of the time hands off for the majority of the transaction once it gets started. This means that you agree to list the house with them and from that point on someone else takes over. Most if not all updates will come from one of the support staff and not the agent that you started working with. 

With an individual agent you have the same agent from the start to the finish, there is no one to delegate the tasks to. The individual agent is going to have much more of a personal touch and will be involved in every step of the transaction. They in a sense have more at stake than an agent with a team, because they are more personally invested in the deal. 

Conclusion- 

In concluding there is nothing wrong with either option you choose to use. Most teams provide great service but you will lose much of the personal feel that you get with an individual agent. Both should run equally smooth it just becomes a preference of what your’e comfortable with. 

Home to one of the hottest zip codes in the country

San Antonio is home to one of the hottest zip codes in the country. San Antonio has a robust housing market, this I am sure you probably know. What you may not have know though is that 78247 was ranked by realtor.com as one of the top 10 hottest zip codes in the country. 

Why is it a hot zip code hot? 

Location has a lot to do with it I believe. People don't want to have to travel far when they want to go somewhere and this location is perfect for that. It is located very close to loop 1604 and uniquely gives you the preference of new and pre-existing homes. This is a feature that you don't often see making it appeal to a larger crowd. 

The zip code as a whole is up and coming with many changes in the works. Shopping centers have popped up all around the area with everything from Starbucks to huge gyms. Housing prices in the area have remained affordable for the time being, however that is likely to change in the near future. If you have plans to move into this area now would be the time to do so, they are still building shopping and retail centers. Once the building is complete than the demand is likely to dramatically increase. It will be somewhat of its own little urban sprawl having everything you need within a couple square miles. 

Pricing and home data

The median sold home price for Sept was 167k bringing it in well below the average for the city as a whole. San Antonio as a whole had a median sold price of 181K making 78247 significantly less expensive for the time being. The median sold price in 78247 increased by roughly $10,000 or 6% from this same time in 2014. 

Homes do not sit on the market long with the average days on the market being 43. This is also well below the average for San Antonio which has an average days on market of 72. Homes in 78247 sell almost twice as quickly compared to the city as a whole. 

What else you need to know

Based off of price range and development 78247 is likely going to appeal to the younger crowd and first time home buyers. With the option of new construction for under 200k and existing homes in well established neighborhoods the price is right. Location is hard to beat with the ease of access to the highway there you can be to most parts of the city in 20min without traffic. This has the potential to save you major tine off your commute every day. 

As always I am happy to answer any questions you may have or to show you any properties that you may wish to see. 

Why should I use a full time realtor?

Part vs. Full Time, Is There Really a Difference? 

As with anything you have people that take do things full time and those that don't. I don't know about you but my home is by far my biggest investment. I would not invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in the stock market with someone who does investing on the side. I also would not want a surgeon that operates on the side when he has time. That is why I would not use a part time real estate agent. I will cover some of the potential issues that could arise when working with a part time agent.

Homes are first come first serve

In most of the country homes are selling very quickly and it is not uncommon for the home to sell the first couple days on the market. To a consumer this means that you are going to have to act quickly if you are interested in a home. 

If you are working with a real estate agent that is doing it part time it is not a priority to them and therefore you are not a priority to them. How likely is an agent to show you houses you want to see after they have worked their day job all day? I would say not likely, they will probably show it to you on the weekend when they get some time. 

Agents only get paid when they help people buy or sell a home. Being that it is a side job they don’t likely need the income and therefore have no real investment in their or your success. Agents only get paid when they help people buy or sell a home. This means that if they are not dependent on the income there is truly no motivation to succeed.  

Don’t trust your investment to just anyone

If you are a home seller using a part time agent that means that they are advertising your home part time, marketing your home part time, responding to buyer inquiries part time… You get the picture, even in a hot market homes do not sell themselves and if they get overpriced or underexposed they may well sit for months. 

The initial time a home hits the market is the best shot that it has to sell. Making sure that the home is priced right and marketed correctly from the get go is going to make all the difference in the long run. Can you put your home back on the market with a different agent after it sits for a couple moths? Absolutely you can but now you have a home for sale that sat for 3,4, or 6+ month. This is a big turn off to buyer, it gives your home a stigma and makes people more likely to pass it by a second time.

What’s a person to do?

Save yourself time and money from the get go. Don’t trust yourself to an agent that does it on a part time basis. There are plenty of agents that do it full time and there is no reason to settle for a part timer.  

Dont be house poor, three things to consider before you buy

You may or may not have heard of the term house poor, not to be confused with the poor house. It has a meaning just as it sounds, having a house that is making you poor. Along with your mortgage payment you should consider how, taxes, utilities and Home Owner Associations as well when looking for a home. Don't roll the dice on your future, have a plan.

Firstly you want to consider taxes, because unlike your mortgage payment interest rate taxes don't remain fixed. 

• For example, if you live in a big city like San Antonio, Texas that is rapidly growing then you have likely noticed home prices climbing. While on the surface this may seem like a good thing, along with the climbing home prices are climbing property values. 
• Why does this matter you might be thinking, it is an important factor to keep in mind because as your property value goes up so does your property taxes. In San Antonio, Texas taxes increase by as much as $200 a month in a single tax year for a average priced house. This means that your formerly affordable payment is no longer so affordable. 

The next thing to consider is the price of utilities and any extras that may be involved. For example does the home have a pool, hot tub or water softener? 

• If so what are your cost going to be to maintain said equipment. If it is a pool, you will have to pay to have it cleaned, there will be equipment repairs and the extra electricity usage for the pumps and equipment. 
• The average cost of owning a pool is $256 a month, this adds $256 to your monthly expenses. Water softeners will use electricity but more importantly many systems run on salt which has to be regularly replenished. There is also the consideration of whether the system is rented or owned. If it is rented then what is the cost associated with transferring ownership over. 

The final thing to consider also has the potential to cost you the most. Carefully consider the HOA (home owners association) before you sign on the dotted line. 

• While this may not seem like a significant deal but if you have a mandatory HOA then there can be significant expense associated in the form of dues. But beyond that the HOA has the authority to enforce any and all the bylaws. This can cover anything from the height of your grass, to exterior paint color and even the breed of you dog. 
• Depending on the laws of your state many HOA's have the ability/authority to foreclose on your home or sue you for things like unpaid dues or fines. It can get extreme and sounds a bit crazy but I have seen it happen, people lose everything over a dispute with the HOA that they legal may not be able to win. 
• This being said your realtor should ensure that you get all the deed restrictions and information related to the HOA. Make sure that your realtor does a mandatory HOA addendum to protect you as the buyer. 

Are you looking for the best San Antonio houses?

Best San Antonio Houses

The internet and home buyers from a real-estate agents perspective. 

The landscape of buying homes has no doubt changed, loyalty is dead and buyers are now a commodity. While this may be an overstatement, it is not as far-fetched as you might think. Unlike years past many buyers in today's market do not want to commit to just one agent. They want to be free to come and go as they please.  

 

 

 

What is a real estate internet lead?

 

 As a consumer looking for the best San Antonio houses you go to a website like Zillow or Trulia and you search for houses. While this is a great way to search for homes it also turns you into a commodity. Zillow (much like google) makes its money off the searches that people run. The more searches performed in a designated zip code the more "impressions" Zillow can sell to realtors like myself. This turns almost everyone searching into potential internet leads therefore it is to their advantage to keep people searching.

When you become a “lead” to a realtor (or agent) a process of converting you from a lead into a client begins. This will mostly happen behind the scenes and you will not be aware of it. The agent will do things like set you up on email, post card or calling campaigns. They will regularly stay in contact with you in an effort to be the person you call when you’re ready to purchase. The majority of people who start their home search online are 3-6 months away from being ready to purchase. That combined with the fact that over 90% of people use the internet during the process of buying a home make internet leads the hot commodity. 

 

Why agents look for business online!

 

Some home buyers are interested in working with just one agent from the start. However for the majority of people online they just want information or to view a house. More than likely u did not go online looking for a specific realtor, you just went with whomever happened to pop up for that particular home. The odds are pretty high that if you're a home buyer searching on Zillow, Trulia or other site you are not working with an agent. This may be by choice or it may be that you are still early in the process and don't yet need an agent. In either case agents are paying Zillow, Trulia, ect... for access to people searching in a given zip code. They are waiting for people to request information about a particular property and once the consumer requests information they become a “lead" which is distributed to the afore-mentioned paying agents. 

 

Until you commit, you are will remain just a lead that everyone is chasing and will likely miss out on the best San Antonio houses since they seldom last long. The reality is that by the time a home hits internet it has in many cases been on the market for several days already and has received multiple offers. As a realtor we have access to real time information no one else does which is the difference between getting a house and getting left behind. So the choice is really yours, you can remain a lead or commit to an agent and gain the status of client.

 

Why many home buyers of today fear commitment

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Why should I sign with just ONE agent? 

The biggest reason that you should sign with an agent is that it provides a buffer between home sellers, other agents and you. Without an agent you are a commodity. With a signed agreement you are essentially off the market. Assuming your agent is doing what they should and properly representing you than everyone comes out a winner. Consider these points when debating to sign an agreement: there is no set or required length of time you must commit to and the selling agent represents the sellers not you. 

• The thing to remember is that you can sign the agreement for as short as one day. This serves to ensure that the agent is there to act as a buffer between you and the homeowner/listing agent. The most common complaint I hear is that people don't want to commit to one agent. This is understandable and of course many people may have had a bad experience with an agent in the past. The thing to understand is that you are still in control of the situation. You control the length of time you commit for as well as many other factors depending on the agreement. The agreement does have some specific binding terms and should be read carefully before signing. 

• The listing agent is already representing the seller and therefore is not looking out for your interest. This is something to consider when you’re driving around and calling the signs in front of houses. Calling the sign number will almost always put you in contact with the listing agent. The listing agent is representing the sellers and is bound to do what’s in the best interest of their client i.e. the home owner. The listing agent may try to talk you into letting him/her handle both sides of the transaction, a term called intermediary. This is fine if you are comfortable with the process of buying a home and don’t need particular advise as the process goes along. By doing this the realtor/agent is representing both parties and therefore can’t give specific transaction related advise to either side. 

Assuming that you do not have an agent in mind that you would like to work with, than check reviews by others online. I have found that Zillow is amongst the stricter criteria for agents getting reviews posted. If the agent has 4 stars or better, than it is probably a safe bet that they do a good job more than they don’t. This isn’t to say that bad agents don’t get good reviews, but it is a good starting place. Don’t commit for 6 months unless you're very early in the process or comfortable with your agent. Give the agent 30 days and see how they do, if you are satisfied than continue the relationship, if not than walk away.

Out with the general and in with the specific

As some of you may have noticed the name of my blog has changed from "words to a younger me" to "Life lessons from a know-it-all in 500 words or less". I am always looking to improve and this blog is no exception. I wanted something that more adequately described what the blog was all about. I want to do three things with this blog: Impart lessons that I have learned, help you save time as well as money and lastly to give you home buying, selling or renting advise from my experience as a REALTOR®. 

• I want to impart lessons learned from the mistakes that I have made throughout my life. I will share many of the lessons that I wish I had learned when I was younger. I will cover a range of topics and you may not agree with all of them. If you disagree then please comment and let us start a dialogue about it. I will be the first to admit that I don’t know it all and I would welcome the opportunity to hear a readers opinion. 

• If there is one thing that I have learned it is that time is truly a finite resource and that it is truly the most valuable thing there is. The dilemma here is that you need money to live and that often is in exchange for you time. So I want to do my best to help you gain more of both, hopefully without having to sacrifice too much of either. 

• As you have probably figured out I am a REALTOR® by trade and as buying a home is one of the biggest purchases that anyone will ever make it can cost you lots of time and money. The sad reality is that not all REALTORS® are created equally and many don’t care about their clients interest as much as they should. We live in an age of information where anything you could want to know is a click away. This is to say that while you should trust your REALTOR®, if your uneasy about something then do some fact checking on your own. 

To wrap it all up, all three of these things are tied together. It is my sincere hope that you will take something away from each post. I don’t expect for everyone to agree with or find everything I say applicable, but if it helps just a few people then it is worth it. 

As a small caveat I want to promote myself. If you or anyone you know needs help buying, selling or renting a home in or around San Antonio then give me a call. If you are moving anywhere else in the country and need help still give me a call. I work with great agents all over the country and I can get you connected with someone that I trust. For more great information check out my Facebook,  Twitter or Pintrest pages, all are updated daily.