Real Estate Information Archive

As I mentioned in prior blog entries, I often peruse other agent sites to read what services he or she offers for potential buyers and sellers. Many agent sites tout that he/she will not only find the perfect home for their buyers but will handle every last detail up to the purchasing process.  What does that really mean; to 'handle every last detail up to the purchasing process'?  How far do these services really go?

I see that many agents offer more now in the way of resources such as the downloading of reports but that service seems to be the 'norm' and no longer the exception. What is it that you offer that sets you apart from the rest?

Now granted, I work with Paulia Kennedy of 'The Kennedy Team' also consisting of Jeff Kennedy and Debi Jones but I have worked with many agents in the past so I can honestly state here that this Team offers clients so much more value for the money than many I have met. 

The Photographs

have previously blogged about the many professional photographs Paulia personally takes for every listing; no matter what the selling price is for a particular home.  No one that I have ever worked with since I've been a real estate virtual assistant takes 50-100 photos of each listing, hires an aerial photographer for some listings and has me update these listing with new and fresh photos to rejuvenate the visuals. As I mentioned, Paulia keeps me busy.

Even the actual Kennedy Team member photos are also updated a few times a year in keeping with the changing seasons and backgrounds. The same holds true for sellers. If a seller paints a room, Paulia is out there with her camera taking new pictures of the updated space.  She believes in keeping the listings updated at all times.

The Professional Handyman

Recently, I learned that The Kennedy Team also offers an extra-special marketing service for both buyers and sellers as the Kennedy's have a professional handyman on staff whose name is John Watson. 

John is the man behind the infamous one-of-a-kind custom 'Kennedy Team signs'. As part of their comprehensive marketing package, John custom builds each sign from scratch in their workshop. He has drafted templates for each
roof, which helps him to build each sign to perfect scale.

John Watson customizes each sign matching the roof tiles with each property sign and the home itself. He has even used clay tiles on one luxury home property sign, which perfectly matched the same clay tiles on a particular Mediterranean home.

John's work does not end there. He also uses the weed-eater & repellent around their signs on vacant land and occasionally gets the chain-saw out to cut down small trees blocking those signs. His work is meticulous!

A hard-working and trusted Kennedy Team member, John often helps with preparing the luxury homes for showings. He makes a trip to the home about 30 minutes before the tour and turns on all the lights, adjusts the thermostats, sweeps the front entrance area, blows the leaves off the driveways, decks & pool areas. He also returns after the showing to double-check every lock and make sure all the lights are turned off and that the home is secure. John assists with keeping the flyer boxes filled at the homes and makes regular checks to make sure our signs are straight, clean and neat.

John is the ultimate professional handyman for small repairs for our clients. It is extremely hard to find workers for small jobs, so they always count on John to get the small items repaired ... especially when The Kennedys are 'under the gun' to meet the small repairs item list from buyers.

It is important to note that John's services are exclusive to The Kennedy Team. His custom signs are not for sale either. 

The Real Estate Virtual Assistant

Primarily, I assist Paulia with her listing photographs.  She advises when a listing has been signed and uploads photographs which need to be stitched and edited.  I spend practically every day creating virtual tours, updating photograph files, assisting in Point 2, blogging and host of other assorted tasks. Quite frankly, I cannot see how she managed to handle all of this work in the past in addition to her regular marketing and buyer and seller support responsibilities.  With the addition of a virtual assistant, Paulia spends more time personally working with buyers and sellers to expertly market their homes. 

The Kennedy Team really does offer to 'handle every last detail up to the purchasing process' from contract signing to custom sign development, to photographic and high-end brochure creation.  They even offer a small repair service for their clients so that the home passes final inspection on time and at no extra cost to the buyer and sellers.  Oh, and if you are looking for reports, The Kennedys offer those too!

Janine Gregor
Real Estate Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy

In 2004, when we decided to relocate from the northeast to the southeast due to a job offer, I knew that staging a home was central to a successful sale but I did not realize how REALLY significant this field would become.  Now, in researching this blog, I have tremendous resources from which to learn about the staging process coupled with cable TV programs dedicated to just this particular topic.  But what I have not read or seen recently is how to directly stage a home for a particular market, which is what I was able to accomplish when we sold our home at that time.

During the previous 10 years, the town I was moving from had seen an influx in the Orthodox Jewish population, so I set out to learn as much as I could about this particular market's needs.  I did my research at the library, interviewed several real estate agents and selected an agent who was himself was an Orthodox Jewish Realtor®.  Single family homes were in great demand at the time; this before a building boom began a year later.  I had numerous Orthodox Jewish agents knocking on my door and leaving business cards in my mailbox so I knew the property was desirable.  I met new Orthodox Jewish neighbors who had moved into the neighborhood and I politely asked many questions about what my market would be looking for in a home.  I knew early on who would be interested in my home and devised a plan.

Prior to listing the home, we made some changes to the home to meet the desires of this unique population.  My spouse installed a double stainless sink in the kitchen as I understood that one side of the sink needed to remain kosher when preparing meals.  We only had 3 bedrooms in this home, two of which were small.  I understood that the average Orthodox Jewish family size consisted of 9 members; I had to stage the bedrooms to appear larger and able to accommodate growing families.  We pulled out all of the furniture and installed inexpensive bunk beds which made visible that at least 3 or 4 children could share one room.    

As many generations of Jewish families tend to live together, we wanted to improve our very large and dry basement, (which fortunately had high ceilings), and create added living space.  This was not a costly improvement and we were again so fortunate that the utilities were installed in the back of the basement so an inexpensive screen hid the unsightly water tank and water softener.  We created a pleasant looking bedroom and sitting area in this space, which appealed to many buyers who came through to view the home.  It did not have its own bathroom but a spacious half-bath was only located up the stairs from the basement.

Jewish families are known to have large family dinners during the Sabbath and on religious holidays. My dining room was not spacious but it did boast an open floor plan which meant that the dining room flowed into the formal living room. I downsized the living room to a few arm chairs and a small table and set-up a large dining table with my finest china, a few religious items and candles to show that great family dinners could indeed be enjoyed in this space. 

I held open houses before sundown on Fridays and after sundown on Saturdays to observe the Sabbath.  The Jewish buyers were forbidden to drive, work or do a number of other tasks on the Sabbath so I knew no one would come for an open house if I held it on a Saturday.  Sunday was my biggest open house day. 

I even staged my own appearance.  Knowing that Orthodox Jewish women dressed modestly, I wore a long skirt, long shirt and low shoes.  Pants worn in the presence of men were prohibited so I opted for a skirt.  (It was the fall so I did not look out of place.)  I did not go as far as to cover my hair with a snood, tichel (scarf) or a sheitel (wig) but I pulled it back to the nape of my neck.  I also had to get used to the fact that some Orthodox Jewish male buyers and agents did want to shake my female hand so I did not extend my hand when they entered the home. (That was hard to get used to as I always extend my hand.) I believe this rule means that someone was shomer negiah and that non-married people are prohibited from showing physical affection, even in the form of a business relationship. I was not there to offer any feminist opinions; I just wanted to sell my house so I held my hands behind my back!

I did make one mistake, though.  I took a trip to the Jewish market and picked up many wonderful cookies and desserts, which I left for the potential buyers to select during the open house.  Unfortunately, the serving dishes I used were not kosher so no one took any of the items.  However, my family and I enjoyed several new treats we probably would not have purchased otherwise! 

We had several bids for the property and the home sold successfully.  Buyers seemed to be especially appreciative that the home was staged with their interests in mind.  I overheard buyers say during the tours, "This dining room is big enough for my Sabbath table" and "We can fit all the children in this bedroom."

One type of community that is much easier to promote to the specific buyer would be a retirement community.  I noticed in one of Paulia Kennedy's retirement community listings, such as Fox Creek  that she will specifically state, 'no step entry' (to the home) or 'wide doorways' to accommodate a wheelchair or walker. 

I understand that in many communities one would not gear a stage project for just one type of customer.  In fact, staging a home most often appeals to the masses because one would not know who exactly who would walk through the door.  But in a community where homes are in great demand by a specific culture or religious entity, it may pay-off to stage the home to attract a specific buyer.  It is all about knowing who that customer may be; it could be anybody or it could be a specific population.  And remember, there's a fine line about being culturally correct as one would not wish to be insulting by stereotyping.

Janine Gregor is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy
She can be reached at YourVirtualWizard@tampabay.rr.com

Hello,

This is Janine Gregor, Paulia Kennedy's Real Estate Virtual Assistant reporting today...

I am always looking at agent listings to see how properties are described.  Although I have conferred with Paulia Kennedy on only a handful of her listing descriptions, when the task has been offered to me, it is something I tackle with pleasure.  Paulia makes it easy for me though, (as I have mentioned in prior blog entries) because her listing photographs are really 'so good' and so very detailed that, I can describe a property quite well without even stepping foot on the lot.

When Paulia has asked me to write a listing description, I begin by scouting the competition's listings for good words and often have a chuckle knowing that some descriptions really require 'reading between the lines'.

It isn't always what agents describe them to be. 

Most agents want to accentuate the positive and downplay the negative.  It's all part of getting the buyer into seeing the home. However, it is important to use the right lingo so as not to mislead a buyer into thinking, for example, that 'easy access to everywhere' could really mean that the home backs up to an expressway. 

In researching this blog post, I came across a great booklet by an organization called National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. This organization published a report entitled "Home buyer Report 2008 Report on Home Buying Euphemisms and Lingo or, How to Read Between the Lines When You're Shopping for a Home". It's a great read here which catalogs several euphemisms from their members and the 'real' meanings of these descriptions compiled from listings throughout the country.

I've summarized a few:

Galley Kitchen - Can mean a hallway with cupboards and appliances that two people could not occupy at the same time. Deep South.

Waterfront - Sometimes means a man-made pond or lake instead of gulf access.  Deep South. (I see this often living here in Florida, particularly in areas with subdivisions boasting 'waterfront' a.k.a., man-made lakes. When water levels drop, these lakes are more like dry beds or mud pits.) 

Water View - Sometimes used even when you have to stand on the roof with binoculars and it must be an extremely clear day to see the water. Northeast.

Very Bright Sunny Home - Can mean there is not a tree in sight. Used everywhere.

Unique Design - Sometimes means you have to walk through a bedroom to get to a bonus room or to the exterior. This is most likely a defect in the floor plan. Southeast.

Turnkey - Can mean they want to sell the home with the 80's furniture that they (seller) doesn't want to haul away. Mountain.

Subject to Third Party Approval - Often indicates a short sale or sometimes indicates a relocation company is involved. In all cases, this means you will be negotiating with two different parties on the seller's side. Expect some additional frustrations and delays. Most areas.

Renovated Kitchen - Can mean new faucets and new knobs on the old cabinets.  Midwest.

Quaint Cottage - Can mean a wood frame house from the 50's and less than 600 sq. ft. Deep South.

Period Home - Could mean a 1700's home in original condition with a summer kitchen in the basement.  Northeast.

Newer Furnace and A/C - In one case they were 25 years old each (also confirmed by a home inspector).  When the listing agent was asked why she was stating they were newer she stated, "Because each one of them had received a new part within the last year."  Midwest.

Mechanic's Dream - It is often a real dump, but it typically has a big garage. Midwest.

Mature Landscaping - There was a 40-year old cottonwood tree that needed to be cut down before it fell on the house.  Midwest.

Light and Bright - Everything was white. White ceramic tile flooring and bright white paint everywhere. It looked like a hospital. Midwest.

Grandma's house - Hasn't been improved since she moved in and it still smells like her. Midwest.

Janine Gregor
Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy

September 2, 2008 - Today, Trademark Real Estate, Inc. of Hot Springs, AR welcomed the United Blood Services mobile unit to its parking lot to assist in a blood drive.  Many of the Trademark Realtors and associates from the surrounding businesses stepped up and donated blood today. 

There is always an urgent need for blood in our local area, with our hospitals going through about 1,000 pints of blood every month.  With the area filled with the hurricane evacuees this week, the hospitals have an increased need at this time.

I was happy to be one of those participants early this morning -- even though I believe I may have been one of their select few that almost passed-out afterwards.  Every time that I donate blood, it seems that my energy is zapped for the whole day after I recover from the dizzy spell immediately afterwards ... but I'll continue to do it as long as I can.  I'm so glad to be a qualified candidate that is able to give.  It's absolutely worth the minor pain from the needle sticks, and the short period of feeling ill - when you know that your blood may have helped saved someone else's life.

Paulia Kennedy

With lean times come creative minds...and obviously, real estate sales are no different.  As a real estate virtual assistant my antenna is always in the 'up' position to be alerted to creative selling.  I've collected a few tidbits I'd like to share with our readers.

As you know, in a soft market residents must try that much harder to sell their properties if they want to relocate. I saw a news program recently about the increase in home swapping.   One family listed their home on Craigslist in the 'home swap' category.  I checked it out and it was true!  One such ad was a swap for a home in the Tulsa, OK area for a home in Little Rock, AR. 

Paulia Kennedy emailed me last month that she and her husband and real estate partner/guru, Jeff had made some incredible land swaps, which of course still meant fantastic commissions on the deal.  When I asked her to elaborate, she wrote, "...about the only thing different that we've been doing is focusing on trading properties among sellers. Since the homes aren't selling as fast, we've found that if we can hook up the right 2 sellers that are interested in trading their homes, land, or even multiple properties ... it ends up a great deal for everyone. We just did a huge swap that resulted in a little over $5 million in sales last month. It took lots of work putting all the right properties together with the perfect 2 sellers -- but it turned out great!"  (And this, readers is precisely the reason why the Kennedy Team has been recognized in their July press release, "...by the prestigious Institute for Luxury Home Marketing for their recent performance in the million-dollar and above luxury home market within Hot Springs, Arkansas.") 

Another creative advertisement which piqued my interest appeared on my local news.  A Florida homeowner painted 'For Sale' on his roof so that the advertisement could be seen by commuters from a nearby bridge. He was forced to remove the sign by his homeowners association but he was able to obtain the TV and print press he was looking for.

I have also read about "2 for 1" sales with some folks offering a plot of land with the sale of the home or in one case the sale of the main home included the 'freebie' of a smaller bungalow elsewhere.  Other intriguing sales ads I have noticed include a car with the purchase of the home and another offered the plasma TV. 

One of my neighbors, who owns a landscaping business offered a year's worth of landscaping services with the sale of his property.  This home seems to have more traffic than other homes in our subdivision and the owner tells me his own business has picked-up new clients as a result of this creative offer.  I don't believe the home has sold as of late but I applaud his creativity.

One Florida real estate agent team offers free air-conditioned bus tours of foreclosures and was featured on my local news as well.  Many of these foreclosure tours have sprouted up around the country and offer a great way to learn about buying a foreclosure as the title and insurance agents are seated on the same bus ride with the participants! 

I'm interested in knowing about other ways to creatively sell real estate.  What are some creative selling techniques that have been used in your area?

Janine Gregor
Real Estate Virtual Assistant to Paulia Kennedy

• Use a good camera with a flash. Very simply, a camera phone won't work and most indoor photographs are grainy and unusable. If you can splurge on a wide lens, by all means do so. Good, wide exterior photos are hard to come by so a wide lens can be a blessing. Otherwise, I've worked with exterior photos taken from across the street, which allows the photographer to capture the width of the home but sacrifices nice exterior details. If you don't have a wide angle lens, photograph up-close in two sections and use a photo stitching program to bring the two parts together. 

• When photographing the kitchen; one of the most important rooms in any listing, remove the garbage can. I cannot tell you how many times I have to 'crop out' the unsightly garbage can and this, in kitchens which feature stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops. The garbage is quite a distraction from even the most beautiful of kitchens.

• Let the countertops shine, which means, remove the clutter. The 'one appliance rule' seems to work best, so before taking the photograph, consider taking the time to unplug the blender, coffeemaker, microwave oven and move these items temporarily to another room. A clean countertop makes for a great photo even if the countertops are not the highlight of the kitchen.

• I often view virtual tours from other agents to see what the competition is doing. I cannot tell you how many times I see the agents' binders, cell phone, flyers, business cards and car keys in the photographs, particularly on the dining room table and kitchen countertops. The same rule applies…take away the clutter, don't add to it and put these accessories in another room for the photo shoot.

• I realize some rooms will never shine in any photograph; the paint might be too bold, the wall paper might be dated, the room may be small, but removing the laundry and making the bed really helps to improve the look of any bedroom. 

• Try not to include the family pet in the shoot. I've worked with photographs where the family pet is using the cat litter box, walking on the kitchen countertops or sleeping on the living room couch. Again, this is another distraction and some buyers might be turned off just knowing that a 75 lb Labrador shares every inch of a home they might consider purchasing. If the house is being marketed as a pet-friendly home with its own doggie door, tiled floors and fenced in yard, then adding these items to the listing description is smart marketing but do leave the family pet photos out. You want to highlight the home itself and its best features. Some buyers don't appreciate pets. Good photographs should appeal to the masses.

• Bathrooms often don't photograph well because it is very difficult to get inside and position the camera at such an angle to capture the entire room. But if you are able to get a good shot of the bathroom, close the toilet seat and pull the shower curtain. The room will look much neater and a closed curtain acts as a nice background for small and under-decorated rooms. I've often suggested to my agents to carry a pleasant-looking, light shower curtain in their car if the bathroom doesn't have a nice one. It only takes a few minutes to attach but can really make a difference in an unappealing bathroom. One clean, unused bar of soap, one hand towel and a freshly folded bath towel are all that is needed to tidy up a small bathroom. I call that my 'agent bathroom staging kit'. 

• Finally, take many, many pictures….as many as you can; at least 50 per listing. Turn the lights off, turn them on, move the door, photograph from all angles and not just from the main doorways. A nice trick Paulia uses is to stand in front of something decorative such as a fountain and have this item in the foreground while the home is in the background. I've seen her use this technique when a tree or bush is in full bloom so the flowering portion borders the photograph and the home is photographed featured in the background all in one frame. Even the least desirable looking homes can really shine if photographed this way. 

Hello!

I'm so pleased to be on board with The Kennedy Team.  I've so enjoyed learning about the state of Arkansas and in particular, the unique real estate market of historic Hot Springs. I'll share what I've learned with Paulia's readers on her blog while I attempt to keep pace with Trademark Real Estate's Number One agents!

How fast have you closed a listing?

Last week, Paulia emailed me that the Kennedy Team had picked up a new listing on a stretch of a Hot Springs' Highway 290.  As I was jotting down the particulars to prepare to market the listing through http://www.Bestofhotsprings.com virtual tours, craigslist, MLS and the likes, another email came through that the property had already been SOLD.   

Now I have worked with a number of real estate clients from all over the country since I began my virtual assistance business over 2 years ago, whose properties have sold in days...usually weeks and recently months, but never in less than 24 hours or in this case, never in less than 2 hours!

I joked with Paulia that the "...ink hadn't even dried on the contract..." and then decided this might make for some interesting blog content. Wow! This Kennedy Team is good!

I asked Paulia to give me a play-by-play...

She wrote, "...as we began to get prepared to officially list the property...we first started with placing a "For Sale" on the fence, and had not even had time to take pictures of the property, nor begin marketing the property in the MLS, online, etc. Within about 1 1/2 hours of placing the sign on the property, the buyer called and WANTED that property. He was very familiar with the property, and lived nearby, so he knew that it was the perfect property for him. Jeff then met him at the property for a quick look, and then to our office to write the contract.  In less than 2 hours, we had an offer and an acceptance on the property."

Amazing!

Having worked with hundreds of listings throughout the years, I often check with my client-agents and brokers regarding the status of their listings as I am always interested in the outcome.  (A bit of a listing-junkie, I find great satisfaction from assisting in marketing a listing and to see it through to the closing day.) If the property hasn't closed, I expect one of two answers:  the deal is both moving along well and I'll have an anticipated closing date, OR, I will be the recipient of a lengthy 'venting' email from the agent explaining the usual snags which can hold up, or worse, yet, cancel the sale of a listing.  (I've often thought the VA really stood for Venting Assistant instead of Virtual Assistant!) 

But when a listing goes 'just right' at Olympic-style speed, it's all worth writing about.  It's pure joy to share!  This particular Kennedy transaction was truly a case of everything going just the right way at the right time.  The Kennedys' had the right product; the buyer had all of the product knowledge needed to make a decision on the spot; and the seller knew exactly what price he wanted to complete the sale.  It was a mutual meeting of the minds; the Yin and the Yang, the Ebb and Flow of the Tide, Karma; you name it and everything went as planned and as it was designed to do.

Of course it helps that the sale was direct-to-the-seller's-agent, (which created a "dual agent" performance on Jeff's part), and no attorneys were needed....factors which can alter the course of a good real estate transaction, and sometimes rightfully so.  Yes, this was a good, old fashioned, simple, sign-on-the-dotted-line sale.

Not only was I intrigued with the speed in the signing of this sale, but the listing-type was unique as well. This property served no other purpose than to house other homeowner's luxury vehicles and 'toys' as opposed to being a residential property or even a second-home resort listing. 

Paulia explained, "Since the time of the sign going up, we've received about 3 calls per day on this property ... purely from the sign (as we didn't even have a chance to begin any marketing on this property).  This property is one of those one-of-a-kind properties that is in great demand.... a nice, clean 5,000 square foot metal storage building/warehouse priced around $300,000 ... complete with a 1,500 square foot heated/cooled apartment area which includes an office area, 3/4 bathroom, living room, and bedroom/ and about 3,500 square feet of heated storage space with electric roll-up doors on about 1.5 acres of cleared flat ground -- very secure with a full chain link fence with razor wire coiled along the top for extra security. It's in a well-lit area with a street light on the edge of the property, and conveniently located on Hwy 290 with easy access. With many homeowners in this resort area being second-home owners and it seems that many of these residents have lots of large toys such as boats, boat trailers, Sea-doos, four-wheelers, extra automobiles, etc.. However, their luxury waterfront homes do not have much extra space for storage of all of these toys. Needless to say, I wish we could find about ten more of these properties to sell.... there's lots of buyers out there that are looking for this kind of property."

So I ask, "How fast have you closed on a listing?"  Share your story with us!

Happy 4^th of July!

Regards,

Janine Gregor for Paulia Kennedy

Note:  The contract was signed in under 2 hours and the actual closing took place in under 2 weeks!

Hello Bloggers,

Happy 4^th of July 2008!  It's been some time since I've been on the blog as Jeff and I have been incredibly busy despite a slowing economy this past year. We've sold a little over $14.7 million thus far this year, which is almost double our sales volume for the year of 2007.  (Last year we did a little over $9 million.) We're also thrilled to mention that we're currently the leading agents in Hot Springs and Garland County, Arkansas. 

In order to manage this huge increase in business, we added a few others to our team this year. . .  Debi Jones -  another great Sales Agent; John Watson - our very reliable runner/handyman/custom-sign maker; and then my wonderful real estate virtual assistant - Janine Gregor.  Janine has really been a god-send, and has provided so MUCH to our services with her creative talents.  She also plans to assist us in maintaining this blog so you will note that some of the entries will be from her own real estate virtual assistant perspective. 

So  you'll 'see' more of me here. Feel free to jump in with any comments or questions. 

Paulia Kennedy