I want to invite you to my son’s new blog. He launched it last weekend and is already receiving good traffic. In fact, on Monday he had more visitors than me! It’s a shameless begging blog…but I’ll let him tell you about it.
Category Archives: Cool Sites
The "Ego Wall" When Negotiating Real Estate
I just finished reading a great post over on UrbanDigs regarding his particular strategy concerning negotiating to help his clients receive the lowest price possible when purchasing their property. It’s a good read and has sound thinking behind it. Worth your time.
My only concern is that I have found over the years that there is an imaginary Ego Wall that exists and you do not want to get crushed by it.
What am I talking about? Well, it has been my experience that there is a point at which a seller will negotiate in good faith and a point at which he will be insulted, challenged (or any other word you would like to throw in) to the point that he will be less malleable towards making the lowest deal possible to get the transaction done.
And just like Noah (as a buyer’s agent) doesn’t know how a seller will react or where he will go on his counter offer (if he even offers one once he’s been put off) I seldom know either when working for the seller. As Noah correctly points out almost every seller comes with their own unique set of circumstances and goals.
So while I understand, support and have used the low ball strategy I also caution my clients that when you low ball it still must be reasonable. Because it is my belief that once you make the seller an enemy you may have cost yourself money.
Filed under Cool Sites, Misc. Real Estate
Keller Williams Realty + Trulia + Google Base = Sold Listings
One thing I base my real estate business on is that the more places you can get your listings posted on the higher chance of success there will be of securing a qualified buyer. And beyond that, if I can be the person the clients contact when they find the home online the better off it will be for all involved in that no one will know more about the listing than me.
Anyway, I’m very excited that Keller Williams has signed a partnership agreement of so
me sort with Trulia and Google Base. Just today I tried to find my listings on Trulia and found all of them. It’s extremely accurate and up to date. Furthermore, when the client clicks the listing for more information it takes them directly to my website! From there they can continue their search or bounce around my website to find out more about my unique services.
Anyway, I think it’s great. Give the links a try and see where they take you. And let me know your take on the issue.
Chris Lengquist
Keller Williams Realty
Diamond Partners, Inc.
Olathe, KS
Filed under Cool Sites
HotPads.com – Find & List Rental Housing
Looking for a place to rent? Or are you a property owner looking for a good tenant?
You may want to check out HotPads.com. I had heard of this site sometime back but had forgotten about it until earlier today when I was bouncing around the internet between appointments. I was blown away.
The site is pretty impressive and is a good resource to find your next rental house, or, if you are a property owner, to list your home. Go to the site and check it out. If you have had any experiences with HotPads.com before drop me a comment or an email and let me know how it went for you. I’m curious to know!
Filed under Cool Sites, Property Management
Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us
I originally saw this at Rain City Guide. (See link to side.)
Filed under Cool Sites
Flipper Nation
I almost fell down laughing when I watched this…
Flipper Nation: The First Flip
There’s more where this came from at: FlipperNation.com
If you cannot view this video, you can check it out at YouTube instead.
Filed under Cool Sites, Real Estate Investing
Zillow, Craig’s List…The Internet & Real Estate
The single greatest change to real estate in the last 10 years is easily summed up in one word: Internet. Formerly, real estate agents had all of the knowledge when it came to homes, home values, what was or would become available. And they guarded this information! Heck, when I lived out in DC I had a real estate agent friend who used to get me thermal copy print-offs of certain houses and then threaten me to within an inch of my life if I told anybody that she had given it to me. It seemed it was a violation of, if not the MLS rules, the agent code.
Today with a visit to any REALTOR’s website John Q. Public can easily access tens of thousands of listings in his home area complete with basic information and multiple photos, satellite views and virtual tours. The public can easily compare prices between what is out there and make an informed decision about which houses to see WITHOUT having to rely on the real estate agent.
So to what value is the real estate agent today?
I’m glad you asked. Go to a site like Zillow. Check out the property values and asking prices? Are they relevant? Accurate? Complete? Craig’s List is becoming a growing player in real estate and I know many who use the site. How complete is it? For that matter, how honest are some of the sellers. These are great sites. But can they give you the intangibles as well as the raw numbers?
I’m all for sharing housing and sales information with anyone that wants it. Jackson County, Missouri last year started allowing anyone to go on to their website and see what closed sales were for any given area within their jurisdiction. (Much to the chagrin of many of the old time agents.) I think it’s great. But the professional real estate agent still belongs in the arena. After all, even if you are the most savvy buyer out there, you do all your research and prepare your own contracts you still will have less experience negotiating and “walking the contract through to close” than even some of the most inexperienced agents.
How many homes will the average buyer/seller live in through their adult life? Three? Five? Seven? Jeez, I participated in more transactions than that in my first six months of business…not including my own purchases before becoming an agent.
Do the Internet portals help you with school information? What about commercial development news or whether a neighborhood may be transitioning up or down? Yes, there is definitely a place for he professional agent today and in the future. Job function may be evolving, but the job is still in place. Today more than ever I’m really an agent for my community and area of expertise than a keeper of housing knowledge.
Filed under Cool Sites, Kansas City Real Estate
BBQ Capital | Kansas City Real Estate Investing 