Simple Tips for Creating Repeat Customers
An important way to maintain a successful book of business is to have repeat customers. The challenge today is the lack of inventory means people are now moving on average about every 9-10 years rather than every 6-7 years.
Here are some simple ways to expand your business with your past single-family residence clients.
- A small income property (2-4 units) can be a very smart investment for a variety of reasons. These properties are treated the same as single family properties in terms of their financing and down payment. This means they’re easier to purchase and may have higher returns than larger rental building that require more expensive financing.
- Another option is to buy a condominium for another family member such a child attending college. Roommates can cut down on the cost and there is also an opportunity for appreciation on the investment.
- Given the high number of baby boomers, housing an older relative can be another option. A duplex could also be a smart alternative for a parent who wants independence but still wants to be close to their adult children. Best of all, once the mortgage is paid for, an investment property can provide a retirement income for years to come.
Four Simple Tips to Improve Your Mileage
Gas prices are up again. If you want to improve your mileage and save money on your gas expenses, here are some quick tips.
- First, you can reduce your gas consumption by 31 to 37 percent simply by gently accelerating rather than gunning it.
- You can also save money by taking your foot off the accelerator as soon as you see a light ahead of you change.
- Slow down. It saves 12-14 percent in gasoline costs and you get the benefit of reducing your stress.
- Save 7-14 percent by using your cruise control. Humans don’t accelerate or decelerate as smoothly as a computer does.
- Finally, gasoline expands when it is warmer and contracts when it is cooler. Fill up in the morning where you will have fewer fumes and more liquid.
Bill Gates Got It Wrong in 2000 and He’s Still Wrong Today
In 1995, Bill Gates predicted that real estate agents would become obsolete by the year 2000 because people would purchase their homes on-line. Today, Gate’s prediction is still wrong.
According to NAR, only one percent of all buyers purchased a home without viewing it first. In fact, 81 percent of all buyers viewed the homes they purchased between two and six times.
Home buying is an emotional process for most people. Looking at on-line pictures can never duplicate the sense of what it’s like to walk through the property. When it’s time to purchase, close to 99 percent of us want to see what we are buying in person.
Brave New World
If you’re affiliated with Better Homes and Gardens, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran Group, ERA, or Sotheby’s International, your company will be among the first to implement changes that are most likely to result in buyers having to negotiate their own commissions.
The question is what will this brave new world look like? In July of 2021, the NWMLS implemented a series of changes that address this issue and apparently meet with the DOJ’s approval. Here’s the explanation from the article I did back in July of 2022 about what they did and how this may look for anyone selling a property listed by the firms above. 
The NWMLS made two significant changes that allow the buyer and the buyer’s agent to negotiate directly with the seller the amount of the buyer’s commission.
The first step in killing future commission bombshell litigation involves ending the current model of sharing commissions. Instead,
“The compensation the seller offers to the buyer broker will be determined by the seller, rather than commission sharing between the two brokerage firms.”
The second step clearly allows commissions to be negotiated between the buyer, the buyer’s agent, and the seller.
The compensation the seller offers to the buyer broker will be prominently stated on the first page of the NWMLS purchase and sale agreement, with an opportunity for the compensation to be accepted by the buyer and the buyer’s broker or modified by the parties in an addendum.
This week’s CoachingClues ** is vital to your business if you intend to continue to represent buyers. Use this column as a starting point for how you will create your personal buyer value proposition Second, if your local or state board of realtors, MLS, or your company offers “buyer broker” training, sign up for it now.
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Most Notable Findings from the NYT Sexual Harassment Investigation
On Saturday August 26, 2023, New York Times Reporter Debra Kamin broke the story about sexual harassment at NAR. Here’s the press release concerning the story along with a link where you can read the entire report.
The New York Times’s Debra Kamin reports: The powerful National Association of Realtors (N.A.R.) has ignored sexual harassment complaints, including those against the group’s president, Kevin Parcell.
Debra Kamin spoke to more than 25 members about complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination, and retribution by Mr. Parcell and other N.A.R. leaders. 
For more than 100 years, the American housing industry has been dominated by N.A.R., which has 1.5 million dues-paying members, 66% women, making it the largest professional organization in the country, controlling access to nearly every American home listing and owning the trademark to the word “Realtor.”
Despite the organization’s size and reach, employees and Realtors interviewed by The Times criticized its leadership as a tight circle of allies who deflected wrongdoing and punished those who complain. Sixteen of the allegations examined by The Times of either sexual harassment or an abusive culture involved Mr. Parcell, which several women described as a boss who crossed lines.
From the story:
- One woman said the man put his hands down his pants in front of her. Another woman said the same man texted her a picture of his crotch. A third woman said she had a consensual relationship with the man, only to have him retaliate after it ended.
- “There is the sexual harassment, and then woven into it, this culture of fear,” said Stephanie Quinn, the organization’s former director of business meetings and events, who worked at N.A.R. for more than a decade.
- Many women who brought concerns to N.A.R. said that the response from leaders discouraged them from ever speaking up again about harassment inside the organization.
- Nineteen women who worked at or were active in N.A.R. or its affiliates told The Times in interviews that they had endured sexual harassment on the job.
- Another 10 said they were subjected to a sexist, belittling culture.
Click here to read the complete investigation.
As this story has continued to unfurl at lightning speed, I still must wait on my editors at Inman for their editorial comments before I can share those columns with you. Next week there will be a special edition with at least two articles documenting the unbelievable events that are taking place even as you read this column.