Chicago and Southern Illinois Real Estate Happenings

 (Click on this picture to get a great movie about the life and WAY of life of Vince Lombardi) 

Do you have the will to win?
Does doing everything (legally, morally and ethically) you can
to get a listing or secure a client sound like a good concept to you?
How many times have you lost a listing because you did not go into the
listing meeting with a "I can win this client" attitude; instead saying to yourself, "I HOPE I get this client...."

• Did you follow through with that great attitude you had going in?
• Did you give the facts about the property AND the market as it stands? (Did you do a Proper CMA?)
• Did you stand tough on your commission?
• Did you promise great service to the prospective client?
• Did what you say to the client seem believable?

Following through with a great attitude is just the beginning......
Doing your homework on a property and subdivision, standing tough on your commission,
and promising great service that is believable in what you tell about what you are going to do is what wins clients.

That is part of the reason I have over 120 people on drip e-mails; every week that number grows.......

I promise nothing I can't deliver. Central Florida real estate is what I deliver to my clients.

Right now I am concentrating on buyers, because it is a buyers market.

Pretty soon I am going to be concentrating on listings......

Another media company has published findings from economists about central Florida real estate......

• As the cost of gas and the rising foreclosure numbers affect the states economy, a LOT of people
  looking at what is going on say we will NOT go into recession. "The rate of growth is decelerating,
  but all the economic drivers are in place" to avoid an economic downturn, including job creation,
  population growth and personal-income growth, said Snaith, director of UCF's Institute for Economic Competitiveness.
• "I don't see an outright recession" for Florida or the U.S., said Per Gunnar Berglund, the senior
  economist who studies Florida for Westchester, Pa.-based Economy .com. "As it turned out,
  we were really too bearish about the impact the housing downturn would have on employment,"
  Berglund said. "We don't see the huge layoffs we expected. Instead, commercial construction
  has buffered the residential sector's weakness, he said, and shows no signs of a collapse.
  
• "We're very bullish on the Central Florida economy for the long term," said Nick Pope, managing
  partner of the Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed law firm in Orlando. About 60 percent
  of the 125-lawyer firm's business is real-estate-related.  

So, there you have it...my proof that we are doing just fine in central Florida real estate. Along
with the sales numbers I posted in a previous blog, everything is pointing to a "soft landing"...
it just will not be like it was in the "boom years"...and I know a LOT of agents who got used
to it in those years are going to be disappointed.

BUT ---- a good agent adjusts to how the market shifts.  

(Info taken from "Yahoo news")

 State wide home sales are back to normal levels, says the Florida Association of Realtors®.

• 12,607 homes were sold in May and were more in line with activity in May 2002 - prior to the housing boom years
• The median home price is at 237,000 while in May of 2002 the price was at 137,000 for a 72.9% increase.

It looks like while the boom is over, local markets, including central Florida real estate, are back to normal.

All the doom and gloom the media has poured onto the public never materialized!!

It is true subprime markets are in turmoil, but those were highly speculatiuve loans anyway, right?

For the most part, the "real estate bust" never occured, just as many said long ago...the air went out of the market slowly.

It should be back business as usual now!!

What are you doing in the walk of life?

(Click on the "Foot Prints in the Sand" picture
for an inspirational movie!)

Do you feel like this picture some times...walking alone?

• You are never really alone -- there is always someone there to give some good advice, moral support or a helping hand.
• Sometimes they are just a cubicle away in the office, a phone call or an e-mail away.
• They can be your spouse, family, friends, acquaintances or current people you do business with.

Good friends make us feel cared about, valued and special.
If we need help, they are there to encourage us and give us heart to overcome situations in our lives.

• They do not just entertain us........ they give REAL encouragement and make us take stock of our lives.
• If needed, we can find what we need to change and change what needs changing.
• We can rejoice in what we find is RIGHT and use the strength of that knowledge to forge ahead.

With the help of good friends we find satisfaction in our work --- that is a gift from God.

• Good friends help us see the good that we do in the world.
• They let us see we are needed by others and we can make a positive difference in other lives.
• Do You have a smile when you know a buyer is going to the closing table ... and not just about your commission?
• Do you honestly feel joy when a seller you represent gets their transaction closed in a satisfactory way?

I have found people practicing real estate like that and MORE in the Active Rain group, "Christianity and Real Estate" 

Orlando Florida hosts the Annual Homebuyer Expo on Saturday, June 16th 2007

Over 150 exhibitors and 15,000 people are expected to walk through
the doors of the Orange County Convention Center from 10am till 5pm
this Saturday to see how easy and beneficial it can be to purchase
and own central Florida real estate.

The Florida Housing Finance Corp., which was started more than 20
years ago by the Florida Legislature to increase affordable housing
opportunities and provide home-ownership education for Florida residents
is hosting Saturday's event.

This year's expo will offer a lot to see and learn for low to moderate-income
buyers searching for affordable homes now that housing prices have dropped. 

Seeing that the market in central Florida is cooling off, sub-prime lenders
are drying up and investors are adopting a wait and see attitude, people
looking to purchase a home will find a LOT of bargains and concessions
from builders. The companies that build homes have to make a living too,
right? What better way to drum up sales than giving incentives to
prospective buyers, just like the big three American automakers have
done in the past.

The event will include an affordable housing forum, covering topics such
as subprime lending, foreclosure prevention, federal, state, and local down
payment assistance programs, and knowing when and what to do to buy a home.

In addition, organizers will offer:

Along with traditional home buying opportunities, the expo will be focusing on first
time home buyers, matching them up with providers of affordable housing programs
and giving them home-ownership training. 

This should help people who up till now have not owned a home or are
intimidated by the complexities of property ownership. This is a great opportunity
for people to learn and maybe jump into the process of acquiring a piece of
central Florida real estate.

The professionals who run these programs are great at helping
first time buyers understand the complex process that progresses in purchasing a
home and they help new owners understand what their blessings and responsibilities
are in owning a home.

The Knights Team is associated with the brokerage of Beach and Luxury Realty Inc. and
we are members of the West Florida Better Business Bureau: You will know you are
being treated with the utmost care and professionalism from beginning to end of your
central Florida real estate transaction. I am glad to be with a central Florida real estate 
office that has taken the time and effort to let prospective clients know they will be
treated well by us!

(Information taken from Florida Today)

                Click on the picture above to get a nice movie about
                      life and how to cope with its ups and downs!

Some things are more important than others:

• The love of a child, your spouse or good friends.
• Uplifting, inspiring associations in the workplace.
• A double rainbow reminding you of promises made by the Creator of the world.
• A wiggling puppy that is happy for your loving attention.

Things that are not as important in life and should be dealt with swiftly:

• "Friends" that criticize and demean you just to make themselves feel important or better than you.
• Business associates that have status, yet make life harder for you.
• Vendors and other professionals that do not do their job properly.
• Sellers, buyers and other professionals in this field (or anywhere) that try to lie and commit fraud.

"A good reputation is better than hordes of money."

 "Do not let kindness and truth forsake you...bind them around your neck, write them
on the tablet of your heart, and you will find favor and good insight in the eyes of God and man."

"A good name is preferable to great riches, favor is better than silver or gold."

 A good name is better than precious oil....."

"Each one should look out not only for their own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which is in the Messiah Jesus:"

• Who being in the form of God did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
• He emptied himself and took on the life and attitude of a servant.
• He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

I know I LOVE to live for God...... to die for him is so much harder.....

I am learning as I go...... how about you?
Non of us are perfect nor should we claim to be.

Find people who care about YOU in "Christianity and Real Estate"

This is a happy occasion of acquiring 100,000 points for this Active Rain member......WOOHOO!! I wanted to do a post about other members posts, but I will be doing that every month with the "Top Blogs of the Month". So, I have chosen the top 10 posts I have made according to readership, clicks and comments. This post is going to take a while to compile, so I am starting BEFORE I have gotten to 100,000 points.

With no further ado, here it goes:

1. With over 3200 views, 79 "Clicks" and just 2 comments....... Central Florida Happenings -- Things are getting better out there
2. With over 2400 views, over 120 "Clicks" and 12 comments..... A Florida loan officer is caught doing the unthinkable
3. Made when I just started on Active Rain in 7/06, this post has gotten a LOT of exposure (over 2200 views)....The market is changing, it's not a sellers market anymore
4. Along with the above post, this blog entry is right up there with it at over 2200 views, also made early when I started in Active Rain .... National trends in the industry in the last 12 months.
5. Has this happened to you? ........  You got SOLD! .........a post about how loan companies sell our info without our consent. 
6. Then there is the subprime mortgage bail out....... and I hope LOTS of people find this info if they need help.
7. With the most comments I have ever gotten on a post (66) is ......... Featured posts, comments and clicks make more points!
8. With 38 comments, this post was a pot stirring read...... Are floorplans acceptable in Localism?
9. Coming in at 30 comments is... "What happens when you keep at it"...... a post about perseverance and tenacity in the industry.
10. Last but not least is ........ "A helpful 200th post"...... (I could NOT let GREAT links to other members be denied and HERE THEY ARE!)

I hope these "Best of my blogs" are informative and helpful. I have read the select few members posts who have gotten to this mile stone and I am privileged to be among them.  I have subscribed to a LOT of them also; they are the kind of people in this industry that others can emulate. I am at over 230 posts and I have read a LOT of posts and made many many comments to get to where I am......

If there is an 80/20 rule, I hope I am in the 20% who do the most work and get the most out of this wonderful network that has been created.

I feel I have gotten so much MORE back than what I have put into this network....I have met a LOT of great members who are professional, friendly and most of all --- people I can trust and look up to!

• Bob Sloop and his wife, Cyndi Sloop
• George Souto
• Diane Rice
• Jason Price
• Teri Isner
• Kristal Kraft
• Brian Brady
• Loreena Yeo
• Craig Schiller

And many, MANY more I have not included here.

I am so thankful I found Active Rain...... the group I started within the Active Rain community,"Christianity and Real Estate" has grown to over 250 members since its inception in January 2007. We have had MANY answers to prayer resulting in healing, deliverance from issues in life, and even the changing of circumstanmces in faith filled peoples lives! Great friendships have been made and there is so much encouragement to be had there!!

I can hardly wait to see what is in store for the future as we all go walking about in "The Rain"!

There are times when you do everything right.....

• You call the expireds or send postcards to them all the time.
• You keep in touch with people who say they want to buy a home.
• You talk to people who say they want to sell their home.
• Loan officers say they will send you clients ready, willing, able and QUALIFIED to purchase.
• You website is giving you even MORE hits than ever, and the people are staying LONGER on your site.

But, nothing happens.....

• Expireds are fed up with their home not selling
• The buyers that say they want to purchase are waiting for better terms (interest rates)
• Sellers are seeing the market and are skeptical of jumping in
• Loan officers don't come through for you
• You HAVE the hits on your website, but NOT the willingness of potential clients to buy or sell.

It seems EVERYONE is playing the waiting game.......

I was making calls on people who have registered on my website and I found a LIVE ONE...... Mr. Ready To BUY was excited and told me he had a great credit score, and he was on a month to month rental agreement. He gave me everything I needed to find him the home he wanted; seemingly the PERFECT client:

• Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
• Square footage the family wanted
• Type of garage they needed
• The location where they wanted to live

I was ready to go to town with this family and find them the home they wanted to purchase...I set up an MLS notification search so they could see homes for sale via e-mail as they became available in their area with the things they wanted in a home. I sent their contact info to a great loan officer (with their permission) to get them APPROVED for a loan so their offer would be a strong one.

They disappeared.

I have not heard from them in 2 weeks.

I called them several times, the loan officer called them several times... but not a peep back....

WHY do people do this?

I have no clue.

If I do not hear from them in another week or two I will cancel their MLS notification search....they MIGHT have been just using me.......I have no idea why...they don't pay me a thing when they use me to represent them...the seller pays me. I have no idea what they are thinking they will get out of this.......statistics have shown that people who use a competent agent get a home for BETTER terms and price than going it alone.

I guess getting them to sign a representation agreement would have been the way to go, hmm?

I usually do this, but they lived quite a ways from me......

Live and learn I always say.....