Are you asking clients this important question?

 

We are now almost halfway 2014 and the inventory shortage has continued and shows little evidence of easing anytime soon.  One particular avenue worth exploring for any real estate agent facing low inventory issues is introducing new construction to your client.  According to our Builders Update Survey, which regularly surveys thousands of agents around the country, less than 10% of active real estate agents regularly show new construction to buyers.  The reasons for this statistic are varied, however in today’s market including the question “Have you considered new construction?” in the list of questions you ask a new client could result better servicing the client’s needs and closing a deal faster with less frustration.

 

Asking your client in an initial interview about their attitude, experience of, and desire for new construction could be answered by the client in several ways ranging from “You know, I didn’t even think about it, sure!” to “No, I’d really prefer an older more established neighborhood.”

 

Regardless of the clients answer, by not asking if the client would consider new construction you are limiting the options available to both you and your client, and in turn possibly risking a referral later on if the client later wishes they had looked at new construction.

 

Additionally, asking the “new construction” question will not only yield valuable information whether or not to show them new construction; but it can also lead to discovering valuable information that could help you sell an existing home as well; for example a client may respond that they know that a new home has far fewer maintenance issues and that’s important to them, but they still want an older home.  Wow, great information, the client just told you that maintenance will be an important factor in their buyer decision.  If you ask the question “Have you considered new construction”, you’ll find that most clients are very open to it; and the end result will likely be that you’ll service the client more effectively and close a deal faster with less hassle.

What are the most important words in the real estate business?

To any hard working agent who thinks about all the activities they do that generate business during the year, the most important words that come to mind would be: Follow Up!

It’s the most valuable tool in the tool box if for no other reason than it generates the highest return for the effort expended. That being said, be proactive by following up and staying in touch with past clients is one thing many agents forget about.  It’s amazing what a simple phone call or, even better, a hand written card that says “Just wanted to check to see how the new house is now that you’ve had time to settle in.” Send it 4-6 months after a sale and see what it will do to increase your referral business. From time to time take a moment to pull all the sales and contracts you’ve handled in the past 12 months and schedule a follow up contact 4 – 6 months after a closing.

Consider the following questions…What would 2 additional referrals per year do for your personal income? And how will that compound itself over 5 years?

How many of your referrals come from past clients? What other ways do you follow up with your clients? Please comment and let us know!

BuildersUpdate.com relaunches with ‘device agnostic’ responsive design

Source: Inman News

New-home search site BuildersUpdate.com has relaunched with responsive design, catering to the growing use of mobile devices among real estate agents and consumers.

Responsive design is a type of Web design that adapts a site’s layout according a user’s screen size, thereby allowing users to view a site comfortably on any device, including smartphones and tablets. Homes.com recently launched a responsive design website platform for agents, Homes Connect Fusion.

“With over 80 percent of consumers using websites to search for new homes, and over 65 percent relying on mobile and tablet search engines, the transition from PC/laptop users to tablet/smartphone users has been radical and fast-moving,” said John Navarrete, managing partner of Prologue Branding Group, the branding strategy firm selected by Builders Update to design the site, in a statement.

“Our goal was to deliver the Builders Update message and value proposition succinctly and effectively in a device-agnostic manner.”

In a statement, Juan Barrera, designer of the new look and feel for BuildersUpdate.com, said responsive design is about understanding how your audience consumes your content in today’s digital era.

“It’s a fluid design that works with the user as they transition from laptop to tablet to smartphone during the normal activities of their workday. It was the logical choice for Builders Update to use considering the dramatic shift to mobile devices within the real estate community,” he said.

Builders Update covers 100 of the nation’s top metros and claims to display more than 80 percent of the total new-home inventory available in the U.S. More than 70 percent of new homes being sold are by licensed real estate agents, the company said.

“We wanted to cater to the ever-changing needs of our primary focus group, and deliver a tool that will meet the growing need to access available new-home inventory as existing inventory starts to shrink,” said Bill Gaul, CEO of BuildersUpdate.com, in a statement.

Last week, Builders Update and real estate tech firm RealBiz Media Group announced a partnership that would bring new-home inventory to NestBuilder.com, a video-centric listing portal and agent directory that is operated by RealBiz and launched nationwide earlier this month.

In August, Builders Update was granted a patent for its online search engine, which connects prospective buyers of new homes to real estate agents.

In October, Builders Update signed its first deal with an MLS, the Austin/Central Texas Realty Information Service (ACTRIS), which is owned and operated by the Austin Board of Realtors.

RealBiz Media Group Inc. Announces Partnership with Builders Update

RealBiz Media Group Inc. and Builders Update announced their partnership to exclusively provide real estate agents direct access to new homes and homes under construction by homebuilders throughout the U.S. on RealBiz Media Group’s nestbuilder.com. Builders Update’s database inventory, currently including over 110,000 properties, will be added onto the Nestbuilder platform, driven by RealBiz Media’s patented video stitching technology, which already includes listings from the multiple listing services. Through this new direct-to-agent tool, the agents’ options are expanded to include both home listings for their clients as well as potential homebuyer leads directly to the agents at no fee. Agents can also access additional geo-specific inventory, greatly enhancing their ability to offer homebuyers a broader spectrum of homes in their communities. This additional inventory component is also available to homebuyers, who can contact registered agents directly regarding these new construction properties. Floor plans for custom ordering will also be available.

Solving the low inventory problem

The Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) has reached an agreement with Buildersupdate.com to provide members special access to a patented tool for locating newly constructed homes.  The decision will expand the number of choices readily available to real estate agents and consumers when shopping for a new home in the Austin area.  The additional showing and purchasing options created by this agreement will help relieve some of the problems in the real estate market caused by inventory shortages.

 

“ABoR’s mission is to meet the needs of Realtors® and the consumers they serve.  When we first found out about the BuildersUpdate.com system, and how it solves the agents’ problems with selling new construction, we knew we needed to work out an agreement with them.  Builders Update will provide ABoR’s site, Austinhomesearch.com, with a way to connect consumers looking for new construction with a licensed real estate agent,” states Beth Gatlin, Director of Member Services for the Austin Board of Realtors^®.  “With the all the Realtor® specific features, the ease of use for the consumers, and the fact that Builders Update provides the system to ABoR, our members, and consumers at no charge; we feel it is a great solution that will serve the needs of the marketplace.”

 

According to a spokesperson at NAR(The National Association of Realtors®),The Austin Board of Realtors® was one of the early adopters of an online MLS system, the system by which Realtors list and search for mostly resale homes.  “We have been recently inundated with requests from Realtor Boards around the country to demo our patented system; so we are extremely pleased to announce that our first MLS agreement is with an MLS that is highly regarded nationally as a forward thinker,” states Bill Gaul, CEO of BuildersUpdate.com.

 

“With the growing shortage of available properties to sell in a variety of cities across the country, selling new home inventory supplements resale inventory in addition to creating jobs,” suggests Lee Goldstein, COO of BuildersUpdate.com. According to published statistics from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) every 100 new homes constructed creates 300 jobs for one year. “In addition to the construction jobs created by new homes, the economic activity created after the purchase of a new home is critical to job creation in the retail and service sector,” Gaul said. 

Build Your Niche!

Technology, social media, and the new real estate economy have created the perfect landscape for carving new and exciting niches in real estate. Join Laura Monroe, Social Media Director of Inman News, for a discussion that includes:
• Finding new opportunities in real estate for niches
• Setting up your online presence to attract niche clients
• Using social media to leverage your niche
• Partnering with companies that allow you to collaborate with clients via technology
In this free webinar you will hear directly from panelists Bill Gaul, CEO, Builders Update; Chadney Barcus Director of Interactive Technology at Saddletree Homes; and S. Robert August, National Association of Home Builders – National Sales and Marketing Council. Don’t miss the chance to hear how they are using niche marketing to their advantage.

Digging Up Holes

I think Deb Burger said it right, “You will have to dig deeper into buyer registration.” Since starting the discussion about standards we’ve seen it focus on “Buyer Registration”. We’ve seen a lot of posts revolving around the process of registration, filling out the card, the client checking the “I have a agent” box, agents registering a client and not showing up at the model with the client, etc…. It seems to me that although minor variations exist from builder to builder, the process is essentially the same; and has been for decades. That being said several builders I’ve spoken with and that have commented on this discussion have said they have paid undeserved commissions to avoid bad blood with entire brokerages, or had agents register a client and then never show up when the client visits the model, etc…. Conversely, approximately 1/3rd of our surveyed agents report having had a conflict with a builder over a commission; and we have seen a number of comments about the difficulty of definitively establishing procuring cause. 

Considering how long the system has been in place and how many commission related issues builders and agents still deal with….why doesn’t the system work properly more often than it does? In your opinion what are the flaws in the system that allow for confusion, “he said-she said”, and lack of accountability?

A Cure for “Cutthroat-itis”

In the last few posts we’ve been discussing how a “bad apple’s” cut throat behavior can destroy relationships between brokerages and builders, as well as what we as individuals can do on both sides to police the bad apples. I’m curious about what everyone thinks about the following: At one point in time there were no industry standards or generally agreed upon ethics when it came “re-sale” transactions, thanks to the efforts of thousands of agents over the past fifty plus years we now have standards and generally accepted ethics, although slight differences do exist from one market to another. The development of standards in the resale market has certainly helped reduce conflicts between agents because they have created common expectations. Currently there are no standards, or generally accepted codes of conduct when an agent represents a buyer purchasing new construction. 

What if a set of standards were developed that both builders and brokerages could agree to, and for which builders could hold their reps accountable and brokerage sales managers could hold agents responsible? 

If a set of standards such as this were widely adopted, would it improve the relationships between builders and agents and in turn result in more new homes sold?

Elephants in the living room?!

When I started this, for lack of a better word, “series”, I promised to bring up the tough issues…the “elephants in the living room” if you will. In doing so I ask all that read these posts to resist the temptation to interpret one post or another as “pro-agent” or “pro-builder” ; none of these posts are pro-anything except for hoping that we can all speak honestly and without fear about our industry in the hopes that maybe greater understanding and solutions may arise. So that being said, I think we can all agree that unscrupulous agents or builder reps can damage relationships between entire organizations and that ultimately damaged relationships hurt our industry; they mean fewer new homes sold and longer sales cycles caused by mis-trust when sales do go through. So here are my questions…..

To agents – What can be done as individuals and as a community to police unscrupulous agents who cause bad blood with builders? 

To builders – What can be done as individuals and as a community to police unscrupulous employees that cause bad blood with agents?

Cut Throat

Last week I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is a real estate agent. He was talking about how when the market is slow builders court realtors, pay commissions, bonus, etc… However when the market is hot some builders do what they can to avoid dealing with realtors even going so far as to not pay commissions at all. Although, and I stress, this is not true for all builders, it is not an issue we have not heard before. However, this time was different, this time I picked up the phone and called an executive of a large builder and asked if we could have a conversation about the cyclical nature of the builder-realtor relationship. During that conversation she told me that this does in fact occur, but to her knowledge it’s not “by design”. She went on to tell me that from what she has seen it’s the result of human nature…”when times are good you take the most profitable deal you can, when times are bad you take any deal you can”. She then said something very interesting, she told me that even in the resale market when times are tough you find more “cut throat” behavior. The difference is that when it happens with a resale agents see it as a bad apple; but when it happens with a builder agents see it as the whole barrel. I have my opinions about this and why it occurs, but I’d like to hear everyone else’s opinions about this.