Tag Archives: Ellis Team at RE/MAX

Ellis Team Buyer Advantage Program

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The Ellis team is proud to re-introduce our Ellis Team Buyer’s Advantage Program. This is a program we used many years ago when we were the first agents to put the MLS on our website.  We’re bringing it back and adding some valuable features we think you’ll find useful.

  1. How would you like to be notified about upcoming listings Before they come on the market?  The Ellis Team lists and sells a lot of property because our marketing works.  Sande and Brett go on a lot of listing appointments each week.  We don’t take them all.  Some sellers aren’t ready yet, or they simply aren’t willing to price their home at today’s market value.  We only bring listings that will sell to the market.  We’ve created a private website for buyers in our Buyer Advantage Program™ that will post the listing appointments we’re going on.  Literally you’ll find out about upcoming listings even before we list them.  If one meets your criteria, you can contact us and we’ll arrange for one of our buyer specialists to show it to you.
  1. Our website is up to date so you’ll be able to search for Hot new listings in real-time. Many national websites have outdated or incorrect data which can be frustrating for a buyer.  It’s terrible to find a home online only to find out it closed 2 months ago. Our website is tied into the MLS. As agents we have that privilege that national sites don’t always receive. We’re in a tight inventory market so every advantage helps.
  1. Open House Pass- Have you ever visited open houses and been hounded by agents asking you to register?  Of course that agent wants to follow-up with you about the open house. They’re just doing their job.  If you don’t buy the open house they want to show you others.  If you find an agent that’s friendly to work with this is all fine and good.  The problem comes in when you visit several open houses in a day or month.  Now you have several agents contacting yEllis Team Buyer Advantage Program Open House Passou and hounding you to shop with them.  This can get quite frustrating.  We’ve solved that problem.  We provide you with an Open House Pass that puts other agents on notice that you’re working with the Ellis Team at RE/MAX.  Now you only have to forge one relationship with a great Realtor and you won’t have pesky agents hounding you for contact information.  Your life will be simpler and your agent can listen to your needs and hone in on the property you’re looking for.  In a low-inventory market it pays to not waste time starting that process all over again and again.
  1. Free Reports- We’ve complied a series of buyer reports we’re getting ready to release. Members in the Buyer Advantage Program will have access to all of these reports and valuable information. Our reports cover things like how to make an offer when there are multiple offers on the property, how to best structure your offer, and what to look out for in the inspection process.  Many buyers have mortgage questions as the process has changed in the past few years.  We have Free reports for that.

 

The Ellis Team at RE/MAX takes buying and selling real estate seriously.  It pays to work with a serious Realtor.  Simply go to Ellis Team Buyer Advantage Program and sign up and we’ll add you to our Buyer Advantage Program as an added bonus.  You’ll also gain access to the pre-listed property information, the Free reports, and the Open House pass along with future benefits we’ll be unveiling soon! You can always call us at 239-489-4042

Always call the Ellis Team, we’ll handle you with care!

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By Brett Ellis

RE/MAX Realty Group – Ellis Team

Fort Myers Real Estate Agent

7910 Summerlin Lakes Dr

Fort Myers, FL 33907

239-489-4042

New Form Required on Florida Home Sales

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New Form Required on Florida Home Sales

A new form just arrived June 1st informing buyers of what the homeowners insurance and flood insurance may cost, and if the cost exceeds the amount disclosed then buyer may have a right to cancel contract.

New Form Required on Florida Home Sales
Homeowners and Flood Insurance Disclosure in Florida

There have been significant changes to homeowners and flood insurance policies and costs in the past few years and some are quite surprised at the hoops they must jump through to obtain affordable insurance.

The Ellis Team is strongly encouraging our sellers to provide an elevation certificate so we can obtain upfront what the flood insurance costs will be.  Without the elevation certificate insurance agents are forced to quote off the base elevation which can be much costlier.  Some buyers were surprised to find out flood insurance was tens of thousands of dollars on a property.  This is one reason the National Association of Realtors urged Congress to make changes to the flood program.

These changes are in effect now, but having the elevation certificate helps.  Many people don’t realize the buyer can assume the seller’s flood policy.  This is worth examining as well.

Homeowners insurance has seen its share of changes too.  Wind mitigation surveys can significantly reduce policy premiums on homes, especially homes built before 2002.   Older homes are getting costlier to insure because they were built to lesser codes.

I called Peter Craig over at Pacific Crest Insurance as he has been bailing us out and saving deals for us from surprised buyers brought in by other agents who didn’t know about inspections and saving money.  Peter told me about a company that is charging $800 to nail in clips so that the insurance companies will reduce premiums. If the home has certain features like hurricane clips or straps the premium is reduced.  Homes built before 1985 typically don’t have either so having nails put in helps with costs.

He also told me about a survey company that does elevation certificates quickly.  We ordered one for a property because the seller didn’t have one and got it back within a few days.  I think the seller paid $130 or so for the certificate, but it saved his deal and saved the buyer thousands on insurance.

Many buyers qualify for the home, but when they find out the homeowners and flood insurance costs are so high without these discounts they no longer qualify.  I’ve talked with several agents who have lost deals because buyers no longer qualified for the home.  It’s knocking them out on their ratios on the monthly payment.

Sellers used to not care because it was the buyer’s issue, but that’s no longer the case.  It’s not about if the buyer pays more in insurance, it’s about whether the buyer can still qualify for the home.  Most buyers buy as much as they qualify for, but when insurance costs are double or triple what the lender used for their monthly payment, it knocks them out of the deal.  Now sellers care, and if they don’t, they soon will when they start losing deals on their home.  Even if the buyer hasn’t bought as much as they can afford, they still shy away when they see high yearly insurance premiums they weren’t prepared for.

Now the new disclosure addresses this upfront, which is a good thing.  For it to work properly, getting quotes before you find the buyer is essential, so I’d recommend real estate agents find a good insurance agent and do the research on each listing before you find the buyer. Having the elevation certificate is crucial.  A wind mitigation report is helpful as well.

It’s so much easier to sell a home once than several times.  Getting this information upfront can save deals and get the sellers on their way to their next property and get buyers into their home the first time.  It’s more work on the front end, but it will help keep deals together and save work on the back end.

 

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

Preview our Latest Listing in High Definition
1528 Pinecrest Rd

Cypress Lake Country Club

Fort Myers, FL 33919

Whether you’re ready to list your home today or just get an update on prices, we’re here to help. To get your home listed and marketed in High Definition simply call the Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group 239-489-4042 or email us at Brett@topagent.com or Sande@topagent.com To search the MLS visit TopAgent.com  To learn more about Hi Def video for your home visit HomesinHD.TV

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By Brett Ellis

Fort Myers Real Estate Agent

7910 Summerlin Lakes Dr

Fort Myers, FL 33907

Months Supply of Inventory Down

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Lately we’ve had multiple offers on several of our listings, especially in the $250,000 price range and under. We thought it would be good to update the months supply of inventory graph so buyers and sellers could see what price ranges are Hot.

Months Supply of Inventory SW Florida

Months Supply of Inventory Hot Spots:

As you can tell by the graph, anything up to about $300,000 has a low supply of inventory.  All price ranges have come down since we last posted this graph in January.  The $200,000-$400,000 numbers haven’t moved much.  Back in January the $200-250 range was 4.92 months and today it’s down to 4.90 months. The $250-300 range was 6.19 months and today it’s down to 5.55 months. The $300-400 range was 7.83 back in January and today it’s at 7.24. All lower numbers but not much movement.

Where we have seen some significant progress is in the $600,000+ ranges.  The $600-1 Million range was at 15.96 months back in January and today it’s down to 13.77 months.  The $1 Million + homes was at 32.61 months which was almost a 3 year supply of homes on the market.  Today that number is at 21.34 months.  We’ve shaved almost a whole year off those inventory levels which is pretty remarkable in only 5 months.

Homes sitting at $400,000 and above have been competing in recent months with new construction.  Even many of those homes have been bought up so inventory is tightening in some sub-markets. For instance, we’ve sold several new homes at Hampton Park.  They just ran out of inventory until December.  Sales at the Plantation have been strong as well.

When builders run out of inventory it does throw buyers back into the resale market, if the price is right.  Speaking of prices, we had over 300 potential sellers check out our online pricing tool last week.  www.swflhomevalues.com  Many found that to be a useful tool to see where they stand in the market as they contemplate potential changes.  If you’re considering moving up or moving out, now might be a great time to speak with us.  We can present you with your options.

One reader didn’t like the bank’s recent appraisal on his home so he used our service.  He didn’t like that price either as it was very close to the bank appraiser’s number and he was hoping for a higher number so he could refinance.  We’ve never been to the property so we can’t say, but it does show that our service in many cases should be close or at least in the ballpark to what banks are appraising for.

We had several readers comment on our new Marketing in High Definition Program as well. www.HomesInHD.TV We are using a drone to take high definition video outside and high definition video on the inside and putting together a professional video for buyers.

The advantage to video is the online video is 53 times more likely to be found on 1st page of Google and Bing than any other form of content, and the Ellis Team is leading the way to getting seller’s property rated high online.

If you’re thinking of selling, you should call the Ellis Team at RE/MAX.  If you’re buying, you’ll want to check out our videos at www.YouTube.com/brettellisfl

If you’re shopping for a home, keep in mind which price range it is in.  If your agent tells you there are other offers on the home, chances are there are, especially in certain price ranges.  Make your offers accordingly.  You might want to refer to our Top 10 Tips For Buying a Home in Today’s Market

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!!!

Preview our Latest Listing in High Definition
5731 Kensington Loop
Bell Tower Park

Whether you’re ready to list your home today or just get an update on prices, we’re here to help. To get your home listed and marketed in High Definition simply call the Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group 239-489-4042 or email us at Brett@topagent.com or Sande@topagent.com To search the MLS visit TopAgent.com  To learn more about Hi Def video for your home visit HomesinHD.TV

Visit our Google+ Business Page Search the MLS Search For Homes in Reflection Lakes Fort Myers

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Fort Myers Real Estate Agent

View Properties For Sale in Fort Myers $400,000-$500,000

Riding Low

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Listing inventory is riding low as it usually does this time of year.  If it seems lower this year, you may be right.  I spoke with a Realtor this week who usually carries 30 listings and they’re down to 6.

Fort Myers Cape Coral real estate inventory Riding Low
Single Family Home Inventory

 

As you can see by the graph, official numbers from Florida Realtors bear this out.  We’re still waiting for the June numbers to come out.  May’s numbers showed a decrease from 2012 inventory levels by 372 homes.

Last year inventory levels reached their lows in July but we’ve already surpassed those numbers with May numbers, so we’ll be watching June and July numbers when they come out.

Ellis Team at RE/MAX buyer specialists were busy this past weekend, and showings seem to have picked up a dramatically in the past week too.  Showings on our listings increased.  I checked with our listing coordinator and he said this past week was very busy and the week before wasn’t.  Of course, the week before was July 4th week so people tend to concentrate on outdoors and fun that week anyway.

Several of our listings have been receiving previews and showing for some of the Hertz relocation employees.  A few weeks ago I was quoted in a News Press article and while the article never said who had the Hertz account people inferred that the Ellis Team did so we’ve been flooded with people calling and emailing asking us to show their rental or home to Hertz employees.

We don’t have the Hertz account.  I had people argue with me and tell me we did because they thought they read it in paper.  These people weren’t looking to list their rental or home for sale, they just want employees to know about it.

The fact is, no matter who has the Hertz account those employees will know about it if the property is listed.  I assure you many of our listings have had interest from Hertz agents.

Every year I go on listing appointments and some sellers will say we’d like to sell to the Germans, or the Canadians or whoever else they perceive are buying this year.  It’s almost as if they want top dollar and they think the Germans will overpay for US homes because they don’t know better.

I assure you, nobody likes to overpay for a home no matter where they come from.  We work with many International customers and they all do their homework.  Hertz employees are no different.

And really, does it matter where the buyer is from or who they work for when they’re buying your house?  Money is money and most sellers we meet with want top dollar.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  We believe everyone should receive what the market is willing to pay.

When we list your home your home is exposed to buyers locally and internationally.  We use traditional print marketing as well as advanced online techniques that gets your home noticed.  Your buyer could be from Hertz or Intel, from Florida or Switzerland.

With inventory levels at lows this year it may be a good time to start thinking about selling.  Interest rates are rising, so if you’ll be getting a mortgage on your next home it could really cost you to wait.  See our last few articles at Blog.TopAgent.com to read about how rising rates are costing home buyers.

The market is rarely constant.  It is always changing.  If you’re interested in making a move, call us to find out where you stand in today’s market. 239-489-4042. Our office address is 7910 Summerlin Lakes Dr Fort Myers, FL 33907

Good luck, and Happy Selling/Buying!!!!!

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Inventory Leading the Market

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You can’t sell what you don’t have, and the SW Florida real estate market has much less inventory than it did a few years ago. We’ve been reporting for a few years how demand has outpaced supply and that is one reason why prices have gone up in the past few years. Keep in mind too that the year end numbers are an average of the year, so numbers at end of a year could be higher than the year’s average, which is especially true in a rising market.

Inventory Leading the Market SW Florida Real Estate Prices
Fort Myers Cape Coral Year End Prices

Inventory Leading the Market

Another phenomenon we predicted a few years ago was the “No-Man’s Land” market. We knew that one day we would exhaust much of the distressed inventory and traditional sales would once again have to fill the demand. Prices would have to rise, but they couldn’t rise enough to make certain sellers whole as so many are still underwater on their mortgages. They’re not in risk of default, but they’re riding out the market until prices rise enough to payoff the mortgage. Sellers would like to sell but don’t wish to harm their credit by doing a short sale, so they wait.

Prices are surely rising, but there is a limit. The economy isn’t good, so that caps the rise. Prices have to rise, but they can’t rise to 2005 levels because the job market and the economy won’t sustain those levels. We could argue that the 2005 economy couldn’t either and that’s why it collapsed.

The economy was running on borrowed money. Consumer spending was fueled by equity lines and other borrowed money. Everyone knew the clock would run out, and it did.

Southwest Florida Months Supply of Real Estate Inventory
Months Supply of Inventory

Going forward, most people view the market as a supply and demand market, and that theory works as long as economic conditions are the same or similar, but with a tremendous downturn in the economy, prices cannot rise quickly enough to make many sellers above water, so they will sit on sidelines unless something happens to their employment.

We see incremental listings hitting the market as prices rise. It probably won’t be enough to satisfy demand, so buyers should be prepared for multiple offer situations as soon as good properties enter the market.

As you can see we only have about 3.4 months supply of inventory on the market and current single family inventory is only about 3,730 heading into season. Interest rates are artificially low due to Fed policy of buying down interest rates trying to stimulate the economy.

Buyers who can purchase now will be crazy to wait as prices years from now should be higher, and borrowing costs will be higher when the Fed action is completed, but competition for homes is expected to be great this season.

If I were a buyer I would get on an email notification list from an agent that emails you the day new properties enter the market that match your criteria. The Ellis Team has such a system as do many agents. You’ve heard the saying, “The Early Bird Gets the Worm” and it’s true now and will be blatantly evident this season.

Hopefully after November we’ll have clarity as to which way the politicians are going which may give businesses clarity so they can begin hiring. Our nation has been in an economic freeze. Our local market is set to take off once the economy returns, and that will sure be a welcome sign so we can escape the No Man’s Land.

If you’re a buyer and need help, feel free to call us at 239-489-4042 or visit our website www.Topagent.com If you’re a seller, we can guide you through the selling maze whether you’re a traditional seller or a short sale.

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

Listing Presentations Going Mobile

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In the old days agents would ask sellers to come into their office in hopes that the seller would be so impressed they’d select the Realtor they were going to list with on the spot.  This was a good strategy, and if a Realtor stands out from the crowd by a wide margin, why wouldn’t a seller be impressed?  Some Realtors even refused to visit the seller’s property until the seller selected them as their agent.  While this may seem a little over the top, some Realtors actually used this strategy with some success.

Listing Presentations Going Mobile
90% of Homebuyers Now Shop on the Internet to Buy a Home

Listing Presentations Going Mobile

Today there is no reason an agent cannot do both!  With the advent of Tablets like the iPad or an Android Tablet an agent can now bring the office to the seller.  It’s quite easy to show your office, how you work, and how you market in a mobile world.  If the agent works and negotiates contracts in a mobile world, why can’t they list in a mobile world?

The truth is they can, and they should.  The two most important ingredients in a successful home sale is the relationship between the seller and the listing agent, and the property itself.  The agent’s office really doesn’t matter.

33% Repeat Buyers Find Their Agent on Internet
How do Buyers Find Their Agent

Oh, we’re proud of our physical office and all the things we can show a buyer or seller from the office.  However, many times offers have come in while I’m out of town or away on appointment and I’ve been able to look at the offer, make changes, negotiate, and close the sale, all in the amount of time it would have taken to drive back across town from the appointment and begin that process.  The office never entered into the equation.

Sure, we have a team of assistants back at the office assisting us, but that had nothing to do with negotiating the offer.  Just the same, we no longer feel the need to show a seller the office and meet the team before listing their home.  We can bring the team to the seller.  We even have powerful video conferencing we can utilize with our sellers and our team.

A seller can surely list a home without going to an agent’s office, but it’s pretty tough for an agent to list a home without seeing the sellers home. Pricing the home depends on condition, functionality, upgrades, etc.  There is no substitute for viewing the home.

You have to ask yourself, am I listing my home or listing the agent’s office?  We all know the answer is the home, so why not focus there?

You’re also hiring an agent, so it’s important to ask questions, such as how will you market my home?  Why should I hire you?  What do you bring to the table that another Realtor doesn’t?  Show me examples.

Some things are just hard to show on paper.  So much marketing today is online or the print is not the standard 8 1/2 x 11.  I remember the days when we used to handout 80 page packets explaining the sales process and our team.  Those days are now gone.

An agent today can show a seller how buyers are using Apps to search for their home.  We can show how the home looks online, how many people have seen it, and where the agent ranks in search engines.  Sellers can see virtual tours, photos, satellite views, etc all in the comfort of their home.

Not all agents are the same.  Results can vary greatly from agent to agent, and from company to company.  Ask your Realtor to show you everything.  Buyers today are demanding tech savvy agents when searching for a home.  If your Realtor can’t show you their business in a mobile world, how in the world are they going to market your home to today’s buyer?

Later on it may be necessary to meet at the office, but selecting which Realtor to list with is no longer one of those necessities.  If you’re considering selling your home, let us show you how buyers really view your home, and why selecting an agent with today’s tools matters.

Good luck, and Happy Home Selling.

 

Prices Rise Again in SW Florida Real Estate Market

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Our predictions are beginning to sound like a broken record, but they’re not really predictions at all as anybody who can view a chart can easily see what’s going on, and until something changes the trend may continue.

Fort Myers Cape Coral Florida Sale Prices Rise
SW Florida Real Estate Prices on the Rise

It’s been said if you put 10 economists in a room you’ll get 10 different opinions. I think it’s easy to see we have a supply and demand situation whereby the market is eating up more homes than are coming to the market. For instance, in April 868 homes came on the market while 1,097 sold. Additionally, some homes expire or get foreclosed upon and don’t re-enter the market in a timely fashion, so this impacts the numbers even more.

As you can see by the attached charts, inventory has been going down since January of this year, and is down significantly since January 2011. In fact single family home listing inventory is a mere 55% of what it was back in January of 2011.

Median single family home prices were $88,500 in January of 2011 and today they stand at $132,000, up 49.15% in just less than a year and a half. Prices are up 6.97% since January 2012.

Listing Inventory Falling in Fort Myers, Cape Coral Florida Market

Buyers are increasingly panicking when buying property as they’re often in multiple offer situations. It forces them to carefully consider how important the home is to them. Quite often it depends on how long they’ve been in the home buying process as reality tends to set in after several failed attempts to purchase their home.

Buyers typically look at several homes then rank them in terms of desirability. Quite often a buyer will make an offer on their #1 choice. If they miss out, they may move on to their #2 choice. Some buyers wait for another like kind home to enter the market, but their hope turns to disappointment when that homes doesn’t appear, or if it does it’s priced significantly higher than the one they lost out on.

This whole scenario sets up an unrealistic expectation that future homes will meet their #1 choice criteria in terms of desirability and price but the reality is the next home may be less desirable and more costly in a rising market with limited inventory.

After the buyer loses out on 4-5 homes that reality tends to hit and they reset their expectations. It’s an uncomfortable process and one that each buyer addresses in their own way and in their own time frame. They can fight the market and live in denial and prolong the process and possibly never buy a home, or they can accept the market, educate themselves, and win their 1st choice, or hopefully their 2nd choice.

Sellers go through the same scenario in a buyers market. A seller may require a certain price or terms only to be left at the altar by buyers who liked their home but found a better offer from another home. It really doesn’t matter if the buyer or seller likes the market we’re in. The market just is what it is, and if they want to accomplish their goal it pays to learn the market sooner rather than later. In each case lack of knowledge can cost the buyer or seller significantly in price, desirability, and peace of mind. It pays to work with a professional that can educate you on your options.

Good luck, and Happy House Hunting! We at the Ellis Team at RE/MAX are here to help if you need us.

The Bear Went Over the Mountain

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To see what he could see. We’ve all heard this particular children’s song and it’s probably playing in your head right now. I thought this headline was appropriate because our year end sales numbers graph looks like home prices went up the side of a mountain through 2005 then fell off a cliff until 2009 before rebounding the past few years.

SW Florida Real Estate Year End Prices
Year End Prices Fort Myers-Cape Coral Florida Metro Area

Official sales numbers were just released this past week for the state of Florida and the SW Florida real estate market. Year end sale prices were up 14.67% from $93,400 in 2010 to $107,100 in 2011 The year end graph isn’t where prices finished the year but rather an average of what they were all year long. For instance, November median single family home prices in Lee County was $106,300 and December’s was $123,400, a whopping 16.09% jump over the previous month and a 36.05% jump over year ago December figures.

2011 was the 3rd best year on record for numbers of sales. Inventory declined throughout the first 3 quarters of 2011 or we very well could have sold many more. To put things in perspective, 2011 outsold 2005 by almost 2,000 homes. Everyone speaks about 2005 being the height of the market, but it is the 4th best year on record in terms of units sold. 2009, 2010, 2011 respectively were 1-3.

Quarterly Home Sales for SW Florida 200-2012
Lee County Quarterly Single Family Home Sales

While prices rise it’s quite natural volume will go down. It’s simple supply and demand. If we had more inventory than our market could handle, our prices would be lower and not rising. It’s always difficult to predict a top or bottom, but hindsight always provides crystal clear clarity. The reason is you can have a false bottom whereby prices bounce back for a few months only to retreat again later. On Wall Street it’s termed a dead cat bounce when the market does that.

With several years in the books it appears we can safely say the market bottomed in 2009. If the market would go lower in the future it would be a new market, not a continuing drop. We don’t see the market going lower year over year going forward; although monthly price swings are not out of the question as closings are dependant on what inventory there is and what’s actually closing in a given month.

We have no problem listing and selling properties. The skill is really getting them closed today. The regulatory and operating environment has never been so tricky as there are so many new regulations pertaining to new mortgages. If the lenders initial disclosure is off by a little bit, it requires by law to re-disclose everything and a new waiting period goes into effect.

Combine new lending rules with negotiations with HOA’s and condo association over fees, title issues, appraisal issues, inspection issues, and challenges with short sales and you can quickly see nobody can guarantee closing dates, and scheduled closings in one month can easily pop over into subsequent months.

All these challenges affect the real estate market and can push high end or low end closings from one month to another, ultimately effecting month end numbers. In the end, these numbers all work out in the wash, so we like to look at year end numbers or a moving average throughout the year. So many people focus on one point in time when the market is always in flux and needs constant attention to understand what’s going on.

That’s what we’re here for, to keep you updated with unbiased information good or bad. We’re in the midst of season, and as predicted season started early and seems to be going well. I guess we’ll know in April or May for sure. In the meantime, stay tuned.

Watch our January 2012 Market Report

 

SW Florida Future of Real Estate Market Report January 2012-New Year\’s Resolutions

Realtors Connecting With Customers on Social Media on the Rise

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Social media has been the buzz words the past few years and it seems everyone has tried to capitalize and make money from the latest craze. For those that understand its value and proper use, social media can be very rewarding. For those that make freshmen mistakes, the cost can be lost customers and countless hours of wasted time.

Realtors Connecting With Customers on Social Media

Realtors Connecting With Customers on Social Media
Ellis Team Twitter Page

The benefits are clear. If done properly, consumers may flock to your content, or you may find yourself interacting at deeper levels with your customers and finding out more about them than you ever would have face to face. Social media opens up a new world where people sometimes feel safer sharing inner feelings and facts about themselves than they do in real life.

Connecting with customers is all about getting to the heart level and learning what’s important to them. You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Treat others as you’d like to be treated.” At the Ellis Team we like to use the Platinum standard which is “Treat others as they’d like to be treated.” We study personality profiles and adapt our communication based upon the way our customers like to communicate. Not every personality profile is the same.

Official SW Florida Real Estate Facebook Fan Page
SW Florida Real Estate Fan Page

Some personalities are bubbly outgoing social beings that have never met a stranger and are certainly the life of every party. Another is the calculated detailed oriented person who must know all the facts before making a decision. There is also the family oriented person that could talk children and family all night, as well as the dominant director type that makes quick decisions and is in charge. Knowing who our customers are helps us to interact with them on their level. The director type turns off with hours of facts and needless chatter, while the engineer, detailed oriented person would never make a decision without studying it from many angles.

Social media helps us to understand our customers and deliver information on many levels. We also engage our customers. We teach our team that if you can get a person to talk about (FORD) Family, Occupation, Recreation, Dreams you will connect at a deeper level and become friends with everyone you meet. Many of our customers are friends because we care about them as a person, not just a transaction.

Apply FORD to Facebook. In just a few minutes you may find out about someone’s niece or nephew, their child’s soccer game. You might also find out their new relationship status, how happy they are in their job, what they did on vacation, how their sports team is doing, etc. You can hit all 4 FORD items quickly. Social media is an opportunity to engage.

There is no substitute for being face to face with someone and interacting, and many people condemn social media because of that. However, perhaps there is no more efficient way to connect as social media. In real life true communication may mean asking many questions. We call it going 4 or more deep with questions to find out what someone really means. Because people aren’t as inhibited online as real life, true feelings come out much quicker, so in some respects I think social media has improved true communication. Not everyone has the time or skill to go at least 4 deep. However, the downside with social media is you might just learn a whole lot more about someone than you cared to know. LOL

So the next time you jump online and into a social media platform, think about more than just posting random thoughts. Use it as a tool to elicit responses, get people talking, and learning more about others. When you learn and care about others, you become more attractive as a friend or resource, and people will enjoy telling you everything, and maybe even doing a little business with you. And if not, at least you’ll make some true friends.

Good luck and happy communicating. We’ve included a few of our public social media pages in case you’d like to get some ideas. And maybe we’ll become friends too.

 

Useful Social Media Links:

Loan program Allows you to Build in Repair Costs

Posted on by
HUD has introduced enhancements to the streamlined 203(k)
program to facilitate the purchase of property that needs only
minor rehab work, including raising the ceiling for repair costs
to $35,000.

Loan program Allows you to Build in Repair Costs

This allows a buyer or investor to purchase a property that needs repair and build in the anticipated costs to the loan. It’s a good way to purchase a property, improve it, and have equity or sell it. Everyone wins as long as you purchase the property up-front at a fair price. The buyer makes some equity, and the neighborhood is improved as the property is improved.

Feel free to call us at 239-489-4042 to take advantage of this program in Lee County, Southwest Florida. Visit our website Topagent.com 

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