Tag Archives: Keller Williams

Artificial Intelligence Will Change Real Estate Shopping

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Unbelievable changes are coming.  I remember having a conversation the other day.  I told my wife that our kids would freak out if we told them we didn’t have Internet growing up as kids.  The Internet today just seems fundamental, and certainly to a Millennial, they wouldn’t understand the concept of its absence.  Just as the Internet changed our lives, so too will artificial intelligence.  Artificial intelligence will change real estate shopping and everything else too.

Artificial Intelligence Will Change Real Estate Shopping

I just watched a live video whereby you take out your smartphone and open the camera.  In your screen is a lamp.  Your phone will show you other accessories that match that style, so you could shop for and put together a room that matches.  I watched another video where the camera showed a woman in an outfit.  Artificial intelligence scanned billions of images and within a second pulled up where you could buy that outfit, along with other similar outfits, and prices.

So, imagine walking down the street and noticing a home that looks good to you.  It’s not for sale, but you like the look.  Your phone could instantly find other homes on the market right now that look just like the one you love, show you the price, and even setup a showing appointment to see it.  Sound futuristic?  Perhaps, but it is coming.

Keller Williams has already been working on this for its agents.  Currently I can ask our artificial assistant Kelle many things, and instantly she will give me results that used to take hours.  Let’s say I have a client moving to Bowling Green, KY.  I whip out my phone and tell Kelle, “show me Bowling Green agents with the CRS designation.”  Kelle spits out agents with their CRS designation.  There is a ton of activities I can ask Kelle to do while I’m in the field and Kelle only gets smarter.  As we ask her to do things, she learns and becomes capable of more.

Google held its I/O conference this week and announced some amazing things.  Companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, etc are all working on artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence offers the ability to ask, scan, analyze, and deliver billions of pieces of information instantly.  Our military is scanning and analyzing photos on video and delivering results with over 90% accuracy.  It used to take people days and months to scour video.  Now our defense department can search for and do things in minutes.

Our company is working on analyzing photos in MLS.  Let’s say you like a certain kind of counter-top, or a certain color cabinet.  We’ll be able to ask, show me all kitchens with Black Quartz priced below $450,000.  Having the ability to scan photos and deliver results would save an agent or consumer many hours perusing photos of listings.

We use big data to search for buyers for our listings.  When we list a home, we serve up ads on that home to consumers that match certain criteria.  For instance, we just listed a nice 4-bedroom pool home in Belle Lago.  We’ll be holding it open this Saturday from 1-3 PM.  We’ll serve up online ads for buyers looking to purchase in the Estero area.  Big data allows us to target specific buyers.  It helps us sell homes faster and for more money for our clients.

Big data is great, but artificial intelligence is what will tie it together.  The pentagon can have all the videos it wants, but what good is it when it sits in a vault and is too big to work with?  The same is true for real estate.  Being able to ask and analyze data is key.  Many sellers interview agents and ask which one can save them 1%.  The real question should be, which agent can sell my home for 3% more and 20% faster.  Saving 1% doesn’t save anything if they sell it for less and take longer.

If you want to search the MLS like a pro go to www.LeeCountyOnline.com.

If you’re thinking of selling, call Sande or Brett Ellis 239-489-4042 and find out how Today’s systems just might help sell your home faster, and for more money.

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Belle Lago

Open Saturday 1-3 PM

19790 Maddelena Cir

Daniels Park

Open Saturday 1-4 PM

14077 Danpark Loop

 

It Takes a Team to Win a Super Bowl

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It takes a team to win a Super Bowl. This weekend America will tune in and watch the two best football teams square off in the Super Bowl. Fans will be rooting for their team.  Others will be watching for the commercials, and others just love a reason for a party.  Super Bowl weekend is one of the biggest party gatherings of the year.  There’s just something in it for everyone.

It Takes a Team to Win a Super Bowl

It Takes a Team to Win a Super Bowl

Winning a Super Bowl is a lot like a winning real estate transaction.  All football teams start pre-season, endure a grueling season, and the most successful teams at end of year have a chance to compete for the grand prize.  Sure, you can make some mistakes along the way.  You don’t need a perfect record during the season, but you do once the playoffs start.  One setback will end your season and its game over.

In real estate, the pre-season is interviewing and selecting agents if you’re a seller.  Having the perfect agent doesn’t matter if your goal is to win some and lose some.  If your goal is the grand prize, which is selling the home, then you can’t make mistakes during the playoffs.

If you’re a buyer, the pre-season is casually looking for homes on various online sites or visiting open houses just to see if anything catches your fancy.  You’re not ready yet, and that’s OK.

But then something happens to buyers and sellers, and they decide now is the time to take that leap.  Not the Lambeau leap, the real estate leap.

Have you ever noticed that certain football coaches tend to win more Super Bowl’s than others?  In the last 15 years it tends to be the same coaches over and over.  Have you also noticed most NFL coaches never win the Super Bowl and they get fired?  It’s true.  That’s because they can’t bring home the trophy.  They might have a winning season, but lose in the playoffs when it matters.  This get’s us back to the original goal.

Is your real estate goal to have fancy brochures and a high price so you can tell all your friends what your home is worth?  Or is it to actually sell?  Brochures are nice, and they don’t sell homes.

Systems Key to Victory

Hall of fame coaches have systems in place that work.  Winning coaches exhibit the same common traits.

  • Accountability
  • Team of professionals coaching the players
  • Evaluate talent at a high level
  • Call the right plays when the situation demands it
  • Make the tough calls.  Calls other coaches are sometimes afraid to make
  • Study their opponent
  • Do their homework
  • Preparation
  • Work long hours

This is the difference between obtaining the goal and settling for just looking good. All coaches are not the same.  Neither are real estate agents.  The traits of a good coach listed above sound a lot like the traits of a great Realtor.

All Agents Are Not the Same

Agents do not advertise the same.  Many don’t have the experience to get your home from pending to sold.  Some agents never make it out of pre-season because they price the home wrong to begin with. Agents sometimes recommend taking the wrong offer, or not waiting for a better more qualified offer.  These are all mistakes agents make that can cost a seller thousands.  It can even cost you the sale.  You might say these are rookie mistakes, but not always.  These could be seasoned agents that are decent.  They’re just not trained as well as a Super Bowl winning coach. They don’t have that level of experience.

Experience matters when hiring an agent, just like it does when hiring a coach.  If you’re a NFL general manager and your owner wants to win it all next year do you hire a coach like Bill Belichick or Tom Coughlin, or do you pay less money for a less experienced coach?  Remember, the big prize is the goal, and anything less is not acceptable.

The cost of losing exceeds the cost of winning.  Losing can be life changing.  So can winning.  If you’re looking for experienced, world class Realtors who have been the Top agents in Lee County many times, you should call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams.  You’ll be glad you did.

Ask for Sande or Brett. 239-489-4042 ext 4 or visit our MLS Search Site and find your dream home.  If you’re a seller, you can get market reports and home values for your home Free!  Now that’s a winning combination.  Enjoy your Super Bowl party!

And don’t forget, Spring Break is just around the corner.  We though you might enjoy watching the Cincinnati Firefighters put on their daily show courtesy of the News Press and the current Spring Break schedule for 2017.

Cincinnati Firefighters Show

College Spring Break Schedule

Feb 25

Michigan

March 4

Dayton

Ball State

Florida Gulf Coast University

John Carroll

Michigan State

Penn State

Queens

Stetson

Florida

Georgia

South Carolina

March 11

Florida Southwestern State College

Georgia State University

Indiana State

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Ohio State

Purdue

Kentucky

Notre Dame

North Carolina

Minnesota

Valdosta State

March 18

University of Chicago

Miami of Ohio

Wisconsin

Ask to join our Ellis Team Seller’s Club.  Next week we’ll be releasing vital year end statistics for the 2016 Southwest Florida real estate market.  If you’re a buyer or seller, you’ll want this information before other buyers or sellers receive it.  We’ll email you the video when it’s done.

 

March SW Florida Closed Sales Fall as Prices Rise Slightly

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Official numbers were released for March single family home sales and it’s no surprise that March SW Florida closed sales fall as prices rise slightly.

March SW Florida Closed Sales Fall as Prices Rise Slightly Home Prices

Home sales were down 13.2% in March while median home prices were up 4.2%.  This could have been worse except for the fact that numbers last year were revised down.  As you can see from the attached sales prices chart we’ve been bouncing around close to a recent high which was set in January.  Each year median prices tend to top out in April so we’ll be watching next month’s numbers to see what the trend is for the balance of 2016.

March SW Florida Closed Sales Fall as Prices Rise Slightly

Closed home sales tend to top out in March/April or May so we’ll be watching closed sales over the next few months to see how that trend scores as well.

Active inventory has risen 8.4% over last year at a time when closed sales are falling which has led to an increase in months supply of inventory, which is up to 5.4 months, up from 5.1 months last year.

All in all we have a fairly stable market.  Sellers have gotten used to the new normal for the most part.  It’s been the hardest on sellers who listed last Fall as they were expecting prices to continue rising.  Sellers listing today look at the facts and realize prices aren’t rising like they were.

Buyers are under tremendous pressure and it’s going to get much worse.  Prices have risen, but so have rents.  In fact, you could argue rents have risen at a faster rate than prices have.  What have saved home buyers are ridiculously low interest rates.  Low rates have contributed to affordability.  Rising prices lowers affordability as does rising rates.  If you have both, you’ve got real problems for buyers.  Rising home affordability only pushes rents higher too as landlords know buyers can’t afford homes.

Really, now is the time to make the move.  Whether you’re considering replacing your current home or buying your 1st home, now is the time as rates are low.  You’ve still got affordability on your side, but not for long.

Ellis Team Moves to Keller Williams

Speaking of moving, in case you haven’t heard, the Ellis Team has moved to Keller Williams after nearly 30 years with RE/MAX.  Our team, phone numbers, and websites all stay the same.  Simply go to www.LeeCountyOnline.com to search the MLS, view market reports, or find out what your home is worth.  You can always call us at 239-489-4042.

Our team is growing.  We now have new opportunities to grow with our team we didn’t have before.  The future has never been brighter.  If you’ve got a property to sell, you should definitely give us a call.  We’re experts at selling homes in any kind of market, and we’ve got a good market right now.  Just because it isn’t appreciating at double digits doesn’t mean it’s not good.  That kind of market is unsustainable and invariably runs out of gas.

I’ll take a steady slow growth kind of market any day.  It’s what we used to have back in the 80’s and 90’s.

Always Call the Ellis Team 239-489-4042, we’ll handle you with care.

 

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

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Is First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Helping the Market?

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I recently attended the Star Power convention in Denver where the presidents or founders of RE/MAX, Prudential, Coldwell Banker, and Keller Williams spoke about where the market is today and where it’s going.  Dave Liniger from RE/MAX stated that nationwide we have a market fueled by investors and first time home buyers, but we’re lacking the move-up buyer in this market.  Jim Gillespie from Coldwell Banker agreed, and shared some interesting stories from Capitol Hill on his efforts to change the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit to help the entire market.

It’s well known that tax codes effects home buying activity.  Look no further than the interest deduction and you can see why whatever Congress does impacts the entire market.  We can also look at the cash for clunkers program as an example in another industry.  The problem with only offering the credit to First Time Home Buyers is they will buy, but there’s no incentive for anyone who is selling to sell and move up.  So we end up with a bottom forming on entry level homes and stagnation in the mid level and secondary home market, which arguably needs more help than any other segment in SW Florida.

Percent of Distressed Sales in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres
Percent of Distressed Sales in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres

As you can see from the attached chart, 87% of Lehigh Sales and 74% of Cape Coral home sales have been distressed in the last 3 months, as this is where the majority of entry level speculator homes were built.  Fort Myers to a lesser extent stands at 62%, and that number grew last month.  By distressed we mean either a short sale or foreclosure sale.  This has put pressure on median sale prices, and illustrates that first time home buyers and investors are the majority of the buyers right now.

Jim Gillespie and others are lobbying Congress for a $15,000 tax credit for all buyers.  The $8,000 tax credit for First Time buyers is set to expire December 1, but we’ve heard this may get extended in October if the economy doesn’t pick up steam by then.  But what about helping the overall market, not just one segment?  We’ve helped solidify to some extent the entry level market, and we’ve done nothing for the mid market on up.  We’re talking $200,000 market and up in Lee County, the same market that used to be $400,000-$600,000 a few years ago.  Yester year’s prices aren’t coming back, as the market has done a reset.  However, we could inject infusion into this segment as well and keep it from further declines and get this economy moving again.  Real estate has led the US economy out of each recession, and it stands to reason it will do it again.  21% of the nation’s GDP is real estate related.  If the economy is the #1 issue right now, then what are we waiting for?

Could you just imagine the new activity that would occur if there was a $15,000 tax credit for all buyers?  Imagine how many people from up north could come by a 2nd home in Florida, or how many move-up buyers might pull the trigger and move, especially with today’s bargains.  A recent study showed nationwide a real estate sale generates $63,101 back into the economy.  This is based on everything from new carpet sales or to look as new, appliances, commissions, closing fees, plus the propensity of money at about 1.5%, meaning when you go out and spend, the vendor you just bought from also goes out and spends into the economy.

The truth is investors and first time home buyers were already buying in SW Florida before the tax credit.  Our buyers were limited to first time home buyers and investors only because the properties they’re buying were such great deals, and we’re happy the first time home buyers are getting a tax credit on top of a great deal.  I’m sure it has spurred even more buyers off the fence.  We would like to see all buyers benefit, and if we speeded up the recovery of the real estate market, not only would the economy benefit and we’d get people back to work, but we’d also protect banks from more foreclosures going forward.  We know foreclosures are about to pick back up again, and many will now be in that mid market and upper range.  Come on Congress, let’s make this happen, protect our banks, and get people moving again and get this economy and real estate market on solid ground again.