Austin Property Talk

Dont Bother Knocking because Im not Buying

But I might be willing to try it out . . .

I was just remarking the other day that I think we are going to have to change our "No Soliciting" sign on the front porch to "Don't Bother Knocking because I'm not Buying." 

In just the past couple of days, Ive had two people knock on the door trying to sell something.  I'm usually not the type of person to rudely state, "don't even get into it because I'm not going to listen," but in both instances I hesitated to open the door and then immediately I was thrown into a situation that I was trying to avoid. 

The first gentleman was trying to sell an organic concentrated cleaning solution.  I sat there for 10 minutes while he tried to scrub everything from my walkway concrete to my windows and front door in an effort to show me how great the product was.  Funny thing is, the product was pretty damn good.  He said (though did not show) that it could take stains out of the carpet easily.   That one hit home because we have a few that I'd like to knock out.   But then came the inevitable sales close.   He hadn't mentioned the price at all - for good reason.  Not that I was going to buy, but at $37/bottle, the case was closed.  

The next gentleman knocks on the door well into the evening, he's crowding the front window and its dark outside.  I really hesitated to answer but begrudgingly gave in.  He was really nice, from the Aamco body shop near by, trying to drum up new business by offering 5 oil changes for $79.   That in and of itself is a pretty good offer (much less than I would normally pay for 5), but I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to write that check on my front porch.  We usually get our oil changed somewhere that they also throw in a free car wash and that makes a difference.  Besides, I don't get my oil changed more than 3-4 times a year and would I even remember Id bought that coupon the next time it was needed?  The poor guy looked at me like I was crazy not to buy I had to almost slam the door in his face to get my point across.  

The analyst in me often thinks about what they could have done differently to actually get me to make the decision to buy something.   I respect that job (door to door sales) as being extremely difficult.  Seth Godin calls it interruption marketing.  

I believe there is a way that both of them could have made a sale without forcing me to make a choice right there on my doorstep.  After exhausting all efforts, If the guy selling the cleaning solution would have pulled out a small trial bottle for free or $2-3, told me to give it a try this time and given me a web address to re-order with free shipping if I were pleased, I would have done it. 

After I declined to buy his promo card, if the guy selling the oil changes would have given me a $5 off coupon to try our their service.  Then once I redeemed that coupon, followed that up with a free car wash near by and another offer to buy that same package after Id been pleased with their service, they just might have a new satisfied customer.  

But, neither gave me that option and both went away empty handed.  

Tips for Around the House

Rule number one of preparing your home for sale is - De-clutter!  Good Housekeeping has multiple solutions to taking control of your clutter from bathrooms to closets to attic spaces.  Enjoy their 30 Minute Clutter Solutions

Want to transform the look of your bedroom or living room in one day.  The experts at Good Housekeeping teach you the best ways to Paint a Room in one Day.  

Its about that time to think about covering up or putting away outdoor patio furniture for the late fall and early winter months.  Here are some tips on how to Clean and Stash Patio Gear.

Five Star Sellers

Here's a quick note to let you know how I can help you or anyone that you might introduce me to.

When Harvey and Cindy were married four years ago, they decided to turn Cindy's house into an investment property.  Recently, the long time tenant moved out and they had been trying to rent the property themselves unsuccessfully.  Finally, they decided that it was time to sell.  They were ready to get out of the Landlord business and use the equity from the sale to invest in themselves.  

A friend of theirs called and referred me to them because of our company's success in selling homes in the subdivision this year. 

From out the outset, I could tell that we were all on the same page.  Harvey and Cindy both respected my guidance as their Real Estate Consultant and were committed to doing what it was going to take to sell the house.  We established immediate trust and permission for the truth.  I suggested a few minor repairs prior to listing and a price to sell within 30 days. 

Within 24 hours of having the house listed for sale, we received 3 qualified offers.  We are set to close on the sale of the property this week and with the proceeds from the sale, they will each invest in their own personal businesses.   

Who do you know who is about ready to get in or out of the Landlord business and could use a little guidance? 

Does that make sense?

I like to think that I'm the type of guy that is very patient in explaining things.  In fact, I pride myself on being able to relate information to others in a way that it makes sense.  Education is one of the cornerstones of my business.  

Outside of my real estate business, I'm often asked to use my experience and background in baseball to help instruct others.  Ive coached teams three out of the past four summers and from time to time will have one or two kids I work with on a personal basis.  

Currently I'm working with a sixteen year old kid who has some talent and is very receptive to instruction - the type of kids I enjoy working with.  Ive been providing him with some pitching instruction for the past month or so.   

It was easily to diagnose a couple of minor flaws in his throwing motion that are preventing him from reaching his maximum potential.  But, finding the issue is usually the simple part of the equation.  Figuring out the cause and how to correct it - not as easy.   So we immediately went to work breaking his mechanics down into separate segments to try and form better muscle memory.  Anyone who has formed a habit, especially a long standing physical one knows how difficult this can be.

The way that I learn best is that I try to break things into segments (pieces of the puzzle), work on them individually and then put them back together.  So that is predominantly how I teach.  I break things down into bite size pieces and we work on them repetitively until we've reached a point where they are all working well enough to put them back together.  The goal is steady progress.

In this particular case I could tell that he was experiencing some frustration in grasping everything we were working on, but he is/was eager to understand.  I also know there is always some discomfort with growth - so we trudged on.  

Finally this week (our 5th time together) he stopped me and said, "I think I understand what you are trying to teach me but I'm just having a lot of trouble putting it all together. I don't think that my brain processes things the way that your does."  

My first reaction was, "Hmm, interesting.  What is not to understand?  I thought I was being very clear."  But then before saying anything, I thought to myself, that is a very unfair assumption for me to make.  Obviously I'm not doing a good enough job of helping him understand something. 

After a minute of reflection and after some clarification, I realized that I'd failed to paint a vivid enough picture of what the finished product is supposed to look like.  What are we ultimately aiming for?  What does the picture on the box of the puzzle look like?  Imagine trying to put a 1000 piece puzzle or a 100 piece puzzle for that matter together without the picture on the box.  Focusing on the individual pieces without the vision is futile.  

So I said, "You know, I really appreciate you telling me that.  Thank you for being honest.  Let me try to figure out a better way to paint the picture for you."  We went a different direction and had a very productive back half of the lesson.  

On my way home and over the past day or two the experience has stayed with me.  Ive thought to myself, there is a very important lesson here. One that needs to be shared, or at least documented for the next time.

I'd suppose that you, like me, have something that you are very passionate about and well versed in.  It just clicks for you because you've already been through that trial and error.  But we must patiently understand that the person we are trying to help does not have that same background (database) to draw upon.  

Lesson to be learned:  Clarification doesn't always mean connection.  Sometimes you have to dig deeper.  

Tax Credit Extension

In case you haven't heard, the President signed an expanded version of the $8000 First Time Home Buyer tax credit that has been the buzz of the real estate industry for the past 6-9 months.   The original tax credit was set to expire on November 30th, driving more buyers to the closing table during the last few months than during the same time period in recent years.  

The original tax credit was such a success in stimulating sales nationwide, that Congress and the White House agreed late last week to extend the deadline through April 30th of 2010.  In addition to the deadline extension, qualifying income limits were increased slightly and documentation requirements tightened.  Ive put together a free report with all of the details about the revised First Time Buyer Tax Credit. 

However, this time around they've sweetened the pot.  In addition to extending the credit for first timers, the legislation was expanded to include a $6500 tax credit for home buyers that have lived in their current primary residence for at least five consecutive years out of the past eight years.  Under the previous guidelines, move up home buyers did not qualify. 

Interesting tidbits:

- According to the National Association of Realtors, first time home buyers accounted for more than 45% of sales in the past year.

- According to a Goldman Sachs study close to 70% of all current homeowners would be eligible for the tax credit under the new expanded guidelines. 

Insights

I wanted to share a thought this morning from my daily devotional.  I thought it was quite interesting and insightful.

This is an excerpt from a lady named Anne Ortlund about change, transformation and trust.

"Do you feel as nothing is happening . . .?

I guess so does the lobster, encased in that ridiculous armor. As he grows, it gets more crowded inside. But, he sheds it fourteen times during the first year of his life. Each shedding takes ten days, and each time in the period between shells - when he's naked, exposed, vulnerable - he grows about seven percent.

You feel stifled, unfulfilled? You dont know when you'll break out into change?

Wait for God
Wait on God
Wait with God.

Life is not fixed. Let it happen; don't rush it."

I thought this was a great message for the start of the day - especially for anyone who feels "stifled." We experience the most growth when we feel the most vulnerable.

Wish you all the best for today,

Ryan

Tax Credit Extension?

There has been a lot of discussion and speculation lately through various news outlets about the extension and upgrade of the existing First Time Home Buyer tax credit.  As you know, the current $8000 tax credit is set to expire on November 30th.  I've seen numerous postings on Facebook and Twitter stating that the bill has already passed congress and has been approved by the White House. 

It has not gotten to that point just yet, but as this article points out, the Home Buyer Tax Credit should pass later this week.  

While the final details of the latest version will not be released until the bill has been signed off on by President Obama but speculation is that Tax Credit 2.0 will both raise the allowable income limits for first time buyers and also add a stipulation for move-up buyers (non-first timers).  

The pending expiration of the existing tax credit led pending home sales to soar in September which marked the eight consecutive month that the number of pending sales has increased.  Pending sales are a predictive indicator since contract signings can precede actual closings by up to 2 to 3 months.  

Both are good indicators for market activity in the near future.   

Do you suffer from "I Get it"?

Some food for thought. 

Im in the midst of a twelve week program on increasing my productivity taught through one of the professional organizations that Im a member of.  This program is just fantastic and I wanted to share one of the recent lessons.  

Peter Ouspensky wrote a book called The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution.  At the beginning of the book, he says that one of the "biggest challenges we face is convincing ourselves that what we are about to learn is new."  If you dont think that something is new when you hear it, you typically use the muscle in your brain called I get it - the "I Get it" reflex.  

Joe Stumpf, the gentleman putting on the Power Producivity program for real estate agents and lenders, said that he was recently on a plane coming home, and the man sitting next to him asked, "So, what do you do?"  Its a common polite conversation that we have all been in before, when we dont really know what else to say. 

Joe responded, "I teach real estate and mortgage consultants how to build a referral business."  He said that the man immediately retorted, "oh yeah, yeah I know about working referrals, I do that too."  Joe said he thought to himself, "Wow, there is nothing that I could possibly say right now that would open him to the possibility that he may not actually get it and that there could be much more to it than, yeah I get it, I've heard that before."

That got me to thinking that like most people, I probably fall into that trap more than I should.  In conversing with people I dont know or in observing their initial behavior, the tendency is to quickly form a perception, to 'get it.'  The truth is that once I do that, I assume that I understand who they are, what they are doing or where the conversation might be headed.  

So Im going to be more conscious of my "I Get it" reflex.  Im going to stay present and invested in what Im doing and choose to stay open to a much bigger possibility that maybe there is more for me to "Get."