State of the Real Estate Market
Straight from NAR Midyear, we found some slides regarding the state of the real estate market and what REALTORS can do about it.
Kristi Ferrara, managing broker of our Northland office, talks about the power of positive thinking in real estate. Of course, Kristi has a lot to be excited about these days with our December company change to Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate and the recent opening of her brand new office at 4166 NW Barry Rd, KCMO, 64154.
The environment in which you work is relative to how you approach your day and your ongoing success, especially in real estate. You’ll find this positive mindset throughout the BHGKC family. Take a look, talk with a broker and ensure your success.
Celebrating Earth Day/Month!
What better way to celebrate Earth Day/Month than giving all of our agents access to our company forms on DotLoop…a paperless transaction and signature platform.
A few months ago, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes decided to move ahead in the paperless movement. Digital signatures have quickly become mainstream in the Kansas City real estate market and we’ve decided to embrace this change with the company we thought was best suited for the partnership, DotLoop.
Now our agents have accounts with full access to company forms and the ability to manage entire transactions on a paperless platform.
Join a company that makes consistent efforts to stay up-to-date and help agents be more efficient. Start the conversation with one of our brokers today!
Managing the Process
Here at Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes we like to give our agents the necessary tools to be the most professional in the industry. One of those ‘tools’ just happens to be education about how to manage the real estate transaction process from start to finish. In Joanna Williams’ post, Who Owns This House, we see one of the many items real estate agents can manage to help make a transaction go smoothly.
Our agent’s relationships with other agents in the area factor heavily into the professional reputation we like to uphold. Is it time to align yourself with a company that cares enough to educate and train on a regular basis? Contact us to start a conversation that could change your career.
Important Skills for Real Estate Agents in 2013
Today, we’re focusing on skillset instead of toolset. Let me explain. For a few years now, there’s been a lot of focus on how to use tech tools in real estate. I think 2013 is the year to STOP that and shift our thoughts back to honing our skills. To roll along with this idea I’ve posed this question to our Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes brokers: what do you feel are the most important skills for agents this year?
First up, we have a great response from our Leawood Broker/Manager, Steve Moyer.
Effective and premeditated communication will be critical to successful transactions in 2013. As we transition, or should I say, suddenly find ourselves in a seller’s market, the ability to prepare all parties for the sale is essential. Buying and selling a home is an emotional decision and stressful process. With fewer homes on the market, making decisions quickly is more important than ever.
Sellers need to understand how to approach multiple offers, what to do if a second contract appears after they have verbally agreed to an offer, or how to handle back-up offers. The time to determine strategy is not under the gun or on the fly.
Buyers need to understand, time is of the essence. The best properties, even just good properties sell the first day on the market.
Sales professionals who work with their clients to understand the potential scenarios and put a plan in place while everyone is calm and objective will close more transactions and do so in a less stressful way. Relationships between Realtors and clients will be decided based on good up front communication.
Our brokers truly care about helping our agents with their skillset as well as their toolset. To start a conversation with a company that has your best interests at heart, contact us today.
Taking Pride in Our Work
Today’s view on the Realtor Code of Ethics comes from Broker/Owner, Kathy Copeland from our College Blvd office.
The Code of Ethics is what helps define us as a highly professional group of sales associates and brokers and what we all strive to attain in our day to day business. It is not just how we treat our clients and customers, vendors and others, but also each other in the Realtor group. It sets a standard of conduct and guidelines for how we work and treat others. As a Realtor, there is pride in what we do, how we act and with whom we have the opportunity to work.
As you can see, our entire management group strives to run our business professionally and with pride. It’s so important for companies to have aligned values from the top down, and I feel like Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes excels when it comes to professionalism.
REALTOR Code of Ethics
Our REALTOR Code of Ethics is turning 100 this year, so we thought it would be the perfect time to talk about what it means to us as REALTORS and as a company.
When talking to new REALTORS about the Code of Ethics, I’ve always made the comparison to the Bible. Just as some feel the Bible directs us how to act and live, the Code of Ethics is a guideline for the actions of REALTORS.
Here’s what Dan Sweeney, Broker/Owner of our Plaza office, had to say about the Code:
When I think of the Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice of the National Association of REALTORS and what it means to me, I think of the Preamble. The beginning section that comes before the 17 articles pertaining to the duties to clients & customers, the public and to REALTORS. Specifically the last two paragraphs of the Preamble, in which it asks REALTORS to accept the standard of the Golden Rule. Commonly referred to as “Do unto others” or treat others as you would like others to treat you. If you do this you will not have to worry about the 17 articles & the many “standards of practices” that go along with them.
We can also tell CEO, David Cooper has a strong opinion on the Code, “It is extremely important our industry has a code of ethics for ALL to follow. I have always adhered to, followed and supported the code.”
When ownership holds something like the REALTOR Code of Ethics in such high regard, you know it’s the foundation for their company and their performance standards.
If you’d like to learn more about joining an ethical company like Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes, we’d enjoy sharing!
Looking for a Prosperous 2013?
An article in January’s RISMedia magazine caught our attention this week. It’s all about what needs to be done in order to be more successful this year. Thanks so much to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate’s VP of Platform Development, Amy Chorew, for her insight.
5 Rules for Real Estate Success in the New Year
If you’re an agent that could use an extra push this year, or you’re new to the business, turn to our knowledgeable brokers here at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes. It’s 2013, time to be BETTER.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
Open Houses & The Productive Agent
As agents get started in the business, they question what method is best for beginning to meet customers. For years, we’ve been recommending they hold at minimum of 2 open houses per month. But, with real estate changing at the speed of light, do open houses still work? We hear from Darrel Stiles this week about this very topic:
I believe that Larry Kendall’s Webinar talking about the Modern Open House is actually replacing the “opportunity time” of floor duty. After listening to the webinar, I had several agents use his techniques and were very successful with their Open Houses. Ninja also showed a statistic on the direct correlation to the productive agent and the agent that maintains consistent Open Houses…
Most of our productive agents consistently hold open houses and work to hold them correctly. It’s more of a process than just grabbing some balloons and putting out an open sign. Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate, Kansas City Homes embraces the idea of open houses and will work with you to be sure your open house works for YOU.
Let’s start the conversation about your career in real estate.
