How to find a Great Real Estate Agent!
First, what makes a great agent? Ethics, morals, market knowledge, staging abilities, brutal negotiating skills, listens to you and your needs… Hi my names Max j/k … For each individual these requirements will be a different and so finding the right agent may be difficult because it’s really hard to find these things out over the phone or online. The most common approach to getting past this barrier seems to be asking a friend or family member for a reference. This can work, but what if you’re from out of town? Or what if your reference sets you up with an agent you don’t like? There is no one answer to these questions but there are some steps you use to weed out bad agents.
- I would recommend getting prequalified for a loan. (you won’t be taken seriously unless you do this)
- I would look to see what is available in the market- Trulia.com, Zillow.com, or an online MLS should work
- I would get a minimum of 3 references from friends, family, and/or online.
- I would then set up interviews with them (maybe at Starbucks or over the phone). At this point you will probably lose a few agents who can’t make time for you or who don’t call you back. Don’t worry. That’s a good thing. If they don’t have time or value your time, do you think this will change in the future?
- Ask them questions that are important to you. For example:
- I will only be available weekdays after 5:30. Will you be will to show me homes after 5:30?
- Why should I choose you as an agent?
- How long have you been a real estate agent…
- At this point you will likely be down to 1 or 2 agents. If one of them fits your needs, you’re set! If you still haven’t found an agent see step 1.
This is by no means a fool proof strategy but it can save you troubles down the road. I’ve heard that about 75% of people choose the first agent they talk to. I also recently administered a survey (not scientific) that showed people’s average rating of their last real estate agent was slightly above neutral! As you can imagine a lot of people were not happy with their agent’s performance. Taking these step will help to eliminate the bad agents.
If I can help you with anything please let me know!
Max Sabo
775-453-3181
Starting a New Part of your Life
I’m about to start a new part of my life because I’m graduating on the 13th! I’ve been in school my whole life. I went through elementary school, middle school, high school, and now I’m finishing up college. I’ve been in college for the past 5 years and have a Bachelors degree and now a Masters degree. So I’m done with college and about to start a new part of my life. I’ll admit it’s not a total transition because I’ve worked through college but now I will be a full time real estate agent.
Truthfully it’s an odd feeling knowing that my last class ever is on Tuesday. I’ve been in school my whole life, and it’s become part of my routine. In order to figure out what to do with my time I have come up with some overly ambitious goals. I’ve been always told to shoot for the stars and then worst case I’ll hit the moon. I’m doing it a bit differently. I’m going to break out the telescope, see what else is out there, and then shoot for that. Worst case is I’ll land on the stars, right?
If you’re moving somewhere new you also need to make a game plan. A job is probably the first thing you should focus on but after that there is so much that you will have to plan for:
- How will you make friends- Maybe join a club or class. Toastmasters (a great is you want to improve your public speaking while making friends) , an investment club, a yoga class, the rock gym…
- What schools should your children go to- There are lots of online reviews. You really need to sit down and look over these. Then you need to ask around and see what people say. Finally you will probably want to make an appointment with the principle, just to be sure.
- What is there to do for fun-If you’re in Reno this is easy. Rock climbing, boating, hiking, wine walks, festivals, skiing/snowboarding, Frisbee golf, mini golf, golf golf…. The list goes on and on.
And there is so much more to plan for!
When you’re planning to start a new part of your life with a move I recommend taking a day to sit down and write out your goals. Then research how you can achieve your goals- most of your research can be done online. When you do move you will be thankful you did this because you will have a plan to make this new area yours.
If I can help you with any of this please let me know!
Max Sabo
775-453-3181
Handling with People with Different Personality Types
I had a class this past week where a substitute teacher covered for my professor. This class taught me firsthand about personality differences. The story is as follows:
The substitute teacher came in to the class and started talking about some personal things that were irrelevant to the class (but by no means inappropriate) and showed us a bunch of pictures. Of course everyone was a bit agitated because this meant we wouldn’t be let out early from our 6 hour class. He then asked the class to write down our business goals for our lives. We did this and he asked a random person in class to share. This person did so and the substitute teacher proceeded to tell this person that there goals were too broad and that they needed to be specific , like the VP of Widget Manufacturing and I’m going to get there by doing… The substitute continued to hammer the student because the substitute felt that the response was not adequate. The student and the professor went back and forth for probably 5 minutes. Needless to say, everyone in the class was stunned by the rudeness of this very direct personality type.
The class continued on and started to spiral out of control. People in the class were raising their hands and politely telling the substitute that this is not how our teacher ran the class and said that this teaching style was not appropriate for a class that was suppose to encourage student participation. This continued till he let us out of class for lunch.
After lunch I was running about 5 minutes late because I got was distracting watching the hockey game and partially because I didn’t want deal with the teacher- I am paying for school not being paid to go. When I sat down there was a hand out on my desk. On it was the 4 personality styles. I have to assume the morning’s events were at least impart an act. The styles are:
- Analytical- logical and organized type of people
- Driver- problem solvers that like to take action
- Amiable- easygoing and loyal
- Expressive- outgoing with high energy
No one will fit one category exactly but everyone will probably have 2 that are dominant. Obviously the substitute teacher was playing an extreme version of an expressive driver.
The lesson that can be learned here is that everyone has a different personality type. When we’re dealing with personality types that are different than our own, we need to focus on expressing things in that person’s personality style. For example, an analytical person will want numbers and logic but an amiable person will want to talk on more of an emotional level. The teacher obviously wanted a high energy answer that would solve the problem of how the student’s goal would be met.
This lesson is very applicable to real estate because there is a buyer, seller, inspector, appraiser, 2 real estate agents, an escrow agent, and at least one bank/mortgage company (unless it’s cash). Since we will eventually have to deal with all of the above personality types it is best to identify them early on and then communicate with them in a way that they understand.
How Cheap can Homes Really get?
The price of real estate, like any other good, is driven by supply and demand. If there is a limited supply and a lot of demand, like in 2005, prices will go up. When there is a large supply and a small demand, like 2009, prices will go down. The real question right now is how low can home prices go?
When I started thinking about this idea I thought about things that are affecting demand (negatives), and I thought about things that are affecting supply. What I came up with is below:
Things that are affecting demand side:
1) Fear over the government dissolving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
2) The unemployment rate is being high
3) General uncertainty due to things like the earthquakes in Japan and the unrest in the Middle East.
Things that are affecting the supply side:
1) The cost of mortgages- This may sound odd at first but I have been noticing that a large number of homes that are for-sale right now (under $200k) could have mortgages that are lower than you could rent the home for. It seems to me that at some point soon, if it already hasn’t happened, that investors are going to step into the market and put in a price floor.
2) Rising commodity costs- If it’s going to cost more to build a home, home builders will have to raise prices. This limits how much supply can enter into the market because most people won’t buy a new home if they can get a slightly older one for significantly less.
In my mind these factors seem to offset each other at the moment. What really makes me think were at or near a bottom (not a double dip) is the cost of renting a home compared to the cost of buying a home. This especially ring true for homes that are under $200k.
The Holidays- Another Reason to Own a Home
Tonight I had Easter dinner with one my sisters. This prompted me to think of how owning a home can be rewarding during the holidays. I have a fairly large family, and we all try to get together for Thanksgiving or Christmas every year. We always end up at one of our houses and for that person it is always difficult trying to entertain so many people, but it is also very rewarding because it is a time when they can show off their house and what they have accomplished. I guess it’s a time when they get to show pride in their home.
To add to this reason interest rates are low right now and it is hard to believe that they will go much lower. This is because the Federal Reserve can only loan money so cheap before they have to raise rates due to inflation worries (Right now the Fed funds rate is targeted at “0.00 – 0.25” Source: http://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/omo/dmm/fedfundsdata.cfm ). Considering this it is hard to believe that banks will be able to loan money in the future this cheap. If the Fed does raise rates, to control inflation, the cost of money should go up. This will likely force banks to raise the rate on their home mortgages.
To wrap it up there are at least 2 reasons to purchase a home right now, one quantitative and one qualitative. From the qualitative view it is nice to be able to share your home with your family. From the quantitative view, the cost of home loans is probably going to go up so the sooner you buy a home the sooner you can lock in a lower rate.
UNR to cut $58.8 million! – How will this affect Nevada’s future?
As you probably have already heard the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) has proposed budget cuts of $58.8 million due to a short fall of funds. In order to cut this much UNR has proposed to cut or downsize a long list of programs (Click here to see the list) including the Mathematics/Statistics department and the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Of course, people are outraged but without money cuts had to be made… How they should be made is a sensitive issue that I can’t say I know the answer to.
The sad truth is that without many of these programs Nevadans will not be able to get a quality education in many fields. This will lead to 3 things: Potential students will have to go out of state to get an education, they will stay in state and get a different degree, or they will not go college at all. Both of these situations are going to lead to fewer people with the skills needed to run businesses.
This is going to hurt Nevada’s economy in the future because businesses that are drawn to Nevada due to our tax structure may not make the move due to a lack of educated labor. If the economy is hurting this will affect the real estate market because there will be a lack of money and a lack of growth in Nevada.
There isn’t much we can do right now. Some cuts and downsizing were inevitable without money. When the economy improves please encourage your elected officials to reinstate these programs, Nevada’s future depends on it.
If I can help you with anything please let me know!
Max Sabo
Independence Realty
MaxSabo.wordpress.com
Twitter: @MaxSabo
775-453-3181
The Job Market and its Affect on Real Estate
I don’t think that there is anyone out there that doesn’t realize that there is a major unemployment and underemployment problem right now. Since college graduation is coming up soon, I decided to look at some people I know and what they are doing after college.
As you may expect employers don’t seem to be recruiting anymore, with the exception being gold mines (UNR has a top notch mining engineering program and gold mines are doing quite well right now). The real issue is that there are going to be a lot of college graduates this year that have put in their 4-5 years and now won’t be able to find a job. From what I have been hearing, competition is fierce and it’s not uncommon for an employer to have 50+ applications shortly have advertising a new position. Considering this, there is going to be a large number of new graduates that are going to have to wait a long time before they can get a job. This will probably result in students moving back in with their parents until they can find that first job.
This is going to affect real estate because these new college graduates obviously aren’t able to purchase homes if they don’t have a job. In years past these new graduates would get a job-and possibly a signing bonus-and then save up to buy their first home. This won’t be happening to many this year.
If I can help you with anything please let me know!
Max Sabo
Independence Realty
Twitter: @MaxSabo
775-453-3181
4 Reasons to Upgrade to a Smart Phone- if you’re in Real Estate
I upgraded phones a few months ago and went from a Blackberry to a Motorola Android. I have to say I don’t know how I live without my new phone. My old Blackberry was useful for email, but the internet was too slow and it wasn’t user friendly. My new phone, on the other hand, has high speed internet and is much more user friendly. Some real estate related functions are below:
- GPS- I use Google maps, but there are also some more robust systems out there.
- Social Media- Twitter, Face book, Foursquare are all easy to check
- High Quality Camera- Mine is 8Mp
- It’s Easy to check listings- Trulia, Zillow, and even some MLS systems have apps that allow you to check listings.
Those are the 4 real estate functions I use my phone for most. I also really like the news and weather apps.
If you’ve been holding out on buying a new phone I would highly recommend upgrading.
If I can help you with anything please let me know!
Max Sabo
Independence Realty
Twitter: @MaxSabo
775-453-3181
Real Estate- The Best Job Ever!
I just finished up working for today and I got to thinking… I have the best job ever! I get to go to school full time, and I am able to manage my work around classes and other activities.
For example: I got up at 7 this morning, did a few things for work and then met up with some friends at 9 to go snowboarding. When I got back into town I finished up some BPOs and other work that I had to do. It’s now 10:30 but I’ve had the perfect day. I got to get out and snowboard (on a week day!) and was able to finish my work when I got home.
I’ve had a few 8-5 (with over time) jobs in the past, and I have to say I really like the flexible schedule real estate has to offer- That’s not to say I won’t have to put in some 50 or 60 hour weeks every now and then- The really neat thing about being a real estate agent is that I control my schedule so I have the ability to work and live my life. I guess I get the best of both worlds.
Good Night! I’m doing the same thing tomorrow 
Check your Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detectors!
I was trying to think of topics to blog on yesterday and my friend, who is a fire fighter, mentioned that I should write about checking and changing the batteries in your smoke/carbon monoxide detectors since daylight savings time recently happened. It sounded kind of boring so I didn’t really want to blog about it; however, I decided that I should check mine. It turns out that one of my smoke/carbon monoxide detectors isn’t working.
This is a reminder, if you haven’t checked and change the batteries in your smoke/carbon monoxide detector, please do so!
If I can help you with anything please let me know!
Max Sabo
Independence Realty
Twitter: @MaxSabo
775-453-3181
Max Sabo
