Peace, Love, & ChangingStreets.com

What a great sign off for StreetNews, and a good beginning note for Reba’s maiden voyage. I was going to start this column out by going into the different meanings of REBA and distinguishing myself from the other REBAs but I’ve changed directions just a bit. REBA (real estate bad a**) was originally coined to describe a broker who didn’t care whose toes he stepped on in his quest to right wrongs, do the right thing, make Flint (and the world) a better place and sell some cribs along the way. The term evolved to poke fun at ourselves and other Realtors, we even eventually changed the words around...(real estate belly acher, really eager buyer’s agent, some unrepeatables, etc. ) I really struggled to come up with one to describe this column, no luck, but I did run across a great quote, “From what we get, we can make a living; from what we give, however, makes a life.” It stopped me in my tracks because this is what I feel is at the core of any good Real Estate Agent. It’s definitely a driving force behind ChangingStreets.com. Of course we want to make money just like everyone else, but what we get a kick out of is putting someone into their dream home and starting them on the right path to the rest of their life. How fun is that? And that we get to earn a paycheck in doing so is fantastic! Let’s let that quote set the tone for REBA’s WORLD.

How do you know if you have a good Agent? She answers your phone calls and emails. Maybe not ALL of them because nothing has changed in the fifteen minutes since your last call! But she doesn’t leave you on your own for too long to worry about how things are progressing. She protects all the confidential information you share with her with regards to your finances, your needs and your specific situation, while negotiating for you the best price. She shows you houses on Sunday because it’s your only day off, and she even leaves the dinner table on Thursday night when you’ve stumbled upon the perfect house that you just must see at that moment because you’re sure it will be sold by morning! So… who is your Agent? Please don’t tell me you’re a REALTOR HOPPER!

If you are calling many different Realtors to see houses, you are not guaranteed proper representation. If you have not established some loyalty with a Realtor, do you expect all the good treatment mentioned above? Sure a good Realtor has interest beyond a paycheck in putting people in their dream homes, but should they neglect their own needs and needs of the family to answer the call of someone who sees her only as a door opener? No way! I’ll just say it… that way of thinking is simply inconsiderate and this REBA’s number one Resolution this year is to stop bending over backward for those inconsiderate shoppers. Did you like the Agent that showed you the last house you viewed? Then sign the darn Buyer’s Agency with her. Heck! Ask HER about it before she asks you. It will make her day! If you didn’t like the last Agent you met, move on! Call someone else. When you meet someone you enjoy looking at houses with, whose company you can stomach and with whom you can see yourself spending weeks shopping, digging through your finances, negotiating, and signing papers, stick with them. It will ensure a more pleasant experience.

Speaking of finances, talk to a loan officer before you start looking at houses. It protects everyone’s interest and time and it is REBA’s #2 Resolution… REQUIRE EVERY BUYER to be APPROVED before taking them shopping. I’m not the only one. It is so frustrating to do all the things we do, the showings, the weekends, the rearranging schedules only to find that our Buyer is either not able to be financed OR is shopping in the wrong price range. Guess what…. Everyone SAYS they have been approved already even if they have not. So PLEASE, talk to a loan officer to make sure. Need assistance? REBA can help you with that! She can help you find a good Realtor too!

That should do it for today. Things have really been popping lately so get your Excellent Agent and your Trusty Loan Officer and get going!

ChangingStreets.com turned 6 this morning.

It is hard to believe it has been six years. It all started out on folding tables in a basement office. Mark, Adam & I launched the site at 4:15am on January 15, 2001 after an exhausting 80 hours straight of testing, polishing and adding the graphics package we received from our ad agency. It was a great 3 1/2 days of loud music 9 pizza deliveries (the pizza guy thought the second order was joke and then started calling us every 6 hours to see if we were hungry!) and lots of very loud music (mostly limp biskit, snoop dogg, and pearl jam). What a great weekend.

We were so proud of our site and all seven listings that were on it! What a ride it has been: over 1500 homes sold; tons of positive changes; some great agents who have been with us for a long time; some total characters that didn't make it with us at all; walking the walk by buying a house bought back to help a family and a client (anyone looking for a great four bedroom in Fenton?); Al, Eva & Steven, a family that I love; big sales-little sales; tons of great stories. If I had a nickle for every time I heard: "I have never seen anyone in your business step up like that" or "Why would anyone use another company" or "What a great company"...but we don't we just have inspiration to work harder.

From 0 to top 7 in the county; 2 ChangingStreets.com people on the local Realtor board of directors; the top selling agents by average volume and units in the county 2 years in a row; over 1600 people a day searching for homes on this website; not a bad start....

We are still rocking, we are a little bit older but no less bolder that we use to be...

Roberto Goizueta, the former CEO of Coca-Cola & one of the greatest business leaders of all times, was asked how he felt about Cokes domination. He replied "when Coca-Cola pours from every kitchen faucet in the world, my job will be done".

I love that. To me that says don't take yourself or your company too seriously; take your client seriously & take your duty to them even more seriously. If you do that you will be able to defend your market and conquer the next.

Peace, Love & ChangingStreets.com!

Holy emails. A lot of people have a lot of thoughts about the posting "I licked it, it's mine".

I want to be clear on a couple of things:

Flint Area Association of Realtors (FAAR): This group from a leadership standpoint is trying to make a change for the better. The staff and the CEO of the association are outstanding. They care, I cannot speak for them, but I believe they see some of the problems and are working hard in a quiet way to correct them. The staff is outstanding. The Board and Committee members work hard. They want to change and I see the frustration in most of them, wanting to make positive changes for consumers and the minority of its members. Again I can not speak for them and would never try, these are my impressions of some very talented people. (The panel I spoke of is not entirely made up of leaders of the board, they are people that volunteered, this may be the first place to start when cleaning things)

National Association of Realtors (NAR): This group is too disconnected from their members. They mean well but have lost focus of the fact that what is good for consumers is good for their members. Like any organization they wanted to grow, but this growth has hurt them, too many member doing too little. This has caused many problems recently with the government, with consumers and with members. I am not the only one using word the union when referring to NAR, if they did a survey of NAR members they would find the agenda they are working is the opposite of the dues paying members.

Agents: There are some great agents in Genesee County, no doubt. I have seen them do amazingly unselfish things, but the reality is these people are out numbered 10-1. The good news is these 120 agents do almost 75% of the business. I am part of a committee at FAAR to recognize these agents through multiple programs and get the names of these agents as well as their production records and displinary histories out to consumers so consumers can pick what they want. This will be an amazing step forward, a giant move toward a transparent marketplace. Many sites do this now, but the agents record is what the agent paid to have put up, we are working on the first accurate system. For now follow your gut, ask for production stats compare that to the way you feel about the person. The question you ask yourself is not do I think they can get my home sold, it is do I truly trust them and what they stand for.
That is how I hire and it works.

I have gotten several emails saying the tirade was beneath me, and it was. I just want consumers to see & think. I just want the local real estate professionals to see and think. Like I said everybody has to stand for something.

I don't just rant, I work hard at many levels to make this profession better for everyone.

I am seeing a lot of young families that do not want to spend as much as they can. What a great thing for the future, imagine budgeting to save. The problem is the expecations are there, will be interesting to see who caves first buyers or sellers.

Housing stock is tired, will sellers spruce up in 2007? I think the ones that do will be successful. Nice houses have been selling the last 15 months.

Remember when you housing sales are up vs. last year that is no victory, the market really ground to halt in November of 2005. The scary part is that December of 2006 was down 10% from December of 2005 and the average sales price was down 18%. I will look into why later.

Not a lot of builder inventory this year compared to last, should be good for the market.

Yes that was the owner/"I owe over 3 million $" of Sonrise Home in First Class flying back from Naples. How do you explain that to the families of the subcontactors he owes money too?
DO YOU HONESTLY THINK HE CARES?

How many real estate people, brokers or flipper learned anything in 2006? I fear not many, look for the next "sonrise" soon.

Does anyone in this town really believe in "Get Rich Quick Scams" anymore, I guarentee you can lose your &*^ on the first deal. I once spoke to a billionaire that said in regards to investing and matters of money... "if they talking about it at the club, I avoid it. It is dangerous to play a game of skill with amateurs".......There are stories everyday about people loosing everything and/or going to jail for "real estate investing" yet I have seen more ads online and on tv about getting rich in real estate than ever before....just food for thought, I don't know everything.

The market is good. There is a lot to look forward to in 2007. This 80 billion dollar industry is in a state of flux like never before, the real estate world is spinning rapidly and it is soooooo cool to try and play a part in shaping what it will look like in 5 years. I would like to think it will be more consumer friendly, more professional, more efficient that will mean a lot more ChangingStreets.com. We are having fun doing things the right way, it is never easy, always challenging but a blast, If I didn't own ChangingStreets.com I would buy it, it is that crazy, good hearted, fun, underappreciated company anyone would love to be part of, lets see where the journey takes us this year.

I am hoping the Journey takes me to the top position at Home Depot....They can fire me for a lot less than $200 Million. To put that into perspective that would employ 5883 Genesee County families at the median household income, or payoff Sonrises debt 63 times over..Sorry couldn't resist!