A Home Is A Lousy Investment - could it be that I agree?

There is no disputing Robert Bridges article in the Wall Street Journal is a must read and quite informative.  

Let's expand a bit on some of the concepts and thoughts.  Do we understand there are two totally different processes for buying a home compared to buying property?  When will our yearning for a national real estate index wane and thus Mr. Bridges wish in the final paragraph can begin to come to fruition.  

We need to understand there are real estate investors buying "properties" for a profit and that we are buying "homes" for a future.  The fact this article has to be written speaks to how far things swelled up in the early part of the century.  Real estate investments can be compared to the major indices (think REITS, real estate partnerships, etc); homes cannot and should not be.  That is not the primary reason for them.  You buy a home to build a foundation for you and your family, to squelch your desire to meet new friends and share good times, to make a difference in a local community, and of course to feed your hoarding addiction.  

We are constantly trying to find the index or indices that reflect the appreciation and investment return on our homes from a national perspective.  The problem is, the value of a home is inherently tied to the community in which its concrete is poured.  A home is anything but a national statistic. 

Take for example a local community dependent on tourism or a community dependent on one particular industry?  The idea that we can examine the real estate market nationally lies at the root of the issue of us considering it as a financial investment worthy of being compared to the equity markets.  


Take two towns 90 miles apart from each other.  We'd all agree in today's world, 90 miles is a lot of people's daily commute.  Price a home in New York City and price a home in Philadelphia and you'll see property values 5X's greater in New York City.  That's right 4 bedrooms in Philly $500,000, 4 bedrooms in New York City a cool $3 mil.  That's comparing two major cities just 90 miles from each other.  Now try comparing the local economy of a Santa Barbara, CA to the local economy of a Pittsburgh, PA.  

The point being, there is no magical national index for us to look at and review.  The homes that create the market create the very communities, neighborhoods, and block parties that we are in search of when searching for our perfect nest egg.  Buying a home is a contact sport.  Get out there, get local, and talk to the local experts.  That's how you buy a home and build the foundation for your wealth.  Not by researching graphs, earnings per share, book value, and by simply clicking "confirm trade".

Innovative RE/MAX Technology Delivers - remax.com Connects Over 10 Million Customers to Agents

An overwhelming majority of families start their home search online and they find what they’re looking for on www.remax.com, the number one real estate franchise website. With advanced search properties and complete home listings in thousands of cities and towns, the site also connects homebuyers and sellers with award-winning and experienced RE/MAX agents through the RE/MAX LeadStreet® system. To date, remax.com and Leadstreet have provided more than 10 million unique leads for RE/MAX Associates across the country. And, those agents have helped millions of families buy and sell homes.

“The success of LeadStreet and remax.com is proof of our dedication to customer service and our dedication to our agents,” said Kristi Graning, RE/MAX Senior Vice President of eBusiness and Emerging Technologies. “The fact that RE/MAX agents have received more than 10 million leads, without the referral fee that our competitors typically charge, has brought more experienced real estate professionals to our network. And, those professionals make their customers a priority.”

LeadStreet debuted in 2006 and has sent out an average of 2 million leads a year to RE/MAX agents via email, which means they can receive leads on any computer or mobile device and get back to the customer within minutes.

“Staying on the cutting edge of technology is extremely important. Homebuyers and sellers today expect a quick response and they deserve one,” said Graning. “The combination of LeadStreet and remax.com has helped our agents become the most productive sales force in the industry.”

Two recent respected national surveys show RE/MAX agents continue to outperform their competitors, selling more homes, assisting more families, and leading all other national real estate companies in sales performance.

In the REAL Trends 500 survey, the average RE/MAX agent achieved 14.5 Transaction Sides in 2010, compared with the 6.8 average of all others in the survey. In the 2011 RISMedia Power Broker Report, RE/MAX agents averaged an impressive 14.7 transaction sides, outselling many competitors by more than two-to-one.

Our customer service is the foundation of our culture! How are we doing thus far?

Richard was an amazing agent. He was always available (he even called us while on his vacation) and did a great job explaining complicated manners to us in terms we could understand. Being first time home buyers is obviously an extremely nerve racking concept, but with an agent like Richard I felt as though we had someone with vast knowledge who was both willing and able to guide us. Agent: Richard Strahm

Valerie Carlisle is a superhero. From the beginning of the process, Jon and I both knew that she was the perfect agent for us: kind, patient, great personality, and extremely knowledgeable about the homebuying process. She never led us astray, always made us feel comfortable and informed, and I would recommend her to any of my friends or family looking to buy a home in the Philly area. Agent: Val Carlisle

Our experience with our realtor was exceptional and we knew, as he did, our house would not sell quickly. So, patience was a virtue at that time. Agent: Bob Abbott

Scott was helpful answering questions and providing information after the sale as well as before and we appreciate that. Agent: Scott Loper

Dawn of a New Era?

Did you ever stop to think just how much our industry has changes over the past fifteen years or so?  True, probably a question nearly every industry can ask themselves, but think how much information a consumer has access to in the real estate world today compared to just fifteen or even ten years ago.  What makes this really interesting (well for us real estate geeks anyway), is the majority of Realtor's® started their career when we controlled the information with listing books, map books, etc.  Imagine, the consumer came to us to find out all the information!  We’re talking BZ time (Before Zillow).

Well, obviously times have changed, but what is staggering is the number of Realtors® that have not changed with the times.  This represents an enormous opportunity for those that embrace the change and learn to grow their business (dare we say it).  Consumers can see and feel the different between those that have not only accepted the change and those that have failed to progress.

For starters, when working with your seller’s it is critical to discuss the importance of technology.  Remember, any consumer who has not been in the market to buy or sell over the past fifteen years or so, never really heard the term “buyer agency” and certainly didn’t set-up their own search on a website complete with daily property updates emailed right to them.  Think and discuss with your client what you do to increase page views.  With the quantity and quality of pictures and virtual tours, the first showing actually occurs online.  By the time a buyer walks through the home, they are on their second showing.  Want a shameless plug?  Call us for more ideas to help tweak your listing presentation to stay ahead of the technology!

Never Get so Busy Making a Living, That You Forget to Make a Life.

Good Times are a Rolling at the Office!!

RE/MAX Agents- Driven People, Ambitious Goals, High Achievment

SELECTIVE LEADER: Dave Liniger, along with the RE/MAX Balloon, appears on the cover of the June edition of RISMedia's Real Estate magazine. The key to RE/MAX success is attracting ambitious people and providing them with tools to maximize results, Dave Liniger says in a cover story in the June edition of RISMedia's Real Estate magazine. "RE/MAX isn't for everyone. We don't have downlines or profit sharing, and we're not a safe haven for part-timers or unmotivated individuals," the RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder says in the five-page article, headlined "RE/MAX: Driven People, Ambitious Goals, High Achievement." "But for agents and brokers who want to be the best and are willing to do the work it takes, our system offers unique competitive advantages that can help make it happen." That approach has led to 13 years of No. 1 status in the U.S., an even longer run in Canada, and similar market-leading results in many other countries. And it all begins with the quality of the people involved. As the article states, "Being the best - and saying it boldly - has been a foundation of the RE/MAX network since the very start. It's not about arrogance; it's about making a full-time commitment to the profession in a way that produces results and lifts the industry."For the rest of the article visit: RE/MAX Article Dave Liniger

Makin' Hay, While the Sun Shines

I am always amazed at how much actually gets done in the spring and summer months.  It seems to me, virtually every industry (short of retail stores, think Black Friday) cranks it up when the winter finally breaks.  We all know the farmers are making hay, the movies are stockpiling their big releases, and of course we real estate professionals are out there cranking it up.

Busy times are definitely fun, but can be stressful as well.  While the business is coming in and things are looking up, we all have a tendency to forget about the daily grind that produces these great results.  Try to stay disciplined and carve out a time to maintain your lead generation.  It doesn't matter whether you are calling your network, calling open house leads, sending postcards, sending magnets, whatever it is you do, you've got to be consistent with it.

The busy times can be the hardest times for us to be consistent.  Long days of showing, listing, and negotiating can drain our battery a bit.  This is completely understandable, but you'll want to take some steps to avoid this drain.  The more you can systematize your follow-up, the better your results will be.  And remember, a system doesn't mean it is not personal.  A system means you can repeat the action constantly and consistently (like my golf swing, ah, okay wishful thinking, but you get the idea).

You may not be able to implement your system and plan today, but at least begin jotting down notes.  You can use these notes to build your system in the slower times.  And remember, the importance of scheduling time for yourself to relax and recharge can not be understated.