Lee County Real Estate Statistics Improve

According to a recently published article in the New-Press this morning, “Real Estate Stats Improve,” we see foreclosure filings decreasing while, building permits are up.   This is good news for many who have faced the trauma of losing their home and those who are still in the think of it, our hearts reach out to you. As we have helped dozens of Lee County Residents save their credit through the Short Sale of their home, we know how tiresome the process can be.  We also know that communication during the entire process is what you need and expect, and we provide that with weekly updates on progress of the file.  Now, lets get back to our news article.  ONLY, 10,669 Foreclosure filings were filed in 2010.   I emphasis only because 10,000+ homes is a tough number to stomach.  However, with a rate of 12,000 homes sold in 2010, we could suspect to go through this inventory in 2011. As the banks have been able to do some creative accounting they are able to hold these non-performing assets much longer so they are able to allocate them into the system as if they are stacks of cereal boxes in a warehouse.  “Hey Jonny, we sold one today, can you scan the next house to go on the market.”   The silver lining, because of the banks ability to hold this “assets” and trickle them into the system the prices are not dropping out of the sky.  Just imagine, if our inventory went from 11,000 units to 15,000 because of the “shadow inventory” just in Lee County prices would drop 10% that month, so thank you to creative minds in the banking industry for your accounting abilities.  OH, and if you could do my books this year, I might be able to show a profit too…LOL.

What does a realtor need from a Real Estate Broker?

Many people think that all it takes to be a good realtor is to go to a week of school, learn the laws regulating real estate, pass a test, and hang your license with ABC Brokerage and the next day business starts rolling in.  I wish it was as easy as HGTV makes it appear.  Show a loving couple three homes from $300,000-$400,000 and they pick one of the homes in just a 1hr TV show, and you get $12,000 for “all your hard work.”  If it were that easy then why is the average income for a realtor $11,000 in 2010?  The average number of homes sold by a realtor was less than 10.  Yikes, but Jonny said he sold 30 homes last year and made $150,000 while doing it.  This may be the case, but “Jonny” is not a new comer to the game and has mastered many of the skills needed to close real estate sales.  “Jonny” has been given the many skills and tools needed by his broker to make him this successful.  What are some of the skills needed?  I will just scratch the surface with the answer to this question because the truth is to be a master in the real estate industry there are hundreds of skills and “tools” you will need.  One skill that is often overlooked is  MONEY, or a Budget.  You know the same thing you do with your family’s money every month.  Figure out how much is coming in and how much is going out and hopefully less of the later.  If you do not have a good understanding of a budget you will get swamped in the real estate field.   Every business has something to offer Realtors that will help them close more sales, get more buyers, be seen more times on the internet, get your website to the first page of google(if only for 30 seconds) which in the internet world equates to ONE DAY!!  Anyway, my point is you could spend $50,000/year and have not received one good customer from the expense.  Your budget needs projections of income, figure $25,000 for your first year and you will be 200% higher than the average agent, none the less it is a good place to start.  From the $25,000 in income, you will need to pay for advertising, postage, vehicle expenses, signs, associations dues, office fees, faxes, photo copies, website, SEO(search engine optimization) to make your site on the first page of google, client gifts, your household expenses, which include but not limited to: food, clothing, rent, child care.  Now how much is portioned to each section, the master agent spend 40% of their expenses on advertising…for a newer agent, I would suggest $5000 of the $25,000 in income.  Of course you could spend less, but that just leads to longer times between sales.  Oh and since your income is averaged, you need to remember there may be a month or two where you don’t make anything but still have the expenses you need to pay for, that’s where your savings will be really helpful.  Since master agents spend 40% of their expenses on advertising, lets talk about good the numerous ways to advertise.  You have newspapers or other print media, website & SEO, facebook or other social media, direct mail, indirect mail, blogs, cable tv, radio, seminars, tradeshows, to name a few of the many forms of advertising.   In Fort Myers, I would suggest you stay away from Newspaper, TV, Radio, and Billboard ads if you are just starting out.  They are the most costly per “lead” that is generated from the income spent on the ad.  Direct mail, Websites, and Blogging are were you will get your best ROI.  Direct mail can be done as cheap as $.217 per piece of mail for postage, and Websites as low as $25/mth and Blogging is free just takes a lot of time.  For direct mail you need something catchy, but of value so the reader doesn’t treat it like junk mail.  If you get 1%-3% response on direct mail you are doing great.  That means you need to send 250 pieces every week, or 1000/mth and you should get 10-30 calls a month, of that you hope to get 50% closing ratio, and actually speak face to face with 5-15 people.   There are hundreds of Realty Websites out there with thousands of deign templates.  I have tried many of them, as most I was paying $99/mth until I found a great company out of the East Coast of Florida, who actually cares about good quality customer service!!! AND he was the least expensive at $25/mth!!! Amazing!  If you want email my webmaster at justin@jrrc1.com, he will be happy to give you the contact info of that company.  Again I have just scratched the surface of the many skills needed to be a master in the world of real estate.  If you would like to learn more feel free to ask, that is why I am here.  Kindly, Gerald Ruzicka, Broker/Owner of Just Right Realty Company.  Oh by the way, the average agent working for Just Right Realty Company Closes 20 transactions a year and makes $57,000 doing it.  A realtor needs many guidance from their broker as they master the skills and tools needed for real estate.  This guidance comes in many shapes and sizes, it can come from monthly office trainings, it can come from one on one time with the broker, it can come from the broker mentoring you.  A good brokerage, takes care of the realtors first!