Happy Fall!
Here we are flying through the last quarter of the year. If you haven’t had the opportunity to stop and enjoy the outdoor scenery of the leaves changing, you should. It has been such a busy market that all of us have been thrown into having to work twice as hard and in some cases spinning our wheels trying to find a home for our buyers. I’m sure you are seeing multiple offers on every house, escalation clauses being used more often and not enough homes for sale. Needing more listings is a problem across the board. On the concerning side of our market I feel like we are leading ourselves to a similar market as 2006 – 2008. If you recall we were at our peak in 2006 that ended in the crash of 2008. This led to a 10+ year recovery. It seems that the process that leads us down this road and continues to be driven by demand doesn’t want to stop even if we see a negative end result in our future. Have you thought about what we can do to change our outcome? Some key components are knowing and understanding how to complete a CMA, explaining to our sellers what formula was used in pricing their home and how pricing the property properly will benefit them when the appraiser comes. Always keeping in mind the current market value once offers start coming in. Over the years, I have taken every opportunity to attend the Appraisal Panel sessions that were offered at R-BAR. This has helped me to understand the thought process behind pricing properties, but making sure the parties involved know that a CMA is not an appraisal. Getting ready for 2021 is another big topic on everyone’s mind. Have you started your business plan? Every year at this time I evaluate my previous year’s expenses and build my marketing plan based on the production I need in order to have a positive income flow and net profit. My marketing efforts and continued focus on building a healthy referral base are important aspects. There are a number of free business planning matrix systems out there to help you. Getting your business plan done now and working it before 2021 will help make the 1st quarter of 2021 a success. Of course I can’t end my final President’s Pen without giving some guidance on following the Code of Ethics. The marketing Do’s and Don’ts come to mind from when I conducted that section of our New Member Orientation for R-BAR. This year one of the big surprises to me was all of the calls I have received from REALTORS® that have expressed concern over the type of advertising that has been displayed through billboards, social media and print ads. Errors vary from the not including a brokerage name, displaying agent name in larger text than brokerage name, and excluding brokerage office phone numbers. We must all keep in mind that current regulations require all agents to include the brokerage firm name and phone number in all advertising pieces from individual agent promotionals to active property listings. The Code of Ethics and the upcoming webinar Advertising 101 with Hank Lerner, Esq. are two great resources. Having your Broker review your ad prior to ad submission is the best way to assure your marketing is compliant. In closing, I just want to thank Brittney, John, Mayleene, and Kathy for helping me through this year. We are very fortunate to have these 4 amazing people at R-BAR. Thank you and be safe! Angela Tolosky, ~ Angela Tolosky 2020 President, Reading-Berks Association of REALTORS®