In 2007, How & Where will you Get a Life?

Yes, this was an actual title for a sermon that I heard today.  A little surprising given the assumption is that most people who are listening to sermons have presumably submitted to a philosophy which promises the follower that adherence to the principles espoused guarantees "eternal life".   However, in a world that is becoming increasingly fundamental with about the same rigor as it is becoming dangerously fanatical it is increasingly clear that "getting a life" or even losing it to hopefully gain it (for instance as is practiced by suicide bombers )is a real concern for many people.

My thoughts meandered a little during the sermon as I began mulling about what “getting a life and where & how that might occur” would be relevant to the challenges of being a Realtor.  Standing on the threshold of 2007, I realize that the expositor was onto something.  Many in the real estate community are wondering how and where they are going to get a life this New Year.  Perhaps, more succinctly stated, many are wondering how they are going to make a living this next year. In a profession where nothing is guaranteed, but theoretically everything is possible, the eternal optimist in all of us flourishes.  But, the dark shadow of our uncertainty and vulnerability lurks as well. It is intriguing that the light that allows potential to be revealed also creates the darkness which shadows its outline.

In speaking to fellow Realtors, it is obvious that this concern about how we will create a living for the upcoming year looms large. Questions like, (Will I make as much as last year?  Where will I find buyers for my property listings or homes to list? How will I cope with all the changes and potential costs?), are tacit even though sometimes unexpressed concerns.  The entrepreneurial spirit that propels us into a sales career is one which can require increasingly mega doses of motivational mania to sustain the momentum.  Thus begins the quest for the next new or big thing and the race to discover it before everyone else does. On a more troubling note, it can cause a loss of connection with good priorities as the weeds of worry make us forget or minimize the principles that nourished our success in the first place.

The truth can sometimes be seen most astutely when reflected through a different paradigm.  Suppose, everyone in the world stepped outside their home and gulped as much air as possible, jumping up and down to maximize their air usage?  Would this action by 6 billion people be sufficient to expunge all the air available for human consumption from the atmosphere?  The answer is of course, NO.  But why do we behave in this way when it comes to our personal gain and welfare? 

There is no need to fear.  For when we choose powerful, life enhancing options such as decency, empathy & concern for the welfare of others, integrity, follow-through, going the extra mile, politeness and doing an honest days work ( as opposed to complaining, griping or worrying about what may or may not happen)life unfolds and explodes with options.  It has always been the case that the expansion of zero remains zeros!  But, every time, a positive integer is multiplied or added to with consistency, it is impossible to keep a good number down...also applicable to a good Realtors or members of any profession.

So, perhaps the question needs to be re-framed a little.  It's not so much about how and where I will get a life in 2007; rather it is about how and where I will create a life of vitality, prosperity, and power in my own life and in the lives of others who I will have the privilege of interacting with.  Instead of being fearful about where the next listing or commission will come from, I urge us to choose to anticipate the opportunity and create pathways ofclarity for its unimpeded progress into our lives.  Just as there is enough air for all, there is more than enough business for serious, dedicated, motivated individuals to thrive in 2007....and I plan to do just that!  Have a Happy, Blessed and Prosperous New Year!

  Overcoming Challenges in Difficult Listing Scenarios

How do you handle a "difficult" listing scenario? You don't hear much discussion about how to market homes where challenging circumstances necessitate a sale, be they divorce, death, separation, foreclosure, job loss etc.  The reality is that a very significant portion of homes which are on the market are being sold for one of these reasons.  In West Michigan, the foreclosure crisis has some estimates predicting between 6000- 10,000 homes being placed on the market due to foreclosures within the next 1-2 years!  To give perspective, our current board average of home listings is 10,000+. 

A decade ago, the prevailing wisdom was to obscure the "real reason" for the sale in difficult situations.  But, that may be changing.  As the nation mourns the loss of President Gerald Ford whose hometown of Grand Rapids will be his final resting place, we are reminded of the hallmarks of his character which were heralded because his commitment to integrity, honesty and just plain decency were virtues which healed our nation at a very tumultuous and empty time in history.  Perhaps, these qualities can still challenge us to choose to see what needs to be healed through exposure to light rather than obscuring the truth in darkness and non-disclosure. 

I do understand the need to protect the interests of our clients and to protect their investments.  This is inherent to being a fiduciary agent. However, sometimes in doing so, we marginalize the power of their stories and the triumphs of their lives. Sometimes the nastiest of situations can offer opportunities to engage life in a different way and encourage our clients to remember what is truly important. This post is about a radical change in my marketing strategy of a home in the midst of a "difficult situation".

The obscure sign at the end of the street indicating a lot was "for sale" caught our attention.  We'd been to the neighborhood almost 7 years previously to tour a parade home.  I didn't remember where the home was located as I have a poor sense of direction...miraculous in a real estate agent.  But, I did remember the interior of the parade home as it was the home of the elderly lady from whom we had bought our first home nearly a decade ago.  Incredulously, at our closing, she had jokingly intimated that when she was old enough to go into a nursing home, we might consider purchasing her new home. 

I remember thinking the comment was "interesting", and now here I was, looking at a vacant lot blanketed with trees just opposite the parade home I had visited so many years ago.  The neighborhood had changed significantly.  Several handsome bungalows had been built, the latest being a stucco Mediterranean ranch style home that was just opposite the lot we were considering.

This particular lot which harnessed our attention had traded hands many times.  Our "potential" new neighbor Tom provided us with interesting facts and commentary about the community.  All the streets were named after horse breeds, Shire, Arabian Way, and Clydesdale.  The neighborhood was somewhat reminiscent of the early version of a gated community; the initial foray into residential development by a local pediatrician whose oversight and engagement with each new homeowner created  a setting that was unlike the usual garden variety subdivision.

Tom & Chris had an unusual love story.  We met Tom first because he was always outside.  A lover of nature, he could often be seen in the garden, the pool area or the garage.  The basketball hoop outside engaged the attention of our boys who soon began to join impromptu games with Tom & other neighborhood kids.  I met Chris on one such evening as I stood outside; she walked over very carefully and introduced herself.  Chris was accompanied by two delightful Pomeranian dogs, Barnum & Bailey who obviously enjoyed the chance to be outside their normal territory.  I soon realized that the walk across the street was a journey of great strength and courage as Chris, a double amputee and cancer survivor 3 times over willed herself to move on with life in spite of everything.

Over the next year, Tom & Chris welcomed numerous people into their lives and home.  Tom loved to cook and the kitchen was a hub of activity.  He had reduced his work schedule significantly to care for his wife during her health crisis.  The house design accommodated her handicap and its many unique details and accents were testimony for Chris's love and attention to details.  Several custom designed leaded glass window inserts and the elegant leaded glass door framed within the pillared front entry were her personal artistic creations. Chris loved the royalty and sumptuousness of purple and lavished it generously throughout the home.

During the fall of that year, I had a spa party which Chris attended but had to leave early.  It was at that party that a unique friendship developed between Chris and  Mom Comfort whose prayers and encouragement became a tremendous source of inspiration and comfort....just like her name.  Two ladies, small in physique...Mom Comfort is very petite & Chris had lost her legs, but giants in hope and courage!   Chris celebrated life at every opportunity, often sitting poolside to watch the action outside.  After her passing, Tom decided to put the home on the market, his life had also passed into another stage.

  I am reminded that Chris minus both legs and with many physical limitations accomplished things beyond what many healthy people do.  This is a story where the frames of grace encompass love in the midst of difficulty and hardship, openness and embrace rather than shutting down, engaging the choice of hope in the midst of despair and perhaps most simply stated..."just keeping on, keeping on'. 

As a listing agent, our profession is sometimes at odds about what to do with a loss which places a home on the market.  It's not unusual and certainly understandable that many of us choose to neglect to mention the history of a home so as not to create inappropriate prejudice.  But the reality is that life and death are part of the natural rhythm of life.  And, there are far more ugly things that take place in homes such as abuse and  and the despair of neglect which create "living nightmares & soul death"  in the lives of current occupants. 

So, we made a conscious choice to celebrate life.  In memory and celebration of Chris' life, we are donating 10% of the proceeds on our commission towards Gilda's Club which provided an unparallel level of care and support to the family. At the first Open House, local businesses donated furniture, prizes and food.  Neighbors came to tour and reminisce.  The healing of this house is still on-going, but the fact that difficulty and loss  is not insurmountable  and does not signal the end or loss of dignity and hope is clearly evident as well.  If you would like more information about Tom & Chris's home, please visit us on-line at www.auduhome.com.  The address is 2728 Shire, Grand Rapids, Mi  49534.

Please e-mail lola@auduhomes.com for comments on this post.

©2006 Audu Real Estate  All rights reserved

Transformational Building

Locating a builder was easy, selecting the right one to take on a custom home project was infinitely more complicated.  The Grand Rapids Home Builders Association  on-line at  http://www.hbaggr.com was a great starting point.  The site is full of great information about the homebuilding process as well as the names of several builders and other subcontractors who specialize in custom home design and construction.  Through our real estate network of contacts, we had met several builders and compared notes to decide on whom to approach.  Ed & Penny were also hard at work, following up on numerous leads that they had received.  It's important to understand that the process needs to collaborative and can generate amazing results if an agent team and homeowner function synergistically.

 Continued....

We sat down to begin the interviewing process fortified with coffee and snacks.  Our cozy conference room was the setting for the preliminary meetings which spanned several days and hours of conversation.  If I was to name a seminar for this stage it would be titled "How do you Compare Apples & Oranges?"  The initial presentations were approximately an hour for each company/owner.  Each builder had been given a set of questions to review.  You can request a copy of the Builder Interview Questions by e-mailing us at info@auduhomes.com.  It became rapidly apparent that there were vast differences in style and organizational structure and we became intrigued by the ways in which this could impact the process.  These preliminary interviews ran the gamut which ranged from a well prepared notepad demo, which included a sample of architechtural renderings, to very limited support material and and even more limited presentation skills.

Custom home design requires a lot of cooperation and collaboration between a variety of disciplines including the banking industry, architects, surveyors, builder & numerous subcontractors, designers and Realtors.  The ability of a builder to effectively coordinate all these disciplines is not necessarily related to the size of his/her organization.  We found that the relationships that the builder has cultivated with his subcontractors were critical to the continuity of the process.  In our experience it is not unusual to find homes sitting without any work being done for a significant amount of time while the next contractor for a key stage is finishing off another assignment; the result of poor planning and coordination. This can be very costly for the homeowner who is paying the interest on a construction loan.

The Golden Rule was evidenced by its variant "He who has the Gold Rules" which when it comes to homes close to the Big Lake (Lake Michigan) translates to lots with lake access.  Builders who had options to purchase these lots or who owned them outright could and did insist that buying the lot was equivalent to hiring the builder.  The problem was that these builders were not always the most competitive in their pricing and service strategy.  A little weary after 2 days of interviews and home pre-viewing, we met at Joel's home.  Joel is a builder  and owner of J&E Enterprises.  He has worked in the commercial sector and built homes of distinction with the precision and attention to detail and production management not normally associated with residential design-builds.

Settling down in their comfortable new home, the hearth ablaze with a warm fire, Joel & his wife Bonnie shared their story and vision about what building a home was all about.  Here we explored the stuff of life, the why of motivation and the excitement of dreams.  The dining room table became the sketch board and the backdrop in which animated discussions and questions provoked more thoughts and further questions.  We toured and retoured their home, examining the detailing and craftsmanship.  At this stage, we were framing the big picture, painting in broad strokes accross a canvas with few limitations.

Joel is a man who is deeply connected and grounded to the earth and has an innate understanding of how a home will settle and conform to a lot.  This kind of earthy, common sense wisdom is profoundly valuable in preserving the unique scenic elements of a home setting.  He offered to assist us in locating a suitable lot which was becoming a very challenging proposition.  Ed & Penny began to "breathe", the tension of the past couple of days dissipating as they became tangibly engaged in working with a visionary who could deliver their dream into reality.

to be continued...

*photographs of Lake Michigan are courtesy of Lola Audu.  We are hoping that Ed might be persuaded to share some of his beautiful print in future posts.

©2006 Audu Real Estate All rights reserved

  Transformational Transactions

I relish the opportunity to stop by the upscale eatery in Macys when I am in the southwest side of the city.  Through my frequent visits, I have developed a relationship with the Manager, Margaret who runs one of the best deli/cafes in Grand Rapids.

 Anyway, my appreciation for good food and tasteful presentation led from general acknowledgement and pleasantries to a conversation about Margaret’s dream.  She wanted a house on the lake.  Now in Michigan, the term “on the water” can be debatable.  I’ve seen homes advertised on ponds that were breeding grounds for mosquitoes referred to as your own “private lake”.  Well, Margaret was talking about what we term “real water”, the big lake, Lake Michigan. 

She had a price in mind which she knew would be a challenge to find, but she courageously placed her home on the market, and decided to follow her bliss.  Within several months, her home was sold and the search for the house on the lake went into high gear.  We seemed to be rapidly exhausting all options and Margaret’s home had not manifested.  Undaunted, we continued the search, my assistant logging many miles traveling in search of the seemingly elusive lake access home in the Lake Shore area.

Finally, the break came through a home that was sold or so everyone thought.  As we approached the Listing agent for this home that was literally a couple hundred yards from a breathtaking view and with the added value of deeded lake access, he indicated that the option to purchase the property was expiring and we should submit a back-up offer which we did.  It was only after the home closed that we realized that several prospective buyers had their eyes on the home and were hoping for the opportunity to bid but never made their intentions clear.

 We all knew this was a God thing.  Margaret had walked through many challenges and could have chosen to retreat from life, but on the contrary she embraced it fully with determination and faith and got what she desired against tremendous odds.  Today, she lives in a lovely home that is located on an acre, surrounded by lovely trees and we have nicknamed the view from her bluff, her little slice of heaven “Margaret’s Lake”.

 This is how Margaret decided to share the blessings of her experience with her sister and brother-in-law, Ed & Penny who were living in the southeast part of Michigan...suburban Detroit.  Whenever, they would visit Margie as they call her, they were drawn by the beauty and peace of her setting.  Penny & Ed found themselves engaged in a journey of their own as they began to contemplate a move to a very different place to a very different type of life. 

 Ed, an amateur photographer has a passion for capturing the exquisite in the ordinary.  He loves taking pictures but has not had a lot of time.  Penny has a talent for redeeming a home’s interior to create beautiful living spaces.

The search for a house on the lake like Margies had many twists and turns.  Along the way, we met numerous individuals and builders.  There were sellers who wanted to sell and then decided they couldn’t move just yet.  We soon discovered that just about every piece of land that had proximity of any kind to the lake was already sold or optioned. There’s something about the Lake!  The search was long, and exhaustive.  Finally, with most options rapidly diminishing, we decided to explore building a home.  This started another chapter of the adventure.

 To be continued.....

© 2006 Audu Real Estate.  All rights reserved

  Is My Home Ready to Sell ?   Quiz/Questionnaire

The Grand Rapids Real Estate Association currently has over 10,000 listings for sale.  On average 1000+ homes have sold every month which means there is ample supply of homes for sale for every buyer.  The good news is that homes are still selling and motivated Homeowners are exploring New Options to ensure that their home is one of them.  This Quiz is designed to assist you in determining how competitive your home is the current Grand Rapids Market and can easily be utilized in any real estate market in which there is more than 6 months worth of inventory in the Current Listings for Sale.  Use the Key below to help you determine your Competitive Index Quotient. 

*(This tool has been designed by Lola Audu, CRS of Audu Real Estate to assist homeowners in evaluating how best to enhance their marketing options and chances for success in a competitive real estate market.  It is not intended to be a substitute for professional counsel.  Please contact a real estate Broker or Realtor for in-depth analysis and interpretation about your current situation)

How to Use this Questionaire:  Each category has several options.  Please Check all that apply.  Then use the scoring index below to evaluate your score. 

 1.  Initial Home Listing Price  (Sale price refers to homes sold within past 90 days)

• A.   Home currently priced above the average home for sale in neighborhood      
• B.  Home priced at the average neighborhood home sale price
• C. Home priced 5-10% Below average neighborhood home sale price
• D. Home Listing includes Selling Bonus to Selling Agent

2. Pricing Adjustments (Based on updated Certified Market Analysis after 30-60 days)

• A.  Stay the course, Keep price the Same regardless of current indicators
• B.  Revise Listing on-line to match current Average home sale price
• C.  Decrease list price by 5% if necessary below revised market analysis price

3.  Financing Options Provided

• A.  Seller offers to pay closing costs- typically between 3-5% of sales price
• B.  Seller offers to pay 1st 3 months of Buyers Mortgage Payment
• C.  Seller offers buyer incentive such as Vacation/Car Rental/Cruise/Plane Tickets
• D. Seller willing to Consider Government Financing (EX: FHA, VA, MSHDA) in addition to Conventional Loans
• E.  Seller willing to offer Lease with Option to Purchase or Land Contract in addition to traditional financing vehicles

4.  Home Condition

• A.  Home has been professionally Staged & recommendations completed
• B.  Home has been cleared of excess belongings and clutter
• C.  All minor & major home repairs have been made
• D.  Home looks and smells clean and fresh

 5.  Marketing of My Home

• A.  Media/Web tours available on my homes' interior
• B.  Home available on Local MLS and additonal websites including BLOGS
• C.  Open Houses accessible on-line
• D.  Brochure box attached to Sign rider with fliers detailing home
• E.  Comprehensive marketing plan includes print media and on-line options and is in writing

6.  Risk Reduction

• A.  Seller willing to offer and/or pay for Home Warranty Protection
• B.  Seller provides appraisal by Independent appraiser to document value of listing price
• C.  Seller's Agent provides detailed Neighborhood analysis of Homeowners community
• D.  Seller able to provide receipts and contractors names & licenses for repairs and/or improvements

7.  Flexible Possession

• A.  Home seller able to move quickly once home is sold...including the day of Closing
• B.  Home seller willing to rent back home as a tenant to New Buyer if homeowner cannot move immediately

8.  Real Estate Agent Hired

• A.  My agent  has access to the MLS and advertises through this medium
• B.  My Real Estate agent has earned Advanced Designations and has superior training.  (EX: E-Pro, CRS, Broker)
• C.  My Real Estate Agent has an agent website and is tech saavy (EX: e-mail, Palm-pilot, Notebook computer, BLOG)
• D.  My Real Estate Agent works with an Agent or Assistant Team- virtually or on-site

Scoring Template: Q1. a-0, b-5, c-15, d-10; Q2. a-5, b-10, c-10; Q3. a-10, b-10, c-5, d-5, e-5; Q4. a-10, b-5, c-10, d-5,

Q5. a-5, b-10, c-5, d-5, e-10; Q6. a-5, b-10, c-5, d-5;  Q7. a-5, b-5;  Q8. a-10, b-5, c-5, d-5

50 or Below:  In a challenging Market you will have difficulty being competitive with other homes. 

50-100 :  Your home may be being shown, but is being used to sell other houses in your neighborhood who are a better value.

100-150:  You are  fairely well positioned in a Challenging Market, but may want to enhance incentives & or pricing.

150-200:  As they say "Get Packing", Everybody loves a good deal.  Be prepared for Multiple offers!

 © 2006 Audu Real Estate. All rights reserved