MRED Blog
REinventing MLS
Category Archives: Agent “Doing Business” Discussions
MRED Training Tips from the Trenches
By: Jessica Ruminski, Training Department Manager
Often MRED will ask our trainers, who are also REALTORS® , to give tips and suggestions that they think all REALTORS® should know. Here are a few great tips from MRED trainer Carrie Bey:
- New Agents should take all the classes MRED offers. They are FREE!
- Take advantage of MRED training during your slow months.
- Add 60 minutes of training to your work week. Sign up for an online class, watch a video or take a class.
- Update your Setup tab in connectMLS™ every quarter. MRED makes changes often so you want to make sure you are taking advantage of all the features.
- Setup a buyer account for yourself in connectMLS™. By doing this you are able to understand what your buyer sees in their version of the MLS.
Did you know MRED has a social media tool and a lead capture form? You don’t need to be a social media expert to take advantage of MRED’s social media tool called the Share My Listings widget. Sign up for a MRED computer lab day or watch MRED’s video to learn more.
Staging Your Listing to be…Affordable?
BY: Laura Reedy-Stukel, L.W. Reedy Real Estate
One trend is coming across loud and clear for home sales this year – demonstrate lower monthly bills and you will attract buyers! Fifty to 75% of home buyers shop utility bills when looking for their next home.
Chicago Magazine made this their leading advice for selling your home this season: staging for energy efficiency is a great way to make your home stand out to value-conscious buyers. The first bit of advice in the article Boost Your Home’s Value – If you want to sell this summer was energy efficiency.
A sampling of other articles says the same:
- Realtor Magazine: 5 Ways to Sell a Home Faster, For More Money – “Talk about energy efficiency: Many buyers don’t fully understand “green” homes but they understand savings. Sellers should point out any features in their homes — such as energy-efficient windows or appliances — that could save buyers money with utility costs.”
- Trulia: 5 Shockingly Selfish Reasons for Going Green at Home – Top 3: ”Save Money Now. Sell Faster. Boost Your Net Worth.”
- USA Today: Builders – Energy Efficiency Greens Most New Homes – “Two-thirds of builders and remodelers say customers request green homes to lower their utility bills — more than twice as often as any other factor”
So what are some steps you can take if you want to attract value-conscious buyers? Here are some great staging tips for your listing.
- Install a programmable thermostat. This is now a prerequisite for “well-maintained” homes. The good news is that a basic $50 programmable thermostat can save over $100 per year on heating and cooling!
- Replace light bulbs in five key areas. Ditto above – another prerequisite. Focus on the five most used lights first to see the savings start to add up on the next ComEd bill: 1. Outdoors 2. Kitchen 3. Family/living room 4. Dining room/eating space 5. Bedrooms.
- Get the perfect color light bulb! You can get all sorts of “normal” shaped bulbs now too. A warm, yellowish light is just like the incandescents buyers are used to. Look for bulbs that have a color temperature around 2700 degrees kelvin for the best ambiance. The new light bulb label (left) make it easy to find a color temperature and pick a bulb that really gives off a cozy vibe.
- Earn rebates on CFL bulbs. Your clients can use a ComEd retailer and earn a rebate on replacement bulbs!
If your client really wants to stand out, you can encourage them to participate in the Illinois Home Performance with Energy Star program. They will follow a home improvement process focused on cutting energy use by 15%. The program follows a quality system that starts by qualifying contractors and ends by testing the results of improvements to make sure they actually worked. Once complete, home owners will receive a Silver or Gold certificate, depending on savings achieved. It’s a great document to share with prospective buyers to show that improvements meet the high standards of Energy Star. Plus, the certificate is even a searchable field in MRED’s ConnectMLS (look for the “green supporting documents field” in the Utilities/Green Tab. And qualified appraisers look for third-party green documentation when assessing value.
Understanding local energy efficiency programs can help you become a real estate superstar once your listing is under contract. Many home inspection hot spots are really just energy efficiency improvements waiting to happen. For example, one of my clients is waiting to close on a short-sale condo. She’s putting all her cash into a downpayment, but the heating and air conditioning is at the end of their useful lives, and the seller took the washer and dryer.
Enter Energy Impact Illinois (EI2), a program supported by a Department of Energy Grant. EI2 makes it easier than ever to understand the best way to replace key systems in a home, and also identifies qualified rebates and loans to cover the work. Check out their “Make Improvements” list to see if any of their tips and rebates relate to your home inspection issues. Who knows, by empowering your buyer with great resources “big problems” might become much less of a concern and actually improve the way your deal is coming together!
For my client, she learned she can qualify for a home equity loan after closing at an interest rate better than her credit card can offer. She should earn up to $650 back on the furnace and AC from Nicor and ComEd and $75 off a new washer from ComEd.
Do I look like a genius or what? My efficiency smarts directly resulted in a deal!
Whether your client can promote big efficiency improvements or just needs to demonstrate basic value – now is the time to showcase how your listing is not just a great value to buy, but to operate too! And there have never been better resources to help you serve clients in this space.
MRED Introduces DocuSign eSignature Solution
Click HERE to read how MRED is helping Agents close real estate deals faster.
Social real estate marketing – remember talking to people?
By: Mike Scotty
Every so often we stop and think, “Geez how did we ever get anything done before the internet?” Well, we did. And funny thing about that is that, especially in marketing, the fundamentals haven’t changed. The tools have. Reach and frequency – you identify your target audience and you reach out to them at regular intervals with the right message. Eventually when one of those prospects thinks of real estate, you come to mind.
I had the chance to talk to a local Chicago Realtor this week who told me that her consistent use of Facebook alone had built her a steady stream of referrals and a sale every couple of months. But she probably doesn’t do it in the way you’d expect.
Eileen has built her fan base up to over 500 Facebook friends that include personal and professional acquaintances, aka her sphere of influence. She doesn’t post new listings on Facebook, she doesn’t advertise open houses and she doesn’t ask directly for business. She tried building a business page for a while, but felt it was too contrived and went back to focusing on her personal page.
What Eileen does is talk to her sphere. She posts her status and photos, joins groups and talks about what she’s doing day-to-day. Because she’s a busy Realtor – the real estate angle works its way into the conversation – “I’m between appointments and trying to get tonight’s dinner figured out”, “I’m sitting an open house and can’t believe the traffic”, “I just saw the most gorgeous house that went on the market this week”. Never the hard sell.
Every one of her friends knows that she’s a Realtor and knows that she’s busy. And when they’re looking for a real estate expert, Eileen comes to mind.
Remember talking to people? Lots of people? We’re just doing it in a different way now.
Eileen commented on how people who are house-bound, taking care of a family or in a home-based business can really make a connection and build a solid friendship with you on Facebook.
Think about the things you know about your friends and acquaintances that you’d never know were it not for Facebook. If you’re a Realtor, perhaps you should make sure your friends know what you do – conversationally.
Test Your Fair Housing IQ
In honor of Fair Housing month click HERE to take NAR’S fair housing quiz.
MARCH 2012 MONTHLY MARKET REPORT
Let’s talk about data. Navigating through a complex and fast-moving marketplace is tough work. Agents are being called upon to provide fact-based guidance in a timely fashion – and rightly so. MLS data is detailed, accurate and very much “now.” It makes the magic of data-driven decision-making possible. So go ahead, channel the collective energy of your hard-earned status changes and let’s see what the facts tell us about March 2012. Happy data-ing.
New Listings in Chicagoland were down 4.5 percent for detached homes and 16.6 percent for attached properties. Listings Under Contract increased 48.0 percent for detached homes and 59.4 percent for attached properties.
The Median Sales Price was down 3.6 percent to $159,000 for detached homes and 5.3 percent to $124,000 for attached properties. Months Supply of Inventory decreased 35.4 percent for detached units and 46.8 percent for attached units.
For better or worse – usually better – housing is closely tied to the broader economy. As much as we’re in the valley of a residential real estate rebalancing act, it’s important to keep tabs on economic changes. Recent improvements suggest that there may be a stirring of optimism in the center of this market. But not all submarkets will move together. “You can observe a lot just by watching.” – Yogi Berra
Click HERE to see MRED’s Monthly Indicators Report for March 2012
[NOTE: Residential Detached and Attached single family activity only.]
Click HERE to see MRED’s Lender Mediated Report for March 2012
[NOTE: Lender-mediated properties are those marked in MRED as “Foreclosed”, “REO”, “Pre-Foreclosure” or “Short Sale”. Residential Detached and Attached single family activity only.]
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