I’m trying to figure this out.  And this is the way it is.  MANY major franchises are screwing over their own owners.  They are not getting support.  They are eating up franchise fees of the honest brokers who feel the obligation to pay them.  The men and women who have a loyalty to that brand.  What they don’t realize is that other members of their “brand” did not pay franchise fees in 2008.  While some franchisees DID pay their fees to the parent company, the ones who did not, apparently are getting a “FREE RIDE” from corporate!  Those who did not pay the franchise fees that they were contractually obligated to pay………… and now still have not paid, get the real estate version of the “bailout” while the other guy who is paying is hangingon for dear life trying to survive this down market, struggling to keep the doors open.  What they SHOULD be doing is going back to the way it was in the 1990’s (similar to the way EXIT Realty does it).  Those 6%, 7% and 8% franchise fees are a joke and the smarter agents will figure it out and leave those firms for “greener pastures” for certain.  NOTE TO AGENTS: WHEN YOUR BROKER COLLECTS THE 6% FEE FROM YOU AND DOES NOT PAY CORPORATE, DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE SOMEONE IS STEALING FROM YOU?  BECAUSE THEY ARE!  While our industry complains to our government, most major franchises are choking their local affiliates! They (we as an industry) are not helping each other.  Do you know or can you name one major franchise that has told the brokers or agents in that system that they were cutting back on fees while the market is down?  If you are with a franchise for example, have they cut franchise fees down to like 4% to help you through the crisis?  Have any of their corporate officers taken a pay cut?  Have they increased marketing in these difficult times?  WHAT ARE THEY DOING FOR YOU? And the brokers who just are not paying at all? You as an agent are NOT getting that money back to put into your market to help you in this difficult market, the Broker is not telling you they are not paying the franchise fee and they put that money right in their pocket!  What does corporate do?  Gives them their own little “Short Sale” and nobody knows the difference.  The GREED and poor business management is killing those companies!  While one guy gets killed off by a greedy corporate office, the ones who did not pay get the free pass.  If this was the IRS, many of those companies that appear to be strong would be shut down.

What about the Agents?  When do they get a break?  When does the honest Broker who did pay all his fees in 2008 get a helping hand from the Big Office?  Agents and brokers are expected to take medicine that corporate is refusing to take.  They let the loyal ones close down while they reward others who did not pay by reducing the amount owed.  It’s a dirty game this real estate business and I’m not talking on a local level.

Case in point.  And this is a TRUE STORY.  In 2007, the National Convention for my old badge was in Las Vegas.  One of my Team members flew up on very short notice to attend the Top Producer dinner / award ceremony.  The Vice President of “the Brand” at that time was a lady named Judy.  Judy used to work in Tampa for a Better Homes & Garden’s affiliate.  Back then, she was trying to get me to jump and leave my old company for BH & G, now she was VP of the worldwide company she tried so hard to get me to leave….. go figure.  I ran into her at the trade show and I asked her if I could get ONE extra ticket for the guy who flew up last minute.  Judy Green told me she could not do it.  I was ranked #4 or #5 WORLDWIDE with that franchise that year and I could not get a $20.00 meal ticket after I had paid over $30,000 in franchise fees that year.  That night, the room as 50% empty and those extra meals went to waste.  GOOD CALL JUDY!  What that told me was that corporate did not care about the agents, we were just cows in a pasture.  And I was one of their top performers for 16 years! Imagine how they feel about average Joe?  That is how you build DISLOYALTY in your agents and that is what opens the door for other firms to get your agents to leave……. but they have not figured that out yet, which is why they don’t sell real estate, they just try and tell Brokers and Agents how to do it……… while their hand is DEEP in your pocket!

Enough said:

I wanted to extend my hand to the owners of other franchises across the United States and Canada!  When your franchise agreement / contract runs out, don’t make another mistake!  Take your entire office over to EXIT Realty.  Buy a franchise and do your agents a favor!  The best move I ever made in almost 20 years in this business is jumping to a company that CARES ABOUT THEIR OWNERS, BROKERS and AGENTS and even the office administrators are set up for profit by the parent company.

EXIT is the future, the current and for a ton of agents, the yesterday as well for those who have been with EXIT for a while.  It is THE residual, it is THE retirement, it is THE NOW.  If you are the owner, broker or agent of a major franchise and you are tired of getting ripped off, take a look at the EXIT model and secure your future, your kids future and stop worrying about retirement!  You get it all with EXIT.  Worried about marketing? EXIT offers the BEST marketing tools I have ever seen!  The company supports their members!  They want you to be a success.  They just don’t collect franchise fees so they can keep living the extravagant lifestyle on the sweat of their agents and brokers.  EXIT shares.  How much money do you want to make?  EXIT makes it possible to get there!

EXIT.  You can get there from where you are.  If you are an agent or broker and you want to speak to me about EXIT compared to your brand, visit my website at http://www.headofrealestate.com and drop me an e-mail.  You will see that EXIT is better. 

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I have noticed that everyone has stopped advertising since the market slowed!  Where has everyone gone? 

Suddenly, the market shifts up and yesterdays top performers have disappeared from the scene and a few new faces come onto the scene!  If you take a look around, you see GM filing for bankruptcy, Chrysler and Ford also in trouble.  Pick up a Sunday paper and what do you see? Full page ads with cars on sale!  Tune to your favorite T.V. program and on every commercial break, a Ford or GM commercial!

When times get lean, the smart thing to do is continue to advertise!  Those who do will still be standing when the smoke clears!  For more information, go to http://www.headofrealestate.com

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Is it just me or does every time the market goes up or down SHARPLY, there is a new “Flash in the pan” agent that comes …….. and then goes with that market.  Here in Tampa in 2005 we had “E-Home Discovery” the 2% company!  The owner was on T.V., radio, billboards EVERYWHERE!  He said “it does not take 6% to sell a home” and he made fun of traditional agents.  He had T.V. commercials with an elderly lady (the Realtor) getting out of her giant BOAT of a Cadillac, fumbling her keys, trying to make Realtors look stupid and greedy.  Then he came out saying all you needed to pay was 2%.  He offered zero compensation to the other agents, he required the Seller to use his title company, he made the buyers use his lender.  The controvesey he created in Tampa is still talked about at the office kitchen to this day.

He was THE MAN OF THE HOUR, THE MAN WITH THE POWER, TOO SWEET TO BE SOUR!……………………….. and then the market fell.  And so did he! 

The company filed Chapter 11 and is no longer in business, at least as far as I can tell (not 100%, but if they are in business I have not seen them of late).  He tried to survive, offering 2% just to his firm, then he decided to co-broke as the market dried up, offering 1%, then 2% and finally 3% (total of 5%-6%).  I guess it DID take more than 2% to sell a house Steve Johnston! He had never been an agent in a REAL market, let alone a down market!  After all, my 94 year old granny could sell real estate in 2005 along with Mr. Johnston.

Now, we have those “Short Sale Kings” all over the place!  Once again, here for the quick buck.  In every market, there is a market for those agents to get quick notoriety. 

What the general consumer does not know, is that they are MUCH better off buying and selling with an old real estate veteran that HAS seen it all.  When all those agents (2005) were selling to investor after investor making the big bucks(now they are out of the business, along with their investors), veteran agents smartly advised their clients NOT to play so hard.  Although I have a few (3-4 total) investors who got caught at the end of the boom, compared to the ones who got in and out with a PROFIT, and my investors from 2004-2005 made a pre-tax profit of over $2,000,000.  When you are in this business for the long haul, and you know you want those clients for LIFE, you tend not to be so greedy when you are giving advise, even if it means NOT making the money today.  We are looking for long term clients who send us referrals over their lifetime, NOT A QUICK BUCK.

I see it all over Tampa now. The “Short Sale King”, the “Loan Modification Experts” and all of the usual players!

As the market turns, going up and down….. and stable, I see the same players in Tampa over and over.  The same dogs that have been in the trenches with me for the past 19 years! Scott Kennedy, Doug Bohannon, Cindy Sper, Star Capitano, Barbara Gibson, Dena Sierra Smith and others.  We are all STILL HERE for a reason……… it’s BECAUSE:

THE EXTRA MILE HAS NO TRAFFIC JAMS. To have longevity in this business, you need more than a gimmick to survive.  The agents mentioned above all have it.  I’ll bet your town has them as well!

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT MY WEBSITE AT http://www.headofrealestate.com

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I don’t know if it was my move to EXIT or if the real estate world is changing for the better!  The last 60 days have been VERY busy for us!  30 more days makes a full quarter of improved sales.  That is enough for the media to jump on board!  The fact that prices have started to get stable in Tampa Bay, one of the worst hit markets for property depreciation, tells me the rest of the world must be improving as well!

The late night infomercials are filled with “get rich quick” and “no money down” books and CD’s to buy so you know we are at the bottom!  Seems like with every rise and fall of the market, we get those shady products trying to suck the public into false promises (trust me, if they knew where to buy houses for $500, they would not be selling books to tell everyone about it, they would be in the Fortune 500 as one of the wealthiest people in the USA, not selling CD’s on late night T.V.).

It’s fun to be a Realtor again.  I know it is not that way for everyone, but it is getting better!  For the record, my first few months with EXIT Realty have been incredible, fantastic and wonderful!  If you are a Realtor reading this blog and you should take a look at what EXIT has to offer in your town! 

For more information, go yo http://www.headofrealestate.com

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I came to Exit for the single level residuals and the UNLIMITED potential they offer.  What I am in shock over is the constant offerings of first quality training available via live video and by the marketing tools offered to their agents and brokers to help them…… help US get property sold and closed.  The SUPPORT that is offered is just too good to believe if I were not experiencing it myself.  I had TWO closings just today that were a DIRECT RESULT of Exit Realty’s national marketing.  Also, even though EXIT Realty in Tampa Bay is small compared to other brokerages here (and TRUST ME, it will not take me long to open the eyes of Tampa Bay to QUALITY and EXIT will make an “ENTRANCE” into and onto Tampa Bay) the fact remains that EXIT is strong all over North America.  Yesterday a man walked into my office.  He said he was from Dade County and saw the EXIT sign on the building, turned his car around and gave me a listing on a vacant piece of property he owns in North Tampa.  He said he has personally experienced EXIT Realty and the quality marketing and he expected no less in this area.  The EXIT reputation got me another BONUS!

I look back on my past 5-6 years in real estate.  I was always in a bad mood. Grumpy, fighting with everyone. Just not happy.  I made a move to my last office for all the wrong reasons and remained unhappy. When I came to EXIT, I left all that bad luggage behind.  I had stayed with ERA longer than I should have.  I was the #1 ERA Agent in Tampa since 1995.  I figured that when I got knocked off that post, I’d make a move.  Then I was #1 in Florida in 2007 and then again in 2008.  Then in 2008, I was also #1 in the world with ERA (Team Arcuri). It just was not going to end…………………………… I was still miserable!

Now, I’m very happy.  I made the move to EXIT.  My goal now is to be the #1 EXIT Agent in the World!  The DIFFERENCE IS THIS:  The #1 EXIT Agent in the world will share everything they have with me, and I to him.  We all work as a TEAM to help other agent be a sucess!  Why? Residuals!  When my group (EXIT)does well, I get a paycheck!  When my recuites from ERA have a closing, I got ZERO!  It was an easy move.  The last firm was only intrested in how much they could charge me in fees. EXIT really cares about me and my business. 

In a Nutshell: While other brokerages are trying to sneak in ways to make money off their Agents, EXIT is trying to make money FOR their Agents with the thinking that if they help their own agents make a profit, they will not leave Exit ever and THEN the company can profit.  They look out for us FIRST and the company is secondary.  The other firms look our for themselves first and the Agents second.  No wonder so many brokerages are going out of business.

For more information, go to http://www.headofrealestate.com

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Seems like every time I turn on my T.V. I see the ad where the client is sitting on a couch boasting about how much money they “saved” with BUY OWNER.  They say, “we saved a commission” and wow it seems to good to be true.  What they are NOT telling you is that although there is no commission there IS an up front fee.  THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in UPFRONT FEES.  If the home does not sell?  “THANKS BUY OWNER” the Seller is OUT the money AND you have to hire a Realtor to sell the home.

Just remember, a Realtor has to spend their own monies to market and advertise a listing.  If it does not sell, the Realtor is OUT the money, not the seller!  If you were paid up front, would you even care if the listing sold or not or would you be searching for the next “UP FRONT $2,500 FEE (or whatever the fee is in 2009)” to keep your ship afloat.

Remember, a real estate brokerage has to actually SELL houses to stay afloat.  BUY OWNER just needs to get more up front fees.  The ones who do sell, I guess get to be on a T.V. commercial. 

Going on a consult Saturday?  Guess who is out $2,500 (MOL)?  I would like to say “Thanks Buy Owner” myself on this one if I get the listing (looks to be a priced off base)! 

For more information, go to http://www.headofrealestate.com

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I got a call from a “headhunter” from RE/MAX today. She was shocked that I left ERA after 18 years!  “Why not RE/MAX” she asked me.  I told her all of the great reasons why I was drawn to EXIT Realty.  I explained all of the great tools they offer me to market my listings and all of the great agents sending referrals nationwide.  I told her about Single Level Residuals!  Do you know what this person told me?  She said that it did not make sense to go with EXIT because I had to rely on the sales of others to make the residual monies.  I thought “YEA! That is great …… right?”  She said she would rather take her own money and put it into a retirement account and save for her own “EXIT” from the business.  I thought to myself as I was having this conversation, why is every real estate agent in America not with EXIT?  The managers of those other firms can’t even come up with a rational reason as to why EXIT is not good!  This lady was trying to tell me I was better off paying $25,000 to RE/MAX to rent an office space than I was at EXIT?

So I’m better off with another firm?  I hire in at EXIT and bring agents in and make 20%-30% more than 100% and that is not good enough.  When I was with ERA, the maximum I could ever make (if I could find a broker who would pay me 100%) was 94%.  With RE/MAX, say 100% (- the $25,000 per year office fee), Century 21 is the same as ERA and so is Coldwell Banker, so 94% is your cap if you find a broker willing to let you set up shop for FREE (NO WAY NO HOW unless your dad is the owner of that franchise).  With EXIT, you can make 200% of your gross income.  You can make 300%.  This residual plan is SINGLE LEVEL.  This is not a crazy “profit sharing plan” like at Keller Williams (who by the way never could explain to me how I was getting my money from the residual plan and neither can any of their agents).  If you are an agent, especially if you are under 50 years old, you can really set yourself up for a six figure retirement plan.  I plan on staying with EXIT until I DIE (and oh, by the way, my children will continue to pick the fruit off the EXIT tree when I pass away).  What is your company going to do for your family if you passed away unexpectedly?  Check with your local EXIT broker today and see what EXIT has to offer.  If you don’t, you are selling yourself, your family and your clients, short of what they could and should be getting from you.

For more information on EXIT, please visit http://www.headofrealestate.com

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So you purchased some investment property in 2005. The Realtor who sold it to you is out of the business now and your mortgage broker has a CLOSED sign on the door.  You purchased a home for $225,000 with 100% financing and now that home is worth $125,000.  You have a tenant in the home, but you are looking at a negative number every month.  What should you do?  Here is my solution….. BUY ANOTER ONE or two. Hire a well qualified Agent so try and “steal” a few more in that same neighborhood as your other investment.  See if you can buy one now UNDER MARKET for like $100,000.  If you buy two at this price, you already made up 50% of your loss on the first one.  You can rent for a bit of a positive cash flow to offset the monthly loss on the first one!

Flash forward to 2014.  Five years from now, if our economy is clicking again and it should be, real estate is moving along.  Those $125,000 houses are now worth (speculation)   $165,000-$175,000.  Remember, you paid $100,000 for them.  Now you have two houses with a $75,000 positive equity each and one with a $50,000 negative equity.   You still made a six figure profit.

Real estate is like the stock market.  You buy a stock, say Wallmart, at $100 per share.  If you think it hit bottom at $50. per share, why not buy the heck out if it when it’s down.  If you believe in Wallmart, and I assume you do because you bought stock in it, why not stay the course?  If you bought 100 shares at $100, then the more you should buy at $50.  Double or triple the amount!  It’s how you accumulate wealth in this country! Stock and Real Estate speculation.

Never has there been a real estate or stock market bubble that shot up rapidly and then took a sharp right hand turn!  What goes up too fast, will come down in a crash.  This real estate market we are in is par for the course.  It is a “Buyers Market” and I ask, why did you buy in a Sellers Market?  You BUY when everyone else is SELLING (2009), you SELL when everyone else is BUYING (2005). Now is the time to rectify your mistake by doing the same thing you did in 2005….. buy real estate.  This time, it is the right move at the right time!

Buy real estate in Florida NOW. Tampa is even better. Those markets that were up in 2005 the highest, crashed the farthest and will be the first to come back!  To learn more about investing in Florida, visit my website at http://www.headofrealestate.com

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If you are a Realtor, you can do your part to help our market recover. As I look through the MLS today looking for a home for a buyer, I again, had to comb through the maze of overpriced listings that have absolutely ZERO chance to sell. The surprising part to the average lay person is that this inventory represents over 60% of the MLS database. If we as Realtors did our jobs and united together, we could properly advise clients (sellers) to take the required direction to rectify their situation.

If they owe more than the home is worth, they can look to a Short Sale. If they have little to no equity, check with the lender for a loan modification. Can they rent the home? Do the really NEED to sell? Perhaps they should take the home off the market for a few years. Did they lose a job? Speak with the lender about skipping a few payments (oh yes they will).

Real estate is all about supply and demand. In 2009, nobody is going to pay retail, at least not in Tampa Florida. By decreasing the number of homes on the market, the ones that have no chance to sell anyway, it will even up the supply and demand factor sooner.

And the FACT is, the United States economy will NOT RECOVER until REAL ESTATE recovers. Real Estate led us into this mess and real estate will lead us out…….. and the jobs they carry with it!

Pricing is the single most important factor when selling. It is so important that I had a video produced to help my potential sellers “Price It Right”. To see it, click here: http://www.headofrealestate.com/mediacenterpricing.html

If we all work together, we can help our leaders turn this market around! For more information, visit my website at http://wwwheadofrealestate.com

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I get asked all the time how I got to where I am. After being a janitor at Tampa Electric, how did I, when I was 28 years old, leave that job, jump into real estate a be a success.  The answer is quite simple.  You need a good coach.  I got into real estate in 1991. I floundered around for two years just trying to learn the ropes, the basics.  I left Tampa Electric on April Fools Day, 1993.  I made over $77,000 from April 1, 1993 to December 31, 1993.  In those days, it was a TON of business, especially for a “rookie” like me.  I did door knocking everyday. I networked everyday. Every moment of everyday was a relentless attack, just trying to get buyers and sellers to work with me.  IT WAS EXHAUSTING. I had NOTHING in my life except real estate.  It destroyed my first marriage.  In 1994, it was the same. Real estate 100% from the time I woke up until the time I went to sleep.  In 1994, I broke six figures for the first time and bought a new Lexus LS 400. Since I practically LIVED in that car, I might as well own a nice car.  I started to wonder if it was all worth it. Eighteen hour days, no weekends off, no time off. Anything I did on a social level had real estate motives!

Then, at some point in 1994, I met Allen Pendley.  He was and is a real estate coach.  I’m not talking one of those fools that you call over the phone once a week and (the ones who can’t make it in real estate so they work as a telemarketer “coach” for $100 an hour…… $50 for them, $50. for Craig, you know what I’m talking about) if they knew so much about selling, they would be doing what WE do as agents. List and sell. Allen was different.  He had a video tape presentation that was very different.  Not only did he sell it to me, he took the time to teach me how to use it.  He was not “gone” after the sale.

I was shocked at how much my workload was reduced. Allen loves to say “work smarter, not harder” and that is what stuck. The video presentation allowed the VHS tape (and in the mid 90’s, EVERY home had a VHS player) to do all the selling. I could mail it ot FSBO’s or Expired’s, drop it off or hand a tape to somebody. It gave me an excuse to come back and pick it up! It told my marketing story and SOLD the client on me before I even sat down to interview.  VERY EFFECTIVE. It was instrumental in landing EVERY one of my big accounts.  Further, Allen taught me HOW to give a presentation to Sellers and HOW to ask for the business…… how to ask for the sale…… HOW TO CLOSE.  When I was knocking on doors, I was selling real estate by accident. Now, because of my coach, Allen Pendley, I sell real estate on purpose. 

Just like a “real” coach, I don’t like what he has to say sometimes. I don’t like being yelled at or scolded and I don’t like be being criticized.  But that is what a good coach does.  When the market started to crash (by the way, Allen told me in 2005 that this was NOT going to be a soft landing and I better prepare for a crash). I was prepared and had prefab marketing videos (now on line or on DVD) to address the issues.  Results? In 2007, the first year of the “down market” my sales were up 35% from 2005. I finished #4 in the world with ERA.  Think that was a fluke? Allen wanted me to push and be #1 in the World in 2008. Push me he did. Result, Team Arcuri, #1 worldwide with ERA in 2008. The BEST year I ever had in sales volume.

Allen has always thought very highly of EXIT Realty. He has been telling me for a few years now that this would be a bettter fit for me. He told me my future, long term, would be much better with EXIT.  Like a player who is an unrestriced free agent, my coach now became my agent. 

Here I am today, with EXIT and just as important, with my coach, my mentor, my friend, Allen Pendley and his entire team and staff (I must not leave out my brother, Allen’s son, Shane Pendley who has spent almost as much time training me as his father).  Next week, I shoot all my updated video for EXIT. 

I thought the other day, “where would I be without the Pendley family?” and my wife told me the truth, like she always does. She said, you would not have a family, three kids and a wife. You would be knocking on doors, killing yourself to make 1/3 of the money you make now.

I guess the point of this blog is to hire a quality coach, one like Allen or Shane.  I know some trainers go around and try to say “I’m ranked #15 in the world by the Wallstreet Journal” or some such B.S. when they  really “can’t close a door.”  Allen does not make false claims to try and gain credibility.  All you need to do is look at the KENST REPORT in Tampa (an independant company that ranked EVERY agent in Tampa Bay) and look at the top. In 2008, THREE of the top 20 agents in Tampa are Pendley students. Consider there are still over 8,000 Realtors in Tampa Bay.  That my friends is NO coinsidence.  And if that fact alone does not knock your sox off FOR REAL, then I just wasted alot of time trying to open your eyes!  My advice, if you are with EXIT (or ANY franchise) is this, when Allen or Shane Pendley come to town, DO NOT MISS WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY.

For more information fo to http://www.headofrealestate.com or to see my old ERA videos, go to http://www.headofrealestate.com/mediacenter.html

And by the way, I would not be doing proper service to my sucess if I did not mention my brother and the creator of the “worlds greatest website”, Dave Mikes of Bedrock Media who has put together all of my sucesses over the years and “framed it” in a website that tells my complete story. Thank you Dave Mikes!

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