You know what drives me crazy? This scenario: An agent calls or e-mails my office with 100 questions about a property.  they ask for a Property Disclosure, they ask for HOA information, they want copies of the deed restrictions, when was the last time the A/C was serviced?  OR, in the case this week, the agent starts telling me why a lien that AMEX has on one of my short sales is not valid.  Why “the law says this and that” and why she knows more than the real estate attorney that I use that closes 30 short sales a month for the past 2 years! 

Then, after you jump all of the hurdles, they say, “O.K., I’ll show the home to my buyers this Saturday.”  And we wonder why 90% of the real estate sold in the USA is sold by the top 5% of the Realtors?

NOTE TO AGENTS: Show the home to your prospect FIRST and if they want to make an offer, THEN do all of that work for them.

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

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In the world of real estate, agents compete for business in an aggressive manner.  One neighbor told me over the weekend, “Vince, you and so and so must really hate each other” and his comment made me take a step back and look at my relationship with other agents.  I guess it appears that we don’t really like one another because of the “postcard wars” and the “I sold more than him” messages.  The TRUTH is, I NEED my competition!  I need them like the New York Yankees need the Boston Red Sox, like the Boston Celtics need the LA Lakers.  I certainly respect my peers and sometimes the general public seems to think we don’t like each other, but in reality, it’s just the game of real estate.  I never take ANYTHING they say in a postcard personal because it’s just the business we have selected.  If WE don’t take it upon oneself to tell the world we are the best agent available, WHO WILL?

To the contrary, I salute my competition.  Without them, I would not be as motivated to get out of bed in the morning and excel.  Without them I probably would not work as hard to be the best.  Without them, it would be a much easier ride but certainly less enjoyable.  Most of my competitor’s are really nice agents that do a nice job.  Otherwise, we would not continue to compete against one another for almost 20 years now.

I thank my competition for being so good that they force me to stay on top of my game!  For more information on me, go to http://www.headofrealestate.com

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I find it 100% crazy that Sellers don’t want to use a lockbox in this day and age.  What REALLY blows my mind are agents who actually propose the idea of not using a lockbox.  Instead, they, or a member of their staff attend the showing. HOW STUPID.  I don’t even show listings that don’t have a lockbox.  Those are the FIRST “X” I put on a property, the one that says “Listing Agent Must Accompany.”  AS IF they have control over my buyer. 

How about this, your buyer is behind schedule (sound familiar Realtors?).  Now this other agent is blowing up my phone asking “where are you? You said between 1 and 1:30, I have another showing after this.”  Now the buyer shows up and they have 100% attitude and rush the buyer out. Maybe the buyer liked the house, but now he is mad at the other agent and the innocent Seller, who was miss-advised by the listing agent is the victim.

Ego and control issues. An electronic lockbox is safe and effective.  The ingress and egress is documented and e-mailed to the listing agent so they can call and ask for feedback.  The are made for this scenario, for selling houses.  They can be set to not be functional for a period of time (after 8:00 P.M. and active again at 10:00 A.M. for example.  There is an additional code they can add for even more security…… but those listings with a “CBS” code are the SECOND ones to get an “X” off the showing list.

Lockboxes are to make houses easy to show so they are easy to sell.  If the listing agent is trying to control the buyer, MY BUYER, how difficult are they going to be to work with.  A lockbox is a MUST if you want as many qualified buyers in your home as possible. This will result in a faster sale and for more money.  It is a proven FACT.

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

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Note to new Realtors getting into the business for the easy dollar: Don’t bother.  Seems like every time there is a difficult deal, those “new” agents are off, not accessible, playing a sport, golfing, shopping, the cell is off, spending time with the family.  The experienced agent does all the work, for buyer and seller and ends up with 1/2 the broker fee. 

Later, while eating out with the family, I run into the agent.  He is my waiter in the restaurant we are eating in.  How uncomfortable. 

This is a business you need to be in FULL TIME and it requires 100% attention.  You can’t rely on the title company or the other agent to do the work for you.  Oh yea, your friends and family will put up with the incompetence, but the general public will not.  LEARN HOW TO DO YOUR JOB.  All those new agents working for 100% brokerages is a joke.  100% of WHAT?  Agents need to work UNDER somebody until the have a grasp of this business.

In 1991, when I started, I was on a 25%/75% split.  The Agent that was helping me learn was on a 50/50 so I split my 50% with her.  I got 25% on my closings.  You bet I learned QUICK and FAST.  Brokers that give agents a high split they don’t deserve are making it difficult on other competant agents and giving veteran agents a black eye.  It starts with the broker.  TRAIN YOUR AGENTS and trust me, some that have been in the business 5-10 years still need training.

That is what I love about EXIT Realty.  The training that is avalable to new, experienced and top producing agents.  I have learned more in the past 5 months that I did in the past 5 years!  EXIT is a great place to start, establish and finish your career.  By the way, the retirement is nice two. for more information on EXIT go to http://www.headofrealestate.com

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Florida law as of July 2008 states that if THE REALTOR does not disclose to a SELLER that they are representing them, THAT THE SELLER IS SUPPOSED TO ASSUME A TRANSACTIONAL RELATIONSHIP.

Note to Florida lawmakers: The average layman does not understand that they are now being represented by the agents they hire! They are assuming that they are paying that agent a 6% or 7% commission and that they ARE being represented by that firm.

This is very confusing and just WRONG. The old way of disclosing HOW the seller is being represented needs to be put back into play. The way it should be.

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

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I still can’t believe my luck.  Scott Forbes, Shane Pendley of Abundant Marketing Group, Wayne Furlong and the EXIT “Gang” finally convinced me to move to EXIT Realty after 18 some odd years with ERA.  Four months into this, I’m asking myself “what took me so long to see the obvious?” We as Agents get in a comfort zone in our office despite the fact we are uncomfortable that we are not in the office “click” with management or ownership. The leads are never flowing our way and we pay a S T U P I D amount in franchise fees.  Why do we stay?

What I do know is this: If you don’t like your office and you don’t like working in that environment, YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE INCOME YOU WOULD MAKE IN A HAPPY WORKPLACE.  If you like the office and they like and support your growth you will make not a little, but TONS more money.

I feel like I don’t work anymore.  I’m just playing.  I LOVE selling real estate and I LOVE EXIT REALTY. When you love what you do so much that you look forward to going to work as much as going on vacation, then you  found a living, not a job.  I left Chamberlain High School in 1981 and almost immediately, went to work at Tampa Electric at a power plant.  I HATED THAT JOB!  I worked there for 10 miserable years.  When I was 28, I left and have been in real estate ever since.  The worst day I have ever had in real estate is the better than the best day I ever had at Tampa Electric Company.

Even while I worked at ERA here in Tampa where it seems ERA Brokers file lawsuits against one another for fun (and ERA Corporation sits back and does nothing to stop the stupidity) it was better than working at a job I did not like to do.  Real estate is a FUN business if you LOVE IT.  If you don’t like the business, it does not mater what office you work out of, you will fail and not make money.  If you love this job with a passion, you will do well. 

If you love the business and want to make the most possible money, I suggest you take a look at the EXIT model.  After my Team finished (Arcuri Team) #1 in the world with ERA in 2008, the best move I could make was to EXIT.  I now have all the support I need.  Funny, as I mentioned above, the ERA Owners sue each other it seems like non-stop here in Tampa.  The agents get caught in the middle and lose focus.  Funny how now that I’m with EXIT, the Brokers of the other offices all work together to make the EXIT brand better. Johnny Lowey, an owner of EXIT Extreme Realty is helping us get set up. Jim Barron, Owner of EXIT Realty Advisers is helping.  We meet once a month and have meetings on how we can make EXIT better in Tampa.  I look back now and wonder why ANY agent would want to be involved with a firm that is in constant chaos? 

EXIT is a professionally run of an organization as I have ever seen.  I really don’t ever see myself leaving EXIT. I see a nice retirement income in the six figures when I leave.  My retirement at ERA, after paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in franchise fees (at the rate we sell real estate, I calculated we would have paid $500,000 in fees over the next 10 years and received Z E R O in return).  Exit is more old school. No desk fees, minimal franchise fees.  So much to offer. 

If you are going to play the game of real estate, play with a winner………. EXIT Realty.

To learn more about EXIT, go to my website at http://www.headofrealestate.com

Filed under: Florida Real Estate, real estate, tampa real estate, tampa realtor | 1 Comment »

A new report that came out this week that said Florida CONDOS were on the rise!  This is the last leg of the recovery process.  Yes, yes, I know that the foreclosures are still flowing and that many more are set to hit the market in 2010 and 2011, however PEOPLE ARE BUYING again.  Despite the Obama stimulus package failing to dent the rocky economy nationwide, Florida is leading the way to the recovery just like she did in the early 90’s.

What we do know is that history often repeats itself and this seems to be a classic example.  Realtors need to be preaching to the average layman that this is the best time to buy real estate since 2001.  The $8,000 first time buyer tax credit expires on November 30, 2009 so those buyers needs to jump on the bandwagon NOW.  Windows of opportunity open and close quickly in this business.  Those who don’t just flow with the pack are the ones who accumulate wealth, others who follow the crowd end up fearful to make another jump into the market.  To be flat out straight up, those who bought in 2005-2006 and got burned need to buy another investment in the same community NOW so they can off-set that loss.  The smart investors are doing that now and you should follow that lead.

For more information, visit my website at http://www.headofrealestate.com

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I have a client who wants to list his home with me.  The listing was EXPIRED so I called this builder and took a look at this home that was started in the good old peak season of 2006.  Now in 2009, he has had the home listed for three (3) years with this same Realtor.  The listing status was changed to ACTIVE as soon as the listing Realtor realized it had EXPIRED in our MLS.  Now the builder wants to make a change and the listing agent will not release the builder from his “listing agreement” unless he agrees to pay her $500 for the pictures and $1,000 for this and that AND agrees to pay her 3% of the sales price if I sell the house in 180 days or less.

Who is more ignorant?  The client or the Agent?  First of all, I take my hat off to the agent for hanging onto a listing for three years.  The Builder must have signed at least one extention over that period.  Is the agent smart for keeping a listing that long when the marketing she was using is just not effective?  Now this agent pulls all of her pictures out of MLS and still has not released the listing.  Is that ethical?  How is she going to sell the home if a potential buyer can’t see the pictures?  I call this very petty and this chilish behavior is what gives Realtors a bad name.

All of my listings have my  “EASY EXIT LISTING AGREEMENT” in place without the client even asking.  If I have not put their home under contract, they can cancel at ANY TIME for any reason with an e-mail.  And I can do the same to them if they become one of those “notorious clients” that calls every five minutes to complain about something.  I have learned over the years that NOBODY sells 100% of their listings.

I have a person who lives about five houses down from me.  I listed her home last year.  As the listing went on, I kept asking them to lower the price to my suggested list price in my CMA.  I wanted the home listed under $400,000 and she was at $429,950.  About six months ago, she withdrew the home from the market and about a month ago, listed it with my #1 competitor in this neighborhood for $399,950.  Now I could have called her and complained that she never gave me that price, that my wife took care of her kids this time and that time and how we are friends etc. etc.  Instead, I did not let it take any space in my head and kept listing and selling. 

If you take this approach, you will sell more real estate and be less angry.  IT HAPPENS, get over it!  Every listing should hold the Agent accountable.  When an agent does not perform, the Broker should NOT force the client to continue a relationship with a firm they no longer want.

I have been using this “EASY EXIT” approach for 16 years now and it works GREAT.  As a matter of fact, you can see it on my website at http://www.headofrealestate.com .  If we all acted professional, the world would see Realtors in a more positive light.  Let unhappy clients go. 

Filed under: Florida Real Estate, florida, real estate, tampa real estate, tampa realtor | 2 Comments »

Note to buyers: You can’t steal in slow motion!

As quality listings appear in MLS, Buyers need to be aware that procrastination will cost you a great deal! Just a few weeks ago, I went to look at a car in Palm Harbor. The guy was selling his used Cadillac DTS for $15,000. It only had 20,000 miles and the old man is the original owner. I knew the car was worth $25,000 and I told him I would think about it. I called an hour later to tell him I would take the car, but the guy who came in 10 minutes after I left bought the car!

The same thing in real estate. Buyers look and see a great deal, but the media has made them believe that it could get better. It will not. I’m calling it right here and now! Vincent Arcuri has proclaimed July 2009 THE bottom of the real estate market in Tampa. It takes the media a full quarter of increased sales to acknowledge a recovery process and Tampa is at that point now.

Several VERY disappointed Buyers did what I did on the car above with a few of my listings this week and lost out to a faster reacting Buyer. If you are looking at 30 homes and you see one that is CLEARLY priced right, jump on it. Chances are another buyer who just looked at the same houses the day before, may be “thinking about it.” My advice is to ACT and make your best offer NOW. Just like 2005, you may not be the best offer at full price.

For more information, visit my website at http://www.headofrealestate.com

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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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