Century 21 Discovery

How to Stage Your House Over the Holidays

By Guest Blogger
November 11, 2015
This was originally published on the official blog of Century 21® on November 3, 2015 *

Selling your home during the holidays doesn’t mean you have to hold back on the festivities. Let your home shine while attracting buyers during the most wonderful time of the year with these seasonal touches.

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Deck the halls:

Don’t let selling your home stop you from spreading the holiday cheer. Subtle hints like a welcoming evergreen wreath at the front door, mulled cider brewing on the stovetop or hand-sewn stockings hanging from the fireplace awning gives the space a jolt of spirit.

Trim the tree:

Usually the most eye-catching piece of the living room during the holiday season, make sure your spruced-up Christmas tree matches the aesthetic you want to sell to potential buyers. If your living room has a clean-cut scheme with ivories and whites, for example, make sure your baubles fall under the same color palette.

Tone it down:

As tempting as it is to blow up some lawn ornaments to celebrate the season, it’s best to go for a minimalist approach during this crucial selling time. Neatly highlight the defining elements of your home’s exterior with snow-white lights or hang a fresh garland with bright red bows from your rooftop or mailbox.

Warm up:

Before open houses, make sure your home feels as cozy as possible. Now’s the perfect time to light a fire in your fireplace and warm up your home. If your home is lacking the fiery centerpiece, turning up the thermostat to a comfortably toasty level gives potential buyers extra incentive to linger for a while to escape the brutal cold outside—and allows them to fully digest the best qualities of your home.

Tune up:

Fill up the hallways with contemporary holiday classics while potential buyers are roaming the halls. Make a mix of festive favorites: go old-school with Frank Sinatra’s “White Christmas” or Natalie Cole’s take on “The Christmas Song”…or just play Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas (Is You)” on a loop.

Feed the masses:

The best way to make somebody feel at home—potentially at their future home—is through their stomach. Whip up some holiday-themed cookies and mocktails to serve during your open house; the extra hint of hospitality will keep you in the mind of prospective buyers even after the last present is unwrapped during the holidays.

*Article reprinted with permission of Century 21 Real Estate LLC.

5 Places You Forgot Potential Buyers Will Check

By Guest Blogger
October 15, 2015
This was originally published on the official blog of Century 21® on October 14, 2015 *

An open house is a crucial component of the home sale process. Start with these tips for staging an open house, but don’t stop there. Potential buyers are likely to inspect all areas of the house. Yes, even your “junk drawer” and closets. Here’s a list of five often forgotten places that potential homeowners may check.

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The sides of your house

When you spruce up your front yard and backyard, pay attention the sides of your home as well. Potential buyers will likely look at the exterior of your house from all angles. One unkempt side may turn them off from the rest of the home. Make sure the paint and landscaping is in good condition from all angles.

Inside your closets

Don’t stuff everything in your closets and hope no one will open them. Even if the potential buyers aren’t fashionistas, they may still care about closet space. Show it off by organizing it. You wouldn’t want a potential buyer to open a closet just to find a hodgepodge of the belongings you stashed there.

Under your bed

Removing the bulk of storage from your closets is a great way to make closet space appear bigger, but that doesn’t mean your stuff should be shoved under the bed. Not only is it an eyesore, but the potential homebuyer might also see it as a sign that there is not enough storage space. Your best bet is to invest in temporary external storage space so that your open house has all the space it needs.

Inside the shower

Chances are no one wants a small, cramped bathroom. Create storage solutions that may make your space appear bigger and brighter to buyers. For example, stash toiletries and cleaning supplies in a separate closet, a dresser, or under the sink.

Your drawers and cabinets

Potential buyers will probably open drawers and cabinets. Spend time getting inspired by these home organizers. Think about all of the details like your spice rack, whether your dishes match, and finally taming your “junk drawer.” In need of more inspiration? Our Pins may help!

Go the extra mile, and don’t get caught off guard. You wouldn’t want to scream a slow motion “nooooo” as a potential buyer innocently reaches to open a closet.

*Article reprinted with permission of Century 21 Real Estate LLC.

Dealing With Multiple Offers

By Jim Stearman, Attorney at Law
August 27, 2015

In a hot real estate market, it is not uncommon for multiple offers to flood into the listing agent’s inbox. Effectively dealing with multiple offers is the sign of a good agent who is looking out for the best interests of his or her sellers. When you receive multiple offers, it is wise to get your manager involved. If a mistake is made, your clients may be put in the position of selling their house twice so you should take the extra step of protecting you and your clients before they start making phone calls to you to find out what went wrong.

By making a counter offer to all offers received, accusations of discrimination or unfairness can be avoided. The sellers, of course, have the option of accepting one of the offers or negotiating with only one or two of the buyers but, in most cases, issuing a counter offer to all prospective purchasers will usually result in a better price for the sellers.

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To avoid selling the house twice, it is recommended that you use C.A.R. Form SMCO, Seller Multiple Counter Offer, when counter offers are going to be made to multiple offers. This form contains the necessary language to protect the sellers by informing the buyer that sellers are making multiple counter offers to other prospective buyers and that certain conditions must be met by the buyers for the counter offer to be deemed accepted. Many agents feel that you should not counter back on price but, instead, should ask all buyers to bring back their “best offer”. At that point, the sellers would hopefully be in a position to accept at least one of the multiple counteroffers. You can always negotiate upon terms other than price but you may lose buyers if your sellers counter with another price in response to the buyer’s “best offer” price.

When you’re representing the sellers of a home that will likely receive multiple offers, you can really help them out by getting them ready to make a good decision. Some of the things that could help them would be a review of their financial situation and to find out what is important to them. It could be that your clients would rather receive a lower offer with no contingencies that will close quicker than a higher priced offer that won’t close for several months. Just remember to tell your clients that you are there to guide them through the process and to help them get the result that is best for them but that they are the ones that will ultimately make the decision on which offer is best for their needs.

DISCLAIMER: This article has been prepared for general information purposes only. The information in this article is not legal advice. Since legal advice is dependent upon the specific circumstances of each situation, please contact an attorney for a consultation on your matter if you have any questions.

About the author: Jim Stearman is an attorney in North Orange County, California with over 35 years of experience. His areas of expertise include real estate transactions, general civil law disputes, business and commercial transactions, partnership law, corporate law and enforcement of judgments and collections. For more information about Mr. Stearman please visit his website www.jamesstearmanlaw.com.

Mobile Apps for Real Estate Agents

By Stephanie Goedl
July 30, 2015

Mobile  Apps….what would we do without ‘em? As REALTORS® we have a multitude of apps to help us in our business. Here are some of my favorites that I recommend to the agents in our office:

MobileApps

Open Home Pro
This app that you download to your tablet device allows you to capture contact info of the visitors that come into your Open House. After you upload photos of the home into the app it provides a slide show of the property for your open house visitors to view. It also has a feature that allows you to automatically send a thank you email to that lead after they leave the Open House. I suggest you place the tablet with slide show running on the counter or dining table near the entrance so visitors can sign in.

Videolicious
This app allows you to create and edit videos on your iPhone or iPad. You can email the video directly from the app or publish to Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.  With this user-friendly app you can create agent profile videos, client testimonial videos and property or community videos. They have an amazing customer support team that responds quickly to email questions. It’s a great way to connect with your clients via video.

Dropbox
This service allows you to take your documents, files, photos & videos anywhere and share them easily with other people. This service is available as a desktop and a mobile app so you can access it anywhere.  The nice part about this app is that it lets you share files that would be too large to email. Dropbox offers 2 GB for free. You can purchase more storage space if needed. This is a must for professionals on the go.

Typic
This app allows you to add filters, effects and text to photos.  My favorite feature is the ability to add your logo to the photo for a small upgrade fee. This is great if you are using photos across multiple social media platforms. Your photos will have your logo embedded on them and will look like they were professionally done.

Below is a short video with an overview of 4 additional apps that will help you in your business.

MobileAppVideo

About the author: Stephanie Goedl is the Chief Operating Officer of CENTURY 21 Discovery. For more information about CENTURY 21 Discovery you may call (714) 626-2000.

Homeowners Insurance Purchasing Tips

By Stephanie Goedl
July 21, 2015

I recently had the opportunity to interview Michael Williams of Williams Insurance Brokers as part of our Community Conversations Series. He offered some great insight and tips on what to consider when purchasing Homeowners Insurance. Watch the full interview below. Remember, when purchasing Homeowners Insurance always consult your professional insurance agent when you begin the home buying process.

About the author: Stephanie Goedl is the Chief Operating Officer of CENTURY 21 Discovery. For more information about CENTURY 21 Discovery you may call (714) 626-2000.

CENTURY 21 Discovery Visits the Comic Book Hideout

By Stephanie Goedl
May 1, 2015

This Saturday, May 2nd is Free Comic Book Day. I had to opportunity to talk with Glynnes Pruett of the Comic Book Hideout in Downtown Fullerton about her shop and the events for the day. The Hideout has been voted the Best Comic Book Store in Orange County by OC Weekly and the OC Register. After taking a tour of the shop I can see why it’s so popular. Check out our conversation below.

The Comic Book Hideout will be open on Free Comic Book Day from 9am-8pm. Stop on by this Saturday for your free comic book. This is another reason why we love this community.

About the author: Stephanie Goedl is the Chief Operating Officer of CENTURY 21 Discovery. For more information about CENTURY 21 Discovery you may call (714) 626-2000.

Videolicious is a great marketing tool for Real Estate Agents

By Suzy Lins
April 21, 2015

Recently, a group of our professional REALTORS® attended a webinar by Alan Haburchak of Videolicious. Videolicious is an app you can use to create on the spot videos. It’s a great marketing tool for real estate agents to use to create a Listing Video, a “Come Check out my Open House” video or even a Client Testimonial video. It’s all done on your iPhone or iPad. Within about 15 minutes you can create the video and send it out to your social media sites, email to clients or upload to YouTube.

I know most of us don’t like how we look in photos let alone in videos. It took me a bit to get over how I looked on screen. But then I realized…that’s how I look. It was a blow to my ego but I got over it. If you can’t get over it and still don’t want to be on screen you can do a voice over of video clips and photos to create a marketing video.

I put together this short Videolicious video to show our agents just how easy it is and to motivate them to give it a try.

Our CENTURY 21 Discovery agents have access to an upgraded version of the app because of a partnership with Century 21 and Videolicious. Right now it’s only available on IOS products but there are plans for an Android version soon. Once you give it a try you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to use!

About the author: Suzy Lins is the Communications Director for CENTURY 21 Discovery. For more information about CENTURY 21 Discovery you may call (714) 626-2000.

Your Digital Presence is an Extension of Your Business Card

By Suzy Lins

February 9, 2015

Why does a real estate agent need a digital presence? During a recent New Agent Orientation at our firm I explained to our new recruits why they need a digital presence. What exactly is a digital presence? Simply, it means your online activity through either your website or blog, social media, comments you made on a video, etc. When someone looks you up online, all these should appear in that search. I like to think of it as an extension of your business card. That’s why it’s so important for REALTORS® to have some sort of digital presence.

Your digital presence is an extension of your business card.

Your digital presence is an extension of your business card

According to National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 40 percent of buyers and 38 percent of sellers found their agent through a referral from a family member or friend. That same report stated that two-thirds of buyers and 70 percent of sellers only interviewed one agent before they found the one they wanted to work with. Most clients are not shopping around for agents once they get that referral but there is a pretty good chance they are checking you out before they call you. Google yourself to see what shows up. Is this a good representation of you and your business?

The same NAR research showed that 92% of buyers used the internet in some way during the home buying process. Many buyers find the homes they are interested in online and sellers go to third-party aggregator sites to get an idea of what their home is worth but very few find their agent online. The reality is that everybody knows somebody who knows somebody who is in real estate. If not, they’ve been living under a rock! If I was looking someone to help me make the biggest purchase of my life, first, I’d get a referral and then I would probably check them out before I called them. I’d “Google” them. That’s why it’s so important for real estate agents to have a digital presence that is current.

While there are a lot of ways to beef up your digital presence, these are the 3 things I tell our agents to focus on right away:

  • LinkedIn – Get a LinkedIn profile with a professional photo and complete the profile with your experience, education, certifications, volunteer work, etc. If you don’t have a professional photo headshot, get one. We have a local photographer that will take 12 professional portraits with the proper lighting and background and give it to you on a disk for $75. You own the photos and can use them across all your marketing efforts. On that same note, if your photo is more than five years old get a new one. It drives me crazy when I see agents use a photo from 20 years ago. I hate to break it to them that they don’t look anything like that anymore.
  • Website – Get a personal website. There are plenty of affordable websites out there for real estate agents. Through Century 21 every agent in the system is provided a free website. These are template based sites that allow the agent to personalize them with their own information. FYI – Most buyers will probably not go to an agent site to start looking at homes. They will most likely go to sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, etc. But when that potential client does research you, that site will come up in their search results. It’s another way to show you’re knowledgeable and legit.
  • Facebook – For those who are already on Facebook I recommend they create a Facebook business page. This is an easy way to market yourself and your listings within your own circle of influence. Facebook business pages also have the ability to do micro-targeted advertising at just dollars a day. It’s a great tool for advertising that new listing or an Open House. Also, since Facebook is the largest social media site out there it will appear high in a search engine ranking when you get “Googled”. One other thing I tell our agents is that if they are going to have a Facebook business page they need to post to it regularly. I suggest a minimum of three times per week. You don’t want people coming across your Facebook page only to see you haven’t posted anything in six months. That looks like you don’t care and are not engaged in your business. Plus Facebook makes it easy. You can schedule your posts in advance.

Additionally, I recommend that every agent set up a free profile on third-party real estate sites like Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia. These sites allow you to customize your profile, show your recent sales/listings and even get client reviews.

There are many more ways for agents to market themselves, but this is what we recommend to our agents as they begin to develop their digital presence. Remember, just think of it as an extension of your business card.

About the author: Suzy Lins is the Communications Director for CENTURY 21 Discovery. For more information about CENTURY 21 Discovery you may call (714) 626-2000.

What’s Your Value?

By Joe Lins

January 5, 2015

Our Leadership Team at CENTURY 21 Discovery recently held our annual strategic planning meeting for 2015. At that meeting we set aside a portion of the day to review and discuss our Value Package. We wanted to make sure every member of our team knew the value of what we provide to the agents at our firm as well as being associated with the Century 21® brand.

A few months before we presented it at our Strategic Planning Meeting, the owners and Chief Operating Officer sat down to review and update everything we provide to our agents when they come to work at CENTURY 21 Discovery.

I include this value package review process as part of my weekly coaching session with our agents. A Value Package should be a part of every REALTORS® arsenal that they bring out when they meet with a potential client or go on a listing presentation. It can be as simple as bullet points of the services provided to the client and how it will benefit them. Whatever format it is, it should be what sets you apart from the other guys.

Value

I do this every time I recruit a new agent or counsel a current agent who is being wooed by another brokerage. I have to show them what we offer versus what they will get at another firm. Just like the agents who are competing for listings with other agents we are competing for good agents with other firms.

Along with all the training, office equipment and supplies we provide to every agent, I have to remind them about the 40 years of branding that Century 21 has. Aligning with the most recognized brand in the industry allows the agent instant recognition of what they do. Alignment with XYZ Company does not promote this sense of stability and longevity with today’s consumer. I also explain that being a part of our firm ensures a high level of support and knowledge they probably won’t get from a competing firm.

Here’s a story to highlight what I mean. In California, they rolled out a new Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA) in November of 2014. Months before it came out members of our leadership team attended seminars and classes to learn about the new RPA so we could train our agents. Over a period of weeks we held classes to ensure our agents were familiar with the new contract once it came out.

By the time the new RPA became a requirement our CENTURY 21 Discovery agents were well versed in it and ready to do business. Our agents encountered many, many agents on the other side of transactions who either had no clue that there WAS a new RPA or if they did, they had not been trained on it. Their brokerage had not prepared them for a major change in the industry. I even had one agent ask me if I would train the agent on the other side of her transaction. I said, “Of course!” I’d rather have our agents in a transaction with other agents who know what they are doing.

The value our firm provides to our agents encompasses the basics like office supplies and equipment along with the bigger things like training, knowledge and a pro-active involvement in industry changes. That’s our value. What’s yours?

Joe Lins photo

 

About the author: Joe Lins is President and Co-owner of CENTURY 21 Discovery. If you are interested in becoming part of the CENTURY 21 Discovery team contact Joe at 714.626.2069.

Giving Tuesday Celebrates Giving

By Suzy Lins

December 2, 2014

Today is the 3rd Annual Giving Tuesday, a global day of giving back. It’s the Tuesday after we give thanks (Thanksgiving) and the Tuesday after getting great deals (Black Friday, Cyber Monday). What a nice way to kick off the holiday season!

CENTURY 21 Discovery celebrated our version of Giving Tuesday exactly two weeks ago. Our Celebrate Giving with CENTURY 21 Discovery charity event is our annual fundraiser where we get together for a night of dinner, bidding on auction items and a little fun to raise money for local charities in our community.

It’s always held the week before Thanksgiving to kick off the season of giving and it’s usually on a Tuesday. This was our 20th year of the event.

Our first event started out as a little dinner and small auction at a local Italian restaurant to raise some money for a charity. It was just agents, a few spouses and some title reps. Over the years we started inviting clients and others in the community. We’ve had to move to a larger venue twice to accommodate our growing guest count.

We are excited that it has grown, because it’s important to all of us at CENTURY 21 Discovery to give back to the communities we serve. Since its inception we have raised over $279,000 for local charities and this year we raised $19,000 in one night!

Many of our agents serve on non-profit boards or volunteer with organizations in the community. We encourage that and are proud of that because it’s part of our Core Values and it sets us apart from other firms in this industry. We at CENTURY 21 Discovery are grateful for all the #Unselfies who came out for this year’s event to help us make a difference even though we were two weeks early!

About the author: Suzy Lins is the Communications Director for CENTURY 21 Discovery. For more information about CENTURY 21 Discovery you may call (714) 626-2000