Perrysburg Blog

I just returned from a week away from Perrysburg. In Orlando.

And if you spend enough time there - at conferences, conventions, and meetings (and at Disney and Universal when the kids are growing up) you ALMOST feel as if you are a part time resident.

Well my wife and I now feel that way.

But we have always resisted the urge to buy real estate there. Always.

And we are now very, very glad that we did.

40,000+ homes went under the gavel in the month of June alone in Florida. That is 1 out of every 200 houses in just one month in Florida.

And my “Realtor trained eyeballs” told me that there are a lot of problems in Orange County. Talking to some Orlando based Realtors at the 2 conferences I was at confirmed it. (you can check out the Case Shiller raw numbers yourself here at the S&P site: http://www2.standardandpoors.com

What did I learn?

That we should not in any way complain about the terrible real estate market we are experiencing in Northwest Ohio. Are problems are nothing compared to the problems that Orlando is just beginning to face.

House after house is for sale.

And worse than that . . . are the “zombie properties” that the banks will not even foreclose on or take back. These properties are so unsellable and so overvalued that the banks let the upside down sellers stay in them waiting for 12 to 24 months for a future day of financial reckoning.

There is no good news in Orlando if you own real estate. If you don’t?  Well call me and I will refer you to a great buyer’s agent who will - in about 12 months - help you to invest in property at about 50% off of what it is “worth” today. That’s when I will be buying.

But Perrysburg?  We will see nothing and have seen nothing like this.

Our banks are stronger. Our homes are worth more - and they never were bid into the stratosphere. Our economy is much more diversified.

It was good to come home.

It has never changed.

Technology has never threatened it.

The internet has never changed it.

The mobile phone - never impacted it.

It is why the skilled and honest and careful and listening real estate agent will always remain at the center of the real estate transaction.

Several times in the past week I have been reminded of this salient fact.

What is the single best real estate marketing tool?

You might not believe me, but it is simply caring about your clients.

Sitting down and listening.

Taking the time to hear them.

Remembering what they need.

Slowing down to ask a question and then ask it again to make sure that you have heard the correct answer (for I have learned that people don’t always tell you the truth!)

The “kitchen table work” of listening and caring and probing - it sadly cannot be taught in a sales meeting or a sales school or even in practice.  In my experience it is taught when you are growing up by your parents and your family and your church and your beliefs.  Sales people who have it - they have it.  Those that don’t - they don’t.

And this market- with declining asset prices, empty houses, job losses, empty factories, foreclosures, listings that “no one can sell” etc.  - it just magnifies the price of hiring someone who does not listen, and does not care, and only wants to make a fast buck or put a sign in a yard.

Caring for your clients is not taught in real estate school.

But it is the best real estate tool and strategy that I know.

Easy?  Not always.

But always worth it.It takes more time.   It takes more energy.  But it always worth it.