Tim's Atlanta Real Estate Blog: April 2007

Watching my kids and their friends grow and develop has really made me appreciate how early in life certain skills and behaviors are developed.  I had always been a big believer that anyone could do anything if they worked hard enough and put in long hours of practice.  I always thought it was silly when people would say that someone was a natural quarterback or tennis player or golfer.  I rationalized that the superstars got really good by devoting themselves to a particular sport and learning all of the special techniques and tricks of the trade.

After watching my four year old son  playing in his first soccer league and observing the kids on some of the teams, I had to change my views on that.  There was this one boy who was amazing.  He was able to maneuver that ball through the throng of all the other kids and  score goal after goal.  I felt like I was watching a little "Tiger Woods" of soccer.  I almost asked for his autograph because I'm certain that some day he will be a star soccer player.  He was only four years old, therefore he's only been walking for three years.  How does one develop such specific skills so quickly?  I watched other kids who you can just tell that even if they worked on their game every day, they would never catch up to this little superstar.  The kids that were good at soccer seemed to be having a much happier time.

I saw the same thing with Rebecca in her ballet classes.  Some girls just seemed to move with grace and picked up the techniques really easily.  Others seemed to just stumble and trudge along.  It was sad seeing some kids that just didn't want to be there and were having a miserable time. 

It's the same difference in raising boys and girls.  I had read that some people believe that the behaviors of men and women are due more to environment than genetics. Parents supposedly treat boys and girls differently and this is what is supposed to be responsible for much of the differences between the behavior of boys and girls.  Watching Rebecca and Benjamin grow, it is quite clear to me that most behavior has to be genetic.  While Rebecca loves to play with Barbies and have tea parties, Benjamin is playing with trucks and jumping in puddles.  I've never suggested to Benjamin to go jump in a muddy puddle. He just seems to have a natural instinct for that sort of behavior.  These unexpected behaviors are what can either drive a parent crazy or  make their lives fun and exciting.

What all this brings home to me is that even though all men are created equal as far as the law is concerned, each person is born with special skills and aptitudes which are definitely not equal.  Instead of trying to make boys and girls into homogeneous "Pats" (can't tell if they are a boy or a girl) they need to just be who they were born to be.

How does one figure out who they were born to be and what their natural talents are?

It seems to me that life is really tough when your motivation is fear or obligation but really easy when you're doing something because it brings you joy.  So I think the simple answer is to follow the path that brings you joy. 

Kids have it easy in that respect.  They have so few responsibilities or obligations to worry about and very little fear. If many paths are presented, I think they will naturally find the path that brings them joy.  The problem seems to be when they are coerced or manipulated down a path that just isn't right for them.   

If you have joy in what you do  everything else falls into place.  When you think about it, I think that a good definition of a successful life is a life full of joy.  As a parent, I hope to help my kids find the things they enjoy doing and then just encourage them to follow their heart. Looking back, I am really grateful to have had such a Mom. 

Does working in the field of real estate bring you joy?  If not, you might want to take a hard look at yourself and make some changes.  Are most of your blogs about negative experiences or are they about happy moments and positive experiences?  Joy and success go hand in hand.

This is the 5th post of a series I'm calling "Life is Great".   I used to send out a newsletter to past clients and I always tried to include a "letter from the heart" article.  Just feel good stuff and stories about my kids and life.  Hope you enjoy them.  If you liked this  one, go ahead and subscribe to my blog so you don't miss tomorrow's edition

I'm sure you  heard about the rock climber who cut off his arm to free himself from an 800 pound boulder.  What an amazing story.  I watched the TV press conference of Aron Ralston as he described his ordeal.  What an amazing example of grace under pressure. He thought through his options and made a choice and followed through with it.  What a tough choice to make.  Do nothing and die slowly or cut off your arm with a dull pocket knife and hope you might be able to hike six miles back to civilization.  What mental control to keep your clarity in such a situation.

Have you ever felt that you were stuck in a situation that you have no control over?  You complain about your job, the kids, your spouse, your neighborhood, your relatives.   Has life dealt you a bad hand and you feel trapped  with no way out?  The hard part is determining what the 800 boulder is that is keeping you down. 

I came across the following story and thought it kind of tied in with this story.

Michael  is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
 
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don‘t get it! You can‘t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
 
Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or .... you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.
 
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
 
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.
 
"Yeah, right, it‘s not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. 

The bottom line: It‘s your choice how you live your life."

When I choose to cut away all the junk, and commit to an action, it's amazing how "800 pound boulders" suddenly disappear. 

This is the 4th post of a series I'm calling "Life is Great".   I used to send out a newsletter to past clients and I always tried to include a "letter from the heart" article.  Just feel good stuff and stories about my kids and life.  Hope you enjoy them.  If you liked this  one, go ahead and subscribe to my blog so you don't miss tomorrow's edition.

During my college years, one of my favorite musical artists was Warren Zevon.  I didn't know anything about him but there was something about his music that connected with me.  It was kind of upbeat, with a sarcastic , mocking twist to it.  Don't you remember Werewolves of London, Excitable Boy, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner?  I always thought that Warren Zevon must be some really messed up guy.

A few years ago, Warren Zevon  had recently been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and had just a few months to live.  David Letterman apparently is a huge fan of his and devoted a whole show with just him.  He really looked old and weak.  I really didn't know what to expect.  Would  he be able to sing a song?  What does one say when they're so close to death?

I was truly amazed at his attitude.  No complaining and no whining.  He totally accepted his fate and blamed only  himself for not going to a doctor for over 20 years.  He was so calm and accepting of his situation.  He said you make your decisions in life and then live with the consequences.  He joked how  ironic it was that his last three albums were, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, My Ride's Here, and Life'll  Kill Ya. 

He told Letterman that he was spending as much time as possible with his grown kids and he was working as much as possible writing and recording  all the songs that he still had in him.  He was living for his kids and his songs. He also found himself savoring the little moments more often. He said he enjoyed a sandwich just a little bit more.

Warren Zevon died a few months after his appearance on the David Letterman Show.

That sandwich remark just stuck with me.  I thought about all the things I  spend my time on.  I rush here and there trying to do so many things. I work to buy  stuff and save for the future.  Am I missing the important things?  What would I do different if I only had a few months left to live?  Who knows, this could be my last day.   It's been drilled in my head about planning for the future and postponing gratification.  But if you're always planning and preparing for the future, when can you just take it easy and enjoy life?  Is life just making sure you'll have enough stuff to be comfortable until you die?   It really got me thinking.

Maybe life is really simple.  Enjoy the beauty of life that is present in every moment. Find your purpose, something that fills you with joy and have faith that that is enough.  Here's a question that came to my mind that I've been pondering over.  I don't know if it's an original thought or if I picked it up some place.

Is one's life a journey with a purpose or is the journey the purpose of one's life?

It's a subtle distinction but it offers two different paths to how you might choose to live your life. As you might gather, I'm still searching for the answer. Wait a second. Is there an answer to the search or is the search really the answer?  So many questions, so little time.

This is the 3rd post of a series I'm calling "Life is Great".   I used to send out a newsletter to past clients and I always tried to include a "letter from the heart" article.  Just feel good stuff and stories about my kids and life.  Hope you enjoy them.  If you liked this  one, go ahead and subscribe to my blog so you don't miss tomorrow's edition

The other week our family made a trip to the Atlanta zoo.  The kids just love seeing the animals and always seem to have a good time.  While we were waiting at an outdoor table outside of McDonalds, Benjamin, my three year old son, got interested in the many pigeons that were wandering around picking up crumbs.

Benjamin got it in his head that he wanted to catch one and pet it. They seemed like very friendly birds but they kept their distance. He would walk behind a pigeon and the pigeon would stay just far enough away so that Benjamin wouldn't be able to touch it.  When Benjamin walked slowly, the bird walked slowly. As soon as Benjamin moved a little faster, the bird moved just that much faster.  Then Benjamin began running after them and they just flew away.  He just wanted to pet and feed the birds but the birds were always just out of reach.

Then I saw a old man sitting on a bench across the courtyard.  He just sat still and tossed french fries on the ground around him.  He didn't go after any bird.  He just sat there talking to the pigeons.  Then he lifted his hand and a pigeon flew up and sat on his hand.

It reminded me of how I feel sometimes.  Many times I find myself chasing after something I want and no matter how hard I try, it remains just out of my reach.  The faster I chase after it the faster it seems to slip away.  Kind of like happiness.  The harder I try to be happy, the harder it is to be happy.  Then when I'm not looking and when I don't force the issue, all of  a sudden I'm happy.

I'm certain there is something to be learned from watching the pigeons react to different people. But the more I try to figure it out the less I seem to be certain.  So it's almost summer time and I'm just going to relax and contemplate my navel.

Maybe when I'm not looking, I'll get the answer.

This is the 2nd post of a series I'm calling "Life is Great".   I used to send out a newsletter to past clients and I always tried to include a "letter from the heart" article.  Just feel good stuff and stories about my kids and life.  Hope you enjoy them.  If you liked this  one, go ahead and subscribe to my blog so you don't miss tomorrow's edition.

I was saying good bye to my 5 year old daughter , Rebecca, one evening before going to a business appointment. Rebecca was disappointed that I had to go. I explained to her that I had to go so I could earn money so we could buy all of the things we need. She thought about it and with a twinkle in her eyes hugged me said “Daddy, go make a hundred million eighty bucks.” I knew how much she loved me and felt a surge of love when she squeezed her little arms around my neck. At that moment I felt I could really make a hundred million eighty bucks. I felt connected to her at that moment in a way that is hard to put into words.

One night my wife and I had a disagreement on whether or not to keep the outside Christmas lights on while we were asleep. I said she was worrying about nothing. Like most marital arguments, this one was pretty stupid. But I stood my ground and she stood hers. To prove that she was wrong, I thought I would find some kind of proof on the Internet showing her that there were no accidents caused by exterior Christmas lights. Much to my surprise, I found a lot of data showing Christmas lights causing all sorts of fires during the holidays. At first I thought I would have to make sure Lori didn’t find out about this information. But right is right. I admitted to Lori that I had done the research and that she was right. I was ready for her to rub it in and tell me how smart she was but instead, she smiled with a twinkle in her eye and said “Honey, I love you.” and gave me a hug.

I think every guy understands that look and they spend all sorts of money and do all sorts of crazy things in order to get their wife to give them that look. Because that look eliminates all doubt they might have had about their relationship. At that moment you feel a special connection that makes you feel full of power and a sense of peace knowing that someone loves you and cares about you. You can read all the poems and love stories but that is nothing compared to experiencing and knowing the feeling directly.

Sometimes for no reason I get the same sort of feelings while taking a walk or watching the sun rise. Sometimes things happen at just the right time or I run into just the right person. I might have a question and then I just happen to find just the right book at the library or I hear Clark Howard talking about it on the radio. At these times that same loving feeling runs through me and I feel connected in some way. To what? I don’t know. Why do I love my wife and kids? I just do. The feeling is real and that is enough. I just enjoy those special moments and consider them invisible hugs from the universe. They make me feel like I can actually make a hundred million eighty bucks.

This is the 1st post of a series I'm calling "Life is Great".   I used to send out a newsletter to past clients and I always tried to include a "letter from the heart" article.  Just feel good stuff and stories about my kids and life.  Hope you enjoy them.  If you liked this one, go ahead and subscribe to my blog so you don't miss tomorrow's edition.

Looking for a unique closing gift, especially for chocolate lovers?  How about a box of chocolates with  a large block of chocolate with the picture of your buyer's new home printed on it.  You can add text to it.  Maybe something corny like "Home, Sweet Home".  I don't have a picture of any of the ones that I sent out, but here's a picture from the web site, Schott Chocolate Images.

You could send it to your buyer's office where I'm sure your buyer will show all his coworkers and share his chocolates. You might want to take a picture of you and your clients in front of their new home. 

Schott Chocolate Images has some really neat things to make people take notice.  How about printing your business cards out on chocolate?  A mortgage lender I use hands them out at closings and it really makes a lasting impression.

Holly Schott started her business over two years ago.  She invested in a special printer that uses edible food coloring as the ink to print full color photos on chocolate.  

All you do is email in a photo. You also can have Holly take a photo and turn it into a special graphic and add whatever text that you want on it. Holly then prints them out and ships them in special packaging that keeps the chocolate from melting.

Another big part of Holly's business is printing on chocolate at live events.  Trade shows, conventions, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs.  She takes the printer and camera on the road and can really get a crowd's interest.

The resolution is 300 dpi so your can have very small print.  Business card chocolates come in a nice clear plastic case so you can put several regular business cards underneath the chocolate bar.

The chocolate is quite good and is parve so it can be used for bar mitzvahs.

I think it's a pretty neat idea.  People really like it, especially the chocoholics. 

If you send a card, it's probably going to be tossed out.  If you send a picture of their home printed and framed on chocolate, they'll probably keep it displayed and it will be a topic of conversation whenever they get visitors. 

It's a gift that people will talk about.  Just like blogging, it's all about starting conversations.

I stumbled upon a site that is very much like Zillow.  Instead of only 70 million homes,  CyberHomes.com has 100 million homes. It is part of Fidelity National Informations Services.  One of the MLS systems in Atlanta, GAMLS.com, now has each listing linked to it's particular page in cyberhomes.com.

I found that the estimates are better than what Zillow has in Atlanta right now, but they are still quite a bit off.  The one thing I do like is that they give a range in the estimate so you can have a feeling how wide the margin of error might be.

They have some great statistics and all kinds of good looking graphs that one might want to incorporate into a listing presentation.

They have a small library of articles. There are just a few so far but they were very informative.  Here's one of the best articles I've read about how one might try to predict what's going to happen to home prices in the future.

I also learned that there are 13 states that are non-disclosure states.  Apparently you can't disclose the sales information in these states.  So prices for homes in these states aren't included.

I'm curious to see how the estimates for CyberHomes compares with Zestimates in your local area.

I often see members advising others that they should watch what they say on public posts here at Active Rain.  If it's a discussion about some touchy subject about our industry, we should make sure that we make it a Members Only post.  We should try to keep all of our family secrets within the family.  We want the general public to see us in our Sunday's best.  We are all smart, honest, and ethical and know what we are doing.  It would be unethical to allow people to see our industry in a negative light.

I always love to get the inside scoop on what really goes on in different businesses.  I think most people are curious too. If I were shopping for a real estate professional, I'd probably want to find out what they are saying behind the curtain. I'd probably see if I could sign up as a member.  So, is there anything in the sign up process for Active Rain to keep "anyone" from becoming a member and having total access to all of the posts? 

Go to the sign up page.  Anyone can fill out that form and become a member without lying about anything.  There is a category called "real estate other".  I could rationalize that a home owner could be considered as fitting into that category.  There is a box for "company name".  It says nothing about a real estate related company that they work for.  They fill the few boxes out. They receive an automatic email. They activate their account and voila, they are now a member and can read anything that is posted.

I wouldn't feel protected in any way that what you say on a members only post will not be read by potential prospects.  The only thing that won't happen is that Google probably won't be able to index your article so it won't come up on searches.

As a consumer, I'd also become a member in order to be able to subscribe to my favorite members' blogs.  When you are not logged in, that subscribe button doesn't show up.  There was a featured post just the other day from someone who actually created a blog here and wrote about their ongoing adventure in selling a home and all of the things that they learned here on Active Rain. 

Just remember, just because a post is members only, doesn't mean a consumer isn't reading it.  If what you say can't be said comfortably in front of the whole world, you might want to just be quiet. 

Say what you mean, mean what you say, and be proud of it.

We've all been there.  A client will ask you for a recommendation for a good mover or roofer or plumber or a hundred other service providers.  You hesitate and wonder what if this recommendation turns into a bad situation? Will your client come back and blame you?  Many people give out three recommendations just for that reason.

I do pride myself with being a resource for connecting my clients up with good service providers.  But sometimes a year or two goes by between referrals to these individual service people.  I wonder if they are still providing the same wonderful service as when I last used them or recommended them.

Angie's List is my new go to source for service provider recommendations.  It's a site that allows members to write up customer reviews of the service people who they have used.  If I want to find a plumber in my area, I check out their list and read the comments made by their customers.  If there are 60 positive comments and only 5 negative ones, I might think my chances of getting good service are pretty good.

It's also nice to see how the service providers respond back to the negative reviews.  Do they give a good explanation of what caused the problem or are they taking no responsibility and just trying to blame someone else or make lame excuses?

I like how the Washington Post described it in an article last year.

Think of Angie's List as a very large community bulletin board where neighbors exchange references and anecdotes about carpenters, roofers, landscapers and appliance stores. Or a household version of Zagat Surveys, those ubiquitous city restaurant guides in which diners praise and pan thousands of eateries.

I signed up last year when they first started in the Atlanta market.  At that time it was free.  I think the normal membership fee would have been $60/year.   For a resource like that, I think it is well worth the money.  Check it out for yourself.  They are probably running some free trial offers all over the place.

I like giving my clients the source of information for them to do their own research and decide for themselves.  I still benefit from being the person who turned them on to the information source.   

As I was mowing my grass the other day, I accidentally ran over the ground entrance to a yellow jacket's nest and got a nasty sting from one of them. My first thought was how I was going to seek revenge and destroy those nasty yellow jackets. I was thinking of firing insecticides at them or burning them out with gasoline. 

But then I was struck with an epiphany.  Why must I be constantly fighting against nature?  With Earth Day here, why can't I try to live with nature and be considerate of other living things?   I'm sure there must be some divine purpose for yellow jackets or even mosquitoes. 

I remember back in the sixties when I was a kid, women were making a statement by burning their bras.  People stood up and took notice.  I want to do the same for the environmental movement.  Tomorrow, I will set fire to my lawnmower in the middle of my front yard.  There it will sit, undisturbed, as a symbol of my new environmental consciousness. As my front yard slowly evolves from field to forest, the lawnmower will make a nice home for some little rodents or snakes.  Before long, it will become part of nature again and my yard will be a protected wildlife refuge.

Just think of the benefits to the environment if everyone created their own wildlife refuge:

• Oil and gas being saved
• No more air pollution from all those lawnmowers.
• No more chemical fertilizers and weed killers polluting our water supply
• No more wasting precious water to keep our grass green.
• New habitats for wild creatures
• Children can study a natural ecosystem right in their front yard.

Now I'm thinking big. Why not make our local environment more friendly to larger roaming animals. I think that all fences should be taken down.  Already in the Atlanta area we are seeing the return of coyotes.  Pets are being reported missing more often.  The wonderful circle of life right in our own backyards.  I'd like to see more deer and other wild animals.  To have a well balanced ecosystem we would have to attact the predators higher up on the food chain. It might be necessary to attract some wolves and bears to keep a good balance. I know my eight year old son would be thrilled.  I'm sure it would create many vivid memories and stories for him to share with his children when he grows up. They'll look back at their Grandpa Tim as a visionary.

I know that this is a big idea and won't happen overnight.  But they say that one needs a big dream. 

By not mowing my grass, I should free up more daydreaming time.  I like the sound of that.

Laziness is the mother of Eco innovation.

The results of a new study on the health effects of living near power lines is coming out. It's still being debated in secret on how the results should be interpreted. It seems to be a little controversial as you might expect.  But it is causing some lawmakers in England to consider banning the building of new homes within a certain distance of the high power lines.  People in California are also trying to restrict what can be built in the areas around power lines.

It's been a while since I read about any new study showing conclusive results.  Thirteen years ago we bought a home that happened to have high power lines right next to us.  At that time no study seemed to be really too convincing.  My two kids were conceived in that home and we lived there for their first 4 years of their lives.  I'm glad we moved away and don't have to worry about it any more.

I used to think it was more of an aesthetic issue than anything else.  If a significant study ties power lines to certain cancers, how much would that take away from the value of a home?  Would people even be able to sell their homes if they lived next to power lines? 

Do you think that the power companies should be forced to bury their lines and spread that cost across to all power users?

What if during the period of every transaction you do, you would generate a new referral?  You wouldn't have to spend a penny on advertising.  You wouldn't have to spend time making calls trying to stir up new business.  You could spend all of your time taking care of the business you already have.  You could spend more time writing and commenting here at Active Rain :)

Two months ago, a young couple about to get  married, called me up after using my website.  They were a very cute couple and we went out on a few tours of homes.  This was their first home and they had a lot of good questions.  They must have liked me because they referred me to a sister who was in a similar situation.  My partner worked with them while I was on vacation and found the sister a house in the same neighborhood.

They must have liked my partner because they referred their parents to us.  Their parents had a home to sell and wanted to move closer to their two children and future grand children.

Their parents must have liked us because the mother referred her boss to us who is looking to move up to a bigger home in a different school district.

So from that one Internet lead, we'll be closing 6 transactions for a total of just under $2,000,000 in sales.

It has opened my eyes again to the power of getting referrals during the transaction period.  This is the time that buyers are thinking real estate and talking to friends and family about what's going on.  If one focuses on doing a great job, the referrals will come.

It doesn't take many of these referral trees to have a very good year. 

In the past, checking into the details about a neighborhood swim club always seemed to be something that could wait until closing.  Most of the time it's just a matter of paying your money and them giving you a key or a pass.  Recently, I learned to never take anything for granted.

We have a listing that is around the corner from a private swim club.  I had driven through this neighborhood over the years and had always assumed that the club was owned and operated by the neighborhood association. In the seller's disclosure, my seller had stated that the pool club was optional and also checked that there was no neighborhood association. 

In our marketing, we stated that this swim club was right around the corner.  It seemed to be a good selling point.  Just out of dumb luck, we never made any statements about memberships being readily available.

We negotiated a contract with an unrepresented buyer.  The contract had a 14 day right to terminate due diligence period.  We worked through the inspection and thought we were home free.

Two weeks before closing, the buyer tells us that when she went to inquire about obtaining a membership at the pool club, there was a waiting list of 42 people which could take as long as two years to work through.  The buyer was upset and wanted out of the contract.  My seller said that she should have done her due diligence and that the information was there for anyone who was looking for it.

I had no idea that there was any kind of waiting list.  I was told that this was the first time in 20 years that the membership was so full.

My seller called over one hundred members and finally found someone who would sell their membership to the buyer.  So now the buyer is applying for membership and we'll hopefully have a smooth closing this week.

I am so glad that I wasn't a dual agent in this situation.  I probably would not have looked into memberships any earlier than this buyer did.  But this has really brought home to me the importance of checking out everything.  Never take anything for granted. 

Even when the pool club is owned by the neighborhood association, it doesn't guarantee you the right to a membership.  I know of one neighborhood pool club that has a 5 year waiting list, even for residents of the neighborhood. 

I came across a blog today that had what seemed to be a really unbelievable stat:

"U.S. Housing and Urban Development reports that a staged house sells, on average, 17% higher than a non-staged house."

Wow!  That would mean a $300,000 home could be staged and then sell for $351,000.  17% is just the average.  That would mean staging could create even higher increases on occasion.  That just sounds incredible.  I figured they must have meant 1.7%.

I questioned the source and was provided with a  home staging website. I looked around the site and found that statement. Unfortunately there was no link to the HUD study.

I did a Google search for "staged home sells 17% higher" and got a lot of stager sites that quote that same HUD study but no one referenced it with a link.

I then went to the HUD site and did all kinds of searches to try to find the original study.  I just couldn't find it there.

So is this much quoted HUD study just an Urban Legend? I'd love to see how they came up with those numbers.

On average, how much does staging a home affect the price a seller gets?  In my personal experience, I might have  estimated about  5%.  But 17% as an average just seems way out of whack. 

Do most stagers really use that kind of statistic in their presentations? 

Does anyone have the actual HUD study? 

One of the keys to a successful real estate negotiation is having both sides feel that the other side has reached their bottom line and it is useless to ask for any more.  I've always have believed that actions speak louder than words.  You can tell someone that this is your bottom line all that you want but if your actions don't confirm it, no one will believe you.

I've always wondered what is the best counteroffer strategy when it comes to getting down to your bottom line when negotiating a real estate transaction. 

1. Should you get straight to the bottom line immediately? 
2. Should you come down in equal increments?
3. Should you hold firm for awhile and then make a dramatic drop?
4. Should you come down substantially at first and then less and less everytime afterwards

What pattern of price decreases is going to show the other side that they should accept because you really have reached your bottom line?

I read a book "Negotiate to Win" by Jim Thomas who goes into the psychology behind these various strategies. 

Let's assume that you are planning to counter four times.  Let's say that you are the seller and your home is listed at $200,000.  Your target price is $190,000 but your very bottom line is $188,000. What pattern of counteroffers will tell the other side that they are wasting their time if they try to go any lower.

1. 200,000  190,000 190,000 190,000 190,000

This strategy whets their appetite that there just might be another large concession coming. One might be tempted to wait a little longer in hopes of another large concession.  This scenario usually ends up in a stalemate.

    2.   200,000  197,500  195,000  192,500 190,000

This strategy doesn't give the other side any indication when the concessions will stop.  They will probably wait for the next 2500 reduction.

    3.   200,000  200,000  200,000  200,000 190,000

This strategy rewards them for their patience.  Maybe if they wait again, they'll get another dramatic decrease.

    4.   200,000  195,000  192,500  191,000  190,000

This seems to be the most effective strategy.  One would expect that the next step down will only be 500.  The pattern of smaller and smaller concessions indicate that there won't be much to gain by continuing. The buyer is likely to feel satisfied that they have done their best and you have nothing left to give.  Isn't that what we want, a satisfied buyer? 

The book has "21 rules for successful negotiating".  Some are applicable to real estate while other aren't. 

There is a small section that goes into negotiating when buying or selling a home.  I agree with most of what he says, like using an agent and setting the initial tone to be friendly in nature.  I agree that one should never accept the first offer if you are a seller and don't offer full price if you are a buyer.  It just leaves the other side thinking that they made a big mistake which can negatively affect the other steps of the transaction.

This book made me understand the importance of using the correct pattern of counteroffer concessions to convey the proper message to the other side.

I thought that this was kind of funny.  Sports Illustrated comes out with a Global Warming issue right when we get one of the coldest periods in opening day history.

Cleveland Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona tosses the ball to a teammate, Monday, April 9, 2007, in Cleveland. After snow wiped out Cleveland's four-game series against Seattle for the fourth day in a row Monday, the Indians will move their next series against the Los Angeles Angels to Milwaukee's Miller Park. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

A new feature with Zillow is their Zillow EZ ads.  For one cent per impression, you can advertise on their site.  You can target specific zip codes. It's fairly easy to create a nice ad.

Over the weekend, I created 4 ads and got them on Zillow.  So far the results are less than spectaular.  The four ads have had a total of 2607 impressions and I have had a total of 4 click thrus.  So at a penny per impression, that works out to $6.51/click.

This is pretty expensive advertising.  I do have a few Google and Yahoo pay per click campaigns and I average about 25 cents/click.  I would never think about paying over one dollar per click. So this Zillow experiment is way over my comfort zone.

I guess when you are paying per impression, it is up to you to make an ad that gets clicks.  I tried 4 different ads using my experience from some of my Google Adwords campaigns.  I've experienced click thru rates of 1-5% with Google.  At a 1% click thru rate I would anticipate 10 clicks per 1000 impressions. I should have had 26 clicks so far instead of only 4.

I still have around 7400 impressions to go.  I'll let you know how the final numbers come in. I welcome the results that others are having.

Isn't it fun to use Zillow to find out what your neighbor's house is worth?  Wouldn't it be even funner to know how much your neighbor earned?  I'd even like to know their net worth.  Come on now.  I can't be the only one who wonders about other people's money.  There's already Fortune's list of the 400 richest Americans.  Why stop there.  Let's make a list of what all Americans are worth.

Zillow has a great model to follow.  They have tapped into all the public property records to provide a list of every home in America.  They then set up an automatic formula to estimate the value of each home, a Zestimate.  In order to get better data and provide more information, they now allow anyone to upload pictures of any home. Anyone can also ask and answer any questions about any home.  They even allow anyone to do their neighbor a favor and point out that their home is for sale without them even having to know about Zillow.  

Another nice feature is that anyone can throw out a price that they would consider to make it worthwhile for them to move.  Zillow is doing all of this because they are really nice guys who want to bring efficient pricing to the housing market.  It also provides a nice platform where people can share all the great details about their communities. 

So let's imagine how we can  do these same things in with people instead of houses. First you need a complete list of all the people in America.  We can start with the telephone book or maybe the government will help us with the census or maybe the tax records.  We probably can get a nice government grant to get started. I'm sure they will love the information they will be able to get from this venture.  Anyone ever read the great classic, "1984"? 

We then need to estimate what each person might be worth.  We can develop some automatic human valuation program as a starting point.  We can make some estimates by the kind of home they live in and the kind of car that they drive.  We will allow everyone to claim themselves and input their own data.  If they have an employer, their employer can also claim them and input what they are paying them.  Then friends and neighbors can ask questions or provide other bits of information about anyone that they know.  Everyone can do their friends a favor and attach pictures they have taken of them throughout the years.  It could be an updated version of the old TV show "This is Your Life."  I date myself but it was a neat show.  Each week, a guest of honor was surprised and presented with a "Red Book" by the show host. The host conducted a biography of the guest with the help of family members, friends, and acquaintances. Sound like such fun.

Individuals could post a "make me switch jobs" price.  This could make the employee pricing market so much more efficient.  Right now there just isn't a nice central database where an employer can go to get useful information about potential employees.  Employers could now be proactive in their recruiting.  Maybe people would get unsolicited job offers from employers who can identify undervalued people.

Now I know some of you will always be looking at the negative side of things.  Couldn't people post things that aren't nice or maybe even post some lies?  We'll have that covered.  Any individual can write a rebuttal to anything that was placed in their profile.  It will be self policing.  You'll be able to evaluate the reputations of each poster and I'm sure people will figure out who is more trustworthy.  There will be a flagging feature too.  We can look at each problem situation on a case by case basis.  I trust that most people are just really honest and decent and will abide by the guidelines. 

Privacy concerns?  Come on now.  This isn't the Middle Ages anymore.  We need to get used to the wide world of information. Maybe this will be a force to get people to always act their best because there just won't be any secrets anymore.  What can be bad about that?  Be nice, do good and you'll have nothing to worry about.

I think we have a winner here.  What a buzz we can create.  We can attract millions of eyeballs to the site and sell a ton of advertising.

There's a s similar post on Sellsius so variations on the concept are already being thought of.  If you are interested in exploring the opportunity, we'll have to move quickly.  The first thing is to come up with a catchy name.  Any ideas? 

I read Herb Cohen's book "Negotiate This! By Caring, But Not T-H-A-T Much" and it hit me how similar successful negotiators are to the bloggers who I admire here at ActiveRain.

Cohen says there are certain style characteristics of successful persuaders, whether they be politicians, managers, salespeople and, I'd like to add to this list, bloggers.

• The ability to express ideas in simple terms, framing issues so that choices are clear-cut.
• An optimism and hopefulness about the future.
• Coming across as the embodiment of ordinary folk--regular guys or gals.
• A congenial, humble, and unaffected way.
• The use of self-deprecating humor to humanize and make fun of themselves.

If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he was talking about Broker Bryant, one of the most popular bloggers on ActiveRain.

How should one begin every negotiating encounter? Cohen recommends "behaving in a cooperative and amiable manner with a congenial low-key pose of calculated incompetence."  This kind of reminds me of the voice of many bloggers who catch my interest.

It's very interesting that Cohen points out that Alexis de Tocqueville wrote way back in the 1830s about how Americans differ from Europeans. He found Americans back then to:

1. prefer issues that are pure and simple--framed in black and white.
2. be almost blindly optimistic people, always upbeat and hopeful
3. relate to and respect regular and authentic guys, those who come across as fallible and human.

This is so true in our efforts with blog marketing.  Your approach and style and how you put your thoughts into words usually mirror your character.  To quote from page 69 in the book:

• It's from this that people make an initial assessment of your sincerity and trustworthiness.  Remember, throughout this process they are asking themselves, "Is this the type of person we want to do business with?"
• Beneficial aspects of style are characterized by displays of: active listening, warmth and sensitivity, patience, sharing of feelings and consideration for others' worth and self-esteem.

I thought the book was going to be about specific combative negotiating techniques.  I was pleased to find out that a hugely successful negotiator like Herb Cohen does nothing more than what any of us can do. 

• Care, but not that much. 
• Listen and try to understand the goals and motivations of the other side.
• Be humble and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Negotiating and blogging are the same.  Trying to make people want to do business with us by being authentic, helpful and caring, but not that much.

Zillow is really smart. They are set up to have 77 million homeowners voluntarily give them their email addresses.  Why would a homeowner do this?  Well, wouldn't you want Zillow to be so kind as to notify you every time that someone asked a question about your home?  What if someone asked questions about your house like:

• I thought I saw a Roto Rooter truck in front of your house a few months ago.  Did you have some kind of problem?
• Is that dog next door still barking all night?
• You aren't having problems with water in your basement, are you?
• Did that unregistered child molester move out of your neighborhood yet?

Maybe the neighbors are answering these questions for you.  Wouldn't you want to join the conversation about your own home.  I'm sure you would want to voice your side of the story. Don't want those questions to be stuck on your home profile forever?  Just send a message to Zillow customer service and they'll look into it. I'm sure you'll be pleased to take the time and provide them with proof that those questions are bogus and should be removed.  Maybe if you are in a rush, they'll eventually offer expedited consideration for a small fee.

So what value will it be to Zillow to have 77 million email addresses of homeowners?  I'm sure they'll want to send you weekly email updates about all of the neat things going on at Zillow.  Maybe they'll let you know every time that something changes to a home in your neighborhood.  I wonder how much various advertisers would pay to have their advertisement be part of all of those email messages? 

Everytime you get notified of a change to your home, you'll be forced to visit the Zillow site.  Increased traffic means more advertising fees.  Every time they get you to come to  their site, it's a few more pennies from the EZ Ads advertisers. 

To me, this seems like a subtle form of extortion.  Sign up and claim your home so you'll know when someone is talking trash about it.  Now we not only have to monitor our identity and our credit, but also our homes' reputations.  All those questions will stick to your home's profile forever.  It just doesn't seem right.

I'd like to see Zillow give homeowners the ability to opt out of their system of property questions and answers.  I was a big fan of Zillow but this new question and answer feature is just like asking for trouble.

You got a question about my house, come knock on my door and ask it to my face.  When I tell you it's none of your freakin' business, you'll have 10 seconds to get lost before I load up my persuader.