Keep it real! Consistant! Positive!

Well, we are smarter, leaner, and wiser! There are less Realtor's, Mortgage Brokers, and Wanna Be Inspectors in the business. This is GOOD!

Now that you have rid yourself of marketing that doesn't work, team members that were order takers and people on your sphere list that shouldn't be there it's time to Make Things Happen!

Success is a state of mind, if you believe in yourself first, than your confidence will lead others to put their confidence in you.

Stick to the plan. (make sure you have one)
Stay lean even when you get busier. (save for tomorrow)
Focus on your past customers, current customers and your productive sphere. (this is a referral business)
Have processes in place to keep you on task. (people oriented people tend to get distracted easily)
Give back (you reap what you sow, good or bad)
Refresh Yourself regularly (when you're in a better state of mind you're more productive)
Keep learning (as soon as you think you've arrived, you just became a know it all! Who likes a know it all?)
Make a commitment to step up your professionalism ( Realtor, let's represent!!)

I wish each and everyone of you the best! Happy New Year!

Kim Knapp
Realtor Jacksonville Florida

Lessons from "The Wild Party"

The Wild Party, the Hangover, and Rehab….. Where are the success stories?


It was 2003 and people where starting to show up to the party. If you got there early you didn’t really know how many people were going to show up. Once they did the scene was crazy.

Agents, (new franchises by the dozen) buyers, sellers, and lenders everywhere, it was the ultimate pick up event. Buyers outbid other buyers for homes and were never happier, probably because they felt as if they had won. Agents worked with sellers they didn’t like. That’s okay the house will be sold in a week. Agents left the party with buyers they didn’t know. (Ahhh, they were buying right?) Buyers worked with agents and lenders they picked up at the party. They couldn’t remember their names the next day but so what they bought a house.

We were buying advertising like it was a new bauble. “Hey, that’s really cool give me 2 pages will ya?” The advertisers were drunk with love for us and always coming out with another place we would want to see ourselves. How much was all this costing anyway? Does it matter? Naw, we’ll just find us another buyer at the watering hole.

Then someone had the nerve to turn the music off and the lights on.

What was left, too many agents and lenders without reserves, sellers upside down on their homes and buyers without money. Boy that was some party!


Time for a little personal reflection. Some folks got out of the biz, that’s okay they needed too, others though went through rehab.

· Why am I am I in Real Estate?
· Do I work better with Buyer or Sellers?
· What’s my Budget? Budget is that word in the dictionary?
· What’s my business plan?
· Have I created relationships with other agents in my market? Or do I have some making up to do for my bad behavior during the party?
· Do I even have my database together? Ughh
· Sphere – Is that a circle thingy?

I am happy to say a lot of great agents have come out the other side. Will share with us, “What’s the one single greatest thing you learned?”

For me it was, “I didn’t have to outspend my competition on marketing. I had to learn to say NO.” Actually it’s really easy. Try it… No, No. See it only takes a second, calls over and you didn’t spend they money you don’t have to impress other agents and really not the consumer. Hello!

Share some love and tell us the best you learned____________.

and Tired Always Follows Sick! Goodmorning America

Welcome back to the Land of "I'm no longer depressed."

It's so nice to have you all back, the party has been very quiet without you, hence the reason we waited for you to get here! I get the feeling everyone is Tired of being Sick and Tired. Why even the media has grown weary of perpetuating the gloom they once seemed to enjoy so much. maybe if they play nice we will advertise with them again someday. LOL

Seriously though I love this country and America's spirit. We have learned to make lemonade from lemons. Reflecting back on mistakes and try to find ways not to repeat them. The reason I write this is I have seen a noticeable difference in folks. As a Realtor I am busier than ever. Hmmm...

I believe at some point you just decide to pull yourself up by the boot straps and come up fighting because life isn't waiting for you. Take buying a home for instance. Do you want to make a wise buying decision YES of course. Is your house a Bank, NO. But that became the mentality of consumers over the last 10 years.

Let's reflect for the younger readers. Do you remember the day when you saved your 20%, looked for the home you wanted to raise your family in, make your own over the years and create your memories? Then you focused on paying it off. Well welcome to the new millennium, That became such a dated idea, "I mean who does that?" (note the sarcasm)

The new idea was move every 2-3 years, use your home as in investment. Well that worked for a select few that carefully timed the market. But using your personal residence in your investment portfolio is probably not a good plan. (hindsight is always 20/20).

I see folks having a completely different mindset these days. I'm tired of the bad news, I'm not going to waste money on renting, I'm going to make a wise buying decision that I can afford, how can I pay off my home and plan for college for my kids and what payment do I need if one of the wage earners decides to stay home? Do I hear LONG TERM PLAN? You bet ya! It's really the best thing that's happened in a long time.

The best inventory is selling in under 30 days (that's great), Gas is finally heading in the right direction, rates are still historically low, elections will be over soon, (maybe then we can move ahead without having to worry about who gets the credit)

So yes there are some turbulent times ahead as we work our way through the inventory, the unemployment rate and energy. But I'm encouraged and not suprised to see that America is up for the fight. So as you put away your cartons of Haagen Daz, and step out into the sunshine make sure you tell someone it's gonna be alright!

Real Estate Acronyms? Can Someone Speak English?

I was working with a first time buyer the other day and realized that the longer one is in the real estate business you begin to speak in code. Not on purpose mind you just a bad habit. Oh it makes perfect sense inside your own head. Ah, but if you could only hear yourself speaking in consonants you would realize that your customers are mearly nodding at you and smiling.

I have decided that to put together my Top 10 Realtor Acronyms. Not to steal a Mortgage Lenders thunder I will leave those for one of you to reply. I realize there is another unique list.

• DOM Days on Market - How long a home has been listed for sale or rent
• HUD (Department of) Housing and Urban Development -The Government Regulated closing statement
• CMA Comparative Market Analysis - Market Value Range a home will sell in
• CDD Community Development District - (a tax collected for the infrastructure and usually the operations and maintenance of a planned community (PUD-freebie planned unit development)
• CO Certificate of Occupancy- House is in compliance with building codes and is suitable for occupancy
• FSBO For Sale by Owner We (Realtors) pronounce this as if it's a word
• HELOC Home Equity Line of Credit (sometimes I will ask a seller if they have a HELOC (also pronounced as a word) , I usually get a puzzled look as if it's an exotic pet. Then you realize when they went to the bank they went to get an Equity Line.
• REO Real Estate Owned - By the bank after an unsuccessful auction on the court house steps. Which is happening more often due to a homes value being less than what is owed.
• SFR Single Family Residential
• ASHI American society of Home Inspectors "Make sure you get and ASHI inspector" What is that? Especially in Florida we encourage some form of certification. Not until 2010 will Inspectors be required to be licensed.

There are 30 others to choose from, this was simply to get the wheels turning.

Often times folks do not want to tell you they don't understand, so they just agree. It's kind of like me talking to the Doctor. Don't dazzle me with terms I don't understand, speak to me so I do.

Listing that get ATTENTION

First let me say that Northeast Florida has some of the most amazing professionals practicing real estate. I'm thankful to call many of them friends from every company albeit ReMax to Prudential, Coldwell Banker to Watson and of course my personal favorite VANGUARD/GMAC

However there are still those left over from the order taker days of the real estate BOOM! One thing that drives me crazy is why in the day of digital technology can't we get an interior picture or two of a listing. Consumers have so many choices to pick through to determine what they will look at. When a listing has only a front shot it tells the buyer one of two things, one it would be anti productive do to condition or two the agent is lazy. Either way the listing loses. Digital pictures are free. You take the picture, upload then delete from your camera then start over, wallah!

Now if the house needs straightened up or staged then time to get the seller on the team. This is no time to not care about the difference a little elbow grease can make you! Even if a home is not a show stopper, cleaning up all the clutter, doing a little pre-packing (boxes in the garage are much better than too much clutter you can't see the house), washing the windows and cleaning up the landscape can not only make the difference of if you sell or not it will make you money with little or no investment other than time!

If you want to take it to the next level, stage it! Look at the pictures below and compare then I will tell you a story about market and staging!

Both slides say the exact same thing, both homes are in the exact same neighborhood, interestingly though the house on the left was listed for 35,000 dollars more. Both homes are 3 bedrooms 2 baths. The home on the right was 200 sq ft smaller and big surprise SOLD. The home on left is now off the market.

How a home is presented makes all the difference in the world. It is not a judgement on the owners taste or style. Too many times the seller will take this personally. This is the seller recognizing that they are taking their home and transforming it into a product that will be the most expensive purchase that the prospective buyer will make and it needs to be appealing to the masses not only a select few. It's a a bad plan to say the buyer will just have to get over it. Remember it is the seller that is trying to entice the buyer.

Let's look at it like this. What is the first thing you do when you go to sell your car? Hmmmm? You wash it, detail it, vacuum it, maybe Armor-All it. Why? To attract buyers and get top dollar. Now there is something else you do. You go to the Kelly Blue Book and see what kind of price you are looking at based on condition and features and mileage.

Now after you have done that you take that information and look at your local swap sheet and see what your competition is. Now if you're smart you will position yourself accordingly.

Mercury Mountaineer 2001 65,000 miles Value $7,500. Current listing range from $6,800 to $8,000. There are 10 for sale in your zip code. You strategize and decide to list your SUV for $10,200 just to give you negotiating room. The problem is there isn't anyone to negotiate with. Why? The buyers have the same information you do. There are 10 others to choose from in the right range, why call on an overpriced one you anticipate will be difficult to deal with ?

We come to next and most important point. PRICING! This has never been more important than it is today. You cannot market an overpriced house into the hearts of the consumer. It's a false lie. LOL Just think about it. Buyers will buy value, Buyers will work with reasonable people, Buyers enjoy a home that is appealing (smells nice, clean, uncluttered) If you were buying what would you do?

It kills me when I hear sellers insult Buyers from California. They act as if they are totally detached from reality, they will hire a clueless agent and overpay no matter what because everything in Florida is a deal. If that is your pricing plan don't start packing. So what am I saying?

• Strategic Pricing


• Condition


• Marketing & Exposure


• Equals Sale

Your listing agent is not supposed to be your best friend that tells you what you want to hear and agrees with you on everything to get your listing. They need to be like a Doctor delivering the diagnosis along with the prescibed treatment good, bad or indifferent because it's in your best interest not theirs.

What if your Doctor had bad news? He read your chart and discovered you had a chronic disease. He knew you would not receive this very well so he walk into the room and says " Hello Mr. Patient everything looks great, see you again in 6 months" You leave and he hopes maybe before then if you don't change Doctors he will find a way to tell you next time. In the meantime this is affecting your life in a real way. NOT GOOD!

When you choose a listing agent make sure they've got game! What kind of a track record do they have? Can they look you in the eye and tell you the hard stuff.? If they can't do it now will they be able to do it later? Get a referral from a friend. Make sure they have a marketing plan. Comps, Sold-Pending and Active should factor in to your competitive position. They should have helpful thoughts on staging and preparation. If you don't have a direction to go in we would love to compete for your business or if your an out of town agent receive your referral. Kim Knapp 904-334-7425