“Green” building is simply “good” building

Unless you’re colorblind, I’m sure you’ve recognized that the trendy color in the home building world today is definitely “green.” It’s in every building industry magazine, most DIY and HGTV programs, and builders, architects, homeowner’s, and everyone in between are talking “green this and green that.”

But what is “Green Building?” It’s a term that gets use quite often with a varying degree of connotation and there are as many definitions of “Green Building” as there are shades of the color.

Simply stated it’s making conscious choices to positively impact the energy and resource efficiency in all facets of construction. OK, so what does that mean? Basically, from the inception of design all the way to landscaping, making sure that consideration is given to mitigating the effects that you will have on the environment and natural resources.

It doesn’t have to be straw bales and solar panels, it’s as simple as orienting the house on the site and proper placement of windows to take full advantage of solar gain and minimize heat loss. It’s designing a house that isn’t too large so it’s easy to heat and cool and uses less material. It’s having a heating and cooling system that is the correct size for the house and ensuring that it’s properly installed and tested.

It’s making smart choices for building materials like engineered lumber, pre-manufactured trusses, low E windows, or material with recycled content. It’s conserving water by using drought tolerant plants in your landscaping, low-flow shower heads, and locating your hot water heater close to the point of use. It’s taking care to make sure the air in your home is healthy, both by choosing to use materials guaranteed to be low in volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) and ensuring adequate ventilation and fresh air exchange.

It’s reducing and recycling construction waste through onsite and off site recycling, but more importantly it’s all of things together.

The concept behind many successful Green Building Programs is taking a holistic approach to building the home and thinking about all of the choices and systems in the home prior to ever moving the first bucket of dirt. In a sense, “green” building is nothing more than “good” building.

"Desire" According to Zig Ziglar

One of the first sales books I remember picking up was Zig Ziglar’s See You at the Top. In it are many gems.

From time-to-time, I’ll share some of my favorites with you.

Here’s a couple of Zig's quotes on desire:

“Desire enables an individual to take whatever ability he has in whatever he’s doing and utilize it to the maximum.”

“Desire is the ingredient that makes the difference between an average performer and a champion.”

Your Email Address Should Look Professional

Today people rely on the internet and email for listing, selling, and searching for properties – as well as communicating with each other.

You wouldn’t be reading this post if you weren’t participating in the internet world.

But I’ve got a peeve that I’d like to vent today.

I am constantly seeing email – purportedly coming from real estate professionals, builders, or new home salespeople – that looks more like a communication between two friends.

In Ralph Hudson’s post here last Wednesday, this very item is #2 on his list of 16 ways for effective email communication.

If you're going to be in sales, I believe you should look like it every chance you get - including when you’re using your email. Save the inventive names associated with your yahoo, hotmail, msn, gmail, aol, and other accounts for personal use or when you are trying to maintain some level of privacy or anonymity.

You are working hard – or at least you should be – to sell yourself to your customers and make a credible impression with them. Therefore, when you communicate with them by email, your address should include your name or your company name so that they can tell that it’s from you.

Unless you are known by your nickname and it appears on your business cards, it should not appear anywhere in your email address.

Let's look for a second at why you send someone an email – to have it opened and to have your message read. This means that (1) the intended recipient has to get it, and that it has to get past the spam or junk filter and (2) they have to open it and read it, which stands a greater chance of happening if they recognize who is sending it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't have a yahoo, gmail, hotmail, aol, msn, or other account. However, compare "steve123@generic.com" or "racefan@public.com" with "steve@companyname.com." In the first instance, you (or my customer) might not recognize or know who it's from. In the second, it's identifiable as a business email.

Now, you may not have a company domain or website to use as part of your email address. If this is the case, use your whole name (first and last) or the name of your company with the public email address.

If you have a registered domain name, use that in your email - people will more easily understand who it is from and you'll get another opportunity to brand you, your company, or your community.

How's That New Year's Resolution Doing?

A lot of people have – or should I say had – New Year’s resolutions for 2008, but as the wise philosopher Anonymous once said, "A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other."

So here it is almost the end of January – one month of 2008 already in the history books.

How are we doing?

If you did commit to doing something special for yourself or for your business this year, and you’re not quite on track to get that done, there’s plenty of time ahead to refocus and get back with the program.

If goal setting, time management, or business planning were among your resolutions for this year, I’ll discuss each of them in future posts.

And by the way, resolutions aren’t just for January 1st!

Picking the Horses

Trying to determine the direction of mortgage interest rates is a lot like picking a horse to bet on. Interest rates in the last few months have dropped to new lows. Who would have thought that we would be seeing interest rates drop to their lowest level in almost 4 years. In my reading of the last few days, as many pundits are forecasting increases in mortgage rates in the near future as are predicting rate decreases. Given the volatility of the financial markets worldwide, I believe that anyone in the market for a home or refinancing their current home, need to be aware of the volatility and NOT assume further reduction in mortgage interest rates.

Six Dollar Haircuts

I believe the lesson in the following story by Mary Manin Morrissey can be used by Builders and Realtors to help us through the current downturn in housing. It also reinforces why I am an active member of the National Association of Home Builders and my state and local associations, the national and my local Sales and Marketing Council, and a member of one of NAHB's Builder 20 Clubs. I know that two or more heads are a lot better than just mine alone when it comes to solving my problems.

This is a true story about a third generation barber in a small community in the Mid-west. The shop had been handed down from his grandfather and developed not just a hair salon but more of a community center where the farmers and families would come in not only to get their hair done, but enjoy the coffee and donut bar and spend time with their neighbors sharing the news of their farms and families. This shop had grown to include 10 stylists who cut all the men's hair and all the women's hair in the community.

The owner's son came home from graduate school over spring break, to find his father depressed and reclusive. Finally getting his father to share what the problem was, the father confided that there was a new, national chain that had been moving across the country, bringing in cheap hair salons into all of the different communities and driving everyone out of business. And so, even though the community had loved all of the work that he had done, the perms and the haircuts and the styles over the years, right down the street opened up this new shop. It offered six dollar haircuts. Person after person had left to go to the new low cost shop.

The father told his son, "There is absolutely NO way I can compete with $6.00 haircuts. So much of my clientele has now gone to the new shop that I have no choice but to close our shop. After three generations, we are going bankrupt. I can't pay the stylists or the overhead anymore," he despondently said with his hands covering his face so his son would not see the tears rolling out of his eyes.

The son said, "You know, this last semester I took a "science of success" program that was offered for extra credit in my marketing class. One thing I learned was something that Einstein said. He said that "The significant problems we face can never be solved at the level of thinking of the problem." So, Dad, we have to find another way to think about this. We've got to find another way to see this. Another one of the strategies I learned may help us."

So the son left the room and brought back a notebook and a pen. He told the Dad about "Masterminding", a strategy introduced in the 1930's by Napoleon Hill who had been commissioned by Andrew Carnegie to study the patterns of extremely successful people.

"Here's what we do. We let ourselves think of any idea that comes to mind and we write it down. No editing. We get a flow of ideas for 15-20 minutes and try to get as many as possible. No idea is off limits. Let's go."

The father said, "Well, the only idea I've got is..close the shop!" The son said, "Well, you're right that IS an idea." He wrote it down. Then the son said, "Ok, let's keep going." Before long the son and the father started getting a flow of ideas and writing down every one of them, even every crazy thing that came to mind. When they finished, one of the ideas absolutely jumped off the page and they looked at each other in astonishment and said, "This just might work!" The son left the next day to go back to college.

The father implemented the idea. Within 6 weeks, not only had his drop in clientele completely returned, but the number of customers was now 11% higher than ever in the history of the shop. Do you know what the idea was that turned sure failure into a new course of increasing success?

The idea was, "Place a BIG sign on top of the shop that read,

"WE FIX SIX DOLLAR HAIRCUTS!!"

This story has meant a great deal to me particularly when I am tempted to think that the problem is "out there" in the land of circumstances. Any time I think the problem is "out there", THAT THOUGHT is the problem. As Einstein said, "The significant problems we face can not be solved at the level of the problem." Learning to think in a new way brings Freedom and Power.

Mary Manin Morrissey

Mary Morrissey is a minister, teacher and author. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Education, a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and a Doctorate of Humane Letters. Take a look at her latest collaboration with Bob Proctor here: http://www.insightoftheday.com/a.asp?bpap&1337&isp

The Importance of Appraisals in a Declining Market

Remember the "old days" when home values were steadily increasing and financing for home ownership had few restrictions or hurdles? Well, as you know that environment has significantly changed and is continuing to evolve as both government and financial markets are attempting to deal with the credit situation.

Along with this, the Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) is taking on more importance. In addition to establishing a relative asking price or market value of properties in an area, the CMA actually impacts how the loan approval process might proceed after the offer is accepted.

Until recently, the CMA was almost an afterthought for many real estate professionals; something that could literally be done on the way to a listing appointment. The comparables of existing home sales were easy to do since so many were within the same subdivision and almost all were within a 90 day window.

Today, however, many lenders are using their in-house appraiser or an Automated Valuation Model (AVM) as an initial validation of the independent appraisal before the loan is even underwritten for approval. An AVM is a purchased service that some lenders utilize to provide property valuations using mathematical modeling combined with a database. AVM's calculate a property's estimated value at a specific point in time by analyzing values of comparable properties. The biggest drawback to this method is that a physical inspection of the property does not occur.

If a CMA or any of the other guidelines that lenders now require cannot be positively supported in the appraisal, the appraiser needs to provide a detailed written explanation of the circumstances.

In the past, choosing an appraiser and a mortgage lender were mutually exclusive activities, one performed by the real estate agent, the other by the mortgage broker. In today's environment, a collaborative effort between the real estate and mortgage professionals makes sense when it comes to choosing an appraiser.

As a way to potentially minimize these issues before the file is submitted to a lender for approval, the mortgage broker should determine if the lender has a list of approved appraisers that they recommend or get a list of their specific requirements.

Increase in the Conventional Mortgage Cap

A key element in the Economic Stimulus package proposed today is the increase from $417,000 to $725,000 for conventional mortgages that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae can purchase. This change will have a significant impact in high-cost areas and have the effect of decreasing mortgage interest rates ½-¾ of a point for homes valued between $417,000-$725,000. It also opens the door for non-conventional loans to be refinanced at a lower-rate conventional mortgage.

Get That E-mail Response Right

While you may be getting fewer e-mail leads from the Web these days, those leads are a lot more valuable in today's market, so you want to make sure you're making the most of them.

Since you may have a little more spare time when you're manning the model these days, an excellent way to put that time to use is reviewing and studying your email responses to see if you can make them more compelling and draw more of your new prospects into dialogs that will lead to a sale.

A good place to start (and end) that study is by taking a close look at the contact form on your Web site. Print it and keep the copy handy while you're studying the leads it has produced for you. Are you asking the right questions on the form? Are you asking for too much personal information?

Asking the right questions on your contact form requires careful thought. You want to get enough information to start a dialog with the new prospect, but not so much that you scare away those that are overly cautious with their privacy, or those that don't have the patience to answer a lot of questions - it's a fine line.

Having a clear statement on the form telling your site visitor that you won't share or abuse their contact information will help in putting them at ease.

I personally like using a standard reply when making my initial response to a new prospect. Of course, I tailor the reply for each new prospect and make sure any specific questions are answered, but the standard e-mail response helps make sure I've covered the basics.

I like to experiment with both my contact form and my responses. Over the past 12 years, I've changed our standard response letter at least a hundred times, thinking I've missed some magical words or phrases that will boost the conversion rate.

If nothing else, it keeps me from getting bored using the same old response and lets me rethink every step of our sales process.

Having a web-savvy sales consultant like Steve to help develop your standard replys will also go a long way in boosting your conversion rate and turn more of those Web leads into sales.

Here's a list of 16 tips for improving your e-mail communications. In your study, these tips may give you some ideas. If you can think of any more, we would like to hear them.

Shhh!

It turns out that the word “listen” is an anagram of the word “silent” – containing exactly the same letters in a different order.

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We are created with twice as many listening devices (ears) as those for speaking (mouth).

People Can Sell for Less if They “Get It”

In my post on Saturday, I talked about people who say that they want to wait for prices to stop falling or for the market to stabilize before they make a decision on a new home.

What most people don’t “get” by this strategy is that their home values likely are falling also.

Many people want their bread buttered on both sides – they want top dollar for their existing home (based loosely on what they could have sold it for a couple of years ago during much stronger market conditions) and they want builders to sell them a new home at the absolute lowest possible price (regardless if it’s even below the builder’s cost).

I heard an interesting conversation recently on a radio talk show where a person who was trying to sell their existing home called in and asked why she was having trouble selling her home at the asking price. The talk show host asked about her experiences in trying to sell her home and then posed a very significant question. She asked the caller if she thought she could sell her home for $2, and she said that she could.

But the question isn’t as silly or as obvious as it might sound. Haven’t we all walked away from various items that after we inspected them we remarked that the potential seller would have to pay us to take them?

The radio host went on to explain that somewhere between where the lady had priced her home and $2 was the price that it would sell at and that the closer it was to $2 the quicker it would sell.

Too many people are holding out for top dollar that approaches what they think they could have received for their home in 2005 or 2006 if they had sold it then, and they have not come to terms with the adjusted value on their home.

Usually it’s not a question of their home not being nice, it’s just that it’s not worth what they think it is.

There’s often an emotional attachment to one’s home and setting an asking price often is based as much on emotion as on market conditions and the actual property.

However, for those people who “get it” and price their existing homes realistically – and for those real estate agents who also “get it” and recommend such pricing – they’ll find that they can sell their present home and move on to their next one while those prices are still relatively attractive also.

It's All How You Look At It

Coming home from his Little League game, Billy swung open the front door very excited. Unable to attend the game, his father immediately wanted to know what happened. “So, how did you do son?” he asked.

“You'll never believe it!” Billy said. “I was responsible for the winning run!”

“Really? How'd you do that?”

“I dropped the ball.”

Still Waiting for Those Home Prices to Stop Falling?

Which of us haven’t heard something to the effect in recent months that people are going to wait to buy a new home until the prices bottom out or stop falling – as if that is a determinable time that is still approaching?

It’s only natural for people to want to get a bargain and not to feel that they’ve overpaid for something that they could have gotten cheaper – had they only waited or shopped someplace else for the same thing.

I think the internet plays into this scenario a little because there are so many place like bizrate, amazon, pricegrabber, nextag, and similar sites where you can compare prices before deciding who to order from.

Part of this feeling about pricing stems from fear of loss. Some people seem to feel that if they buy something now – supposedly before it reaches its nadir – that they will have paid more than they should have and in fact could get it for less if they just waited.

I mean, who wants to pay full price or even the sale price for something only to find a better price for the same item a few days of even a month or two later?

However, to say that someone will only buy a new home when it reaches its all-time lowest price (for the current cycle) is to say that they have no compelling need for another home. This might be true, but if it isn’t, this argument is only an excuse or a minor diversion to avoid making a decision.

When the customer has stated a need for a new home – or through your own discovery with them you have determined that they really do need a new home and should have one, then any talk of wanting to wait for lower prices or for the market to improve is simply a defense mechanism to avoid making the decision.

For someone who has a real interest in buying a new home, price is only one of the considerations. How well the home meets their needs, the style of the home, the quality of workmanship, where it is located, what it includes, the layout, the warranty, the stability of the builder, and so many other factors will impact the final decision – in addition to the price.

That is why sales are still being made, even in the toughest of markets. The sales pace may be considerably slower than it once was, and the prices may have moderated, but there are still sales to be made.

So let’s focus on the sales that can still be made and not on all the ones that are waiting for the big day when their local newspaper actually runs the front-page story that they’ve been waiting for: “home prices have finally bottomed out, everyone can buy now.”

But what if the newspaper forgot to run the story, and prices in your market have already stabilized?

Maybe the excuse of wanting to wait for lower prices is just that – an excuse. Maybe they didn’t really want a new home all that much anyway.

Oh, one more thing.

For the people who think they really do want a new home but just not enough to make a decision now for fear that they might pay too much for it in today’s market – as they interpret it, you might want to start preparing them for the onslaught of buyers that will surface once that newspaper story runs. Of course, with that much pent-up demand prices are likely to rise – maybe even quickly.

Prepare a Brief Commercial for Yourself

Today’s challenge: promote yourself. I’m a firm believer in both relationship selling and personal marketing. They go hand-in-hand.

One of the reason that many real estate salespeople – new homes as well as existing homes – are having difficulty in making sales today is that they do not appreciate that they need to build relationships.

Gone are the days – if you ever personally experienced them – when people would just come in and plunk down their money for a home with little or no presentation to back that up.

Today, we talk about tough and even sluggish market conditions in some areas, but the fact is that even in those markets sales are being made and people are buying homes.

It just might be that you need to develop a longer-term relationship with someone to really get to know them and what they are looking for and figure that you will need to meet with them more than once and that a series of telephone calls, letters, emails, and faxes might ensue before a purchasing decision ever happens.

Since I feel so strongly about this, I will have much more to say in coming posts, but for today, I’d like to get you started on something that you’ve likely never given much thought.

Everyone in sales should write, learn, and rehearse a 15-20 second commercial for themselves that they can give when presented the opportunity.

Why? Typically when we meet someone and introduce ourselves at a party or the grocery store, gas station, convenience store, coffee shop, diner, or any other non-job situation, we say something like “I sell homes for …” or “I work for …” or “I do new home sales for …” or “I’m in real estate …” or “I sell general real estate …” and we expect that this somehow will resonate with the person we’re meeting.

How many times have you gone to a Chamber of Commerce or HBA or SMC or BOR meeting or mixer and been given the opportunity to introduce yourself only to respond with your name and company name?

Anyone can do this. Why not add a little more information that will help you to become a little more memorable to the person or people you’re meeting?

Instead of just reciting name, rank, and serial number, why not take the opportunity to add a little more information? Try something like “I represent _____, the greatest affordable single-family home builder on the southwest side of town. We offer really great values and it's exciting just going to work everyday to be able to help so many nice people find the home that meets their needs while fitting within their budget.”

By the way, depending on how much feeling you put into it and how fast you normally speak, that introduction took about 15 seconds.

People will readily sense that you enjoy what you do when you try the second type of approach, and they may be inclined to learn more about your homes or your business simple because of your enthusiastic introduction.

Are Your Salespeople Independent Contractors or Employees?

This time of year when 1099 and W-2 reporting are being done, the question of who is or who should be an employee versus an independent contractor often arises. This is especially true for new home salespeople and Realtors. However, Congress and the IRS have made this sometimes murky picture quite clear.

Rather than applying the usual tests that the IRS has for determining whether someone is an employee or independent contractor, the law simply states that 2 types of professions (direct sales and real estate sales) are defined as "statutory nonemployees." This means that they are considered to be self-employed independent contractors for federal income tax purposes.

There are a couple of guidelines you need to be aware of and make sure you follow, but it appears that you can choose to have employees on your payroll or independent salespeople - without paying benefits - whom you can require by separate agreement to attend sales meetings, staff your sales office, and maintain customer contact without being concerned that you have not maintained their independent contractor status.

For more information, visit Independent Contractors vs. Employees.

Starting 2008 with a Way to Increase Your Traffic

As we have moved away from a dependence on newspaper advertising for marketing new homes – and even resale properties – in favor of the internet and other media, nothing replaces the good old personal touch.

I am a firm believer in the power of personal marketing and think it is the only dependable lead generator for any serious salesperson. Actually it’s the only one over which you have a reasonable amount of control.

That said, I am offering you a suggestion – make that a recommendation – that will increase your income. No estimate of how much – that’s up to you, but your income will go up if you accept and implement my suggestion.

Here’s what you need to do – and I know some of you will say that you are doing some of it now, but you need to do consistently, all the time. First, never go anywhere outdoors without a small stack of business cards with you – you’re safe at home or in the office.

When I say anyplace, that’s what I mean – taking out the trash, walking the dog, going to the mailbox, driving to the post office, stopping for coffee at McDonald’s or Starbucks, picking up the kids after school (or dropping them off in the morning), taking the kids to their lessons or ballgames, going grocery shopping, having lunch, buying gas – literally anyplace where there might be people that you can talk to.

Second, have a pen or Sharpie with you to make notes.

Whenever you see someone you already know but haven’t talked to recently (or ever) about your properties or discussed their potential need for a new home start up a conversation with them. The same goes for anyone you meet for the first time. Exchange business cards (that’s why you always carry them with you). There’s a good chance they won’t have a card with them, so you give them one of your cards and take a second one of your cards and write their contact information on the back. That’s why you should leave the back of your business cards blank.

Just think, if you met or spoke with just one person a week that currently was not in your database, you’d have 50 new leads by this time next year. And if you talked to more than one a week …

Let’s review: (1) carry a small stack of business cards with you whenever you are anywhere that other people might be present – and that the backs of your cards are blank and (2) carry a pen or Sharpie with you (not a pencil because notes written in lead can smear and points notoriously break).

Then have the courage and commitment to actually use your tools to collect the names of people that you can talk to about your properties or who can lead you to others who might be interested. Watch your income go up in proportion to the new leads you generate.

Many people talk about wanting to have more traffic. This is a way to take responsibility for actually doing just that.

3 - 2 - 1, Go

And we're off. Everything has to have a beginning, and so it is with this blog. Actually, I have been planning this for several months but have put off launching it in favor of writing articles and posting on other sites and forums. Now, with the new year, it seems the time is right to kick this off.


By the way, happy 2008, and may it be a great year for you. I hope that 2007 was a good year for you, but maybe it wasn't everything you had planned for. Nevertheless, welcome to this year, and let's make it a great, meaningful - and oh yes, profitable - year.


My plan is to pass along some of the tips and strategies that I use in my day-to-day coaching that I feel will have a broad appeal and other concepts and news that I feel will help you in your business.


I will have other contributors to the site that will publish from time-to-time, and you'll meet them as we go along.


I encourage your comments, and I will respond to as many as I can.