OK, so I have read Lois Geller's fabulous book called "Sold: Direct Marketing for Real Estate".  If you haven't, put it on your list. I recenty had to do a research project on homeowners with houses worth more than $2 million in the Lake Tahoe area.  These are busy people...how could I make sure my response rates would allow me to have statistically significant data.  The total base was only 547.

I took Lois's advice.  Instead of using Business Reply Mail, I put a return envelope in with a REAL STAMP.  I also put a real stamp on the outside of the envelope.  The hardest thing, but the thing that I think really delivered was that I wrote a very friendly letter, giving them my email address (so they knew I was a real person) and I personally signed all 547 letters - in blue ink, just like Lois suggests.  I had over 70 responses, or 13% versus a traditional response rate of about 1-2%.  The woman knows of which she speaks!

I am alwasy ready to learn something which helps my business, and since I do a lot of research, this has really helped.  Don't think that having some firm send cards for will always do the trick - it won't, unless they speak directly to something that interests the person receiving it.  In short, don't send recipe cards to people  who don't cook.

I would love to hear other success stories, and you can hear more from Lois on her blog - www.realestaterelish.com.

Anne

Ken Jansen wrote a terrific comment on my MLS posting  suggesting that one of the major issues with a national MLS is the language of housing for various parts of hte country.  A ranch is a single level type of home in some places, and a large tract of land in anohter. I agree that a standard set of definitions woul dbe helpful, but I also think that people are figuring this out now when they use Cyberhomes, Zillow, Trulia, RE/MAX.com and other national sites. I think the larger issue is with the various MLS rules and regulations, particularly where an agent or a broker needs to belong to several MLS's in order to cover their territory.  Why can't there be a standard set of rules regarding how quickly the listing needs to be in (or out), what information needs to be included, and leave some room for things that might be required by the state in which the MLS resides, but try to make at least the state-wide MLS consistent.  That would be agent, broker, and consumer friendly.

What does any one else think?

Anne

If you have been trying to to take advantage of the huge number of foreclosures, short sales and other so-claled opportunities in the new market of "lemons", and have found dealing with the banks (who many times have no idea who actually owns any part of the laon due to securitization), you might want to learn about a new organization that is mkaing lemonade out this lemon market: The vForeclosure Response Team - a Broker Affilaite program that has specialists in financie, legal, credit, sales and other requirements to deal effectively with foreclosed properties .  While they are in Florida now, they have agressive plans to move nationally to help with the more than 2.5 million foreclosures that are expected over the next year.  This organization can even help sellers avoid foreclsore by getting a short sale.  At minimum, they can really be helpful in getting both the professional and the seller through a very rough transaction.  I was intrigued.  Call Yaffa Mizrachi at 954.587.0950 extention 2 for more information.

yaffa@langstonmizrachi.com

Anne

Welcome to the lore blog.  Our readership told us they wanted more business-oriented content, particularly things that we research regularly about the real estate consumer, agent and broker.

There is probably nothing more on the minds of professionals (after the fact that the market is horrid) than what direction the distribution of real estate data will take.  Point 2Technolgoies, Cyberhomes, Zillow,, even NAR are all looking at who will win the data distribution and ownership game.  In his recent white paper called MLS 5.0, Saul Klein, former head of the San Diego regional association of Realtors and MLS head and now CEO of Point 2 Technologies, suggests that the answer is a single national database of all propoerty data, not just what is for sale or has recently sold -- but a true propoerty "wiki" - with every detail about the house or parcel over time.  This would, he suggests, provide a much more comprehensive sourceof infrmation and conversationbetween the REaltor and consumer, and help to put the Realtor in the Center of the Conversation, not just the transaction.  Our research (The consumer Tsunami, 2006) shows that consumers in the Gen X and Gen Y categories start the conversation out about 12-15 months before they actually buy a home, and then don't contact an agent until they already have a mortgage, have already picked neighborhoods, houses, etc., and just want someone to help them with the transaction.  MLS 5.0 would allow agents to be in the conversation when the consumer starts - not when they are ready to talk with an agent.

He also suggests that this would include the pre-requisites of Web 2.0 - open sharing - or the agent rating game. This would include information about time in the business, certifications, number of trasnsactions, etc. as well as feedback from consumers on performance.

Clearly the system we have now doesn't really work for anyone, particularly the brokers and agents who have to belong to several MLS systems with different requirements and multiplied costs for belonging.

So what do you think?

Read the full white paper at http://FutureOfMLS.com

Anne

In our next issue – May/June 2007, lore will be covering the “Personalities of the Great Franchises”. We thought this would be interesting to our reader’s because culture and fit are very important for both agents and brokers to decide with whom they should align themselves. As greater consolidation takes place in the industry to obtain the economies of scale, more people may choose a franchise as a way to obtain those economies of scale. However, in the same issue, we are covering the “Declaration of Independence”, the story of a die hard independent firm, Allen Tate in Charlottesville, NC and how they achieved that same advantage. Let us know if more multi-organization perspective would be valuable and interesting.

Recently I attended The Luxury Conclave, an event for luxury brokers and sales professionals held in Dana Point, California (why is it when you attend these things with a gorgeous setting, you never get outside?). Robert Frank, wealth columnist for the Wall Street Journal talked extensively about the new wealthy in the United States. Some of the things he used to describe them might astound you.

• The top 1% represent of wealthy Americans represent 6.6 million people and $16 trillion in personal wealth
• They describe themselves as self-made (over 90%), workaholics who want to feel normal
• They have excessively complicated lives with multiple houses, blended families, multiple exes
• Who feel stressed all the time, and who gather in groups to allow others in the same situation to try to help them work through their anxiety.
• For them $10 to $20 million is not enough

In his book, debuting in June of this year, called “Richitania”, Frank will be telling you how to most effectively serve these folks, period, but also as a real estate professional. Until the book is out, check out Robert Frank’s blog on the Wall Street Journal website at: blogs.wsj.com/wealth/

This is a first post in what’s intended to be a fun, educational, and, yes, perhaps a primal scream therapy session for sales professionals about their favorite clients. It’s only fair to describe myself as a client (I have done it way too many times) when I came to Colorado.

I was moving from Winston Salem, N.C. , leaving corporate America to try my entrepreneurial hand at consulting. I had only a few days to find a place for my son, then 10, and me. My brother, Steve Murray referred me to an agent, and we proceeded to review all houses that met my simple criteria: four bedrooms, on an open space, with fabulous views and under $230,000 (oh, and by the way, I needed a good lender who would ignore the fact that my new consulting venture was a mere days old). This is like finding a Tiffany’s hairclip in a haystack.

We spent about eight hours a day for three days looking at existing and new properties, none of which rang my bell. There was one maybe, but to make it viable for working out of my home, I would need to make major revisions, all of which I outlined to my agent as he patiently went from room to room writing detailed notes

Early the next morning (the fourth day), we were pulling into the driveway of the builder show home to sign the papers when I said to my agent, “I am not supposed to do this. There is house that may have come on the market yesterday, or the price was lowered, or something, but I know it’s there, and it has both open space and views. You HAVE to look one more time at the MLS.” This meant, of course, a return to his office, a delay of the builder meeting, etc.

I am sure he thought I was some type of airy fairy weirdo who really belonged in Boulder instead of Highlands Ranch, Colo., but he looked and there it was in the MLS: one home, reduced price, gorgeous views. The owners weren’t showing it that day. I ignored that and demanded we just show up. I begged them. My agent was horrified. They opened the door. I went in the front and out the back and told them I would take it (it is after all just like buying a TV isn’t it?).

And, sure enough I did. The mortified agent got his commission and is grateful today that I’ve remained in the house 14 years and never called him back to find another house.

Your comments or stories are welcome!