The Real Estate Coach answers to a simple question

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SURVEY, INSPECTION AND APPRAISAL????

Webster defines them as follows:

Survey: to determine and delineate the form, extent, and position of (as a tract of land) by taking linear

and angular measurements and by applying the principles of geometry and trigonometry.

The survey is usually ordered for a buyer or seller by the lender or Title Company. The survey is always done by an engineer. The property owner can order a survey at any time.

Inspection: a checking or testing of an individual against established standards.

Inspections can be ordered for both parties. The seller orders an inspection, on the advice of the listing agent, when repairs are questionable. The buyer orders the inspection during the Option Period.

Appraisal: an act or instance of appraising; especially a valuation of property by the estimate of an authorized person.
In a real estate transaction the appraisal will be ordered by the LENDER. However, anyone can order an appraisal in order to establish a value of Real Estate. Real Estate Appraisers are licensed by the state where they work.


Thank you for letting me be of service.

Always yours

Joseph
The Real Estate Coach

Are you the sharpest knife in the drawer??

Are you the sharpest knife in the drawer? Is your picnic basket short a few sandwiches? Does your elevator not go all the way to the top?

Is this the way people talk about you? Are they having another conversation with you? The perception of the public about the Real Estate industry is shifting in the shifting market place. Thanks to Google, The Internet, Facebook, Twitter, BLOGS and so much more we are dealing with a very different customer/ client.

The client of today is more involved in the home search than ever before. They have access to more information and will look forward to your assistance in making the right choice. Today’s consumer will need you more that ever when it comes to buying, selling or investing in Real Estate. However, are you ready to take the baton, run the race and bring the team to the finish line?

Today more that ever buyers and sellers need licensed Real Estate Professionals. You need to discover how to make that happen in your world of Real Estate. How do I know everything for everybody? Well you cannot know everything about everything. You cannot be all thing to all people. Trust me I have spent many years of my life trying to be all things to all people. You will only set yourself up for major disappointments.

You can however be a professional. You can acknowledge that you do not know the answer to that great question and you will get right back to client with the right answer. Not the answer you think they want to hear. So you still want to know how you are going to be an area specialist in today’s real estate market.

The BASICS
Explain Agency
Start that conversation by understand the Information About Broker Services, TAR 2501. “ I AM REQUIRED BY LAW, AS A LICENSED REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL, IN THE STATE OF TEXAS TO GO OVER THIS FORM WITH YOU “. How you present this information is going to set the tone for this transaction. When you explain Agency properly it will naturally take you to next step in your paperwork. Remember the key thing is before any substantial conversations about Real Estate you always review the IABS with your potential client.

Know your NUMBERS and know your NEIGHBORHOODS

Learn how to use the tools provided to you by your local Real Estate Board or your company website. If you step outside your local board for numbers make sure you are confident about the numbers you use. Some sources in fine print will disclose the Percentage of their accuracy. Then there is the Taxing Authority. Buyers love it and sellers disagree with it. One thing we can agree on is that Buyers want to buy low and sellers want to sell high. So get out and learn your neighborhoods and know your numbers.

STOP LISTENING TO ALL THE NEGATIVE PRESS

Remember we are a part of the global economy. This was not possible in the 80s. When you listen to a sound bite on your local or national news station remember thing are not painted with one colour. You need to be aware of the Global, National, State, Regional, County and City economy. Once you are award of the city economy then you need to be aware of the different markets within the city and surrounding areas. All I am saying is if you live in Houston do not talk about how things are in Florida or Utah.

GOOGLE SEARCH

Need I say more? IF you do not rely on this tool daily do not bother to renew your license. Where do you think your future or existing clients are going to learn more about Real Estate than you?????

Until next time,

Remember Real Estate is a simple business. We have to go and make it difficult.

Thank you for letting me be of service.

Warm regards
Joseph
The Real Estate Coach

Reflections on Labor Day

Reflection on Labor Day
The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated in 1882 in New York City. The official holiday was the results of President Grover Cleveland's need to be reelected. Cleveland sent 12,000 U. S. Troops and U. S. Marshals to shut down the Pullman Strike in Illinois, which he declared a Federal Crime. Six days after the strike was broken both houses of Congress passed the bill to make this a National Holiday.
Let us take a look at the Holiday people gave their lives for. It has been reduced to celebrating the end of Summer, the beginning of the NFL and college football season and let us not forget all those pairs of white pumps retired for the Fall and Winter.
THE HONEST TRUTH is while it appears that things have changed they really are the same. Will you please take our government? I have a saying "I can put a curly tail on a horse but it does not make it a pig". Only in Hollywood on film or the stages of New York City does that happen. Sitting in the dark we can escape from our dull everyday existence. We get lost and imagine a utopian life style. Like the one George Pullman created for his workers in Pullman Illinois. He built a town. He hired workers. He built homes. He owned the bank. He owned the general store. I guess you say could say he owned the people that lived, worshiped and raised families. I wonder if he actually owned the church that delivered THE WORD and whose word was it?
What questions should we ask to interrogate reality on this Labor Day. Most people get into the Real Estate game looking for the perfect utopian life style. Work a few hours a day, drive a nice car and spend hours at happy hours networking with fellow business associates. We ask for and expect to get everything for nothing. We expect our brokers to hand us business. We will get that perfect phone call for a million dollar sale after only two days in the business. Oh and do not forget, wipe my bottom if I soil myself when something goes wrong.
It is probably a good thing that we do not live or work in a utopian culture when it comes to owning a Real Estate Business. You cannot. Just like we are expecting the government to come and bail us out of the mess we are in now. However, there are no shortcuts when it comes to hard work. Are you ready, willing and able to suit up and show up for the game? I will assert some people put more energy into getting ready for the super bowl party that they do for their career.
What are the basic tools you can use to jump start your career?
Have the mindset that this is a real business with real hours and responsibilities.
Show up daily ready to lead generate.
Reach out a touch at least 5-10 people, a day, that what to buy or sell Real Estate .
Have meaningful conversations and always question reality.
Have clear goal.
Know your scripts.

Know your neighborhoods.

Be coachable to being accountable.

Take time to stop and reflect on your labors from this moment forward. How do you want to shift your thinking? Who do you want to be when your season has ended. Will you leave a legacy of a life lived well.

Thank you for letting me be of service.

Always yours

Joseph
The Real Estate Coach

THE BIG WHY .... it is time to get real about real estate

It appears nobody at this time wishes to embrace the basics of selling Real Estate. We live in a world of technology and information overload. While it is great to have all this information at our fingertips it has also made us lazy. I am constantly surprised when I hear someone make a statement like "you mean to tell me this is like a real job with real hours"? or "Oh you mean I should go look at homes and not just try to use the Internet" my favorite is "will putting my photograph make a difference on my website"?


HELLO PEOPLE!!!. We are dealing with other Human Beings. They want to purchase a home or investment. They use the Internet to shop and gather information. However, they need real estate professionals to guide them through the buying and selling process. Matter of fact according to the National Association of Realtors 2009 survey over 90% of all real estate purchases started with a search on the Internet. Those numbers are actually up over the years. The good news is 87% still used a realtor to purchase a home.

I know you may not have a listing or a client.
Well guess what? The majority of people are using the Internet to search for professional Real Estate Agents, communities and properties to buy. What are they going to see when they stumble upon your website??????

Get busy and be prepared
Think about it.
Talk it over.
Give me your thoughts
Until next time
Joseph

FOURTH WARD also know as HISTORIC FREEDMAN'S TOWN one of the original historic six wards of Houston, Texas. The ward is located inside the 610 loop west of and adjacent of Downtown Houston. Fourth ward is also home to Historic Freedman’s Town. Freed slaves settled the new community along the southern edge of Buffalo Bayou. The settlers of Freedmen’s Town paved the streets with bricks they made themselves. As the community flourished they provided their own services and utilities. Over time, with little room to expand, the Third Ward became the center of Houston’s African-American community. By 1920 Freedman Town represented 1/3 of Houston’s population.

A JEWEL THAT SHINES IN THE GREATER THIRD WARD OF HOUSTON, TEXAS

http://www.tsu.edu/

TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY can traces its beginnings back to the fall of 1925 when Wiley College, located in Marshall, Texas, established extension classes in the Houston area. Today, Texas Southern University offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs in the following academic colleges and schools: the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences; the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; the College of Science and Technology; the College of Education; the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs; the School of Communication; the Thurgood Marshall School of Law; the Jesse H. Jones School of Business; the Thomas Freeman Honors College; the College of Continuing Education and the Graduate School.

GREATER THIRD WARD IS HOME TO THIRD LARGEST TEXAS COLLEGE

The UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON  was founded on March 7, 1027. University of Houston is the third largest university in Texas and 23rd largest university in the United States.

The university serves students in 12 academic colleges and in the interdisciplinary Honors College on a 667-acre campus in southeast-central Houston. UH offers over 300 degree programs: 112 bachelors, 135 masters, 54 doctoral, and three special professional degrees—law, optometry, and pharmacy. Awarding more than 7,100 degrees annually, the university's alumni base is the largest in the city of Houston. Also known for its diverse student population, it perennially ranks as the second most ethnically diverse national university in the country by U.S. News and World Report. http://www.uh.edu/

TODAYS REAL ESTATE MARKET IN HOUSTON THIRD WARD

HISTORIC THIRD WARD TODAY... is a mixture of original shotgun houses built in the early 1900's to new construction. Houston home buyers can find a one story for $120,000 or three and four story townhomes ranging from the mid $200,000 to just under $400,000.

Home sales since October of 2009 in the Third Ward reflect prices ranging from the average of $67 a sq. ft. to a high of $172.

When you search for homes in Third Ward be aware it is composed of smaller communities. Not all properties are listed under Third Ward. Washington Terrace, Forest Home, Almeda Place, McGregor Holman, Museum Court, Blodgett Court, Rosewood, Tierwester, Prairie Home, Booker T Washington and Riverside Terrace are just a few of the many neighborhood that make up the Third Ward.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE............

THEY REMAIN THE SAME.... of home buyers questioned they used the internet and Real Estate Agents equally, 36%. Print ads range anywhere from 2% to less than one %.

HISTORIC THIRD WARD TODAY

THE HISTORIC THIRD WARD TODAY is smaller than the original. Originally the third ward included what is today Midtown and Downtown. In the 1950s with the construction of I45 and Highway 59 it created manmade boundaries. The Ward is currently bordered North by I-45, West I-59, East boarder is 35 South to Braes Bayou, Braes Bayou East, North on Calhoun to the University of Houston, West on Wheeler, South on Scott to Wheeler, West on Wheeler. Another jewel of the Third Ward is Texas Southern University, one of the nation’s largest HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).

SECOND WARD "OH DO YOU SMELL COFFEE?"

Second Ward Is one of the original four wards of Houston. It is roughly bounded by Buffalo Bayou to the North. Lockwood Avenue to the East and railroad tracks to the South and West.

PLACES OF INTEREST:

Developed in 1913, the Eastwood subdivision is considered one of the first master-planned communities in Houston, along with Montrose and the Heights. It remains among the loveliest in our city, and young professionals and empty nesters are beginning to restore its vintage homes. Many well-known Houstonians including Howard Hughes lived in Eastwood as children.

The Maxwell House Coffee roasting plant located on Harrisburg.

The first Capitol of the Republic of Texas was located in second ward.

Last but not least the home of The Original Mama Ninfa’s Mexican Restaurant.

FIRST WARD TODAY

First Ward today is a small portion of the original. The area is north and east of White Oak bayou and Little White Oak Bayou. In 1866 part of First Ward was split off to create part of Fifth Ward.

First Ward is home to the downtown campus of The University of Houston and many of the original buildings of Houston. The real estate market offers a wide variety of opportunities. You can purchase an original 1905 shotgun, 900 Sq. Ft., asking price$95,000 to a new construction, up to 3400 Sq. Ft., asking price up to $439,000.

HOMES SOLD
since September 2009 ranged from $79,900-$408,550 with average of $126 per Sq. Ft.

THE FIRST WARD HOUSTON TEXAS

THE FIRST WARD HOUSTON TEXAS
The First Ward, which is located inside the 610 Loop, is one of the city's historic wards. It was originally the center of the business district for the city, and was strategically located at the intersection of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou, near an area know as Allen’s Landing. It was one of the original four wards in Houston when it was created in 1840. It was defined as all area within the city limits of Houston, North of Congress and West of Main Street.

Houston, Texas A major International City with a Rich History

In August 1936 brothers John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York City, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brother decided to name the city after Sam Houston the popular general at the Battle of San Jacinto who was elected President of Texas in September 1836. The city was incorporated in 1937. The brothers divided it into political geographic districts called wards. In 1839 the city was divided into four ward. The Fifth ward was added in 1866 and then six wards decades later.