Seller's Market?

With dwindling inventories due to reluctant sellers, fewer foreclosures and increase demand, the Triangle housing market is heating up. 

To show this, I first want to explain a little bit about supply and demand in real estate.  During buyers' markets, homes may sit on the market for a while before selling, so sellers become more flexible and may even drop their prices.  During sellers' markets, homes sell quickly and sellers have a lot of pricing power. As a result, prices rise more rapidly than at other times.

In real estate, the relationship between supply and demand is calculated as "available inventory." At the current sales pace, how long would it take to sell the total number of houses available on the market? That is how the real estate industry measures inventory.

Inventory is measured in weeks and months. Longer inventory times are associated with buyers' markets. Shorter inventory periods are associated with sellers' markets.  Six months of supply is average.  If there is less than six months supply, this means that it is a seller’s market with many buyers competing against each other to buy a limited pool of properties. The greater the months of supply, the converse is true.  Months of supply is calculated by dividing the total number of homes for sale over the number of homes sold in one month.

The overall Triangle market is doing great.  The numbers for June 2012 of the four major cities in the Triangle are  all showing a seller's market at less than 6 months of supply as follows:

• Raleigh (27601, 27603-27617):  4.3 Months of Supply (Down 50% from June 2011)
• Durham (27701, 27703, 27704, 27705, 27707, 27712, 27713):  4.8 Months of Supply (Down 38% from June 2011)
• Cary (27519, 27513, 27518, 27511):  3.4 Months of Supply (Down 46% from June 2011)
• Chapel Hill (27510, 27514, 27516, 27517):  4.8 Months of Supply (Down 38% from June 2011)

There are other sub-markets within the four major cities that are seeing months of supply less than 4% such as:

• Southwest Durham (27707, 27713):  3.7 Months of Supply (Down 46% from June 2011)
• Lochmere (27518):  2.8 Months of Supply (Down 75% from June 2011)
• North Raleigh/Midtown (27609):  3.7 Months of Supply (Down 52% from June 2011)
• West Chapel Hill/Carrboro (27516, 27510):  3.9 Months of Supply (Down 41% from June 2011)

As you can see, things are looking up in the Triangle.  If inventories continue to stay low, and demand continues to get better, we are going to see home prices rise and the market to get hotter and hotter.  For more great stats and information on the Triangle real estate markets, check out Fonville Morisey's Market Minutes Reports.

Brandon L. Penny
bpenny@fmrealty.com
http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham
(919) 402-1201

Great News! The Triangle Real Estate Market is Still Getting Better!

Here's a look at a Triangle real estate market Infographic for June.  Things are still heading in a positive direction!



Triangle Real Estate Market June 2012 Infographic

Brandon L. Penny
bpenny@fmrealty.com
http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham
(919) 402-1201

Tech Bytes: Video! Video! Video!

According to Cisco's Visual Networking Index Report, by 2015, the world will be watching 3 trillion minutes of web video per month.  Web video is currently 40 percent of all Internet traffic and expect to be 62 percent by 2015.  As a real estate agent and marketer, what should this tell you?  It should tell you to make sure your real estate marketing approach keeps up with this trend by adding video to your marketing efforts.

There are many ways you can market your business using video.  Here are some examples the kinds of videos you can make:

• How your services differ from your competitors.
• Homes you'd like to highlight.
• More general real estate information buyers and sellers would find helpful.
• Client testimonials.

You want to create video with topics your target audience would look for online. 

Your videos do not need to look like a TV commercial.  You don't need an expensive video camera or expensive video editing software.  I prefer to use my iPhone 4.  A large portion of consumers don't trust conventional advertising, so using a "pretty" video could feel more like advertising than informational in nature. 

Some people like to just turn the camera on and go for it, but a majority like myself can not.  I like to create a script or outline of the topic I want to cover.  A script can help you overcome use of the "um" and "uh" fillers, or the rambling on that could confuse your audience. 

Every video needs a star.  Many real estate agents will make videos telling the world how awesome they are!  And how they are #1!  PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS!  Consumers are online for 2 reasons - gather information or solve a problem.  The product you are selling is a home, subdivision, builder, information or process.  Make a video about that, and not yourself.  If you want to brag about yourself, let your clients do it in a client testimonial video.

Make your videos as visible to as many consumers as possible.  Place them where consumers will look for them or stumble upon them.  Put them on Youtube, Google, Yahoo, Bing, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.  Embed your videos on your website and blog posts.  Make sure that your videos are optimized to be played on smart phones or other mobile devices. 

Please be sure to end your video with more than a small.  Use a call to action and get your target audience to do something.  Have them call a number, or send and email, or click a link.

And lastly, have a personality.  No one wants to watch a 2 minute video if you are boring.  Raise your voice and use hand gestures.  You are human, so don't act like a robot.  Even if the topic is boring, you don't have to be.  Use personal stories and experiences to keep your audience engaged.

Here is an example of a great video by Jessica Edwards out of Wilmington, NC



If you are a forward thinking real estate agent, you have a unique opportunity right now to grow your business with video.  Most of our competitors are not doing it right now.  Don't worry about what you look like, the consumer just wants your information.  So get out there and get to marketing!

Brandon L. Penny
bpenny@fmrealty.com
http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham
(919) 402-1201

Social Strategy for Real Estate Agents

So often, I am questioned by my agents, "how can I get started with social media?"  Well it is not as difficult or time consuming as one might think.  All you need is a simple strategy and to develop some good habits.  Today's post consist on an infographic with a very basic social media strategy.  Hopefully you will find this helpful!



FM Durham Infographic - Social Strategy

Brandon L. Penny
bpenny@fmrealty.com
http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham
(919) 402-1201

Qualify Your Clients!

Today I would like to discuss how qualifying your clients can give you great results.  You may be getting a lot of calls coming in off your signs, or Internet inquiries, or past client referrals.  Do you have a systems for how you handle these?  Well today, we are going to talk about how to do that.

First I want you to consider that all calls coming in are SUSPECTS.  They are suspects because you don't know if they are going to turn into a LEAD yet.  Just because they want to talk about real estate, doesn't make them a lead.  A lead is someone that is going to do business RIGHT NOW.  Now you will need to determine when "right now" is for you.  For some of you right now is going to be in a couple of weeks, and others it can mean in the next 30 to 60 days.  It just depends on how busy you are and how you want to manage your business.  We want those leads to turn into CONTRACTS!

So how are you going to qualify your suspects?  The 3 steps listed below should help you do that.

1. Do you have a questionnaire that you automatically go to?  One for a buyer call and one for a seller call?  If not, you need to stop what you are doing right now, and make them.  You questions should help you determine whether or not your suspect is an A, B, or C.
2. An "A" suspect is one that is going to do business right now.  A "B" is s suspect that is going to do business in the next 30-90 days.  A "C" is a client that is going to do business in the next 90 to 120 days.  Notice there is no "D" suspect.  Because a "D" suspect needs to be deleted.  You will need to determine how much time you spend trying to turn your C's into B's and your B's into A's.  Because the C's and B's do affect both your time spent and your cash flow.  You need to have 5 A's on you right now.  You need to have 5 A's in your pipeline at all times!
3. Qualifying is a game of accuracy.  You have to be doing it all the time.  A "B's" status could change to an A at any point.  Or could a buyer you are working with that is an A change their mind and become a B at any time?  You need to constantly measure where you are at with a particular prospect.

Hopefully these tips have help out, and stay tuned for more successful coaching!

Brandon L. Penny
bpenny@fmrealty.com
http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham
(919) 402-1201

May Brings More Great News to the Triangle



FM DURHAM INFOGRAPHIC

FM Durham Chalk Talk: David Jenkins

This week we are going to talk with David Jenkins. First and foremost, David is a wonderful husband and father to his wife and two daughters, and an all around great guy to know! But David is also a SUPERSTAR agent in our office. He is fully engaged in all aspects of our market and a wealth of knowledge to those around him.  From his thoughts on new technologies and tools to help your business, or motivating others around him, David is always there to help.  Please watch the video below and see what David has to say. 



Big thanks to David for sharing. And stay tuned for more great videos from SUPERSTAR real estate agents coming soon!

Brandon L. Penny
bpenny@fmrealty.com
http://www.facebook.com/fonvillemoriseydurham
(919) 402-1201