Lake Martin Voice Realty
Two National Real Estate Blogs Honor Lake Martin Voice
Lake Martin Voice and John Coley were honored recently by two of the nation’s top real estate blogs.
RETechVideo
RETechVideo.com is a site focused on giving you real estate news in a video format. Their topics include news, insider tips, success stories, and more, gleaned from the top agents, mortgage folks, and industry thought leaders from around the nation. RETechVideo is associated with RETechSouth, which is (hands down) my favorite real estate conference. Dean Ouellette is the driving force behind RETechVideo. Dean is well known nationally and respected in the real estate industry as an innovative agent and real estate tech trend spotter.
Needless to say, I was very surprised and honored when Dean asked to interview me about my niche marketing efforts here at Lake Martin. He was very complimentary, which I thought was pretty funny because (as I told him) I get a lot of my ideas from him and the agents he interviews. I don’t think I said anything really ground breaking, but it is very nice to reflect upon the fact that by using available, mostly free (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter) technologies, that we in small markets like Lake Martin can help people just as effectively as large cities like Phoenix or San Francisco. Here’s the embed of the interview:
Please go to Dean’s site to see more of his interviews, or follow him here on Twitter.
If you are a homeowner that is trying to sell your Lake Martin home FSBO, you will get a lot of great ideas from his site. I don’t even pretend to be an expert, merely a student. So thanks again to Dean for allowing a padawan like me to be broadcast to such a large audience.
MacSavvyAgent.com
Another surprise to me was that Chris Smith of MacSavvyAgent printed a blog post and video of mine as a guest post on MacSavvyAgent.com. MacSavvyAgent is rapidly becoming one of the hottest real estate blogs out there, mainly because it’s a new venture by Chris. Chris also produces TechSavvyAgent – which is such an industry force that he was recently recognized as a winner of Inman News’ Top 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders for 2010.
I forget exactly how I stumbled on MacSavvyAgent, I am sure I was following a link or tweet from TechSavvyAgent. I am really excited about the new site; Mac based realtors like me will have an outstanding resource and a place to discuss. Like RETechVideo, MacSavvyAgent has several regular contributors and all of them are industry heavy hitters. Out of sheer joy about the site launch, I emailed Chris to let him know I was an instant fan. I also mentioned this post I did a couple of months ago, highlighting a video testimonial for Lake Martin that I filmed with my iPhone.
I was so flattered to see that Chris used it on MacSavvyAgent, on this post: Capturing The Real Estate Moments: iPriceless. Once again, I found myself as the country cousin among real estate stars. I don’t think I deserve that stratum, but I am humbled to be included in a group of very inspiring agents and experts.
Much to Alex’s chagrin, that video is one of my most popular testimonials. I think a large reason for that is that it is about Lake Martin, not me, and not about something in particular that is for sale. So many realtor websites or marketing is all about them: how cool they are, how wonderful their team is, or how many awards they have bestowed upon themselves. People don’t care. They care about the lake. Whatever so called “success” I have enjoyed has been from realizing this fact – I try to get out of the way and help them get to the lake as best I can.
Back to MacSavvyAgent and Chris Smith – if you’re an agent, a Mac fan, or both – do yourself a favor and follow him on Twitter or read his blog.
I’d like to go ahead and nominate RETechVideo and MacSavvyAgent for the 2011 Inman Awards!
Does Your Realtor Play Nice With Others?
The waterfront Lake Martin real estate market is small by almost any measure: number of homes sold, number of school zones represented, number of builders involved.
Lake Martin is not small by two other factors – price per sale, and number of real estate agents per sale. When you look at waterfront sales only, the average price last year was in the range of $200k – $299k, and for Alabama that is high. Total Lake Martin waterfront homes sold in 2009 was 194. We have about 116 agents active, or almost 1.6 per home sold. I think this puts us in a “more than you can shake a stick at” category, despite that this is down from about 190 at the peak.
That means that the stakes are high for every sale. Granted, the commission dollars are higher than average, but the number each agent can expect to sell each year is also lower, therefore the competition for each sale is also higher.
It matters that you have an agent that plays nice with others.
Reputation matters.
Yes, it does, even in an industry like real estate which can sometimes be as cutthroat as our urban legend suggests.
So why choose a nice guy? Wouldn’t you want a shark?
Relationships matter.
Negotiations are fragile these days, especially for a second home or vacation market like Lake Martin waterfront properties. When I am dealing with another agent that I trust, that I know to be a truth teller and not a game player, I don’t have to second guess or filter their comments. I can concentrate 100% on my client instead of worrying what the agent may or may not be doing.
Do I really want my agent to be cozy with the competition?
You don’t need to be good with a knife to serve your clients well. Sure, I have been in plenty of contentious, balanced-on-a-hair negotiations with agents that I know and like. Was I too soft on them? Did I press it enough? No. Because we trust each other, we were able to get eyeball to eyeball much faster, without all of the needless agent posturing and preening. I was able to state my case passionately, but clearly to them, as they were to me. We were able to focus on what matters: the clients and the properties, instead of what doesn’t: agent egos and barb trading.
Are the Lake Martin Realtors all one big happy family?
Unfortunately, no. Even inside the same large company, in any industry, there are always the people that you just are not sure about. You know that when you deal with them, it had better be in writing, in triplicate, documented with voice mails, emails, and pony express. It’s the same thing on Lake Martin, or in any real estate market, I assume.
What inspired this post?
Another Lake Martin Realtor (who will remain nameless) saw a FSBO advertisement and thought it was one of my active listings. He was concerned that my client was intentionally trying to be fraudulent with me and my listing agreement. It turned out it wasn’t mine, but I really appreciated the fact that a member of “the competition” would be looking out for me like that, especially when he had more to lose than to gain by pointing it out to me. So – Mr. Agent (you know who you are) – when you read this, thanks again. You are one of the nice ones.
Spreading The News Far & Wide About Lake Martin
Has anyone ever asked you “Where is Lake Martin?”
You might think that because Lake Martin is such a special lake community that not many people may hear of us very often. Especially when you’re considering selling your lake property, you may wonder how far the reach is of Lake Martin Voice Realty..Alabama wide? East Coast wide?
Well it might surprise you to know that we offer marketing that stretches nationwide, and is growing all the time, thanks to our readers and community.
This map shows a recent marketing campaign that we did, and all of the interest we had based on the shaded states. Alabama of course is the darkest, it had the most interest, followed closely by Georgia and Florida. I was also happily surprised to see that Nevada garnered almost 10% of the interest in the campaign. Did someone have a great night at the tables?
The other light blue states were also included in the “Who Wants to Know More About Lake Martin” category, so I’d say that’s a pretty good reach!
I want to stress, this is from just one email campaign. I have hundreds of regular visitors on my blog every day. Over the course of three years of blogging about Lake Martin, I have been blessed to have about 300,000 page views from every state at one time or another.
Yes, I also realize the internet has no borders. That’s exactly the way Al Gore designed it. That’s the whole reason I go to all this effort to keep it going. But every now and then even I have these little “wow.. that’s humbling!” moments where I realize that people really are reading, really are getting good information here, and really are picking up the phone and calling us.
So to all you Lake Martin Voice readers – THANKS!
And by the way –
If you own waterfront property on Lake Martin and are considering selling
– are you tired of vague allusions from agents that they have “nationwide marketing” or something fuzzy like “coast to coast referral programs” that are somehow going to get your home sold? What does all of that mean?
Tell them to show you the numbers: how many calls have you received from your “program?” How’s that network going? What’s your plan, anyway?
Then call us. We will peel back the curtain (except there is no curtain) and show you our numbers. Our results. Our happy clients.
There’s no mystery, no secret plan. We work our butts off to provide good info, to be helpful, to be informative, and be responsive. People like to be treated like that, whether they are from Alabama or Nevada.
Why I Will Never Be As Cool As A Fishing Guide
Fishing guides are just cool.
Especially fly fishing guides. They just are. They know all the secret spots, the best trails to get you there the fastest. They know if you sit on that rock to eat your lunch, the ants will find you sooner. They know to fish a regular Adams on this riffle but a para Adams on that one.
No matter how transparent they are, you are sure they’re holding back on you, too. But that’s okay, because they are so cool you don’t mind.
<yes, I can hear my wife’s eyes rolling>
In short, they are the ultimate local experts.
Last fall I went fly fishing with Ian Rutter , who has to be one of the best guides on this side of the Mississippi. He and his wife Charity run R&R Fly Fishing out of Townsend, TN. In the course of planning the trip I obsessively read everything I could find on and offline, and watched every video I tracked down. Ian’s blog was the main source here. I couldn’t get enough.
When I finally got up there, my experience was richer for it, and I can’t wait to go back.
What does this have to do with Lake Martin real estate?
Nothing much, except that my trip up there has had a big influence with how I blog and present information now. I mean, if I want every morsel of info from the rock star guide for a 1 day fishing trip, how much more info and local color would someone want before buying a $400,000 waterfront lake home?
Obviously, I can’t turn my marketing engine (this blog and its related spots on twitter, youtube, facebook, etc.) into a Chamber of Commerce. I realize that I have to serve the meat and potatoes of real estate: Lake Martin home searches, market reports, and home valuations.
I also realize that we real estate agents will never be as cool as fishing guides.
If you see a good guide out somewhere, you corner him and bug him about what they’re biting and where. If you see a realtor in the grocery store – admit it – you duck behind the Co-cola display, don’t you?
How can I ever be cool with that professional prejudice? Oh well.
Video Is Killing The Glamour Shot Star: Buyers Want Home Info, Not Agent Ego
Even if you’re not already, imagine you want to look for a home on Lake Martin.
How do you start the process?
Do you think, “First, I must find the agent with the nicest pictures of him/herself, and I know that person will help me find my dream vacation home.” No?
Well, do you think, “I am looking for a real estate ‘Team.’ I’m not really focused on a home, but a “team.” Give me the biggest team, or the best looking team, or the team with the most impressive sounding self promotion. That’s what I want.”
Of course not. Most likely, you want to know how’s the market, what is for sale, and what factors that are specific to Lake Martin that you should consider.
What about sellers of waterfront property on Lake Martin?
Do they think “I want the agent that will do the absolute minimum to promote my home, but the maximum to promote herself?” No?
Or what about, “I want to provide a team the perfect opportunity to put flyers all over my home and have ads all over the place that emphasizes the benefits of ‘the team,‘ and not my home.” Of course not.
Today’s buyers and sellers of real estate on Lake Martin (and around the nation) are not interested in agents’ egos. They are interested in real estate and put up with agents just barely to the extent that they help them meet their goals.
How can you tell the difference? All agents will tell you how specialized their marketing is for each home. Really?
Study the agent’s current listings to see if there is any difference. How many pictures do they take? Are they taken of the same subjects, over and over? Do they highlight each home’s selling points, whatever those may be?
What about video? Is is truly video, or is it just a slide show, a repeat of their pictures, with no explanation, set to elevator music?
At Lake Martin Voice Realty, we practice what we preach. Just one example of the many ways we customize is our creation of a video tour for each listed home, with descriptions voiced over to highlight selling features.
No, you won’t have to stare at our Glamour Shot or hear how wonderful we are. We don’t even put our brand on the videos that go in the MLS, because we want other agents to send them to their clients without the fear of promoting us.
Again, we keep the focus on your property, and away from our egos.
This approach works, and it creates an experience that gets us on our clients’ Christmas card lists, instead of the list of people they avoid when they spot them at the supermarket.
Lake Martin buyers and sellers – let’s meet and talk about how we can serve you.
Realtors Need To Copy Thomas The Tank Engine Train
I get asked a lot about a.) how the real estate market is on Lake Martin, and b.) how I think the industry in general is going to cope with this downturn. The answer to a.) = slow. The answer to b.) – I think this market will weed out most of the half hearted, hald serious realtors. Hopefully it will also weed out the lazy and the rest of the baddies that give us such a bad rap. If I may be so bold, I submit that to survive this market, and to improve our reputation, we all should resolve to the below. Maybe by suggesting these, it will give ME some accountability to make sure I try to do these everyday:
Realtors Need To Copy Thomas The Tank Engine Train:
Be Helpful – Don’t treat everyone as either a “lead” or a “non-lead.” If someone
calls to ask you for directions, where to rent a boat, or something seemingly unrelated to Lake Martin real estate, be nice, don’t blow them off. Be an ambassador for the region.
Be Hardworking – we Realtors need to put in the hours it takes to help people find what they want.
Be Useful – Unlike 2005 when sellers were rare, in 2008 I think that you have to convince buyers that you can be useful to them. You have to show them how you can help them cut through all of the inventory and save them time and money.
Don’t Be Cheeky - This is one of my favorite phrases in Thomas movies. I just had to work this in somehow. As much as I enjoy to try and write cleverly for this blog, maybe I should watch my cheekiness.
Form Alliances – just as Thomas formed alliances with the other vehicles in the Isle of Sodor, Lake Martin Realtors need to have a strong network of mortgage brokers, builders, subcontractors, boat people, restaurants, anything that their buyers or sellers need.
