Thinking about a Real Estate Career in Park City?  Build Your Business with KW Park City. Leveraging yourself and your time is an important part of growing any real estate business. Do you have leverage in your business? Here’s how you can find that out. First, figure out your hourly rate. If you assume that it’s possible to have a GCI of $150,000 in Park City, which is reasonable for our price point, and on average people work 49 weeks a year and 40 hours per week, it gives you a total number of 1,960 hours. Divide that from $150,000 and you get an hourly rate of $76.50 So, as you are doing things like managing your transactions from contract to close, making your own marketing flyers, and writing your own blog content, ask yourself if you could hire someone else to do this type of work for less than $76.50 an hour who would be competent enough to do the tasks. Of course, the answer is yes. “ More leverage equals more success. ” Why don’t more people hire out this type of work on their teams? They have plenty of excuses, whether they say it takes too much time or they don’t trust another person to do it. Just think about what you could do with either that extra money or extra time by hiring the work out. That’s how you get leverage in your business. At a certain point, you’ll have to look into hiring a personal assistant or creating a team and hiring a buyer agent. But for now, look at your hourly rate, and see if you would be able to hire some competent help so you can leverage your business and make more money and be more successful. If you have any questions for me, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you.

Thinking about a Real Estate Career in Park City?  Build Your Business with KW Park City. There are 2 fascinating takeaways from the first quarter statistics for sellers in today’s market.  First, the median sales price across our 3 major markets increased 13% year over year. That means sale prices have gone up 13% in Park City proper, the Snyderville Basin, and in Heber Valley.  Next, Rick Klein from Wells Fargo released new information about sales velocity and pricing around the median sale price. When you’re working with a seller, this can be very useful information. Basically, if you price at the median sale price, or at least very close to it, your home will sell in about 2 to 4 months as long as the home is in good condition. However, if you price over the median sale price, it can take you 22 to 24 months to sell! The seller who wants to overprice must not be very motivated, right? As you can see, it takes 4 to 5 times longer to sell when a property is overpriced.  If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

Thinking about a Real Estate Career in Park City?  Build Your Business with KW Park City. Today, we’ll discuss spring cleaning tips to share with your clients. The first one that is often overlooked is checking your roof shingles. Even if the home is newer, you still need to check. Do you remember this winter’s Windmageddon, when all the trees blew down? We had 65 to 80 mph winds, so roof shingles might have blown off. Recommend a roof expert to check out their shingles. While they’re up there, have them check the chimney for loose stones or other issues. They can also check to make sure that the gutters are clear of debris. Around the house, do a visual check of the landscaping. Make sure there’s no sloping of the landscape towards the home or branches that will cause water to pool around the foundation. Make sure they get the air conditioner serviced. It’s better to do it now before the hot weather kicks in because a lot of people will experience issues and it will be hard to get someone to come out and see your air conditioner. Address it now before it becomes an issue. Also, check for cracks in the concrete driveway. Have the cracks sealed. That will go a long way towards extending the life of the concrete. While you’re near the garage, check their power equipment. Make sure the lawn mower works. Don’t overlook the attic. Change out filters and check the heating and cooling units up there. Finally, look at the outside faucets. Those can get cracked during the winter, so get them checked before the hoses are connected. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thinking about a Real Estate Career in Park City?  Build Your Business with KW Park City. Today, we’re going to discuss coming from contribution. What does that mean? Think of a concierge in a fine hotel. You look to that person to make your experience as memorable as possible. If you bring that same level of service to any prospect you meet, an existing client will reward you time and time again with referrals. Think about what your clients will want to do when they are in town. It’s all about creating experiences and memories with their families. The more you can get ahead of that, the more you’ll be the center of any emotional decision. When it comes to buying a resort property, it’s a very emotional decision. Buyers can make the decision after a stellar day of backcountry skiing in knee-deep powder. If you were the one that recommended the guide service that got them skiing, or if you recommended a great in-home massage therapist or really talented babysitter, who will they think of first when they think of real estate? That’s right, they’re going to think of you. If you always look at it as coming from contribution, meaning you’re providing the information without any expected outcome, the referrals are just going to come pouring in.   How do you do this? First of all, since we are in a resort climate, our offerings differ as the calendar changes. Right now, you should be talking about what’s going on in the summer. Know when your clients and prospects are visiting. Give them some information prior to their trip so they’re ready. It can be very overwhelming to decide what to do in Park City, so provide some really unique options. You should have some demographic information on your clients, like the ages of their kids or grandkids. Find out if they prefer symphonies to rock concerts. Get to know them on that level and you will definitely establish loyalty. If you come from contribution it shows that you really want them to have a great experience, and great experiences lead to great emotions. I also suggest that as you refer them to these unique resources, be sure to let the vendors know that you referred this person to them with a personal note, email, or text. Then you solidify a relationship with those vendors. Coming from contribution can have a magnifying effect on your business. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Thinking about a Real Estate Career in Park City?  Build Your Business with KW Park City. March is here and April is on the horizon. We have longer days and great spring skiing conditions! Right now you probably have a lot of clients making decisions about buying so you’re very busy. However, in order to be ready for the spring selling season, you need to get your listing inventory online. To accomplish this, I highly recommend setting aside a few hours per day to lead generate listings. Protect that time, and use it every day so you can build up that listing inventory for your buyers. Here’s how to get a great list of leads. Get together a list of all the clients that you’ve sold to since you began your real estate career and organize it by how long ago they purchased. The first people you should contact are those who have owned a home for 3 years or longer. That becomes your lead list. Next, generate a comparative market analysis for each of those homes, so if you have the opportunity to talk about home values, the info is readily available. You also want to offer your consulting services to help sellers get ready for the market. Your goal is to set an appointment to preview the home so you can make recommendations to the sellers. The landscape probably needs some sprucing up, and there will likely be some staging and decluttering needed. You want to have those properties ready for your buyers, so when the spring market hits in earnest, you will hit the ground running. If you have any questions for me, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Thinking about a Real Estate Career in Park City? Build Your Business with KW Park City. Over the years we have created a list of preferred vendors in Park City. If you don’t have a list, I recommend that you create one. I find it tremendously valuable for my business as well as my clients. We have plumbers, electricians, handymen, interior designers, loan companies, and more on our list. You do have to be careful when referring people to lenders because you have a fiduciary duty with them, so don’t steer people to just one lender. I’d suggest recommending three different lenders. If you go out and build relationships with these vendors, you will get business because of it. When choosing who to work with, use a phone book and not Google. You’ll find more people that way, and not just those that are paying to be at the top of the list. Acknowledge the vendors when they do a good job, and they will acknowledge you in return. If you do this right, you will create referral relationships. If you have any further questions about this, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Thinking about a Real Estate Career in Park City?Build Your Business with KW Park City Today, I want to talk about the importance of getting out of your comfort zone from time to time. I don’t like shooting videos. It makes me very uncomfortable because it’s not my natural way to be -- I don’t like being behind the camera. But to my surprise, many people have told me that they really enjoy getting the videos I send out. They find the tips I share very helpful! As the CEO of the company, my goal is to bring value to other agents. Since people are responding so well to my videos, they must be working! Although I have to go out of my comfort zone to do it, I’m accomplishing my goal of helping other agents! In your business, what makes you uncomfortable? Is it the thought of prospecting? Do scripts and role playing make you nervous? Do you have trouble with technology? We all have areas we’re just not comfortable with. However, if you find a way to move beyond the things that make you uncomfortable, you will see results! Just because something is uncomfortable to you isn’t a reason to avoid it! If you want some tips on how to go about getting outside of your comfort zone, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would love to help!

Thinking about a Real Estate Career in Park City?Build Your Business with KW Park City Many of you have goals you are hoping to accomplish by the end of the year. Today, we are going to talk about staying focused on those goals. The new year is here, but it is still new. Today we are going to give you some of our best tips for staying on task and accomplishing your goals in the new year. The first thing we recommend is trying to block out 2-3 hours per day in your calendar to block off for prospecting. During this time, you should remove any outside distractions, including your cell phone or email. Let those around you know you are taking this time to focus solely on prospecting, and make sure you won’t get distracted during these designated hours. If you take the lead on this, other people will follow suit. Time blocking is a huge part of being a successful agent. In “The One Thing” by Gary Keller, he talks about staying focused on your goals. He says it is important to use those goals to focus. Whatever the goal is, it’s something you need to think about each and every time you sit down for those prospecting hours. It will make the time go by much faster and will help you stay more focused on the task at hand. If you have any other questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to discuss things with you!

Thinking about a Real Estate Career in Park City?Build Your Business with KW Park City Today, I'm here with Gregory Cutt, the Branch Manager of Guaranteed Rate. Greg is the top producing mortgage broker in town, and he's also in the top 1% in the country. Greg's here to discuss rising interest rates in 2016, as well as the volatility in China's economy. How do rising interest rates impact the real estate market?  Recently, the Federal Reserve raised their rates by 0.25%. When the Fed raised their rates, it affected the money that the Federal Reserve lends to banks. This rate increase doesn't necessarily affect mortgage rates. In fact, since the rate increase, mortgage interest rates have held steady at around 4% for a 30-year fixed mortgage, which is still historically low. What really drives mortgage interest rates increases are the condition of the U.S. economy and the condition of the world's economy. Although the U.S. economy is doing well, there have been issues in other parts of the world. How will problems with China's economy affect our real estate market? China has become a big issue, and this first week of the year has been rough for the U.S. stock market. When people aren't making money in the stock market, it's actually a good time for you to shift your money into real estate for bigger returns. Most projections for 2016 don't see our market jumping up or rebounding this year. A lot of people think we are due for a correction, which we may already be seeing in the stock market. In real estate, 2015 saw a 5% to 7% appreciation rate in home value, which is good news. Don't listen to all the doom and gloom in the media; sometimes trouble with the stock market presents good opportunities in real estate. If you have any questions for Greg, you can reach him at (435) 647-3000. As always, if you have any real estate questions, give me a call or send me an email. We would be happy to help you!

Thinking about a Real Estate Career in Park City?Build Your Business with KW Park City Since we're right in the middle of the Holiday Season, I thought it'd be a good time to speak about the gifts that you're giving your clients. Everyone likes to give away pies, but what other gifts can you give? I strongly suggest that your gift should be appropriate and proportionate to the level of the transaction. Depending on the expenditure of your client, your gift should be great or small, but your goal should be to drive referrals. You're giving this gift to get something out of it. I like to give my clients books, and it works even better if you have an idea of their interests. I have been giving my clients coffee table books from a photographer here in Park City, and that seems to work well. I always write a message in the jacket. I don't think this is too elaborate, and it's a conversation-starter. Gifts like wine and pie are great, but they disappear quickly. When they disappear, so do you! You want to be top of mind. This is why gifts like books, pictures, or decorations are preferable. Give from your heart, but inspire your clients to give something back to you. Please contact me with any questions you might have. Happy Holidays!