Duncan Duo Tampa Real Estate Video Blog

You are invited to our Annual Client Appreciation Party on March 11 at 1 p.m. at Amalie Arena. We are inviting all of the people that have blessed us with their business, bought or sold a home with us, or endorsed our business. You can get tickets to the event here and ask us any questions you might have about the event, such as how many people you can bring. We have this party every year but this year, it will be a party like no other. We will have at least one Lightning player there to sign autographs and meet and greet the fans. There will also be thousands of dollars available in prizes and free food. We pride ourselves on giving back to the community. Metropolitan Ministries is our preferred charity for this event. We ask you to please bring a few unused baby items and Metropolitan Ministries will be there to collect your donations. This year’s party will be like no other. We’ve always been involved with Metropolitan Ministries and we think they do a really great job. We appreciate all of your business and support, and we just want to pay it forward. This is a free event, but it’s for past clients, partners, customers, and friends only. The event is not open to the public at this point, so please get your free tickets here. In the meantime, if you have any questions, just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you, and we look forward to seeing you on March 11!

Recently, a listener of our real estate radio show asked us: “What is the best way to verify a real estate agent’s success or claims?” This is a great question. One of the best ways to determine success is to see how many happy clients they have. My team and I are happy to have nearly 1,000 five-star reviews between sites like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. Of course, video testimonials are another way of determining the success of an agent. That way, you can hear how our clients feel about us in their own words. These are just a couple of the ways you can verify my own team’s claims. But, this isn’t the only way to examine whether a real estate agent is as good as they claim. You really need to know how to interpret the legitimacy of online reviews. First, pay attention to whether an agent has a lot more reviews than they do past sales. This is probably a red flag. On our team, we have about 560 reviews on Zillow and around 800 sales in the past 12 months. This is a lot more realistic than an agent with 200 reviews but only 12 sales in the past 12 months. You should also keep an eye out for any reviews that don’t look legitimate. My team and I have documented proof of being the No. 1 RE/MAX agents in Florida. Sometimes, an agent might receive a terrible review from someone who seems completely over the top. These reviews are likely more of a reflection on that person than they are on the agent they’re about. Another way to verify the quality of an agent is to see how they respond to negative reviews that do seem legitimate. No one is perfect. In fact, if an agent doesn’t have any negative reviews, they might not do much business. Aside from simply looking at reviews, you should also see how well an agent’s profile is built. If an agent isn’t marketing themselves, how will they market your home? This is the professional who you are paying to show your home in its best light. If their Zillow profile lacks a photo or a bio, what will marketing for your home look like? Finally, a lot of agents talk about being No. 1. My team and I have documented proof of being the No. 1 RE/MAX agents in Florida. If an agent says they’re No. 1 in something, ask them to prove it. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Today, we’d like to bring you the answer to a question we recently received, which was: “When in the next few months is the best time for homeowners to put their homes on the market?” This is a great question. Truthfully, this year is a different story than other years in the past. This year, I would say the perfect time is right now. Don’t wait until the spring or after winter's over. It is somewhat of a northern notion that homes can only be put on the market during the summer. If you want the most money, now is the opportune time for selling homes. Here in Tampa Bay, this isn’t the case. Summer isn’t the only time to list. The reality is that Tampa Bay doesn’t have as much of seasonal fluctuation. This year specifically, there’s a lot of pent-up demand in the market following the lull in activity caused by the hurricane. Now, buyers are waiting for inventory. So if you want the most money, now is the opportune time for selling homes. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

We’re excited to announce that we’re starting a new video series here on our blog. We’re calling it “The Duo Talks” and here we’ll be answering all of your great questions. The first one is, “What impact have you seen on the Tampa real estate market from Irma?” One of the struggles in our market right now is the residual emotional hangover from the storm that has led to a few weeks of inactivity. From a damage standpoint, we were fortunate enough to not see too big of an impact other than the big piles of brush and lack of power for some for a while. We expect to see a bit of a rebound in the fourth quarter. Realistically, we did see a lull in the market for a few weeks. There were a lot of contract cancellations during this time. Frankly, people were so focused on the news that they weren’t paying attention to real estate. We expect to see a bit of a rebound here in the fourth quarter of 2017 because of the recent slowdown. Overall, it’s just a blip on the radar. A small short-term impact that will be relatively negligible. If you have any questions for us in the meantime, or you have any real estate needs that we can assist with, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

What is unique about the Sarasota real estate market? Michael Barbino, our team leader in Sarasota, is here to explain just that. First of all, there are a lot of vacation and second homeowners in that market. The market is driven by that age bracket and second home market, as there are a lot of snowbirds who winter in Sarasota. Seasonality also comes into play. If you are from another area, it might be unusual to hear people say, “I can’t wait for December!” It might seem odd, but that is when our market is on fire. Here in the Sun Coast in Sarasota and Manatee, a lot of buyers want to summer somewhere else and end up buying a property when they are here in the winter. That said, we are experiencing a bit of a flatter season. The market has shifted, so we are selling a lot more homes in the market as more primary residents come to our area. Ranch Builders and others are attracting more professionals into the Sarasota market, so there isn’t that imbalance between second homeowners and primary residents that there was five years ago. Sarasota has a unique environment for successful short-term rentals. If you’re selling in Sarasota, title insurance is handled differently; the buyer picks and pays the title insurance, while in Tampa, the seller picks and pays. Buyers from other areas may struggle with the difference. It’s not solely dictated in Sarasota either—probably 70% of transactions have the seller pick and pay while the rest of the buyer pick and pay. A lot of people don’t understand why the title policy is different, but Strategic Title can answer any questions you might have there. Another unique caveat in the Sarasota market is that many people buy homes to rent them out seasonally. We see some of that in Tampa but there is a lot of marketing for it in Sarasota. With things like spring training for baseball, Sarasota has some unique things happening that allow for successful short-term rentals. There isn’t quite the employment core in Sarasota that there is in Tampa. Sarasota is also turning a corner—there is a vibrant nightlife in the area and a lot of younger homeowners are moving in. If you are interested in buying a home in Sarasota, check out SearchMLSSarasota.com or give us a call with any other questions you may have about the area. Michael and I would be happy to help you!

Something people ask me all the time is whether I think they should consider a career in real estate. Whether I’m out with my family, playing basketball, or at the gas station, people approach me to ask what it’s like to be in real estate. The decision to begin a career in real estate depends on a few factors. If you’re thinking about sales, for example, it’s going to be very important that you’re someone with an outgoing personality. In this line of work, you must be comfortable with talking to people, you must be okay with a fluctuating income, and you need to be just a little bit competitive. Real estate agents don’t typically make a salary. How much money you’ll make depends on the number of homes you help people buy or sell. Thankfully, real estate professionals provide a service that is always in demand. People need a home; it’s not like our job is similar to a door-to-door salesperson peddling items you may or may not need. Nevertheless, it takes an outgoing personality to sell homes. It takes an outgoing personality to sell homes. If this doesn’t sound like you, don’t worry. There are a few different options for people who are interested in real estate but aren’t necessarily the extroverted type. This includes operations positions, transactions positions, and administrative positions. But before you can consider what exactly you’ll do in a real estate career, you should get licensed. When you have a real estate license, your number of available options will increase; therefore, you’ll be more likely to find a path that suits you. Personally, my team and I recommend Bob Hogue School or Burt Cook, but there are many schools out there that can help you get your license either in person or online. Also, remember to have six months of savings built up. Real estate doesn’t typically offer salary, so it’s a good idea to have a nest egg to fall back on during periods of fluctuating income. Talking to several different real estate agents and companies can also be a good place to start. Different companies will be better suited to different people, so seeing several different environments and getting several different opinions can all be helpful in making a decision. Also, though I might be biased, I would encourage you to check out my own team at JoinTheDuo.com. There, you can register for our career nights as well as get information about what we do and why we’re such a great fit for new agents. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

We at the Duncan Duo are proud to announce that out of over 110,000 RE/MAX real estate agents, we’ve been named No.1 in the country. This is a great honor that we couldn’t have done without our partners, providers, and you—the customers. But, today what I’d really like to talk about is what to do if you get an offer on your house before it’s even on the market. As crazy as this sounds, it can happen. If you’ve listed your home for sale with a broker and the broker has a database of buyers or they’ve done some sort of pre-marketing on your home, this can create pent-up demand. This is something we, personally, do for our clients. We pre-market using Zillow and also by reaching out to our database. The reason behind this is that when a home garners pent-up demand it will be in a stronger position once it does hit the market. In cases like these, the energy and demand for a home shows up immediately. So, what should you do if your home gets an offer before it’s on the market? Simply put, you should do what you think is best. Accepting an offer is always the seller’s choice. You can listen to advice from your broker, attorney, and even your friends. But the decision is ultimately up to you. This kind of situation may not be right for everyone, but there could potentially be a circumstance where a buyer is willing to pay a premium because they want to avoid your home being shown to anyone else. When a home garners pent-up demand it will be in a stronger position once it does hit the market. Someone giving you an offer before your home is on the market could also lead to a quick and painless cash sale, which would allow you to move on and not deal with the stress and inconvenience of listing your home. What to do in this situation largely depends on your financial situation. Weigh the offers when deciding what to do to come to the best decision. It’s no secret that top agents like us at the Duncan Duo know how to generate this kind of early attention and energy around a house. Your choice is what to do next. A lot of the time, it can actually be beneficial to put the home on the market because it generates competition around the terms and price. This is why making a decision about when to accept an offer should be based on your unique needs. Every circumstance is different. There are even programs out there, like the one we have at our company, that will buy your home instantly. We offer these kind of solutions because we want you to be covered and to be able to make the best real estate decision possible. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Recently I sat down with Michael Barbino, the leader of our Sarasota office, to talk about what’s going on in our local market right now. The Sarasota market is still a seller’s market, however, the inventory problem isn’t quite as low as it is in Tampa. Although Sarasota has less than six months of inventory, it does have more than double the inventory in Tampa. But, demand varies between price points. Michael told me about a listing he had under $200,000 that gained multiple offers within just a day. Even with slightly higher inventory, we’re still seeing bidding wars. Snowbirds have left, which has contributed to the raised inventory, but families right now are still looking for homes before their kids go back to school. However, despite some of the changes associated with the summer market, we are continuing to see prices rise. Manatee, for example, is at $299,000 compared to the $270,000 it was at 18 months ago. Sarasota is still definitely a seller’s market. Within that same time frame, Sarasota’s prices have gone from $200,000 to $260,000. In Sarasota especially, new construction has been driving a lot of home sales. In fact, Lakewood Ranch is the third busiest in the nation. Additionally, if you want to see these stats yourself, you can find them here. Overall, we’re seeing a very healthy market. One great thing in particular is that we’re seeing more and more financed transactions than we have in past years. With Fannie Mae having changed the DTI especially, the market is definitely solid. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What can you as a seller do if your home isn’t selling or getting any activity? We’re in a really hot market right now with a lot of showings, offers, and bidding war situations in multiple price points. What’s happened over the last few years is the number of showings that happen to a house before an offer had reduced dramatically. Why is this? The Internet. People would rather use their smartphones, tablets, and other similar technology to learn all the information they possibly can about a home rather than see it in person. So, sometimes when your home isn’t getting any showings, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This is when you must ask your agent, “What does the traffic look like online?” Nowadays, if your online photos and videos are done right, they basically act as showings. The actual showings are simply second showings where buyers validate information they’ve already learned online. When you ask your agent what the traffic looks like online, they should be able to tell you the number of page views on some of the major portals like Zillow and Realtor.com. Our company pays for the advanced version of those websites so we can give you more data and information. In many instances, we automate that data and information and sent it to you via email so you can track it from week to week. Remember, don’t just track showings—track activity. If you don’t know what that activity is, the top real estate agents—just like the ones at The Duncan Duo—know how to interpret that data and give you the right advice. Don’t just track showings—track activity. That advice can vary from situation to situation. You might need a price adjustment, more marketing, or an adjustment of your marketing strategy. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If you’re not getting activity, you need to change your strategy. You might even have to hire a different agent if your contract allows you to. Most of the time, though, price is the determining factor. I’m a firm believer that if you lower the price of your home, you’ll get more activity. You’ll generate more online activity, and it might be enough to nudge that buyer who’s been thinking about buying your house over the fence. Your other options include staging. If you’re selling a vacant home, you might have to stage it to help buyers see the home’s potential. You should also consider changing your photos. If they were taken during dreary weather, they might need to be edited and brightened. Or you can just take new photos on a sunny day. Last but not least, you need to make sure the agent you’re working with is utilizing every possible marketing avenue. You also need to trust that agent. It’s very likely they know more about real estate than you do. If they tell you something, trust their advice and know that experience is on their side. If you have any questions on how to get more activity for your listing, please feel free to reach out to us. We’d be happy to help you.

It was recently announced that we are the No. 1 RE/MAX agents in the country for the first time ever. Because of this honor, we are able to participate in mastermind groups with the country’s other top agents. In these meetings, which are exclusive to those of us who have proven our performance to be the best, we’ve discovered some incredible new ideas that you won’t find elsewhere. There are a number of issues people run into when it comes to finding a home. Luckily, whether you’re struggling to get a contract approved by a seller, you’re in the middle of a bidding war, or you’ve found yourself in a multiple offer situation, we’ve got a unique tip that will help. You may have heard us talk before about offer letters, which are written to help buyers appeal to a seller’s sense of emotion and, hopefully, win against the other offers. This technique only worked because it was out of the norm. Sellers weren’t expecting letters written personally by buyers; but, today, sellers and agents alike have become somewhat numb to the concept, as offer letters have become extremely common.  A video is simply more memorable than a letter. That being the case, we’ve got a new way for you to reach out and connect with sellers: an offer video. Just like an offer letter, the video should help you build a relationship with the seller. You can do this is by mentioning connections or commonalities you have with them. This could be anything from being a fan of the same sports team to having gone to the same college. Whatever it is, finding common ground will showcase your personality and make you stand out. Especially in today’s competitive market, where certain areas and price ranges can see up to 15 offers on a home, it is critical that you set yourself apart as a buyer. Another reason a video is so much more effective than the traditional letter offer is that, sometimes, sellers choose the buyer not because they have given the highest offer, but because they seemed like the best fit for the home. A video is simply more memorable than a letter. By sharing your personality, your family, and your story through a video offer, you are certain to leave a lasting impression. But, none of this will help if your agent doesn’t work with you to make sure that the viewing of your video is a contract contingency. This way, the seller is guaranteed to watch it. This last step is so important because while 99% of real estate agents are great, ethical people, there are a small number who might simply gloss over telling their client about your video if you don’t put it in the contract. If you’d like any more information or have any other questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to help you out and look forward to hearing from you soon.