Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas Real Estate: August 2006

Feeling a little tired with the same old Just Listed/Just Sold/Market Stats marketing pieces? One creative way to break out of that rut is to write from a different perspective. Here's a farming letter that is successful for me, 'written' by my dog, Sundance.
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John helped me find a home and he can help you too!! 

Five years ago, John adopted me from the Henderson Animal Shelter. We became fast friends, and I quickly grew to love my new home. Since then, I've enjoyed lots of long walks in the park and through South Valley Ranch, meeting many wonderful people and pets of all ages.

John knows real estate isn't about the money - it's about people, and helping them find their ideal housing solutions. That's why he works with The Brenkus Team. They spend over $20,000 per month on marketing and servicing their listings, all focused on getting the most for their clients. And with a strong team alongside him, that means John can spend more quality time with me!

From now through the end of September, John will donate $100 for every listing to local animal rescue efforts to help other dogs just like me. So if you know of anyone who is thinking of buying or selling a home, please give him a call at 339-9700, or send an email to JohnNovak@kw.com. I know you'll be satisfied with the results!

Your neighbor,
Sundance
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Be creative and have fun with this! You could write from the perspective of your pet or your child ("Is it time for a bigger sandbox?" or "I love my new little brother, but I've got to have my own space!") . Or really stretch it out and create a personality for your boat, golf clubs, etc. As long as you're sincere and have fun, you'll have a marketing piece that will really stand out.

MSN Real Estate has an interesting article today ( http://snipurl.com/vo3o ) comparing preferred home features by generation.

Baby Boomers and Generation X prefer state-of-the-art kitchens, large walk-in closets, whirlpool baths and fireplaces. Generation Y (born 1978 or later) leans more towards fun; their top choices are whirpool, swimming pool, game/billiard room, and large walk-in closet (probably so they have extra space to store their toys!)

Here's what I take from this survey: Gen Y seems focused a little less on the home and more on the surrounding area. To capture that portion of the market, I'll need to add more content to my websites about 'the lifestyle' -- recreation, dining, entertainment, etc.

In early 2004, with only about 2500 resale homes on the market, many Las Vegas homebuilders didn't offer any co-op to agents. They had waiting lists of hundreds, and some hopeful buyers would actually 'camp out' near the sales trailer waiting for the next release.

Today with over 16,000 resale homes available and about 500 new-home communities actively selling, competition is brutally competitive. Here's a sampling of some of the incentives builders in Las Vegas have recently offered:

• $30,000 co-op and $10,000 towards closing costs with builder's lender (base price is $346,000)
• 14% co-op on standing inventory
• $40,000 towards upgrades and closing costs (base price is $327,000)
• 6% co-op on first sale, 7% on second, 8% on third

As long as builders keep their prices high and offer incentives, that helps to support prices in the resale market. If it gets to a point where builders reduce prices, that will have a corresponding downward effect on the resale market. In the meantime, we need to educate our sellers that they are competing against both homes in their neighborhood and new homes. 

I can already hear the gasps from other Rainers. 'What?? You have the audacity to come on ActiveRain and publicly disparage the very industry that brought us here?' So let me explain ...

I love the activities of residential real estate -- helping a seller put their best house forward, analyzing the comps, customizing the marketing plan, the look on a buyer's face when they finally walk into the right home, and of course building my brand through the web and blogging!

Real estate is my career, my profession, but not my life. It is the source of income that allows me to have choices in my life. Choices like visiting friends and family; volunteering with my church; listening to and playing jazz; playing tennis or working out; exploring vacation options; taking digital photos; and getting wrapped up in the latest reality show. And shortly you can add college football and rooting for the Packers to the list!

So often people answer the question "What do you do?" by talking about their jobs. But think for a moment about everything else in your life and that answer becomes "Well I do a lot of things ..."

REALTORS® are professionals. If you look at other professional occupations (doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc), very few of them are on call 24/7 or let their clients dictate their schedules. So why do we think that we have to respond instantaneously to cellphones, pagers, and email in order to be effective?

If we instill in our clients a distinction between 'immediate' and 'timely' communication, and explain to them how we work, I think they'll respect that process and respect us. And the resulting free time that you'll gain from it is ... your life!

For me, that means I'm off to the park to walk Sundance (my adopted Sheltie), enjoy the sunset, and chat with the neighbors.

For the first entry in my ActiveRain blog, I thought I'd start with a little personal background to give my online presence some dimension. While it's our skill and professionalism as REALTORS® that keeps our clients, often it's some other point of commonality that initially draws them to us. So here goes ...

I was born in Wisconsin Rapids, WI and grew up in Menomonee Falls (just outside Milwaukee). Sports and music were a big part of my youth. I can remember my family going to Bucks games when they had Lew Alcindor, Oscar Robertson, Bobby Dandridge and Jon McGlocklin; Brewers games with Hank Aaron, Robin Yount and Paul Molitor; and the Performing Arts Center to see Victor Borge, Van Cliburn and the Milwaukee Symphony.

After a year at North Texas State, I transferred to UNLV on a music scholarship (piano). What a change -- from the snows of Wisconsin to the triple-digit summers of the desert! I kept up with music, but also had a big interest in accounting and investing, so I earned my bachelor's degree in Finance.

I've worked as a stockbroker, the ticket operations manager for a triple-A baseball team (the Las Vegas Stars), a national planner for a convention company (GES), and part of a web design team prior to getting my real estate license in 2003.

More than potential income, what initally drew me to real estate was having a flexible schedule and knowing that whatever results I attained were directly attributable to my actions. Since then it's evolved into a commitment to use my skills and resources to help people achieve their housing goals. I'm a very big believer in "Do the right thing and the money will follow." Or said another way "Help enough people reach their goals and you will also reach yours."

Now that you know a little more about me, what about you? I'm looking forward to the contacts I'll make on- and off-line through ActiveRain. Life is meant to be lived in community, and this is certainly a great starting point.

John