Black Friday meant Selling Houses like Crazy in Philadelphia for The Somers Team
This post was inspired by Midori Miller's "Some Agents End their 2008 Business - are you one of them ?" where she referred to agents basically taking the rest of the year off for the holidays or agents complaining they have nothing going on yet are going out shopping and decorating !! I am like Midori where taking 1 or 2 days off each holiday is sufficient.
I was beginning to feel guilty about having such a productive day on Black Friday until reading Midori's post. All in all, I did not have time to take the day off as I was jammed putting 4 (or was it 5 ? ) properties under contract. Here are the highlights of my black friday:
1. Listing appointment in Fishtown in the morning - will be a short sale listing if that is what the owner decides to do. Did not have the owner sign the listing paperwork as it made more sense to let him figure out exactly what he wants to do.
2. Juniata house now under contract - I had my sellers send back a signed contract that I needed to deliver back to the buyers agent - will be a fast settlement in mid December. House number 1 for the day !
3. Fishtown - The buyers agent faxed over the initialed changes for an agreement where we had the seller come in on Wednesday. Had multiple offers for him ! House number 2 wrapped up for the day.
4. Port Richmond property - Someone on my team wrote a deal for a Port Richmond listing on Thanksgiving day !! Rock on ! Called the seller in Florida who verbally accepted the offer. House number 3 wrapped up for the day.
5. Northern Liberties condo - Since mortgage rates dropped this past week that allowed one of our buyers to step up his price range a little bit and wrote a deal this past week. Deal was wrapped up with the seller yesterday... just so happens it is our listing as well (in these tougher markets I think dual agency benefits both clients which will be the subject of a future blog post). Deal number 4 wrapped up for the day.
6. Somerton twin - A deal on this property is very close to being wrapped up, been going back and forth with a buyers agent for the last week or so on this short sale listing of ours. My goal is to get it wrapped up on Monday so this one does not count yet but is getting closer : )
Needless to say, was jammed (and a little stressed) yesterday ! However, when I got home I had a beautiful dinner with Stephanie and had time to post a blog about a new listing in Old City.
It cerainly is not easy !! I think the important item to note is that with each of these deals, there was a lot of hard work that led up to this point and a lot of hard work from this point on to increase their chances to making it to a settlement table. For example, this is the second buyer for the Juniata property. For the Fishtown property, we had the listing prior but the seller needed to take it down for awhile so our relationship was strong enough for him not to consider going "a different direction" . The Northern Liberties condo was under contract for a minute or two in the past until the buyer had cold feet, and the Somerton twin is now on the 3rd buyer (short sale properties are challenging !) . We, of course, do not give up and keep moving foward until settlement success is reached !
As a result, Black Friday was a work day. However, I think today we will relax a little and smile. Our hard work (which is insane at times) does pay off. Agents should have a marketing plan for 2009. Each of the listings above was from a combination of internet marketing, our Thesomersteam site, Just listed / Just sold cards, working with past clients and one expired listing that we took over. Life is beautiful. Thanks Midori for the reminder ! I do not feel guilty anymore !
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Philadelphia Real Estate - Chris and Stephanie Somers
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Good for you! We worked also although we did sneak in a little networking fun last night! KM
Congratulations! Hard work does pay off. As a mortgage loan officer going against the norm, my most productive months have always been November and December!
Good for you! YOu are lucky to be so busy! I did shop yesterday, but did work also. Need the balance!
I also signed a contract with one of my sellers last night for their property. In real estate you can't afford to take the rest of the year off? Unless of course you already are financially free and independant and just do real estate for fun?
We have had New Year's eves so full of closings that we had to be careful we didn't double book ourselves....we wish that for you as well ! Happiest of holidays and a prosperous 2009 !
Congratulations. We had showings on our properties yesterday, too. Some seconds. Not everyone was lined up at walmart for a good deal. Thank goodness. Keep up the good work. I, too, thought Midori's post was excellent!
Had 2 Deals myself - Paperwork from Thanksgiving Day
Hi Chris-ahhh what a great post and its great to here positive realities for some and I really feel media plays a huge role in what the American people do...and I know some reading might argue..one thing I emphasize and its really true...this is a BUSINESS..not a job...not a hobby and defintely not charity work...when you don't work...you don't eat...believe me..that is all the reminder I need..
People should never feel guilty for their successess...as a matter of fact..less negative and more positive in media...share it with the world...because buyers and sellers want to know...not who is number one...not who lists the properties...but they want to know thepeople who work hard...and work dilegently to get transactions closed..you got it...success stories...getting transactions closed...getting people where they want to be and we might see a change...I doubt very seriously media would ever broadcast..that you have a bilateral contract on a house but I bet if that sucker burnt down...yup they would be all over it!
We are the media..its our job to share it with the world.
We always need to ready to harvest at every opportunity and look like you are. Happy Holidays
I never take much time off myself. I always feel too guilty. Good tor hear you are so busy!
Kristin - Will look foward to the networking fun updates ! Glad you got some work in too : )
Valerie - that is great that most of your business is in November and December ! How does that usually happen for you ? Is it from marketing or you are more available than your competition ?
Kristin - Balance is key, that is what Im striving for more in 2009 !
Michael - So true ! Congrats to you for getting a deal wrapped up on Black Friday !
Christopher and Stephanie:
You are busy. It may be a sign. With rates starting down finally, maybe psychology will turn.
We need to see a heavy volume pick up here soon to confirm the bottoming process.
Black Friday shopping is too tough anyway.
Best,
Richard
The other realtors wouldn't have time to complain if they were as busy as you :-) You're production is your Christmas present! :-)
Sally and David - New Years eve closings can be a lot of fun !!! Happy holidays to you guys as well and of course cheers to a prosperous 2009 !
Suzanne - Is great to see showings pick up a little bit !! And the paradox is that it is over the Thanksgiving weekend when people think that nothing is going on ? I have been asked several times "arent things dead between Thanksgiving and XMAS ? " When I say "No" I do not think they believe me... well this post is a testament that things are alive and kicking ! Maybe a sign for things to come as well ?
Richard - Rock on ! That is awesome.
Christopher and Stephanie, you are both very fortunate to have so many transactions this time of year. You sound like you are hard workers no doubt that has paved the way for your success.
Midori - thanks ! I love what you say "that we are the media". It is true, we are the front lines, we are the ones that are out there, we are the true pulse of the market. It is a shame that consumers can and will get an altered and distorted view of the market - from the media, as the negatives are focused on and regional markets and local markets are not taken into the account. That combined with all of the other news can drive one to never leave the house and never make a decision.
I do think it is a great responsbility and one that Realtors should take on more is it is in our power to truly education the consumers, to work above and beyond for our clients and to really move foward and provide change and opportunity for our local markets... as we are the pulse... as we are the experts.
Thanks again for the inspiration and the positive energy ! ~ Chris
Mark - Taking advantage of opportunities is key. Happy holidays to you as well.
Bill - I hear you.. whenever we take a day off, we sometimes do not know what to do : ) . The best way for us to really take time off is to a do a mini-trip.
Richard - You may be right... maybe our business is an initial sign that things may be turning around a little bit !
Steve - We like the XMAS present ! We will keep working hard then as well ! A lot of time between now and XMAS.
Kathy - Thanks - we appreciate it ! Although sometimes having a lot of transactions going on can cause additional stress and anxiety for me, especially when a migraine kicks in. That is one of my goals for 2009 is learning to managing stress better.
Chris and Stephanie, I always think it's better to be too busy then too slow :) And am not a fan of shopping anyway so I didn't miss not being at the stores either on Black Friday. Glad to hear you're both doing so well!
Wow! You two are on fire! I just wrapped up all my escrows. I did take all four days off but since I moved recently, I had some major things at home I needed to take care of. I did, afterall, write my own offer on the Fourth of July on the way to a bbq! When there is work to do on a holiday, by all means, get it done!
Carole - At the end of the day, being busy in your career is always a blessing. It can seem like a curse sometimes when there is a lot of spinning wheels but it is always so much better than having nothing going on. Stephanie and I like shopping during the week or a laid back weekend to avoid the crowds (especially myself) ~ Chris
Cristal - Agreed, when there is something going on it needs to get done, especially "time is of the essence" items : )
Great! thanks for sharing your success, its encouraging.
I have been reading more success stories from other agents recently too ! Im thinking that perhaps the market has already turned... thus, the bottom has come and gone ? Or am I being too optimistic ? I think we will know more in the next quarter or two !