Home Office VS Office Space

For the past 5 years I have worked from home. I enjoy it a lot because I have my beloved dog Eddie and cat Luke with me. Not to mention a great big office space where I can have the freedom to play music, grab a drink or a bite to eat and most importantly I can wear my sweatpants and no one knows any better. I’ve done really well working from home and my productivity has jumped about 20% every year. I admit that it is awfully fun to sit in the pool on a really hot summer day and answer my calls.
As my team grows and I started to coach more agents, I felt it was better to get an “office” in the office. Not to mention I kept listening to my boss tell me that I simply “need” an office. I decided to share it with two other agents and we agreed that I would likely only come in Mon-Fri 3hrs each morning for prospecting (which I take seriously). The other two agents were rarely in before 1pm, if at all so it seemed like a good trial for me.
I’ve now had one month in the office and have already decided it isn’t for me. There are many factors to look at when getting an office, in an office. If you are sharing, make sure you all have the same “goals”. In my case, my two office mates aren’t “prospectors” and are quite messy. I on the other hand am very organized and am goal oriented. Almost opposites. They like the energy I bring in so they are often coming in to catch some of it, which means…..they are in a lot more now. The location of the office is important too. Mine is located in the “bull pen”, so it’s the busiest place in the office. Since I do a lot of training and coaching, that means the door is always being used (even though there is a prospecting sign on it). Then there are the expenses, at home you don’t pay per use on anything. However, when in the office you are paying for photocopies, phones, printers, parking, gas, software and not to mention pretty high rent.
In order to work from home and enjoy the freedom, you really need to be focused. More importantly, you need to create a very personal office space. Paint it a separate color, make it your own and have a different feeling than your home decor. You have to be very organized as well. Have a goal board and set up hours. I lead generate from 0800-1100 and then take a couple hours off. Whatever you do, don’t work more than 8 hrs a day at your home office or else you will simply get sick of your home and that’s not good. When you take the hours off, make sure you are outside of your home. Go get groceries, garden, swim, walk the dog. Manage your time. This really is self explanatory.
At the end of the day, I’ve missed my dog snoring at my feet, my cat hitting the printer paper as it comes out. Having a fresh pot of coffee ready, staying in my pj’s while replying to emails on a snowy winter morning, and not having to think about traffic heading into work. The self discipline I need to implement is worth it to get these wonderful things.
If I need to socialize, I’ll go into the office. Otherwise, don’t fix something that isn’t broken was the lesson I learned.
I know there are a lot of Home Office Lovers Out there right now reading this and sipping their coffees in their Sweatpants!
Congratulations for being able to do it!

Home Staging in our Listing Presentation

Ever wonder why someone painted a color? Where did they get so much stuff? How you are supposed to tell the home owners during a listing presentation that the wall that holds all the photo memories of their family is way too cluttered right after they have personally explained each sentimental value of the picas. Most agents competing for that listing will not say a word (speaking of a competitive listing market of course), so, really why would they chose a listing agent who asks them to do work on their home or who perhaps thinks it’s too cluttered ect….wouldn’t it be much easier to select the agent who simply says it looks great.
We struggled with the element of presenting a stager. I tried on my own, relied on my own experience….and that worked sometimes but at other times I lacked the “sensitivity chip” that was clearly needed. We tried leaving the stager information in our listing kits and of course almost 90% of listings wouldn’t call, especially if they were going to be paying for it.
So, we decided to include it in our package and present right at listing time as well as having the Seller indirectly pay for it and create a win/win situation for everyone.
Statistically it’s proven that a house that shows well will sell quicker and likely get better dollar value. If you have the right stager, this can all be shown easily through their own presentation.
I’ll share what we do. In our listing presentation we have 3 options. If a Seller lists at 5% they receive a 1hr verbal consultation with a home stager to show the benefits of having the home staged. It only costs us about $75.00. At 5.5% a Basic Package with full consultations and reports and room by room redesigning advice is given. Then followed up with a post consultation. At 6% they receive an enhanced package which includes a design package and assistance from stagers throughout the entire process and return visits. There are more details for each package of course but this is the basics of it.
With including even a consultation in my listing presentation it at least sets me apart. If you pick the right stager they will work well with your clients. A good home stager should have before and after pictures and testimonials of how homes were on the market without staging and once staged sold ECT...
Even the basic package with a stager sets things in motion. The wheels start turning and home owners “want” their home to look that good.
With vacant homes it is almost essential to bring in furniture to make it looked more “lived in”. Some agents in my office go out and get the furniture themselves and put it in. I think the best use of your time though is to get a stager to do it. A stager can do it all and usually has great contacts in the furniture rental area so I just leave it to her.
The statistics for staged homes are amazing and often my clients are really impressed with the results.
We’re in Canada and home staging is just starting to take off here. Be careful though because you want to make sure your listing is priced right. Or perhaps you want to set up a clause in your listing that refunds the money if they cancel the listing. If you go with our method and are doing listing option 2 or 3 you really need to be sure your clients are going to stay with you.
Overall, by putting our stager in our listing presentation we are seeing a great amount of success. Of course not every client will fall in love with home staging, but, it’s starting to set us apart and our homes.
I think everyone should have a great home stager involved in their listings!

Multiple Offers: Price vs. Strategy

Multiple Offers. A question I have always wondered is…………when representing the Buyer is it the strategy of the agent or highest price that gets the house for the buyer? I say strategy 80%. Perception though seems to be that it is the highest price. Here’s my story. There were 3 offers on the table. The home was a higher end listing. Although it appeared to be in great shape it was over 10 years old so there could have been concerns. We were working with Buyer A. Buyer B and C were different agents with different companies. Client A did not want to go full price and wanted to include a condition upon inspection. Because the theory of being the highest price is what is known to us; many thought we had no chance at the offer. Here’s how we got the home. First; my clients and myself showed up at the home and we presented in person. Buyers B and C did not show up and their agents dropped off the offers and left. This showed motivation on our end and sometimes when you are dealing with people who have an emotional attachment to the house it pleases them that you showed up with your clients. It also allows for immediate changes to be made which is very powerful in multiple offer situations. Second; we made the inspection condition less than 24hrs. We had already booked an inspection for 0800 the next morning. Our position was that it was best for everyone to have an inspection. If we didn’t have a professional inspector looking at the home for the Buyers……..what would happen if on moving day they came in and noticed something? It reduced liability and gave peace of mind. We explained that often in multiple offers inspections get eliminated and that really creates future challenges. Not only did we present a very good point; we created a scenario that is really important but totally avoidable. Since the condition was so short it really wouldn’t waste much time. When it came to pricing; we were only slightly lower than the other offers but we used comparables and explained that the bank will look at the comparables too and rather than pay over asking we wanted to be assured the bank on closing would not provide any obstacles. With the current mortgage situations this really made sense to the logical side of the Sellers. Being that we were there and present and could sign off immediately to any small changes and that the Sellers did think having an inspection would be better for them and give peace of mind; our offer was accepted. Both other offers were higher and free of conditions. Maybe price wins at times…..but…..every home owner also wants to know that when they leave their home……nothing is going to come back and bite them. In this case the Sellers were the original owners so we knew that showing up would have pleased them on the emotional side. It set us apart. All in all if we as Realtors do a little research and go outside the box a little….I believe that it isn’t always about price but rather a good strategy will often win and save your clients thousands.