BILL CHERRY'S GREATEST DALLAS PARK CITIES REAL ESTATE BLOG: BILL CHERRY (BILL CHERRY, REALTORS - DALLAS)

THE PRIME EXAMPLE OF CURB APPEAL

This home sold the other day for more than 3/4 of a million dollars, and it did it in a neighborhood where there is currently more than a two year supply of listings.

The home was not my listing and I wasn't the selling agent.  Where it is or whose listing it is or who sold it isn't the reason I'm showing you this photo.

Throughout my many decades as a Realtor, and the marketing of several thousand homes, the one issue I've never been able to successfully impress on most homeowners is how important curb appeal is. 

If you removed the front flower bed with its spray of great colors, stuck silly little new Home Depot shrubs in beds near the porch, put 10 buck plastic chairs and a table or two on the porch, and painted the front door gray, you would have reduced the curb appeal by at least 80%.

Yet, if you add up the cost of the "curb appeal" in this photo, it's got to be less than $1,500.

So $1,500 caused a frame home to sell in a market full of competition, to do so in almost a split second, and to bring a very serious price.  This is genius.

I'm going to keep this photo in among my listing presentation things, and show it over and over.  Maybe I'll be able to increase my ability to get my clients to understand this concept.  You might want to, too.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

Dallas - Park Cities

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB

The MetroTex Association of Realtors services the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, and the last time I asked, there were about 14,000 members.

Recently the Association conducted an on-line survey of its members.  And while I don't know the size of the sample or the calculated margin of error, I suspect the results are reasonably accurate.

Here are some of the questions and answers:

Do you have a professional designation or certification recognized by the National Association of Realtors (NAR)?

49% said no

41% said yes

10% weren't sure if they did or didn't.

Is being a Realtor a full-time occupation for you?

79% said yes

15% said no

5%   weren't sure

How long have you been a Realtor in Texas or any other state?

31% said 10 years or more

18% said 3 to 4 years

14% said 1 to 2 years

12% said less than 1 year

7%  said 21 to 25 years

3%  said does not apply

================================

I'm in the "does not apply catagory." I've been a Realtor for more than 45 years.  I wonder how many of that 14,000 members have an equal or greater tenure?

With respect to professional designations, I have one, but it's my doctorate in business that I believe is more beneficial to me.

So does experience have any value in the brokerage of real estate?  If it does, how long does it take before an agent or broker can be termed an experienced professional?

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

214 503-8563

WEB

Of all of the common real estate investment vehicles, I've long been convinced that hotels and motels are the most risky.  First and foremost, they often require inordinate amounts of money to build, and oft times developers over populate the area with rooms.

When I was 24, I was an officer of a St. Louis bank.  For some reason, I was assigned to represent the bank in its negotiations with a longtime client who was planning to build an upscale franchise motel near the St. Louis airport.  The thing ended up with one cost over-run after another, and the occupancy never reached break even within the first two years of operation.  Consequently, the borrower was not able to replace the bank's loan with a permanent loan.  The bank foreclosed the motel.

So here's the shocking news about hotel/motel foreclosures in Dallas.

This report from the Dallas Morning News, appeared in the latest issue of RECON the newsletter of Texas A&M Real Estate Center:

DFW HOTELS DISTRESSED

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) - Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service recorded 43 hotel and motel foreclosure filings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the first quarter, more than the 41 filings for all of 2009 and 18 in 2008.

Properties ranged from luxury hotels, such as the Four Seasons Hotel & Resort in Las Colinas, with $183 million in debt, to small roadside motels with less than $1 million in debt.

Hotel income in DFW has been declining for the past few years. From late 2006 to late 2009, area hotel occupancies fell 8.3 percent to 45.5 percent, according to hotel analyst PKF Consulting.

Over the same period, average hotel room rates fell 6.9 percent. Currently, rates are down 12 percent from the 2007 peak.

The hotel industry has the highest proportion of troubled properties of any real estate type nationwide with an estimated $38 billion in locations considered distressed, according to Real Estate Research Corp.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

214 503-8563

WEB

The April issue of REALTOR, the National Association's member magazine, has some interesting statistics gathered from what Realtors reported when asked, "What percentage of your closed sales do you attribute to open houses?

Well, the responses don't surprise me, but I'm wondering if they surprise other Realtors?  Here's what the NAR's study revealed:

More than 50%                 3%

Between 25% and 50%      7%

Between 10% and 25%      8%

Less than 10%                82%

I'll admit that I've never been a fan of open houses, and for that reason most of my home listings sell before I'm forced to try an open house.  Consequently, over the years, I've not done more than, perhaps, 200 open houses.  And since I've been in the real estate business for 45 years, I've had several thousand listings.

Nevertheless, I fall into the "Less than 10%" category.  In fact, last month, I sold the very first home I have ever sold as a result of the open house.  Interestingly, I sold it to a fellow who had a real estate license, but was not active.  So while I actually handled both sides of the transaction, he took the agent's co-op fee.

What's been your experience?

And if you've done well with open houses, how about telling the rest of us how you've gone about beating those odds.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

214 503-8563

The challenges of discovering and solving the issues that caused a home to not sell have always intrigued me.  So my nature is to solicit the expired listings of other agents.

But I admit that I pick and choose.  I look at the past MLS postings, check the property tax records, and look to see how much the original mortgage was for and which lender holds it.  And then I see if my intuition tells me that I can successfully market it.

If all passes muster, I contact the home owner.  I explain that over the years I have developed what I call a proprietary marketing plan that adds a new dimension to matching potential buyers with my specific listings. 

And I explain that the only way I can promise them the greatest opportunity for my marketing to work is for them to intellectually and emotionally understand that they will have to allow my full plan.  That includes decisions as big as allowing it to be properly priced, and as small as, perhaps, putting big pots of flowers at the entrance and scattered throughout the gardens.

What I have found is that a high percentage of those I speak with find it impossible to not want to tell me how they want their home marketed.  Maybe, using this example, they think a buyer will pay more for their home than its worth.  It could be that they see no need to spend the money to plant and place those flower pots.

Perhaps that need for owner control is why the last listing agent and the thousands of agents who show homes that are on the Multiple Listing Service were unsuccessful.  Perhaps it was not the market's fault at all.

Last week I turned down the listings on several million dollars worth of property.  And I did because the owners, even after failing with the previous listing agent, were not willing to give up control.  In all cases, the owners then relisted with their prior agent.  And in each case they did it with no modification whatsoever in the package they had been offering for sale prior to meeting with me.

Continuing with a program that has proven to be a failure is an odd frailty of the human mind's reasoning ability. 

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

Dallas - Park Cities

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB

Probably like you, I get a serious number of unsolicited emails everyday,  There's one guy who wants to give me a referal fee for recommending him as a mover.  I don't recommend anyone that gives a referal fee.  I hear from him about three days a week because like most, he's apparently bought the Dallas Realtors' email addresses.

There are those who are promoting yard maintenance, maid services, photographers, and on and on, along with any number who want to sell me their secret method of getting more listings.

I got this email today.  This is the first one I believe I've ever gotten that I'm actually going to keep for future reference.  For me, it's the perfectly framed soliciation:

Because I can really ROLL!       

Hi, Walter Besst here, your Dallas area House Painter!       

Its true, I really can ROLL, as well as brush, texture, caulk, prime, stain, varnish, effect repairs, and anything else a good House Painter does, and I am quick, efficient, and neat!       

I also know that in this day and age we need things done more efficiently than ever before, which is why I am ready to come out and bid a job at a moments notice. I also have my references ready, and can deliver a good price immediately.       

After expediting the proposal, I can get right to work, and will have ROLLED through the job on schedule!       

Give me a call today at (469) 358-8405, or reply to this email, and I will get back to you FAST!  

                                                                                             Have a great day,                                                                                                   Walter Besst      

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB

UPDATE, June 2, 2010:   5,931 have read this blog since it was posted.

The April 2010 issue of "Texas Realtor" shows interesting results of a new survey of home sellers.

• 62% of home sellers only interviewed one agent before listing their home.
• 19% of home sellers talked to three agents before they selected one
• 22% were more interested in determining the list price that would make their home competitive than any other service a listing agent would provide.
• 1% thought professional designations were important when picking their agent.  The other 99% didn't see the value to be of consequence.
• 3% found/picked their agent by walking in or calling a real estate office and speaking to the agent who had floor duty at the time they called.

I don't know the size of the sample and I don't know how respondents were picked.  Nevertheless, I suspect the trends are valid, and several are shocking.

You have to wonder why our Realtor designations carry so little weight.  CPA means something special when you're trying to pick a tax accountant.  Board Certified Trial Attorney seems to indicate you might have a better chance if you're going to end up in court. 

So why would the majority of the public feel that the representation they would get from a real estate agent will probably not be improved by his education?

And why would far more than half of the potential home sellers only interview one agent before contracting with them to list their home?

I would suggest that the 3% who just walked in the door of the nearest agency and took pot luck choosing the agent who was on floor time duty had no less of a chance of getting the best representation available than the 62% who only interviewed one agent, or the 99% who didn't see how an agent's formal real estate education and the resulting certification was worth considering.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Since 1964

214 503-8563

WEB

"Medical City Dallas Hospital offers an unparalleled breadth and depth of medical care in North Texas.  If you have concerns for your health, that of a family member or even a friend, look here for the most relevant and thorough information possible right at your fingertips. Click on the links above in red for more information on a specific area of expertise.

"We hope that from the moment you walk through our doors, you notice the Medical City difference.  Our staff is passionate about their work and your care.  This has allowed Medical City to become a place where healing, compassion, humanity and simple kindness are celebrated daily."

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My friend, Lori's mother is 99-years old.  And while her body has deteriorated and her weight has dropped, making her nothing more than a spot of what she was on, say her 90th birthday, she still has 100% of her marbles.

She keeps up with current events, talks about things in both the present and past tenses, and muses about what the future might bring.  She regularly plays bridge and other complicated card games, playing against those nowhere near her age, and slam-dunking frequent wins.

Her only enemy is that her body is wearing out.

Her bone mass has deteriorated, and she's now in excruciating pain.  Almost immobile, even with the use of a walker or wheelchair.  But she keeps on trucking. 

She's only lived with her daughter for the past couple of months.  Before that, she was completely on her own at a retirement community.

Early this week, she awoke in such pain that Lori knew she had to get her to the hospital.  She called her mom's doctor, he told her he'd call the hospital with instructions and to take her there immediately.  One of the doctor's instructions would be to administer an MRI immediately.

They arrived.  Several hours past.  Lori's mother had not been checked in or seen.  She was in a semi-fetal position in a hard chair, trying to relieve as much of her discomfort as she could by leaning on the chair's arm.  No amount of pleading from Lori brought help from the staff, and the room was loaded with others who needed quick attention.

Lori's mother seriously asked Lori to take her home and let her die.

The phone rang.  Lori asked Patty if she could bring her mother a pillow to rest between her mom's arm and the chair's arm.  It seems the hospital didn't want to provide her one.  Patty left, and two hours later, called to tell me, "I totally lost it!  I pitched such a fit that they called security to remove me.  But they did get her a room." Patty said that in her opinion it fit the legal definition of elderly abuse.

Late into the evening, they hadn't done the MRI.  Why? Lori asked.  "The doctor didn't order one," the person said.  It was then that Lori looked down and saw the order for the MRI on the person's desk.  "Oh, I must have overlooked it," the hospital staff member said.

The two paragraphs that begin this blog are verbatim from the hospital's web site, and they are the beginning paragraphs.

No one in that admitting room with Lori's mother that day would agree with the hospital's written analysis of itself.  Certainly Lori's mother wouldn't, and my psychotherapist wife, who has dealt with and in the medical world for more than 35 years, wouldn't either.

Until hospital licenses require third-party patient advocates cruising the admitting rooms, talking with patients, observing conditions and monitoring patient handling, and until those advocates have the authority to over-rule hospital staff decisions, conditions like those experienced by Lori's mother will continue to taint the care provided by many of America's medical facilities.

That would be a good place for Mr. Obama and his plan to begin their work.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

Back when I was thirty and was still sure I knew everything anyone needed to know about how to build fame and fortune, my investment partners and I bought a remaining un-built-out section of a famous north Houston subdivision.

Our plan was to keep about one-fifth of the lots to build for-sale spec homes on, and divide the others up among four well-known builders who had proven track records.

We thought that associating with the Big Dogs would bring us like-credibility, and prospective home buyers would quickly discover our homes and love them more than those of the Big Dogs.

No matter what your age, as you read this, you can see the overwhelming cockiness and idiocy of this plan, but at least remain sympathetic for the moment, because at sometime in everyone's life they do something just as silly, although hopefully not of this size or of this financial magnitude.

We hired the most famous residential architect of the time -- the guy who was inventing floor plans and designs that were being copied throughout the nation.  His name was Barry Burkus, and he was from California.

So Barry sent us about eight different models with four or so elevations each.  But before we began building them, I decided I'd make a few changes that I felt sure would make the designs better.

Then I instructed our superintendent, a fellow we called Matt Dillon, to build one of each.  What a disaster!  Prospective buyers hated them.  So then Matt remodeled them to coincide with the original plans that Barry had sent us.

This was more than thirty years ago, now.  And since then, I've been involved with the building of hundreds of homes and have listed and sold thousands of others.  From experience, I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't work.

I can't tell how often I am called to list a home and the moment I walk in I see the mistakes and errors that are the work of amateurs -- and it can be the homeowners, the architect, the builder or any combination. And more often than not, those quirks will cause no amount of pain in trying to find the next buyer for the home.

The facts are, the tract home builders -- the successful architects and the long-time custom builders -- have paid the price for knowing what will work and what won't work. Misakes cause them unwanted financial pain.

Unless a homeowner is planning to stay in the new home for many years, designing his own is usually a dumb idea.  For my money, D.H. Horton home designs have about as much universal appeal as one can probably get.  Patty and I bought one in South Shore Harbour, on the coast of Texas, and we still talk about how much we wish we could live in that exact home in Dallas.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB

If you've been reading and posting on Active Rain for any length of time, there are those whose names have gained household recognition among the rest of us.  Let me give you a handful.  How about Jo-Ann Smith, Jim Crawford, Steve Shatsky, Joanie Mirantz, and Brian Block to name a few?

Now other than through their photos, the only one I've ever laid eyes on is Steve Shatsky. 

We had lunch during a Realtor seminar once, and he was just as knowledgeable and articulate as I had known he would be.

But the irony is that while I would like to have met each of my Active Rain friends in person, it's not really necessary because we've become close friends as a result of our postings and comments on Active Rain.

Brian Block up in Washington, D.C.-Burke, Virginia' Re/Max Allegiance office has answered this question in his office."Does anyone know a good Realtor in Dallas that I can refer my client to?"  Brian has said, "Bill Cherry."  So I've been the surrogate broker for his colleagues' clients.

Recently, Tom Vesolich asked Brian that exact question, and as a result I got Eula Miller, who wanted to sell her $400,000 Dallas-area home and move back to the Washington, D.C. area.  She been working as a contract negotiator for Raytheon...a highly responsible position.  Her services are much in demand.

The other day, we closed Mrs. Miller's home sale.  Tracy Horne and Pam Callahan in the Plano office of Republic Title of Texas handled the title work.  Bob Gray, Jr. with Network Funding provided the home loan for the buyers, Mr. and Mrs. John Zachary.

Tom's 20% referral fee check was issued by Republic along with my commission check, and his went into the mail to him that very day.  Meanwhile, I'm sending Mrs. Miller back to Tom with a fat equity check in her hand, ready for him to help her find her new Virginia home.

Active Rain is an excellent place to pick referral agents.  They're not just names, they're people you know and that you can trust.  Thanks to Brian and Tom for thinking of me one more time.

Meanwhile, just like Brian and Tom do, I send my referral clients only to Active Rain members.  It gives me the assurance that they will be well-represented.

If you're buying or selling a home anywhere in the U.S. and Canada and you would like help finding a fine Realtor, contact me.  I'll be glad to make a few recommendations.  It's a free service to you.  Other Active Rain members will do that for you as well.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB