Luxury Real Estate

Jim Walberg of Caribbean Islands Realty.  The 2009 Women’s Council Of Realtors Top Producers panel was almost as standing room only event in the East Bay. It is their annual event when the state of the real estate market is discussed with some of the best minds in real estate. Jim Walberg was invited as one of the four panel members. The other three panelists were Georgia Butterfield - Legacy Real Estate, Jennifer Griessel - Prudential California Realty, and Chuck Edell - Realty Experts.

David Stark, from Bay East Board Of Realtors, was the moderator. WCR had presented the questions to the panel several days before the event in order for them to give some serious thought to their answers. Here are a few of the questions that were presented and Jim Walberg’s answers.

How do you motivate Buyers to take action given the current market conditions? And, how do address the Buyer mind-set that home prices may decline even more? A Buyer is going to take action for a home purchase because they need to Buy. There may be more price declines in 2009. And, whether one buys today or in six months the price reductions in the past two years have brought prices to mid-2004 levels. Again, if they need a home they will buy today. Homes are a real bargain today.

What are you doing differently this year to adjust to our current market which will increase production? The changes we have made in the last six months are regarding leading with revenue = return on investment of our marketing dollars. And, we have committed to be even more visible within our market areas since we have noticed so many Realtors have become invisible.

What is the single best piece of advice you can offer to another Realtor as they continue to grow their business? The business we are in is lead generation. There is no other activity or diversion that is acceptable if I do not have enough leads to serve, PERIOD!

Has there been a benefit to your real estate practice to be involved in Realtor and/or community networking groups? Absolutely! I facilitate a quarterly mastermind group that creates an invaluable accountability of our business plan versus our results. The Valley Marketing Association in Pleasanton, and Realtors Marketing Association in San Ramon are critical parts of our “positioning plan” in the minds eye of the real estate community. Plus, I am very active in my local Rotary Club.

Do you specialize in any specific facet of the real estate market? Our average sales price is $1.3 million. The challenge is that to identify this as the luxury market given our geographic markets is a bit confusing. We typically focus on executives and business owners in the East Bay, and equestrian properties. These have been our target markets for 25+ years and 100% of our real estate sales come from referrals and past clients within these markets. In addition, we continue to focus on listings no matter what the market conditions are. We have done two short sales in the past 12 months for past clients.

In the packed luncheon, Cathy Lee, from CL Designs, our staging partner, commented that it was one of the best WCR events in many months. The luncheon was another example of the commitment that WCR makes to non-stop learning within our industry. Until next time. Contact me for any of your real estate needs.