Luxury Real Estate

Courtesy of John Butzko of Michael Saunders & Company

In the circles of real estate professionals, there are few issues that conjure more nuances and opinions than the effectiveness of hosting and holding open houses. Among the discussions, you will discover that some agents love hosting open houses and consider them a necessity to locate the right buyer for any property. Conversely, some rely on other means to ultimately produce a closing.

When done correctly, hosting an open house can be a significant step on getting your property sold. Before you decide on your preference when listing your home, we present the top 10 reasons why hosting an open house is a good idea

 1. In the House – When you host an open house, you are using the most effective means of getting the client through the door and making contact. From here, you can gather necessary information and get a feel for how the prospective buyers are responding to the market.

2. Get Serious – One of the biggest advantages of hosting an open house is that serious buyers overwhelmingly use open houses in their research. According to a recent study, 95 percent of people looking to buy a home visit an open house within three months of buying. That’s a pretty convincing percentage.

3. Decent Exposure – While exposing your home to the largest number of buyers is of great importance when selling your home, getting buyers inside to preview your property can be a huge hurdle to jump. Hosting an open house clears that obstacle and widens your pool of interested buyers.

4. Catch a Buzz – Opening your home to prospective buyers is a great way to generate a “buzz” amongst people in the real estate industry, both buyers and agents alike. Agents in the area can experience what your property has to offer and recommend it to their contacts looking for a comparable home.

5. See to Believe – Not all homes are camera friendly, and the photos featured on MLS and real estate websites may not be able to do them justice. Getting people in the door to experience the unique charms of your property can do wonders that no other method can achieve.

6. Feedback – Hosting an open house can be a valuable opportunity to get feedback about what is and isn’t attractive about your house. Ask each buyer what they thought of your home and would they consider buying it. Agents and sellers are hesitant to ask for a buyer’s opinion, so just grit your teeth and ask. It’s the only way you’re going to get a direct answer, and the answer just might astonish you.

7. Sense of Community – Not only does hosting an open house give your agent new prospects for your home, it also gives the listing agent a chance to really show the property and all the other reasons why the buyer should choose your home, including the nearby schools, parks and amenities. These can be the deciding factors for many prospects.

8. Prospective Gathering – An open house also benefits your agent because he or she doesn’t have to go anywhere to find new prospects; they come to him/her. Most open houses last between two and three hours, during which time up to thirty or forty people might show up. By gaining the information of these prospective buyers, your agent can do the work necessary to close the deal.

9. Fall in Love – Part of the reason for having an open house is you just want to find someone who falls in love with it. And by seeing the home in person and imagining themselves and their things inside, they can do just that.

10. michaelsaunders.com – When listed with Michael Saunders & Company, your open house gets weekly attention on michaelsaunders.com complete with in-depth information, mapping tools, extensive pictures and more to help open house hunters on their personal tour of your home.

Posted by Courtney Jackson Mon, 26 Jul 2010

We are honored to announce that the Fall 2010 Luxury Real Estate Lifetime Achievement Award recipient is Patricia Choi of Choi International in Honolulu , Hawaii .

This prestigious award is given twice annually to the Luxury Real Estate member who has set an example for the real estate industry, displayed excellence throughout their career and is truly a legend.

Patricia Choi was born in Birmingham, Alabama and moved to Hawaii in 1975 to be an estate, tax and real estate paralegal with the law firm of Torkildson, Katz, Conahan & Loden. There she met her husband, Cedric Choi, who was an associate attorney and licensed real estate agent. In 1981 she started her "boutique" real estate firm, specializing in luxury real estate and commercial properties. During the 32 years that she has been involved in real estate sales, Patricia has achieved over One Billion in sales and has distinguished herself as a leader in regional, national and international real estate organizations.

 Locally, she was the first recipient of the Aloha 'Aina Real Estate Award as the Realtor's Choice in 1998 for her service to the industry and clients, her professional and ethical conduct, her cooperative business approaches and extraordinary service to all in transactions. She was appointed by the Governor in 1999 to the Real Estate Commission of the State of Hawaii, to which she devoted part of her time as a public service until 2003. Patricia is also very active as a director and volunteer fund raiser for various charitable institutions such as the Kapiolani Hospital for Women & Children’s capital campaign committee and the Washington Place Foundation for the restoration of the Governor's mansion. Patricia has achieved the coveted designation of CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member), held by less than 10,000 of the 1,118,000 realtors in the nation and the international real estate designation of CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist). She has served on the National Association of Realtors International Operations Committee and received an award as the Outstanding International Reciprocal Director to Korea for 2000. Her outstanding performance as a luxury broker has led to her selection as a Board of Regents member for LuxuryRealEstate.com, an exclusive organization of over 800 of the world’s top brokers. In 2006, Patricia was nominated by her peers to be a member of the Board of Regents Executive Committee, which serves as a council and advocate for other Regents members and works to promote as well as expand the Regents program. Pat is also a member of the LuxuryRealEstate.com Billionaire’s Club, in recognition for her outstanding sales achievements. Additionally, Patricia is proud to be a founding member of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, a member of LuxuryPortfolio.com and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. With over $200,000,000 in sales in 2005, Patricia was ranked #3 of the Top 200 Brokers in the U.S. and recognized as one of the 35 Most Influential People in Luxury Real Estate. Hawaii Business Magazine's prestigious list of "Who's Who in Hawaii Real Estate" recognized Patricia for three successive years as the #1 Realtor in the State of Hawaii, and recently honored her as Oahu’s #1 Realtor for 2009. Patricia has also been honored as one of the "Top 100 Most Influential Women in Real Estate" for 2008 by renown real estate trends expert and best selling author Stefan Swanepoel. Patricia has been the leader in luxury residential sales in Honolulu by dollar volume for the years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and into 2010.

For more information on Choi Realty, please visit www.choi-realty.com. For more information on the 15th Annual Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference, visit http://www.luxuryrealestate.com/lounge/events.

By Frederick Peters, President of Warburg Realty

Selling your home (or residential real estate investment) is a big deal. In fact for many people it is the largest financial transaction they will ever do. And a good real estate agent is a professional, just like an attorney or a financial advisor. So why would you entrust it to you sister’s mother-in-law’s cousin, just because you know she is an agent and you have this tenuous connection? Would you choose the manager of your securities portfolio that way?

One of the prevailing myths about real estate brokerage is that anyone can do it. For many years, the popular perception in New York City was that all you needed was a mink coat and a bunch of keys. It is true that the bar for entry is NOT high - passing the New York State real estate agent exam is not difficult, nor is completing the continuing ed requirement. But we are a professional group, with professional standards and expectations. As a consumer, here’s what you should be looking for:

1) Integrity. Nothing else matters if your agent will not deal with you, a co-broker, and the person on the other side with the highest ethical standards.

2) REBNY membership. REBNY (The Real Estate Board of New York) educates its members, provides and enforces behavioral standards, and manages dispute resolution. Any agent with a claim to being a professional is a REBNY member

3) Recommendations. Speak to people who have actually worked with the agent you are considering and see what they thought. If you don’t know an agent but have heard about them (or in the case of the sister’s mother-in-law’s cousin mentioned above), ask for references and call them.

4) Knowledge and Sensitivity. If you are a seller, make sure the agent you are considering understands your neighborhood, your needs, your requirements. Do they listen to you (if not, they probably won’t be listening to prospective purchasers either)? Do they talk too much (ditto the above, and nothing turns a buyer off more than an agent yackety yacking away while they are trying to view a property)?

If you are a buyer, does your agent understand your criteria? Does he both show you what you have described and try to sensitively stretch those criteria to include other options? Does he clearly understand the details of the co-op, condo, or townhouse buying process and fully inform you about what you will need to do?

5) Intelligence. If you are a seller, are you confident your agent will articulately promote your home’s strong points while managing the negatives to minimize their impact? Does she understand your needs so that any negotiation is managed to make sure you can move at the right time, take what you want with you, and leave no money on the table?

Conversely, if you are a buyer, are you confident your agent knows the comps well enough to get you the best price for the property? Do they understand the nuances of the building? Do they have strong quantitative and organizational skills which will enable them to assemble your personal, professional, and financial information into a clear and cogent Board package?

6) Finally, you are going to be spending a lot of time with this person, both face to face and on the phone. You had better like them.

This list is by no means comprehensive, but it should put you well on your way to choosing a smart professional who will be a partner in making your real estate transaction proceed as smoothly as possible. And that’s what is best for all of us.

By Janice Ridge

In recent years, there have been a growing number of real-estate agents putting themselves in harm’s way by meeting a prospect at a house far away from main roads and neighboring houses. The recent death of Lindsay Buziak, 24, who was killed last weekend while showing a luxury home in Saanich on Vancouver Island, has again reminded us that even in an upscale neighborhood there can be dangerous persons lurking about.

It is important to exercise precautionary measures when selling homes, especially when a stranger wants to view a vacant house at an odd time of day. This is even more important when showing luxury properties. There are more rooms, more grounds and more places for strangers to hide out, especially if the house is far away from the main road or if neighbors are few and far between.

When I started selling homes 15 years ago, I was taught a very important rule: never meet a prospect for the first time at the property. Always ask them to come to the office to meet you first, where there are others around, during office hours. If the prospect is not willing to do this, tell them you are sorry, but this is your rule. It is better to be safe than sorry.


Editor’s Note:
As the the Director of Membership at LuxuryRealEstate.com, and herself a licensed REALTOR®, Janice Ridge is devoted to coordinating the efforts of all of the LuxuryRealEstate.com Membership and Account Managers, so that each of our members is given superior service. Like Janice, I am deeply touched by this sad story of a young real-estate agent being killed while waiting to meet a ‘‘buyer” at the property. I already knew that real-estate relationships are based on trust, but I always looked at it from the perspective of the client. The lesson here is that REALTORS® need to scrutinize prospects as well.