JL's Columbia SC Real Estate Blog: February 2008

 This past Saturday evening, was the 19th annual Regal Awards. If you are unfamiliar with the Regal Awards, they are given to those that excel in new home sales. You must sell at least 1 million dollars worth of new homes in order to qualify for a Regal award. If there is a co broker involved, you and the co broker split the sale 50/50. My lovely wife wife landed in the 4 million dollar Regal Circle and sold nearly 7.5 million dollars worth of new homes in her community of Brookhaven for Mungo Homes. But, enough bragging about her, I came here to brag about myself.

 The evening was a black tie affair and thousands were in attendance. Shortly after the caterers had begun serving diner, I excused myself from the table to walk up to the bar and get a drink. There was wine on every table, but since I do not drink wine, this did me no good. As I approached the bar, a gentleman standing behind the bar said they had stopped serving drinks. I was mortified, confused, lost, and felling somewhat hopeless.

 Then I remembered......Wait a minute, I'm a Realtor, I don't give up that easily. So, taking a deep breath and regaining my focus, I asked when they would be serving again. He said in ten to fifteen minutes. I told him that I would be right here waiting when he decided to give me a drink.

 Then I remember, my mother was hippie in her younger days, and participated in many protests and sit ins.  I knew that this was my chance to make my mother proud and deal a heavy blow to fascism in the world of bar-tending.

 So, in a quick decision on my part, I began talking to anyone that walked by to explain the situation. I was not going down without a fight!I told everyone I saw that the bar would not serve me a drink and I was intending to stage a stand in, right there at the bar. I also asked them if they would support me in my crusade. In a very short time, I managed to talk over twenty people into standing with me at the bar in order to be served. Most of the people I had never seen before, but the quickly united to serve our common cause. I even managed to get a few of them to chant " We won't take a trip on the SS censorship. "

 I was very proud of and impressed with my gathering of loyal supporters. The fought a long and difficult battle.(about three minutes) Finally the gentleman turned to another bartender and said the words we had fought and pleaded for so long to hear.  " Serve Them " Then he turned and walked away.

 The crowd of freedom fighter cheered with delight as the bartender asked what I wanted. I placed my order and told her to give the fantastic people behind me whatever they wanted. The I turned and announced with great pride and joy that  everyone's drinks should go on my tab, as a small token of my great appreciation. ( it was an open bar) There was once again a cheer from the crowd. Then I got my drink and returned to my seat to support my beautiful wife as she prepared to except her award.

 The point is this guys, sometimes you just have to stand up for what is right. It's not always a pretty scene and sometimes it can be a down right exhausting struggle to stand up for what you believe in. But if any of you out there feel that you are ready to make that move, know that I am here for you. Anything worth having is never easy to achieve, but it makes it all the more rewarding when you do.

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This message brought to you by http://www.jlboney.com/.

 Do you ever pharm other Realtors? For example, most new home agents in my area are only allowed to sell homes in their specific neighborhood or for their specific company. Therefore I have become friends with several new home agents who refer business to me.

 If someone comes to their neighborhood and they do not have anything that the customer is interested in, they contact me to see if I can help. Also, if a customer wants to buy a house from them, but has a house to sell, I get those referrals as well.

 This is not an exclusive process to be carried out with new home agents alone. I know general Realtors who work only within a certain niche. So, when they have someone contact them that is outside that niche, they refer the business to me. They get a referral fee, I get a client, the client gets a home or a house sold, and everyone is happy.

 The point is that there are all types of ways to get referrals. You have to be a little creative at times. Most of the Realtors in my area do not attempt this technique, but it has proved beneficial for me. So, rather than thinking of all other Realtors as your competition alone, sometimes it pays to think of them as one more place to prospect.

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This message brought to you by http://www.jlboney.com/, your Columbia, SC real estate resource.

The Carolina Classic Home and Garden Show is right around the corner. It will be held at the state fair grounds March 14th through the 16th. Enjoy exhibits, seminars, displays, door prizes, and much more. For more info please visit the HBA website.

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This message brought to you by jlboney.com, your Columbia, SC real estate resource.

 Do you see yourself as a salesman

Or as a Realtor?

 Is there really any difference between the two? I for one do not use any high pressure sales techniques in order to sell houses. Though we all have to be somewhat a salesman, I believe that houses really sell themselves.

 There has been much debate on this subject, and many Realtors have been successful by both high pressure and low pressure tactics. I guess for me, it feels unnatural for me to be high pressure. Usually, you are better off if you just be yourself in any situation. I'm not suggesting that you do not ask for the sell or that you should not ask for referrals. In fact, you should ask for both when dealing with clients and customers. But as for me, I just feel better and do better when I remain low key and laid back.

 I would love to hear you thoughts and feelings on the subject if you have any. Do you try to push your buyers, tell them that this is " the deal of a lifetime", " it's a great opportunity", or  do you simply open the door, answer their questions, and let nature take it's course.

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This message brought to you by Columbia, SC Real Estate.

 Recently Blythewood Middle School, located in Blythewood SC a community in Northeast Columbia SC, was named a national " School to Watch". The program recognizes high performing middle school. They are judged on developmental responsiveness, academic excellence, and social equity.

 Only 126 other middle schools nationwide earned this distinction. So, congratulations to Nancy Gregory, the principal of Blythewood Middle, the teachers, the parents, and the students who made this distinction possible for the Blythewood school system.

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This message brought to you by www.jlboney.com

 Do you have the ability to turn down listings for all the right reasons? What if it's a really great listing, and it costs you a few deals in the process? Can you still stand beside your convictions and do what you know is right?

 About a month ago, I made contact with a young lady who wanted to buy a home. She would be a first time home buyer and she was already approved for $150,000. I was happy to see that she was very serious and very motivated. So, I sat out showing her and her boyfriend properties that she was interested in and things were going great.

 As I was showing her properties, she made mention of the fact that her father ahd decided to sell his house and buy a new one. Being the attentive Realtor that I am, I asked if had spoken with a Realtor. I was again happy to hear that he had not, and that she would be more than happy to put him in touch with me. As we were looking at one of the properties, she realized that we were around the corner from her father's house and asked if I would be interested in stopping by to speak with him about selling his house and helping him find a new one. Of course, I said I would love to.

 This whole thing seemed to be going great. When we arrived at the neighborhood her father lived in, she directed me to his house. It was easily a $250,000 house as were the other homes in the neighborhood. Good for JL, a great listing and two buyers on top of it.

 Well, her father wasn't home, but she assured me that he would work with me because he was so ready to leave that house. So, I asked how long he had been there and she said for just over a year. It seemed strange to me that someone would have such a nice house in a nice neighborhood for that short of an amount of time and want to leave so badly, so I asked why he wants to leave.

 She said that when he first moved in, it was a great place to live, but after about four months, "blacks moved in on both sides of him and he didn't want to live there anymore". Unfortunately, she didn't even have do me the courtesy of saying blacks, but I really don't feel right writing what she did say in my blog, you get the picture. Trying not to show that I was a little shocked, I said excuse me. So, she repeated her previous statement.

 I'm sure she had a very difficult time containing her shock with my response, and I would like to tell you what the look on her face was like, but I never looked back. I simply smiled looked at her and said, trying to keep my composer, that I am sure somewhere in this town there is a Realtor that would love to work with you and your father, but you have not found him yet. So, have a nice day. Then I just turned around, walked over to my car and left. It cost me three deals, but sometimes the money just isn't worth it.

 I'm not naive enough to believe that people don't still feel that way, I just honestly don't encounter it that often. I know that this world will never be a perfect place, but ignorance is certainly not the answer to making it better. No matter what particular race, creed, color, or ethnicity of people you would like to avoid, the only way to do it is leave planet Earth. So, if don't plan to do that anytime soon, you may as well except the fact that we are all stuck here with you. Just except us for who were are, and hopefully most of us will do the same for you. But, like it or not, we're all in this together.

 February 12, IHOP is giving away free pancakes to benefit The Palmetto Health Children's Hospital Capital Campaign. Stop by the IHOP at 2567 North Rd from 7 am to 10 pm to receive a free short stack of IHOP's signature buttermilk pancakes. Guests will be asked to donate the money that they would have spent on the pancakes, or more, to the Palmetto Health Chidren's Hospital Capital Campaign. So, come on out, support a good cause, and have some pancakes. IHOP's national pancake day is designed to benefit the Children's Miracle Network. For more info visit ihoppancakeday.com.

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This message brought to you by jlboney.com.

 The Northeast Columbia, SC real estate market has remained strong. This is despite all the negative attention the housing market has received in the local and national media. Our sales are down somewhat however, they are not down by much.

 For the month of January 165 houses were sold in Northeast Columbia. This is down from 188 sold last year in the same time period. But compared to the problems in California and some other parts of the nation, I'd say we are hanging in there just fine. 2005 and 2006 were both record setting years for Columbia, SC real estate, so, the fact that were are only down by 23 houses in a time when the market is supposed to be so horrible is not so bad.

 So, if you are thinking about selling your house now is actually not a bad time to enter the market. With builders beginning to slow down their building of field models, preexisting homes may very well get a shot in the arm from buyers who are ready to move in and not willing wait for a house to be built.

  If you are interested in buying a home at this current time, now is a fantastic time to get out there and start looking. Though builders have slowed down their production, some of them are willing to bargain on their existing field models in order to reduce their standing inventory. So, since the peak real estate season has not yet started in Columbia, SC, those who are currently on the market for a home will get the first crack at these incentives. There is less competition at the moment for buyers who are already looking for a home. This however, does not mean that the builders and sellers of homes are giving them away. Our market is still strong, so if you want them to knock $20,000 off the price of a house, it's not likely to happen. But, there are other incentives currently out there for you to take advantage of for now.

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 This message brought to you by www.jlboney.com , your resource for Columbia, SC real estate. Feel free to visit my site and browse Columbia homes for sale and contact me if you have any questions or if I can assist you in any way.

    JL Boney, III

    (803) 730-9601

 With the value of the American dollar now on the decline, many shops in New York have begun to except Euros. This largely due to the fact that now Europeans have begun to flood New York to take advantage of shopping. With the Euro currently more valuable than the U.S. dollar, they can get a great exchange rate.

 Now, shops and stores in New York are making it even easier for all those European shoppers. Rather than having to go exchange their Euros, the store have begun to except them. I can't really blame the stores, their owners are simply trying to make a living. But, I do have to admit, that I hate to see the value of a dollar plummet the way that it has been. It used to be that American's went abroad in order to take advantage of the strength of our money in comparison to foreign currency. Now, the roles have completely reversed. I guess it's just one more sign of our backsliding economy.

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 This message brought to you by www.jlboney.com, your Columbia, SC real estate resource. Please feel free to contact me @ ( 803)730-9601 if I can help with any of your real estate needs.

 Many of my fellow Realtors have begun to show signs of frustration. When they entered the market, everything was booming. Now that houses are not flying off the shelf the way they were back in '05 they are starting to feel a little disheartened. I myself have had a run of bad luck here lately, but there are signs of hope on the horizon. The fact is, if you give up too soon, you will never know what you could have done.

 Whenever I feel like times are bad for me, I think about a very close friend of mine named Larry. He has now been in real estate for 43 years. 43 Years! So, when I need advice, I consider him a reliable source. With all those years of experience, he's also an extensive source. There are not too many situations that he has not seen.

  When Larry first started out , we were in the middle of a recession. Times were very hard and no one was selling houses or making money. He said that he did not know what he was thinking when he decided to get his real estate license. For him, things only got worse as he had to take out a second and third mortgage on his house and borrow money from where ever he could just to support his family. However, the market began to slowly and surely turn around. And when it did, Larry was there and waiting to take advantage of it.

  Now, I'd have to say that he is doing just fine and after all these years he is still standing. A lot can happen in real estate in 43 years, so, I'm sure this isn't the first downturn that he has witnessed. As for the market here in Columbia, the houses are not flying off the shelf, but they are selling. A few Realtors are flying out of the business, but I think it's simply because they are not willing to put the work in that they need to. As for me, the bills are paid and I have even thought about sweating over this whole thing yet. I'll just keep working away and waiting, because Larry says this is the best thing that anyone can do at the moment.