The future real estate broker and the future real estate agent have already arrived, and they look a lot different than the broker or agent of the past 30 years.  It is absolutely amazing how rapid changes have hit the real estate business, but it’s not just because of the real estate recession and the economic recession.  The dramatic changes to the real estate business, which have huge implications for buyers and sellers, are really the result of a convergence of a number of major factors.

Buyers are no longer using newspaper classifieds to search for their next home.  The National Association of Realtors conducted a study which revealed that 85% of all buyers start their search for their next home on the Internet.  And guess what they are doing?  They are using Google to search for their next home, as well as free online MLS search sites.  This means that buyers are searching for their next home and filtering their list down to a practical number of homes, which they schedule to see with their Realtor long before they even arrive in town.  These buyers are not subscribing to the local newspapers, and they are not in an area where local home magazines are on the news stands.  Real estate brokers and agents know that their newspaper ads are not working, because they are not getting calls and selling those listings.  It’s not like it was years ago when the newspapers were the only way to advertise homes.

Because technology and the Internet have given buyers so much freedom and so much control over how and when they search for their next home, traditional advertising is no longer nearly as effective as it was.  This is one of the major reasons newspapers are going out of business all over the country.  Classifieds are no longer effective.  Craigslist has put a major dent in newspaper revenue, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  With the growth of the Internet and free consumer resources on the Internet, buyers are loving the privacy and freedom they now have to shop for their next home.  The convergence of the death of traditional media and the growth of the Internet have created a perfect storm in which traditional brokers and agents are sinking and consumers, especially buyers, are finding new freedom and power.

The brick-and-mortar real estate office can no longer put agents in cubicles and have them wait for the phone to ring or for walk-ins.  The phone no longer rings like it once did, and walk-ins are very rare.  Agents of traditional offices are leaving the business in droves.  I’ve been buying their lockboxes for half price.  That business model is not the future of real estate.

Buyers know this.  They have for a while.  Sellers have been a little slow to pick up on these dramatic changes, and traditional agents are not doing a great job educating their clients.  The way a home is advertised and promoted today to reach qualified buyers is so different than yesterday.  Granted, we will have the traditional office around for a while, and agents will continue to advertise in newspapers and magazines, but not because it sells homes like it once did.  Agents all over the county and the country tell me the only reason they put their listings in the Sunday newspapers is because their clients expect them to.  That’s just plain dumb.  Why not educate clients and stop wasting money and time on advertising that is not effective?

The real estate broker of the future and the agent of the future is going to be so different.  They will use the Internet and the most powerful technologies to reach buyers and sell homes.  The future agent will be engulfed in cloud computing and digital document management in a paperless office.  He will use the best ways to connect sellers with buyers, and the best CRM (customer relationship management).  This future will also network some of the best real estate agents around the country in entirely new ways to create a brain trust and training and mentoring that brick-and-mortars only wish they could have.  The old ways are fading rapidly, and the real estate business of the future is here.  I’m loving it, and I’m thoroughly enjoying connecting with buyers from all over the country using these technologies.

Are you taking advantage of these technologies to market your home?  Is your agent connected with the most powerful Internet technologies and business model today?  Ask me about what I do and how I do it?  You might be surprised.  You can start by digging around on this blog.  You’ll fund almost 700 articles written by me about Sequim and Port Angeles real estate issues–almost any real estate issue you can think of is here.  You’ll find the most powerful and easy-to-navigate MLS search tools here.  All these tools are free and require no registration.  You’ll find educational videos produced by a 20-year real estate attorney and broker.  You’ll find audio recordings on a variety of real estate issues I call Traps for the Unwary.  You’ll find a free FSBO eBook download, and you can download the Introduction to my upcoming book, Buying and Selling Real Estate in the Rain Shadow.  In other words, you will find this is a content-rich site, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.  There is much more behind the scenes to serve my clients in new and powerful ways.  You might guess that my real estate office is a virtual office–the real estate brokerage of the future.  Only this office is here today!

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Who is this Sequim Realtor?  He was a Captain in the USAF during the first Kuwait war and stationed at Nellis AFB near Las Vegas.  He loved running 15 miles across the desert at 100 degrees, and became a lover of nature photography.  He left the Air Force to work in Prison Ministry, and then moved to Sequim where he finished his career as a lawyer.  He raised three boys and a girl, and two of his boys became professional athletes.  Today he is a Realtor and author, and claims to be an Internet geek.  Who is this skinny geeky looking guy?

He is Chuck Marunde.  “I look a lot different now, mostly because I don’t have all that hair.  Frankly, I’m glad, because I save a lot of money on shampoo.  Those glasses I wore  sure were huge, too.”

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Sounds like the title to a tantalizing new mystery book, doesn’t it?   A book like that might  be chock full of suspense with the characters  experiencing emotions ranging from  confusion to  frustration and a maybe even a dash of irritation.

Too bad that what I’m talking about here isn’t fiction.   For far too many home sellers, this mystery is all too real and common.   Every day in our market sellers are wondering “What happened to my REALTOR?”

Nancy and I handle a lot of sellers who have had their listings expire from the MLS for one reason or another.   Sometimes it’s price, and other times it’s lack of attention from the listing agent.   Here’s a prime example:

Last summer we visited with a seller that had his home on the market for one year with another agency.   His listing had expired and he was interviewing new agents.    A really good move on his part – sellers should talk to as many potential agents as possible to find a good fit for both them and the agent.   A few days after we talked, he called to tell us that he had chosen another agent but that it was a close call.

His house has now been on the market for over 560 days.   When I pulled up the listing history in the MLS, I noticed that the listing had only been touched once over the past year – and that was to extend the listing agreement. In our MLS, agents input prospects to receive listings as they come on the market – the catch is that if your listing is there BEFORE the prospect is entered by the  another agent, the prospect doesn’t receive your listing.   So for approximately 10 months, his listing has sat there unattended and has not been populated into the listing cart of ANY prospect after he was listed.

It’s actually sad, isn’t it?

The number one complaint I hear from sellers who have had their listing expire is “My REALTOR ® stuck a sign in the yard and disappeared.   I would have lowered my price if they had taken the time to do a market update every few months.   I never heard any feedback from showings, and in the 100 degree summer my house was being marketed with a picture of it with snow on the ground.   What gives?“

I believe that there are some agents out there that think the work stops when you get the listing agreement signed.   That’s just not the case.

The gentleman in my example above took all the right steps, he interviewed multiple agents and he didn’t pick his agent based solely on price.   So how can Edwardsville and Glen Carbon home sellers avoid becoming the main character in a bad mystery novel?   Arm yourself with these 10 questions for any agent you interview.

1.   How often will you communicate with me?   How will you communciate with me?   (If you prefer a call and your agent prefers e-mail, hash that out now.   Communication is the foundation for a great team, and you and your agent are a team).

2.   How long do you normally take to return a phone call?

3.   How long do you normally take to respond to an e-mail?

4.   Will you provide me with market updates that compare my house to ones that have closed as well as my active competition?

5.   When the seasons change, will you update your marketing materials?

6.   Will you set me up in the MLS to receive automatic e-mails when something new comes on the market that my home will be in competition with?

7.   Can I deal with you personally when I have a problem, or do I have to go through your assistant?

8.   Will you provide me with a monthly status update about where my home is being advertised?

9.   Even if you can’t reach the other agent for showing feedback, would you please still call me and at least let me know that?

10.   Will you change MLS descriptions every few months to give my listing a fresh look?

If you receive an unsatisfactory answer to any of these questions, move on to the next agent.   The seller-agent relationship is not like an employer-employee relationship… it truly is a team effort and you must find an agent that matches your style for your home sale to be a success.

Questions about selling your home?   Stop by Sacred Grounds Cafe in Edwardsville every Tuesday from 12 – 1 to have them answered.   We’ll be there talking all things real estate – and we’ll even buy the latte.

[This article contributed by Realtor Kristina Pratt.]

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Sequim real estate agents are wondering what Chuck Marunde is doing to sell so many homes and get so many qualified leads.   Neighbors of a home Chuck has listed in Sunland on the golf course are seeing the sign and the activity and wondering who this broker is.   They’re used to seeing the familiar franchise signs for sale on homes in Sunland.   So who is Sequim & Port Angeles Real Estate, LLC, and what’s all the hullabaloo?

“Back in 1995 I realized the Internet was going to be a major player in real estate, and I started a website then, but in the past two years the Internet has become the dominant tool buyers use to find a home,” says Chuck.   “So I built the largest Internet brokerage in all of Sequim and Port Angeles, and the results are stunning, but other brokers and many homeowners who are not paying attention to this Internet trend are still in the dark.   I don’t advertise in the local newspaper, because that is NOT where buyers from California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Montana are looking!   And it’s not Sequim homeowners who are the buyers.   I am reaching out directly to the buyers from out of state.   It just makes sense, but many people haven’t thought this through, including local real estate brokers.”

In the biggest real estate recession the country has seen in decades, and the worst real estate market in memory for Sequim and Port Angeles, many real estate agents have left the business, and some have not sold anything in over a year.   Many are working other jobs, including washing dishes (literally) just to survive.   Not Chuck Marunde.

“I feel very blessed.   I sold a home in January, one in March, one in May, and I have two pending transactions in June already, and I’m submitting another offer today or tomorrow.   Here’s the amazing thing.   I don’t waste my money or my client’s money on things that don’t work, advertising that produces no results.   My Internet presence is producing buyers who are delighted to work with a Realtor who gets it.   Clients tell me they appreciate the fact that I was a real estate attorney, and tthe articles I post for them at no cost so they can make intelligent choices when they move here.   I would just call this basic customer service.”

“I’m so fortunate that the pieces of my chaotic life seem to have come together at this time and place.   I spent a lifetime in real estate transactions and law, marketing and sales, and technology.   I also love to write, so all of this somehow uniquely fits me, but most importantly it fits clients who are buying and selling.”

Most real state brokerages are operating under a 20 year old business model, but they are being left behind by the Internet.   Selling homes in Sequim or Port Angeles is no longer a simple matter of putting it in the MLS, running an ad once every six weeks in the local paper or the home sales magazine.   Agents who are sitting at the desk staring at the phone while it does not ring and waiting for buyers to walk into their brick and mortar offices are getting nervous, but more importantly, they are not producing sales for their listing clients and they are not connecting with buyers.

“Don’t be fooled by agents who tell you they have your listing all over the Internet.   There is much much more to the story about what works and what doesn’t work.   While I prefer not to reveal secrets that have taken me years and a wheel barrel of money to learn, I will share those with my clients.”

Sharp buyers and sellers are not just using the Internet–they are using it intelligently.   They know how to filter through the garbage to find a good agent, how to search for property, and they are discerning the   difference between agents who are blowing smoke and the agents who have real experience and professional knowledge.

So this real estate blog continues to help buyers and sellers to buy and sell in this market, but this blog also continues to be a source of professional education for real estate agents.   Everyone is welcome here.

At least one agent in Sequim and Port Angeles is having fun.   Chuck Marunde can be reached at his email, which is chuckmarunde@gmail.com or his direct phone, which is 360-775-5424.

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Finding a real estate agent who is good is not something some people consider important, or they don’t realize how to find a good real estate agent.

Pick a Real Estate Agent (Pick a Card)

A buyer decides he needs a real estate agent to buy a home, but this buyer makes a huge mistake, and the bad news is he has no idea he is making it.   He’s in a very respected profession, and he’s a mature and intelligent man.   He has a good friend, and his good friend’s wife is a real estate agent.   So when he wants to buy a house, he automatically hires his friend’s wife.   After all, she is a real estate agent.   Notice that word “automatically.”

This is a true story.   As it turns out, his friend’s wife is not so competent and not so ethical or professional.   The details don’t matter for purposes of this brief story, but the bottom line is that Mr. Professional gets less than royal treatment, and that is the understatement of the century.   I’m being polite here.   At the time Mr. Professional had no idea how his own real estate agent sabotaged his transaction with her incompetence and unprofessionalism. He never knew, that is, until much later, when he subsequently finds out, and later tells me the whole story.

Real Estate Agent -  Dime a Dozen?

What’s the moral of this story?   Just because your friend’s wife is a real estate agent does NOT mean she is a great agent who will do such a great job for you.   Why in the world would someone assume they must hire their friend’s wife or sister or friend?   I’ll tell you why, and when you think about it, it just seems dumb.   They hire that person simply because of that relationship.   Period.   That is the ONLY reason.   It’s hard to believe, but this happens regularly, and I hear the nightmare stories.

[In my book on this subject I included this paragraph, and I included this in a response to a comment to this article:  "As a small but important point of clarification, when I use the term 'housewives' I’m really talking about people, men or women, who got their real estate license but have no real estate education, no business education, no sales education, no marketing education, no legal training to draft legal documents, and very little to offer clients except time and a smile. As consumers tell me all the time, there are agents just like this all over the country. I actually picked up this derogatory use of the word 'housewives' from consumers themselves over many years. Do not misunderstand me here. This doesn’t mean a person I call a licensed housewife (or househusband) isn’t a wonderful person and a good person. This is not a character issue. It’s a professional competence issue. It’s not about the person—it’s about their lack of education, knowledge, experience, and professionalism. I get along with almost everybody, and I love almost everybody, regardless of their background or history. Anyone who knows me also knows that I am a strong believer in extending grace and mercy to everyone."  See more in the comments below.]

Your Real Estate Agent and Professionalism

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with hiring a friend’s wife as your real estate agent, if she is truly competent, experienced, professional, and ethical, but for goodness sake, do some due diligence first.   Go out and interview at least three real estate agents, and choose those three carefully by filtering through the Internet to first read about them and find the one real estate agent with the best education PLUS experience PLUS a powerful Internet presence.   The first two should be obvious, but don’t forget that 85% of all home buyers start their search on the Internet today according to a national survey by the National Association of Realtors, so if your real estate agent doesn’t have a powerful Internet presence, go somewhere else.

Honestly, I have heard so many stories from good people who hired a housewife as their real estate agent because she was a sister of someone or a brother’s aunt’s daughter, and after they have made the same big mistake that so many before have innocently made, they shake their head in disbelief as they talk about it.

Why would I be so blunt and honest in this article?   Because I have seen this same scenario so many times as a real estate attorney and again as a real estate agent that I think I’ll scream it out–All real estate agents are NOT the same.   Hire a good real estate agent, not just someone who has a license and is your friend’s wife.   Many of these real estate agents have no business background, no degree in marketing or sales, no real estate knowledge, other than the little online courses required to pass the test, and virtually no experience in hard negotiating or legal documents, and you’re hiring this person to spend your $300,000?   Egad!

Okay.   I’ve said it.   Now you have some choices to make.   Hire someone who is professional, honest and has the experience, someone who will assertively represent you, or . . . hire Tom, Sally, or Jane who just happens to be a friend of a friend and got his or her license.

Not sure who to hire?   Call me and ask me anything under the sun, and I’ll answer your questions honestly.   Do the same with two other real estate agents.   Then judge for yourself.   If you don’t think I’m the man for the job, then hire someone else, but don’t you deserve the opportunity to find out for yourself before you hire Jane or Sally automatically?

Hire a good real estate agent, whoever he or she might be.  A good real estate agent is not easy to find.

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Real Estate News Bulletin for Sequim buyers and sellers – FREE.   Let’s get to the point.   Exactly what is free?   All 18 of the following incredible resources are absolutely free with no obligation and no required registration on your part, courtesy of retired real estate attorney and now real estate broker and Realtor Chuck Marunde, who has been giving away free help on the Internet in Sequim and Port Angeles since 1995.

1.   FREE – Search the entire Sequim MLS and the entire Port Angeles MLS with a unique map feature and beautiful graphics and easy navigation (perhaps the best MLS site in all of Clallam County).

2.   FREE – Hundreds of articles on Sequim and Port Angeles real estate, buying and selling, negotiation secrets of an experienced negotiator, legal issues to avoid by an experienced attorney, how the real estate brokerage business really works behind the scenes by an experienced Broker, online marketing tips for selling real estate by an expert Internet marketing Realtor, no holds barred tips for buying real estate for the best possible price and the best terms, and much more.

3.   FREE – The most powerful and easy to use mortgage calculators online, figure out how much you qualify for, find out what your monthly payment would be, discover what additional payments will do.

4.   FREE – Your own weekly email newsletter specializing on Sequim and Port Angeles real estate issues, prices, market timing, charts and graphs on what is selling, and so on.   Subscription is FREE and anonymous (only your email is needed, and you can unsubscribe anytime).

5.   FREE – Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate Videos to help buyers and sellers.

6.   FREE – Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate Law Online covering almost every real estate legal issue that comes up here.

7.   FREE – A “content-rich” real estate broker website for Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate.

8.   FREE – The Number 1 Sequim and Port Angeles Custom Home Builder (over 400 homes since 1981) with floor plans, photos, specifications, and much more.

9.   FREE – A Home Builder’s Blog for Sequim and Port Angeles with the truth about building and price per square foot and much more.

10.   FREE – Local Sequim and Port Angeles interest articles and photos!

11.   FREE – A Sequim and Port Angeles real estate blog with a national network.

12.   FREE – Ezine expert author Chuck Marunde on Real Estate.

13.   FREE – Port Angeles Vision, a blog about Port Angeles downtown development and businesses.

14.   FREE – Sequim and Port Angeles Classified Ads online.

15.   FREE – Podcasts on Sequim and Port Angeles real estate issues of Traps for the Unwary.

16.   FREE – Search Sequim and Port Angeles Foreclosures and nationwide.

17.   FREE – Referral Fee Sign-up and automatic tracking.

18.   FREE – Vacation Accommodations for Buyer Clients (over 100 vacations offered).  This service has been discontinued.

Why are all these valuable and content-rich resources offered absolutely FREE?   Chuck has always been generous in giving away knowledge and experience as he has been doing since 1995.   With the real estate market in such a slump, Chuck is working very hard to give clients real value, and to do what he has practiced his whole life:   give and give and give, and eventually it comes back.   Chuck is hoping that clients and prospective clients will see that he is giving them something of value and asking for NOTHING in return, and that he is credible, whether they are buying or selling in this market.   “Honestly, tell me one other real estate broker or agent in the area who gives clients as much as I do, all free.   I hope readers will feel that I am working hard to earn their business and that I am trustworthy.   Of course, they can always email me and ask questions and find out if I am credible and whether they think I can help them.   I do love helping people, so I think that makes a difference, and I think people can sense that.”

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