Coeur d'Alene Idaho Real Estate & Property Management

Realtytimes.com has a "market reports" area where agents throughout the country can post market conditions about their areas for consumers to read and review.  I've been pretty good about updating our reporting (under David's name).  As you also know, I'm a stickler for accurate and factual information and for providing full disclosure and backup of the source of that information.

This post should serve as a warning - Be very careful about what you read.  There are good honest agents throughout the web world (and in real life) reporting inaccurate information.  Inaccurate enough that were one to read and believe it, it may change one's course of action. 

I just recently ran across this in our own area.  Agents reporting declining prices and yet despite digging deep and looking everywhere, I can't figure out where in the world they are getting this information.  Here is our updated report for the Coeur d'Alene Metro area:

Warning: be careful what other agents are saying about the Coeur d'Alene area.  Some are saying the market is dead.  Some are saying prices are declining.  Both of these scenarios are false.  When you see/hear agents reporting market conditions, ask them to site their source and provide a direct link to the data they are siting.

Here is the truth and it's quoted directly from the Coeur d'Alene MLS April 2007 Market Report (full report available on our website):

For ALL residential sales during the same time periods, we note approx 25% decrease in the total number of sales, 23% decrease in total sales volume, 2.4% increase in average price, 5% increase in median price.  These numbers reflect sales of ALL residential listings, from the inexpensive mobile homes on rented lots to the high end waterfront properties. In the 6 month period ending on Apr 30, 2006, sales prices ranged from $8,900 to  $11,750,000, with an average of 113 days on market. For the 6 month period ending on Apr 30, 2007, sales prices  ranged from $10,000 to $2,990,000, with an average of 122 days on market.

Additionally, OFHEO just released their 2006 Q4 report (also available on our website) that showed the Coeur d'Alene Metro area with a 10.47% appreciation rate.  Fiserv has predicted the Coeur d'Alene Metro area will reach 7.8% appreciation in 2007 and other (not as reliable) sources have predicted an appreciation rate of up to 11%.

In other words, we are not in a declining market.  Most agents perception of 'decline' is that people are reducing their listing prices.  The reality in that is that the listing prices were higher than market value in the first place and when they price at market value, the home sells, quickly too.

The luxury market is alive and kicking and very strong. The luxury market in North Idaho is defined as homes priced from $500,000 and over (the top 10% of the market). That price point will be raising before the end of the year.

Ok, I talked about Why and What-For and then I talked about How. Now, let's cut to the chase. 

How do you pay for thousands of mailers every month?  Well, that is something we are currently working on.  At $1 per newsletter, sending out 4,000 per month, that's a lot of moolah.  This doesn't even include the 4,000 postcards we send out every month.

My personal goal is to have our newsletter 'self-sufficient' and larger (both newsletter and database) than ever.  I've mastered the consistency.  I've mastered the content and layout.  Now, I must master the money.

I created a 'media' kit.  Media kits are sent out by magazines and other print sources when they are seeking advertising dollars.  They talk about the publication they have, who the demographic is that receives the publication (basically describing how valuable the mailing list is), and they provide specifications and deadlines for the potential advertiser.

The media kit is completed - now I must start 'pounding' the pavement so to speak.  My goal for this month is to obtain 3 advertisers for our newsletter.  That's rather small potatoes but I am still a listing agent first and foremost and must bring in the listings/income!

I will be contacting 'vendor's' with whom we do a lot of business: Lenders, Insurance Companies, Appraisers.  I'll post details on our media kit later and I will keep you apprised of my process both successes and failures.

It started with the "Why's and What-For's"  Now we have the How. 

I am often asked HOW to snail mail market to clients/prospects.  What are the most effective methods?  How do I get my information read?  Most importantly, how do I get a response?

I all too often hear this: "I tried mailing XYZ.  All it did was cost me $$$ and I didn't get anything from it".  Hum.  If direct marketing works so well for not only top real estate agents but thousands of companies all over the world, something tells me that it's something that was lacking in your direct mail piece/campaign, not that direct mail doesn't work.

• First and foremost - who are you marketing to?
  
  
• Second - what do they want to know?

Two very important concepts you must understand.

I will strictly use our focus and our system as the examples in this post. 

First, we are marketing to owners of real estate, period.  In our snail mail campaigns we do not focus on buyers.  Our primary focus is on sellers.  Therefore, all of our content is for real estate owners.  This means that all content, market stats, news articles, etc. are all focused towards sellers.  

Second, we talk to our clients.  Anytime they ask a question, we know other people are wanting to know the same thing.  Questions become blog posts and newsletter articles.  Our clients dictate the content of our blog, our newsletter and our website. It's consumer driven, consumer focused.

There are other key ingredients you must realize. One biggie is your database.  Who's in it?  Are they clients?  Prospects?  Farm prospects?  How did you 'assimilate' them into your database?  In other words, have you had any sort of contact with these people?  Have you talked with them either in person, on the phone or via email?

Here's how we do it:

• Every single client, prospect, etc. gets our monthly newsletter and our monthly postcard.  It doesn't matter if we've had 5 transactions with them or if we just got their name from a mailing list.  Our newsletter and postcard are our mainstay.  That means we 'touch' each of these prospects a minimum of 24 times every single year.  Approximately every 2 weeks they get something from us and always informational in nature.
  
  
• When we 'add' someone to our database, they first go through some sort of "8x8" (Keller Williams terminology, please read the Millionaire Real Estate Agent for more details) system.  These vary and are 90% direct mail driven.  In other words, when we add a prospect to our system, they get some sort of contact from us every week for the next 8-10 weeks. This is the most effective method of transitioning a 'haven't met' to a 'met' without having to do it face-to-face.
  
  
• When we add farms, we do it a bit differently.  Right now we are adding farm areas based upon where are listings are located.  In other words, when we get a new listing, we direct mail to the entire neighborhood what we call a 'neighborhood 8x8'.  This includes the typical "just listed" to "just sold" and a plethora of information in between.  When we add farms that we do not have a listing in, we do it "silently" and just add them to our newsletter mailing without going through the 8x8 system.

Here's another key ingredient.  Don't bother mailing anything unless you are going to do it consistently without stopping for anything.  Seriously.  When we put together campaigns, we make sure we look at it as a 8 week process, not a 1 or 2 week process.  If we don't, we are simply throwing away money.  You see, the highest response rate you'll see will be between weeks 4 and 6 on average.  We have had campaigns that brought in instant high response rates, but averages are weeks 4 to 6.  And, don't bother if you aren't going to continue these people on some sort of monthly system.  It's much like building your retirement.  Compound interest is a phenomenal thing and you must think of successful direct mail in the exact same way.  You must build upon what you've already done.

The final key ingredient is to not worry so much about creativity.  Just worry about consistency.  There are a lot of wonderful companies out there that will help provide the tools for your 8x8's and your monthly newsletters.  Utilize them.  The point is, just be consistent and budget and prepare yourself to do this forever, not as you are busy or slow, not as your income permits, but forever. 

Read Snail Mail Marketing #3 - How To Pay For It. 

The Why & What-For: 

With all the talk about web web web, I thought I'd talk about print print print :D

We publish a monthly newsletter.  It's 6 pages of completely custom content.  We send it to an ever increasing database which is current hovering at 4,000, 50% of whom are past/current clients, 15% of whom are tenants from our property management company, 20% are prospects who have connected with our company in one way or another and the final 15% are farm areas (this group we are adding significantly to each month).

We chose to do a fully custom newsletter because we found that the pre-filled newsletters just didn't fulfill our clients needs for information.  Not information on 'general real estate' or 'recipes' or  how to plant a garden, but information about local real estate, market stats, local industry, employment, neighborhood profiles, etc.

You see, a good portion of our clients are located in other parts of the country.  They are buying/selling in our area either because of relocation or because they are investing in the area.  They don't read our newspapers every day.  They aren't able to attend the city council meetings.  They don't get to hear the 'word on the street'.  That's where we come in.  We provide 2 distinct areas of information for our clients/prospects.  The first being this blog.  The second being our monthly snail mail newsletter.

We have found our newsletter to be extremely effective in marketing our business.  It's not cheap, running $1 per issue to publish and mail.  But it's oh so worth it when it comes to the clients.  It's a way of engaging in a 'conversation' on a regular basis with our clients/prospects, yet allowing this to happen on their time, at their convenience.  We do have an email marketing program that is also highly effective, but amazingly enough, the snail mail program is even more effective.  Combined, they are a formidable force.

Our newsletter is sent out every month on the 16th.  As I mentioned above, it's full of everything possible about our area.  We work on content continuously.

All of this to say, snail mail newsletters are extremely effective.  Don't be so caught up in web web web that you nix all print print print.  And, if you are starting a newsletter, I strongly suggest getting pre-filled newsletters and utilizing them until you've created a habit for yourself.  It is much better that you send the newsletter every single month than to try to spend days creating a custom newsletter that you soon tire of doing after the 2nd month. Consistency is key. 

Be prepared for emails and phone calls, engaging you in conversation, asking you to list properties, asking you to help buy properties.  The newsletter will be a reminder and a trigger to your clients/prospects.

Read Snail Mail Marketing #2 - The How 

Read Snail Mail Marketing #3 - How To Pay For It. 

We received a phone call today from one of our current property management clients (who also happens to be a "past" real estate client).   He was talking about various things and happened to mention that he received a promotional letter from a real estate/property management company in our area (the client lives out of state).  Now, we provide a lot of information to our clients - our monthly snail mail newsletter which is completely custom and 6 pages full of information on our specific real estate market.  Monthly postcards with various updates, email blast newsletter options, our website and this blog.  It is our priority to keep our clients informed and educated so they can make the best financial decisions for their situations.

He said this promotional letter proceeded to tell him how soft the North Idaho market is and that if he is even thinking about selling, he must sell now or he will miss out.

WHAT?! 

As you may (or may not know), the number one thing that annoys me about this profession are the idiots, liars, scammers and well, idiots again.  Those are strong words, and no, I don't tell people they are an idiot, I just shake my head when I hear this kind of information coming out of their mouth.  It honestly isn't worth the energy to correct mistaken information if the person speaking it simply doesn't want to hear the truth and facts.

I consistently report the facts through all of the various methods I've mentioned above.  We want our clients to be armed with  accurate information so that when they are confronted with false information, they can call a spade a spade.

This client said "this was an interesting letter and completely contrary to all of the information you've provided me".  He's a good client and relies on us to provide him with the facts.  What concerns me most are those clients and prospects who are confronted with false information and swayed to an action that is contrary to what is best for them.

This promotional letter was only a marketing piece to serve the Realtors best interest, not the sellers best interest.  The problem with this piece is that it is a sensational piece and it puts a bad light on all Realtors.  As Allen Hainge says in his post today on Their Perception, Your Reality,  the truth is, the public perceives certain things and it is up to us to show them the reality.

A reflective look at life and liberty and the pursuit of whatever it is we tend to pursue.

A dear friend sent this to me.  It is a 'slide show' of sorts from the frontline (Iraq) without a political bent.  The 'bent' is a comparative look at the importance of things in our lives.

Enjoy.

(This is a pdf document, hosted on our website).

The Kroc Center that is.  Joan Kroc died in 2003 and left 1.5 billion to the Salvation Army.  This money was earmarked to build 30 community centers throughout the country.

Coeur d'Alene Idaho is one of 6 cities in the West that the Salvation Army choose to build a community center in.  The center is expected to cost $65 million dollars.  One caveat, Coeur d'Alene had to raise $6.1 million of the funds.  Our deadline is approaching in 3 weeks and the final $1 million just came in (for a current total of $6.4 million raised).

The Kathryn Albertson Foundation announced it will donate $1 million.  This final donation has secured the building of the community center in Coeur d'Alene.

Thank you Kathryn Albertson.

I've seen this multiple times via email before - and every single time I get a good laugh.  Laughing is good for you so enjoy!!

How To Bathe The Cat

1. Thoroughly clean the toilet
   
2. Add the required amount of shampoo to the toilet water, and make sure both lids are lifted
3. In one smooth movement, do the following
1. Put the cat in the toilet
2. Close both lids (you may need to stand on the lid so that he cannot escape)
   CAUTION: Do not get any part of your body too close to the edge as his paws will be reaching out for any purchase they can find.
3. The cat will self-agitate and make ample suds. 
   Never mind the noises that come from the toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.
4. Flush the toilet 3 or 4 times.  This provides a "powerwash and rinse" which has been found to be very effective.
5. Have someone open the door to the outside and ensure that there are no people between the toilet and the outside door
6. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can and quickly lift both lids
7. The now-clean cat will rocket out of the toilet and run outside where he will dry himself.

Sincerely,

The Dog :D