When I started in real estate in 2005, I messed up. I’m confessing, so please bear with me…

I wore a suit. Slicked my hair over like I was running for office. In my mind, I just assumed that’s what people expected. I wanted to look, well, realtor-ish. No offense to those real estate professionals who rock the jacket and tie. If that’s you, then go for it. For me, though, it didn’t ring true.

My misdeeds didn’t end with fashion, though. Socially, I screwed up. I felt like I should get in touch with everyone I’d ever known and tell them that I was working in real estate—over and over again. And that they should tell everyone they know about me. Not because I had any great skills or experience at that time, but because I was constantly spamming them with postcards, emails, phonecalls. Like people were just numbers to work. If you were ever on the receiving end of this, I sincerely apologize. It wasn’t the real me. I have no idea what I thinking. Sheesh.

It didn’t take long for that approach to create a conflict deep inside me. I had two choices. I could leave the profession, or I could try doing things differently—authentically. And that’s worked out pretty well. Being me is way easier. No sales pitches, no pressure. I’m laid back and work hard to simply be helpful.

While the real estate side of things was growing, my photography business started taking off in a big way. I found myself with two jobs. People would tell me that I would eventually need to leave one for the other. I didn’t want that. Still don’t.

I like the variety, the challenge. Heck, what I really love most is not feeling like I HAVE to get a certain number of houses sold just to pay the bills. Or that I HAVE to take on a certain number of weddings per year. Takes the pressure off me and my clients. I can focus on being me and trust that word of good work will travel naturally and bring to me more clients who appreciate my approach. Win-win.

I’ve gotta tell you…I have a blast helping buyers.  It’s generally around a two month process from start to finish, and it’s jam-packed.  Bottom line, though?  My buyers really appreciate how smooth and easy the whole thing moves along.  And my service to them costs them nothing.  Cool, right?  Here’s a quick breakdown of how things often go:

• Buyers and I meet up for coffee or whatever.  I bring the laptop, and we start narrowing down what properties are available based on their preferences and budget.  I give them a nice overview of the city, with recommendations on which areas seem to be the most stable and primed for growth.  At this point, I also like to give them a heads-up on how the whole contract and negotiation process will work once we find a home they love.  No surprises!

• Buyers get pre-approved for a home loan with a lender of their choice, though most everyone I work with ends up with Brad Farris at Peoples Exchange Bank.  They all think he’s pretty awesome.  Great rates, low closing costs, access to some really cool loan programs, and excellent customer service.  If you’re curious about what your own financing might look at, you might wanna go ahead and shoot him an email HERE.

• Based on the pre-approval amount, we put together a list of houses to go see.  This list doesn’t have to be super-focused.  You’d be surprised at how seeing a a variety of places can sharpen the senses.  I set all of that up so that we make really good use of time, and so the buyers can get a really good feel for what’s available in their price range.  This is more-or-less a fact-finding mission.  We make note of any homes the buyer really likes alot.

• The buyers and I talk about their favorite listings, then we refocus our search to include any properties that might be similar to those.  We set up another day to go see those properties.  During these showings, we spend more time at each house.  What I like to do is pretend that I’m a buyer, too, and I openly talk to them about what’s going through my mind.  This might be the most important part.  I give things to them straight.  No exaggerating and trying to be a salesman.  For those moments, I’m pretending to be the buyer for their house when they’re future sellers.  This helps them to pick a property that not only they will love, but that future buyers will love, too.  Awesome, right?

• Once the buyers know which house they want, I do some research to determine what a fair price would be.     Sometimes this is much different from the advertised price, sometimes it’s pretty close.  Just depends on how realistically the seller priced the house to begin with.  I also pull together a list of past and current problems with the house directly from the seller.  Even though we’ll have a home inspection, too, it’s better to have plenty of facts going into the negotiations.  If the roof, furnace and a/c are 20 years old, then that final price had better reflect it, right?

• We write up the offer and negotiate with the sellers. If final terms can be agreed upon, then we’ll move through the inspections and loan process all the way to the closing table when the buyers get their keys.    I won’t bore you with all the details right now.  If we meet up for a Step 1, then I’ll go through it all with you.  Deal?

If you’d like to get the ball rolling, then let me know.  You can connect with me HERE.  I’ll look forward to grabbing that cup of coffee with you!

My listings tend to sell pretty quickly.  How do I do it?

1)Excellent photography. In addition to selling real estate, I’m also a professional photographer.  Works out really well for my clients!  Their homes end up looking like they’re straight out of a magazine.  With nearly all buyers and all of the buyers’ agents looking at listings online first, it only makes sense to make a good first impression.  Before photographing each property, I go by a few days ahead of time to make suggestions to the sellers on what they might wanna do staging-wise.  Probably all the same things you see on HGTV, but sometimes it’s nice for people to get an outside perspective.

2)Interesting remarks. If I see another listing that says “Cute 3BR ranch. Must see!”, I’m going to scream.  When people are looking through hundreds of possible properties, it’s important to stand out.  I think my marketing remarks break through the noise better.

3)Accurate pricing. The best listing price is one that’s based on comparable solds, as well competitive with other active listings.  I love crunching numbers.  Overpriced listings don’t get shown, because people look for homes in the price range they can afford.  In the 99K-500K range during 2010 (as of today—10/3/2010), the 2300+ properties sold in Lexington went for around 97.5% of the listing price.

4)Not with print advertising or open houses…LOL. I’ve found them both to be a big waste of time and money.  Most print advertising and open houses are done to benefit the agent, since it’s a great way for them to meet new clients.  The best part?  Since I don’t needlessly spend dollars and energy on print advertising and open houses, the listing commission I charge is really reasonable.  Because I tend to sell houses really quickly AND at a reasonable commission, I get a lot of word-of-mouth referrals. Win-win.

It’s not rocket-science, but I’ve got my system down, and it works.  Whether you’re looking to get your house listed ASAP, or if you’re just interested in knowing how it might stack up in the current market, give me a shout HERE.  I’d love to chat with you!

There are tons of real estate agents in and around Lexington, for real.  Something like 2300 last time I checked.  I think that’s great, though, because we’re not one-size-fits-all.

I’m really good at what I do.  I’ve got a long track record of smooth and successful sales with buyers and sellers, but that’s not the most important part of picking an agent.  I think it’s really important to pick someone who looks at the world the same way as you.

Me?

I’m not a big sales-pitchy kind of guy.  I run from cheesy.  And I stay far away from things that are super-formal.  When I’m picking someone to work with, I’m drawn to folks who keep things light, fun, positive, and real.  I do the same thing with my clients.

If it sounds like we’re similar, I’d enjoy getting to know you.   You can reach me HERE.  Feel free to connect with me on Facebook and Twitter, too.  Subscribe to my blog.  Stick around.  Stay in touch.   Whether you’re just curious about real estate, or if you’re looking to do something soon, give me a shout.  We can hook up for a coffee or something.  Cool?

Thanks for stopping by! -shaun