One of my newest team members said something very profound at a listing presentation that I took him on this evening. I had joked with the owner that he should go into real estate. He said he could never be a salesperson. My new agent responded with, “Realtors do not sell homes. They allow Buyers to Buy.”

I had always said that we actually are Counsellors and that is what we call ourselves on the McCaffrey Team. I believe that we give buyers and sellers the information they need to make good housing choices. I believe that we are problem solvers and transaction managers. We help our clients manage the stress involved in the transaction. We believe that we sell lifestyles not houses.
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In the past I have been stressed to the point of being hospitalized with panic attacks. Looking in the “rear view mirror”, I have only one person to blame this on..myself.  In recent years, with a lot of reading, meditation and sometimes counselling I have a new approach to life and stress reduction. First, let me say, that moderate stress is a good thing. It is a motivator and gets you moving. It is when you lose perspective that it becomes so destructive that it clouds responses, relationships and damages your health. Here are my 9 tips on how to look at and manage stress.Continue Reading

I don’t know why I am so fortunate to meet intriguing people. Recently, at one of my BNI (Business Networking International) meetings I met a gentleman who was there just to substitute for one of our regular members. He spoke about mentoring kids o that they understand that they have the power to chart their own destinies. It was about empowerment. This is a theme that is near and dear to my heart as I was given the CT Youth Leadership Award from the University of CT many years ago for my years as a 4-H Leader. Of course, I needed to learn more, and so I sat down with the founder of this non-profit organization to find out what he does but more importantly WHY.

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Did you purchase your condo during the height of the market?
Has your family or your lifestyle changed?
Do you feel that there are no options out there for you?

I am here to tell you that I deal with these situations almost on a weekly basis and you DO have options. When you feel totally stuck, it is hard to move forward and see the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the things that I enjoy most about what I do is to talk people through their options. Each scenario is different and thus each solution is unique to the circumstances.

Are you staying local?
How is your credit?
Do you have ANY equity in the condo?
Can you afford to carry both the condo and a new home?
Are you employed?
Do you have other assets…401K, Savings, parents, etc.?
What is your current interest rate on your mortgage?
What other debt do you have?
What are you long term financial goals?
Are you a Veteran?

As you can see, there are many, many combinations of goals vs. financial ability. I have counselled many couples and individuals recently on how to get unstuck and move forward.Continue Reading

When I am mentoring new agents or counselling agents who are disappointed or discouraged, I am often asked, “What should I do?”. They are actually asking “How do I get Started?” or “How do I get unstuck?”. My answer is obnoxiously simple to both questions. I tell them, it doesn’t matter. Just do SOMETHING. I give them buckets of options but the bottom line is it doesn’t matter what they do just that they do something.

Do you know people who research everything? Those who need to have all of the pieces before they can begin? I tell them STOP SHARPENING THE SAW AND START CHOPPING WOOD.Continue Reading

Every quarter my team does their “PLAY BOOK” for the upcoming three months. After evaluating the result and metrics of the preceding quarter, I ask them, “What are your going to STOP doing?,” This can mean one of two things…DUMP OR DELEGATE.

We do many tasks and spend a lot of money on things and activities that are either not producing income or are not adding to our efficiency. They also tend to accumulate over time and something that worked 2 years ago may not be as effective as it once was. I recently got rid of a virtual tour program that I had on auto payment even though my new photo plan includes it. I also downsized my monthly Zillow exposure from $1000/month to $250/mo. Continue Reading

I went on 8 Listing Appointments this past week!! Two of the eight are listing NOW, the other 6 called me in for suggestions on how to get their homes ready for the SPRING market. WHAT?? Yes 4-6 months in advance. You CANNOT wait until February or March to discuss you selling plans with your Realtor. First of all, your Realtor will educate you on the current market trends and product (homes) availability. You need to know, for example, that locally as well as nationwide, we are in an inventory crisis in many price ranges. You also need to know that interest rates are projected to hit 5.5% by spring. You need to see what homes like yours are selling for right now. That is all information you need to decide if now is actually the right time for you to sell.

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Just like fishing with the right lure, pricing your home for success is finding the right level so that the Buyers will STRIKE. Currently our multiple listing service tells us that the “STRIKE POINT” is 6% above where the home eventually sells. This does not mean your home will sell 6% below its list price. It indicates that the home will not attract a buyer until it is priced within 6% of where the market is saying the value. Houses react to the market as a commodity not as a product. Their value is more relatable to stocks and bond. If everyone is buying a stock at $90, you can never sell it if you ask $100.

To determine the “strike point” you cannot rely on competing (active) properties. Sellers can PRICE anywhere they like. These are wish prices. You also cannot rely at sold prices. These prices are already old news. What you need to strongly consider are comparable properties that are PENDING. We won’t know where they have sold, but we will know where the “strike point” is.

I have heard Sellers say “I can wait”. That argument makes no sense in a buyers’ market. Time is NOT our friend and as a Realtor, our job is not only to get our Sellers the highest price but also so minimize their risk of loss. Did you know that one third (33.5% exactly) of homes listed in the New Milford, Brookfield, Danbury corridor sold within 8 weeks of being listed and that their strike point was 3.5% above value. Those with market times of over 60 days languish and end up selling for 7.2% below the asking price. Lesson, the closer you price to the value (determined by the market) the faster you will get an offer and the closer to the list price it will be. The value is the value, priced high or low. The thing that the price does is indicate to the Buyer how reasonable the seller will be. The risk in a declining market is that the VALUE is declining monthly and thus so is the “strike point”. Price it RIGHT from the beginning or be willing to make substantive Market Adjustments going forward.

If your home has been on the market longer than even 30 days it indicates that the Market (the Buyers) has rejected your Price, not necessarily your home. They will NOT make an offer if your home is priced more than 6% above the market determined value. Pricing and value are a point in time. Many things can affect value from weather, levels of inventory to changes in financing. You must look at your pricing strategy every 30 days and determine what “market corrections” you must take. Are you CHASING the market or PACING the market? No sale in 30 days… CHUNK the price. (That is a new technical term..chunking) No $5000 reductions here. A minimum of 3% and a suggestion of 5% cut is recommended. Do you want to sell or stay? The ONLY thing that stops a house from selling is PRICE. In the absence of reasonable pricing no amount of staging, marketing or improvements will net you a better bottom line.

In my opinion, there is no such thing as a bad market. There are just overpriced listings. This is NOT the fault of the Seller but a reflection of Realtors not understanding market dynamics and not willing to walk away from an unsellable listing or unrealistic Seller. A good Realtor will educate you on the trends; work together with you on pricing but also have a plan in place for CHUNKING if necessary. Your Realtor should be willing to level with you rather than lie to you just to take the listing.

I was born to be a Realtor. I didn’t realize it until I was in my mid 30’s. Really, how many people grow up wanting to be a Realtor?? The first few years were torture. I didn’t make a lot of money and hadn’t expected to. At one point, however, I wondered if the effort and the hours was worth the emotional stress I was feeling. Did you know that the “Lifespan” of the average Realtor is 10 months. Taking all of the 1,000,000 plus Realtors out there, did you know that the average income is $35,000 BEORE expenses and taxes. That is $35,000 a year NOT a month. I cried A LOT those first few years. I will never know why I stuck through it, but I am so glad I did.

Somewhere the light bulb went off. I went to a 3 day seminar and the presenter spoke to my soul. You do not sell houses, he pointed out, you sell your ability to help people move forward in their lives and find better lifestyle choices. Being a lifelong “people pleaser” I found my WHY. I don’t sell houses. I help clients move forward with confidence. I give them the information and the emotional support they need during times of stress to make decisions. Many moves are not happy moves.

I found I became very significant in the lives of my clients. I was able to find the solutions to most, never all, of their problems. I helped some move forward after divorces, death of a spouse or loss of job a job. I helped some renegotiate their mortgages so that they could stay in their homes. I helped them to define ultimate goals and gave them the mini steps they needed to rebuild credit or find more suitable housing. I found temporary housing for people after the macroburst. I helped children dispose of processions of a parent who had recently died or needed to go into a nursing home. I have battled tax amounts and found resources from everything to bats in the attic to flooded basements. I am in the people helping business. I’m not using these illustrations to pat myself on the back but to illustrate the internal satisfaction I get every day from what I do. I also found, through the trails of my client, that every dark cloud has a silver lining and that there is always hope for a better tomorrow. Sometimes you need to be the supporting bridge between where they are and where they need to be. You need to be the lever that gets them unstuck.

I also found myself surrounded by other agents with similar mindsets and referral and business resources that encouraged me to stretch beyond my comfort zone and to expand my perception of what I could accomplish. This group taught me valuable lessons about persistence, business models, empathy, technology, marketing, communication and balance (I’m still working on that one).

I love what I do. I did not look for my WHY, MY PURPOSE, it found me. I guess that is the ultimate moral of the story.