Today we met in a Panera to do a bit of computer work. There were loots of open rooms in rentals Tiffany manages, so we put together images and I wrote a description of the properties to post adds for on websites like craigslist. Although this isn’t typically how one advertises real estate, the less expensive properties typically sell easier when there are adds on websites like craigslist. There were many photos to upload, so hopefully Tiffany will get real, interested tenants. Tenants also must se the sight before signing a lease when they are looking on the web for rentals. Doing so protects the tenants from potential fraud. After we worked on our computers for a while, we had a a rental showing in Raleigh. Because rental properties are typically smaller than homes and not nearly as permanent, the showings are quicker and the customers sign on faster. Although a smaller commission, there are many more quick rental transaction possibilities in contrast to large, long home deals. We ended the day with an office inspection for the Cary office Tiffany intends on purchasing. It was bittersweet ending this internship with Tiffany, as I have absolutely loved my time here and I have learned a lot. I would absolutely recommend working with Tiffany for any rising WEP students who are looking to go into real estate!
Tag: realestate
In the Blink of an Eye: Last Day at KW Elite
In the blink of an eye, this incredible experience was over. I knew it would go by fast, but I didn’t think that fast. Natalie and I went in this morning and showed Kristi our projects, all of which she really liked! Afterwards, we had a good conversation about her duties as an admin. As an admin, she is in charge of everything from keeping track of attorney’s files about mortgages to thank you gifts to clients. One thing she echoed (we had heard it ALOT) was the importance of getting our real estate license as a young age, because in the end it does make us more attractive to agents. Afterwards, we warned her about all the fun facets of 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, yeah you get the idea, grade. We had a heartfelt goodbye, all agreed to keep in touch, and left. It was really a great experience and gave me great insights into development, sales, administration work, and leading a team. Thank you to Kristi and all of Keller Williams Elite for helping me realize that real estate is truly where I belong!
Day 7- Work Day in the Car
Today we focused on the social media bulking because there was a lot of time in the car two and from appointments today. The way business is structured today, Tiffany uses her social media platforms to make her brand well known and accessible to as many potential clients as possible. While mixing in pictures of her business and personal like, Tiffany paints a very real image of herself on social media so that when we use tactics like joining Facebook groups or following people on Instagram, it looks like a real person and a real brand. Today we did just that. We also had tenants moving into a rental property. Typically, agents get a larger percent of the commission for a month rent because rent is obviously a lot lower than the price of houses. Tiffany charges flat $200 plus 8% of a months rent to be an agent. This can be, however, much more lucrative if the rental she finds tenants for are her own properties. Because she manages many rentals with a range of price points and locations, being a rental agent is often times to her advantage. 
Work, work, work, work, work, work: Day 7 at KW Elite
If being a realtor means I can sleep till 9:30, sign me up! Natalie and I met at 11 this morning to tour a new development….that is so new it didn’t exist! Great. Instead, we decided to take a road trip out to Pittsboro to another new development…that while built was unattended and as either of us wanted to break in, we kept driving. Third time’s the charm? You would’ve thought. The third development was a cult meeting. Literally. We arrived and about 22 of the same color, model, year pick up trucks did too and then they proceeded to almost surround us. Needless to say we packed up and drove out quicker than we came in. We finally arrived at Lake Castleberry, a CalAtlantic development built right on *Shocker* Lake Castleberry. When I tell you these were crazy homes, I mean crazy. We toured three models, each nicer than the last, and learned a lot about how to market a neighborhood. In short, put every feature in the model to bump the price from $500,000 to $995,000. All humor aside, it was actually a super important lesson. Natalie and I then went back to KW and worked on finishing touches on our projects, two things we are both pretty proud of! Truth be told, leaving will be bitter (with no sweet) because I will miss all of the staff, all of the fun real estate lessons, and the houses of course. Oh the houses.
Day 6- Office Searching
Today, we drove to the east side of cary to look at office spaces. As a real estate agent, it is important to have a central location to meet clients and investors. Without an office of her own, Tiffany has been meeting clients in coffee shops, restaurants, and offices of the clients or investors. However, it would be more convenient for Tiffany while saving a lot of driving time to have a centralized office where her clients can come to her to meet. She would, of course, also be working out of her office, so her commute would be limited to to and from the office and showings. Tiffany decided that with her growing business and team that it was time to get an office. She hired a commercial real estate agent because commercial listings are all about relations with other commercial agents since the MLS equivalent to commercial is alway out of date. There was an old office space in Cary that we visited, but it had not been updated since the 1980s when it was first purchased. Although old, the office had a good structure and extra room Tiffany could rent out to individuals that would practically cover her mortgage. An office space that allows less driving, convenience for customers, and costs practically nothing = a good business decision.
.
More driving, more meetings, more models!
Apparently, my wicked good looks and on the spot smarts make me look like an actual agent because EVERY SINGLE PLACE I went today someone asked what agency I worked for. I’m 17 guys, not that hard. Today started at 10, a bit earlier than usual, with a tech tips meeting. We pretty much learned how to use the KWMLS (Keller Williams Multiple Listings Service) and how we can put leads into a database. In real estate, leads are the biggest help because they help agents gain listings and therefore gain business (and money)! Afterwards, I re-parked my car because anyone that has seen me drive knows that is a necessary endeavor, which made Natalie and I almost late to the team meeting. In the conference room, we met with Kristi, Sarah, Ed, and all of the other agents to catch up on how everything is going. The team members shared leads and listings, a mortgage agent answered any questions, an attorney helped brief everyone on what to do, and everybody thanked each other for all the hard work. Naturally, Natalie and I headed out after to go check out even more new construction. I’m not going to lie, at this point every house looks the same. We went to one development near CA that was nice, albeit cookie cutter, that gave us good insights into the difference between Cary and Durham’s new developments. Afterwards, we headed out to check out another model, learning a lot more about what is takes to both stage and sell a model home. Finally, we headed to another development near downtown Cary and while there was no model, the agent on duty was more than happy to brief us on both the neighborhood and the industry as a whole. I have to admit, with each day of work, my interest in real estate just intensifies!
day 5- Closing day
Today was closing day! We started out driving to a rental listing showing at an apartment complex 10 minutes from downtown. Although the buildings were older, the inside had been newly renovated and is move in ready. The family was very interested in the property and it seems like they will rent for $1,100/month. We then drove to holly springs where we did a walk through in an old home. Walk through are necessary before closing because he buyers want to make sure the house is in the agreed upon condition before purchasing the home. Tiffany told us one time a friend of hers did a walk through and walked into the house to find the first floor ceiling on the ground from water damage. Needless to say, the buyers did not close that day. We walked through the home and everything was just as planned. The sellers even left some pieces of furniture like a big armoire and air hockey table in the house for the new owners. Anything left inside the house on closing day is officially the buyers. We then drove to Adams and Howell personal attorneys office for the closing. I wasn’t allowed in the room because of the personal financial information disclosed during closing, but the buyer, agents, attorney and seller all present during closing. It mainly consists of checking numbers and signing many official documents.
Day 4- Inspection Day
Today we drove to Johnston County in order to oversee a home inspection on a property Tiffany intends to buy and then rent out. She intends to buy this property for around $80,000, almost $20,000 under asking price, and rent it to two people because it is a duplex for around $1200 a month. I learned about the 1percent rule in which every property should rent for at least onepercent of the total price of the property each month. Her mortgage on the property would be around $450 which means she is making almost $800 a month on this property. Eventually, she wants to have a monopoly of the street and rent out every property on the street. She doesn’t know if that is possible because the house next-door had been condemned and deemed inhabitable for humans and some of the other properties are in such bad condition she would have to put a lot of money into renovating them. However, a monopoly of the street allows her to control rental pricing and comparables for selling prices in the future. In the home inspection, a home inspector drove out and tested everything in the home from the heating and cooling systems to the stove, the paint to see if it was lead paint all the way to looking underneath the house. We should know on Monday whether or not Tiffany will purchase the property.
America’s Next Top Model (Homes)!
This was a nice morning. I woke up at 8. Go figure. After a leisurely morning, Kristi let me run to the DMV to grab my gold star license (unnecessary, I know) because Natalie had to go too…or we thought. Turns out I’m a chauffeur for another week! Anyways, once we got to the office we started grinding. I managed to finish my first new development flyer, a nice paper filled with information about location, features, and pricing of a development close to the office. After that, I went ahead and added pictures and links to the unofficial fun holiday list that we had at the office. Afterwards, we met with Ed, a commercial developer at KW. We had a good chat and to be quite honest, it was super productive because he taught me that I really don’t want to get into development. He talked about how it takes a while to get into it and even longer for projects to be completed, two things that would cause my impatience to skyrocket. Similarly, he really conveyed the message that it is not a field to enter into. After this meeting, we met with Dona again to debrief the appointment we had last week. We discussed the comparables that were near the clients house, what they closed for, and what the strategy was to list her house should she really want to move. Natalie and I then went to check out more homes after we finished the morning meetings. We first stopped at the Piazza at Stonewater development, an amazing community right near the Tobacco Trail and Parkside Commons. We toured two models (Sonoma and Oakhurst) and when I tell you they were tricked out, you have no idea. Sonoma was my favorite out of the two, due to the amazing basement (cinema, workshop, and wine cellar included), awesomely huge kitchen, and the amazing closet space. Oakhurst was super nice too, just a bit smaller and less tricked out than Sonoma. However, we learned that Sonoma would be sold anywhere between $735,000 and $1,250,000 (aka the model we toured), so it made sense that Oakhurst was less finished (Oakhurst was listed for a measly $850,000)! Afterwards, we headed out to Amberley Estates, the second community of the day. We had a bit of trouble locating the community, but it was worth the wait! We toured two models again and realized the same thing happened: first model was CRAZY and second was….nice. We thought the first was super cool, albeit a bit awkwardly spaced. However, the second was a bit cheap looking, with more average finishes. Today was an awesome and eyeopening day and we cannot wait to see more properties tomorrow!
House Hunting (like the show!)
Today was the most laid back day of the experience thus far. After our somewhat of a failure discovering the new developments yesterday, Kristi called the agents at both of the developments (Southpoint Trails and the Meadows at Southpoint) to let them know we were coming. We went to Trails first, where we toured two different model homes (1 and 3 Photos were at that development). The homes were awesome! I liked the first one best due to the light and airy feel, while Natalie preferred the darker, homier one we toured second. After we gained information surrounding Southpoint Trails, we continued down the road to the Meadows. The Meadows featured smaller, lower priced homes that we targeted much more to a starter home level. They, while still nice, were much less stylish than the other ones. We toured these homes in order to gain insight into what the neighborhoods were really about so that when new clients come to town, Kristi will know where to show them. Natalie and I were supposed to meet with a development expert today, however that was postponed until next week, so we got a great lunch at the mall. After lunch, we met Kristi at one of her listings where she showed us how to show a house. One thing that I found interesting was that in reality, it is better to not shove the information down the client’s throats, rather to let them wander and provide information when necessary. It was an awesome day today and I can’t wait for what next week holds!