Alexander Chandler Realty's Fort Worth, TX Real Estate Blog

     We learn by asking questions which brings me to the topic of referrals.  The other day I received a call from an agent who said she might have a possible referral.  My company has a great internet presence so not sure if she found me from there or active rain or localism.com.  Any way, my interest was peaked so I asked her to tell me about.

    The first thing she mentioned was the prospect needed a "lot of nurturing" which could be a good or bad thing.  Before I could ask what that meant she asked me if I would be handling the referral personally.  I replied it would depend on price range, area and needs of prospects.  I further explained that my company has wonderful agents and I would match the client to the agent that would be best suited to help.  Having done a lot of relocation for a fortune 500 company this seemed reasonable to match the prospect to the most qualified for the situation.  The agent then said, "I just wanted to know if you would be handling it.  Thank you for your time," and hung up.

    Most Realtors out there in blog land and elsewhere are independent contractors and running their own business.  A broker or relocation director has an obligation to qualify leads before accepting them.  A broker, relocation coordinator or agent should investigate who will be handling the lead when referred out respectively.  An agent that blindly accepts any lead when they may not be the best choice is imprudent.  For example, Fort Worth, TX and the D/FW Metroplex is a big place with lots of Fort Worth Homes and my company has a general policy to focus on areas and refer out if a prospect is out of our area of expertise.  This focus has doubled our business in the last year because as a group we are not all over 120 square miles.  Often, our clients are pleased that we are interested in their interests before our commissons.  We have also made great relationships with other agents around the Metroplex which has been invaluable.

   I never did find out who the agent was or the prospect.  What I do know is an opportunity for the prospect to be matched based on his/her needs was lost due to a lack of investigation.

Recently I had the pleasure of going to the opening party of Don Shula's new restaurant in Fort Worth, TX at the Sheraton in downtown Fort Worth which is very close to some of my Fort Worth Homes.  It was more of a preopening party.  They filed us thru the restaurant which was larger than I expected it to be.  There was a lot of memorabilia about.  Then they funneled us upstairs to a banquet room where you could stand in line and get Don Shula's autograph.  There he is asking me what to do.  I told him my name & he took it from there.  You see the 347 in the background.  That is the name, Shula's 347 Grill.  That is how many games he won in the NFL.  What was funny is a former assistant of mine was called to fill in a cancellation at the bigshot private dinner and was seated next to Mrs. Shula and she did not know who Don Shula was in the first place.  I bet Mrs. Shula was glad not to have to talk about football.  I lost the autograph but did make it out of there with a bottle of steak sauce.  I wish them well.  Even better is I ran into a fellow who works for the Dallas Cowboys and arranged a showing of the new stadium under construction.  My next blog will be about that. 

Even if you do not get a free bottle of steak sauce it is good to go to as many openings and public events as possible to get your name out there.

   Recently, I was browsing the internet looking for Fort Worth Luxury Home listings the way an average person would without knowing it and found some things that may be of interest.  One thing of interest is you can tell a little about an agent or company in how the remarks read.

    When I post listings to the internet I use the three second rule.  (I was inspired by cooks for the title in my restaurant days.  When they dropped something occassionally they would pick it up and plate it and say, "Three second rule".  Anyway, make the assumption that a person's attention span is about three seconds.  The first line is critical and should grab someone's attention and give information at the same time.  Think of it as a small newspaper ad where your space is limited.  Save the flowery stuff for the remaining lines.

    With all the sites out there most people do not know that many of the Realtor listing websites download from the same MLS system.  It is a question of format.  Again, you can judge a company or agent by their website or lack of one.  85% of people start their property search online according to National Association of Realtor's statistics.

     For consumers, I recommend that they do browse around but pay attention to the websites.  When performing Google and Yahoo searches make a note of what individuals come up on sponsored links because that means they have made an investment in their marketing which is vastly important when listing a home.  Of course, when looking for Fort Worth Homes and Fort Worth Real Estate there is only one website for your needs. Good luck browsing but remember you can learn a lot just by browsing around.

National news will not give the debate over whether increasing oil production will decrease price a rest.  I received a lesson from dear ol' Dad the other day who happens to be an economist.  We were discussing the local Fort Worth Real Estate market where the Star Telegram mentioned that prices in some areas have increased slightly due to a lack of inventory. 

Dad credits this to basic supply and demand theory.  There is an equilibrium point on any curve and this is true with supply and demand.  The principle here, as it applies to everything including oil and real estate, is this: if the demand is steady and the supply shrinks the price rises. How political pundits do not accept this basic principle is beyond me and every economist in America.

The Fort Worth homes market has steady demand due to the economic success credited in part to the Barnett Shale which is one of the largest natural gas reserves in North America.  My family has been involved in the gas industry and I can tell you the supply and demand curve works there too.  Gas is sold in futures and so is oil.  Demand for natural gas increases during the winter months so the price will naturally rise.  Investors purhase gas futures in advance to sell when demand outreaches supply.  Again, the same thing happens with oil.  When supply is high investors also buy cheap which happens in real estate as well as gas and oil.

I wish I knew how to work the computer better so I could post a pretty graph but your going to have to visualize it.  The tip here is you do not have to be Adam Smith to benefit in a market if you stick to basic principles.  Good luck and for the economy of Fort Worth, Texas, buy natural gas!

The home inspection is a crucial part of the home buying process and dotted with liability.  Recently, I witnessed a broker of over a decade help a family member purchase a Fort Worth home and not bother to have it inspected or perform a walk thru.  The result is the air conditioner is broken and it has been 100+ degrees around Fort Worth, TX. 

When asking for repairs a common mistake is not to itemize and priotitize needs.  For example, asking for a laundry list of minor handy man items can cloud the issue on more important issues.  I recently witnessed a purchaser ask for a blanket list of repairs without itemizing and it clouded the more important issues.

Fort Worth Real Estate is bought much the same way as everywhere else and priorities should be met.  It is the agents duty to help the client stay focused.  Is their a time crunch for move in and is the home one of a kind or fits the client's needs perfectly?  These things should be considered.  Remember that often the sellers have an emotional attachment to the home so your wording in a repair request can be as important as the request itself.  This helps keep the emotional factor to a minimum. One last thought is to place yourself in the shoes of the buyer or seller while negotiating and good luck!