stand-out buyer's agent

Be a Stand-Out Buyer’s Agent, $250-Million Ranch for Sale, Pending Home Sales Down, and More

By

Tina Lapp

3 minutes

Watch, listen, read, and follow the latest and greatest in real estate insights—March 2, 2018, edition.

WATCH: For sale: T. Boone Pickens’s $250 million ranch. Take a look inside.

If you’ve got an extra 250 million bucks laying around, have we got the ranch for you! As he approaches his ninetieth birthday, American business magnate and financier T. Boone Pickens (@boonepickens) is putting his sprawling ranch on the market. (Downsizing?) His ranch, called Mesa Vista, is spread over 100 square miles in Texas oil country. The main lodge alone is over 30,000 square feet and has carved-wood paneling, shimmering chandeliers, and walls covered in American art.

Pickens even trucked in his disassembled childhood home in pieces (because, why not?), and it has been reassembled on the property. The property is also equipped with its own airport, chapel, and even fire trucks—just in case.

Watch the full video here.

LISTEN: 11 ways to be a stand-out buyer’s agent

Brothers and real estate pros Casey and Corey Wright (@wrightbrothers) talk about how to be a stand-out buyer agent in this podcast.

Here are some of the areas they cover:

  • The importance of the buyer presentation
  • The ins and outs of buyer agreements
  • The importance of pre-qualifying your buyers
  • What to do during walkthroughs and inspections

Here’s a timestamp of the podcast’s highlights:

(5:51) Don’t skip the buyer’s presentation
(12:54) Getting your buyers prequalified
(15:25) Coaching your buyers through the transaction
(19:22) Extra things you can do when showing properties
(21:06) Being present for the home inspection
(23:03) Doing a final walk-through with your buyers
(27:16) Secrets for more effective communication
(39:08) Be sure to get testimonials
(41:19) Reaching out to your past client

READ: Pending home sales in U.S. stumble 4.7 percent in January

The National Association of Realtors reports that pending home sales slowed considerably in January to low levels not seen in more than three years. Here are some highlights from the article by World Property Journal (@WPJWorldNews).

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, fell 4.7 percent to 104.6 in January from a downwardly revised 109.8 in December 2017. After last month’s retreat, the index is now 3.8 percent below a year ago and at its lowest level since October 2014 (104.1).

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says: “The economy is in great shape, most local job markets are very strong and incomes are slowly rising, but there’s little doubt last month’s retreat in contract signings occurred because of woefully low supply levels and the sudden increase in mortgage rates. The lower end of the market continues to feel the brunt of these supply and affordability impediments. With the cost of buying a home getting more expensive and not enough inventory, some prospective buyers are either waiting until listings increase come spring or now having to delay their search entirely to save up for a larger down payment.”

The number of available listings at the end of January was at an all-time low for the month and a startling 9.5 percent below a year ago. In addition to new home construction making progress closer to its historical annual average of 1.5 million starts, Yun believes that two other factors must start occurring to alleviate the excruciatingly low supply levels that are slowing sales: institutional investors beginning to unload their portfolio of single-family properties back onto the market, and more hesitant homeowners deciding to sell.

Read the full article here.

FOLLOW: Twitter top 100 most followers in real estate

Looking to add some interest to your Twitter feed? Did you ever think about who in real estate has the most followers on Twitter? Well, wonder no more! Twitter Counter has the scoop with its list of the top rankers in the real estate biz. It probably comes as no surprise that Zillow (@Zillow) is among the top five real estate influencers with the most followers. Are you following them yet?

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Editor’s note: this post was originally published on March 2, 2018 and updated on March 25, 2024.

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