WestWords - February 2021

WESTWORDS FEBRUARY 2021

I AM

I AM ELIZABETH COOKE I AM INTEGRITY I AM PERSEVERANCE I AM LISTENING I AM FAMILY I AM COMMUNITY I AM WEST USA

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING Beth and I first spoke about me purchasing a home with her assistance in the spring of 2018. I was not able to move forward with a purchase at that time but in the spring of 2019 I rang her up and said let’s see what’s out there! Within three days of starting my search I had found a place and Beth had an offer written within a few hours. Thankfully that first home did not work out and within a week we were back to pounding the pavement looking for the right fit. Beth sent me daily MLS updates with prospective homes as the search slowly expanded out across the Valley of the Sun. When I found a condo with a garage I immediately sent it to her and, fortunately or unfortunately, it was already under contract. Beth found the unit next door was still available, set up a walk through and I knew from the time I walked through the front door I had found my place. Beth jumped on the initial offer that night and three counteroffers later an impasse was reached. At no point in the process was Beth pushy or did she try to convince me to take a deal I was not comfortable with. After another week of searching we ended up back at the table with a new offer meeting the seller in the middle and two days later we had a signed contract! Beth’s attention to detail and knowledge of the home buying process made it all feel like a breeze for me. Two months later I’m happily settled in and I definitely would not be there without Beth!

We enlisted Elizabeth Cooke to sell our home in September of 2010. She gave us an analysis of property values and a comprehensive look at our home and the value. She has a vast knowledge of real estate values and was very accurate as to what she thought our home should sell for. She prepares for the sale of the home by helping us find a place to go while we decided where we would relocate. Her attention to our wants was her priority. She helped us by taking us to the listings of rental property where we could stay until finding a permanent location. Again, we praise her for her attention to details of our wants. She guided us through the closing of our home and took us to view potential locations to relocate. Shortly, we found a place of our liking and Beth handled all the proposals and offers for us to buy the property. Again, she guided us through the closing so there was not a question or issue to deal with. She did an outstanding job for us. Her love for her profession and love for clients is very evident. She is an outstanding person and very professional agent.

Beth made my first time home buying a totally positive experience. She explained (and re-explained) each step of the process and took as much time as I needed before moving forward. I always felt Beth had my best interests at heart and she helped me find a home that I am thrilled with. I would recommend Beth to my closest friends and family -- she is the best!

BROKER BLOG WITH BOB STEPHENS HULLO? This article may sound like criticism and it is, however, it is constructive criticism.

Question? If you make a call for Broker help, you must leave a number with the person that receives your call and then the Broker will call you back. Many times, your phone is pre-set so that it will not even ring, if the caller has a RESTRICTED phone number. WHY? You have asked for a call back, BUT, you won’t even allow your phone to ring!

Let me start by pointing out something, to those that may not look at THEIR business, as they should. You are an Independent Contractor in the real estate business and are the sole owner of that business. You should open the door to your business every day just as Dillards or West USA Realty do, remembering that you are a professional, where communication is the key to your success and is really, the only thing you have to sell, so it is your high point!

When you call Dillards or West USA Realty, how do they answer the phone?

The answer is: Very professionally and you know whom you are talking to without asking.

Now then, think about how you answer your own phones. Same way?

FANTASTIC!!!!!

However, a few agents just say Hullo!

(I always wonder if I dialed a wrong number). It is then left to me to inquire as to the identity of the person I am talking to. NOT GOOD! A suggestion is that you answer with your name first or West USA Realty, this is Your Name!

Please try this and remember—the caller is calling your BUSINESS number no matter where you are and they believe that it is YOU @ West USA Realty! If you are at home or wherever you are, answer the phone yourself.

Remember, professional communication is the key to your business success.

SO START THE YEAR 2021 RIGHT WITH COMMUNICATION THAT TALKS TO PEOPLE!

QUESTIONS, CONTACT: Managing Broker, Bob Stephens 602-942-4200

5 THINGS YOU CAN DO

TO REVAMP YOUR CONTENT

STRATEGY FOR 2021

BY KEITH FLYNN, DIGITAL MARKETING DIRECTOR 2020 was a challenging time for big and small businesses, creators, influencers, real estate professionals, and everyone in between. Even though we’re one month into the 2021 calendar, NOW is always a good time to revamp your social media strategy. Here are five tips to get you started.

UPDATE YOUR BIO One of the quickest and easiest ways to revamp your social media accounts is update all your bios. It’s a good idea to review your bios and see if any essential updates are needed. Be sure to include a link to your website and make sure your bios are consistent across your social media platforms.

START COLLABORATING MORE One of the great things about social media is the ability to connect and build a community. To help you grow your social media community even more in 2021, it’s a great idea to look for more ways to collaborate. Are there any like-minded small businesses you could partner with?

For example, you could collaborate with your loan office, title rep, contractor, home inspection, and more. Doing so is a great way to grow your following and educate your potential home buyer or seller.

CREATE SHORT-FORM VIDEO CONTENT One of the most important types of content in 2021 might be short-form videos. 2020 has already proven that consumers love engaging with short-form videos, so get ready to create more of this type of content to revamp your social media accounts!

Check out the app Boosted! It’s an excellent tool for creating short-form, high-quality video content for your social media platforms.

GET PERSONAL Are you guilty of hiding behind your work as a real estate professional? It’s time to get in front of the camera and get personal! Show your clients the face behind the business. Share more personal posts to help them get to know you better and feel more connected to your business on a personal level.

SHOOT NEW PHOTO CONTENT Has it been a while since you’ve taken new photos, either headshots or branding? It’s time to up your photography game in 2021. You don’t have to be a professional photographer to shoot new content – all you need is a smartphone with a quality lens and a willingness to learn. Be sure to have good lighting and a clean background when taking photos. Also, be sure to check out some photo editing tools to give your photos a more professional look.

This list only scratches the surface. Day in and day out, users are inundated by thousands of messages on social media, and everyone is doing what they can to keep up, let alone stand out. As a real estate professional, you want to be trusted by your audience. If you follow the five steps outlined here, you will likely have a robust social content calendar matched by an audience that trusts both your online presence and your brand.

GOALS

BY ANTHONY CUCCI, HCP HOME INSPECTION

Whether you want to lose a pant size, get a promotion, buy a home or a car or grow your business, setting goals for yourself will help you get to where you want to be. For the purpose of this post, let's dial it in and focus on growing your business. According to my research,(which is my fancy way of saying something I read on Linked In some time ago), less than 10% of business owners have buildable goals in place and less then 5% actually write them down to help execute a plan. Most people I talk to have a vague goal or a basic acknowledgment of a "long game" plan they want to accomplish. I will spend the next 700 words or so explaining the importance in my view of setting goals while providing some examples or ideas that will help you create a workable gameplan. If you would like to take a deep dive into goals or business plans, reach out to me, I would love to discuss.

Work the Plan - Everyone starts off the year excited for change. You might have attended a vision board party, you may have even written down solid goals to achieve, but sometimes after all the excitement of a new year resolution wears off we lose sight of the objectives. All of your goals and ideas may be good or even excellently thought out. But you have to EXECUTE them for it to matter. Ideas are just fluff if you don't do anything about them. But the plan should be a daily/weekly/monthly workable document to keep you on track. Your goals should be time sensitive, measurable and buildable/workable. But more important than anything else... they should be MEANINGFUL. If you don't know WHY you are doing something, why do it at all.

I want to do "more" is not a goal it's a dream - It is far easier to dream about success than it is to execute strategies that will make you successful. A vague goal WILL NEVER produce real growth. Goals should be specific and measurable. I would challenge you to think a layer or two deeper once you think you have your goals set. For example: I want to increase my lead generation efforts in 2021, is a very high level goal concept and not very specific.

What does increase mean specifically to you, what do you average now, what is a realistic increase and how will you measure if you were successful or not. After some thought, what it might sound like is: "I will schedule three coffee meet ups, one zoom call a week with (fill in your source here)."

This is specific, it is quantifiably measurable and will hold you accountable. I would also suggest setting daily/weekly/ monthly goals that tie into each other. Life happens, and you can manage your goals better if you have short and long term measurements of success. Short term wins yield long term successes and will help with the emotional rollercoaster that the up and down weeks of being an entrepreneur bring.

New Year, New You. Not! - This might ruffle some feathers... but hear me out. While I ABSOLUTELY believe that you can take actions to increase your knowledge base and bridge gaps, a lot of people start the new year by only focusing on items they are historically bad at. Stop focusing on only trying to fix the things you suck at. Concentrate on your successes and identify and focus on further development of the things you are great at. EXPLOIT your strengths while bridging the gaps on your weaknesses. Don't abandon your talent.

Don't Chase the Unicorn - The perfect plan does not exist. You can't buy it, and you can't copy it. Stop chasing the unattainable. What works for one person does not necessarily work for everyone. There are absolutely strategies, tasks and systems that you can put in place that are proven to yield results...and you ABSOLUTELY should formulate systems and processes as a way to hit your goals and work your business plan. But ALL of those should be custom tailored to your strengths, otherwise you are chasing unicorns and unicorns don't exist.

I'm hoping if nothing else, my words provide some inspiration, help you focus on this new year ahead of us, get you thinking about holding yourself measurably accountable but most important allow you to uncover your motivation because....who cares about where you are going if you don't know why you want to go there.

BE PERCEIVED AS THE EXPERT

BY UNDERSTANDING MARKET STATS WITH TODD MENARD

During the weekly Tuesday Webinar Market Stats segment, I provide you with the current market stats using two reports, the Market Stats Graphic, and the Market Comparison Spreadsheet. These are created for two different personalities, the first for the “D” driver and “I” influencer, and the second for the “S” structured and “C” calculative behaviors, the latter group of course being more analytical. Neither is right or wrong, it's just the way humans are wired. I recommend sending and sharing both, and during a follow-up call, you can ask them which they found more useful. This will help you internalize why the market stats are beneficial to your clientele. In this issue we will discuss the Market Stats Graphic. We will finish the discussion next month with an explanation of the Market Comparison Spreadsheet.

THE MARKET STATS GRAPHIC This report is designed to make the information as easy to read as possible, Each section shows the key performance indicators “KPI's” and their value for the current reporting period identified on the graphic. A percentage identifies the difference between this reporting period and the last, while the colored triangles indicate whether the value is worse (red), or better (green), for the real estate industry.

Here is an explanation of the key indicators: SOLD DAYS ON MARKET “DOM” The Sold DOM shows you the average days the sold, not active, properties were on the market. This means prior to being reported as pending.

MONTH’S SUPPLY This helps understand how quickly the

market is moving. If the number Is 2.5, then this means that in 2.5 months there would be no inventory remaining.

ABSORPTION RATE Absorption is the rate at which the inventory is being consumed. When the rate Is 4.5%, this means that 45% of the available homes for sale is being absorbed or taken away from the inventory.

AVERAGE LIST PRICE If you total the list prices of homes listed within that period of time, and divide by the number of properties listed, the result is the Average List Price.

AVERAGE SALES PRICE If you total the sale prices of homes closed within that period of time and divide by the number of units (number of properties) closed, the result is the Average Sales Price.

LIST PRICE TO SALES PRICE RETENTION “LP:SP' This is the percentage of the list price retained at the time of closing. If you take the Sales Price and divide it by the List Price (at the time the offer was accepted), the result is the LP: SP retention. If the percentage is 97.8% this means that the sales price was 97/8% of the List Price at the time the offer was accepted. The average number should be 97.8%. When the number is higher the seller market is firmer on the list price.

Conversely, when the percentage is below 97.8% the Seller market is less firm and more willing to negotiate.

NEW LISTINGS TAKEN This is the number of listings added to ARMLS during the past week. This number needs to remain above 2500 to be in a neutral market where supply and

demand are between a 4 and 6 months supply. When this number decreases, we head towards a seller’s market. When this number increases we are headed toward a buyer’s market. 4-6 months supply is neutral, however the market does best between 3-4 months’ supply.

PENDING Pending gauges the number of properties in escrow at any point in time.

CLOSED Closed sales allow us to compare monthly and annual sales cycles, average monthly sales, and the percentage of average monthly sales to help us identify our marketing and advertising objectives.

PRICE RANGE STATISTICS This shows the state of the Active inventory.

It allows you to see the number of active properties, the average days on market, and the percentage of the total inventory for that price range. This is helpful on listing and buyer appointments to help the consumer identify and set proper expectations for their personal objective.

LAST MONTH'S TOTALS This allows a simple flashback opportunity to see a month at a glance and the comparison to last month, as well as the same month a year ago. This helps better understand the weekly statistics, as a comparison of a whole month.

Stay tuned to the weekly webinar or visit out YouTube Channel to listen to the market statistics while on the go using a mobile device. www.youtube.com/westusarealtyinc

JANUARY MARKET STATS

AWARENESS

MONTH

FEBRUARY 1 - 28 IN EACH LOCAL BRANCH

West USA Cares is spreading love during our annual awareness month. Please join us by making a donation in your local branch to receive a heart on the wall.

Our goal is to fill each office with so much love, it covers each office in hearts. Donations go directly to benefit the Monthly Give back program to help Organizations in our communities and our Emergency Needs Resource Fund to help our own agents in time of need.

Share the love this February.

FEBRUARY M O N DAY

T U E S DAY

01 West USA Weekly Webinar 9:00am - 10:00am / Webinar

Broker Roundtable 10:00am - 11:30am / Zoom

West USA Agent Orientation 10:30am - 12:00pm / Webinar

w/ Michael Douville

08

Don’t Do Dat w/Broker Bob Stephens 2:00pm - 2:30pm / Webinar

ALL OFFICES CLOSED President’s Day

02

15

Prostart Training Session 2 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom Don’t Do Dat w/Broker Bob Stephens 2:00pm - 2:30pm / Webinar

F R I DAY

04

05

11

12

18

19

25

26

Facebook Basics for Real Estate Professionals w/Keith Flynn 10:00am - 11:30am / Webinar

CE OUTSIDE Taking Control of Your Credit Score 3Hrs General Credit 11:00am - 2:00pm / Apache Park

09

Company Wide Office Meeting 10:00am - 11:00am / Zoom Creating Real Estate Wealth

w/ Michael Douville

10

FREE REMOTE CE CLASS Advanced Contract Writing 3Hrs Contract Law 9:00am - 12:00pm / Zoom

Smart Video with Your Smartphone w/ Keith Flynn 10:00am - 11:00am / Webinar

10:00am - 10:30am / Webinar

Prostart Training Session 1 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom Broker Roundtable 10:00am - 11:30am / Zoom Creating Real Estate Wealth

16

10:00am - 10:30am / Webinar CE OUTSIDE Down Payment Assistance Program 3 Hrs Fair Housing Credit 11:00am - 2:00pm / Surprise Farms Park

22

T H U R S DAY

10:00am - 10:30am / Webina

w/ Michael Douville

West USA Weekly Webinar 9:00am - 10:00am / Webinar

03 FREE REMOTE CE CLASS Duties to Clients and Customers 3Hrs Commissioners Standards 9:00am - 12:00pm / Zoom

Creating Real Estate Wealth

Don’t Do Dat w/Broker Bob Stephens 2:00pm - 2:30pm / Webinar

West USA Weekly Webinar 9:00am - 10:00am / Webinar

W E D N E S DAY

2021

Prostart Training Session 2 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom Creating Real Estate Wealth

w/ Michael Douville

23

17

FREE REMOTE CE CLASS Agency and Industry Related Issues 3Hrs Agency Law 9:00am - 12:00pm / Zoom Prostart Training Session 1 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom

Prostart Training Session 1 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom ARMLS Training Subscriptions & Portals 10:00am - 11:00am / Webinar

24

FREE REMOTE CE CLASS The NAR Code and the AZ Law 3Hrs Legal Issues 9:00am - 12:00pm / Zoom

10:00am - 10:30am / Webinar

• CE- Continuing Education Renewal Training • Luxury Division Event

• Commercial Division Event • Office Meetings

SPONSORS

• Education Events • REACT

• Holiday Hours • Social Mixers / Events